First Meeting of the Athenaeum Club (2)

The next person to arrive was someone Victor didn't know a lot about and had no contact with before, the heir of the Swann family from the Stormlands, Gulian Swann. As he was just 21 years of age he was just starting to become really mature and Victor learned before that he just recently married a wife from a rather unknown background. Nonetheless Victor greeted him with great fanfare.

"Lord Swann, I am very glad you accepted the invitation of House Di Natale and choose to join the first private club of the Known World that is based on its own island. I am sure the days to follow and the events that are planned will please you and not waste any of your precious time."

Victor said while greeting a new potential ally of his. The only real knowledge Victor had about this future leader of the Swann family was that 20 years in the future, of course without Victor's presence, Lord Gulian agrees to meet Ser Davos Seaworth but refuses to join the cause of Stannis Baratheon. During the War of the Five Kings, Lord Gulian remains in his castle pleading illness.

Gulian's eldest son, Ser Donnel, supports first Renly Baratheon and then Stannis. He is captured during the Battle of the Blackwater and kneels to Joffrey Baratheon. Gulian's second son, Ser Balon, joins Joffrey's Kingsguard after the death of Ser Preston Greenfield.

From those events Victor would guess that the man in front of him would turn into a very cautious chess player that would probably never really pick a side and would always make sure his family was in a safe place.

His philosophy in the future would heavily align with Victor's own goals for House Di Natale. This made the two potential partner in the future with roughly the same goal. Keep the family alive and wealthy and stay away from something like imperial power.

"Victor Di Natale, I heard a lot about you from the nobles of the Stormlands and the Reach and when I received the invitation together with the news about all the interesting things I would be able to see on Dustspear I was quite curious and full of expectations for this journey. I hope you don't disappoint me too much and House Swann can find a new partner for the future."

Even though Gulian Swann tried to act friendly everybody around him could feel the arrogance in his bones as the heir of one of the oldest marcher lords of Westeros. Victor honestly didn't mind as everybody that came from a military family had a certain arrogance in their bones and would seldomly bow their head to others, if not forced by the situation and for the needs of the family.

Gulian Swann joined Victor, Oberyn and Randyll on the island and was honestly extremely surprised by the luxury and the style of architecture. The many beautiful courtesans were extremely enticing for a young man that just recently married. Victor could notice Oberyn observing any detail of Gulian very closely, as having direct contact with a heir of the marcher lords that was distracted by beauty and wine was extremely rare.

He should remember his friend later that an heir of such an old family would never show his flaws so blatantly and any weakness he could observe right now was meant to be shown in public. He would probably wait though, as not to underestimate his friend too much. Maybe the Red Viper was already aware and just went along for fun.

Slowly the rest of the invited members would join in the fun and arrived in the next few days. First the oldest son of the Manderly family, that just stayed in Lys as some sort of honeymoon with his wife, who recently showed signs of pregnancy to the great joy Wylis Manderly. He just got a notice from his father to replace him at the first meeting of the Athenaeum club and send some high-grade cloud steel weapons and a large amount of Penicillin home.

The next two people to arrive nearly caused a slight clash in the newly build port of Dustspear. The lord of House Harlaw, Rodrik Harlaw was the first to arrive. He is nicknamed Rodrik the Reader because he is always reading, which is uncommon amongst the ironborn. He is the captain of the Sea Song, a longship.

Facing him was a very important person in the Riverlands, so important that Victor didn't expect to see him on Dustspear. Jason Mallister is the Lord of Seagard and the head of House Mallister.

Lord Jason is a tall and lean man. His brown hair is mixed with white, and he has fierce blue-grey eyes. He has a gaunt, chiseled face, with high cheekbones. He is clean-shaven.

His armor is indigo chased with silver, and his helm is decorated with the wings of an eagle.

Jason is known for his courtesy and his honor and is a renowned tourney knight. What is most important is his deep hatred for any iron born. In the later Greyjoy's rebellion in 289AC he would personally kill Rodrik Greyjoy, heir to the Iron Islands at that point in time. Of course, this has not yet happened at this point, or the iron born would do anything possible to kill him right there, without thinking about any consequences.

Even though Rodrik Harlaw was a rather peaceful and well-read iron born, he was an iron born, nonetheless. One could practically see the sparks flying between them. Only the arrival of the host, Victor himself, could finally calm the warring atmosphere.

"Lords of the Iron Isles and the Riverlands, I am very grateful for your appearance and feel deeply honored that you took the long journey upon yourself. The island of Dustspear is a neutral territory though, and we do not allow any harmful actions once you leave your boat. Any disobedience will be seen as a declaration of war towards all members of the Athenaeum club.

I hope both you can now calm down and think about whether you can accept those terms. If you do, I welcome you both and will certainly do anything possible to make your time at Dustspear as pleasant as possible, but if you don't, I expect you to return to your family. I would not hold this decision against anyone."

Victor calmly but forcefully explained the situation and just waited patiently for the decision of those two noble lords of Westeros.