Chapter Text
As his motorbike sped along the road, Rowan could not help but smile. He loved feeling the wind rush past him, the exhilarating freedom that could only come from pure adrenaline rushing through his veins. The trees cast their large shadows across everything, the sunlight occasionally peeking out from in between. With a practiced ease Rowan leaned down in order to take the next turn faster, smiling ear from ear.
Suddenly a large brown shape jumped out in front of him, directly onto the middle of the road. Rowan pulled to the other direction, barely missing the stag by foot or two. But the fast movement caused him to veer off directly into the barrier. His bike slammed into it, and Rowan was catapulted off it. For a brief moment Rowan could see the tree, before he slammed head first into it.
When Rowan woke up again, he was lying on the ground. Something warm and wet was flowing down the back of his head. For several moments Rowan focused on taking short and very painful breaths, before he opened his eyes and pushed himself up. The visor of his helmet was full of cracks and he could barely see through it, so Rowan took it off and let it drop into the snow below.
Snow? But it was the middle of august.
"What the fuck?" Rowan looked around at the snow covered forest around him. His bike and the road were gone, and instead of a flat stretch of land, Rowan found himself on the slope of hill. Only the broken helmet right next to him hinted to his crash.
Congratulations. You have unlocked access to the Force System. Gain skill points (sp) for completing quests, defeating foes and mastering skills. Those points can then be used to unlock new abilities with the force. Become a paragon of the light or let your darkest desires reign free! The choice is yours.
The writing appeared directly before Rowan, and when he moved his head it followed. Rowan tried to grab the letters, but his fingers passed right through them. After a short moment they disappeared and were replaced by different ones.
Name: Rowan
Age: 18
Titles: None
Skills: Force Connection (1/100)
Skill Points available: 0
Purchasable skills: Telekinesis (30sp); Form 1 (200sp); Read Emotions (20sp); Physical Enhancement(50sp)
To unlock more skills improve your connection to the force and master prerequisite skills.
New quest gained: Find shelter
Get to a warm place before you die (again).
Rewards: Up to 50 sp depending on the quality of the shelter
Rowan nodded to himself solemnly. This explained everything. He had gone insane.
Of course he liked Star Wars and as a kid had dreamed of wielding a lightsabre in one hand, while force lightning shot out from the other. Who hadn't? He must have hit his head hard enough, to create some sort of hallucination that played out his wildest dreams.
But unfortunately his schizophrenia was right, and Rowan had to find shelter quickly. He could already feel the cold penetrating his body.
Rowan looked around, looking for anything that could lead him back home. But around was only the snowy forest, undisturbed everywhere, except for the tree where Rowan had woken up. Picking a direction at random Rowan started to wade through the snow. His leather boots were luckily waterproof, and went halfway up to his knee, which helped against the deep snow. Still, Rowan occasionally slipped on the snow and ice, cursing to himself each time.
After a few minutes of walking Rowan, suddenly felt a tiny pull in another direction. Without thinking about it Rowan adjusted his trajectory.
Force Connection has reached level 2
Force Connection:
You can sense the force flow through you, occasionally granting you visions and feelings to guide you. With each level that connection grows stronger, making all other abilities easier to use.
Rowan angrily wished the writing to disappear, and it did so immediately.
"Fucking hallu-", Rowan started to swear, when he suddenly spotted a road before him. Coincidence.
He stepped onto the road, and spotted a small bridge a few dozen feet down the road to his right. It was the first sign of civilization, that he had spotted. Yet it wasn't what really captured his focus.
That honour went to the bloody carcass next to him. It was a wolf, but gigantic in its size. Rowan carefully approached it, and knelt down next to it. Its entire stomach was ripped wide open. Taking off his leather gloves, Rowan hovered his hand above the wound, but felt no warmth from it.
Unsure what to do Rowan scratched the back of his head, but stopped when he felt wet blood coat his fingers. It did not hurt, but Rowan still decided to leave it undisturbed. The helmet had protected him from the worst, but it would be best to find a hospital quickly. But in which direction should he follow the road?
The sound of hooves hitting the stone bridge broke Rowan out of his thoughts. Two boys on horses had just reached the bridge, one with reddish brown hair and one with much darker, almost black hair. Upon seeing him, they jumped down from their horses and carefully approached him.
"You don't look like a hunter. Are you a poacher?" asked the dark haired one. They wore strange clothes, like they had just come off from a ren fair. Considering they were riding on horses, that was actually quite likely.
"Hey!" said the other boy. "My name is Robb Stark, son of Lord Eddard Stark. Did you kill this beast unlawfully?"
With an immense amount of confusion Rowan recognized them. Robb Stark and next to him was Jon Snow. Their clothes, age and general looks were a perfect match to the name given to Rowan.
Now Rowan recognized the scene from the books. The giant wolf was the direwolf mother. What the fuck was going on? Was this some sort of elaborate setup or roleplay?
