Into the Lion's Den...

[The Mad Skylord]

Lord Lorimar Peake rode north, straight after leaving Coldmoat. He was riding for the Rock, he had an offer to make. His banners flew proudly at the head of the small company of 8 men, and they rode hard. They were pleased when they finally reached the incredible Casterly Rock. They gazed at it for several minutes, before remembering their purpose and cantering up the steep hill towards the gates.

[Poach]

[OOC: The mods are still considering what Lannister will demand for the pact, as we weren't honestly expecting this move (so well done on that count I suppose! ) but I'll start a conversation so you can at least make your own pitch.]

He'd been followed since crossing the border by horsemen, eventually being stopped just past Crakehall and interrogated. From there on he rode under escort of a dozen Crakehall Knights and a dozen of their squires.

Upon reaching the Rock he was allowed inside the cavernous fortress, marched through many corridors, staircases and hallways, until eventually arriving in a somewhat crowded Throne room where the King of the Rock sat, while his retinue were kept in a room for petitioners nearby, under guard. Within the hall were many of the Rock's Lords and just as many Knights. All fell silent when Lorimar entered, everyone interested in what the foreigner had to say.

"Lord... Peake, is it?" asked the King, looking somewhat amused in an arrogant sort of way, ​"Don't you have your own countrymen to be killing?"

[The Mad Skylord]

((OOC: Well, I realized that to gain the Northern Lord's Soldiers, I needed to secure the North. It just seemed to be logical! Glad I surprised you! ))

Lorimar Peake looked upon the fair Lannister face in deep amusement. He felt the natural desire for flippancy arise.

"Indeed I do, King Lannister, however, I can't march thousands of men from the borders while you prowl in the north. I have come to ask you for a non-aggression pact between our Houses. I desire that there be peace between Peake and Lannister, so I can turn my eyes inwards, to winning my war. I believe it would be in your best interests to postpone any attacks you may have planned on the Reach. If you march when I march my armies south, we would be forced to turn around and fight you, this would cause you great loss. You need only wait, until our war is done. We Reachmen will break each other, and you would be free to seek war against the new King of the Reach, if you so desired - war against a weakened state, whose soldiers are dead from a bloody three way civil war."

Lorimar knew it was slightly queer to offer a better way to invade his own homelands, but he knew he had to present Lannister a better solution, if he was to prevent an invasion the minute the Northern Reachmen marched to war.

Traits:
+3

[Poach]

"I do have generals, Lord Peake," said the King in a bored tone, "They tell me the Northern Lords man their castles steadfastly and their patrols keep a watch on the Ocean Road night and day as far as Crakehall. They are wise to do so, for your civil war tempts me greatly, as I imagine it tempts the Storm King and the Dornish."

"You, however, need those troops," he said, lazily pointing a finger at Peake, "Which means you're going to have to offer me something in return for not taking your great castles when Osgrey's lackeys leave them. Once they're mine you'll be unable to get them back: a war between us after your exercise in self-depopulation will only embolden your other neighbours, and you're not on good terms with the Storm King or the Dornish..."

[The Mad Skylord]

Lorimar smiled sadly. It was true. He had racked his brains to come up with an offer. "Firstly, marriage. A marriage between our houses would be of great benefit to the two of us. Secondly, a military alliance. While I will not be capable of drawing up troops to aid your conquests for several years, a military alliance between the Reach and the Westerlands would be a formidable thing. Thirdly, tribute. After this war has ended, I am willing to pay you a tribute of 50'000 hands a year, for 15 years. Fourthly, I will pay homage to you for as long as I may live."

[Poach]

Roll:
10/20 base.
+3 Charisma
-5 Rank/Position (A foreign Lord attempting to wed into a Royal house)
-5 Risk (If you lose or are losing, King Lannister now has a child married to you, making you his bloodline, and you're not even winning yet)
Need 18-20. Rolled 8.
--- --- --- --- --- --- ---

"A marriage and an alliance benefit you far more than I, and I am the King of the Rock," he said, before pointing to the floor, "I sit upon a mountain of gold and my vassals sit upon yet more mountains of gold and silver. I am the richest man in Westeros!"

He leaned forwards, "You are one contender of three: a marriage and alliance to you not only drags me into your struggle but also chains me to someone who may become a poor choice to waste a child of a King on, a bet I am loathe to make. I want something that benefits my Kingdom, not a gamble with my children. Your offer is a poor one, Lord Peake, beneficial to you far more than to me, yet it is I who holds all the cards."

[The Mad Skylord]

Lorimar nods, he hadn't expected it to work. He looked Lannister straight in the eye. "Then shall we play this game differently, Your Grace? What is it you want"

[Poach]

[OOC: The wiki says the Kingdom of the Rock seized territory from the Reach during Greybeard's reign but not which territories, so I'm just picking a direction here.]

"My father gained fame and respect warring with your Greybeard in his youth," said the King with a smirk on his face, "Tumbledon and the surrounding region were his prize. Perhaps there are a few of the oldest Reachmen yet alive who remember when that territory was loyal to Highgarden."

He sprung to his feet, appearing invigorated now, "I propose we cut out the middle man and save you some pain down the line, Lord Peake. After your little war ends the Storm Kings are going to come wanting Nightsong back, and perhaps even your own Starpike in the bargain; Dornish and Ironborn pirates are probably going to be fighting each other over who gets the honour of pillaging the shores of the River Mander and the Ironborn might even want the Shields to revert to their rule; and I certainly won't pass up on such a banquet either. Cede me land peacefully that I might glorify myself among my own kin and I'll leave your Kingdom to burn by its own hand then by your neighbours' hands. I'm going to take it anyway!"

He spoke the final sentence with an exaggerated shrug of his shoulders. An intentionally hard bargain, but the King was betting Peake would rather be King of a slightly reduced Reach and only have to contend with two fronts than King of the Reach as it stood now and face the Rock as well as the Storm King and a renewed onslaught of Dornish pillaging.

[The Mad Skylord]

Lorimar smiled lightly, to do this would alienate many of the Reach lords. "Then might we add one condition? Let me win the war first. I will have to conquer House Strickland to make this promise. I will send you my youngest daughter as a hostage, proof I will honour my word the minute this war ends."

[Poach]

[OOC: I've actually mistyped. It wasn't meant to be Tumbleton it was meant to be Peckledon. It's a territory inside the Westerlands, I'm just selecting that as the territory that Greybeard lost because the wiki doesn't say. King Lannister doesn't want Tumbleton, he would actually want the territory held by House Roxton: The Ring High Lordship. You seem willing to cede territory, though.]

"A rider will inform Lord Osgrey of my guarantees and invite his scouts to patrol unmolested as far as Greenmont when I have your daughter." said the King matter-of-factly, "A pleasure, Lord Peake."

The King was most pleased. Without drawing a single blade he'd secured hostages as a guarantee of territorial concessions, and if Peake lost the war he had a daughter of his to sell off to anyone with a grudge against her father while his armies took the Ring anyway. Win-win!

"One thing, though, Lord Peake," said the King, almost as an afterthought, "When I have the girl I shall be making enquiries. If I find you've tried to fool me I'll fund and arm whichever of your rivals offers the heads of your entire family."

[The Mad Skylord]

Lorimar had been beginning to walk away. He turned back and flashed such a look of fury that several men flinched. "Whatever my faults may be, Your Grace - betrayal of my countrymen, fighting a civil war - I am a man of my word. You will have mine own kin and blood. That is all I have to say on this matter."

----------------------

Lorimar leaves for the south again. His daughter is escorted up to Crakehall, from there she is sent to the Rock.