Preparing the City (Jaime, Nymeria, Lena, Alric)

[Torin Lannister]

The Acting Hand of the King Ser Torin Lannister was standing on the steps to the Red Keep, gazing out over the city. How many weeks did they have before Stannis set sail? How long before he plucked up the nerge to finally move. Not many if Torin had any estimate, not many at all.

The light bounced from his gold and red armour, his cloak hanging from his shoulders and his sword from his hip. Only his helmet was missing. He had sent runners to gather some others. The Lord Commander of the Kingsguard whom was also his brother Jaime. Nymeria Sand, who was in place of Doran on the Small Council & Alric Baratheon, cousin to the King and his wife, Lady Lena Arryn of the Vale. No family knew more about defense then the Arryns.

He planned for them to walk the walls and streets, to discuss where the soldiers would be focused...perhaps even see repairs that could be performed before Stannis arrived.

[Lena Arryn]

Lena made her way in, realizing she was the first of the summoned council to arrive she hesitated before walking in further.
She was wearing the armor given to her by Torin upon claiming the Vale, she felt it would make a good statement to the others gathered that they stood united even if it was a lie.

She strode up behind him placed her hand on his arm. "Torin." She greeted with a nod.
Lena moved to the side of her husband and looked over the city beside him.
"There are so many people here, I regret they must be drug into a war they could care so little about."
It was true, very few really cared who ruled their kingdom in the long run, as long as there was food on the table and water in the wells they were happy.
The occasional kidnapping of a daughter or murder of a son they over looked as long as things prospered. It was sad really, but Lena had no right to judge- not openly any how.

[Jaime Lannister]

The mantle was barely warming to his shoulders and already his younger brother had begun to behave like there were no other matters to attend to save those the new Hand decided on. Stannis alone was not stupid enough to march on Kingslanding, not with the bulk of the Lannister forces and other allies so close by, but as the Hand such was Torin's right to call the other to a meeting on the matters of defense, patience he knew was not one of the little lions virtues. It sometime amazed him that he was part of this same family that strove for more power at every turn.

Garbed in the splendid white and silver scale armour of the Kingsguard for this occasion rather than his own personal golden armour, his helmet and shield were absent for a simple stroll around Kingslanding, the Lord Commander of the Kingsguard struck an impressive figure as he strode through the halls of the keep towards the open steps where his brother waited.

The Lady Arryn was already there waiting beside her husband, dwarfed somewhat by the man in his armour, but much more appealing to the eye. With a smirk he bowed slightly to her first rather than the hand and raised the back of her hand to his lips,

"As radiant as ever dear sister"

After this brief display, he gave a simple nodded salute to the acting Hand and turned, looking out over the city with them,

"You look tired brother, is married life wearing you down already?"

[cadyren]

The runner had told him little, only that the Hand had sent for him and a few others to meet him at the steps of the Red Keep. Alric only assumed that they would be going out into the city. Normally he would dress in much simpler clothes if he left the Keep, but he was meeting the Hand of the King, so instead he dressed in his armor.

Alric wasn’t quite sure why he had been sent for. He was only a knight of 18 with very little experience in actual combat when compared to many older knights. Perhaps he thinks I might know something about my distant cousin that could be useful? Alric thought, a picture of his first cousin once removed appearing in his head. Alric had no idea what Stannis’s plans were.

Of those sent for by the Hand, Alric was the third to arrive. He slowly approached the group, that ever so familiar feeling of uneasiness coming over him. Alric did not enjoy speaking with people he didn’t know that well, he was always afraid he would make a fool of himself. The feeling was worse then usual, knowing that it was the Hand, and even the Captain of the Kingsguard.

Alric still managed to force himself to speak somehow, “My Lord? You sent for me?”

Alric’s voice was quite, as it usually was. He put his right hand on the pommel of his sword, which was strapped to his right hip. He always felt calmer and more confident knowing he had his sword with him.

[Deleted]

The runner had actually woken the sleeping lady up. Needless to say, it had been a long while since she was able to get a good night’s and well needed rest. Once she was informed that she would be meeting with the hand of the King, she had got up probably the fastest she had since she arrived at King’s Landing. After she had managed to quickly freshen herself she pulled her hair into a tight braid, thinking it would be best to keep her dark hair off of her face, saving her the trouble of constantly pushing it back. She was acting until her father managed to return. She was beginning to doubt he would and frankly, she didn’t mind and she wouldn’t mind if he didn’t. She interlaced her wire bands after she made the choice to wear her armor. It seemed far more suiting than a blasted dress or even something simple. She glanced at the turquoise cloak and thought better of it before she left.

