Joran stands silently throughout the luckless knight's audience, seven paces removed from the Lady's seat and ever so slightly behind her. Dressed in a dark green tunic with the leaves of House Oakheart picked out in gold thread, the customary colours inverted with respect to his station, his stooped back and pointed beard give the impression of a scheming vizier in some essosi fable. The subtle motion of Lady Arwyn's hand elicits an almost canine head-tilt, and he paces forward to stand at her side, where his warped posture has his lips already close to her ear.'<br/><br/><strong>"He did not lie about the brigands, my lady. My own sources speak of the havoc they cause in his lands. The smallfolk can scarce keep what is required to pay him, and his own bailiffs cannot safely transport it back to him even when they do. The kind and just thing would be to grant him leniency...but for how long? In three months or six, those bandits will still be there and we will have the same problem. They must be rooted out."</strong>There is a long pause in which Joran does not retreat, appearing to mull over his next words carefully.<strong>"My Lady should also consider the value of a lord who comes begging for aid against simple brigands. It shows an unbecoming weakness. If Ser Carn cannot protect the smallfolk from these men, then it seems the brigands - properly incentivised - would do a better job of it than he has been. With your permission, I could...investigate this possibility."</strong>