Sent to Westeros

[lexxxy52]

Two options

Get dropped in the north and help defend Robb and maybe bitchslap Jeyne Westerling to stop those guys getting together, I honestly think Eddard was somewhat doomed to his path so I wouldn't try to stop that from happening.

Or I would get dropped in the Reach and become a hedge knight and join Renly's army for a bit fighting in some of his tourneys after the shadow kills him i'd go to the riverlands and join the brotherhood without banners.

Either way i would have to assume that I knew how to fight if i went over with my current skill set I would go to Dorne and just hide out and wait for things to blow over, otherwise I would die in about 5 minutes.

[Spring Bass]

You are literate in the Common Tongue yes, and you can speak it as well.

And I was waiting to see if anyone would say this. On the board that I stole this from, going up to Tywin and saying: "look at all the shiny new toys I can give you!" was one of the more popular options. Dude does love to pay his debts.

Where do you think I got the idea from? :P I'm Guardsman Bass over at that board.

In all seriousness, I do think it's a good idea, although not quite as safe as hanging out in Oldtown. The lords who will benefit the most from gunpowder and new fire-arms will be those who can afford them, which means either the Lannisters or the Tyrells. I think Tywin is more likely to appreciate the value of the new weapons than the Fat Flower.

The main trick would be actually making one of the weapons, since having the instructions is not the same as actually making one. Being able to actually show off the prototype you constructed would be a big help. I'd simply ask Q to implant the knowledge and capability in my head, but I don't think the scenario allows it.

And gathering up some potato's is a clever idea, but it might be better to take it to the North instead. Since the North has a much worse problem with feeding all of it's citizens than the South, you'll be able to fetch a much higher price.

The northerners are also going to be much more conservative about changes in their agricultural practices, because risking it on something they don't know that well could lead to disaster at Winter-time if that takes them away from growing tried-and-true crops. I think showing them to the Maesters in Oldtown is a better idea, since they're more likely to appreciate what it means. They can then spread that knowledge to the great and petty lords when they leave to go work in castles and holdfasts, and the lords can then help to implement it on their lands.

EDIT: I'd be wary about all those "commando revenge" ideas. You're a stranger in a strange land, and if you shoot someone, odds are they'll find you, quickly. You'll stick out like a sore thumb.

On the other hand, you can use your foreign-ness as an advantage if you're bringing good gifts. Just tell whoever you're selling them to that you came from somewhere in the vicinity of the Jade Sea a long time ago.

[MinotaurWarrior]

For my supplies: My asoiaf books, my Dadao (sword), my chainmail, my trenchcoat, some books on anatomy, first aid, mathematics, chemistry, physics, historical works on renaissance agriculture, metalurgy, and gunsmithing, solar-powered calculators, solar-powered watches, and as much fabric as I can acquire and store in the cart. Any spare room will be filled with individually wrapped candies. I am assuming that English is not the common tongue, and that I will be the only one who can read my books.

I head out for Winterfel, telling the guards I am Alrikar Val'Tar, because that's a name I made up once and really kinda like. I give him one of my candies, point out the way I am dressed (a coat of superior make to anything he has ever seen before) and claim to be a foreigner seeking audience with Lord Stark, bearing gifts.

I give him the fabric and the candy. The fabric will be priceless, because they are centuries to millenia away from being able to create synthetic fibers of their own. The candy will be unlike anything they have ever tasted before. I will keep the books and electronics for myself. I will then ask Lord Eddard Stark to accept me into his household, as a retainer.

I will discuss material from the books with those to whom it is relevant. After I prove myself to not just be a crazy person (the maester is amazed by my manipulation of numbers, the smith has started to use some of the tricks I taught him, et cetera) I will prophecy that the King is coming to Winterfel, and will offer Ned Stark the position of Hand of the King. I will also reveal that lady Arryn will send a letter claiming that the Lannisters murdered her husband. Once this has been proven true, I will wait for the Lord Stark to seek my council. I will advise him to let me keep watch over Bran in his room until the King leaves, to not accept the Kings offer, and to not trust the lady Lyssa. I will also remark upon Cercei's children's golden hair, saying that, "usually the child of a black-haired man has black hair as well, regardless of the mother's hair color. And most often, a golden haired woman can only have a golden haired child with another blond."

I will then approach Tyrion, and before he gets a word out, I will tell him, "Tysha was no whore. Truly she loved you, as no other woman ever has. When lord Tywin discovered what had happened, he refused to allow his son to be happy with a commoner, and so he sentenced you to torment alone. Ask Jaime." I'll also quote some of the lyrics of that song he's always thinking about, and possibly reveal knowledge of some other thing I couldn't possibly know, just to make sure he believes me.

