Fanfic / Of Snowflakes And Dragons Fire

Of Snowflakes and Dragon's Fire is fanfic written by 19NW84 and is a crossover between Merlin (2008) and A Song of Ice and Fire

Lyarra Snow is the bastard daughter of Ned Stark and never forgot that despite what Lady Catelyn Stark might have thought. Despite being raised close to his trueborn children, Lyarra has never felt like she truly belonged. And longs for some adventure beyond Winterfell. Sensing danger for his family after the death of the Hand of the King Jon Arryn, Ned Stark on Maester Luwin's advice send her far away from Westeros to Luwin's brother a court physician called Gauis. But alas things are never that simple.

The series can be read here

Tropes for this series include:

• Adaptation Expansion: To accommodate for the kingdoms in Merlin, those various kingdoms are west of Westeros on Ulthos (Albion) including Camelot, Gawant and Essetir.
  • Why Thomas Collins was caught for using magic. He healed his sick mother.
  • Uther's conquest of Camelot and why he did so (weak infrastructure, neglected land reform and Camelot's standing). The responses of the nobility of Westeros on attending his coronation are also included. We also meet a young fourteen year old Prince Rhaegar Targaryen.
• Affably Evil: Uther in the prison cell with Mary Collins in Chapter 7. He presents himself with sympathy and some restraint but he is kicking Mary all around the place and sentenced her to reside in a wretched prison before a painful death by burning. He even notes how she will scream as she die, they all do. Emphasising how many times Uther has sentenced witches to burn to death in Camelot.
• All for Nothing: Thomas Collins attempting to save his mother from sickness amounts to this. Not only is he prosecuted for magic and burned to death, but his mother also suffers from this fate after attempting to kill Arthur to spite Uthur. Which amounts his efforts completely pointless.
• Aloof Dark-Haired Girl: Lyarra has dark hair and the look of the Starks. She is also noted by several characters early on as resembling Lyanna greatly. Lyarra is also aloof due to her status as a bastard within Winterfell and her magical talents.
• Animal Motifs: Much like canon, the Starks are heavily connected with direwolves. When Lyarra first saves Arthur from Mary Collins she is described in wolf-like fashion.
• Attempted Rape: Implied. Grenn and Toad place a hand on Lyarra, who immediately breaks their wrists and nose in self-defence.
• Awesome by Analysis: Lyarra while is not a fighter due to Westerossi's customs that, even as a bastard girl, she is not able to overcome by having regular sword lessons. Not that she minds much. Unlike her canon counterpart Jon. But she does have some experience with the sword but has an even greater eye for attention and detail to combat. She directs Grenn to parry his opponent's moves accurately, much like her brother Robb, a military genius. She even encourages this trait to Arya when she gives her sword Needle.
• Being Personal Isn't Professional: Lyarra appears to believe this as does her father Eddard Stark who holds the opinion the man who passes the sentence should swing the sword. It is one's duty to consider whether a punishment such as death is worth the crime. And she discusses with Gaius how much Uther really had to gain or lose from killing Thomas Collins especially as Lyarra learnt for saving his mother and questions his true motivations and hatred behind magic.
• Big Sister Worship: Arya towards Lyarra is akin due to their shared familial resemblance, traits, talents (both incline towards swordsmanship, being Excellent Judge of Character and mathematics) and how they are treated within the house.
• Birds of a Feather:
  • Much like Jon did in canon, Lyarra and Tyrion strike a bond together, one over her bastardy and his over his dwarfism. They even acknowledge gender roles and Lyarra notes Tyrion was lucky to be born a male lest Tywin would actually go through with his threats.
  • Similarly to the points mentioned above it is also Lyarra and Arya.
• Black-and-Gray Morality: Uther. One instance of Uther is that can be quite cold when he is abusing a prisoner and sentencing her a painful death. However the woman did attempt to murder his son and murdered a highborn lady of another country in a violent manner for which the King of her country would want justice for.
• Bully Hunter: Lyarra does not take to people abusing their positions well. She stands up for Samwell Tarly when she is briefly at Castle Black and the Wall and later to Arthur Pendragon unknown to her that he is the Prince of Camelot.
• Burn the Witch!: What Camelot does with its witches. It even accounts for the minor adaptional death with Thomas Collins who in the show was decapitated but in the fic was burned to death. It's also the fate of Mary Collins who was told this personally by Uther. Appropriately Lyarra read a book when she was younger titled The Fall of Witchcraft which demonstrated this trope in such detail it developed a lifelong fire of fire for Lyarra.
