#arboreal bearded dragons

[upgrade-your-enclosure]

Awesome Upgrade video for bearded dragons!

[greenbloods]

can't wait for when universal buys up the song of ice and fire property and creates a game of thrones park, and there's an inn at the crossroads that serves bowl of brown ($20 by the way, but you have to pay in gold dragons like chuck e cheese currency) and frothy arbor gold. there's a dragon themed ride of course (120 minute wait time) and you can take photos with sandor and arya who look like theyre wearing polyester renaissance fair fits. theres a wildfyre shop that's called the Alchemist's Guild, and everyone inside is dressed as a pyromancer with a fake beard. they take you around the store and induct you into their order by teaching you the dark art of pyromancy (making green rock candy). sure it's cringe but it's also a bit endearing you think. that is, until you see the shop merch is emblazoned with a cutesy 'burn them all' on the outside with a chibi aerys ii. the bathrooms all say 'maidens' and 'sers.'

[exhausted-archivist]

ALT

Flora of Thedas Master List

Master list of all the flora in Thedas, mentioned or seen.

Additional notes on certain items will be listed at the bottom, for items marked with asterisks, see the key below for a brief explanation and the Game assets and Additional Notes and Trivia section at the bottom. Sources are listed at the very end and this time linked.

For other lists here are posts for: Real Plants in Thedas

Key: * - Name comes from the asset file name ** - Name not provided but identified based on the textures used on the asset. *** - See Additional Notes and Trivia.

General Flora: Flowers and Foliage

Acacia*: Black Wood*

Andraste's Grace

Ardent Blossom

Ash

Aspen

Banyan Tree*

Barbwood

Beech Tree

Belladonna

Birch: White Birch*

Blackthorn

Bluebell

Borage

Boswellia

Boxwood*

Buttercup

Cactus: Pear Cactus*

Cattail*

Cedar: Red Cedar

Chicory

Clover: Forest Clover*

Coleus**

Cosmos

Cotton

Crape Myrtle

Cypress: Italian Cypress*, Topiary Cypress*

Daffodil

Daisy: Marguerite

Dandelion

Dog-rose

Dogwood*

Elephant Ear*

Elm

Fade Berry*

Felicidus Aria

Fern: Red Fern*, Sword Fern*

Fir

Flax

Foxleaf*

Frangipani

Gorse

Harlot's Blush

Hawthorn

Hay

Hemp

Hensbane

Hero Tree*

Hollyhock

Honeysuckle

Iris

Ironbark

Ironwood***

Itchweed

Ivy

Jasmin

Larch

Lichen: Glowing Lichen

Lilac

Lily: Calla Lily**, Water Lily

Lotus

Maple

Marigold

Moss: Oakmoss, Redmoss, Tree-Moss

Nightshade

Northern Prickleweed

Oak: Serault Oak

Orchid

Palm Tree: Curly Palm*, Fan Palm*

Pansy

Peony

Pine: Chir Pine*, Stone Pine

Ponga Tree*

Poppy

Prickle-burrs

Redwood*

Rose: Climbing Rose

Rowan

Sandalwood

Seaweed

Snapdragon

Spruce

Sugar Cane

Sundew

Sunflower

Sylvanwood

Tahanis

Thistle

Trex*

Trullium

Vasanthum

Violet

Walnut: Black Walnut

Waterweed*

Wilds Flower

Willow

Witchhazel*

Wysteria

Yew

Fruits

Apple: Applewood Apple, Green Apple, Golden Apple, Red Apple

Apricot

Banana

Berries: Blackberry, Blueberry, Bramble Berry, Cranberry, Elderberry, Raspberry, Strawberry

Cherry

Citron

Coco, Chocolate

Coconut

Coffee

Currants: Black Currant

Fig

Grape

Lemon

Lime

Melon

Nuts: Almonds, Chestnut, Hognut, Peanuts

Olives

Orange: Sweet Orange

Palm Fruit: Date

Passion Fruit

Peach

Pear: Bradford Pear*

Plum

Pomegranate

Grains

Barley

Oats

Rice

Ryott

Wheat

Vegetables

Artichoke

Beans: Bush Bean, Green Bean, Pale Bean, White Bean

Beets

Bell Peppers: Red Bell Peppers

Cabbage

Capers

Carrot

Celery

Chive

Corn

Cucumber

Daikon Radish*

Eggplant

Fennel

Onion: Red Onion, Sweet Onion, White Onion

Pea

Peppers: Antivan Pepper, Green Pepper, Hot Pepper, Hot Red Pepper, Sweet Pepper

Potato

Radish

Spinach

Squash: Baby Pumpkin, Marrow Squash, Pumpkin, String Squash

Tomato

Turnip

Fungus of Thedas

Deep Mushrooms

Bleeding Russula

Blightcap

Blighted Morel

Brimstone Mushroom

Deep Mushroom

Destroying Spirit

Ghoul's Mushroom

Unnamed Mushroom Ortan Thaig

Surface Mushrooms

Beetle Spore

Drakevein

Field Mushroom

Gasbloom*

Sponge Root***

Toadstool

Truffle

Morel***

Unnamed Glowing Mushroom***

Unnamed Mushroom***

Spices

Allspice

Antivan Cord-Seed

Cardamom

Cinnamon

Clove

Cumin, Cumin Seed

Dill, Dill Seed

Juniper

Licorice

Mace

Mustard

Nutmeg

Pepper: Black Pepper

Peppercorn: Black Peppercorn

Saffron

Vanilla

ALT

Herbs of Thedas

Herbs count as anything that Dragon Age has classified as an herb (whether technically correct or not), plants that are used as herbs in real life. These do not include mushrooms, fungi, or deep mushrooms simply for ease of organization.

Amrita Vein

Andraste's Mantle

Arbor Blessing

Basil

Bay

Catsbane

Crystal Grace

Deathroot: Arcanist Deathroot, Lunatic's Deathroot

Dragonthorn

Elfroot/Canavaris: Bitter Elfroot, Gossamer Elfroot, Royal Elfroot

Embrium: Dark Embrium, Salubrious Embrium

Felandaris

Foxite

Garlic

Ghoul's Beard

Ginger

Heatherum

Lavender

Lotus: Black Lotus, Blood Lotus, Dawn Lotus

Madcap

Mint: Anderfel's Mint, Foxmint, Peppermint

Mintroot - Not a true mint based on its description and the fact that it grows on trees.

Oregano

Parsley

Prophet's Laurel

Rashvine

Rashvine Nettle

Redleaf

Rosemary

Sage

Spindleweed: Verdant Spindleweed

Stripweed

Thyme

Vandal Aria

Winterberry***

Witherstalk

Star Anise

Wormwood

Wormroot***

Game Assets Notes

These are plants shown in Dragon Age but aren't named in universe, just in their model files or through identification of the textures. Since most filler plant textures are just that of real world plants.

**NOTE:** When I mention they are not the known name of any plant, this comes with the caveat of being popular common names. Common names are highly variable and inconsistent. They depend on regional knowledge and association. Some travel farther than others. Common names are also not reliable identifiers.

Acacia: Black Wood ~ Note: Black Wood is a type of acacia. Both acacia and black wood are named assets.

Artichoke ~ Note: Identification comes from asset name, the artichoke flower is used as ornamentation of a box.