Around this time I will write to Stannis Baratheon, telling him, "do not trust the Red Woman, you're not Azor Azhai reborn, Daenarys Targaryen is" revealing secrets I couldn't possibly know to make my word seem more worthy, and also reminding him that if Robert dies and war breaks out he can always tell Renly that Renly is his heir, and offer to make Renly his hand while he's at it. He has to become King if Robert dies, but that doesn't mean he has to rule.

Then I will tell Jon everything I know about the Others, the wildlings, and the wall. I also tell Bran & Arya everything I know about warging, where the three-eyed crow is (I'm assuming getting crippled wasn't neccessary for the crow dreams), et cetera. Then I give them all some minor advice (if you're going to enter into a marriage contract, just get the marriage over with right then and there. Always trust your wolves. Wildling women love oral), and try to encourage some of their positive character traits.

Next, I head south with my books and calculators, but leaving the watches to Jon Snow as he leaves north for the wall (I figure they'd be useful planning ranging operations, and I don't know if there is such a thing as solar-powered walkie-talkies). Possibly this journey is with Ned (I don't really trust that he's so wise as to follow my advice), or just with the King. Once at Kings Landing, I ask permission to go to the black cells, and I visit Jaqen H'gar. I say, "Hello no-one, I'm a huge fan. The face you're wearing is that of Jaqen H'gar, and I think you're here to kill some Ironborn asshole. Valar Morghullis. If you could give me that iron coin you're keeping around, I'd just love it."

Then I'd talk with Jalabar Xho about the Summer Islands.

Depending on the outcomes of those two conversations, I'd either head to the Summer Isles (if it seems like I could make a living there), Braavos (if I got the coin, and the SI are a no go), or Dorne. If I'm headed for the Summer Isles, I keep all my stuff. If I'm going to chill with (but not train to become one of) the Faceless Men, I'll sell my swag (sans asoiaf books) to the Maesters. If I'm heading to Dorne, I'll try to use my stuff to earn Doran's support.

Hopefully my actions will help out some of the characters I rather like, and also hopefully I am considered attractive by the standards of this world (at the very least, I don't have a pockmarked face, so that should be something by medieval standards). Regardless, I think I should manage to escape all trouble with this plan.

[-42-]

Spend all my money on gold. Appear in Kings Landing. Get on the first ship to Braavos. Enjoy five years of debauchery.

[DaBillmann]

If Q from Star Trek came and made me this offer I would........

Force myself to wake up and vow never to eat pizza right before bed again.

[RAAM]

gold is about 1000 an ounce today, so 6 grand can get you six ounces of gold, gold wasnt nearly as scarce back then, 6 ounces isnt that much

i would buy a pistol, for self defense and i can actually conceal it, then some supplies, i would then buy some weed to grow and sell in dorne, safer than most of westeros and dorne just seems like an awesome place with great food and greater women :D

[Buckwheat]

I think I would follow Sarella's steps: cut my hair, dress wide grey robes and try to become a novice and then an acolyte of the citadel. I would be forging my chain and trying not to get in too many troubles. I assume I would be a good student. Maybe I invent printing press and become respected for that. Maybe I am allowed to stay in the citadel as an archmaester to continue my researches.

That is, as long as they do not notice I am a girl. Then ... what they do? Send me to the Wall or what? I believe they may just throw me out of the citadel and hide all the proof I was ever there. I take my printing press with me and start selling books back to the citadel.

Or, as someone already mentioned, I could just find the quickest way to Naath and stay there for the next couple of years.

[Rakka]

To survive? Keep your head down, buy insulating material, foodstuff (beans, unground corn, seeds and stuff), antibiotics, a hunting weapon, some tools, and books on survival. Also buy stuff that is cheap here (velvet, spices) for trading to get some sheep or a cow or something, and for backup if you need something you can't make yourself. Get dropped in the North and head for the Gift, or somewhere in the mountains. It's sparsely populated, and since you get dropped in at the end of the summer you can still get some crops growing. The risks are random bandits and unfriendly neighbours - at this point of time the wildlings aren't active south of the Wall since Mance is gathering them up North. The pros of the plan: it's unlikely nobody'll bother to kill and rob you. Cons: you're on your own.

Velvet would probably be a good choise for trading item - cotton velvet is relatively inexpensive, around 10-15 euros a meter. Medieval methods of weaving velvet were quite slow, so it would be much more valuable there.

[SeptemberGirl]

Not mad horse skills. You can ride and you can take care of the animal.

Not to put too fine a point on it, but that's a pretty remarkable skill set for someone who doesn't ride currently. I could manage an hour or two trail ride but that's in this world.