• Childhood Friends: Robb and Lyarra. It is noted on several occasions and they are known to be quite close. Even after they drifted slightly apart once they turned seven and Robb was in training to become a Lord, they were still quite close friends.
• Chosen One: Arthur as per usual. He will unite the continent of Albion as the Once and Future King. Its also Lyarra destiny to protect Arthur and its implied she will become the Queen of Albion
• Composite Character: Lyarra is Merlin and Jon Snow. Word of God also tried to mesh their characteristics and appearance with Lyarra as best as possible.
  • To an extent Hunith and Ned Stark. While Ned is (according to Lyarra) unaware of her magical abilities. He does sent her to Camelot like Hunith and writes a letter remarkably similar to what Hunith wrote in the pilot.
• Crapsack World: It's Game of Thrones. What do you expect? But Merlin was also this and wasn't shy with the numerous deaths, murders, war and pestilences in the show either. While it wasn't as explicit as GOT with certain details since it was a show primarily for children. It is still seamlessly integrated with the narrative almost alarmingly well.
• Crossover Relatives: A minor but incredibly important one. See Small Role, Big Impact for more, but Maestar Luwin and Gauis are brothers.
• Cursed with Awesome: Much like Merlin. Lyarra was born with incredible magical abilities. There are hints that it's partly due to her Targaryen heritage (her eyes glow lilac when she uses magic compared to Merlin's gold) and other possible destinies beyond Arthur (such as the Prince that was Promised/Azor Ahai or Merlin canon immortality). Unfortunately, knowledge of the Higher Mysteries (Magic) in Westeros is incredibly limited and the subject is thought to not even exist among Maestars. And upon entering Camelot and being confronted with magic, she sees the first magical practitioner burn for his supposed crime.
• Cute Clumsy Girl: Downplayed but Lyarra can be quite clumsy outside when it comes to dancing and buckles when trying to waltz. She also puts off learning to swordfight because of her clumsiness despite her possibly being well able to.
• Cycle of Revenge: Gaius and Lyarra discuss this after learning after the banquet that Uther's attitudes towards magic have bred antagonistic reactions and entire families to lose everything over seemingly mindless hatred. But also acknowledge the role of Mary Collins had in reacting and killing Helen of Mora.
• Deadly Decadent Court: Tyrion warns Lyarra that while Camelot is not like King's Landing which is infamous for this trope. Camelot is not without its own skeletons either and even gives her some advice on being aware of such matters.
  Tyrion: These lands may lay far from the reaches of King’s Landing but that doesn’t mean you’ve escaped its clutches. It’s not fair to still find yourself at the behest of a king once-removed, but alas, it's the world in which we live. We are all but political pawns in this never-ending game of thrones. Keep your head up and stay vigilant. Camelot is not without its own monsters hiding beneath the floorboards."
• Death Glare: Lyarra gives a striking one to Theon early on after finding Ghost.
• Desperately Looking for a Purpose in Life: Lyarra is trying to find one for her magical abilities and to find a place where she could belong in life at the start of the story. She is starting to realise it is with Arthur.
• Dies Differently in Adaptation: Minor with Thomas Collins who was decapitated in the original show is burned to death here. His mother Mary also shares this fate.
• Dramatic Irony:
  • Lyarra, a person born with magic enters into Camelot and immediately witnesses someone burn to death for magic.
  • With Morgana Lefey and Lyarra Snow. The narration when they met notes a bastard and a princess with them. However, with the hints that Lyarra is the child of Rhaegar Targaryen and Morgana is the bastard daughter of Uther Pendragon in Merlin's canon. Their roles are also completely different, however. Morgana is treated like a princess and is given clothing Cersei would've dreamed of having but would've been impractical in Winterfell. While Lyarra is treated well is still the baseborn daughter of a Lord.
  • Sansa and Lyarra's entire storylines. While it has yet to play out yet. It certainly has the potential to become this. Sansa's original storyline had her believe that Joffrey was her Golden Prince and true love and then subsequently goes through an entire Trauma Conga Line of bad things happening to her in King's Landing, losing whatever innocence she had to begin with and whether or not she would even find true love. While Lyarra more originally more sceptical of such matters of the heart is drawn by destiny to Arthur Pendragon and originally thinks of him as a bully and yet will most likely will fall in love and possibly marry Arthur. When Lyarra wasn't even looking or wanting such a romance. For extra points, Arthur is also blonde prince.
