Its clear that Loras went to an empty Dragon Stone

[Ferocious Veldt Roarer]

11 minutes ago, sweetsunray said:

But Cersei is no Manderly and no Wull.

She employs a spymaster, whose opinions she actually values. Granted, Qyburn is no Varys, but it doesn't take Varys to find out what hundreds of drunken sailors blab all over town.

[bent branch]

5 hours ago, Illyrio Mo'Parties said:

Technically, that sentence still makes sense if he's ordered the garrison to flee at the first sight of danger.

And thinking about it, this actually makes sense. One issue I've always had with Stannis's orders here is how he intends to have this obsidian delivered.

• There surely isn't a great deal of trade flowing between Dragonstone and Eastwatch at the best of times
• Westerosi merchant shipping is out of the question
• He doesn't have the money to hire ships anyway
• Pretty much the only ships left to him are Sallador Saan's, which aren't at Dragonstone
• Even if he had some merchant ships, he doesn't have the extra ships necessary to provide security

And most importantly, exactly how big is the mining operation at Dragonstone? Especially considering they'll be starting from scratch with no investment or labour or materials or anything that isn't already on the island. Are they really going to be mining so much that they'll be filling entire ships with it - that they'll need some large-scale logistical operation to move it?

I don't think so.

If instead the garrison is ordered to mine as much obsidian as they can before somebody arrives to take the island, lock the castle up tight and sneak away to some other ships in the night. Perhaps even yield the castle in exchange for their safe passage away? You might say that Stannis would never give it up, but look at the passage again: he's already resigned to the fact that he's going to lose Dragonstone; his priority is the Others.

As for the notion that such a large-scale deception is unworkable because people talk, well, that's a recurring plot-hole in these books. Nobody survived the Battle of Winterfell to report on Ramsay Bolton's treachery? Not one Bolton or Frey soldier said to their Stark brother-in-arms, "Oi mate, watch out tonight, we're gonna kill you"?

What my take on this has been is that there was a negotiated surrender of Dragonstone.

What each of the parties wanted:

1) Rolland wanted to take as much obsidian as possible to the Wall as Stannis ordered him to.

2) The Tyrells and Redwynes wanted to take Dragonstone as quickly as possible so they could take the Redwyne fleet to the reach.

What each of the parties had to give:

1) Rolland could deliver Dragonstone quickly and with no loss of life.

2) The Tyrells/Redwynes could give Rolland a ship to take the obsidian north.

One interesting tidbit from Cersei is this: "Redwyne had miners working to drive a tunnel underneath the castle walls, but that was too slow for the Knight of Flowers."

This info, which probably came from Aurane, would be a great story to cover for a mining operation on Dragonstone or even provide the obsidian to fill a ship.

Anyway, Rolland and Aurane knew each other pre-Blackwater. Aurane could act as go between Rolland and Loras/Paxter. An agreement of this nature would give everyone what they wanted as quickly as possible. Even Cersei gets what she wants, Dragonstone is just as taken if Rolland surrenders without a battle as with a battle. Although if you consider that Cersei wants Loras dead, I guess she doesn't get everything she wants because obviously Loras would be uninjured in this scenario.

[sweetsunray]

25 minutes ago, Ferocious Veldt Roarer said:

She employs a spymaster, whose opinions she actually values. Granted, Qyburn is no Varys, but it doesn't take Varys to find out what hundreds of drunken sailors blab all over town.

I don't trust Qyburn either. He's been known to jump a sinking ship before, and yet seem to be doing his ruler's or leader's will. He checked Brienne's virginity for Vargo, yet intended to leave with Jaime then next day. And Varys we know only used what he learned to benefit his own agenda and survival. He didn't pass on everything he knew or learned.

[aryagonnakill#2]

I haven't seen anyone mention the moment inside Baelors temple when one of the Septas is about to speak of Loras to Cersei and the other hushes her.  It seems like the faith has some knowledge here.