Banyan Tree

Boxwood ~ A type of shrub, identification comes from asset name.

Bradford Pear ~ Their fruits are edible, however their flowers are known to emit a smell akin to rotting meat. Identification comes from asset name.

Calla Lily ~ Note: Not named but identified by the texture used. It is seen in Val Royeaux planters.

Cattail ~ Note: Seen through out DAO and DAI, identification comes from asset name.

Coleus ~ Note: Not named but identified by the texture used. It is seen in Val Royeaux planters and in the Frostback Basin.

Crape Myrtle

Cypress: Italian Cypress, Topiary Cypress ~ Note: In terms of the Italian Cypress, in world it wouldl likely be called the "Antivan Cypress" given that Antiva is pulling from Italian culture, food, environments, and other inspirational elements. Cypress is a plant that is named in canon.

Daikon Radish ~ Note: Found on Dennet's farm, identification comes from asset name.

Dogwood

Elephant Ear ~ Note: Foliage found in the Frostback Basin, identification comes from asset name.

Fade Berry

Fern: Red Fern, Sword Fern ~ Note: The red fern isn't a real plant and therefore can be considered unique to Thedas. In contrast the sword fern is a real plant. Identification comes from the asset name for both of these ferns.

Forest Clover

Foxleaf ~ Note: This is another plant that is not real, no plant has this common name as far as I could find.

Gasbloom ~ Note: Seen in the Arbor Wilds, the Frostback Basin some elven ruins, and the elven ruins of multiplayer levels. Their identification comes from the asset name. There are two versions of the texture the "fixed" version is used in JoH dlc and thus explains the difference in appearance. This is not the name of a known mushroom.

Hero Tree

Palm: Curly Palm, Fan Palm ~ Note: Both palms are seen in the Frostback Basin, both are identified by their named assets.

Pear Cactus ~ Note: Found in the Frostback Basin, identification comes from the asset name.

Pine: Chir Pine

Ponga Tree ~ Note: Also known as the 'Tree Fern'. This is the tree you see in Val Royeaux garden as coming from Par Vollen, and throughout the Arbor Wilds.

Redwood ~ Note: Identified by the name of the file asset. Found in the Winter Palace, Exalted Plains, and on multiplayer maps.

Snapdragon

Trex

Waterweed ~ Note: In real life this is an entire genus not one particular plant. Though the six plants in this genus do share the common name of waterweed.

White Birch

Witchhazel

Additional Notes and Trivia

Ironwood - Unclear if this is an alternative name, the actual name of the plant, or both.

Morel - This mushroom is inferred due to the existence of Blighted Morel. However it is not explicitly specified there is a non-blighted morel.

Sponge Root - Though canonical as it is mentioned and shown in World of Thedas vol. 2 on pg. 138 with a collection of deep mushroom and surface mushroom illustrations. This mushroom was cut twice from Inquisition. It was cut from the base game as a craftable, it had a much different appearance from its final design, and then it was cut again from Trespasser. It does however still make an appearance in Inquisition as the inventory icon for Crystal Grace.

Unnamed Glowing Mushroom Is mentioned in multiplayer when there are two Lukas playing.

Unnamed Mushroom These brown mushrooms are seen in the Fallow Mire and the Frostback Basin. They are shown in two different sizes ranging from shorter than a dwarf to taller than one.

There is one unlisted mushroom, its assets is named "red mushroom" and thus is identified by textures. These is not a canon name but is included for completeness. Amanita Muscaria: More commonly know as fly agaric or fly amanita, the red top with white spots is an iconic in its imagery. You will find large swaths of these mushrooms in the Frostback Basin. Their assets is named "Red Mushroom".

Winterberry is a real plant. However, from what we see in DA2, it does not the same as the plant we have in the real world, just a shared common name.

Wormroot is another real plant name. However, due to the description in The Calling, it does not seem to be the same plant. In The Calling it is used to treat the venom of a giant spider. The real world plant is used to treat parasites in the gut and does not seem to hold any shared uses in folk lore, folk medicine, or western medicine practices.

Sources

Dragon Age Origins + DLCs Dragon Age 2 Dragon Age Last Court Dragon Age Inquisition + DLCs Dragon Age TTRPG Core Rulebook Dragon Age TTRPG Blood of Ferelden Dragon Age TTRPG: Creatures of Thedas: Wyvern

World of Thedas Vol. 1 and Vol. 2 Dragon Age: The Stolen Throne Dragon Age: The Calling Dragon Age: The Masked Empire Dragon Age: Last Flight Dragon Age: Tevinter Nights Short Story: Paying the Ferryman Short Story: Riddle in the Truth Short Story: The Wake

Origins Andraste's Grace Codex: The Bercillian Forest Codex: Falon'Din: Friend of the Dead, the Guide Codex: Feast Day Fish Codex: The History of Soldier's Peak: Chapter 3 Codex: Ironbark Codex: A Note from the Honnleath Village Council Codex: Sylaise: The Hearthkeeper Codex: Sylvan Codex: A Tattered Shopping List Item: Concentrator Agent Item: Deep Mushroom Item: Figurine Item: Madcap Bulb Item: Rare Antivan Brandy Item: Rashvine Nettle Item: Spirit Charm Item: Spirit Cord Item: Sugar Cake Item: Swift Salve Item: West Hill Brandy Item: Wilds Flower

DA 2 Ambrosia Bianca (Crossbow) Ironwood Clearing Codex: Deathroot Codex: Deep Mushroom Codex: Embrium Codex: Felandaris Codex: The Hedge Witch Codex: Spindleweed Item: Carved Ironwood Buttons Item: Harlot's Blush Quest: Hard to Stomach Quest: The Long Road Quest: Tranquility Weapon: The Celebrant Weapon: Ironwood Shield Weapon: Ironwood Warblade

Inquisition Codex: Amrita Vein Codex: Arbor Blessing Codex: Avvar Cuisine Codex: Black Lotus Codex: Blood Lotus Codex: Bottles of Thedas Codex: Crystal Grace Codex: Elfroot Codex: Ghoul's Beard Codex: The Girl in Red Crossing Codex: Hard in Hightown Chapter 7 Codex: Hard in Hightown Chapter 10 Codex: Mediations and Odes to Bees Codex: Notes on Palace Guests Codex: The Orlesian Civil War Codex: Prophet's Laurel Codex: Rashvine Codex: Rashvine Nettle Codex: Vandal Aria Codex: Vivienne's Alchemy Notes Codex: Waterlogged Diary Codex: Witherstalk Note: Betta's Traveling Journal Note: Carta Note on Security Note: Field Notes Note: The Gilded Horn's Drink List Note: Knight-Captain's Orders Note: Love Letter Note: A Note from Skyhold's Kitchens Note: A Note from Skyhold's Kitchens, Again War Table: The Dance with the Dowager: The Allemande Item: Ardent Blossom

Last Court The Abbess' Road The Anchoress Arrival of the Divine The Feast is Ending Fires Flames of Freedom Good Neighbors Heartwood Feast The Hounds The Lord of the Wood Comes a-Calling The Purveyor of Teas Road and River A Swift Stream Thieves! Unofficial Meeting

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[unexpectedasoiaf]

« When Asha had first met him, Qarl had been trying to raise a beard. “Peach fuzz,” she had called it, laughing. Qarl confessed that he had never seen a peach, so she told him he must join her on her next voyage south.

