'A Gathering of Shadows'

Who: everyone
When:  (4th month, day 30....) --> Dec 30 
Rating: PG-13
Status: closed

The Red Keep is a torrent of activity for the feast in celebration of a new year, with a new king, a time to change, for things have been so dark, now there may be a new dawn. The ceremonies have been planned, the menu laid out to astonish even the most jaded courtiers as it must to do honor to the many lords of the realm remaining in the royal court these many months. The morrow will bring the feast, the celebrations, the joy, yet there is a strange lack of it within the castle.

The royal family remains in mourning for their sister, Lady Celia Tyrell, as does the host of Highgarden. Yet all is not quiet in their grief, for whispers remain that Lady Celia was thrown into the sea by enemies of her husband’s house or of her own; very softly it is gossiped that she knew of the kidnapping of her nieces, or stumbled onto some part of the dark conspiracy that stole the twin princesses.

William Stark has scrambled to find some way to maintain the treaty with Dorne without his daughter as a key party, and has dispatched his nephews and sister Lady Lyanora to look for the girls, along with many knights and lords. A reward has been offered, yet no note of ransom has been received. The court gossips often recall King Paegon’s loss of Prince Jaehaerys and Queen Aeria. The matter is further clouded by the visible rift between the king and his queen. Servants and courtiers alike have taken to keeping well outside Kaelyn’s sight. The King’s Hand, Lord Tyrith Lannister has further increased the number of guards surrounding the royal family and the keep itself.

Meanwhile, Prince Sandro li Saverio has worked to once more cement trade between Westeros and the Free Cities and has been rewarded with a seat on the small council by Lord Tyrith. Lords Bolton and Tyrell have served the regency well, taking on duties as William’s distraction has endured. Lord Polonius has been seen looking much more relaxed than he has in years.

In the city of Kingslanding, the streets are quiet, credited to Lord Stark’s neice, Lady Toria Lannister and the greater numbers of Gold Cloaks patrolling to keep the peace. Even the woods are quiet, though it may only be winter’s chill keeping the thieves of the Blackwater Alliance at bay….

In the midst of the court, rumors have begun to circulate that the Ironborn in the North have grown quiet, there is something else rising on their cold isles.

Who: Everyone.
When: Day 65, evening
Where: The Great Hall
Rating: PG
Status: Open

The court was met in the hall- though not a proper feast it was nonetheless as much an occasion as any day in the king's castle and greater than usual for the expected announcements about the problems in the North. The Hand of the King watched the nobles gather with an expression of calm that almost bordered on amused from time to time. He had spoken with William already, and now only the play itself remained. 

Tyrith busied himself with addressing the various members of the Small Council who were mixed in among the rest, and laughed more easily than might have been expected.

Who: Anyone who wants to watch.
When: Day 62. Dawn.
Rating: R
Status: Open if you want to be there. 

Who: Everyone.
When: Day 56.
Where: The Great Hall.
Rating: PG-13
Status: Open to all who would listen, bear witness and of course the judges and the accused.

Who: Penrose, Kyra Tyrell, Jemni and Gareth Bolton
When: Day 49, early evening
Where: the Boltons quarters
Rating: PG13
Status: Closed

Who: Penrose, Hester Arryn
When: Day 49, afternoon after Isobel's arrest
Where: Hester's chamber
Rating: PG13
Status: Closed

Who: Lord Penrose; Isobel Dayne
Where: Isobel Dayne's chambers
When: Afternoon of Day 49
Rating: PG-13
Status: Closed

( consequences befall )

Who: Polonius, Penrose, Elia
When: Day 48, AM
Where: Red Keep, Elia's chambers and moving from there.
Status: Closed.
Rating: PG13

Who: Elia, servants etc
Where: Elia's chambers. 
When: Day 28. Early morning a few minutes after the previous installments. 
Rating: R
Status: Open. 

When: Day 28. Early morning. same time as this and moments after this.
Where: Tymor Lannister's Chamber. 
Who: Tymor, servants, etc
Status: Open. 
Rating: R.

