The Small Council Chambers

[Lucius Malfoy]

The Chambers in which the small council meet to discuss matters important to the realm. It is a medium sized room, with many books and scrolls in cases along the walls and a large polished wooden table in the middle. There is one large window facing out to the sea.

Reigning King - Daemon IV Blackfyre
Hand of the King - Lord Raymun Fossoway
Master of Coin - Lord Adrian Bywater
Master of Ships - Vacant
Master of Whispers - Lord Cletus Yronwood
Master of Laws - Lord Denys Darklyn
Grand Maester - Bartimos (NPC)
Lord Commander of the Goldcloaks - Ser Jonos Bracken
Lord Commander of the Kingsguard - Ser Ryker Frey
Lord Commander of the Blackguard - Ser Donnel Lefford

[Lucius Malfoy]

Despite there being some vacancies within the Small Council, Daemon Blackfyre calls for a meeting to discuss matters that have been in his mind for some time now.

[Trot]

Jonos Bracken sat waiting for the others to enter the room and the meeting to begin.

[Lord Dread]

Ser Edwynd Hightower attended loyaly, while being early, well informed as Hightowers tend to be. With a sincere lowering of his head he greeted the King wordless, but yet polite, waiting for the other members to take their seat first.

[Barry Goldwater]

Lord Denys Darklyn enters the room after Sers Jonos & Edwynd, and waits for the meeting to commence.

[Oznerol]

The Hand of the King arrives at a timely fashion and takes a seat.

[Poach]

[OOC: Seems I'm in this! Wasn't aware.]

Donnel attended in his black and red-trimmed plate armour, taking off his blood red cloak and hanging it over the back of his seat. Two Blackguard stood guard outside, complimenting the Kingsguard who then arrived as the King's escort. Joining Jonos and Frey, "Lord Commander" was for the time being the most common rank in the room, beating the two Lords and single King, though two posts yet remained vacant.

He noted the rather young looking Fossoway sitting as Hand of the King: he seemed very young and inexperienced to hold such a position, but then Donnel had yet to hear this Hand speak or see him in action, so he resolved to let the young Lord be judged by his actions.

With him Donnel brought papers detailing the completion of the Dragonpit and operations in Flea Bottom.

[OOC: Haven't posted the Flea Bottom thing yet but I intend to do that tomorrow. Still working on it. Assume it takes place before this, though.]

[Lucius Malfoy]

Daemon notices that most of the members of the Small Council were present. The King leans forward in his chair, looking at all present.

Sers and Lords of the Small Council, with my coronation over and a grand tournament days away, my reign has begun and so shall our tasks. There is much to do such as healing the realm and punishing those who trespassed against my house.

The King looks at those present before continuing.

I have already begun speaking with the Prince of Dorne in the hopes of bringing an official end to any possible hostilities and, although I received a raven from the North, it only brought congratulations and not oaths of fealty. Furthermore, I plan to enact justice and reforms upon the Faith who held too far a great of liberty during the recent war. Since the time of Jaehaerys I, the Faith was forbidden to have a military, yet, in the recent war, there was a Holy League that supported Baratheon and the High Septon. This preacher has broken his oath to the Iron Throne and I will not let this go unpunished!

[Oznerol]

"I sent a proposal of marriage to Lord Stark, I believe he has an unmarried cousin. Hopefully that will amend for the past and start a new rapprochament between his lordship and the crown. I will devote my strenght to convince the Northmen to again swear fealty to the throne. Right now they're independent in all but name"

Said Lord Fossoway.

"If they rebuke our offers of friendship they should be punished and returned to the fold"

The young lord was bold, he clearly wanted to assert his authority, and that of the King.

"Same for the High Septon, a summon should be issued. If he doesn't comply we could just declare his appointment unlawful, summon the Most Devout and name a more fitting man as the new head of the Faith. If the Faith remains at Oldtown if will remain outside our inmediate control. That cannot be"

Fossoway had spent nights wondering about such urgent topics. He was still hesitant and he clearly wasn't an orator, but the Reachman wanted to compensate his youth.

[Lord Dread]

"I sent a proposal of marriage to Lord Stark, I believe he has an unmarried cousin. Hopefully that will amend for the past and start a new rapprochament between his lordship and the crown. I will devote my strenght to convince the Northmen to again swear fealty to the throne. Right now they're independent in all but name"

Said Lord Fossoway.