The boys expression grew more suspicious at his silence, so Rowan quickly stood up and raised his hands to show he was unarmed. "No, no. I am just... a traveller. The direwolf was dead when I arrived a few moments ago."
For now he would just play along, and see what happened. Taking a few steps back from the carcass, Rowan could see Robb and Jon relax slightly. Robb approached dead beast and examined the wounds, but Jon did not take his eyes off from Rowan. He just send a hopefully friendly smile to the boy.
"Direwolves have never been seen this far south," Robb said as he stood up. "Look here." Robb reached down and pulled up a small cub. It barely moved in Robbs hand, and just blinked slowly from time to time.
Along the curve of the road came a large group of riders. Seeing the large beast on the ground, one of the guards drew his sword, but and shouted for them to get away from the beast. "She can't hurt you, Jory. She's dead," Robb said.
At the front of the group a man, that had to be Eddard Stark, glanced at him suspiciously, before turning towards Robb. "Who killed this beast?"
Rowan looked further down the line of riders, and could spot Bran further in the back, sitting on a pony. He jumped off from his seat in order to get closer to what was happening. Of course he could still walk, his fall would come later. As would Brans transformation into the successor of the three-eyed crow. Rowan tore his eyes away from the boy, and looked back towards the direwolf. This was all too precise to just be a random re-enactment of the books. If it had been, one of them would have just asked Rowan to leave, in order to not break immersion. But where would they have gotten such a giant wolf carcass from?.
"According to this stranger the direwolf was dead already," Jon said, while pointing towards Rowan.
"What is your name, stranger?" Eddard jumped down from his horse, and approached Rowan.
Rowan briefly nodded his head, in a clumsy imitation of a bow. "My name is Rowan. I am just a traveller that happened to come across this carcass, shortly before your son did."
Eddard gestured towards Rowans jacket and pants. "Unusual clothes for a traveller, considering this snow has been here for weeks. Even more unusual is your lack of supplies."
"I don't come from Westeros, that's why my clothes are probably strange to you." Rowan answered quickly, but he could still see the suspicious looks on the faces all around him. It was then that Rowan spotted the large twohanded sword hanging on the saddle of Eddard's horse, and remembered why the lord of Winterfell was out here. "I was robbed, my lord. What little supplies and money I had left, was taken."
"Really? What did the bandits look like then?" Jory Cassel asked. Rowan remained silent for a moment, desperately trying to remember the description of the deserter he had read years ago.
"Are you slow?" Theon said. Rowan knew the torture he would go through under Ramsey Bolton. Feeling the suspicious looks on him Rowan stammered out a response.
"He was dressed in black. And came from behind. He put a knife to my throat. I did not get a good look at him, but he did not have all his fingers," Rowan stammered out. "Apologies, my lord. After taking my bag, he hit the back of my head, knocking me out. My head is still spinning." Rowan briefly turned his head to the side, showing the red patch in his otherwise light brown hair.
"That fits the description of the man I executed mere moments ago. Although we did not find a purse on him."
"A deserter, murderer and a thief as well. Probably hid the money in his boots, and got buried with it," Theon said, not apologizing for his earlier insult to Rowan.
Eddard turned towards Rowan. "It would be a bad omen to take the money out of a grave, even if it yours. Instead I invite you to Winterfell for a few days so you can get your bearings. Maester Luwin will take a look at the wound on your head. That should be adequate compensation."
"Thank you milord."
Quest completed: Find shelter
Lord Eddard Stark has invited you to stay the night at Winterfell.
Rewards: 50sp
New Quest: Earn your keep
You have been invited to take shelter in Winterfell, but the no one likes a freeloader. Earn your keep by helping the citizens of Winterfell for a week. Getting thrown out or arrested before the full week is over will constitute failure.
Rewards: 100sp + Potential hidden reward
Rowan did not even acknowledge the writing anymore and just wished for it to disappear.
In that moment Bran noticed what was in Robbs arms, and jumped off his horse with a cry of delight. He started to carefully pet the pup, who closed his eyes in contentment.
Rowan spoke up absentmindedly. "She was pregnant. Six pups."
Jon leaned down in order to get the other pups. One after the other they pulled the pups out, while Eddard and Jory looked at the broken off antler stuck in the direwolfs neck, and talked of signs and omens.
Everything played out exactly as it should. Theon offered to kill the pups, and Jon said that they found five pups, one for each child of Lord Stark. After a moment, Eddard agreed to let them keep them and explained that the children would have to take care of the wolves. It played out almost word for word, just like Rowan had read it once.
"Seems you were wrong, stranger," Theon said to Rowan. "Only five pups."
Rowan shook his head. "I wasn't."
In that moment a quiet noise came from a nearby bush, and Jon approached it. A few moments later he was looking into the red eyes of Ghost. "This one is for me."