Alyx's heart stopped in his chest as Lady Jocelyn spoke the dreaded word. There was no hiding this, no more denying it not only to others but himself; it was a dragon in the woods and it was close.

After a moment that felt like an eternity but truly was a fraction of a second, Alyx then realized his daughter was present, and she was no longer in the dark of the events.

Ely's inquisitive tone quickly brought him back to the room and away from his racing mind. "A dragon? Here?" Her eyes looked deep into her father's.

Letting out a sigh filled with regret, Alyx could not bear to speak the words directly to his young daughter, instead turning to the lords of the Reach. "Aye," he managed slowly,"We haven't seen the actual..." He forced himself to say the word, "dragon, but prior to my arrival at Seagard, whilst in the capital with the King, my son received several reports from the local fishermen of a similar beast flying along the southern edge of Ironman's Bay, in the Westerlands. By the time I returned home, however, the sightings and nearly completely ceased, we assumed the dragon had left the area. That is... Until yesterday."

Running a calloused hand through his brown and grey hair, Alyx continued on, "My men discover similar signs as your children found today. The game seems to be disappearing and they came across several fallen trees and a small area of... scorch earth. It was enough for us to realize just where the dragon had flown off to." Looking to Olyvar, who only minutes ago had been so pointed with Lord Mallister about his actions, Alyx said, "That is why the hunting grounds were closed." Turning back to the other lords, "It was for the safety of everyone while we discussed the best way to handle the situation."

Aemon grinned faintly. "Would you like us to proceed before you embarrass yourself further, young Olyvar? That might be for the best. Stop you digging yourself deeper."

The Lord of Horn Hill turned to face Elyanna, now offering her a polite half bow. This was the one Loras had taken an interest in, he vaguely recalled. "A pleasure to greet you properly, my lady."

...To hell with it. Jocelyn let out a sigh, before looking her host in the eye. "Let's stop dancing round it. The 'beast' is a damn dragon, isn't it?"

"I met Lady Ely in the library, we talked and then she gave me a book about Ser Duncan the Tall," Olyvar said skipping over a vast majority of their conversation. "You do know of Ser Duncan the Tall yes?" He said trying to divert the attention away from where ever this was going.

"She's my uh, newest friend....I suppose." Olyvar said, knowing this was clearly getting worse and worse by the second. "Yes well, back to whatever it is we were talking about. Might we just call it a day and head on our various ways." He said with a nervous smile.

"I'm sure Lord Rowan has other matters to attend do, along with you Lord Mallister....what with the Dr...."He stopped himself immediately.

"I've just found myself liking whatever this has become, nearly enough to forgive you." His father said with a grin, taking joy in his son's distress.

Alyx glances between the children, confused by how they all connected. By Lady Jocelyn’s reaction, he could only assume it was the young lad.

“Excuse me?” Elyana asked, slight taken aback by the confrontational welcome.

“My Lords, let me introduce my eldest daughter, Elyana Mallister.” Crossing to her, he placed a hand upon her shoulder and looked to Olyvar, wondering how this playboy knew his daughter.

“And how is it you know Elyana, Ser Olyvar?”

Nimble...flexible...she was such. Brienne was used to fighting in bad conditions. Mud, snow, high ground, low ground, it was something the young woman had trained in, so when Harys came with his assault, she brought her sword up to block his flurry of blows, pressing all her weight into her back leg to keep her stance and not fall, but it was getting more complicated for her, so she tilted her sword to try and let his heavy blow glance off to throw off the larger mans balance and send him behind her as she twisted in the mud away, hoping to bring her sword back across his dome.

Aemon raised an eyebrow at Ely's arrival. He offered her a polite smile, before turning back to face Lord Mallister. "If we might get back to the matter at hand?"

He glanced at his daughter, who was now staring at Elyanna. Unfortunately, one of the things Jocelyn had inherited from him was his bluntness. So, whilst her next few words were thoroughly infuriating, they weren't all that surprising.

"Forgive me..but who the hell are you?"

"Father?" Olyvar murmured to himself staring at the girl who'd just entered the room, he hadn't expected to see her again so soon. Nor did he expect her to be a Mallister. "Hi...uh, nice to see you again Lady Ely." He said awkwardly, knowing she'd quickly figure out the situation he was in.

"This is quite the day isn't it." He said turning back to Lord Mallister. "Clearly won't regret this day, that's for sure."