It had still been summer then; Robert sat the Iron Throne, Balon brooded on the Seastone Chair, and the Seven Kingdoms were at peace. Asha sailed the Black Wind down the coast, trading. They called at Fair Isle and Lannisport and a score of smaller ports before reaching the Arbor, where the peaches were always huge and sweet. “You see,” she’d said, the first time she’d held one up against Qarl’s cheek. When she made him try a bite, the juice ran down his chin, and she had to kiss it clean.

That night they’d spent devouring peaches and each other, and by the time daylight returned Asha was sated and sticky and as happy as she’d ever been. Was that six years ago, or seven? Summer was a fading memory, and it had been three years since Asha last enjoyed a peach. She still enjoyed Qarl, though. The captains and the kings might not have wanted her, but he did. »

—A Dance with Dragons by George R.R. Martin

[cheapsweets]

The aromatic Narngreg

My response to this week’s BestiaryPosting challenge, from @maniculum

Initial pencil sketch, lines in dark sepia ink using sailor fude nib fountain pen, and Derwent inktense yellow paint with a water brush.

I'm getting more confident with my linework (one of the reasons I'm using pen and ink is to encourage myself to go for it, and any mistakes I'll suck up and learn from), but it's still tricky keeping the fine lines where I want to focus on detail. I'll take a look through my pens and see if I've got anything with a (normal) fine nib and see if that's any good for drawing with (much as I've loved working with dip pens in the past, the convenience of fountain pens is very compelling!)

Reasoning below the cut!

There is an animal called the Narngreg, multi-coloured, very beautiful and extremely gentle. Physiologus says of it, that it has only the dragon as an enemy. When it has fed and is full, it hides in its den and sleeps. After three days it awakes from its sleep and gives a great roar, and from its mouth comes a very sweet odour, as if it were a mixture of every perfume.

This creature is extremely gentle, and has very sweet breath, so my first interpretation was that it was definitely not a carnivore (cats and dogs not being particularly known for their fragrant breath!). However, as mentioned in the last paragraph, this creature has very prominent claws, so how to interpret this?

One of the options was to consider that it might be insectivorous, or even mellivorous; I liked the idea of it having honey as at least a large part of the diet, as I could have interpreted the 'sweet' breath more literally! Bears and mustelids such as honey badgers (no spots, but fits the black and white colouration mentioned below) both use their claws to tear into bee nests, and anteaters, pangolins, aardvarks, etc all have impressive weaponry.

In the end, I actually took my main influence from a couple of extinct animals; chalicotheres and ground sloths such as Megatherium. This informed the general anatomy (including the longer forelimbs, barrel chest and even the shape of its head.

Since we know it is Very Beautiful (Very Powerful) I wanted to jazz it up a little, hence the absolutely gorgeous mane, cool beard, and tuft on the tail. The dentition (prominent caniniform teeth) is actually taken directly from (arboreal) sloths...

As cute as it would have been to draw a Narngreg all curled up and sleepy, it made more sense to draw it having just woken, and giving its 'great roar' - the lines could be indicating the sound, it's sweet breath, or both!

When other animals hear its voice, they follow wherever it goes, because of the sweetness of its scent. Only the dragon, hearing its voice, is seized by fear and flees into the caves beneath the earth. There, unable to bear the scent, it grows numbed within itself and remains motionless, as if dead.

I took a look at some of the other artists interpretations of this challenge after I'd drawn my piece, but before writing the description, and it seems like I've undergone a similar thought process to @coolest-capybara (though I feel like she's gone all in on the idea, whereas I only referenced it), by having some of the creatures from previous challenges appear. I skipped the birds (more down to time and how best to respresent them, because most of them were on the small side), but we can see a Kraegrat scenting the air, and further back an elephant from the Choglaem illustration. Raising its titanic head from behind a wall of trees, we can also see the Choglaem itself, though it doesn't seem very impressed; time to 'flee into the caves beneath the earth' methinks...

The Narngreg is a beast dabbed all over with very small circular spots, so that it is distinguished by its black and white colouring with eye-shaped circles of yellow.

I suppose three colours (black, white and yellow) counts as multicoloured... 🤔 I wanted to go for a more straightforward line drawing with this one, so didn't consider the colouration too much, but since the yellow markings were such a key part of the description, I wanted to include them. I went with more stylised eye shapes, rather than going with actual circles, mostly because it seemed a little more naturalistic this way (and more fun!). I tried to get the markings to wrap realistically around the body, but I'm not sure how successful I was there. On the baby, I opted for yellow dots rather than the adult markings, to link it to the adult but show a clear difference between them.

The female gives birth once only, for a good reason. Once the three young have grown within their mother’s body until they are strong enough to be born, they hate having to stay there any longer. They scratch with their claws at the womb which is laden with its fruit, as if it prevented them from being born. The mother, overcome with pain, pushes them out and after this the seed which penetrates into the scarred and distorted womb does not take root, but flows out again unused. Pliny says that animals with sharp claws cannot bear children often because they are badly wounded internally by the movement of their young.

I think that's a pretty big assumption Pliny old chap, any observation to back that up? 😜 Obviously the main thing we learn here is that these creatures (inlcuding newborns) have prominent claws, with (as previously mentioned) heavily influence a lot of the other design decisions. Thinking about it, I probably should have drawn three babies rather than just the one! (The rule of threes seems very prevalent amongst bestiary authors!). The baby is rolling around and having fun, since it doesn't need to worry because every creature (bar dragons) loves it!

As I'm sure @maniculum has already spotted, we also have some typical African (specifically, Egyptian) flora scattered around too... Those trees are fun and I'm definitely going to use them in the future!

[oathkeeperoathbreaker]

“I’ve brought you a peach,” Ser Jorah said, kneeling. It was so small she could almost hide it in her palm, and overripe too, but when she took the first bite, the flesh was so sweet she almost cried. She ate it slowly, savoring every mouthful, while Ser Jorah told her of the tree it had been plucked from, in a garden near the western wall. “Fruit and water and shade,” Dany said, her cheeks sticky with peach juice. “The gods were good to bring us to this place.”

Daenerys I, A CLASH OF KINGS

Renly’s hand slid inside his cloak. Stannis saw, and reached at once for the hilt of his sword, but before he could draw steel his brother produced . . . a peach. “Would you like one, brother?” Renly asked, smiling. “From Highgarden. You’ve never tasted anything so sweet, I promise you.” He took a bite. Juice ran from the corner of his mouth. “I did not come here to eat fruit.” Stannis was fuming. ... “A man should never refuse to taste a peach,” Renly said as he tossed the stone away. “He may never get the chance again. Life is short, Stannis. Remember what the Starks say. Winter is coming.” He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.

Catelyn III, A CLASH OF KINGS

When Asha had first met him, Qarl had been trying to raise a beard. “Peach fuzz,” she had called it, laughing. Qarl confessed that he had never seen a peach, so she told him he must join her on her next voyage south. It had still been summer then; Robert sat the Iron Throne, Balon brooded on the Seastone Chair, and the Seven Kingdoms were at peace. Asha sailed the Black Wind down the coast, trading. They called at Fair Isle and Lannisport and a score of smaller ports before reaching the Arbor, where the peaches were always huge and sweet. “You see,” she’d said, the first time she’d held one up against Qarl’s cheek. When she made him try a bite, the juice ran down his chin, and she had to kiss it clean. That night they’d spent devouring peaches and each other, and by the time daylight returned Asha was sated and sticky and as happy as she’d ever been. Was that six years ago, or seven? Summer was a fading memory, and it had been three years since Asha last enjoyed a peach.