  • Lyarra who is all but outright said to be Rhaegar Targaryan's daughter is afraid of fire. A predominant element associated with the Targaryans and among their house words, "fire and blood."
• Dreaming of Things to Come: Morgana much like her canon self who is a seer.
• Foil
  • Between Joffrey Baratheon and Arthur Pendragon. Both are blonde princes who will one day become Kings of their respective nations and are associated with girls from House Stark. Both also want to live up to their father's expectations and win his approval. They are also thought to be royal brats too. But while Arthur is portrayed at first in mostly a negative light and is presented as a brute by Tryion and thought to be a bully by Lyarra, Arthur has the potential to be better and become The Good King. On the other hand, Joffrey who will become King quite young has his cruelty become the defining characteristic of his reigns and actively takes it out on his servants and others around him. Their relationships are also quite different while Lyarra thinks of Arthur initially as a bully, he is still her One True Love. In contrast with Joffrey who Sansa initially falls for is her False Soulmate.
• From Bad to Worse: The situation with the Starks. While canon events aren't set in stone there is no doubt from the implications from Word of God that things will go this way for them.
• Greater-Scope Villain: Mary Collins was ranting in her prison cell to such a being. At the end of the chapter and with the approaching her death the voice urges her to rest. It's implied to be Nimueh.
• Hot-Blooded: A Stark family trait. The Stark children once had a playful fight among themselves of which ones of them had it the most when they were much younger. Notably Lyarra, Arya and Robb.
• I Gave My Word: Gauis promised to look after Lyarra for Ned. Additionally, Ned's own promise to Lyanna to protect Lyarra.
• In the Blood: It's implied Lyarra's talent for the flute and especially the harp are this. While Winterfell are happy with Lyarra's abilities with the harp. Ned's expression on the other hand haunts Lyarra as while explicitly stated is implied he sees Rhaegar in her. Lyarra's Magical Abilities are also implied to have some connection with her Valyrian heritage.
• Kill It with Fire: The fate of all those caught for using sorcery in Camelot. Lyarra is deathly afraid of fire because of how witches were and still are killed, which has the potential for Dramatic Irony considering the implications that Lyarra is a Targaryen. A house which is associated with fire and the first ever spell Lyarra is seen in the story in a fire-related spell (Leoc Morla).
• Laser-Guided Karma: Mary Collins warns Uther that for his actions against magic. "The spirits demand retribution and they will receive it”
• Like a Daughter to Me: Gauis with Lyarra. And considering who Lyarra is heavily implied if not outright confirmed to be. It's also Ned Stark with Lyarra.
• Madness Mantra: Whilst in prison. Mary Collins continues to repeat the words "My augur… my sibyl… my cardinal…"
• Missing Mom: Lyarra's mother who is heavily implied to be Lyanna is dead.
• "Near and Dear" Baby Naming: Unlike her canon counterpart, who was named after Jon Arryn. Lyarra was named after her grandmother and after Lyanna (who is heavily implied to be her mother).
• No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: Thomas Collins healing his mother. He is rewarded by being burnt to death and oh yeah his mother still dies.
• Our Dragons Are Different: Discussed. Dragons in Merlin and A Song of Ice and Fire/Game of Thrones are different, with notably Kilgharrah being rather mystical and full of wisdom, while dragons in Game of Thrones have no such sentience. While they are clever they can't speak. Word of God and Lyarra mention how the Targaryen dragons and Ulthos dragons are different breeds of dragons. Kilgharrah is also incredibly old compared to his brethren and was stronger as a result.
• Parental Favoritism: Downplayed considering Lyarra's bastardy makes it hard for actually to inherit or do much out of her life, but it is implied this is one of the reasons why Sansa doesn't like Lyarra.
  Bran's Narration He suspected only his father’s love had kept him from telling her. As much as he would deny it, Lyarra held a special place in his heart that none of his other children could touch. There was so much in life she’d never enjoy so their father tried desperately to compensate for it.
• Power Incontinence: Lyarra starts suffering from this just after meeting Arthur. Her power becomes more instinctive before she has to concentrate to magic like saving Gaius or lighting the torches around Winterfell but around Arthur, she barely realises what she's doing, only after it happens.
