A Song of Ice and Fire
Death’s Vision
Prior to the Doom, the Valyrian Freehold had prospered for some five thousand years. Overnight, millennia of history and knowledge was lost. A terrible, horrific event that scarred the land and the psyches of those who witnessed the tragedy from afar.
The last of true Valyrian blood, a minor noble house and a handful of pauper houses had fled the Freehold a century before the cataclysm. On the small, scattered islands in the Narrow Sea, the last who could claim royal blood waited. Nearly another century passed, and a cry for assistance came from the newly formed Free Cities. The handsome Lord Aegon, his ravishingly fierce sister-wives, Visenya and Rhaenys, hesitated. Westeros was ripe for conquest. Their home, a home they had never seen and would never truly know, cried out for their return.
On dragons’ wings and a quick fleet, the Targaryens returned to Essos. In the Stormlands, Aegon married his bastard brother to the Storm King’s daughter, Argella. Stories and rumors abounded from Rhaenys’ detour to the land of sun and sand before turning Meraxes towards their ancient lands.
In the years that followed, the Free Cities were unified under Targaryen rule. Lands were freed from Dothraki incursion, including the former colony of Essaria. The crowned King Aegon made his new capital in Volantis.
While Essos recovered and rebuilt, Westeros too underwent a time of strife. Less than a decade after the Targaryens unified the Free Cities into a new Freehold, Queen Visenya returned with a fleet of men ready for war - in alliance with Queen Argella and her consort-king, Orys. With their might combined, the ironborn were pushed back to the Iron Islands. Westeros was left to battle for the liberated lands.
Skirmishes and open warfare ensued in the aftermath. While the Riverlands were disputed, Dorne nipped at the heels of the Stormlands and the Reach. For nearly a century, Westeros remained at some level of war. It was not until the Citadel warned of a great winter approaching that a great meet was called to end the battles once and for all. While all but the Ironborn gained some of the Riverlands, some gained more than others. A peace was nevertheless cemented before Westeros plunged into a five year long winter.
Decades passed, and nearly three hundred years after the Targaryens’ conquest of Essos, the cracks long developing fractured open. A civil war erupted pitting sibling against sibling. A bastard line allowed to flourish now threatened to topple the Freehold. Dragons, which once granted overwhelming force, were dead or dying. In Westeros, alliances sealed a century past felt a strain. And in Dorne, a young woman traversed the Narrow Sea with dark visions.
Westeros and Essos may have diverged from the path intended, when Aegon and his sister-wives decided to conquer Essos rather than Westeros. Fate cares little for the decisions of mortals, and without the events set in motion by the unification of Westeros, the fate of the world is unknown.
There are seven kingdoms in Westeros, each ruled by an independent regent. Although the continent has been relatively at peace after the signing of the Great Accord, a century ago, the nobles of the land itch for glory and gold. The Grand Tourney of Westeros, held every five years to bring together the seven kingdoms in common spirit and celebration, helps to assuage some of that yearning. Held at Harrenhal, a desired castle that changed hands countless times in the past centuries. Tradition from the Great Accord resulted in a (tenuous) joint venture and use of the castle for each of the seven kingdoms.
Our story starts as the tourney comes to a close. In the final days, riches have been made or fortunes ruined, for some, lives forever changed by injury. While all tourneys present ample opportunity for gossip and rumors, it has been particularly true for this tourney. After a decade long summer, the people of Westeros brace for winter to begin. Oldtown has been oddly silent on the matter and disturbing whispers from the Night’s Watch have reached the southern lands.
The Seven Kingdoms of Westeros
- King in the North, House Stark
- King of Mountain and Vale, House Arryn
- King of the Iron Islands, House Hoare
- King of the Reach, House Gardner
- King of the Rock, House Lannister
- King of the Stormlands, House Durrandon
- Prince of Dorne, House Martell
Essos
- The Targaryens control western Essos, essentially the Free Cities in addition to some lands reclaimed from the Dothraki
- The rest of Essos will look similar to canon
The Princess - aged woman, ruled for twenty some years, married to a Dayne who passed some years previous - did not remarry but took a paramour
The Heir - youthful and dashing, living in denial of his mother's failing health, accomplished in the field and intelligent but without a sense of purpose, he dreams big dreams but rarely puts the work in to achieving them
The Visitor - from across the Narrow Sea, her travels brought her to Westeros before her family's feud spilled into open warfare and now could not return even if she wanted to, in danger both known and unknown
The Heir - youthful and dashing, living in denial of his mother's failing health, accomplished in the field and intelligent but without a sense of purpose, he dreams big dreams but rarely puts the work in to achieving them
The Visitor - from across the Narrow Sea, her travels brought her to Westeros before her family's feud spilled into open warfare and now could not return even if she wanted to, in danger both known and unknown
Works across multiple settings/periods, male or female, a young/rising star in a dystopian political scene. Hides their less than illustrious past and origins. As a rebel movement grows, A must confront their past to decide their future. Blah blah, cliche, blah.
