I woke up to something crawling on my face and screamed, swatting whatever bug it was off me.

"Where the hell am i" I said, looking around. Instead of being in my bedroom I was instead smack dab in the middle of a random field. Last thing I remembered was filling out that application for the Pathfinder Game of Thrones game.

I usually wouldn't play a campaign based on a show but this particular post had caught my eye. The way the show had ended had always left a bad taste in my mouth so playing a campaign where I could maybe change the outcome was right up my alley. Plus I loved the pathfinder system in general with all the books I had a wide variety of stuff to choose from. The one who had made the post had been called R.O.B which I had found funny.

"Wait shit the DMs name was R.O.B could this be an isekai situation? What is even happening" I said, freaking out.

"Ok no need to panic yet this could just be a dream". Deciding to try something else i said status and saw everything pop up in front of me.

Name: John Sand

Class: Thunder Caller/Arcane Healer Bard + Totem(Bull)/Wyrm Singer Skald

Level: 1 (0/3000)

Race: Human

Attributes:

Strength: 14

Dexterity: 13

Constitution: 14

Intelligence: 12

Wisdom:10

Charisma:18

"God I hate that I was right" I said massaging my temples reading over my status. I had basically made a buffing character and while I had made sure to not just to heal bot route it wasn't the strongest of builds. If I had known this was real life I would have gone Oradin and been a battle tank.

I looked at all my skills and feats and facepalmed. There was really no need to be fluent in 5 languages here when almost everyone spoke common. "Whatever no use crying over spilled milk" I said, getting up and dusting myself off.

Taking stock of my surroundings I found I was in some field by the coast with some dirt road to my side. Next to me on the ground were all the items I had put on my sheet. It took a while but I eventually donned the leather armor. The spring loaded wrist sheath and Buckler however required a little bit more thought on my part. While I would probably be better off deflecting a blow with my right arm since it was my dominant, the spring loaded sheath dropping a dagger in my left would be useless so I put them on their respective sides. I did a few stretches in the armor and found it to be fitted nicely, not throwing me too off balance with movement. There was also a shortsword in a scabbard which I picked up and regarded as unsheathed the blade.

Upon seeing the blade I let out a sigh. In my quest to make a utility character I had made the short sword have a sawed back to cut wood with. This was really now just a useless addition but it didn't seem to affect the balance as with the few test swings i couldn't see any problems. Then again I wasn't a swordsman by any means. Sure i had done some karate classes when i was younger which did include some sword handling but that had been like more than 5 years ago. I would have to get some actual training soon since this was a world of swords and bows. Lastly I grabbed the ukulele and slung it around my neck and put on my backpack. With that i began to just walk on the dirt road hoping i would reach a town as it was a bit chilly out and i hadn't planned for my character to be in the wilderness thus had no rations.

While I was walking I decided to play a tune on my ukulele to pass the time. "Life is a highway. I'm gonna ride it all night long" I sang while playing my ukulele. I was pulled from my performance when I heard the clacking of hooves behind me in the distance . Turning around I saw 2 armored men on horses riding towards me as well as a carriage. Seeing as they were the first people I had seen since waking up I waved them down. The 2 men stopped at my waves "Hello young lad what are you doing out here alone we're still half a days ride from Gulltown".

'Gulltown , where have I heard that name before?' I thought searching my mind.

Knowledge Geography: 17+6=23

'Wait that's it Gulltown is one of the port cities of the Vale' I quickly turned my attention back to the horsemen.

"Thank you for stopping gentlemen. I was also on my way to Gulltown but was unable to procure a ride from the last town. Could I trouble you for a ride? I have the coin to pay," I said, fishing out a silver piece.

"Give us a moment, we'll ask the merchant" said the older of the two men. A minute later the knight came back saying i was allowed to ride in the front of the carriage with the driver. I said thank you and handed the silver coin to the merchant.

Taking my seat next to the driver I decided to take the time to introduce myself. "Sorry, I just realized I forgot to introduce myself. My name is John Sand it's a pleasure to meet you all".

The armored rider who had greeted me was the first to respond. "Ah a Dornish man all the way here in the Vale, how odd. Well my name is Ser Erik Belmor."

The other knight responded next "My name is Kristoff Corbray" he said giving me a slight nod.

I looked toward the driver expectantly and he looked surprised by my acknowledgement of him "Oh my name is Jonas" he said before going back to watching the road.