[Illyrio Mo'Parties]

4 hours ago, Ferocious Veldt Roarer said:

Yet none of those events are exactly a secret after the fact. Roose and Ramsay may humor themselves pretending that Theon burned Winterfell, but what the northmen do is not buying their story, merely playing along for the time being. Ask Manderly. Ask the Wull.

Well, sure, eventually the word gets out. And eventually the truth about Dragonstone will, too. But, really - are we to believe that word of Ramsay at Winterfell didn't reach anybody with a raven in the months that go by between the sack and the RW?

And that still doesn't account for the inexplicable silence of every single Bolton and Frey soldier.

Fact is that sometimes GRRM treats these big blobs of unnamed characters as an abstraction, rather than a crowd of individual people with their own hopes and dreams. Thus, it becomes reasonable to have them all behave as one.

I don't think it's a problem: we have to give him some dramatic licence to keep the story moving, after all. But it does show that this is a fictional world where soldiers don't gossip much.

[Illyrio Mo'Parties]

4 hours ago, bent branch said:

What my take on this has been is that there was a negotiated surrender of Dragonstone.

What each of the parties wanted:

1) Rolland wanted to take as much obsidian as possible to the Wall as Stannis ordered him to.

2) The Tyrells and Redwynes wanted to take Dragonstone as quickly as possible so they could take the Redwyne fleet to the reach.

What each of the parties had to give:

1) Rolland could deliver Dragonstone quickly and with no loss of life.

2) The Tyrells/Redwynes could give Rolland a ship to take the obsidian north.

One interesting tidbit from Cersei is this: "Redwyne had miners working to drive a tunnel underneath the castle walls, but that was too slow for the Knight of Flowers."

This info, which probably came from Aurane, would be a great story to cover for a mining operation on Dragonstone or even provide the obsidian to fill a ship.

Anyway, Rolland and Aurane knew each other pre-Blackwater. Aurane could act as go between Rolland and Loras/Paxter. An agreement of this nature would give everyone what they wanted as quickly as possible. Even Cersei gets what she wants, Dragonstone is just as taken if Rolland surrenders without a battle as with a battle. Although if you consider that Cersei wants Loras dead, I guess she doesn't get everything she wants because obviously Loras would be uninjured in this scenario.

That's all very plausible. After all, Loras hasn't been specifically ordered to kill Stannis's men, so letting them go fulfils his mission. And he and the Redwynes are desperate to get back to the Reach and start smashing some Ironmen.

But this raises some further questions.

• The lie is bound to be uncovered sooner or later. What do they plan to do when Cersei finds out that Loras is alive and well?
• What happened to the thousands of men supposedly killed?
• How did Loras convince Aurane Waters to lie for him?

The third is the most puzzling perhaps, because as of one of the TWOW sample chapters we know that...

Spoiler

Aurane Waters has gone rogue and declared himself pirate king of the Stepstones. But how does that square with the possibility that he's lying to protect the Tyrells? Has he simply been bought? Is he a super-slippery customer, swapping factions left and right? Is his piracy a ruse to aid the Tyrells?

I have only wild speculation as to the other two questions, which I will engage in now:

Perhaps the thousands of supposedly dead men are:

• garrisoning Dragonstone
• sailing east to defend the Reach
• sailing north to aid Stannis, because the Tyrells want to help him for some reason
• hidden somewhere by Aurane Waters for his own purposes
• somewhere else

And perhaps the Tyrells anticipate Cersei's death or disempowering, sooner or later, and they intend to hide Loras at Highgarden, a fake cripple, until she's out of the picture. Perhaps they intend to get him released from his Kingsguard vows?

 

1 hour ago, aryagonnakill#2 said:

I haven't seen anyone mention the moment inside Baelors temple when one of the Septas is about to speak of Loras to Cersei and the other hushes her.  It seems like the faith has some knowledge here.