The Wayward Bride, A DANCE WITH DRAGONS

[insectfem]

people keep trying to pawn their snakes and bearded dragons off on me which is nice or whatever but i literally only have husbandry skills with tropical arboreal geckos😭 can someone try to give me their day gecko or leachianus

[sebeth]

Aegon I’s Non-Warfare Accomplishments

Warning, Spoilers Ahead…

  I left off with the end of the first Dornish War.  Aegon’s accomplishments include things besides conquests, warfare, and blood feuds.

Before I cover the non-violent accomplishments, I should mention the new pieces of art from The Rise of the Dragons:

·         An eerie piece of Aegon I sitting the Iron Throne

·         Lodos and his followers committing mass suicide by drowning – Lodos appears very Jesus-like – long brown hair, beard, crown of thorns (driftwood), etc

·         The defenestration of Sunspear

·         The attack on Oldtown by the Dornish

·         Deria brings Prince Nymor’s letter

·         Lord Edmyn Tully of Riverrun

·         Aegon I’s court which is apparently outside, by a tree, with Balerion lounging nearby. I can identify Aegon, a Kingsguard, a Targaryen guard, and a master. The others appear to be two opposing sides of a dispute.

·         The original Kingsguard

Rise of the Dragons explained why Aegon can refer to himself as the King of the Seven Kingdoms despite never conquering Dorne: Aegon split the Riverlands apart from the Iron Island, thus creating the Seven Kingdoms.

The highlights of the early years of the Dragon’s Governance included:

·         Encouraging the nobility to send their children to King’s Landing to serve as pages and handmaids (building bonds or handy hostages, you be the judge)

·         Brokering marriage bonds between noble houses to create connections between distant regions – a few of the notable marriages were: Lord Ronnel Arryn wed a daughter of Lord Torrhen Stark (I feel Visenya offered her input on this particular marriage), Loren Lannister’s eldest son married a Redwyne girl from the Arbor, and the Evenstar of Tarth’s triplets were betrothed to House Corbray, House Hightower, and House Harlaw. Queen Visenya brokered a double marriage between Houses Bracken and Blackwood in attempt to end the long-standing feud between the two families (spoiler alert: it didn’t work).

·         Regular royal progresses – Aegon spent half his reign travelling the realm, a quarter of it in Dragonstone, and the remaining quarter in King’s Landing. He made repeated visits to Gulltown, the Eyrie, Harrenhal, Riverrun, Lannisport, Casterly Rock, Crakehall, Old Oak, Highgarden, Oldtown, the Arbor, Horn Hill, Ashford, Storm’s End, and Evenfall Hall. He visited the Iron Islands three times (twice to Pyke, and once to Great Wyk) and the North six times (thrice in White Harbor, twice at Barrowtown, and once at Winterfell. His last progress was in 33 AC.

·         Aegon referenced local laws while making judgements on his travels

·         The first new law was the King’s Peace – no private wars between noblemen

·         He standardized customs, duties, and taxes so no port of person had more favorable terms than the other

·         He exempted the septs, septries, and the Faith of the Seven from taxation in order to get on the Faith’s good side

Aegon’s queens had accomplishments too. They even ruled from the Iron Throne while Aegon was on progress.

Rhaenys:

·         Filled the court with singers and bards and was a friend to women and children.

·         Determined that a husband would only hit his wife six times, as the seventh would be for the Stranger, who is death.  Rhaenys made the judgement as the Faith stated it was proper for a husband to chastise his wife. Rhaenys is clearly no Alysanne, who was willing to fight everyone (her husband/king, the small council, all noble lords, and the old gods) to eliminate the right of the “first night”. And Alysanne accepted no compromise!

Visenya:

·         She was sterner and less well-loved – “a warrior and an alleged dabbler in poisons and dark arts” – poor Visenya, someone has to keep the circus running while Aegon runs around as “the savior of the world” while ignoring threats to his life and Rhaneys is flirting with the singers and the pretty boys

·         Had her own personal fool – Lord Monkeyface.

·         She creates the Kingsguard in 10 AC – the same year that Rhaenys dies in Dorne. Was it the death of her sister that caused her to finally overrule Aegon’s disregard for the threats to his life? She had lost one sibling and wasn’t willing to lose another?

·         She was very specific on the requirements of the Kingsgaurd, creating the vows, uniforms, and standards of the institution. She also handpicked the initial seven knights and created the White Book.

·         Very protective of her brother and urged him to be more strident in his protection: “Even with Blackfyre in your hand, you are only one man and I cannot always be with you.” – Spoken like a true eldest sibling.

Aegon updated his Small Council throughout his reign:

Hand of the King:

·         Orys Baratheon (1 AC to 7 AC, resigned after losing his hand in Dorne)

·         Lord Edmyn Tully (7 AC to 9 AC, returned to the Riverlands after his wife’s death)

·         Alton Celtigar, Lord of Claw Isle (9 AC to 17 AC, dies in office)

·         Ser Osmund Strong (17 AC to 34 AC, dies in office)

·         Lord Alyn Stokeworth (34 AC to ?)

Master of Ships:

·         Daemon Velaryon, Lord of Tides and Master of Driftmark (died in an early battle of the Conquest)

·         Aethan Velaryon (1 AC to ?)

Velaryons would be appointed Master of Ships so often the position appeared to be hereditary.

Master of Coin:

·         Crispin Celtigar (1 AC to ?)

Master of Laws:

·         Triston Massey, Lord of Stonedance (1 AC to ?)

Grand Maester:

·         Archmaester Ollidar (5 AC)

·         Archmaester Lyonce (5/6 AC to 12 AC)

·         Grand Maester Gawen (12 AC to 42 AC)

The Kingsguard:

·         Ser Corlys Velaryon, the Lord Commander

·         Ser Richard Roote

·         Ser Addison Hill, Bastard of Cornfield

·         Ser Gregor Goode

·         Ser Griffith Goode

·         Ser Humfrey the Mummer

·         Ser Robin “Darkrobin” Darklyn

We are told these are storied names and “each would have their names and deeds written down in the White Book, and two would die in the king’s service”.

Going over the names of the KIngsguard and Small Council

·         We have three Velaryons – two masters of ship and a Kingsguard

·         A Celtigar as the master of coin and a hand of king

·         A Baratheon as a Hand of the King

Not a surprise to see these names – the Velaryons and Celtigars are of Valyrian descent and Orys is the Targaryens’ half-brother.

Massey was another original ally. Stokeworth came from the Crownlands that were conquered early and “rejoiced” at Aegon’s conquest. Edmyn Tully was an early ally and had been previously rewarded by becoming the Lord of the Riverlands.

First appearance of the Strongs and the Darklyns in the Small Council/Kingsguard. Those are families that are frequently appointed to both institutions.