"Well it is nice to meet you all, and as for what i'm doing in the Vale its just a bit of wanderlust. I wanted to get out of the sands of Dorne and see what the rest of Westeros had to offer." I said.

"Oh kind of like a tour the nobles do then. Well I'm sure the Vale has some sights for you to see." Said sir erik.

With that the conversation devolved into mere pleasantries and small talk but I made sure to try and steer the conversation to gather some information. The only real information I had learned was that Jon Arryn was still alive and Robert Baratheon was king. This information was good as I was at least still before cannon so I could choose what to do.

At some point the conversations dwindled and I decided to speak up "Do you guys mind if I play a song?" I asked out loud.

This time it was the ever silent Kristoff that spoke up "Heh sure if you want us to be killed boy. We're in Hill tribe country. If they catch ear of your singing they will swarm us. Why else do you think we quieted down a while back?" he said as if such a thing were obvious.

The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

That was fine by me but left me a little bored as we rode along. Half a day's ride meant we had a full 12 hours ahead of us so I pondered where I was. All I knew right now was that I was going to Gulltown which I knew was in the Vale. Of the starting locations this was probably the worst as I couldn't do much to influence anything from here. I planned to go to the docks to get a ship elsewhere but first I had to decide I would head north to Winterfell or go east to Essos.

About 3 hours into our trip I was tuning my ukulele when a notification appeared before my eyes.

Quest: Survive your first battle.

"Wait what?" I thought, when suddenly there was a squeal from in front as one of the horses carrying the mercenary or knight ,not really clear what Kristoff was, got hit by an arrow throwing him off the horse. Another arrow came as well hitting Jonas the driver in the head killing him instantly. "Shit" I swore diving off the side of the carriage opposite from where the arrows came.

"Hill tribe raiders men prepare to fight" Shouted Erik quickly getting off his horse. Out of the woods came a group of 5 men wearing nothing but furs carrying an assortment of shields, axes and swords. Shit 5 vs 2 I did not like those odds. They started fighting and I did what a bard does best: set the tone with my music activating both Inspire Courage and Draconic Rage singing Pumped up kicks as the knights clashed with the tribesman.

The effects were immediate as the knight's swords cleaved through the tribesmans shields like butter making short work of them. The problem was that while they were distracted with the fight another 2 tribesmen, presumably the archers ran out of the woods with shortswords straight towards me and the carriage. I would have to deal with this myself so I turned around facing toward them waiting for them to get into range while I continued to strum my ukulele and sing.

"Better run better run faster than my LOVER!". The 2 bandits ran into the perfect position right on the last note letting me activate Chord of Shards. I watched as crystal shards materialized out of thin air and flew into my attackers. The shards dug into them causing both to be knocked down by the sudden overwhelming pain but they were still alive

Chord of shards: 2d6= 8 Damage

I turned briefly looking back at the knights seeing they were still engaged but were now fighting 1v1. The tribesman on my side however were not out of the fight and began to stir getting back up.

"Shit" I cursed , dropping the ukulele from my hands and unsheathing my shortsword.

I rushed forward targeting the one nearest me and stabbed him with my short sword through the neck before he had the chance to get up ,finishing him off. I didn't have time to contemplate killing a man as the other tribesman got up immediately and in his rage ignored the injuries and attempted to swipe at me with his axe. I narrowly dodged his swipe and attempted to stab at him only for him to be too quick for me. I felt the performance's boost fade, meaning I was all on my own, no buffs. Thankfully my performance earlier left the man wary and we circled each other for a moment.

This moment was all I needed, "Low Blow" I yelled. I watched as a shimmering hand appeared and nutchecked the Bandit causing him to instinctively drop his guard and cup his family jewels. I capitalized on this and struck out with a thrust piercing him in the torso. The force I put behind the thrust caused me to fall with him onto the ground. I scrambled away scared he'd recover and slash me but that didn't happen as I saw the blade was still impaled on his now lifeless body. I looked around still high on adrenaline and saw the knights finish up the final battle on their side.

The knights began walking over to me but the adrenaline wore off and the fact that I killed two men dawned on me causing me to immediately fall to my knees and start vomiting.

Erik came over and patted me on the back "First time killing a man huh boy" I simply nodded wiping my mouth . "I would say it gets better but it doesn't, you just have to bear with it". He said sagely.