"If they rebuke our offers of friendship they should be punished and returned to the fold"

The young lord was bold, he clearly wanted to assert his authority, and that of the King.

"Same for the High Septon, a summon should be issued. If he doesn't comply we could just declare his appointment unlawful, summon the Most Devout and name a more fitting man as the new head of the Faith. If the Faith remains at Oldtown if will remain outside our inmediate control. That cannot be"

Fossoway had spent nights wondering about such urgent topics. He was still hesitant and he clearly wasn't an orator, but the Reachman wanted to compensate his youth.

"I disagree regarding the last statement, Lord Fossoway, as Oldtown had always been the seat of the Faith till the Targaryens have forced them to King's Landing", Ser Edmynd interjected, "The Great Sept is younger than the Starry Sept and soon not even the greatest Sept of the realm, as the cathedral expansion of the Starry Sept will soon come to an end.
If we are speaking in this affair in matters of control, I would rather critizise how it was even possible in the first place that the Mad King was able to murder the previous High Septon and assault the Great Sept. We agree with his grace that no man shall live unpunished for his war crimes, but given the trigger of this crisis it is hard to judge."
He then looked towards the King himself.
"Your grace, my Lord brother has talked with the High Septon multiple times before he declared for a king and while we are aware that this man is bringing forth the Faith in a zealous way, the motivation behind is election is clearly located within the past crimes of Aerys", the Master of Ships continiued, "If it is to move against the High Septon, we have to be careful, as the Faith won't forgive a second King removing a High Septon from power in a violent way. Further, it would make the movements of the Faith even more unpredictable. Within the walls of Oldtown and the contract, we made with the Faith, we were able to restore their trust at least into the High Lords of the Realm."
While our City Watch is not a constellation of greedy monkeys, who follow any man, the King assigns for his murder plots, he added in thought, his look briefly strifing Bracken in memory of what he had heard about the Great Sept incident.
"Thus I propose we take the problem by the root and rather aim to win the Most Devout for our cause", Hightower continiued furthermore, "The current High Septon is mayhaps not the best man for this position, but he relays on their support. Without the Most Devout backing him, his power would diminish, while it might even cause the election of a new High Septon. A precedence case of course, but given that the realm is currently in a crisis with the Faith and vice versa the Faith has to arrange itself with the King, it is definitly an option.
Given their new position within Oldtown and the relocation of the Faith to a safer haven than the capital could ever be again, his grace could offer them in exchange of demoting the current High Septon to confirm the Oldtown contract himself publically. Several factions would benefit from a peaceful solution, as Lord Hightower has no interest in a conflict within his own protectorate. 300,000 Dragons were payed to finance the new Starry Sept, while it's construction will end within the next year, so the financial risks are high, if Oldtown wants to remain in its position as one of Westeros' eldest cities and within the row of competing ports like Lannisport. It would not only be a desaster for House Hightower but as well for the local merchant guilds and those, who benefitted from our project."

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

Regarding the North, Ser Edmynd looked back towards Donnel Lefford, nodding towards the man.
"Though we respect White Harbor as a rising power within the cold grasps of the North, it won't be a major challenge to take it, given the naval aspects our Houses can provide", the Master of Ships answered honest, "However, I'm not keen on approaching a known bear trap directly and rather suggest to attempt an attack from the western side of Westeros to leave the Crownlands not undefended against potential southern enemies. The Reach is known for its naval assets and both House Hightower's and Lady Redwyne's fleet are already enough to outmatch anything the Northmen would throw against us from this position due to natural borders.
As well it would open Lord Lannister and those, sworn to his course, new opportunities to proof their worth towards the crown, while the Reach can give them support of the northern located regions. In eyes of all rebell houses being barely trustworthy, it would still leave the Southern Reach and those, who have resworn themselves to the Crown in the right position to keep Dorne within it's place."

He paused for the moment.
"Though we have to be careful, given that the situation in the Riverlands might get unstable, if the Crown decides to attack the North", he stated furthermore, "House Tully might intervene and the Freys alone had been enough to force Lord Tywin back into the Westerlands. If any move against the North is made, it might be wise to assure that their allies won't fight for their cause. House Hightower has marital ties to the Tullys, but I fear these won't be enough to stop them - unfortunately the Starks had more possibilities to aid them in battle than us, as we couldn't ignore House Tyrell's call."

