Shavepate's Regime

[King Daemon Blackfyre]

I've always liked the Shavepate as a character (the only Slaver's Bay person I can put up with). So this thread is based on him. (I am assuming that he is a genuine collaborate/new regime fanatic guy, and NOT the Harpy or allied to the Sons of the Harpy/slavers).

So Dany has flown off on Drogon, Hizdahr has been deposed and arrested, Viserion and Rhaegal are free and nesting in the tall pyramids, the pale mare plague is endemic, and Mereen is encircled, besieged and blockaded by the Ghiscari (Yunkai, New Ghis, etc), Qartheen and Volantine forces. I will add one more condition - lets say Barristan was severely wounded in his duel with Khrazz, and is incapacitated (he is off the scene and out of action for the foreseeable future, with Missandei and his trainee knights holding vigil over his comatose body secluded somewhere private).

Now, Skahaz mo Kandaq (as the co-leader of the coup against Hizdahr) is the undisputed ruler of Mereen - he proclaims his rule from the Great Pyramid, including that he will maintain Dany's staunch anti-slavery regime and act as caretaker for her until she returns. He already has the Brazen Beasts, but his proclamation (and Barristan being comatose) also gives him the Freedmen companies (Mother's Men, Free Brothers, Stalwart Shields, etc), the loyal sellswords (Stormcrows), and the Unsullied.

What does he do? What does the Shavepate's regime and, (now that he finally has the power), his campaign in Slaver's Bay look like?

For inspiration, this is what the Shavepate looks like - http://25.media.tumb...rhtko1_1280.jpg (ETA: but bald, thanks guys).

[kephv]

For inspiration, this is what the Shavepate looks like - http://25.media.tumb...rhtko1_1280.jpg

There's a reason he's called Shavepate.

[Ser Areo Mace]

This is the Shavepate: http://content7.flixster.com/photo/14/06/89/14068985_ori.jpg

[King Daemon Blackfyre]

Look, just picture Danny Trejo bald.

[Fire Eater]

He does what he wants, and launches a surprise attack on the Yunkai'i. He starts executing the hostages as the Sons of the Harpy continue their attacks.

[King Daemon Blackfyre]

I think Skahaz deals with the short-term situation through multi-pronged aggression (which is what he advises Barristan after the coup). The Shavepate will:

1. Begin executing the cupbearer-hostages, starting with the children of the noble families that are traditionals rivals of House Kandaq (Houses Zhak, Hazkar, Ghazeen, Merreq, Loraq, Reznak, Quazzar, Rhazdar and Pahl). He would also storm the pyramids of the Great Masters to arrest and execute the adult members of these Houses. Their gold and other assets will also be seized. The result should be a wholesale massacre of the Sons of the Harpy. The dragons Rhaegal and Viserion will also be drawn to the bloodshed and chaos.

2. Launch a surprise attack on the besiegers by sallying out the gates - unleash the Freedmen companies, Stormcrows and Unsullied against the Yunkish lines, but hold his own Brazen Beasts in reserve to preserve his personal strength. This surprise attack should also cause sellsword companies like the Second Sons and Windblown to switch sides. The result should be a wholesale massacre of the Yunkishmen. The dragons Rhaegal and Viserion will also be drawn to the bloodshed and chaos.

3. If victorious in both fights, and if Rhaegal and Viserion haven't turned on his forces and decimated them, I believe the Shavepate would then order ruthless measures to contain the pale mare plague, including qurantining the city further by expelling infected people and mass cremations of the thousands of infected corpses in the fighting pits or outside the city (much like Bloodraven did in the past).

4. All surviving members of the Freedmen companies would be conscripted into the Brazen Beasts. The Freedmen companies would then be abolished. On the other hand, the Unsullied would be too hard for the Shavepate to absorb, so he'd keep them as an elite separate unit. He'd also keep the sellswords (Stormcrows, Second Sons, Windblown, remnants of the Company of the Cat) on contract as separate units (to be used and disposed when convenient). Thus, the Brazen Beasts would be greatly expanded and remain the pillar of his regime.

5. I don't know how he would handle the naval blockade by Qarth and Volantis though. Or how he would seek to contain the dragons.

Thoughts?

