ZEXAL - WESTEROS AU

ZEXAL - WESTEROS AU

Just popped into the Zexal fandom and made myself a niche. The result is pretty fancy... both Westeros and Hogwarts make up for superb settings for the Zexal cast...

In a Westeros at the brink of cataclysm, ruled by a regency council, various factions are struggling to survive.
The Ironborn prince and princess who were orphaned in a war decades ago, Reginald and Rio Greyjoy, are, being twins and due to Reginald's rumoured contact with mainlanders, the subject of a dynastic feud and kingsmoot. The losing twin will have to endure exile. The more learned Rio knows that there could have been a rock queen and a salt king, brother and sister, ruling together like in the past. But the ways of the lone driftwood crown are already set in stone. Will there be an iron king or an iron queen, and what will become of the sibling who loses the feud?
Kite Lannister, desperate to heal his ailing brother, has converted to the religion of the LORD OF LIGHT. At the same time, his advisors try to convince him to take up a wife among various candidates. Hiring Dornish sellswords Dextra and Nistro as his right-hand woman and left-hand man causes further discontent, and matters are even more complicated when Kite and Dextra begin to display feelings for one another...
To add more fuel to the fire, others who were orphaned in the same war also see their worlds shift. The Tyrell brothers, eldest learned Lord Quinton, brash Ser Quattro, and kindly Ser Trey, are somehow pulled into the whole conflict. One of them believes in peace, another in glory, the third in not letting any of his loved ones suffer any harm...
And winter is coming, sweeping everyone into a maelström of confusion, chaos, emotions, religious feuds, miracles, conviction, hope, despair...

REVIEWING SAGAS: WESTEROS

Once upon a time, in a vast feudal realm "ruled" by an immature pervert and RULED by a clever queen, the throne was suddenly left vacant. And thus, a war broke out between five claimants as unlikely and different from each other as could be: a veteran raider leader...

... an idealistic young separatist ...

... a dashing queer charmer ...

... a stern religious zealot ...

... and a pre-teen sociopath.

Meanwhile, in distant places, the rightful heiress to the throne was raising an army of freedmen (freed slaves) to claim her late father's throne. On her side, she had a secret weapon: three fire-breathing reptiles...

Only one of all these claimants can win the Game of Thrones.

Nowadays, everyone (geek or not) is talking Game of Thrones. This historical fantasy series, based upon the novels by George R. R. Martin, has many a reason to be that popular.

Some people have described it as The Sopranos or Boardwalk Empire in Middle-Earth. No, it isn’t. In fact, Westeros (the characters’ homeworld) is much more similar to our own world than to Tolkien’s. There are queer people making love to each other (Renly and Loras, anyone?), powerful females (from Queen Mother Cersei and Red Priestess Melisandre to swashbuckling tomboys Arya and Brienne), religion plays a more than relevant role (the Red Faith, imposed by Stannis Baratheon with fire and sword, is gradually replacing the Faith of the Seven)... and there is ostensibly no magic at the time the story is set. Dragons are thought to be a thing of the past as well… until dethroned princess Daenerys adopts the three reptiles that hatch from “fossilized” eggs at her khal (nomadic warlord) husband’s funeral pyre. Which marks a turning point in the history of this series with such a large cast.

Anyone can say “I’ll get tangled up with so many characters!” Don’t worry. Each and every one has got at least one quirk. And there are character guides online (though beware if you intend to watch the series: the Net is dark and full of spoilers...).

Power struggle? Romance? Confrontations, whether battles or banters? Dragons? Wolves? Zombies? Eunuchs? Fanaticism? Really wicked villains you love to hate (Viserys, Joffrey, Lord Frey: this is for you!)?

The aim of this series seems to be adapting a narrative that “has everything”, and the creators have certainly succeeded.

Just remember: 

This series has everything.

Any character can die.

The Net is dark and full of spoilers.

And, finally…

Season Four is coming.

ALICE OF WESTEROS SACRIFICE - II

ALICE OF WESTEROS SACRIFICE - II

The second Alice was a gentlemanly one.

Singing a song, he entered Wonderland...

The ruler of those lands was in love with the beauties and charms of life. From the clifftop tower where he was born and raised, Renly Baratheon delighted in the warm colours of the sun setting behind the woods, the glitter of sunlight on the waves, the soft spring flowers, and the falling of the autumn leaves. From beyond the woods, from the fertile Reach, came Loras, his good friend, to whose sister Margaery he was betrothed. Renly was as pleased with Loras as Loras was with Renly.
Now Margaery wasn't that homely to say the least, but it wasn't for her that Renly's young heart beat in such a febrile way. It was hazel-eyed Loras, with his cascades of golden locks and soft cheeks of peach-fuzz, that Renly loved. He had recently left his birthplace to live on the Tyrells' stately chateau, surrounded by the high ramparts and beautiful gardens that gave the estate such a wonderful name. The lady of Highgarden loved him like she loved her own children, and she hoped that Renly and Margaery, having tied the knot, could give her hopeful grandchildren. 

