Location: Off the coast of the Iron Islands - 41 ACPrologue: The Ironborn Inquisition
The salt and spray of the unforgiving waters of Ironman’s Bay were refreshing to feel against the face of the ironborn commander. Rowan Greyjoy, commander of the Iron Inquisition, stood at the bow of his ship and watched his destination come closer into view. He and his detachment of two longships had been sailing around the Iron Islands for months now taking on his fathers mission to bring the Drowned God back as the only god worshiped among the ironborn and their thralls. The sharp wind seemed to whip and whirl around him as his hair which he had thankfully tied back for just such an occasion.
The heavy sounds of boots along the deck of the ship made him aware of his second in command approaching him. The tall reaver, longsword at the hip, stood in an almost casual half-cocked stance, looking out over the same direction as his captain.
”Weather’s holdn’ out, were gonna be there before midday. So how many do ya’ think this place is gonna have?””Ahh, it’ll be enough. We could circle the islands three times over and they’d still find a rock to hide under. Like the insects that they are.”The awkward pause in conversation let the captain know that what he said had struck a chord,
”Does that bother you Harlaw? Does the idea that these traitors to the Drowned God are like insects?”No sir, it’s just that…these people are still Iron Islanders aren’t they? It seems strange that we would be wantonly cutting down our own people?”At the sound of his rebuttal Rowan turned and faced the young reaver. A fairly good looking who looked more green than he should be at his age, the boy was knowledgeable around a ship and could hold his own in a fight but his ideals and thoughts are ones that shouldn’t be uttered on a Greyjoy longship. A look of mock surprise spread across Rowan’s face as he sarcastically expressed disbelief,
”Well I’ll be, now that is a fancy word from a fancy lord. I’ll tell you Harlaw I’m glad I brought you along so that you can show us simple Pyke boys the power of words, let's give Harlaw here a round of applause.”The sailors on the deck of the ship all gave an uproar in sarcasm as the Harlaw man began to shift and look around in irritation. The obvious look of embarrassment couldn’t be hidden as he looked around as his crew pointed and laughed at him as the preparations for landing was made,
”Ya’ see Harlaw, these people have chosen the faith of the greenlanders. They chose to abandon not only the Iron Islands but the Drowned God himself. We are born and shaped by the sea, the Drowned God has blessed us with the strength to take what is rightfully ours. This ’Faith of the Seven’ filth is nothing but a way to make hard men soft and soft men deserve nothing. Weak men deserve only to be thalls on our islands to draw from the land while the strong go out and take what is deserved. Gather your gear men…our quarry awaits.The island came within a stones throw and the men moved and scrambled into action. A wave crashed against the bow as a blast of salt water covered the unmoving captain,
’I will send them all to the Drowned God…one way or another.’
Location: Iron Islands - Harlaw - 41 ACPrologue: The Ironborn Inquisition
The hunt wasn’t as exciting as Rowan had thought as most of the fight came from the minor houses on the island while House Harlaw watched from a distance. The collection of septons and septas were lined up along the beach on their knees, blades at each of their throats as Rowan paced back and forth in front of them. All of them were fattened noble types who hadn’t spent as much as one day on the sea let alone pay the iron price for anything that they owned. This is exactly the weakness that his father sought to drive out. The Iron Islands pride themselves on their strength and their willingness to do what was necessary to take what was theirs.
”You all know me, if you don’t then your lords have done you a great disservice. My name is Rowan Greyjoy, first of his na….””We know who you are Iron Inquisitor, we know….THWACK
The sickening sound of axe splitting head sent a residual wave of blood across those that were in attendance Rowan, at its epicenter, stood still for a moment as large trails of blood ran their way down his face. This was a moment that needed to happen for those that remained, a true reminder of who it was that they were dealing with.
”...it’s rude to interrupt someone when they're speaking, as you now know.Letting go of the handle and allowing the corpse to fall limp to the ground, Rowan cleaned his face the best that he could with the exposed sleeve of his shirt,
”Now…THAT was not part of the plan. I wanted to go about this the proper way, letting you get to know me and explain how this was going to go, but THIS bastard had to be rude and interrupt a speaking lord. Now you all have me in a bad mood, now I’m thinking that we simply carve off you arms and legs and let the crabs eat at you and never send you the Drowned God to make up for your weakness. IRONBORN…”One of the septas cried out in fear which drew Rowan’s attention, tears streamed down her face as she threw herself towards Rowan screaming at the top of her lungs,
”I RENOUNCE THE SEVEN, WHAT IS DEAD MAY NEVER DIE!”The somewhat stunned captain walked over towards the hysterical woman, each step crunching against the gravel of the beach in slow methodical movements. Reaching down to gently cusp her face to hold her gaze to his, she would have been a fairly decent woman save for the rivers of snot and tears,
”There now was that so hard. You get it now don’t you this life in these ’new gods’ makes us weak. We are ironborn. We have to be stronger than these greenlanders. They offer us these loving and weak gods thinking to placate us and make us like them; soft, weak, loving. We draw our strength from the unforgiving sea not from the light above. I am glad you get it.A soft, comforting smile spread across his face as she calmed down to the point of silent sniffles. Any one from the outside would assume that Rowan was showing some sort of kindness, some sort of peace and good measure. This of course was a fallacy.
”Now, go and meet the Drowned God in his court. Ask for his mercy there.The hopeful look on the womans face slowly faded into horror as two reavers carried her away binding her hands and feet and drug her on to the ship,
”You will all meet the Drowned God this day, line them up at the water's edge. The tide is rising soon. They will meet him on this day. Oh and take Harlaw here as well,”The shocked reaver attempted to rebuttal but was quickly cut off by his fellow reavers stripping him of his armor and weapons,
”, your weak mindset will not stand on my ship. Go and ask the Drowned God for the strength to harden your resolve.”