• Royals Who Actually Do Something: Uther on account of taking Camelot by conquest, has the tendency to do this and has passed this down his son Arthur. Possibly on account of how recent their reign is and Uther overthrew the past king on his mishandling and general management of the lands themselves in contrast to Robert's Rebellion which was mainly over Aerys' madness, the kidnapping of Lyanna and the deaths of Brandon and Rickard Stark and Aerys calling for the deaths of Ned Stark and Robert Baratheon. Unlike Robert, who never really wanted the crown. Uther appears to be more driven to improve the realm despite his brutal methods. He takes a personal approach and even confronts Mary Collins personally in prison to gauge her motive and announces her fate to her.
• Secret-Keeper: It's possible along with Gaius, Robb might be aware of Lyarra's magical ability as when they were younger she made Winter Roses bloom in front of him and was upset when she learned he didn't have the same ability. Though there is no way of knowing for certain.
• Silk Hiding Steel: Lyarra notes this is a trait she can see Sansa developing for the future once she is in King's Landing courts.
• Slashed Throat: How Uther killed Kalum Vortigern and became King of Camelot after his coup.
• Small Role, Big Impact: Maestar Luwin. His involvement in the story is minimal and presumably will continue to be so. But his relation to Gauis (they're brothers) allows Ned to consider a place to foster Lyarra while he is off at King's Landing which sets of the events of the story in Camelot.
  Maestar Luwin: “I have family in a kingdom outside of Westeros. He has no children of his own and would gladly foster Lyarra until tensions ease once more.”
• Sympathy for the Devil: Despite hearing about what happened to the Great Dragon. Lyarra notes that while Killagarah gains nothing from her sympathy, he has it regardless as he is alone and damned to spend eternity in a cave.
• Tempting Fate: Just before the banquet that will make her Arthur's maidservant after she saves his life from Mary Collins. Lyarra wonders what could go wrong.
• The Chooser of the One: Lyarra whose job is to protect Arthur and without her, Albion would never be possible.
• The Ghost: Lyanna Stark is certainly this. Considering Lyarra's resemblance to her. Jamie Lannister approaches her and warns her of the dangers of letting History Repeats. Word of God notes that while Jamie probably never spoke to Lyanna. Jamie sees her as the representation of the war since her kidnapping started it and urges caution for Lyarra.
  Jamie Lannister: “I implore you to avoid befalling her same fate. For all our sakes.”
• The Last of His Kind: Until Dany's dragons hatch. Kilgharaah is the last dragon in the entire world. From Ulthos at least. Most people think he is dead however and any mention of him is wiped from most records.
  Lyarra: They’ve suffered greatly at our hand. First, the Valyrian breed met their end at the Dance of the Dragons, and then those of Ulthos fell to Uther some decades ago.
• The Medic: Gaius and his apprentice Lyarra. Lyarra is in training to become one but she has shown some knowledge of herbs and medicinal plants when at Winterfell and was one of the reasons she was out of Winterfell the day they got the Direwolves.
• The Purge: Much like Merlin canon there was a major purge in Camelot that attempted to wipe magic and the dragons out of existence.
• The Un-Smile: Uther gives a pretty chilling one after sentencing Mary Collins.
• Tranquil Fury: Uther has this quite often when dealing with tense situations. On the aftermath of Arthur's attempted assassination. He remained stoic and steady and upon confronting Mary Collins in prison he announces her sentence in such a manner as well. Rather matter-of-factly, describing the process of burning in exquisite detail and seems to relish in it.
• Uncanny Family Resemblance: Lyarra is according to Word of God basically a copy and paste of her mother. Which is probably for the best.
• Weak, but Skilled: Lyarra as mentioned is very good a predicting movements and actions of her opponents but lacks the muscle and is clumsy to actually put it to the test.
• Wise Beyond Their Years: Lyarra, on account of being a bastard, is very much aware of her fragile situation at Winterfell and accurately reads people and their actions. Some a bit like canon with Cersei and Joffrey hidden cruelty and disdain but also potential with Sansa to flourish in King's Landing. And Uther's hatred towards magic as something more. Considering her wisdom just at the start she has the potential to become The Consigliere to Arthur in the future.
• Young Conqueror: Downplayed but Uther was twenty-nine when he overthrew Kalum Vortigern. He did so because Vortigern refused to have any land reforms, leaving few crops and common folk struggling to live. He even managed to convince Gorlois a relative of Vortigern to join his cause.