Even through the hard metal that now concealed her full figure, she was still as beautiful as before. Now of course she had managed to conceal at least three daggers under her armor, she didn’t feel right without them. Nymeria was still stunned that they asked her to take her father’s place and not her elder sister, but she hadn’t heard from Obara in a few years now. Then again, she barely crossed paths with her sisters. Perhaps it was for the better. Her gloves were well secured to her hip thanks to the belt of her swords. She looked up as she moved closer to Red Keep. Nymeria still was getting used to being in a city, and getting lost in said city was something that she tried to avoid doing, but had it happen anyways. When she spotted a younger man, dressed in armor as well, she followed him and thankfully, found where she was going.

Grateful to know that she wasn’t late, just simply the last to arrive, she gave the three men and the woman in front a bow of her head in greeting, “My Lord.” She said in greeting, her voice soft and smooth, as it always was. She did not recognize the younger man whom she had follower, but she did find familiarity in Jaime and Torin. With a delicate hand placed on her sword, she stood next to the younger man that she followed to find where she was going. Her deep green eyes looked around, she was still not used to this. A part of her did wonder why he chose to speak with someone who had been travelling for most of her life, but then again, she was wise beyond her years.

[Torin Lannister]

The first to arrive was his wife, Lady Lena. While they didn't have the time to put together their very own Bloody Gate or the defenses the Eyrie had Ser Torin hoped she'd have some insights into developing the defenses of the city. If the commonfolk were poor and hungry they could thicken the walls for bread. Everyone had to work.

The next to arrive was Jaime. Torin had rather expected him to arrive first, he likely had the smallest distance to travel. "Something like that." in truth Torin looked exhausted because the stress of Lena losing her child had taken years off of him, and he was barely sleeping. Being Hand of the King was more intense then he had expected....but the Kingdom was still standing.

The Knight Alric Baratheon was next to arrive, a second cousin to Joffrey and by all accounts properly loyal. It was very worth keeping allies close. They would need all the good Knights they had when Stannis was at the walls. "Ser Alric." He had a fine name too.

Next Nymeria arrived. Ser Torin would say one thing for the South, it had lovely women. "Lady Nymeria." the Lannister nodded his head. She was also on the Small Council and it was for a reason, a reason beyond being related to Doran Martell.

They were all assembled. It was time to move on. "As you know, Stannis will be upon on soon. We don't know when, but this city isn't ready. If he were to arrive tomorrow, King's Landing would likely fall. Consider today our chance to examine what we have." After all, knowledge was power. Many people thought Torin was a senseless brute, Ser Torin liked it that way. They were always surprised when his keen mind revealed itself.

It was at this point he started moving, heavy steps towards the city walls so they could examine them. "If you have any idea's....now would be an excellent time to put voice to it."

[Lena Arryn]

Watching as the others entered the room Lena stepped to the right side of her husband giving them all time to greet him properly as was due his station.
Jaime was the first to arrive after she had, he kiss her hand and complimented her, she smiled barely and nodded to him in acknowledgment. She hadn't felt radiant since she'd lost the baby, she felt grey and lifeless, but at least she was still in the game and not confined to quarters.
The next to arrive was Alric and soon after Nymeria.
Lena didn't like the Torin gaze felt towards the bastard daughter of Oberyn Martel.
She wasn't jealous, she jsut didn't want the shame of her husband taking other lovers- especially women of such standing as to have a temporary seat on the small council.

Lena waited for some one else to speak while formulating her plans. She wasn't sure of the dimensions of the city yet, where the best places to keep civilians and the best places for Stannis to attack would be. Lena had only lived in Kingslanding for a short time as a girl before she had been sent home to play the part of acting Protectorate of the Vale. Since then she'd only returned maybe twice on short visits and now had only returned to live a short while before.
Jaime would probably hold the best ideas, he'd been here the longest as far as Lena knew.