[The Red Pope]

I think his agenda is as you described. I felt that old Barristan was digging his own grave when he conspired with him. Shavepate needs Barristan for the moment because he is more trusted by the Freedmen, Unsullied and Ghiscari conservatives. Barristan also has military experience to fight off the besiegers which the shavepate knows he doesn't. When the enemy is driven off and his influence is secured among the other groups he will rid himself of Barristan. Then he will continue as you said, killing off the coservatives and other opponents and then putting a crown on his head.

That's what Shavepate has in mind, but I'm quite certain that it won't turn out that way in the end.

[The Sleeper]

The Shavepate in charge makes me think of Stalin.

[Where Boars Glow]

I've always liked the Shavepate as a character (the only Slaver's Bay person I can put up with). So this thread is based on him. (I am assuming that he is a genuine collaborate/new regime fanatic guy, and NOT the Harpy or allied to the Sons of the Harpy/slavers).

So Dany has flown off on Drogon, Hizdahr has been deposed and arrested, Viserion and Rhaegal are free and nesting in the tall pyramids, the pale mare plague is endemic, and Mereen is encircled, besieged and blockaded by the Ghiscari (Yunkai, New Ghis, etc), Qartheen and Volantine forces. I will add one more condition - lets say Barristan was severely wounded in his duel with Khrazz, and is incapacitated (he is off the scene and out of action for the foreseeable future, with Missandei and his trainee knights holding vigil over his comatose body secluded somewhere private).

Now, Skahaz mo Kandaq (as the co-leader of the coup against Hizdahr) is the undisputed ruler of Mereen - he proclaims his rule from the Great Pyramid, including that he will maintain Dany's staunch anti-slavery regime and act as caretaker for her until she returns. He already has the Brazen Beasts, but his proclamation (and Barristan being comatose) also gives him the Freedmen companies (Mother's Men, Free Brothers, Stalwart Shields, etc), the loyal sellswords (Stormcrows), and the Unsullied.

What does he do? What does the Shavepate's regime and, (now that he finally has the power), his campaign in Slaver's Bay look like?

For inspiration, this is what the Shavepate looks like - http://25.media.tumb...rhtko1_1280.jpg (ETA: but bald, thanks guys).

Dany Trejo is the shavepate? :)

[Where Boars Glow]

I think Skahaz deals with the short-term situation through multi-pronged aggression (which is what he advises Barristan after the coup). The Shavepate will:

.

5. I don't know how he would handle the naval blockade by Qarth and Volantis though. Or how he would seek to contain the dragons.

Thoughts?

That is about to work itself out isn't it? Victorian?

[SeanF]

The Shavepate was up to his neck in the slave trade, like all the rest of the nobility. We can assume that his willingness to serve Dany is purely opportunistic, and not based on any moral change of heart.

That said, the freed slaves are now his support base, and he can only expect execution if the slavers should return to power, so I imagine he's act in the way that King Daemon Blackfyre suggests.

[The Red Pope]

The Shavepate was up to his neck in the slave trade, like all the rest of the nobility. We can assume that his willingness to serve Dany is purely opportunistic, and not based on any moral change of heart.

That said, the freed slaves are now his support base, and he can only expect execution if the slavers should return to power, so I imagine he's act in the way that King Daemon Blackfyre suggests.

:agree:

[King Daemon Blackfyre]

That is about to work itself out isn't it? Victorian?

Yeah, but the Shavepate doesn't know that though. In his mind there is no naval aid coming, so he'd need to do something against the Qartheen and Volantine blockade. And Mereen has no fleet.

Hmmm, he is pretty cunning, maybe some tactic to draw the dragons towards the open sea so they attack the enemy fleets? Otherwise, he'll be forced to negotiate with Qarth and Volantis, but it will be from a position of strength since he would have destroyed the Yunkish besiegers by then. What terms could he offer though for the naval blockade to cease? As SeanF said, the freedmen are now his powerbase and the slavers now hate House Kandaq, so he's definitely not bringing slavery back.

Also, after breaking the siege, massacring the rival noble Houses of Mereen and consolidating his forces, I think the Shavepate would march on and sack Yunkai since it is now virtually defenceless. He would also bring all the hinterlands of Slaver's Bay, including all the noble estates, under control to guarantee food supplies, which should be simple using cavalry raiders (probably utilise the sellswords for this). Since the slaver-nobles won't guarantee food supplies to his regime, maybe he breaks up the estates and parcels out the land to Freedmen to farm. Skahaz the Leninist land-reformer? This would purely for his own opportunistic benefit, of course.