When: Day 28. Early morning. 
Where: William's chambers moments after this post
Who: William Stark, Lyam.
Status: Open.
Rating: R. 

Who: Gareth the Steward, assorted servants, attendants, and others who would be drawn by the confusion
When: Day 28. Early morning.
Where: Maidenvault. Red Keep. Kings Landing.
Rating: R. (Gore, graphic content beyond the cut)
Status: OPEN

Who: All the Nobility of the Seven Kingdoms who are present in Kings Landing
When: Evening
Where: The Red Keep, The Throne Room
Kingsguard on Duty: Jayce Walsh, Arthur Winchester, Baron Black. Various Gold Cloaks are present as well as some Stark household guards.
Rating: PG13
Status: Open

The throne room of the Red Keep glittered with white and silver. Even the Iron Throne was draped with streamers in the Stark colors, as was the royal family’s place of honor in its shadow. The walls were lit with torches, and a space was clear in the midst of the tables for the entertainments, and later would play host to the dancers.

Outside the storm which had threatened all day broke just as the first nobles were due to begin arriving. The north wind howled like a direwolf through the stones of Maegor’s Holdfast and the ancient ghosts of the Keep shrieked in answer. Rain fell in sheets and soon enough there came hail as well, some as large as a child's fist. Lightning lit the sky in bursts as bright as daylight and thunder crashed loud enough some swore it might raise the dead and many whispered prayers to the Seven to let the night pass quickly. Yet within the great hall, the music and firelight softened the melee outside, wrapping the guests in a cocoon of silk and laughter. This was a feast of welcome, the beginning of the festival that would mark the beginning of a new reign while giving the king and his men the time to sense the moods and loyalties of the nobles of Westeros, and the storm which had descended upon Kings Landing could not be allowed to intervene.

There were 30 courses prepared for the court, each one a marvel of precious spices, each a delicacy. Seven musicians took their turns at singing ballads and ancient songs in a contest which the Queen and the ladies of the court would decide, though the rumble of thunder echoing through the hall made for poor accompaniment. In between singers, there came pyromancers who danced with living flames, and charmed their flames to take shapes and twist in time to pipes. There were trained monkeys and dogs who danced on two legs. Pentoshi acrobats tumbled and swung through the air, and a company of dancers from the Summer Isles spun across the floor in silks and silver bells.

A company of actors from Braavos performed the tale of Brienne the Evenstar, the beautiful lady knight who had fought a shadow and lost her lover, and undertook a quest of penance for the Lady Catelyn Stark to find her lost daughters. This version ended happily, with the Evenstar saving Princess Sansa and returning her to her lady mother, freeing Catelyn from the curse which had turned her into the cruel Lady Stoneheart. Queen Daenerys made Brienne a part of the legendary Queensguard, and Princess Sansa married King Tommen Baratheon. As the play ended, the final course was cleared away, and it fell to the King to begin the dancing.

Late in the evening several knights of various houses got into a tussle and had to be dragged apart by men-at-arms, and the participants sent to either the maesters for stitches or the cells beneath the keep to sober up.

Outside, the city was in the grip of the fierce storm- ships at harbor were flung about, others had no hope of surviving the maelstrom the Blackwater had become. A lightning strike hit a section of merchants and half the street was in flames before the fire could be contained. The storm was, whispered some, an omen. Others said cleansing flames were just what was needed… And others were far more worried about the announcement that a great hunt was to take place on the morrow.

( seating arrangements )

Atop Aegon's High Hill, the Red Keep stood silhouetted against a magnificent sunrise, but the dark line of clouds swept closer from the north. The ominous rumbling of distant thunder rolled through the city's streets, just audible over the usual cacaphony of Kings Landing.