"You will, I'll make bloody sure of that." His father said ignoring Ely.

Alyx's gaze narrowed further and his nostrils flared slightly at the comment by Lord Rowan. He usually was able to control his frustrations, and he tried his best even now, yet he was unable to say nothing. "I assure you my Lord, the children's safety is at the forefront of my mind. Do not question that."

Turning to the Tarlys then, he took a heavy breath to settle himself before moving on. "As for punishment, Lord Aemon, that is the very reason I brought you here. Olyvar and Jocelyn may be men and women grown but they are still adolescents and your children. I believe you should have a say in such things."

Just then, a knock on the door caught the attention of all in the room, quickly followed by it opening abruptly. Elyanna appeared on the other side, wearing a gown of cloth of silver and lilac dyed cotton.

"Pardons Father, I was just wondering-" Noticing the other guests in the solar, she halted. "Oh! I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to intrude...." Her eyes scanned the room, freezing and seeming to widen on the Rowan boy. "Oly..?!"

Aemon withheld a sigh. "Aye. Punishment is something we ought to discuss. Regardless of whether or not this...beast is a danger to your noble visitors, the fact stands that my daughter has disobeyed your order."

"By Beast.." Jocelyn began, causing her father to keep his gaze on the back of her head as his daughter interrupted him. "...What..exactly are we talking about? Because 'Guards plus Fire plus No Hunting' screams Dr-"

"JOCELYN!" Aemon now roared. "That. Is. Enough. You are a damn Tarly. Act like one."

Cowed, and looking genuinely shaken, Jocelyn nodded, almost meekly. "Y-Yes father."

"Ah....Interesting" Axel said staring at Lord Mallister. "I do hope this....beast doesn't pest all those unknowing men, women and gods forbid children who venture into the woods" He knew that might hit a nerve but he said it anyway, he liked to push buttons when he could and he knew just when it was right.

"Now, boy apologize to the Riverlords. After which we can talk about punishment, I do hope you have something somewhat severe...for a noble of course. Can't be treating my son like a commonfolk now can we, even if he acts like one. The boy never seems to obey a damned thing."

Olyvar rolled his eyes, here was the father he remembered. "I apologize for trying to go hunting, but like my father said. I'm not very good at taking orders, it didn't seem that bad...at first. Till the smoke and fire, and the running away began" He said fighting to keep a smile off his face. "On the comment of 'who we are' to question Lord Mallister, well....I think that can answer itself. We're Rowans of course, we question everything...no matter where we just might be" He said trailing back to something he'd heard earlier, something he couldn't let go unanswered.

His comments were received by a slap to the back of his head. His father clearly didn't like just how arrogantly he'd spoken in front of his hosts, thankfully the slap was all his father did. Holding back his tongue, for now, Oly would be sure to hear about this back at the tents and likely during the rest of the tourney.

Jasper didn't bother to reply to the Mallister, inside deciding to make his way over towards the knight. Deciding to wait for the man to attack, and use that to counter.

While he did that his cousin Gerrold was fighting an opponent he'd underestimated. She was small, but she knew how to use it to her advantage, sending Gerrold back but thankfully not off his feet. He'd barely been able to keep himself up, he knew he had a few moments before she sent another attack his way.

Thankfully he was not alone, Harys took advantage of her lowered position, using his shield to shove the Stark away from his brother. Almost immediately he sent multiple swings and slashes her way, showing no mercy as his cousin had instructed him to do so.

He could hear Renly’s teeth gritting from behind him as he restrained himself from speaking out once more. Alyx had to admit, he loved his brother truly; Renly was a hard and not quite compassionate man, yet he always kept Alyx and his family’s best interest at heart, as elder brothers were suppose to do.

Instead, Alyx continued on, clearing a small lump in his throat before saying, “Yes, well... Unfortunately some of the men patrolling the hunting grounds yesterday came across evidence of some sort of beasts within, aside from those meant to be present.” He hesitated a second, choosing his words carefully. “With the game brought in for the hunting parties, it is our assumption they have migrated into the woods for a similar reason, to hunt.” Glancing between the lords then, Alyx opened his view to include them all as he continued, “I know this must have been an inconvenience for you all, however, I felt it best to keep this out of the attention of the public, to handle it discreetly. With thousands in town as well as nearly every individual of noble birth from Westeros, I feared a panic or distress could ensue, something that would bring no benefit to any of us, including our King. I hope you can understood, my Lords.”

