009 -- video;

[northerner]

[ as is his habit these days, robb appears with grey wind's massive form at his side, regarding the camera from robb's shoulder. the wolf doesn't move, stares into the camera even as robb shuffles through the things on his nightstand, takes a minute to gather his thoughts before speaking. ]

There were many different religions in Westeros, and since arriving here, I've learned of many more. None are familiar to me, though some bear passing resemblance to those gods worshipped by those of my land. I have attended the chapel, but all of it was strange to me, and I don't think I could swear to those gods as I have my own.

[ there's a pause. grey wind shifts restlessly at his side and robb sighs, tugs at the laces of his tunic until they loosen. ]

There's no weirwood aboard this vessel. I have prayed always to the old gods, and it is said that they would keep watch so long as a man did not stray from their line of sight. I have strayed far, though not intentionally. So what I wonder is if I swear to my gods, or bind two souls together in marriage, or ask a blessing upon my bannermen, do my gods still hear? Do any of our gods hear us, when we've wandered so far?

[ robb stops, takes a breath. he looks away from the lens, reaches as if to cut it off and then grey wind huffs, like a reminder, and robb adds, almost as an afterthought-- ]

Thranduil, I would speak with you, if you would spare me audience.

[ and then robb cuts off the feed. ]

Comments

[culver]

You have more than one God?

[northerner]

Each religion of Westeros worshipped different gods. Mine were the old gods of the forest, who looked out at us through the faces upon the heart trees.

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[elvenking]

I would. I am in the gardens.

action.

[northerner]

[ roll up to the gardens like yo thrandad let's talk. ]

Do I interrupt anything?

[ tending to dragons, or something. thranduil keeps just as busy as robb, that's not a secret. ]

video; slap some flimsy encryptions on here bless her little heart she's trying

[wolfchild]

[ No words. Just. ]

robb's aren't much better 30%!!!

[northerner]

Aye?

[video]

[splice_of_life]

[Perhaps Mohinder is not one to speak. He is a child of two worlds, raised by an atheist for a father and a devout Hindu mother. It's been a problem for him in the past, not because he is also a scientist, as the Hindu faith allows for all the sciences to meet harmoniously together unlike some others where he is from, but because he has felt so very abandoned by God. Any of the gods, really.]

I like to think, perhaps, that as long as we speak, there will always be someone that might listen.

[northerner]

Someone? One of your gods, or those around you?

[ the starks keep to the old ways, suspicious and traditional by nature. robb is his father's son in this, follows in eddard stark's footsteps rather than catelyn tully who worshipped the seven in the sept eddard had built for her. ]

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[coffeeking]

[Ianto takes some time to think about this, from the logical perspective of any good atheist (who is nonetheless sympathetic to the religious).]

If your gods aren't powerful enough to hear you at a distance, then maybe you need to find different ones while you're here. I'm not saying repudiate them forever, just– If they can't hear you, they don't do you any good here, do they? So they're your gods at home, and here you need something else.

[northerner]

You think it truly so easy, to set aside the gods who watched your steps since you were a boy?

[ it's an honest question. robb cannot think of worshipping any other way than what he knows, and the worship he'd seen in the chapel had been strange to him, foreign and ill-fitting. ]

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[cargojet]

Sometimes we end up a long way from home, a long way from everything we love and everything we know. In my world we have a belief that as long as we carry God in our hearts, he'll walk beside us, wherever we go. Our God isn't a tree, but a shepherd, keeping watch when we stray.

It seems to me that if you were to carve your heart right out of your weirdwood, you could take your gods with you wherever you go, too. They're a part of you anyway, whether you like it or not, and sometimes that can be a burden not a boon, but they don't go away so long as you can still feel them there.

[northerner]

[ there's a pause, robb's hand lifting to touch his chest. nathan often gives sage counsel, but robb doesn't know what to make of that, how one could carry the weirwood with them. if eddard stark had managed that, would the gods have saved him from the lannister's claws? ]

Would you tell me why they name your god a shepard?

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[agenda]

[ she tilts her head in an impression of thoughtfulness. given recent events, she does not doubt that her gods have power even among the stars, as cruel as they are. ]

[ softly. ] Perhaps their line of sight is larger than men can comprehend, Your Grace. [ inclining her head as if to bow. ] I believe they hear, though they do not always answer our prayers in the way we think they should [ a pause. ] or at all.

[northerner]

[ the fact of the matter is, tyrells are on board, time to circle the wagons and be on their best behavior. it's easier than robb imagined, but he doesn't let himself put his faith in this. not yet, anyway. ]

My Lady. Would you have visited a sept here, if the ship had provided? You keep to the Seven, do you not?

[ southerners, man. ]

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[thebreakingwave]

I think that the right thing for me to say would be that even if they don't grant your prayers, that you shouldn't lose faith in your gods.

I don't know that I believe it myself, but I don't have gods or a god. I was raised with people that said they did, so I'm pretty sure that for someone of faith, that's, I don't know, appropriate? Maybe?

[northerner]

You believe in no gods? None at all?

[ seriously robb has never man, how do you have no gods, harry ]

[voice]

[ryuuzaki]

"Their line of sight"... I'm sure that could be taken more than one way. Has it been defined?

[northerner]

Northerners hold to the old gods, the gods of the children of the forest who dwelled in Westeros before the First Men ranged into their lands. My forefathers are descended from the first men, and we pray at the base of the weirwood. The children of the forest carved faces into the wood, and through those carvings the old gods look out at the world.

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[ridesthesun]

The Force still speaks to me, here. I see no reason your own gods would abandon you now.