Oh shit! Good catch

[Jadakiss]

On 12/22/2016 at 6:30 PM, Wolf of the Steppes said:

Come on now @Shouldve Taken The Black and @Macgregor of the North!!!!

 

I mean, if it's mentioned a couple times, it should be obvious right???

The actual text:

 "I have sent word to Ser Rolland my castellan to begin mining it. I will not hold Dragonstone for very much longer, I fear, but perhaps the Lord of Light shall grant us enough frozen fire to arm ourselves against these creatures, before the castle falls." --A Storm of Swords - Samwell V

Didn't read anything there that mentioned "get to the wall".  Go ahead and look for it @Jadakiss, it's not there.  

From where I'm standing there is nothing whatsoever to suggest that DS was empty.  The other theories about Loras not being injured or not as badly injured have some actual merit supported by the text.  

And just as a matter of opinion:

Littlefinger anyone?

Sorry to pile on Jadakiss, but you should probably do some research before vomiting up some theory you heard 3rd hand. It really dumbs down the forum when you throw things out like this and then just say something like, "oh, I'll look it up when I get home," or "I have to return some video tapes."

 

First ok so he began to mine it. Its obvious that stannis knows where the battle will be held at. The wall. So if anyone needs dragon glass its not the useless island. it is the wall, to me the only thing he would do would be go to the wall with it.

And Little Finger least has some depth with many books. Only think on Aurane Waters is he is a massive bullshitter and grrm could have picked anyone else but picked him to deliver that news

 

Also with Mace and Loras's personality as well, he does not give a shit about a dummy mission by Cersei whose power gets less limited by the day, he more so cares about his homeland being raped by iron born. He has no use for anything nor anyone on dragon stone. He sure is shit isnt injured that story is an obvious bs at least to me there is other stuff with the faith being shady

And before you say I cant back it up..... I was banned about an hour after I posted that message, for some stupid type **** in a reread thread

[Jadakiss]

On 12/24/2016 at 0:40 PM, sweetsunray said:

It makes no sense for Stannis to say "mine as much obsidian before it falls" without having ordered his castellan what to do when KL fleet appears on the horizon. If he orders them to hold it, then how will the obsidian get North?

 

edit- nevermind ill just private message you. I got a picture you will want to see asao

[Jadakiss]

On 12/24/2016 at 3:36 PM, aryagonnakill#2 said:

I haven't seen anyone mention the moment inside Baelors temple when one of the Septas is about to speak of Loras to Cersei and the other hushes her.  It seems like the faith has some knowledge here.

sorry to multi quote post. site is running like garbage

right after I was banned I tried posting that. I think it happened twice.... It was clear as I saw it that the Tyrells were working with the faith at some level. Marg is having a trial by the faith, and Randall and company have no issue about returning her for trial. Marg is confident in it, and she is not slow by any means

[aryagonnakill#2]

On 12/24/2016 at 0:30 PM, Illyrio Mo'Parties said:

That's all very plausible. After all, Loras hasn't been specifically ordered to kill Stannis's men, so letting them go fulfils his mission. And he and the Redwynes are desperate to get back to the Reach and start smashing some Ironmen.

But this raises some further questions.

• The lie is bound to be uncovered sooner or later. What do they plan to do when Cersei finds out that Loras is alive and well?
• What happened to the thousands of men supposedly killed?
• How did Loras convince Aurane Waters to lie for him?

The third is the most puzzling perhaps, because as of one of the TWOW sample chapters we know that...

  Hide contents

Aurane Waters has gone rogue and declared himself pirate king of the Stepstones. But how does that square with the possibility that he's lying to protect the Tyrells? Has he simply been bought? Is he a super-slippery customer, swapping factions left and right? Is his piracy a ruse to aid the Tyrells?