To be expanded upon into actual character information.
Name: Saria “Ria” Manzur
Age: 26
Gender: Female
Ethnicity/Nationality: Arab-American
Physical Description:
Skillset:
History
Psychological Profile:
Modifications: (The ones already listed are standard issue for all characters)
Equipment: (The items already listed are standard issue.)
Age: 26
Gender: Female
Ethnicity/Nationality: Arab-American
Physical Description:
Ria takes after her father, dusky skin and broad. At 5’5” and 140lbs, she is fit and toned with a layer of muscle, not curvy. Her near black hair is cropped close. She has strong facial features - pronounced cheeks and nose, with a sharp chin. Her dark brown eyes frequently have bags beneath them, and make up barely registers as a thought. Her body is scarred and frequently bruised. There are two thick scars that run from her right shoulder nearly to her mid back.
Skillset:
Skills: Tracking, planning
Training, Knowledge & Education: Vampire lore, her family’s hunting history. Training started a young age with trips to a gun range, as well as hand to hand training. “Normal” studies were attempted, but traditional book knowledge was never a priority. Ria also speaks English and Farsi fluently, and can get by as needed in Arabic.
Talents:Preternatural sense of vampires, including a pulling feel towards a specific individual.
Training, Knowledge & Education: Vampire lore, her family’s hunting history. Training started a young age with trips to a gun range, as well as hand to hand training. “Normal” studies were attempted, but traditional book knowledge was never a priority. Ria also speaks English and Farsi fluently, and can get by as needed in Arabic.
Talents:Preternatural sense of vampires, including a pulling feel towards a specific individual.
History
Though she came from a family of hunters and had a network of family “friends” and acquaintances in the same line of business, it wasn’t until she was nearly twenty that she was party to a real hunt. For much of her childhood, her father would train her and her sister, Nima, and occasionally disappear with friends for a week or two. He would come back, nearly always injured.Nima was a few years older and started to join their father while Ria was a teenager. In those days, it fell to Ria to put together plans and contingencies. She played a peripheral, albeit important, role.
As she neared adulthood, she joined her family on their hunts. A string of suspicious disappearances when Ria was 19 spurred the small group into action. Ria’s plan was foolproof, at least for getting out alive. Nima would play the bait, pretty and similar to the girls already taken. Ria hadn’t counted on there being two of them or that they had indeed been baiting the hunters. Though she had an immediate bad feeling as they sprung their own trap, it was too late for Nima. Ria watched her sister disappear, unable to do anything but run. Her father, overwhelmed with grief, took his own life a short month later.
She buried her own grief, grief that turned into rage and near obsession. Leaving behind the others in her group, she set out on her own to track her sister. What she would do when...if...she found her was a question Ria could never quite answer to herself.
It took years to get any sort of definitive idea as to where Nima had gone. She ended up in Vancouver, sneaking aboard a yacht in the marina. Ria was certain she could feel her sister’s presence, but it was not Nima who confronted her. The handsome vampire sneered cruelly. His attacks mixed with feints, like a cat playing with a mouse before devouring it. Ria was no match, especially not on her own. Her head slammed into the railing, and she was certain she heard Nima’s laughter from a distance. In the moment her attacker paused to savor the moment before the killing blow, she flung herself overboard in the dark, cold embrace of the water.
There was no up or down, no moon to cast an eery glow in the water. As she flailed in the water, her lungs desperate for air, Ria saw Nima flickering in the water. She kicked towards her, pushing, clawing through the water.
She woke up in a hospital, banged up badly but alive. Not long after waking up, she was offered a chance, a real chance, to hit back.