[Jaime Lannister]

Jaime watched in silence, a smile on his lips as his brother greeted their other guests in turn, only speaking once such small formalities were out of the way again, nodding his hellos to each of them before continuing on. It had been a while since he had strolled the walls with anyone of note and it lifted his mood that there might be another chance to prove his skills against such men in the conflict they were hoping to prepare the city for. The Lord Commander of the Kingsguard was anything if not proud and confident in his own abilities. Those of the armies however he was not so sure of.

"6000 Goldcloaks keep watch on the walls and the city streets, while scores of militia from the Lannisters stand ready to prove their worth should war come to us. Unfortunately for us, if Stannis decides to march peasants won't do us much good. And even those 20 knights of yours brother won't be much help inside the walls where their riding skills are worth shit. We don't have the man power the hold the city against a real siege and even the Three Whores aren't going to do us much good if the enemy walks over our us on the first assault."

Jaime lent against the battlements and gazed outwards, his white cloak fluttering in the gentle breeze,

"We were both here when the Landing was sacked brother, you know as well as i do that it can be taken by a large enough force. Does the bastard have that many men to throw away?"

[cadyren]

Alric removed his hand from the pommel of his sword as Torin spoke, he had figured that the meeting had something to do with the war, but he hadn’t thought he would be involved in the plans to defend the city.

Alric remained quiet for a time, taking in what Torin and Jaime had to say. It was fairly clear that in its current state King’s Landing stood no chance against Stannis, both of the Lannisters said as much. King’s Landing had very few soldiers that were actually trained, mostly just militia and the Goldcloaks.

So what was there to do? Find more soldiers, and try and reinforce the walls of the city. Perhas even try to come up with a few strategies that could make fending off the coming siege much more probable. Alric was a decent strategist, on paper at least. He had yet to command any large number of troops, and besides he was much better at offensive strategies then defensive ones. He was quite worried that he would be useless in this discussion.

Still, the young knight tried to think of something as he and the others followed Torin towards the city walls. An assault by sea would most likely be directed at the River Gate, or perhaps the Iron? Of course, Stannis didn’t have support only in Dragonstone, there were many south that also supported his cause. The only gate that wouldn’t be in immediate danger if there was a joint attack from land and sea would be the Old Gate, perhaps even the Dragon Gate, and that wouldn’t be for long. This city has too many gates. Seven vulnerable positions in the cities defenses, how will our forces be able to properly defend them and the walls between them?

That was perhaps the most infuriating part about the siege, they would have to defend every gate, but their enemies only had to get through one and things would get a lot more difficult.

An idea came to Alric’s mind, his thoughts returning to the Old Gate and a comment that Ser Jaime made. If they could muster enough men they could easily use the Old Gate and the Dragon Gate to send men to attack the enemy from the sides, maybe even lessening the pressure of the nearby gates. Archers could be focused more on the gates to the south and east. Alric held his tongue from offering up the idea, at least for a little while. He had to make sure it wasn’t a completely stupid idea first. He didn’t want to appear the fool. He remained quiet as he continued to work out the plan, trying to find some glaring flaw that he probably hadn’t thought of yet.

[Torin Lannister]

"I've already recruited more men and ordered a hundred new catapults to be constructed. With any luck we'll sink enough ships before the men can land to give us some breathing room. The Knights might have little use for their horses but some men of talent on the walls might spur the rest on when the ladders are put against them and Stannis's men would overwhelm them." Ser Torin replied when his brother spoke up. He raised good points however, but Torin knew all of this. They were present to provide him with solutions, not point out the problems again.

"Lena, what men can the Vale offer in defense of the crown?" The Vale was loyal to the crown and Lena herself and sworn fealty to Joffrey, now it would be convenient if the Valemen proved the value of their word. His eyes next fell to Nymeria Sand. "And the Sons of Dorne? Will their men come to defend their King when we have rebellions from the North and rebels from the East?" even after this business with Stannis was done, Robb had to be put in his place.

[Lena Arryn]

Pondering as they walked Lena crossed her arms and her thumb massaging her lower lip. It was a habit she had when thinking.
"Here in Kingslanding the men of the Vale number three thousand and two hundred." She said. "One thousand of those men are swords men, best kept for fight in Vangaurd if the walls were to be breached.
There are also six hundred archers and the rest form an orderily militia."
"The men of the Vale are more than adept at defending." She said with a knowing tone. "Station them along the wall along with the archers we will want. You may also find it helpful to light the way as well with flaming arrows. Wood and canvas burn even when wet and I'm sure Stannis will not make the mistake of sailing by daylight."