I have only wild speculation as to the other two questions, which I will engage in now:

Perhaps the thousands of supposedly dead men are:

• garrisoning Dragonstone
• sailing east to defend the Reach
• sailing north to aid Stannis, because the Tyrells want to help him for some reason
• hidden somewhere by Aurane Waters for his own purposes
• somewhere else

And perhaps the Tyrells anticipate Cersei's death or disempowering, sooner or later, and they intend to hide Loras at Highgarden, a fake cripple, until she's out of the picture. Perhaps they intend to get him released from his Kingsguard vows?

 

Oh shit! Good catch

Thanks, ya it has to be important for something.  As to the bolded, its 4k Lannister troops that went to Dragonstone, which is why the Tyrells using them for any other purpose stops making sense, and why none of them reporting to Pycelle or Kevan seems unlikely.

 

1 hour ago, Jadakiss said:

sorry to multi quote post. site is running like garbage

right after I was banned I tried posting that. I think it happened twice.... It was clear as I saw it that the Tyrells were working with the faith at some level. Marg is having a trial by the faith, and Randall and company have no issue about returning her for trial. Marg is confident in it, and she is not slow by any means

Something is going on, what I have no real clue because it just doesn't add up to me.  4k Lannister men were sent to Dragonstone with Loras, not Tyrell men, those men have to be accounted for at some point soon and given what we know from the mercy sample chapter where it seems that

Spoiler

Cersei is back in power

those 4k men(supposedly down to 2k) could be the answer to how that happened.

 

There is another line I have not seen mentioned.  Miranda mentions Dragonstone as still standing for Stannis near the end of Feast after it was suppose to have fallen.  It could be that is simply a delay, but it also represents the possibility that the Tyrell fleet simply sailed Dragonstone by and went straight to the Reach, Dragonstone and Gulltown are not far by ship, a few days.

[Jadakiss]

@aryagonnakill#2 Your last point is something that I have said is a real possibility. Loras does not give a shit about doing anything for Cersei. Especially in some long siege or suicide mission. He cares about his homeland. Not dragon stone.

So he could have not went at all. Or did go planning to storm it and find it empty who knows. But Mace and company are all well aware of the iron born attacks and that is what they are worried about, not some suicide quest by Cersei who is no longer queen, and is no longer in any position of power.

Its hard to say whether or not that if dragon stone did really fall, if word would even reached to stannis in his current postion or not

Either way Aurane Waters is covering up something for them

 

I remember the exact passage with Miranda but dont remember all the specifics, at some point storms end was brought up in the same way in another chapter, may have been just before young griff etc

 

anyway. saw this old ass thread in regards to miranda and that theory . its a good read     

 

 

[Coolbeard the Exile]

Stannis and Rolland would never give up Dragonstone because it is way to useful for Stannis.

Dragonstone is one of the strongest and most strategicaly situated castles in Westeros. As we know a couple of hundred of Stannis soldiers who held Dragonstone supposedly killed 2000 Lannister troops which is a pretty sweet trade. It has manpower and serves as a place of recruitment for Stannis. It is a source of income with taxes, and trade. It has food from fishing and it has the all so important dragonglass. It symbolicly tells everyone that Stannis still is in the game.

[Jadakiss]

6 hours ago, BeastMaster64 said:

Stannis and Rolland would never give up Dragonstone because it is way to useful for Stannis.

Dragonstone is one of the strongest and most strategicaly situated castles in Westeros. As we know a couple of hundred of Stannis soldiers who held Dragonstone supposedly killed 2000 Lannister troops which is a pretty sweet trade. It has manpower and serves as a place of recruitment for Stannis. It is a source of income with taxes, and trade. It has food from fishing and it has the all so important dragonglass. It symbolicly tells everyone that Stannis still is in the game.

 

At this point dragon stone is not useful to stannis. he is kingdoms away. and needs all his resources in the north whether it be at the wall or his conquest against the boltons. Yes it was of great value after black water etc, but if anything storms end would be the bigger one when it comes to value.