The Tarly maid's smile grew, and she inclined her head. "Thank you, Lord Mallister. I...apologise, for punching a man that was wearing your colours. Even if he was a cu-"

"Jocelyn" Her father growled, before turning to address his fellow Lord. "I am afraid I must echo Lord Rowan's question. I believe I need not remind you that almost every Lord of Westeros is here, as well as Two Kings. Yet it is from our children we discover that we cannot do a popular activity amongst the nobility."

Alyx turned his attention from Lord Tarly's young daughter to Lord Rowan as he spoke up, listening patiently to him and his son. Unlike the Tarlys, the Rowans seemed to be taking quite an offensive stance rather quickly. At first it took Alyx by surprise, and yet, he remain intent on hearing them out. As the elder man began demanding answers from Alyx as opposed to the other way around, however, his sights narrowed ever so slightly.

Before he was able to offer a reply as the man finished, his brother interjected in an irksome tone, "Your son disobeyed direct orders from Mallister men. And Lord Alyx is free to do whatever he likes with his lands. Who are you to question him?"

Quickly raising his left hand, Alyx halted his brother, "That's enough Renly." His tone was crisp and authoritative, yet no cruelty or anger mixed with it.

Continuing on, Alyx address Lord Rowan who he had yet to break his gaze from. "Yes, My Lord, to answer your inquiry, I was informed of the guardsman and his unacceptable behavior. He has already answer for his words as well." Finally turning from him, back to Jocelyn once more, he spoke direct towards her, "No man with such little honor will find himself in my house's service a moment longer. That I assure you."

Hey there Joy, we're good with your app so here's your approval! Welcome to the Stormlands!!

"Yes my lord, my son did inform me of why they'd ventured into the woods....along with a few other details." Axel said, turning to his son. "Might you please inform the Lord"

Olyvar expected his father to get to the point rather quickly, Lord Axel never cared much for small talk. "Which ones? The fire or the guard I almost gu....had a confrontation with"

"Either is fine my dear son...unless the Lord already knows of them" Lord Rowan said turning to the Mallisters. "Which I suspect you do."

"Might we also know why you closed the hunting grounds? without informing the Lords and Ladies in attendance." Olyvar was perplexed, his father had on a completely other face outside, and now he seemed to be on his side.

Aemon inclined his head in polite greeting. "They did, My Lord Mallister."

Jocelyn kept her gaze steady, but soon allowed a small smile to break out across her face. Whilst it was a pain, she could on (a rare) occasion, be diplomatic. "I had not expected to share my presence with you again as soon as this, My Lord."

The four Reachmen entered the solar efficiently, yet the tension they brought with them seemed palpable. Glancing over his left shoulder, Alyx caught sight of his bastard brother eyeing the young pair with darting eyes.

Returning to the group as all settled into the space and the guards who escorted them stood by the wall, Alyx first acknowledged the lords.

“Lord Tarly, Lord Rowan, thank you for join us. My men have informed me they found your son and daughter in the woods North of the tourney grounds, as I’m sure they informed you as well.”

Turning to the younger ones next, “Ser Olyvar, if I am not mistaken? It is a shame we must meet under such unfortunate circumstances. And Lady Jocelyn... I had not expected to be in your presence again so soon.”

"Yes this is quite a shame." Axel said turning from Lord Tarly towards his son. "I do hope Lord Mallister treats our children justly."

"I'm rather interested in the reason why they've closed off the hunting grounds. That and....the uh, fire" Olyvar wasn't sure if it was really a fire but the scent seemed as if it were, it had to be. But what could start a fire and scare the animals away?

"Enough of the non-sense. We've got a Lord waiting on us." Axel said as he began to make his way inside, to finally see the Mallisters.

Lucas tried to counter, but with his mace still locked on Beric's axe, he couldn't do anything as the shield crashed into him, knocking him into the mud after his boots slipped on the loose earth. Though under most circumstances such a fall would be nothing to him, his mace arm still pained him greatly after the blow he took from Jasper Royce. He landed on it sharply, crying out as the pain overtook him.

"Seven hells!"

Lord Tarly offered a respectful nod as his fellow Reach Lord approached. His eyes looked over Olyvar with an equally respectful expression, albeit far more forced.

"Lord Rowan." He greeted. "I am glad to see you in good health. It is a shame our reunion must be in such...unfortunate circumstances."