[Trot]

Jonos was thoughtful, so Dorne and the North hadn't yet bent the knee? they would be difficult to deal with if they decided not to. The neck was all but impassible for a hostile force, and the Dornish had held off Aegon the Conqueror. If they were to force them to bend the knee they would need to drag their armies out of their homes. For now he keeps his peace considering the others words.

[Poach]

"Land an army off White Harbour and seize that port city as a base of operations," said Donnel, "The Neck is only a problem when transport by sea is impractical. We would have the element of surprise: the army would be ashore well before any Northern army could be mustered to drive us back into the sea."

Donnel had acquired experience in this area during his tenure as Castellan of Dragonstone, using the ships based there to move his own forces out of Blackwater Bay and into the Stormlands to support Steffon Baratheon's claim to the throne. The process of loading and unloading the men was when the army was most vulnerable, but if these operations could be done unmolested then entire armies could be relatively easily landed on any coastline.

[Oznerol]

"That would be a good course of action if Stark rebukes our offers of friendship and his Grace's demand of fealty"

Said Raymun.

"How many sails and men can we muster, Ser Donnel? How many would be required for that enterprise? If I remember correctly White Harbor is a well-protected port. Maybe the sudden arrival of the royal fleet and army will suffice to make Manderly kneel and surrender the city"

[Poach]

Donnel shrugged.

"You're the Marshal, Lord Hand, and the Crownlands can muster around two hundred and fifty warships of varying sizes to my recollection," he said, "Ser Edwynd, what are your thoughts?"

Donnel turned his gaze to Edwynd Hightower, the newly appointed Master of Ships. He ought to know more accurately what ships the King had to his disposal: Donnel's recollection came from plans made during the war. He recalled King's Landing had a sizeable squadron of warships, with Dragonstone, Driftmark and Duskendale each commanding smaller squadrons themselves. Donnel had temporarily secured many more warships under Dragonstone's banner, but with him gone he doubted their services had been retained.

[Poach]

"Do you believe the Riverlands will so eagerly cast themselves back into war with not only the Westerlands, but now the Crownlands and Reach at a minimum as well?" asked Donnel, leaning forward in his chair, "White Harbour can be seized by forces from the Crownlands alone, while the Westerlands could easily seize beach-heads of their own at Deepwood Motte or Barrowtown, dividing the North's attention between two fronts and bypassing the Riverlands entirely. The armies of the Reach will be more than enough to make House Tully consider twice if they are of a mind to rebel once again."

Donnel cared little for what became of the High Septon. In renouncing the Holy League he'd cut all ties with the Faith Militant and could see how their argument of divine right rung hollow now that Steffon Baratheon was firmly dead.

[Trot]

Jonos was the only riverlord present so he spoke to the mention of his homeland,

"Tully is a fool and weak. He barely has the power to enforce his writ." He pauses, "It is not him we should worry about but Frey. The man has been steadily gaining power and influence as the years go on." He pauses thinking, "If we attack the North Tully would come to the aid of his kin, he is to blinded by honor to do differently. but Frey may not be so fool hardy."

[Barry Goldwater]

Lord Denys waited for everyone else to finish speaking before he offered his own thoughts on the two matters.

First, he glances at the Lord Hand Fossoway and Ser Donnel Lefford, the two proponents of an invasion of the North on its east coast. "On the matter of the North, I find myself in agreement with the Lord Hand, Your Grace. If it comes to war, the White Knife appears to be the easiest site to force a landing. The Stony Shore on the west coast of the North is, as the Master of Ships has just pointed out, another tempting location to land our forces, but to reach it we will have to stray close to the Iron Isles. In addition to the possibility of a Riverlander intervention as he has just pointed out, I personally have received no word from the Ironmen about where they stand in regards to your claim, so whether they too will harass our transports at sea or not is entirely unknown to me - and combined with the aforementioned danger of a Riverlander intervention, that makes any attack on the Stony Shore into a risk worth taking, I believe. On the other hand, the Vale has already bent the knee to you, so we know where their allegiance lies now and that they are unlikely to cause any trouble for royal ships moving up the east coast; and furthermore, White Harbor and the lands around it are wealthier and more heavily populated than the Stony Shore. Its loss would be harder felt by the Northmen than the latter, and at the same time it would provide us with a larger and richer base for further operations into the Northern hinterland."

