dryskies_btb

The Grind (Book 2) Ch.14

Blaise Zabini was rather enjoying Dorne as he’d seen it so far. The sun beat down on everything, a constant presence but not always a harsh one. The air carried a dry sort of heat that settled pleasantly against his skin. Wind was more common than it was not, offering brief respites with its gusts. The land wasn’t a complete desert but there was certainly enough sand, sun, and shrubs to go around.

He’d chosen Dorne as his destination partially for the novelty of it all, esp...

The Grind (Book 2) Ch.13

“I rather like all of the ‘white’.”

“Hmph.”

“It’s a beautiful city. Shame it’s the only one in the North.”

“Hnn.”

“Severus, are you still cross about the brooms? It’s hardly my fault that you have two left bristles.”

“It is not. About the brooms. Damned things that they are.”

“Then perk up, yes! We’re in a beautiful city! Primitive though it may be…”

“And why,...

The Grind (Book 2) Ch.12

Jon felt like he’d been made a man before his time. He was still only five and ten. A boy turning into a man, no doubt. But he shouldn’t have been as far along that journey as he was. Often, he longed for the simple days of two years ago. When life was tragic. But something that he was used to. When he didn’t know…

As it was, he bore the weight of Westeros on his shoulders. He was born to be a Prince of the Seven Kingdoms. He’d spent all his life as a bastard. ...

The Grind (Book 2) Ch.11

It seemed Hogwarts’ expansion beyond New Hogsmeade was finally getting underway. The Tyrell visit and stay was the catalyst for that but we’d been planning it for a while now. However, plans changed and adjusted to fit new information and the state of affairs in the Seven Kingdoms. Now, they were going into effect.

Before anything else, certain… systems needed to be established. A part of our plans as they changed and shifted. As it was, two of Hogwarts’ staff would be he...

The Grind (Book 2) Ch.10

Two primal feminine forces of sex and beauty clashed. Red and white. Smoldering embers of fervor and zeal. White-hot sparks of obsession and passion that burned hot enough to blind. They circled around each other. Around and around, seemingly agreeing with each other only to snap and bite a moment later. They centered on a single point. A man exasperated and just about done putting up with their shit.

Like everyone else, Margaery could only watch. Like watching a bird tr...

The Grind (Book 2) Ch.9

Time passed after the arrival of the Caravan of the Cursed. Both less and more happened on a day-to-day basis in this new world. Each day saw progress, a constant build to something more, something to call our own. But they were mostly little steps. Stacking puzzle pieces that fit together to form a picturesque view.

We had a solid foundation to build upon. Hogwarts alone ensured that much. But with New Hogsmeade continuing to grow, we were never stagnant. We were much more than ...

The Grind (Book 2) Ch.8

< Quest Completed: New Beginnings >

< Get the lay of the land, near and far! Settle yourself and Hogwarts into a stable situation. >

< Rewards: +3 to Mind, Rulership Discipline unlocked +5 levels >

< Stats >

< Mind: 80+3=83/200+ >

< Social >

< Rulership 1+5=6/100 >

It’d ...

The Grind (Book 2) Ch.7

Jynn Hill was a young woman of seven and ten. She was a bastard of the Westerlands but one better off than most. For where most baseborn daughters would only be able to work as whores or serving wenches, Jynn was a maid in the legendary Casterly Rock.

She didn’t know her father. Not wholly. But she had her suspicions. Her mother was a brothel’s madam, a whore competent enough to work herself to the top and teach herself numbers if not letters. Another way Jynn was fortunate �...

The Grind (Book 2) Ch.6

The bells of the castle sept rang, leading the charge for the septs of the town below. With the clear signal, another dawn had come and passed. Most of the town was long awake at that point. The Smallfolk rose with the sun. And the more intelligent and dutiful among the Highborn did the same.

The castle sat on a hill above the town and the blessed river that ran beside them both. It was a beautiful thing — a rose in an already beautiful bouquet. Defensible, as well, with three ...

The Grind (Book 2) Ch.5

It took a few moments to recover after Ned and his men turned themselves into torches, taken completely by surprise by the impossible nature of the Wizards’ Fire Whiskey. Truly, none of them had expected to belch great gouts of flame like Volantene street performers. Their Wizardly hosts laughed at their sudden predicament, as did Jon and Robb who were ‘unlucky’ enough to be stuck with simple sweet beer.

It was not malicious laughter, more the good-natured sort of mockery t...

The Grind (Book 2) Ch.4

Lord Paramount Eddard of House Stark, the Quiet Wolf, Lord of Winterfell, and Warden of the North. Ned to his friends. Even after nearly twenty years, the titles hadn’t fully grown on him… Ned Stark was a man of many things. Honor. Righteousness. Shame… Love. He loved his wife. He truly did. It was not a marriage of choice. More one of circumstance, tragedy, and duty. But he’d come to love her all the same.

Catelyn Stark nee Tully was an undeniably attractive woman. Beaut...

The Grind (Book 2) Ch.3

“Footwork, Atlas! Footwork!” Cygnus’ voice came in delighted exclamations and instructions as I went through the motions he’d shown me.

“It all comes back to footwork, good chum! Keep a stable base! Step with your strikes and thrust, but do not overstep! Never move more than you must if you can help it! Swordplay is a dance! A push and pull that ends only in death and victory! Revel in it but do not lose yourself! Embrace the singing steel!”

One of the bl...

The Grind (Book 2) Ch.2

[AN: Power creep be creeping... Seriously though, the feats of Knights and Lords in ASOIAF are firmly superhuman and you can't convince me otherwise.]

“This is all so, so, so fucked…” I groaned, feeling the need to drink myself into a coma at that very moment.

“Perhaps you should allow me to be the one to break this news, Atlas,” Dumbledore suggested somberly, looking every one of his hundred-plus years.

He had since h...

The Grind (Book 2) Ch.1

(Atlas pic)

I stared at my status screen, rationalizing what I saw there to myself, ‘It was a vacation. Be glad there’s any progress at all. Plus, everything’s done and dealt with. The Grind isn’t so pressing now, is it? The girls are safe and content. Excited for a new year, even. I’m not doing so bad myself either. I can be forgiven for focusing on other things, can’t I...