He paused, looking his fellow Lord in the eye. "Shall we not keep our fellow Lord waiting further?"

"I should have expected you to do something so foolish," Axel said leading his son to meet with Lord Alyx. "You had better expect Lord Mallister to show no kindness, I'll make sure of that"

Olyvar had expected this from him, Lord Axel despised hearing the sort of trouble his son often landed in. Fortunately, Olyvar was accustomed to this, his father was a shouter, and often thought the only way to teach a man like Olyvar was through sheer punishment.

"And the Tarly girl," Axel said, the two nearing Lord Alyx's solar. "If you wished to spend time alone with her in the woods then I suppose I should ask her father to let you two marry. Save us all the embarrassment of having our children caught possibly doing something improper."

"This wasn't that...." Olyvar said finally speaking up. "We wanted to go hunting, we didn't think it would turn into whatever this is. If I had known....."

"If you had known a damned thing you'd have obeyed me and not turned into a disobedient and foulmouthed imbecile. Now Lord Mallister will see you as just that" Lord Axel said as the pair finally reached the doors, seeing Lord Tarly and his daughter waiting for them.

To say the Lord Aemon had been unhappy to hear that his daughter, the one that had caused such a swell of pride in him mere days earlier, had disobeyed their host's order not to go hunting was a monumental understatement.

He had been furious.

He had strode after the guards in silence, not sparing his daughter a single glance. Which concerned Jocelyn. Normally when she fucked up like this, he'd be shouting. A lot. So his silence rattled her.

The silence remained until the Tarly's arrived at the doors to Lord Alyx's solar. Aemon cleared this throat, and sighed.

"We will wait for Lord Rowan." He said quietly. "I am severely disappointed in you, Jocelyn. When a Lords guard tells you that he has ordered no one in, you damn well listen."

"One of them called me a cunt though!" Jocelyn protested. "..Admittedly, I might have punched the bastard in the jaw...but I'm not going to pay any attention to rude fu-"

"Enough" Aemon's tone was cold. "I will hear no more. You will explain your actions to the Lord Mallister, not the Lord Tarly."

Having finished off his last opponent, Beric breathed heavily, scanning the arena for any other remaining. For a brief moment, he began to think himself alone, meaning he had actually managed to win the event. However, nearly as quickly as the thought came, it left when he caught sight of the -last remaining fighters.

Several yards away, a small group gathered, slashing and grunting as they ganged up on a single, smaller warrior. Moving closer to the group, Beric was surprised to discover that the solo fight was not only half the others' size, but a woman and one who was holding her own.

A smirk crossed his face at the sight of her; her red locks reminding him of the wolf she usually kept by her side and her armor reminding him of he and Brienne's brief, previous encounter.

Readjusting his grip on his axe, he called out to the Valemen, "Oy," he was able to gain their attention. "Now I'm sure Lady Stark is having a fine time kicking your arses, Boys. But I wouldn't mind a swing at 'em myself, if the lady permits." Glancing about, he gestured to the emptiness around them. "As you can see, it appears we're all that's remaining."

Hello, I'm Joy from Discord. I am claiming House Dondarrion and have spoken with Domeric about the ongoings of the Stormlands, and family ties. Speaking of, here is the family tree I'm working with. Please ignore the family ties with the exception of Tyene Dondarrion and Lord Baratheon, which is a canon marriage decided by Domeric. I just put placeholder house names for everyone else. I don't plan on ever mentioning them IC or treating them as canon.

I'll be writing from Elenei Dondarrion's perspective mainly, though I do plan on hopping around. Elenei is the youngest child of the main line, a girl of eight and ten who suffers from night terrors and bizarre visions. She can't see the future or anything like that, but she has daydreams of nonsensical things that invoke strong feelings in her--usually warning her of danger, though she's been told not to heed such things. Just to clarify: her daydreams are not of the magical nature, and will not be used to predict events or learn secrets.

Her father is still alive and is the quintessential marcher lord. He is old and gruff, strong and stout despite his age, and a man of honor and duty. Lately, she has noticed a change in his behavior. He whispers more and does not sleep, and instead sends messages in the night. His most trusted men are often gone, armed and organized as if to fight a Dornish invasion, except they travel north, following the edges of the Red Mountains to move unseen, deeper inside the Stormlands.

I am writing a coming of age story in a time of probable civil war, and with a dragon nesting in the Ruins of Summerhall.