Erik seemed to be in tip top shape but looking toward Kristoff was a different story. He was kneeling at the foot of a tree with an arrow sticking out of his shoulder.

"Shite Kristoff they got you good huh". Said Erik going over to inspect him.

"It's not so bad. I'll just have to bear with it till we can see a maester in gulltown" he said through clenched teeth proving he was indeed in pain.

'Crap poor guy wish there was something I could do to help him. Oh wait, what am I thinking? I can help him'. "No need to wait for that". I said "I can treat you now".

"You're a healer too boy? I saw what you did with your music. I've never felt more powerful in my life, I cut through those tribesmen like butter" said Eric, giving his sword a few swings for emphasis.

"Eh i'm just a dabbler in the old mysteries' '" I said, shrugging and walking over to grab my Ukulele. "Now Eric, please take the arrow out of his shoulder".

"Fuck" kristoff cursed and i unslung my ukelele playing a short tune and saying "cure light wounds". With that his shoulder glowed green as he stopped bleeding.

"Amazing boy, you have my thanks," he said, rolling his shoulder experimentally. The merchant in the carriage also came out and thanked me for protecting him by giving me back my silver coin.

It was unfortunate about Jonas the driver as they covered his body with a tarp and said they would send word to his family. We also looted the tribesman and they allowed me to take a bow and a quiver of arrows for my help. The horse was also found but with the driver dead one of the knights had to man the reigns and i got to ride the horse. The rest of the ride was peaceful but I was still on edge for another attack despite Eric's claims of how those were the only bandits in the area.

After I was a little calmed down I reviewed the notifications from the battle.

Quest completed:First Blood

You survived your first battle congratulations, i'm sure there's many more to come.

Reward: +1000 xp

Bonus objective

Ensure Everyone survives the encounter: X

Survive with no damage taken: +500 xp

That's some horse shit I raged internally. How was I supposed to save that guy? He literally died instantly as the battle started. Man only 500 away from level 2 hopefully I can get there soon having more spells is sure to come in handy.

Finally a little after dark we made it to Gulltown.

Location Discovered: Gulltown

+100 xp

Oh good least i could get some xp from discovering locations. I was pointed to an inn by the knights who said they needed to log the merchandise and would meet me in the morning to introduce me to a ship's captain as I had told them I was looking to travel. Getting to the inn I found it to be a lively place with people drinking in lantern and candle light.

Going to what I presumed to be the front desk I spoke up "Hello I would like to rent a room for the night and also request some food". The front desk lady looked me up and down, "no problem that will be 1 star total". The money system here was very weird but I just thanked the gods my money split into whatever was needed as I handed a copper star to the lady. Thank you, she said, giving me my key.

I went upstairs and set down my stuff inspecting the room. It was small as to be expected consisting of just a bed and a small desk with a chair. I quickly got out of my armor but before i sat down to relax i made sure to cast a string of prestidigitations on myself to clean up all the blood and grime i had gotten on myself from the that i layed down for a few minutes silently contemplating how i killed 2 men. I quickly got over it however this was westeros odds are this wouldn't be the last time i had to get my hands dirty. Besides if you kill bad guys it's ok in my book , it's not like I killed random innocents.

Getting my act together I got up and attached my wrist sheath and went down to the tavern area for my food. I was served a nice bowl of chicken stew and a glass of water. The server helping me was typical barmaid dressed in an old timey dress but she was older than me probably mid 20s if i had to guess. Finishing my food i had a seat by the bar and ordered some rum. The rum was absolutely terrible but i really only ordered it to speak with the bartender. I also discretely sang a little prestidigitation to chill the rum and make it taste a bit better making it slightly more bearable. "So barkeep have you heard any interesting rumors as of late?" I asked.

Charisma: 18+4 (rolled 15+8)

The bartender leaned in and said "I actually just heard something very interesting from the Braavosi sailors just the other day. Apparently some rich merchant in Pentos is giving refuge to the last of the Targaryens".

"Now that is very interesting," I said, sipping my rum. What that meant was I was about a year give or take from the start of Game of Thrones as it seemed that guy had just started housing Daenerys and Viserys. I briefly considered sending a warning to Ned Stark but I had to let events play out somewhat or I would risk dooming the realm in the long run to the white walkers. I finished my drink and went upstairs to sleep, knocking out as soon as I touched the pillow.