As she neared adulthood, she joined her family on their hunts. A string of suspicious disappearances when Ria was 19 spurred the small group into action. Ria’s plan was foolproof, at least for getting out alive. Nima would play the bait, pretty and similar to the girls already taken. Ria hadn’t counted on there being two of them or that they had indeed been baiting the hunters. Though she had an immediate bad feeling as they sprung their own trap, it was too late for Nima. Ria watched her sister disappear, unable to do anything but run. Her father, overwhelmed with grief, took his own life a short month later.
She buried her own grief, grief that turned into rage and near obsession. Leaving behind the others in her group, she set out on her own to track her sister. What she would do when...if...she found her was a question Ria could never quite answer to herself.
It took years to get any sort of definitive idea as to where Nima had gone. She ended up in Vancouver, sneaking aboard a yacht in the marina. Ria was certain she could feel her sister’s presence, but it was not Nima who confronted her. The handsome vampire sneered cruelly. His attacks mixed with feints, like a cat playing with a mouse before devouring it. Ria was no match, especially not on her own. Her head slammed into the railing, and she was certain she heard Nima’s laughter from a distance. In the moment her attacker paused to savor the moment before the killing blow, she flung herself overboard in the dark, cold embrace of the water.
There was no up or down, no moon to cast an eery glow in the water. As she flailed in the water, her lungs desperate for air, Ria saw Nima flickering in the water. She kicked towards her, pushing, clawing through the water.
She woke up in a hospital, banged up badly but alive. Not long after waking up, she was offered a chance, a real chance, to hit back.
Psychological Profile:
Ria is motivated nearly entirely by a desire for revenge. Watching her sister be taken and likely turned and her father’s suicide in quick succession pushed a young woman over the edge into blind despair and rage. Working largely on her own for a few years taught her extreme self reliance. A more fragile mind would have cracked. At the end of the day, a chance to hit back is worth the chance of becoming monstrous herself.
Modifications: (The ones already listed are standard issue for all characters)
- Communications suite, HUD and neural-computer, all standard issue – Vigil agents are able to text by thinking it among each other on a heavily encrypted wireless network. In fact, the computer works off brain impulses and is easily one of the most sophisticated and useful implants they have; what's more, its capabilities have yet to be fully exploited. The downside of this implant is that it includes a cortex bomb with an anti-tampering device. A captured agent can set it off, destroying the hardware inside, or a signal from control can do the same. This is to prevent the enemy from learning the capabilities of implanted agents.
- Internal air supply and aerial toxin filter -- this also has the added advantage of making the agent immune to vampire pheromones, as some types of vampires are known to use this to seduce their prey.
- Blood/liquid toxin filter -- the obvious is at work here -- vampires use their blood as a means of controlling mortals, and this system (and everyone, even non field agents, in the Vigil organization have this implant) screens out one of most subtle weapons a vampire has, rendering them functionally immune to being controlled through ingested blood the way mortal thralls of a vampire might be.
- Eye augmentation; a HUD showing all sorts of system data, such as the status of implants, as well as allowing for low-light and ultra-sound modes of vision, the latter being thought to be more effective than thermographics when dealing with vampires, who tend to run cold if they haven't fed lately.
- Implants in her right arm and hand to restore feeling and full function
- Neural implant to strengthen her preternatural sense of vampires and tracking of an individual
Equipment: (The items already listed are standard issue.)
- Mimetic Camouflage (Predator) coat, though this is designed to look more like a trenchcoat -- no doubt some project engineer with a penchant for the dramatic, or an interest in fashion design. The coat is actually stylish, which serves a dual purpose as vampires tend to dress stylishly and surround themselves with the stylishly dressed. This allows Vigil agents one more edge. Of course, they call it the Predator Coat. Because the engineers are geeks. (This is a standard issue Vigil item)
- Modular, caseless assault rifle/carbine. Bullpup, caseless ammunition, synched with existing implants and capable of mounting a variety of accessories including a 25mm grenade launcher whose munitions range from conventional high explosive to nano-guided scattered mines. It also syncs with HUD implants for improved accuracy in a mechanism similar to a bluetooth link. The trigger is electric and the weapon includes a biometric security system; anyone but someone authorized to handle it and it will blow; that is a standard feature on most any weapon the Vigil has in service with its teams. (This is a standard issue Vigil item)
- A number of electronic accessories, including a PDA tablet and other items to assist in making physical connection with computer equipment. (This is a standard issue Vigil item)
- Grenades, mostly white phosphorus. The organization has designed a 'grenade' that involves a strobing UV light that damages vampires -- it is known as 'the disco ball'.
- Other items as you see fit.
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