The young dark-haired lord, whose cheeks and upper lip had started, unlike those of his beloved, to be decked with little strands of raven hair, still saw her as a friend, remaining steadfast in his feelings for Loras. Though their religion forbade such a relationship, it did not inflict any punishment. The young men kissed under trellises of golden roses, they shook peach blossoms on each other's heads... they slept in the same bed, in the same bedchamber, tickling each other under green coversheets embroidered with golden roses. They loved each other passionately all spring and summer long (and though Renly had wed the auburn and green-eyed Margaery in midsummer). But autumn had to come, the rainbows had to fade away, and such love had to pay its due.

Leaden clouds darkened the skies, the golden roses started to wither, and many other flowers had pined away. Cold winds from the east made the leaves fall, and warriors from the Stormlands visited Highgarden. Their leader was a tall and freckled lady knight with short, fair hair and steel-blue eyes.

The Stormlanders wanted their lord to be their king and deliverer. For Stannis Baratheon, Renly's stern and cold-hearted older brother, had left the harsh island fortress he ruled to claim his ancestral lands at Storm's End, where he had imposed a foreign religion by fire and sword. If left unchecked, the flames of war could smite the peaceful Reach.

The farewell knew no equal. Though Renly merely loved her as a good friend, he kissed his young consort and dried up her unchecked tears. Westward did the Stormland host ride: dark-eyed Renly before his ranks, soft-cheeked Loras Tyrell by his right side, fair-haired Brienne carrying the standard of the golden stag to the left. When they arrived, Stannis had already taken Storm's End, and burned the sacred godswood to the ground. The heroes could do nothing but encamp by the ramparts and await the garrison's surrender.

From the window in the chamber that once was his brother's, Stannis watched the enemy lay siege to the Baratheons' ancestral seat. That evening, two young men lay huddled together by the campfire. The dark-eyed, clean-shaven conqueror recognized young Renly and Loras Tyrell.

Having converted to another religion, Stannis couldn't forgive his younger brother's sins. Defying nature by making love to his own gender! Such a notorious deed should not be left unpunished!

Restraining the rage that surged within him, Stannis Baratheon announced that he would make a sortie into the enemy camp on his own. The sharp longsword at his side remained sheathed, but his firm hand was on the hilt.

Half-drunk on sweet Reach fruit wine, two young warriors lay half-asleep in the middle of the Renlyian encampment. One of them was raven-haired and bearded, while the other had golden locks and downy cheeks. A tall and dark figure, wielding a longsword, stepped silently by the campfire. A flash of moonlight reflected on the blade. Renly felt a sharp, stabbing pain in his back, piercing his vital organs, and then the tip of the sharp steel sprung up in the middle of his chest. The young lord didn't have time to look over his shoulder and recognize his clean-shaven and lean older brother as the one who had run him through the chest with his sword, for the blade had pierced his heart: with one last sigh, dark-haired Renly ceased to breathe and shut his eyes forever. The blood that surged from his pierced heart spread like the scattering petals of crimson roses.

When Loras woke up, he burst into tears that couldn't be restrained. The news of his beloved's death had spread through the encampment like wildfire. And the rage of the Stormlanders couldn't be more justified.

They rushed forth to avenge their liege lord, the hazel-eyed Loras himself slaying the enemy's lieutenants with his own sword in a fit of grieving rage, but to no avail: most of the Renlyian officers had already defected to the enemy side or been taken prisoner. "I can't avenge him if I'm dead", the young Tyrell thought, as his ranks deserted him:  the stronghold on the cliff did not fall at the end of the day. But the slayer of Renly had already left. And a teary-eyed Loras had fled the Stormlands, returning home to the Reach on his own, with the lifeless form of his beloved. 

I won't delve on how fair Brienne, to convince Loras of her innocence, fled the camp during the siege. What is worth of mention is that the lifeless form of Renly Baratheon was brought to the peaceful Reach, then earthed beneath the rose trees where he had so frequently kissed his darling, as Highgarden was draped in black. 

When spring came, the roses at his grave bloomed neither golden nor blood red, but the colour of copper. And the memory of his untimely death would linger within the hearts of the Tyrells, as long as the Reach existed.
The most experienced veterans in Westeros say that a rider on a white steed, wearing an antlered helmet and a shining breastplate, led the cavalry charge on the frontline at Blackwater. The battle was lost, but the charge would never be forgotten. The veteran soldiers say it was Renly Baratheon, whose death may not have been what happened in real life. Only a few people, the Tyrells of Highgarden, know the truth: the leader of the charge was Loras Tyrell, dressed in Renly's suit of armour and riding his liege lord's steed.