Winterfell

[Princess Ariel Targaryen]

Aethan nodded. "I'll keep that in mind."

[melon]

"Very well then and I accept you vow you shall follow me to Wherever I must go."

[lordbalorgreyjoy]

Balor walks into the room, looking around with mild interest and distaste at the heads lining the walls of the Great Hall. Gesturing with his sword he orders his men to take them down and dispose of them.
They do so, chuckling and tossing the heads as if they were heads of cabbages rather than human beings.

Balor goes into the Black Cells to see if he can find Lord Stark's family or at least try and identify any of the survivors by their house symbols.

ooc: Basically I'm trying to take a stocktake of who we have rescued exactly!

[melon]

OOC: Best way would be to ask the Smith.

[Lilith Royce]

Jeyne stayed with Lady Haley and the triplets but did offer her services to tend the wounded if they could be carried up to the hall outside the room. She was able to put some quite functional stitches in Ser Humphrey that helped close his wound.

After the chaos of the day, Jeyne settled in a chair by Lady Haley. Her eyes closed for a short time as one after the other, the babies began to wail, their cries piercing the quieter noises of the early morning.

Haley put two to her breasts will Jeyne rocked the third, but their cries continued to fill the castle.

[lordbalorgreyjoy]

ooc: Ok, the Smith got back to me.

Balor looked grimly inside a dank cell deep inside Winterfell's great keep. The smell of death, blood and rot stung his nose but he stepped inside with a torch and surveyed a scene of carnage. It was hard to tell, but on the surviving guard's testimony, this was the cell where Lord Stark's family was held.
The butchered forms of his lady wife and children were strewn across the cold floor and marks on the bodies from flies and rats made it unclear exactly how long they had lain here. Balor sighed and motioned for one of his men to go and find Callen & Benjen and break the news to them. He spared them one last glance and left the cell. The other cells were similar scenes of carnage.
Most of the noble hostages were dead, some had been horribly mutilated, others had appeared to have been abused and tortured before death and others still had body parts missing. A brief glimpse of Winterfell's kitchen had discouraged further investigation and Balor prefered not to linger long on the thought of where those missing limbs had ended up or what was in the prisoners meal bowls...

There were some survivors however. They had a haunted, horrible look about them. As if they had seen such scenes of torment and pain that nothing now could touch them. They were escorted numbly upstairs and into the sunlight. Even the hardy ironborn had ceased their japes and smiles once they saw the conditions in these cells. Most of the lords and ladies freed wore tabards unfamilar to Balor. Most of the dead, sadly, had all to familiar surcoats and faces. Some of them had been known to Balor. House Karstark, Umber, Glover, Dustin, Flint and Locke had all suffered losses today. Lord Stark would not grieve alone.

In all the spectacle, one symbol on the survivors was recognised. the Great Elk of Hornwood. Balor had them brought before him. Lady Marella Hornwood was instantly recognisable. Even in shock and grief, her beauty had been the talk of the northern lords for years. Balor guessed that dubious honour had come at a hefty price and was probably the only reason she still lived.
Balor gently escorted her outside himself, her young daughters, looking similarly abused, trailing in her wake. They walked without emotion and showed no sign of recognising their rescuers or anything else.

[Lilith Royce]

Haley and the babies finally fell asleep. As Tyrell and a number of guards were there to watch over them, Jeyne finally ventured down stairs.

What she found sickened her, and she began to treat the ghosts from the dungeon as well as she could. She ordered gruel from the kitchen for all the released captives and began treating their exterior wounds and sores.

[lordbalorgreyjoy]

Balor starts directing his men to drag the corpses outside and orders wood to be gathered for a mass pyre. The slain nobles are left to one side to be claimed and buried by their kin. The dead rebels are just tossed onto the pyre and left to burn.

It takes 3 men to haul the large body of the Greatbear out into the yard.

[Percy Rivers]

A crannogman, one of the rescue party members furrowed his eyeybrows. "Those ain't Lord Stark's family, I remember I visited Winterfell once."

[swammeyjoe]

Randal wanders with his personal guards, enjoying life.

[melon]

Tallahar finally leaves the Chambers of his wife and children, to find the former glorious guard that he had had been reduced down to about 40 men, "Balor my Greyjoy I don't not have enough men to hold this place I ask you to leave some to help My men and I are staying hear until my wife is health enough to travel which will not be for a few weeks."

[lordbalorgreyjoy]

Balor raises an eye at the crannogman "Really? The jailor, when put to question, was fairly adamant that it was the Starks. And I made sure that my men were especially persuasive" he said without a flicker of emotion. "The corpses are so rotted that it makes identification problematic of course. Are there any household retainers left alive to confirm this? I doubt Benjen would be up to the task"

At Tallahar's approach he turned and faced the large warrior. "My men & I will stay for a while, to secure this area in the name of the King. Your family will be safe here until then."

[melon]

Bowing to the Lord, then saying, "Thank you Balor, and I must thank you again if it wasn't for you and your Ironborn coming this rescue may of failed very quickly. I must say if you ever need a friend in the Reach I will be there. Also I hope you come to the Tourney I am holding at Highgarden."


OOC: One more post.

[sethgreyjoy]

Ser Humfrey finished another tankard. He and Tallahar had been celebrating their victory with some of the other men who had been in the Rescue Party. However, he was beginning to sag, as it was his fifth tankard of the evening.

"How long shall we stay here, MiLord?" He asked, somewhat drunkenly.

[melon]

Tallahar sat in the Great hall still nursing his first tankard, "Haley feeling better and Jeyne says that the Triplets will be fine, so I guess well be leaving this prison soon. With the Tourney that my Steward has kindly started to organize we will have to be back at Highgarden soon." Tallahar scratches at his face no a fully beard has grown where was once clean shaven.