He is aware of the DG etc, which is why he is having it mined

But even that in this situation is of no use because he realizes the true threat is at the wall, but mainly he is in a big enough spot as is, where even if he does beat the boltons which I believe he will, he most likely may have to spend winter in the north. His life is currently on the line and he realizes that, he needs all the men and resources he can get

[bent branch]

On ‎12‎/‎24‎/‎2016 at 8:30 AM, Illyrio Mo'Parties said:

That's all very plausible. After all, Loras hasn't been specifically ordered to kill Stannis's men, so letting them go fulfils his mission. And he and the Redwynes are desperate to get back to the Reach and start smashing some Ironmen.

But this raises some further questions.

• The lie is bound to be uncovered sooner or later. What do they plan to do when Cersei finds out that Loras is alive and well?
• What happened to the thousands of men supposedly killed?
• How did Loras convince Aurane Waters to lie for him?

The third is the most puzzling perhaps, because as of one of the TWOW sample chapters we know that...

  Reveal hidden contents

Aurane Waters has gone rogue and declared himself pirate king of the Stepstones. But how does that square with the possibility that he's lying to protect the Tyrells? Has he simply been bought? Is he a super-slippery customer, swapping factions left and right? Is his piracy a ruse to aid the Tyrells?

I have only wild speculation as to the other two questions, which I will engage in now:

Perhaps the thousands of supposedly dead men are:

• garrisoning Dragonstone
• sailing east to defend the Reach
• sailing north to aid Stannis, because the Tyrells want to help him for some reason
• hidden somewhere by Aurane Waters for his own purposes
• somewhere else

And perhaps the Tyrells anticipate Cersei's death or disempowering, sooner or later, and they intend to hide Loras at Highgarden, a fake cripple, until she's out of the picture. Perhaps they intend to get him released from his Kingsguard vows?

 

Oh shit! Good catch

It goes without saying that some of the men were used for garrisoning Dragonstone. That is the only pool of men available for garrisoning Dragonstone. Because there were 2,000 men to begin with it can be assumed that 1,000 were used to garrison Dragonstone. These men couldn't be pulled out without replacing them with other soldiers. So, these 1,000 troops don't need to be accounted for anywhere else.

Aurane only had to explain the absence of the 1,000 men not garrisoning Dragonstone. I will address why these troops were not returned to KL or used by Cersei in my reply to aryagonnakill#2. The main thrust of my idea is that Dragonstone was taken without a battle. I can think of three major scenarios as to how that happened with a myriad of variations in the details of all three. I just don't think it makes sense for a battle to happen in an instance where none of the men responsible for conducting that battle want that battle to happen and when all the men were more or less known to each other. If a negotiated settlement could get them what they all wanted quicker and with less death I can't believe they didn't do that.

 

20 hours ago, aryagonnakill#2 said:

Thanks, ya it has to be important for something.  As to the bolded, its 4k Lannister troops that went to Dragonstone, which is why the Tyrells using them for any other purpose stops making sense, and why none of them reporting to Pycelle or Kevan seems unlikely.

 

Something is going on, what I have no real clue because it just doesn't add up to me.  4k Lannister men were sent to Dragonstone with Loras, not Tyrell men, those men have to be accounted for at some point soon and given what we know from the mercy sample chapter where it seems that

  Reveal hidden contents

Cersei is back in power

those 4k men(supposedly down to 2k) could be the answer to how that happened.

 

There is another line I have not seen mentioned.  Miranda mentions Dragonstone as still standing for Stannis near the end of Feast after it was suppose to have fallen.  It could be that is simply a delay, but it also represents the possibility that the Tyrell fleet simply sailed Dragonstone by and went straight to the Reach, Dragonstone and Gulltown are not far by ship, a few days.

The idea that these 1,000 troops could simply be taken by the Tyrells is not as outrageous as you believe. To understand why not let's review what the circumstances were around these troops.