As for the Kingsguard:

·         I don’t find it surprising that Visenya appointed a bastard – she was aiming for competence and skill. I wonder about the nobles’ reactions – were they appalled a bastard was appointed to such a lofty position?

·         Ser Humfrey the Mummer – no house name, possibly a hedge knight? Another appointment that would appall the nobles.

·         Roote is a house from the Riverlands – possibly recommended by Edmyn Tully?

·         House Goode – I’m not sure which region they are from. The family will have another member appointed to the Kingsguard during Rhaenyra’s brief reign.

Final accomplishment: The building of King’s Landing. Here is the timeline:

2 BC – The future King’s Landing is a fishing village.

1 AC – The Future King’s Landing is a town of several thousand. That’s quite a growth spurt in a three year period.

10 AC: King’s Landing is the newest, if smallest, city in Westeros

19 - 20 AC. The walls of King’s Landing are constructed with seven gates to honor the seven gods of the Faith. The construction is overseen by Ser Osmund Strong

25 AC – King’s Landing surpasses White Harbor to become the third largest city in Westeros

26 AC – The construction of the walls of King’s Landing is finished.

33 AC – King’s Landing has a population of 100,000.

35 AC – The Aegonfort is torn down and construction begins on the Red Keep. The building is overseen by Alyn Stokeworth and Visenya Targaryen.

 In 37 AC, Aegon the Conqueror died of a stroke while telling stories of the Conquest to his grandsons.

Final Assessment: Aegon was a master of warfare and politics. I’d put him near the top of a ranking of Targaryen kings if he didn’t cause the deaths of thousands upon thousands of individuals due to his misplaced pride and delusions of grandeur in the First Dornish War. And yes, Meria Martell, has to own her share of the blame in that horror show – she would easily be at/near the top of my all-time worst Westerosi leaders.

Up next, Aenys almost single-handedly sinks the Targaryen dynasty.

[dollopheadedmerlin]

My reptile plans, for fun:

I currently have

1 leopard gecko of unknown age

1 bearded dragon that is on the older side

1 ball python that is about 7 years old

I plan to get

1 crested gecko, that I have already purchased! But he has no lineage or known hatch year :/

More crested geckos!!

Probably no other reptiles, as crested geckos are really where my interests lie. I've tried a number if different reptiles and, though I've loved them all as my pets, none were as fun to care for and had as interesting personalities as crested geckos, for me. I think different people do well with different reptiles, and I get along with cresties sooo much.

I love my beardie but they're quite bulky animals, and I've found that I dont enjoy arid setups as much as humid ones. Plus their poop STINKS if you are unfortunate enough to be in the room when they let loose a fresh one

I've had a chameleon before and, when they say they are delicate and hard to keep, they're not lying. I loved Ebenezer so much, and had a vet appointment scheduled, but I ultimately failed at keeping him, in my opinion. I did my best, but I just found myself at a loss with him, and recognized that he was ill far too late. Crested geckos, I feel like I can read them a lot better, so I notice if something is off sooner.

I also just think I like arboreal species more, they're easier to hold, and I think they're more comfortable being held if they're tame. Like leos and beardies are super well known for their personality, but I feel like, even if they're chill being held, they can't help but scramble for purchase a bit, feeling unsafe being elevated.

I love snakes but they are a big animal with food that takes up a lot of freezer space lol. Plus they are long lived, so I'm happy with just the one, and I couldn't ask for a better one honestly. She is so sweet. If she lives a full life, we'll be together until I'm 50!!

The ultimate goal is to end up with all crested geckos and one snake. It's unfortunate to think about, but when you keep animals with shorter lifespans, you tend to kind of plan for their deaths. Because it's going to happen whether you like it or not, so it's good to try and prepare yourself. My beardie is getting old but I dont know her exact age so I'm watching her like a hawk. Want her to be comfy and warm as much as possible and catch any illnesses quick if I can. Going to be messing around with her diet after I move to see if it helps her any. I dont know how old my leo is either, but he seems fine for now.

[aquariumfish1]

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[sunaleisocial]

Clear Lake Elementary hosts STEM night

New Post has been published on https://sunalei.org/news/clear-lake-elementary-hosts-stem-night/

Clear Lake Elementary hosts STEM night

Charlotte Cogan discovers the feel of oobleck during STEM night at Clear Lake Elementary on Friday. See page 13 for the story and more photos. Photo by Wendi Reardon Price

By Wendi Reardon Price Staff Writer OXFORD TWP. — Meeting a hedgehog, building a circuit board, making a balloon rocket were just some of the activities students enjoyed at Clear Lake Elementary’s Family STEM Night last Friday. Clear Lake hosted Ann Arbor Hands On Museum with 20 stations for students and their families to enjoy STEM – Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. “We had a great turn out,” Clear Lake Elementary PTO Vice President Lisa Terry shared. “There were approximately 300 people that attended our STEM night.” She added, the Clear Lake PTO wanted to provide this experience for our students because we think It’s important for kids to realize that everything they do is somehow related to STEM. What better way to do that than to provide them with a hands on STEM night. Plus, it’s really cool.” Eighteen stations were in the gym with something different for everyone to explore. The Oxford Robotics Team 2137 RoboCats brought one of their robots to show the students how it worked. But, mostly the kids enjoyed catching the hoop the robot loaded and shot into the air. Science and wildlife was in the library where students could meet a hedgehog and a bearded dragon as well as explore different activities to learn more about animals and their environments.

[voteformagicalgamers]

This is an excellent point, and I'd also like to add:

I feel like people forget about semi-arboreal animals too. Ball pythons and bearded dragons are the two I see the most often, and when it's pointed out that they benefit from climbing enrichment, the response is often "but they're not arboreal!"

Except they are. Both species are classed as semi-arboreal and it's such a misconception that not fully arboreal = spends all its time on the ground.

“Climbing” as a reptile behavior is used so… imprecisely? In the community and honestly this has fed into some pretty big issues with husbandry.

Climbing is not a strictly arboreal behavior. Climbing encompasses much more than scaling trees or walls. Any species of reptile or amphibian may explore changes in elevation in their environment… Such as climbing over a tree stump, or some rocks, or even the stairs of a building.

Most standard enclosures are about 2 feet tall. Add in substrate and some empty space at the top and you typically get no more than an 18-20 inch change in elevation from the lowest point in the enclosure to the highest. Depending on how this is set up, this is hardly even really climbing… Certainly not climbing behavior like what a true tree dwelling species exhibits. If you only have near vertical branches, then sure. But most climbing enrichment consists of much more gentle inclines, usually with a good texture for easy gripping. For example my leopard gecko’s enclosure features a number of ledges built into the wall at varying heights to create a kind of spiral staircase. You can easily create elevation changes that even clumsy animals can safely explore. If you have an animal who has never been exposed to this kind of stimuli, or is poorly muscled, or has coordination issues, etc you will of course need to be careful that there are plenty of fall breaks and providing broad, gentle inclines rather than narrow precipices. But they can still be provided elevation changes safely, and as they practice they will become better at it… Though obviously a primarily terrestrial species is not going to suddenly become a tree dweller just because it was given some ramps!