If he manages this, Skahaz becomes ruler of Slaver's Bay (barring small enemy city-states like New Ghis, Tolos, Mantarys, Bhorash, which can be dealt with later). Would he then re-establish Astapor and Yunkai as anti-slaving satellite cities under his regime, with Mereen remaining his capital - a kingdom of his own?

ETA: as part of this campaign, he would keep recruiting Freedmen fighters/soldiers into the Brazen Beasts (not allowing them to found separate companies), and hire more sellsword companies as his wealth increases.

[The Red Pope]

Yeah, but the Shavepate doesn't know that though. In his mind there is no naval aid coming, so he'd need to do something against the Qartheen and Volantine blockade. And Mereen has no fleet.

Hmmm, he is pretty cunning, maybe some tactic to draw the dragons towards the open sea so they attack the enemy fleets? Otherwise, he'll be forced to negotiate with Qarth and Volantis, but it will be from a position of strength since he would have destroyed the Yunkish besiegers by then. What terms could he offer though for the naval blockade to cease? As SeanF said, the freedmen are now his powerbase and the slavers now hate House Kandaq, so he's definitely not bringing slavery back.

Also, after breaking the siege, massacring the rival noble Houses of Mereen and consolidating his forces, I think the Shavepate would march on and sack Yunkai since it is now virtually defenceless. He would also bring all the hinterlands of Slaver's Bay, including all the noble estates, under control to guarantee food supplies, which should be simple using cavalry raiders (probably utilise the sellswords for this). Since the slaver-nobles won't guarantee food supplies to his regime, maybe he breaks up the estates and parcels out the land to Freedmen to farm. Skahaz the Leninist land-reformer? This would purely for his own opportunistic benefit, of course.

He's got enough political cunning, but he's no general (the Brazens are more like police/secret service than soldiers). In my view he's the Littlefinger of Mereen, a man who skillfully "plays the game" and manipulate others. He leaves the military tasks to Barristan and in his absence they would fall to Grey Worm or the free company leaders.

[Dagon Greyjoy]

The Shavepate was up to his neck in the slave trade, like all the rest of the nobility. We can assume that his willingness to serve Dany is purely opportunistic, and not based on any moral change of heart.

I'm not certain. Shakaz appears to genuinely embrace the New Meereen. House Kandaq can afford free labor, and he's seen first-hand the devotion the Freedmen have for the breakers of chains. Maybe he plans for a new Ghis with freemen legions, more martial and modern and efficient and competent than the old mess Slaver's Bay was. He took great personal risks in order to form an anti-slavery faction. He looks more like a progressive nationalist than anything else: Valyria is gone, and now Ghis has the dragons. What's to stop a new Ghis free of slavery and backed by dragons from becoming a bonafide superpower in fragmented Essos?

He rose to prominence and power by creating a progressive Ghiscari faction. Why would he want to go back to the ways of the conservatives, if the very base of his power is being the voice of those who embrace a New Meereen? My vote's for a Stalin figure.

[SeanF]

I'm pretty sure he's burnt his boats with the conseratives. He might very well govern in the way that you suggest, although you make him sound more like Attaturk, or one of the leaders who modernised Japan, in the late nineteenth century, than a Stalin figure.

We do know, however, that he is no friend of the Smallfolk, witness his treatment of the wineseller and his daughters, or his suggestion that Hazzea's father should have his tongue torn out.

[Naathi Prince]

The Shavepate was up to his neck in the slave trade, like all the rest of the nobility. We can assume that his willingness to serve Dany is purely opportunistic, and not based on any moral change of heart.

That said, the freed slaves are now his support base, and he can only expect execution if the slavers should return to power, so I imagine he's act in the way that King Daemon Blackfyre suggests.

Where does it say Kandaq was a slave trading family? By the size of their pyramid I would see they are terrible at it.

[Naathi Prince]

You can be a total asshole and still be a force for modernization.

[Tumnas the Torpid]

Not exactly on topic, but, for the record, I suspect that the Shavepate was behind the poisoned locusts...

[Naathi Prince]

Not exactly on topic, but, for the record, I suspect that the Shavepate was behind the poisoned locusts...

Yes we've all heard your theory on that. As I said in the thread, it is highly unlikely as the Shavepate needs Daenerys to make any of the moves he is making. Besides the Brazen Beasts, none of the people he needs are loyal to him.