The bright banners of the noble colors rippled in a breeze that slowly worked its way from pleasant to gusty and as evening fell it would become a howling wind. In the Red Keep itself there was a constant hum of excitement, boiling over into chaos and working its way into a storm to equal that which broke outside as the sun set- maids and squires dashed madly here and there to secure that last necessity for their lords' and ladies' night of gaeity. Gloves, shoes, lost hairpins, faulty laces, loose stitches, errant beads had all to be fixed by the evening. Questions of precedence, seating arrangements, entertainments, all had to be answered, for the nobles and heroes of the land were gathered inside at last, preparing for a feast and a celebration the likes of which had not been seen for generations.

Tonight would be the first great feast of the week as King William welcomed his guests and announced the entertainments which would come in the following week. Word had ciculated that there would be no tourney, no great gathering of knights and warriors out of respect for the last king- other kings might have staged a great masque, but this was a Stark monarchy and no one was sure what might be in store.

The roads to the keep were filled with a steady line of merchants bringing casks of wine, the troupes of musicians, dancers acrobats and magicians who would perform before the gathered worthies. Meanwhile, within the city walls even the smallfolk were abuzz, though they were more concerned with what damage the storm might bring as they secured shutters and brought down some of the banners which had so brightened the city.

In the harbor, ships were being anchored, sails furled, and knots secured as the storm came ever closer. Yet despite the oncoming weather, many nobles and worthies found the chaos of the Red Keep overwhelming, and several small parties rode off, falcons at their wrists or bows slung across their saddles. Hunting, hawking, or simply riding- any excuse to be out of the way, or perhaps there were things which must be said outside the ever-listening walls of the castle.

That evening, as the feast began so too did the storm. Within the great hall, the music and firelight softened the melee outside, wrapping the guests in a cocoon of silk and laughter. Yet without, the north wind howled like a direwolf through the stones of Maegor's holdfast and the ancient ghosts of the Keep shrieked in answer. Rain fell in sheets and soon enough there came hail as well, some as large as a child's fist. Lightning lit the sky in bursts as bright as daylight and thunder crashed loud enough some swore it might raise the dead and many whispered prayers to the Seven to let the night pass quickly.

Open Threads:
A meeting of the Stark family
The arrival of the Lannister family.
The arrival of Hester Arryn
The Small Feast
A casual courtyard meeting.

Completed:
Casual union of the Stark women.
The arrival of Elia Martell
The reunion of Elia and Prosperyn Martell.

The Red Keep in all its ancient, majestic glory stood tall at its usual place atop Aegon's High Hill. The weather was fair, the aging castle's crimson bricks painted strikingly against a refreshing blue sky, though storm clouds gathered some distance away over the horizon north of the Trident. The change in climate was sudden, much like the cliff which surrounded the royal palace.

Oblivious and untouched by the downpour a day's ride away, the grounds of King's Landing were lavishly decorated in all the colours of Westeros, with the white and the grey of the sigil of the House Stark being the most prominently displayed of them all. Even Flea Bottom appeared slightly less dismal than was usual, though there was no questioning that its pitiful state set it worlds apart from the glamour that overwhelmed the rest of the city.

Distinguished men and women famed in the lands of the north and the south, by the prestige of birth or by noble achievements, climbed the winding path carved around the precipitous hill. Most arrived in horsedrawn carriages, while others chose by volition or by circumstances to saddle and mount one of his or her own.

Those who completed their long, often exhausting journey at last were rewarded with the warm and efficient reception on the part of royal envoys and designated receivers of the court. Each guest was provided with their own private accommodation in one of the many chambers housed in the structure, the arrangements made in such a way that kins were kept together in an area and even floors of their own.

The steady flow of incoming traffic waned by the evening, though activity on the road did not cease completely. Modest, private eight-course meals were served in en-suite dining halls for weary, unwinding guests. Intimate friends of the Starks were extended a special invitation to congregate at the Queen's Ballroom in Maegor's Holdfast following dinner for casual pleasantries.

Most, however, expected to turn in not long following evenfall in anticipation of the coronation ceremony scheduled in the early hours of the morning.