The Story of Otho Grym and his valyrian blade

[ceranko]

The Legend of Otho Grym and his Valyrian swordIn the year 172 of King Aegon IV reign the land was wracked in a fierce winter,Ironborn raiders harried the coast sparked on by their religious prophetGreymane Oarkmont who gave his vision to the drowned god in exchange forprophetic dreams. Men in the north called him Greymane the Mad. Demanding thiswas the sacred year of the Drowned God, Ironborn raiders struck out bringingdevastation and woe to the peoples of the north.Otho Grym swore he would bring Greymanes head to Lord Stark. With over threehundred men, he went out to Bear Island and with the help of the Mormont's beganbuilding a massive fleet of sleek ships . With these he struck out with his menand harried the Ironborn on the coast burning their ships in their quays as theyslept. He won many victories and angered the Greymane.It is said that the Ironborn called a curse upon the clan of Grym and drownedhundreds of thralls they captured in their raids of the north with this massivesacrifice he summoned a storm unlike any seen since that time. The stormengulfed Othos fleet and brought his ship to the frozen shore near the ice riverclans. Otho had survived with about twenty men. The rest were taken by theDrowned God in his divine wrath.Othos plan was to reach the Shadow Tower and the wall, over ninety leaguessouth. They made their way up the ice river not knowing it was cannibal country.One night they were hounded by cave dwellers with faces painted blue green andpurple. After killing a few they saw the remains of their former victims intheir caves, the children were knawing on the leg bones of some unfortunatevictim. Otho killed the beasts and struck south. Ready to be away from suchevil.Cold storms stalked the men through frozen ice country and more of his men weretaken by the cold. On the edge of the frostfangs they found a cave hidden at thebottom of a glacial cliff. Exploring it they found the body of a ranger of theNight's watch long dead frozen in the ice of the cave floor. Five corpses laynear the man and an ancient Valyrian Blade was also entombed in the ice. Theranger had died defending himself, probably dying of blood loss from a severedforearm. The men made a camp of the cave that night, burning the bodies of thedead.As their camp embers died the cave became very cold, an evil shattering bonewracking cold. From the depths of the cave they heard the cracking of ice andechoes of movement in the distance. Something came out of the depths of thecaves darkness, unloving cold surrounded his men and from the black cold camethe others. With bodies like milkglass and glowing inhuman eyes they came forthhungry for human blood.Othos cleaved them with his sword killing three and fled for his life as morecame forth from the darkness wielding blue swords that crackled and shatteredsteel on contact. The few remaining men with him fell to the beasts. They roseand followed the commands of their new masters. Otho was hounded by his undeadfellows. He prayed to the old gods to keep him safe until morning, each night hefought his former friends killing them with his Valyrian Blade. One night hecaught a glimpse of one of the Others, just before daylight, looming on a hillin the distance, searching for him. He fled in insane fear, that morning he cameupon a wildling steadfast and stole their horse, fighting them off as he madehis escape, he struck south for the Shadow Tower. He survived because he stolethat horse, and pitied the wildlings he knew gave their lives to the evil other.When he finally reached the Shadow Tower he had lost his left hand and his earsto the cold of frostbite. He was tended to by the men of the Nights Watch andescorted back to Castle Grymhausen. Hailed as a hero his story was told by bardsand expanded upon and glamorized. Otho never spoke of his exploits and nevernamed his sword. He felt cursed because of what happened and the friends that hehad lost in the far north. The remainder of his days he spent increasing hisstores and preparing for the day when the cold would come again, that bitterbone shattering cold that meant death.