I would bring personal supplies - 5 years worth of contacts, for instance. Loads of basic OTC medications, because I imagine selling these could come in handy. No gold from our century, I'd rather try to earn the gold by selling things. No guns. I don't use them now, and I'm not spending my last week here learning how. The books, without a doubt. Books on first aid, plus lots of first aid supplies. Pens and paper - to use and to sell. Condoms,sex toys - I see a market with Chataya and her girls. Current makeup, and frankly a bunch of other stuff women in that place could really dig. My money would go far in a Harmon beauty and health store.

I'm a woman and I cannot fathom passing as a man, so I have to say I'm puzzled as to where I would go. I'm not keen on being a whore, I doubt anyone at the Citadel would take my knowledge seriously because of my sex, and I presumably have no house or family to get me in with the major players. The life of a peasant woman seems rather dire, and I have no wish to be raped or tortured and then killed. But I think I'd honestly rather try to influence the game than hide out somewhere. So I'm going to say Kings Landing, to sell my things to Chataya, and then to Illyrio armed with my gold and knowledge, and get into a bit of the game playing there. I think he and Varys might be the only two men who wouldn't underestimate me.

I like the oft-mentioned idea of going straight to Tywain, but again, I don't see him taking a woman seriously.

[Faranya]

You've only got a week to gather your supplies, so I'd plan on taking a reference material if you're going to be doing any chemistry stuff.

Why does everyone say assault rifles? Sure you'd be on GOdmode with them, but unless you can somehow use $6000 and one week to gather black market weaponry...

of course, an American would have less trouble with this. Even so, it's never a good idea to use a weapon without practicing it.

Also, what happens if it breaks?

I also feel people are overestimating how useful a firearm would be. Even if no one else in the world has a firearm, you still won't be able to single-handedly take out even a single unit of cavalry, and could still be taken out by an archer at a fair range. Granted I have a limit knowledge of firearms, but a longbow can be used with a fair degree of accuracy up to about 400 yards, typically. An assault rifle is about the same, I believe (albeit with a much faster rate of fire)

And if I recall my WWI history, a Canadian cavalry unit in France made a successful cavalry charge against a German machine gun nest which had three guns firing. Granted, they took extreme casualties, but the point was that they succeeded. You'd be able to cause small folk to flee, but a lord would just gather up his household guard, and you'd be overrun before you made it to your third clip.

[Dark Lord]

a)I will go to LF. Teach him about exchanges, financial innovation, bonds and paper currency. Get him to convert the huge debt into CDOs and collect a commission for my services from LF.

B) Go the Iron bank of Bravoos and inform them that the CDOs they are holding are shit and sell them asap to Tywin, Frey and Boltons marketing it to them as they are their priority customers (also collect commission from the Iron Bank).

c)Wait a few months, inform commonfolk and nobility through the citadel that the CDOs being held by Tywin, Frey and Boltons are toxic in nature and not even worth as TP and express my appreciation on how LF has totally screwed them and saved the realm. Resulting in LF having no time to further scheme as he would be running to the free cities.

d) Give a copy of LOTR, Wheels of Time, a few playboy magazines to Tyrion to keep him busy for months.

e) Go to Bravoos and join the FM / find Siryo and learn kick ass sword skills :fencing: - Both talents are frankly kick ass.

Alternatively, forget everything else, go to Drone. :thumbsup:

[The Undead Martyr]

To survive? Keep your head down, buy insulating material, foodstuff (beans, unground corn, seeds and stuff), antibiotics, a hunting weapon, some tools, and books on survival. Also buy stuff that is cheap here (velvet, spices) for trading to get some sheep or a cow or something, and for backup if you need something you can't make yourself. Get dropped in the North and head for the Gift, or somewhere in the mountains. It's sparsely populated, and since you get dropped in at the end of the summer you can still get some crops growing. The risks are random bandits and unfriendly neighbours - at this point of time the wildlings aren't active south of the Wall since Mance is gathering them up North. The pros of the plan: it's unlikely nobody'll bother to kill and rob you. Cons: you're on your own.

Velvet would probably be a good choise for trading item - cotton velvet is relatively inexpensive, around 10-15 euros a meter. Medieval methods of weaving velvet were quite slow, so it would be much more valuable there.

Actually, the North was safe until ACOK. It's mentioned that Ned was so good at managing his lands that "even a naked girl" could walk down the kingsroad unmolested, and the North IS pretty isolated...

Really, until teh Ironmen and Boltons start acting up, the North is pretty secure.

ETA: i agree, gold is far too inefficient. Salt, sugar, fruit, spices, cotton an even steel and paper were all difficult/expnesive to gather in quantity.

