Post by The Smith on Jul 30, 2009 17:09:24 GMT -5
Lester
The Pennylover rode through the King's gate with his extravagant entourage of eleven knights, an army of servants, stewards and his daughters. Everyone wore silks and jewellery, even the horses, and high above them the Merryweather flag danced in the wind. Lester's dagughter and heiress, Margeary, was the one that attracted most looks. She looked a lot like her mother when it came to the shape of her face, body and hair. However, the color of her hair and eyes were her father's; red and green. She was a real beauty even though she was still rather young. She invoked the picture of Lester's late wife in his head as he looked at her while riding through the street towards the Mud Gates. There, the entourage turned to the Street of Steel and proceeded on the way to Visenya's hill. There, Lester had a small, sweet mansion were he always stayed with his family while in King's Landing.
He wasn't there just for fun. Actually, he was there only for business. He needed to rebuild his warehouse in the port and check his trade agreements with the representatives of the Archon of Tyrosh. He also needed to visit the queen and think about opening some new businesses. He managed to rebuild every part of his land that was destroyed during the war and now he had enogh money from taxing the crossing of the Mander to open some new businesses in King's Landing.
He even considered creating a bank in King's Landing. That would be a move that would put the Iron Bank out of business in Westeros and by interests he would be able to acquire more money for himself. However, that move also needed a political backing which would mean the blessing of Queen Rhaenys. Lester liked economy more than politics. In economy you paid everything with gold and in politics with words. Gold has real value, but words are wind. However different the worlds of politics and economics were, the one couldn't exist without the other. Whether it is because politics has a tendency of mixing into everything or for the fact that money means power is not known.
There was another thing on his mind. He had three unmarried daughters and he needed and alliance with a poweful family in order to climb even higher. Some would consider this greedy, but Lester is an ambitious man. It was going to be easy to marry off his second and thid daughter. He only needed to find proper families, he didn't have to think much about the man. But Margeary, his heiress, needed to be married to a trustworthy man, for he would one day need to rule Longtable. As he thought about his financial and political plans and problems, the rich and extravagant entourage entered the Merryweather mansion
Margeary
Only four days have passed since the Merryweathers entered the city and Margeary was already bored. She spent most of her time reading. She liked books, but she didn't like to spin her days around them. She walked around the city often, followed either by her sisters, or Griselda, her handmaid. She wanted to ride her mare, shoot from a bow and fuck someone. Her father probably knew she wasn't a virgin, but he didn't show it. Actually, she slept with approximately half of Longtable, both men and women, so it would insult her father if she even thought he didn't know.
In Longtable she sometimes spent hours talking to her father, or walking around the keep with him. Here, he either made trade agreements with the Tyroshi or sat in his room surrounded by engineers trying to draw plans of his warehouse. As she thought about it all, sitting in an armchair with a glass of Dornish red an idea came to her. She put down the glass, grabbed her bow, quiver and arrows and went out of the house.
As she went out Griselda followed her, calling her name. Margaery simply walked to the stable and saddled her mare. Griselda ran to her. "Lady Margeary, your father said you shouldn't go anywhere alone. Besides, you should at least tell him that you are going."
Margeary grinned "That would be your job, hon."
"But...But by the time I get to your father's solar you will already be out of the city walls!" She spread her eyes.
Margeary strapped her bow to the saddle, put the quiver on her back, mounted the horse and turned back to Griselda with a grinn. "You'd better hurry then."
Lester
It was quite stressful for Lester to talk about business all the time. He realized why Margeary rode away and he knew exactly where she went; The Kingswood. She was probably going to ride for a while, hunt a few animals and return. That would be fairly typical of her. The only thing he worried about now was his warehouse. He managed to get good terms of trade with the Tyroshi and that was just enough money to rebuild the warehouse. The problem was, he needed it fast. The Tyroshi ships were already sailing next the Massey Hook and they were now anchored in Sharp Point. When they come, their goods will have to unload in his warehouses. The thing is, one warehouse wasn't enough to hold all their goods, so he needed to fix the others. They paid him to use his dock and his warehouses, which was a large income for him.
He still didn't visit the Queen and as he heard, she was soon going to leave King's Landing. He still needed to something about his banking plans and his plans with the Tyroshi were certainly going to help prove the Queen that the Pennylover is to be trusted with a big financial enterprise as the bank of King's Landing. So, his first goal was to rebuild the warehouse and fulfill his agreement with the Tyroshi.
Twenty men were currently working there, ten as builders and ten as material handlers. There were also around a dozen stewards and servants there as well. He needed more builders, but they were hard to find. He didn't like to employ members of certain guilds because sometimes builders out of the guild were as good as guildmembers, only cheaper. He needed good workers, but he didn't want to part with too much money. Now that the Tyroshi were in the Blackwater bay, he needed to hire more workers and the only workers left were guildmembers.
He told his main steward and clerk to ride to the warehouse and tell all the builders to start working as material carriers. Twenty men working only on material with speed things up considering the fact that he planned to hire twenty more builders from the guild that would only work on the building itself. Lester, dressed in his finery, mounted his white stallion and rode to the Guild of Builders and Architects. He rode through the streets of King's Landing and came to the large marble building of the guild.