People say “x species doesn’t climb” and are usually correct that they are not scaling trunks and do not spend the majority of their time several feet up into trees. But this is not an excuse to keep these animals in a 6 inch tall rack enclosure. Changes in elevation are a normal part of any animal’s environment, in the wild this is something that they learn to navigate. There’s no reason not to provide thoughtful enrichment of this variety as part of an quality captive environment. If your animal has disabilities, you may need to be even more careful to provide fall breaks, gentle slopes, broad ledges, etc but it is still possible.

When you give your reptiles the opportunity to make new choices & explore complex environments, they just might surprise you with all that they are capable of.

TL;DR: Not all climbing is scaling near-vertical surfaces or navigating spindly, precarious branches. Terrestrial animals can and do explore changes in elevation and should be provided this kind of climbing enrichment in captivity. An animal does not need to be arboreal in order to benefit from climbing enrichment.

[aria-i-adagio]

Suntrap - Dragon Age Fanfiction

Chapter 42 of Where the Elfroot Grows. It's short and can stand alone, so I'm cross-posting the entirety to Tumblr.

Meanwhile...

Skyhold.

It has taken weeks to get here. Weeks of impossible terrain, and freezing temperatures, and thin air. Weeks of gorgeous blue sky, and dazzling white snow, and mountain views that stole the breath from Rhys’s lungs. But Solas’s promise kept a good number of the survivors from Haven going, and Mother Giselle rallied the rest. And they’ve arrived. Skyhold. A fortress that shouldn't exist because how could one build a castle in the sky?

Rhys has been scolded so many times for wasting his time building castles in the sky.

The place holds its breath waiting for them to enter through the gates that long ago fell open. Cullen orders the soldiers to spread out and search, but Rhys can't convince himself to hold back and wait for caution, not after the weeks of anticipation. He spins around with his chin tilted up and his hands held slightly out to his sides, surveying the high, mostly intact walls, the domineering circular keep, the long basilica married to its side, and then - with a laugh and a shout - he bolts up the sloping ground toward the second level of the courtyard, ignoring Dorian’s dismayed shout about unholy fools and how they’ll be the death of him.

Rhys for pauses a moment, enjoying the crunchy sounds of grass beneath his feet; he shouldn’t take his boots and socks off, but it’s an act of will not to. He waits for Solas and Dorian catch up with him before picking his way up the stairs to the basilica, exercising a little more restraint in case the old stones start to crumble beneath his feet. Falling into Haven’s forgotten catacombs had been an unpleasant experience. One he does not care to repeat.

Rhys pauses at the threshold of the basilica. “So, this is Skyhold.”

“Yes.” Solas stands to the side with his hands folded behind his back. “Abandoned and waiting for centuries now.”

“Is this one of the places you sought out to dream in?”

Solas’s smile is enigmatic. “Certainly it is a place where I will dream now. Go on.”

Vines hang over the doorway at the top of the narrow, crooked stairs. Rhys pushes them aside - Arbor Grace, he thinks, although it’s a bit hard to tell when the leaves are dead, dry, and crumbling in the cold. Behind them, an empty door frame opens into a long hall. Dorian catches the vines and holds them back, gesturing elegantly for Rhys to be the first to step inside.

Rhys holds his breath as he enters. Stone vaults support a soaring ceiling. The remnants of a carpet sprawl across the floor, rotted by time and scattered by animals. Colored light scatters through the room, flowing through a miraculously intact rose window opposite the door.

“It’s beautiful.”

“I thought you might appreciate it.” Solas lays a hand on the doorframe and strokes the stone with his thumb like one might the hand of an old friend.

Dorian follows them inside, claps his hands together, and blows on them. “And it’s out of the blighted wind.” He’s been despairing that he would suffer frostbite and lose an unsymmetric number of fingers since before they ran from Haven. In all fairness, it hadn’t been entirely theatrics on Dorian’s part. Rhys still wasn’t entirely sure how the rest had managed to evacuate with as many supplies as they did; he suspects it had something to do with Josie’s preternatural organizational skills. There had been sufficient heavy coats and blankets to go around, and if there weren’t technically enough tents for the group, no one complained much about sleeping piled close together in the few tents that they did have because it was too damned cold at night for anyone to sleep alone. Rhys can think of several fates worse than sharing space with a cranky not-actually-a-magister.

Solas chuckles. “I would not call the wind blighted, but yes, it is out of the wind. Go explore, Herald. I suggest the first door on your left.”

Rhys hops up and down, trying to get some feeling back in his toes before running off to see what else Skyhold contains. Not the defenses. Cassandra and Cullen are already inspecting the battlements, and it isn’t as if he would know anything about whether the keep could be fortified. But there are so many other aspects of any new place. Secrets. History. Rhys can feel the ghosts of years and years breathing around him, heavy and portentous. Curious. Apprehensive. Welcoming.

“Do you feel them too?”

“Yes.” Dorian looks around the echoing space and shivers again. “Some are old. Older than the stones of this place.”

Rhys hooks his arm through Dorian’s elbow. “Come on. Let’s see what else there is.”

Unoiled hinges protest loudly when they shove open the door Solas suggested. A tunnel passes through the thick stone wall and out onto a gallery running around three sides of an open yard. The space is entirely overgrown -a riot of unpruned trees and aggressive vines - but Rhys recognizes it for what it is immediately.

“A suntrap!” He lets go of Dorian and springs over a collapsed balustrade to land in the overgrownth. The temperature of the air in the yard is several degrees warmer than anything Rhys has experienced in weeks. Warm enough for plant life to remain active within this nook. Bits of greenery poke through dead grasses. Blackberries are taking over and creeping into the galleries - as one expects from an ornery vine. Hardy shrubs long ago abandoned whatever order they might have first been planted in and dot the space at disorganized intervals, and closer to the walls, where the heat will be best retained through the nights, Rhys can make out the shapes of fruit trees, gnarly with age.

He stomps down brambles as he makes his way back to the trees: apple and pears, cold-tolerant varieties, though he doesn’t recognize precisely which ones - or they may all be seedling after so much time untended - but they’re still bearing even in the cold of this altitude. He pulls the glove off his right hand and reaches up, gently touching the neck of a pear. It’s not quite ripe yet, but very, very close.

The weeds rustle behind him as Dorian picks his way over, stepping carefully to avoid catching his clothes on the thorny blackberries. “I don’t know what a suntrap is, but if it’s always this much warmer, I like it.”

“Look at how the walls are built. It’s open to the northwest to catch the sun during the day.” Rhys indicates the stones surrounding them, gesticulating with both hands. “All the stones warm up during the day and keep the plants from freezing at night. Other than a greenhouse, it’s the only way I know of to grow much of anything at this altitude.”

“Clever.”

“Yes!” Rhys had worked in suntraps before. The Circle in Ostwick used one to grow tenderer herbs and fruits from higher latitudes - Tevinter, mostly, even a few from Par Vollen. Nothing that heat-loving will grow here, of course, but the suntrap is a promising challenge. Rhys never tried to coax anything into life in a place so cold. “Once the ground is cleared, I think I can get all sorts of things to grow here. Add a cold frame or two, and...”

If nothing else he’ll be able to get root vegetables and greens going. The presence of healthy fruit trees suggests that at least some summer vegetables will make it - not at this time of year, of course, but there’s always next spring to experiment. He’ll need to choose the location well, possibly add some warming glyphs he wants anything semi-tropical like tomatoes. Tomatoes would be lovely.