Because the IT was completely dependent upon Redwyne's fleet, the siege at Dragonstone could only occur with the assistance of the Tyrells. Although the Lannisters provided the 2,000 troops for the siege, Paxter Redwyne was in command of the siege. Since Paxter is the only named commander of the siege, it can safely be assumed that the highest ranking Lannister officers were along the lines of squad leaders. Since any ravens coming to Dragonstone would head to the castle not the troops outside, we have the situation where these Lannister troops have been getting all their supplies and information through Tyrells sources over the entire course of the siege.

Then Cersei sends Loras (a KG, but also another Tyrell) with the order to break the siege and then the bulk of the Redwyne fleet would be released to go assist the Reach. She doesn't give any further instructions. She doesn't name a new commander of those troops, she doesn't say what should happen to those troops, she doesn't give any commands what-so-ever about those Lannister troops. This situation creates a huge loophole that the Tyrells could take advantage of. After all, if the last commander they knew they had been placed under (Paxter) says, "Okay, you guys get on the ships, you're coming with me!", why would they randomly say, "Nope, we don't answer to you anymore." Remember the story told of the broken men. We are told that while troops start out under one commander they get passed around quite freely. The fact they were recruited in the Westerlands is practically meaningless once they were placed under Paxter.

Once Paxter took his fleet and headed towards the Reach, he most assuredly left ships behind to both supply Dragonstone and move men back and forth as needed. Remember, Cersei and the IT had no way of doing this themselves. So, why would Tyrell men ferry Lannister men to KL to fight Tyrell men? I think that's unbelievable, don't you? Anyhow, from the discussion about Dragonstone between Kevan and Mace it is clear that whatever happened at Dragonstone, both sides, Lannister and Tyrell, have been told a story that they both believe and neither side has a problem with. This is one of the instances in the story where the characters know more than the reader. Whatever happened at Dragonstone is obviously central to another mystery within the story and GRRM isn't quite ready to tell us what that is.

[Jadakiss]

@kaysay89      Yes Cersei does consider it a death mission. She wants him dead.... she considers Rolland Storm a "seasoned killer" as well

Not sure where you pulled that from

 

And when it comes to Aurane Waters there is like a 0% chance that he is "still loyal to Cersei and saving her ships" he racked off with her ships the first chance he got. And again you are wrong, he did not fight for the Lannisters on the black water.......

 

As far as Mace, he has never once seemed like in a big hurry or gives the impression Loras is dying. I think the big hint ill say it again is sonS plural. His multiple sons together will be fighting the iron born etc...... if loras really was burned and dying he would be pissed at Cersei, he would never let him do a dummy mission like that in the first place, from where they are coming from Cersei really has no power and shouldn't be calling any shots

[Coolbeard the Exile]

4 hours ago, Jadakiss said:

 

At this point dragon stone is not useful to stannis. he is kingdoms away. and needs all his resources in the north whether it be at the wall or his conquest against the boltons. Yes it was of great value after black water etc, but if anything storms end would be the bigger one when it comes to value.

He is aware of the DG etc, which is why he is having it mined

But even that in this situation is of no use because he realizes the true threat is at the wall, but mainly he is in a big enough spot as is, where even if he does beat the boltons which I believe he will, he most likely may have to spend winter in the north. His life is currently on the line and he realizes that, he needs all the men and resources he can get

Yea but he cant take supplies, men and resources from Storms End if he dosnt hold Dragonstone so that is redundant. They are cut off, I dont think Stannis is woried for his life at all and i believe he is going for the ultimate victory and that means that he needs to have places were he can collect taxes, recruit soldiers and  that produces food.

[Jadakiss]

1 hour ago, BeastMaster64 said:

Yea but he cant take supplies, men and resources from Storms End if he dosnt hold Dragonstone so that is redundant. They are cut off, I dont think Stannis is woried for his life at all and i believe he is going for the ultimate victory and that means that he needs to have places were he can collect taxes, recruit soldiers and  that produces food.