[DaimosofRedstone]

The Legend of Otho Grym and his Valyrian sword
In the year 172 of King Aegon IV reign the land was wracked in a fierce winter,Ironborn raiders harried the coast sparked on by their religious prophet Greymane Oarkmont who gave his vision to the drowned god in exchange for prophetic dreams.
Men in the North called him Greymane the Mad.
Demanding this was the sacred year of the Drowned God, Ironborn raiders struck out bringing devastation and woe to the people of the north.Otho Grym swore he would bring Greymanes head to Lord Stark.
With over threehundred men, he went out to Bear Island and with the help of the Mormont's began building a massive fleet of sleek ships. With these he struck out with his men and harried the Ironborn on the coast burning their ships in their quays as they slept. He won many victories and angered the Greymane.It is said that the Ironborn called a curse upon the clan of Grym and drowned hundreds of thralls they captured in their raids of the north. With this massivesacrifice he summoned a storm unlike any seen since that time.
The storm engulfed Othos fleet and brought his ship to the frozen shore near the ice riverclans. Otho had survived with about twenty men. The rest were taken by the Drowned God in his divine wrath.Othos plan was to reach the Shadow Tower and the wall, over ninety leagues south. They made their way up the ice river not knowing it was cannibal country. One night they were hounded by cave dwellers with faces painted blue, green and purple. After killing a few they saw the remains of their former victims in their caves, the children were knawing on the leg bones of some unfortunate victim. Otho killed the beasts and struck south, ready to be away from such evil.
Cold storms stalked the men through frozen ice country and more of his men were taken by the cold. On the edge of the frostfangs they found a cave hidden at the bottom of a glacial cliff. Exploring it they found the body of a ranger of the Night's watch long dead frozen in the ice of the cave floor. Five corpses lay near the man and an ancient Valyrian Blade was also entombed in the ice. The ranger had died defending himself, probably dying of blood loss from a severed forearm.
The men made a camp of the cave that night, burning the bodies of the dead.As their camp embers died the cave became very cold, an evil shattering bonewracking cold. From the depths of the cave they heard the cracking of ice and echoes of movement in the distance. Something came out of the depths of thecaves darkness, unloving cold surrounded his men and from the black cold camethe others. With bodies like milkglass and glowing inhuman eyes they came forth hungry for human blood. Othos cleaved them with his sword killing three and fled for his life as more came forth from the darkness wielding blue swords that crackled and shattered steel on contact. The few remaining men with him fell to the beasts. They rose and followed the commands of their new masters. Otho was hounded by his undead fellows.
He prayed to the old gods to keep him safe until morning, each night he fought his former friends killing them with his Valyrian Blade. One night he caught a glimpse of one of the Others, just before daylight, looming on a hill in the distance, searching for him. He fled in insane fear, that morning he came upon a wildling steadfast and stole their horse, fighting them off as he made his escape, he struck south for the Shadow Tower. He survived because he stole that horse, and pitied the wildlings he knew gave their lives to the evil other.When he finally reached the Shadow Tower he had lost his left hand and his ears to the cold of frostbite. He was tended to by the men of the Nights Watch and escorted back to Castle Grymhausen. Hailed as a hero his story was told by bards and expanded upon and glamorized. Otho never spoke of his exploits and never named his sword. He felt cursed because of what happened and the friends that he had lost in the Far North. The remainder of his days he spent increasing his stores and preparing for the day when the cold would come again, that bitterbone shattering cold that meant death.

I edited a little.
Makes easier reading.

[Kajani]

Well written, I would say, but on the other hand I would vow to place the story more in the past than done here. It sounds a little bit too well informed about the others. If such an incident happened only so "short" time ago the Nightwatch would be more aware to the old enemy and his weaknesses. In the beginning of the books nearly all people even in the North seem to think that the Others are gone long ago, more a shadow from old tales than a real danger.
Also I think the myth about a unnatural storm, hundreds of human sacrifices and great-scale raids against the North sounds more like the times before the coming of the Targaryan, and while Aegon IV was several years after the third of his name - additional named Dragonbane because the death of the last dragons - I think the time of wonders was already over, at least for a while, in Westeros...

But that is only my personal opinion.

[ceranko]

Probably right. But since the story was seldom talked about by Otho and embellished by bards and family who knows if its even true? He might have just killed someone or found the sword and made up the story to hide his own guilt.