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Post by Amelia Royce on Aug 24, 2015 18:48:38 GMT -5
"Seen plenty of friends die," Harris said, chewing on his food before shoveling more in. "You fight in any wars?"
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Post by Ser Titus Grafton on Aug 24, 2015 18:56:07 GMT -5
Titus grabbed the crusty end of a loaf of hard, dark bread and dipped it in his stew. "None worth comparing to yours," he slopped though his full mouth. "Dealt mostly with pirates, smugglers and brigands myself. Nothing grandiose about that, but I've seen plenty die, nonetheless. No bard will ever sing the ballad of Wyl Buckets. All these wars, all these years of turmoil you tell of I was imprisoned on the Sisters, so I know nothing of it beyond what I've heard. Might be I'd be one of those corpses and happier for it had it not been so."
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Post by Amelia Royce on Aug 24, 2015 19:00:12 GMT -5
Harris spat again at the mention of the Sisters. "Harlan the Wolf, the bastard. Must've been hell in captivity. Labour camps and things like that? Fightin' pirates is good work though."
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Post by Ser Titus Grafton on Aug 24, 2015 19:06:48 GMT -5
"Oh, hell it was. No food, no sleep, no warmth. He'd work us from well before the sun arose to well after it set. Plank maker, I was, myself and about 20 others. I turned pine into planks every day for three years. We'd catch rats when we could get them and eat 'em raw. The beatings were bad, but the starving...my ever present friend hunger was the worst part," he said digging into the stew, his face twisted and red, "I'd scarce say I've ate well since I left that camp, but you should have seen me then. Blisters replaced my flesh, and callouses replaced my blisters until I was nothing but calloused skin on bone," he shook his head. "I wished every night to not awake in the morning."
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Post by Amelia Royce on Aug 24, 2015 19:15:45 GMT -5
"Gods," Harris said, staring at Titus for a long moment before finishing his stew. "Can't imagine anything worse than starving to death. Maybe burning but that doesn't last as long. Freezing maybe too, but that's still quicker." He looked up at Titus queerly. "That fightin' ability never goes away though, does it? Heh. Way you kicked the sergeant's ass, gods. Beautiful."
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Post by Ser Titus Grafton on Aug 24, 2015 19:19:39 GMT -5
Titus shrugged. "It'd have been a deal tougher if he'd made me spar a bit. I haven't so much as gripped a sword in years. With him bull rushing as he did, his weight all leaning forward it was easy enough to simply move my feet and let him defeat himself. I don't doubt I've lost a step, but the basics, the foot work, the muscle memory, I don't think that ever leaves a man, so long as he fully knew it to begin with."
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Post by Amelia Royce on Aug 24, 2015 19:27:31 GMT -5
Harris chuckled. "As you say. You're mighty quick though, though maybe not as fast as some of those I've seen fight." He slapped his belly. "I'm not much of a fighter but I'm a soldier and that's more important in war. Especially with those damn sorcerers that've been popping up over the last four years. Bryce Dayne could make a whole army run."
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Post by Ser Titus Grafton on Aug 24, 2015 19:32:29 GMT -5
"So I've heard. Glad the right men won that one at least." He finished his stew and set the bowl down. "What do you know of the plan here? And who am I fighting for? The Prince Benjen?"
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Post by Amelia Royce on Aug 24, 2015 19:36:35 GMT -5
"That's the one," Harris said. "This camp here is Eddard's Rest men, all veterans us. Plan up here I guess is to man the Wall and wait. Supposed to be lots of dead marching around but when we got here the place was abandoned. Prince has got half of all the castles manned but a few nights ago I spotted a group of people leaving, bright and early. Those sorceresses were with 'em, and some of the best swordsmen I know. Kal fucking Stark."
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Post by Ser Titus Grafton on Aug 24, 2015 19:46:59 GMT -5
Titus didn't need to be fully caught up on the goings on of the north to remember the name Kal Stark. "Prince Benjen has taken up with sorceresses?" he was genuinely surprised. "I wouldn't have thought it of the man. Not long before I was taken by the Wolf, in fact it was really the cause of it, I was part of a fleet that was running a blockade on the Prince's behalf as he hunted Cassadar. Ran into a sorceress myself. Wouldn't have guessed the Prince would consort with the type."
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Post by Amelia Royce on Aug 24, 2015 19:59:56 GMT -5
"Well, seems like some of 'em aren't as bad as others, though I don't know the details," Harris said, tugging at his beard. "Amelia Royce is the one, close to the Prince, but now she's gone and betrayed us for a man who ain't even an enemy. I think. Somehow she's still here though." He shrugged. "Politics."
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Post by Ser Titus Grafton on Aug 24, 2015 20:03:15 GMT -5
Titus furrowed his brow. In a deep part of himself he was glad these were things he no longer needed to concern himself with. "Not for me to say, I suppose," he shrugged. "Who am I to question the doings of my betters? If anything I suppose I'm glad someone other than myself gets to worry about it. I'll be happy enough just to swing the sword for now."
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Post by Amelia Royce on Aug 24, 2015 20:18:31 GMT -5
"Aye, my sentiments exactly," Harris said with an eager nod. "Can't imagine what it must be like having to have all that shit to worry about, haha." He found something stuck in his beard, a bug, and chucked it. "Gonna be boring up here. Been boring so far."
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Post by Ser Titus Grafton on Aug 24, 2015 20:20:45 GMT -5
"Pardon me if I've buggered this up, but haven't the bastards already bypassed the gigantic wall outside? And if that's the case, which I heard on the road, then why in the bloody hell are we defending it?"
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Post by Amelia Royce on Aug 24, 2015 21:30:13 GMT -5
Harris shook his head. "Apparently the Others can't cross it, just this... Grey Man or whatever. He raises the dead but he's by himself somewhere in the North." He nods towards the Wall. "Beyond that is where the big armies are."
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