 

 Not feared for his life? He is in an awful situation (I think he will come out on top) He is in a foreign kingdom. In a snow storm with no horses, no food. Its a terrible situation. Stannis knows the main threat is at the wall, but as for his current status its against the Boltons. If he does not live then there is no point..... Every thing useful to him he will have in the north and the wall.

He is aware that dragon stone contains the materials to kill wights. put 2 and 2 together. So his most trusted man Rolland Storm he wants to get to the wall with the DG. Not sit there for no reason. Dragon Stone has NO value to him right now whatsoever. And when it comes to making money and trade to earn new supplies is moot to him, he has an envoy on the way to the iron bank, which can offer way more then dragon stone. He needs all his eggs in his basket

[YOVMO]

On 12/22/2016 at 6:51 AM, Ferocious Veldt Roarer said:

I think that was a very neat trick. Hiding it all, I mean.

See, Loras Tyrell went, supposedly to Dragonstone, not on foot, but actually with a fleet. Consisting of ships. Manned with sailors. Hundreds of those, if not thousands. Sailors, who, when in port (that would be King's Landing), go ashore, visit libraries, taverns and whorehouses (OK, I'm not sure about the libraries), and eat, drink, gamble, sing, brawl, fuck, and talk. The idea of several hundreds of sailors keeping a secret is patently absurd, so apparently they don't know they assaulted an undefended fortress, either. That's some Burt Wonderstone, "Now You See Me"-grade trick illusion.

And, sadly, we won't learn how Aurane and Loras pulled that off, since a magician never reveals his secrets.

This is correct. You could never stop the tide of idle gossip of sailors once they hit a library 

[Coolbeard the Exile]

9 hours ago, Jadakiss said:

 

 Not feared for his life? He is in an awful situation (I think he will come out on top) He is in a foreign kingdom. In a snow storm with no horses, no food. Its a terrible situation. Stannis knows the main threat is at the wall, but as for his current status its against the Boltons. If he does not live then there is no point..... Every thing useful to him he will have in the north and the wall.

He is aware that dragon stone contains the materials to kill wights. put 2 and 2 together. So his most trusted man Rolland Storm he wants to get to the wall with the DG. Not sit there for no reason. Dragon Stone has NO value to him right now whatsoever. And when it comes to making money and trade to earn new supplies is moot to him, he has an envoy on the way to the iron bank, which can offer way more then dragon stone. He needs all his eggs in his basket

But Rolland Storm isnt sitting and holding Dragonstone for no reason. Stannis goal is to win the Iron Throne and it makes it so much harder if he loses Storm's End and Dragonstone. Leaving a few hundred men behind to defend Storm's End and Dragonstone is very much a worthwhile investment.  Also if Rolland Storm was to take the Dragonglass and retreat to Stannis he wouldnt have had time to gather very much. Also if he was to give it up Dragonstone and Storm's End without a fight it would be a missed opportunity to inflict alot of damage on enemy forces and it would be a pain to have to recapture them.

[Jon Fossoway]

9 hours ago, Jadakiss said:

 

 Not feared for his life? He is in an awful situation (I think he will come out on top) He is in a foreign kingdom. In a snow storm with no horses, no food. Its a terrible situation. Stannis knows the main threat is at the wall, but as for his current status its against the Boltons. If he does not live then there is no point..... Every thing useful to him he will have in the north and the wall.

He is aware that dragon stone contains the materials to kill wights. put 2 and 2 together. So his most trusted man Rolland Storm he wants to get to the wall with the DG. Not sit there for no reason. Dragon Stone has NO value to him right now whatsoever. And when it comes to making money and trade to earn new supplies is moot to him, he has an envoy on the way to the iron bank, which can offer way more then dragon stone. He needs all his eggs in his basket

Kinda unnerving that you started this discussion with no textual evidence (at least out of respect to readers) and yet you continue to confront people without a shed of a quote, while other posters do the work for you. 

I shall quietly slip out of this thread now.