The Duskendale Disaster

[The Smith]

Rickon summons his councilors to advise him on the Dusendale situation.

[wookie]

Benfry arrives first, a frown on his face

ooc: presume this is the poisoning?

[The Smith]

Rickon wants to know what is happening with the investigation of the poisoning.

[Imry Willfyre]

Durran Caron enters in a dark yellow and black checkered tabard, bowing respectfully to all those present. He is a man of average height in his late forties, with graying brown hair and dark green eyes.

[wookie]

Benfry looks to Elena Plumm and Aranya Royce at the King's request, thinking that they would have the most up to date information on what happened

[Deleted]

Lady Aranya entered with Elena and sat at the table. Aranya wore a grave expression, but spoke in a clear, careful tone.

"As you all know, I had held a tourney this month to celebrate the end of the war. On the second evening of feasting, after the joust, my guests began to fall in from a slow-acting poison that had been loaded into the food. First it claimed some of the children, including my cousin's daughter, Alysanne Blackwood." Aranya's mouth tightened. "Then Lady Connington and Lady Coldiron, Ser Michael Chester, Falatir Razoon and Lord Oliver Bulwer. I instructed my maester to administer lobelia to everyone, and I think we managed to save the rest - many others sickened, but did not die."

She touched her fingers together. "There are three suspects in my mind, Your Grace, councillors. First is the mad red priest, Pylos, who took my city and wanted to burn it down when I came to retake it. Second is the Martell girl, and the so-called Curse of Dorne. I have dismissed both of them, though they are the most obvious suspects. Pylos does not have the ability, and the Martell girl is not even known to me, and she does not have the ability either. My strongest suspicion is on the Cult of the Dead God."

[The Smith]

Elena cleared her throat, "All due respect Lady Royce, but Tristeza Martell may not have commited the act alone. She has the aid of the Sea Lord, and perhaps the aid of her husband." Elena paused to think about the situation, "However it is definately possible that the Cult could be behind this travesty."

[The Stranger]

"Kill all of them, than we can't go wrong." Erik said neutrally, his eyes steeled..

[Deleted]

"Yes, but I doubt the Sealord is petty enough to poison a feast for her. Still, you have a point." Aranya frowned. "And we still have no proof that Horas Blackwood survives, as you claim, Lady Elena. What do your whisperers in Braavos say? Who does Aellion Targaryen meet with?"

"The Cult has the resources and the best motive - to cause chaos by striking at places where the guard is low and the numbers of victims are high. But how do we combat that? How do you fight phantoms?" Aranya was frustrated.

"A lovely sentiment, Lord Coldiron," she said dryly. "But first we must find them."

[The Smith]

Elena shrugged, "The Cult has been nigh impentrable to our eyes. But they have not attempted anything like this before. Lady Martell poisoned a good deal of our soldiers in Sunspear not a year past. We also should consider it being a rogue Dornish resistance movement."

Elena looked to Lady Royce, "Have you not heard the rumors, the Dragon is advised by a Blorus Hackwood."

[The Stranger]

"That's your fucking job isn't it? Find the bastards and I'll make sure we have the ships to sail there and kill them." Erik said, crossing his arms in front of his chest.

[Deleted]

"You could be right," Aranya said. "As it happens, I have two Dornish children of Wyl by the sea coming to foster at Duskendale. I doubt they will be particularly useful hostages against a Dornish resistance movement, though. Have your whisperers picked up any news about that?"

"The first thing to be done is to find out where the poison was from. That is surely an indication of some kind. My maester said it would be crafted by a skilled poisoner, as it was tasteless and slow-acting, and that it was foreign. That certainly points across the sea. Unfortunately, I was unable to find out exactly which dishes were poisoned."

[The Smith]

"The Dornish resistance is just starting, and have so far been rather good at sniffing out traitors." Elena replied, "Also there are is no unifining force behind the their divirgent motions."

"The Poison is rare, and foreign based. But that could be explained just as easily as by the desire to make the deaths spread out over a great deal of time. As being a foreign based poisoner." Elena finished.

[Deleted]

"Well, what kind of poison was it? How was it smuggled in? Can we trace that? I have interrogated my entire kitchen staff as well, and they can give me no clue as to what dish might have been poisoned, or how someone tampered with it."

She was silent for a moment. "If Horas Blackwood is truly alive, then that is grave news indeed. He is certainly vindictive enough to do something like this. And if anyone could unify a fragmented Dornish resistance, it would be him. Though I am not certain that is what he would want."

There was another long pause. "If the Dornish resistance is scattered and just starting, I doubt they would have the resources to get a rare and expensive poison in such large quantities and sneak it into my castle and kitchens. Still, I will scour Duskendale and the crownlands for them, using whisperers and secret agents. We need to plant people in their cells. As their numbers grow, it will be harder to sniff out traitors.

"I need to find proof, some hard evidence to link one of these factions to the poisoning. Would the Sealord secretly fund the Dornish resistance? I doubt it. He may shelter the Dornish, but I doubt he would actively fund a scattered resistance. Tristeza Martell herself is a pauper, and cannot give them anything. The more I think of it, the less likely the Dornish seem, unless they found help elsewhere. The Cult?" Aranya raised an eyebrow. "Would the eyeless priests approach the Dornish?

"Then measures should be taken to find the Cult. They have been a thorn in our sides for too long, and if they are behind this..." Aranya clenched her fists. "I am not going to rest until we uncover their network.

"And we must hunt down Tristeza Martell and Horas Blackwood. That is for certain now. If she is behind this, even the Sealord will not be able to save her."

[The Smith]

Rickon spoke, "The Sea Lord was a merchant before he became Sea Lord. Perhaps some one should travel to him and ask his price for Tristeza Martell. And at the same time investigate her, and see if she was involved in this mad scheme."

Looking around he added, "The Cult is already a priority of mine, and the plans for countering it are being held from all but Benfry, Elena and I."