[Not if they are truly gods, anyway. But Jedi have very strange views on religion. Nomi most of all]

[northerner]

What is your Force? What manner of god is it?

[ congratulations you are robb's very first jedi ]

[inafadingcrown]

[Her answer, like her expression, is soft, thoughtful.] There are times when we no longer feel the influence of a higher power- when we wonder if our prayers go unheard. It is easy, in such times, to feel forsaken. Yet I think it wiser to remember that there are forces that move in manners beyond our comprehension and for reasons we may not yet understand.

[northerner]

I would not presume to know the wishes of the gods, nor the path they have laid for me.

[ there's a pause, grey wind shifting restlessly before moving out of frame. ]

You sound certain, my lady. Are you sure of your own faith?

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[acapriciousthing]

The very act of you believing in them grants your gods power. Things work differently than they do for mortals.

[She says this with great confidence and a kindly expression]

[northerner]

And you know much about what works for gods?

[wolfinthesnow]

I would imagine no manner of god, old or new, watches over this ship.

What oath would you swear?

[northerner]

There are many here who believe their gods watch them still, though we must all be far from our lands.

The same ones our lord father must have sworn once, when he was head of our House.

[voice]

[yardbird]

The way I was always raised, God is with you no matter where you go. I imagine the same thing applies to the universe... space, or whatever.

But... your religion sounds a lot different than mine, er... was. [Robb using "gods" and all happened to have been the key indicator.]

[northerner]

I imagine it is. Much of my world is different from others. Will you speak to me of your god?

voice;

[20mentholkools]

You think them hearing is gonna mean shit?

[northerner]

Aye. I do.

[ steadily, resolutely. ]

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[puppydogeyes]

Stopped thinking about God a long time ago.
But I've seen more of him here than I did back home.

[northerner]

[ NO TEXT EVER ]

This place has changed you. Has it made you devout, Tyke?

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[gilding]

And what prayers are you hoping will be answered?

[northerner]

The well being of my family, and my bannermen, of those who look to me for protection and guidance. I would ask that I lead them well. Surely the same prayer any man would offer.

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[mansuetus]

[ she takes her time to consider his wards, fingers braiding three golden strands of hair. It is not a simple question and she finds it hard to answer for any God other than her own. But it is Robb and she leans back, hums in thought. ]

In my own world when one says they have strayed from the path of God, they mean that they have sinned and lost their way. Yet you have not sinned against your Gods, Robb Stark and so I shall say that perhaps you have not strayed. They will hear you, I trust, in your blessings and oaths or marriages.

[northerner]

[ they speak little of gods, he and lucrezia borgia. he knows that her god is not his, and his will not be hers, and that has always been enough. even now, it is enough. ]

There are no weirwood in our gardens. I have looked for them and found none. Perhaps my gods hear me as a whisper, faint and far off.

[ there's a pause, and then. ]

May I see you later? Perhaps tonight, if you have no other company?

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[oikodomae]

[ oh hey rob how u doing annabeth's kinda been hiding so he probably hasn't seen her around. though it's not like her curiosity could be quieted when something like this comes up. ]

I think the gods can always hear - they might not be able to reach and touch and change everywhere, but they hear it. They'll know.

[ a beat, and then her expression is a little less serious. little more curious. ]

Are you getting married?

[northerner]

[ what's up what's up annabeth how u doin' ]

Percy spoke to me of his gods once, though they were far, far different than mine. Are yours like his? Will you tell me of them?

[ annabeth why ]

If I were, it would be in front of the wierwood. The gods would have to bear witness to it.

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[wolfdreamer]

They hear us. When you rode south, you still prayed to them-- [He assumes Robb did; of course he did--] --and they still heard, even in places that did not have a heart tree. This ship is much farther than the southern kingdoms--but they still hear.

[They must. But maybe it is easier to keep faith, because of all that Bran has seen.]

We could make a godswood.

[northerner]

Aye, I prayed. But it did not feel like such a great distance then, not as it does now.

[ nothing puts things into perspective like leaving westeros altogether. ]

How could we? I have walked the gardens, Bran. They have no weirwoods in their depths.

[andblockbuster]

I feel this way about Starbucks sometimes, dude.

[northerner]

Starbucks. That is the temple of your gods, is that not what you once told me?

[ topher why are you the way that you are. ]

[credences]

I should think they would hear -- they are gods, are they not? Not made of one world or another. But perhaps they only make themselves known to one world. If you pray still, I do imagine they would hear. It seems your devotion to them is strong enough.

[ He's not an altogether religious man, but he knows of many who are. ]

Have peace in that, perhaps?

[northerner]

I don't think they would wish to make themselves known here, aboard this place. Do you think that is enough? Devotion without something to direct it to?

[suit]

Do you still believe in them?

[ this is the important question here. ]

[northerner]

Aye.

[ as if there is any other answer. ]

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[surrogates]

[ robb...why are you asking this. ]

Do you want them to?

[northerner]

[ surprise alaric ]

There was a request made of me, and I was not sure I could grant it. Not here.

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[littleduck]

[There is a lot of critical linefacing coming from one little blonde girl that adores him, and she feels terrible for what she's about to say, but she doesn't ever quite grasp hold of religion that people here often talk about. The most cynical words she's ever spoken are about to come out of her mouth in about two seconds.]

If they exist, really exist? [She gives a pause, indicating that she doesn't really buy into the whole religion thing. There's nothing like it in Panem, although people in the Capitol like to make themselves out to be the same as gods.]

Then they'd be stupid not to listen to you.

[northerner]

My gods exist.

[ robb's tone is quiet, but certain, as if there is no doubt to be had. ]

But suppose they cannot hear from such a distance?