Dorian catches at Rhys’s arm just below his elbow. “Hold on there. Let’s get a bit more settled before you go finding another way to get entirely covered in dirt.” He picks a stray leaf out of Rhys’s hair and tuts. “Look you’ve already gotten started.”

Rhys holds Dorian’s gaze as long as he can manage before there’s too much blood rushing to his cheeks to be passed off as an effect of the chill. He dips his chin and looks away, still smiling and probably looking like an absolute fool.

“I wonder if there’s a well in here. There has to be a water source - or several - in a fortress this size.” Rhys wanders toward the middle of the garden kicking aside the blackberry brambles. It’s a little late for berries - even this high up - but Rhys would still place a fairly high stake on his ability to find something edible in all this mess. He thinks he can see something that was once a domesticated brassica of some sort. It’s run wild over multiple generations of going to seed, but no one would be too picky at this point about cooked greens being a bit on the bitter side. They’re running low on food. Game had gotten scarcer as the altitude grew higher.

“I’m sure anyone who engineered something that’s lasted this long thought about water.”

Dorian's gloved hand finds his again, and Rhys turns into the contact. An indulgent smile crinkles Dorian’s eyes and turns up the corners of his currently-less-than-perfectly sharp mustache. Rhys reaches out his bare fingers and touches the stubble on Dorian's face, not even the frigid temperatures and weeks of travel on foot had convinced him to let a full beard grow in. Two days seems to be the maximum amount of time he could tolerate going without shaving. Rhys lets his thumb rest at the corner of Dorian's lips, half expecting him to pull away.

A shout echoes through the suntrap, bouncing off the stone walls. “Hey, Sparkles, Lucky - what did you find out here?”

Dorian tenses and turns, but into Rhys's hand, lips brushing across his palm before stepping aside and picking his way back to where Varric stands on the gallery. “The Herald has discovered some plants. Possibly dinner.”

Dammit.

Rhys huffs with annoyance. Then grins when his breath doesn’t immediately turn to frost.

[jedimaesteryoda]

The Reader: the Crow’s Eye’s True Nemesis

Lord Rodrik “the Reader” Harlaw is introduced in Asha’s first POV. He is her (favorite) maternal uncle, and good-brother to the late Lord of Pyke (as well as possibly the eponym for Balon’s firstborn son). He is the Lord of Ten Towers, Lord of Harlaw. 

Lord Rodrik was seldom seen without a book in hand, be it in the privy, on the deck of his Sea Song, or whilst holding audience. Asha had oft seen him reading on his high seat beneath the silver scythes. He would listen to each case as it was laid before him, pronounce his judgment . . . and read a bit whilst his captain-of-guards went to bring in the next supplicant . . .  Lord Rodrik Harlaw was neither fat nor slim; neither tall nor short; neither ugly nor handsome. His hair was brown, as were his eyes, though the short, neat beard he favored had gone grey. All in all, he was an ordinary man, distinguished only by his love of written words, which so many ironborn found unmanly and perverse.

-A Feast for Crows, The Kraken’s Daughter

Rodrik is indistinguishable as far as physical appearance goes. He possesses neither the muscular frame of a warrior like Victarion, a handsome face like Jaime Lannister or even a disability or disfigurement like Tyrion. He is very unremarkable and uncharismatic, a guy who couldn’t stand out in a crowd as opposed to the handsome, charismatic Euron. 

What truly distinguishes him is that instead of being a hyper-masculine warrior who likes to pay the iron price and has a gung-ho attitude towards the Old Way, he is, as his sobriquet suggests, a bibliophile in an anti-intellectual warrior culture that disdains reading, likely due to its association with greenlanders. 

He also happens to be the guy who is always right: stating to Asha that she won’t win the kingsmoot, the Old Way is dead, that Euron’s plans to sail to Slaver’s Bay and attack the Reach were bad ideas, etc. Hell, his advice to Asha to read Haereg actually provides her the tool she needs to effectively overturn the decision of the kingsmoot.

One must also note his sigil: a scythe. While the scythe is often associated with the personification of death in popular culture, Death AKA the Grim Reaper, one must remember that, unlike the sword which is designed solely for war, the scythe is actually a farmer’s tool used for harvesting grain. The scythe stands in direct contrast to the House Greyjoy words “We Do Not Sow.” It fits with Harlaw being the most fertile of the Iron Isles, and the Reader’s more peaceful, constructive approach as opposed to the Greyjoys’ purely martial approach.

"Asha, my two tall sons fed the crabs of Fair Isle."

-A Feast for Crows, The Kraken’s Daughter

“The Old Way served the isles well when we were one small kingdom amongst many, but Aegon's Conquest put an end to that. Balon refused to see what was plain before him. The Old Way died with Black Harren and his sons . . . his dream of kingship is a madness in our blood. I told your father so the first time he rose, and it is more true now than it was then. It's land we need, not crowns. With Stannis Baratheon and Tywin Lannister contending for the Iron Throne, we have a rare chance to improve our lot. Let us take one side or the other, help them to victory with our fleets, and claim the lands we need from a grateful king."

-A Feast for Crows, The Kraken’s Daughter

His attitude towards the Old Way is the opposite of the general revanchist attitude seen among Ironborn like the Greyjoy brothers. He sees it as a bygone relic of a distant past that no longer works in the present. He knows the dream of Iron Islands independence is a pipe dream. Part of it is the personal losses he suffered in the Greyjoy Rebellion. He lost both his sons in that war, his sisters ended up going mad after Gwynesse lost her husband and Alannys lost her two eldest sons and her youngest was taken as a hostage. 

Moving from that, and showing keen political acumen, he sees an opportunity for the Iron Islands to take advantage of to improve their situation. He suggests the Ironborn use their fleets as political leverage to gain some land on the mainland, which for millennia had been an Ironborn aspiration. During the reign of Qhored the Cruel, the Ironborn had an empire on the western coast that extended from Bear Island to the Arbor. The reign of the Hoare kings from Harwyn to Harren Hoare had them ruling the riverlands. These conquests provided the Ironborn with the resources that their small, rocky islands lacked with their holdings in the fertile riverlands and Reach providing them grain and foodstuffs, and even the poor Bear Island providing an access point for timber, the essential raw material in shipbuilding. Even Balon’s plan involved that aspect with regards to conquering the North. The Reader suggests gaining land on the mainland not through conquest, which in Ironborn history has always shown to be short-lived, but through diplomacy, a grant via negotiations with a king on the Iron Throne. This would allow them to have holdings on the mainland, but in a more stable and permanent manner than in the past given their dominion would be state-sanctioned. 

Also, let’s look at a scene in Victarion’s last POV in A Feast for Crows. 

In the yard Victarion came on Gorold Goodbrother and old Drumm, speaking quietly with Rodrik Harlaw.

-The Reaver

The Reader is noted to be talking with the Lords Goodbrother and Drumm. What do we know of them?

Gorold Goodbrother is Lord of Hammerhorn on Great Wyk. His fief is removed from the coast of Great Wyk, with much of his wealth being derived from his mines rather than the sea. He holds his maester in such high regard that he refused to let Damphair send him away.

Dunstan Drumm is Lord of Old Wyk. He is also one of the failed candidates at the kingsmoot.