Lester dismounted, gave the horse to his servants and entered the building. It was large, with columns of pillars and a clerk sat at a desk in the middle of it. The smell of stone and mortar filled the room. Lester moved to the desk. "I want to see Mathis Builder, the chairman of the guild."
The clerk looked at him arrogantly, as Lester wore robes of eastern style and no color indicated that he was a Merryweather. "Oh. Who are you and do you have an appointment?"
Lester smirked, put his chin high and looking the clerk straight in the eyes said with an aura of icy authority "Don't ask the stupid bureaucratic questions, underling. I am Lord Lester Pennylover Merryweather and I know enough about procedures. Now show me to the chairman's office."
The clerk seemed a lot smaller for a few seconds "Y...Yes" he said and got up. He lead Lester through the hallways and entered the chairman's office, not even knocking "Lord Le..." started the clerk, but Lester pushed him out of the way. "Lord Lester Merryweather, master chairman." Said the Pennylover and waved his hand to the clerk in a dismissive way. The chairman was sitting at his desk with some papers in front of him. "And what do you think you are doing here without an appointment?"
"Avoiding unrequired bureaucracy." He said taking a seat. Lester had a way of making things go his way by not even thinking about the wishes of other people. It irritated the stupid, scared the poor and amused the intelligent. "I wish to make a deal with you." he said "I need ten of your best builders to work on my warehouse here in King's Landing. I've got my own men carrying the material and organizing everything, I want your men to put the stone and wood in place."
The Chairman was outraged at first, but he recognized a good business opportunity when he saw one. "And how much will you pay me?" asked the chairman. "Considering that the building has already been started and that the plans are already made, I will pay thirty stags a day to every worker and I will give the guild itself twenty dragons. However, I want them to finish all this in a month. If they don't, I am taking back my twenty dragons for the guild, but the workers can keep their payments." He already had the offer ready and produced two pieces of parchments with his seal and signature on both together with the agreement he told the Chairman of.
"Well, it seems like you calculated everything yourself. I usually do it myself, but for twenty dragons..." He grabbed a quill, signed both papers and took one. Then they both stood up and shook hands. "I think this was the quickest business I've ever done." Said the Chairman and smiled. Lester grinned "Then you obviously never did business with the Pennylover. I want your workers on the site at this time on the morrow. Have a nice day." He turned around and left the building.
Margeary
Margeary rode slowly between the trees of the Kingswood. A deer was strapped to the back of the horse. Margeary loved to hunt. Not boars, or such animals for which you needed a hunting party. She liked galloping after a deer and then shooting it down from horseback. She had her little share of action and it was just enough to satisfy her. All she wanted now was to gallop back to King's Landing and maybe make a stop is some inn on the way. As she hit the gallop, she rode north-east to the exit of the woods and she suddenly felt a loss of balance. A staff hit her horse in the stomach and sent her flying away. Four bandits rushed out of the bushes, all armed with staffs. They surrounded her and pointed their staffs at her, all with smiles on their faces.
Margaery was a quick thinker in such situations. Her pulse sped up as she realized what weapons she head. Besides her nails, teeth, feet and fists, she had a skinning knife in her boot and her bow was strapped to the horse. She also had a quiver on her back with approximately ten arrows. As they came closer one of them spoke "Come 'ere puppet. We ain' gonna hurt you."
Margarey crouched and leaped for the legs of one of the attackers. As she landed she bit him hard and felt his flesh detaching. As she heard his scream she felt someone hitting her on the back of her knees. She crawled forward, took an arrow out of the quiver and stuck it in his neck as she got up. She felt the arrow get out of the flesh on the other side. She crouched again and took her knife out. "I love girls with spirit." Said one of the attackers and grinned. Margeary spat flesh and blood in his face as she leaped forwards again.
He went for her with the staff, but she moved it outside and stuck the knife in his chest. She took it out and tackled him to the floor. Then she felt a staff hit her hard on the back. She felt the weight of one of the bandits on her and he ripped her leather jacket off. Under it, she wore a silk corset. The bandit turned her around, ready to unwrap it slowly. As he fixed his weight on her, he fixed it directly on the dagger. She felt hot blood over her skin, but it was a good feeling. As she rolled out she saw the bandit running away. She picked up her bow from the horse, took an arrow and fixed it on the bow. She stopped running and aimed at the fleeing bandit. She pulled the string and released it. It hit the bandit in the back and put him to the floor.
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Through the Mud Gates of King's Landing rode a girl dressed in leggings and a silk corset covered in blood. Hanging from the head of her horse were four human, male heads hanging on their long hair. The faces showed different emotions; pleasure, pain, surprise and fear. The lady rode a white mare stained with blood towards Aegon's Hill and towards the entrance to the Red Keep.
Lord Lester Merryweather moves towards Master Finances
Lord Lester Merryweather moves from Apprentice to Noteworthy Politics
Lord Lester Merryweather starts rebuilding his destroyed warehouse in King's Landing
Margeary Merryweather moves from Noteworthy to Expert Archery
Margeary Merryweather moves from Beginner to Novice Small Blades
Margeary Merryweather does a controversial thing