"On the matter of the Faith, I defer to the judgment of the Master of Ships. The Faith has been operating in Oldtown since the Mad King destroyed the Great Sept of Baelor, and if any here is most familiar with the recent workings of the Faith and the character of the High Septon, it would surely be the man whose family controls the city he has been based in since his election." He nods with approval at Ser Edwynd. "I further agree that if Your Grace seeks the removal of the High Septon, the most prudent way to go about it would be to work through the Most Devout and pull his foundations out from beneath him. Removing him by violence could well raise the specter of the Mad King who did the same in the minds of many, but none could refute a forced resignation brought about by the hands of the Most Devout themselves. If Your Grace seeks to return the Faith to its tradition of non-violence," Admittedly a tradition which only came about years after the ascent of the Targaryens, Denys thought inwardly, "Then surely it is only fitting that you engineer his removal through the Faith's own traditional mechanisms for removing a High Septon who has fallen out of the grace of the gods as well."

[Lord Dread]

"Whether it be wealthier or not doesn't make a difference, Lord Darklyn", Ser Edmynd replied thoughtful, "The key in taking the North lies in securing Moat Cailin and taking out Stark's supporters right away. A lot of western-bordered settlements can be easily taken with Flint's Finger, Barrowton, the Rills and Deepwood Motte being bordered closely to the ocean-side. Given that we can choose at which time of the year we attack to choose the North to its knees, we could even take Bear Island during the Summer, even though they won't matter much.
Landing at the east coast is a good attempt as well, but we might want to safe this movement until we know how to handle the Dornishmen. I agree that we should even consider an attack from both sides to keep Stark tied and splitted up with his armies, but I'm more worried about the Martells mustering a strong fleet against us than scared about one major naval settlement from exiled Reachmen."
He turned back towards Bracken, being more interested in what he brought up regarding the Riverlands.
"The Freys might be a key in the assault upon the North, though I'm uncertain about whether Lord Walder wishes to join us or not", he said while musing, looking over towards Ser Ryker Frey,the man who served Aerys, the High Septon and now Daemon himself as a personal guard, "While I congratulate your House for their past successes, I don't know their relation towards the North and the Riverlands. Given that the King might have to intervene and House Frey has achieved much under Aerys territorial-wise, it would be good to know if you can approve to statements regarding the Riverlands. If both Mallister and House Frey support a potential Tully aid by waters, it would harden any efforts against Stark... of course given that his grace wishes to bring the North onto its knees."
Looking towards what the Freys had achieved, Hightower knew that Lord Rolland respected them, as they were potentially upstarts, but have proven themselves more than it could be said of any traditional Reachman House.When it came to a recent conversation regarding the Frey victory over the Lannister host, the Lord of Hightower had mentioned that he feared the Twin towers more than the Lion, if he would have to choose an enemy himself.

[Poach]

"The key to taking the North is getting past Moat Cailin," said Donnel, "Holding White Harbour does exactly that. We can ferry in fresh forces and supplies from there and fortify it as a base from which to wage a campaign against Winterfell. There is no need to waste good men trying to storm a castle deep inside a disease-ridden swamp when we can simply sail past it."

[Lord Dread]

"Which is why we take the approach from the sea as discussed, preferably from both shore sides of the North", the Master of Ships agreed, "As Lord Darklyn mentioned, the Vale could do this job for us, if we have to attack White Harbour, though a trustworthy admiral would have to lead their forces and gather them up with the royal fleet. From what I heard the current Arryn is a child and the last Arryn Aerys trusted, was the one, who decided to turn his back on him.
With Lannister and a partial Reachforce from the West, taking Flint,Dustin, Glover and Ryswell before they can aid Winterfell's call, it will break the back of the North even further, granting us enough time to liberate Moat Cailin and open the road for the southern forces to relieve us.
Given that the Freys volunteer with the King's cause, not even the Riverlanders would get past his defences and gateways and easen up the submit of the Starks quickly."
At least theoretical.