The woman of the Vale looked to her husband the Hand and to his brother, then her eyes drifted slowly to Alric and Nymeria.
She didn't much like Nymeria, Torin was staring at her a bit to closely and Lena did not want her husband whoring about.

[Deleted]

Nymeria was able to sense that the other woman in the crowd of the five of them clearly didn’t like her. Lucky for her, Nymeria had very little intentions of being someone’s whore. True, she did sleep around, but she wasn’t one to sleep with a married man. The young lady shifted her weight from one leg to the other, a few stray hairs blew in the breeze softly. She quickly shifted her gaze from The Lady Arryn, not wanting to feel pinned under it. Nymeria felt as if she wasn’t liked by her when she first arrived at King’s Landing. Then again, not many seemed to be fond of a bastard daughter on the small council. Never mind that she was a smart and clever girl, she didn’t belong there and she felt it some of the time. She glanced at the younger boy, noticing he had barely spoken. She looked up to Torin when he spoke to her. The rebellions were causing a bit of strife for her home land. Nymeria shifted her weight again, thinking for a moment.

“Defending our king is our first priority,” she spoke and looked over at the others, “The rebels have not yet hit Dorne and I am more than certain that they won’t be finding their way there for a long while yet. All I have to do is send word and I can get men to come and defend.” She felt almost important and powerful for a moment. She bit her lip as she thought, before speaking up again, “If I may, Stannis may already know we are planning to counter attacks to what ever he may throw our way.” She looked to Torin and Lena, “He may not make the mistake, but he may sail by daylight if we are expecting him to arrive by moonlight.” She really wasn’t sure that was the smartest thing to say, but it was a thought. “Perhaps we prepare for a day attack as well. We need to be prepared for whenever he’ll make a move.”

She pulled her braid around to her front, letting it fall just over the left side of her chest. Nymeria was hoping whatever choice she made by taking her father’s place for now was a smart choice and that she would make her people and father proud. She’d be lying if she said that she still didn’t feel out of place. Nymeria was far from her comfort zone, and even now it was noticeable. Her stance was very tense, and she wasn’t sure that she could change that just yet. She let out a small breath that she was unaware she was holding.

[Jaime Lannister]

Jaime chuckled as his brother spoke, leaning himself against the ramparts as they walked and talked, stopping now and then to inspect something or discuss something that seemed important. He couldn't help but chuckle a little louder at Nymeria's comment on the King and his protection,

"The safety of the King is the least of our worries, the Kingsguard will stand to the last and Stannis would have to scour all of Westeros to find the men who could best us inside our own walls."

There was little else to say on that matter for him, he and his men were the Kingsguard and he would not have anyone claim that they could not carry out their appointed role and he felt somewhat insulted that the woman would even suggest that such a thing had not already been considered and taken into account. Never the less he kept his mouth closed for the moment as he gazed out over the city towards the gates.

"Force his hand, with men from Dorne and the Vale on their way here, ride out and make him reconsider his options. We know he will be amassing his armies to strike Kingslanding but we as yet know when or from where, he isn't a man without allies. Make him show his hand by forcing him to commit before he is ready, meet him on our terms."

It was an idea that had been on the tip of his tongue for the last few minutes but without numbers he had been unsure of it, now that he could see the tension on his brothers face etching lines into his hard features he spoke up. Forcing a man to split his forces before he is ready can force him to make mistakes, it was much like a duel. Feint, parry, counter and strike only when everything is in your favour, never perfect but it gave you an edge if performed correctly. He continued,

"While we strike to draw him out, we raze a few of the gates, fill them with rubble and flatten the homes closest to the walls, we create a killing ground once the walls are breached and make no mistake they will be breached, we cannot hold a city this vast with the forces we have. But by blocking the gates we force his battering rams to focus on the weakest points in the walls...the remaining gates. We make him go where we want him."

He looked to the others, nodding as Nymeria made her point about the value of preparing to defend against a day attack as well, finding himself agreeing with her. The his eyes turned to his brother,

"We both know father should be consulted"