What’s more, the fact that they are "speaking quietly” suggests that they are trying to avoid being heard. Just what could they be discussing? After, they were spotted talking, Rodrik and Dunstan voice their concerns about Euron’s taking of the Shield Islands and inviting the wroth of House Tyrell. The Reader was likely making alliances with other dissenting lords, and building a political base of his own.

Then, there is this scene later in the chapter when Euron proposes sailing the entire Ironborn fleet to Slaver’s Bay. Rodrik challenges his plan with facts. 

"When?" The voice was Lord Rodrik's. "When shall we return, Your Grace? A year? Three years? Five? Your dragons are a world away, and autumn is upon us." The Reader walked forward, sounding all the hazards. "Galleys guard the Redwyne Straits. The Dornish coast is dry and bleak, four hundred leagues of whirlpools, cliffs, and hidden shoals with hardly a safe landing anywhere. Beyond wait the Stepstones, with their storms and their nests of Lysene and Myrish pirates. If a thousand ships set sail, three hundred may reach the far side of the narrow sea . . . and then what? Lys will not welcome us, nor will Volantis. Where will you find fresh water, food? The first storm will scatter us across half the earth."

A smile played across Euron's blue lips. "I am the storm, my lord. The first storm, and the last. I have taken the Silence on longer voyages than this, and ones far more hazardous. Have you forgotten? I have sailed the Smoking Sea and seen Valyria."

"Have you?" the Reader asked, so softly.

Euron's blue smile vanished. "Reader," he said into the quiet, "you would do well to keep your nose in your books."

-The Reaver

While clearly not the kind of guy who goes looking for a fight, he is no coward either, given it takes guts to basically call Euron a liar to his face in front of everyone. With a simple question, he manages to be the only person to visibly get under Euron’s skin. It’s the only time we ever see Euron lose his cool as he basically responds by threatening Rodrik. 

"Are we slavers now?" asked the Reader. "And for what? Dragons that no man here has seen? Shall we chase some drunken sailor's fancy to the far ends of the earth?"

His words drew mutters of assent. "Slaver's Bay is too far," called out Ralf the Limper. "And too close to Valyria," shouted Quellon Humble. Fralegg the Strong said, "Highgarden's close. I say, look for dragons there. The golden kind!" Alvyn Sharp said, "Why sail the world, when the Mander lies before us?" Red Ralf Stonehouse bounded to his feet. "Oldtown is richer, and the Arbor richer still. Redwyne's fleet is off away. We need only reach out our hand to pluck the ripest fruit in Westeros."

"Fruit?" The king's eye looked more black than blue. "Only a craven would steal a fruit when he could take the orchard."

"It is the Arbor we want," said Red Ralf, and other men took up the cry. The Crow's Eye let the shouts wash over him. Then he leapt down from the table, grabbed his slattern by the arm, and pulled her from the hall.

Fled, like a dog. Euron's hold upon the Seastone Chair suddenly did not seem as secure as it had a few moments before.

-The Reaver

The Reader is able to successfully get the whole room on his side in opposing Euron’s plan to sail for Slaver’s Bay with Euron effectively losing control of the situation, and fleeing the scene. While Euron was always able to effectively dispatch his fellow Greyjoys from his brothers to his niece, Rodrik manages to succeed in politically outmaneuvering him. He managed to go up against the man who decisively won the kingsmoot and win. The Reader is clearly no warrior, but he manages to be a skilled politician. 

Euron has a formidable rival in Rodrik Harlaw. Unlike Euron’s fellow Greyjoys, Rodrik commands his own seat that can be used to oppose Euron. Harlaw being the most populous and wealthiest of the Iron Isles also effectively makes the Reader the most powerful lord on the Iron Isles. Rodrik’s vast store of knowledge from a lifetime of reading allows him to be the man who pulls Euron’s curtain, with actual facts being the antidote to Euron’s tricks. Not only that, but Harlaw has enough skills as a politician to potentially build a coalition to oppose Euron. 

We shall see where it leads as the series goes on. 

[secondsovereign]

@dewdrip -- Continued from here

HE'S always had a soft spot for youthful beings, and the knowledge of how Vidyadhara age made him quite intimately aware that the current high Elder was barely older than he had been when responsibility had landed in his lap. Perhaps that's why the way she acts feels so familiar to him, had he been any different when Joyce left that burden on his shoulders and entrusted him to Einstein and Tesla?

The young Vidyadhara's words are an arrow through his heart, the hint of surprise telling almost of the life lived by the dragon lady amidst the Luofu. Hers was a life he didn't envy, having had an opportunity to learn all that was required by the high elder during his brief stay on the Luofu following the events of the Ambrosial Arbor. Perhaps it was for the best, then, that he continued to live to the promises he'd made to himself all those years ago, after all, no one could blame him for spending time with the healer when she was one of the few familiar faces in the nation.

"Lead on, then, Miss Bailu." Her grin is heart-warming, reinforcing that he'd clearly made the right decision in approaching her on a day that had suddenly left him feeling less out of place than he'd expected upon waking up that morning. The nameless follows her requests without delay, all too happy indulging her tastes as the purple melusine is carefully lifted down from on high, the upmost attention to ensure it's stuffing isn't dislodged by the man's calloused hands.

Hearing her request for the one of three outfits sparks an idea in his mind, musing over the idea of getting all three before the consensus is struck, and he's turning towards the vendor. A short, stubby man, that has him entertaining the thought of just why he'd put so many of the melusines at a height that had been difficult for even him to reach. "Excuse me, my friend here was wondering if you had either a doctor, train conductor or soldier outfit for her creation." As polite as can be in hopes the man would be willing to part with the trio of outfits if they were available.

"Oui, Monsieur! All three are available." Were it not for time spent across the lands of his home, it'd almost be a hard task to understand the accent of the bushy-bearded man, yet Welt's eyes light up at the trio of outfits with barely contained happiness at being able to purchase the lot in one go. "The lot please, and you wouldn't happen to have a stool, would you? I'm afraid the workbench is just a tad too high." The man's eyes are practically alight at the bag of mora produced, and all too happy to provide a stool for the workbench.

Purchases and stool in hand, he turns back to the famed healer lady with a rather self-satisfied smile at the bulk purchases, a bad habit when Joey looked for something and yet one he never failed to indulge no matter what for whomever reminded him of his adopted son.

"Well then, Miss Bailu, I do believe we have a workbench to make use of, don't you?"

When in Rome... Make a Melusine

[aegor-bamfsteel]

“[Daemon Blackfyre’s] armor would be ornate and costly, all black and red plate, and his warhelm was distinctive, with batlike steel "dragon wings" on the sides.” -GRRM, 2005 SSM on Daemon Blackfyre

“A Tyroshi with a forked blue beard was selling ornate helms, gorgeous fantastical things wrought in the shapes of birds and beasts and chased with gold and silver.” -The Hedge Knight

“Silk would be taxed, and samite; cloth-of-gold and cloth-of-silver; gemstones; Myrish lace and Myrish tapestries; Dornish wines (but not wines from the Arbor); Dornish sand steeds; gilded helms and filigreed armor from the craftsmen of Tyrosh...” -Fire and Blood

Imagine that Daemon Blackfyre, only a landed knight with no significant incomes, owned his “ornate and costly”, highly decorated armor with an animal-themed helm because it was a gift from his wife Rohanne’s family.