An unexpected detour

As planned, I head out with an entourage towards King's Landing. In addition to my own crew of Marrok, Ella and Braden, lord Willard and Rha decide to come along. We aim to find some dirt on our dear new Lannister septon, as well as gather information on where The Avengers might be located presently. I don't have a lot of connections in King's Landing, but enough to to at least get started.

After an uneventful week of traveling we arrive in Fairmarket. Hanging around the local inn we learn pick up some gossip:

• Brigands have been unusually active in targeting riverboats as of late. The local magistrate apparently doesn't give the matter a lot of weight, leading to speculation that he's in on it. 
• Holster Tully is on the brink of death. While his son Edmure is well enough liked, he's seen as rather weak, leading to some nervousness as to what will happen in the Riverlands when the old man finally croaks. 
• In King's Landing, rumor says that Cersei isn't quite as faithful as a good wife should be. King Robert is apparently too busy fornicating, drinking and hunting to give much of a damn. 
• From Seagard, there is word that the Mallisters are putting on a big tournament, and that a sept is finally being built. 

To get the more inside scoop, we go to meet my main connection in Fairmarket, Riley. He runs a store selling all matters of goods. I'm not too interested in his fish though - information is probably his most profitable trade. After exchanging initial pleasantries, this is what Riley tells us: 

• Fenton Pyke was here before we went to Braavos, but has not been since since. However, his henchlings were here around 10 days ago, asking after someone fitting Joy's description. Fair to say that Fenton probably knows, or will know, that Joy is back in Seagard. 
• The magistrate is indeed in cahoots with the brigands. Their leader is one Mumbling Arnold. I tell Riley that if he manages to get any info on the brigands' location or the magistrate's involvement, a big reward is in his future. Bigger than the 1 gold I pay for his not very good booze. If he needs some female charms to assist him, Ella can be of assistance. She has a way to get info out of males. Can't really see why...

Sure enough, after a couple of days, a couple of Riley's guys show up with a clerk of the magistrate in tow. Ella gets to work on the poor guy, and manages to get the info we need out of him without as much as a bruise. Well, besides the ones he already had. 

This is what she learns: 

• There is no proof that the magistrate is on the take in any books. 
• He uses a servant he trusts (one Rob) to collect the money from the brigands. Rob goes out to meet Mumbling Arnold every few weeks. 
• There were 3 bands in all, one was wiped out. The remaining ones are the Iron Laws (50-60 men) and the Discarded Brothers (80-100 men). 
• The magistrate has another weakness: apparently he's quite fond of young boys. 

Ella also pays the clerk another visit later that night, paying him a handsome sum (for a clerk) to stay on the take. She obviously makes it quite clear what will happen to him should he decide to be brave/run away/etc. 

All of this info leads me to believe that we should go to Riverrun before we head towards King's Landing. We know Edmure is seen as a weak leader. If he quashes two big bands of brigands and catches a corrupt magistrate as one of the first actions of his rule, he will surely be seen in a better light. Additionally, the Mallisters' star will shine brighter with the Tullys, since we provided the information he needed. And finally, twe definitely want Edmure (or preferably Blackfish, though that seems exceedingly unlikely) to take over the reins in Riverrun over any of the alternatives besides ourselves. Propping him up makes it more likely that his reign will be longer, and thus benefit us. All in all, enough to take detour. Our business in King's Landing can wait anyway. 

After some days, we arrive at Riverrun. Most of the noble families have gathered in and around the castle, though notably there are no Frey representatives present. We're escorted into the keep to a room where Lord Jason is engaged in a conversation with Lord Blackwood, a staunch ally of ours. After some short introductions, we get Lord Jason to ourselves and present our (or should I say my...) plan. Lord Jason does indeed like it, and agrees that we should try to implement after the current situation with Lord Holster is resolved. He then asks to speak to me alone...

...and it becomes readily apparent why. Edmure has become quite smitten with a young lady. Wonderful, except she's a Lannister. Very much not wonderful. We discuss Lord Jason's ambitions for Joy, seeing as how she would be a more than appropriate match for Edmure. However, Lord Jason is loathe to see House Mallister lose some of its status, which it surely would given that there are no other heirs. As such, he would prefer Joy to stay in Seagard and build her own fortune. 

Anyway, Jason asks me to somehow break up the budding relationship between Edmure and this Kiera Lannister. Stranger take me...not an easy proposition, but I suppose there's always a way. I discuss the matter with Ella, lord Willard and Rha. We don't really have any stellar ideas and discard a bunch of suggestions. We decide on a fairly risky plan: have lord Wyllis Mooton charm the Lannister girl. In exchange, he will get to champion for Joy in the coming tournament. I find quite a bit of amusement in the fact that he could have gotten that favor for free, but hey, I like taking advantage of a sucker as much as the next guy. A charming and nice sucker, but a sucker nonetheless. 

We learn a few facts about Keira: 

• Second child of Kevan Lannister, Tywin's younger brother
• 17 years old
• Very beautiful
• Unfortunately, no dirt to be found as she's been quite anonymous.   

After some convincing, I manage to have Wyllis do this favor for us. Or rather as I explained to him, for the safety of Joy, the Riverlands and indeed the kingdom itself. I almost convinced myself of that last part. 

So for the next few days,we hang back and observe, letting lord Wyllis work his considerable charms on the Lannister girl. This is what we observe: 

• Keira tries to stay close to Edmure much of the time, but not always. It seems unlikely that she's quite as smitten with him as he is with her. Not surprising that she's received instructions from the family. 
• The pro-Tully camp is not at all pleased about Keira's presence 
• Some of Edmure's closest friends might be an in. These are the very young Robb Stark (14), Lucien Blackwood (early 20s) and Lord Desmond Grell (50s). Even more advantageous, lord Desmond has a beautiful daughter of his own, Serena Grell. Lord Willard tries to convince Edmure to consider Serena as a potential match, but mysteriously fails. 

Meanwhile, Ella spreads rumors among the serving staff (which she poses as one being part of) that Keira apparently isn't a maiden. Heavily disguised, I spread the same rumor among the guards. After a short while, one Gregor, a mean-looking man from the Lannister party, starts aggressively chasing the rumormongers. We decide to have Ella disappear as a serving girl for her safety, figuring the work might be done. 

After 3 nights, it's apparent that Edmure is growing increasingly, well, pissed off at Wyllis. Lord Willard notices that a pair of thugs from the Lannister party seem to be following Wyllis' every move. Concerning...unfortunately, both Wyllis and the tugs disappear while we are otherwise occupied. Myself, lord Willard and Ella rush after them, hearing muffled screams of pain from a room. Lord Willard opens the door, and we see the two thugs on top of lord Wyllis, one of them choking him, the other stabbing him in the belly with a wicked-looking knife. Apparently the Lannisters do not appreciate the competition. 

Ella cries for help from the guards, while lord Willard and I engage the thugs. I do my best to simply stay alive until Willard can come save me, which he luckily does quite handily. I quickly check on Wyllis: he's alive, thank the Mother. The guards arrive and take the two unconscious thugs to the dungeon, and bring Wyllis up to the maester. While it's unfortunate that the young lord was injured, I do believe this might work out for the better for our side...