[The Undead Martyr]

ETA: Gunpowder MIGHT be useful if you could tech the maseters of alchemists how to use it. IIRC black powder took precise quantities of sulphur, charcoal and saltpeter ground together for about a day... very laborious and dangerous to make and use. CVharcoal is easy to come across; saltpeter and sulphur are both found largely in volcanic regions, and slatpeter can also be extracted from urine. Actually, phosphorous woul be a better bet- it was actually possible that the Romans had discovered it, and the quantities produced by early alchemists were inefficient because they threw away "waste" products that actually contained most of the material...

Phosphorous glows when in contact with air; it can be used in matches and bombs, and is highly toxic. It's also relatively simple to make, basically distilling urine.

[Hazl]

My overall plan is to have a decent supply of gold by the time Robert returns to KL without in any way having upset the sequence of events. Maybe just buy $6000 worth of gold jewelry?

Then I'd bet it all on the Hound to win the Hand's tournament. Don't know what the odds would be on that, but considering I'd place the bet before a single joust has happened, I assume pretty damn high.

After collecting my winnings, I'd need to get the hell out of KL before shit really starts going down. Where to? Free cities, maybe?

[Faranya]

My overall plan is to have a decent supply of gold by the time Robert returns to KL without in any way having upset the sequence of events. Maybe just buy $6000 worth of gold jewelry?

Then I'd bet it all on the Hound to win the Hand's tournament. Don't know what the odds would be on that, but considering I'd place the bet before a single joust has happened, I assume pretty damn high.

After collecting my winnings, I'd need to get the hell out of KL before shit really starts going down. Where to? Free cities, maybe?

Seems like you might do better at long-shot gambling to bet on what's-his-face to win the archery competition...

[haremenot]

I'd buy a remote controlled helicopter and some batteries with a solar recharger and make my living as a street performer.

[Hazl]

Seems like you might do better at long-shot gambling to bet on what's-his-face to win the archery competition...

Excellent point! What's the timeline again? The preliminary rounds of jousting, then archery, then jousting semi-finals and (forfeited) final? If so, I'd probably get something like 150-1 odds on that random Dornishman (?), and still have time to place my winnings on the Hound before the semi-finals start - he's still the black horse there and should fetch decent odds.

[Hazl]

I'd buy a remote controlled helicopter and some batteries with a solar recharger and make my living as a street performer.

Where?

[Xenophon]

But if I arrived during the beginning of the first novel, I guess I can't guarantee I'd be able to hook up with Robb. I'd probably be the stableboy that tried to ransom off Arya, and die there before I could draw my sawed-off shotgun.

In fact, if you reread that paragraph I think there might be some textual evidence that that was actually me.

LOL! In that case, your next move should be to get Q to set up some sort of court where you can sue GRRM for libel. He didn't portray you in the most favorable light.

I'm assuming that I'm literate in the Common Tongue, as well as being able to speak it. In which case, I would go back with three things:

1. As much information as possible on how to build arquebuses and mix blackpowder (or smokeless powder, if it's possible), better agricultural techniques, and so forth. Nothing too complicated, and all stuff that a medieval society could hypothetically make and do.

2. Some useless modern electronic stuff, including cheap watches. Stuff that Westeros could never make, but which wouldn't be of much use to me. I'll explain why below.

3. Several plants and seeds for crops they don't have. I don't think they have maize, beans, or potatoes, and it might be worthwhile to introduce them. Potatoes in particular would be a godsend.

Yep. But I'd get a bunch of books on the history of science and various different subjects. I wouldn't want to count on making guns, because you never know, maybe the reason they don't have guns is that chemistry doesn't work the same way in Westeros. So I'd go in with a lot of different inventions, guns, telescopes, compasses, barometers, marine chronometers, steam engines, printing presses, chemical batteries, Leyden jars, seed drills, threshing machines, double-entry bookkeeping, algebra, calculus, etc. Basically I'd show up with the entire history of the scientific revolution, and spend my time working with the Maesters to see what could be reproduced in Westeros.

I'd also bring as many seeds as possible. Even for the crops they already have, since our modern versions are probably superior.

Oh, and I'd definitely bring some modern guns, ammo, and spare parts. A semi-automatic pistol to carry with me and a couple AR-15s just in case things go horribly wrong. I wouldn't use them if possible, but I'd like to have them just in case the Maesters decide it would be easier to just get rid of me and take all my things.

Re. gold, are we sure it's the best precious metal to bring? What about silver?

[Hazl]

Re. gold, are we sure it's the best precious metal to bring? What about silver?

Maybe not. As someone else pointed out, gold is hella expensive, probably more so for us than for the Westerosi. Bronze, maybe? Does anyone know the current price per pound for silver or bronze?

What I really should do is bring something like velvet or spices, or maybe just paper? Fine lace? I wouldn't want to stand out too much by owning things entirely unknown, but something cheap to us, expensive to them. Spices are probably the best example.

One thing I've learned from reading the books - anything that stands out has a tendency to be chopped off.