Our friendly neighborhood wizard along with his daughter is thrown from the top of Chichen Itza into Braavos of the Hundred Isles. That was two years ago, now after struggling out of the gutter Harry is back on his feet and his luck is coming back.
1.
It was raining in Braavos. It was always raining in Braavos. At one time that had been a selling point. Braavos, the foggy swamp where no fire-breathing flying lizards will kill you and enslave your entire family and force them into volcanic mines! I was reluctant to admit it was a decent pitch. As I walked along the canal trying to step over the puddles that dotted the stone path the amulet I was holding twitched. The movement was a little stronger than the last time, the closer it got to the turn of the tides the stronger my tracking spell got. At the moment they changed I could have found anything, but that one moment of clarity was drowned out by the rest of the day's slow moving water grounding out my spells. I was close though, the item, a shipment of silk stolen off of a quay was on this island. I turned to the slight man who'd been following me as I tramped all over Braavos "We're near. If you want to get any of your buddies, now's the time." The guard of the silk's nominal owner nodded but didn't make a move. "Your boss hired me to find the cargo, aren't you going to get it back?"
"There's no need Dresden." It was the first time the man spoke in half an hour. My old shtick back home of being irritating chatty didn't really fly here, especially when none of my well timed quips and jokes were anything anyone had ever heard of. Well except Maggie but as she was raised in Mexico until she was eight I assumed her pop culture knowledge base was a little less than mine. The short man turned from staring at the canal back to me. "We knew where the silk went from the beginning."
"This was a test." stating the obvious was one conversational gambit that still worked.
"Just so" The slight man began to walk back the way we came. "We were aware of your claims and spoke to some of your previous clients. Your reputation is well founded but it is said that sorcery is a sword without a hilt. We wanted to see if it was true yours was safe to grasp."
"And are you satisfied?" I might have been irritated once at being challenged. Here in this world where I was the only thing keeping my daughter safe I was willing to swallow a lot of my pride.
"Indeed Dresden." He handed me an oiled envelope. "You'll find a draft on our account inside, my employers will contact you for further work if its needed." With that the man resumed his silence as we continued to walk towards the residential part of the city.
"Who are your employers and how will I know them?"
"They are a consortium of trading houses and merchants, anyone from our group will pay half in advance from the same account on the draft you're holding."
"Good enough for me then." Honestly I was relieved, I'd have worked for the local mafia as long as they paid on time. I had kept my abilities limited, people only knew I could find anything in the city as long as they had a part of it. Finding people seemed like a dangerous skill to admit having, helping identify thieves and possible murderers for the city based on their loot was as far as I would go. For Maggie's sake I wouldn't make any enemies. A trading firm was much more palatable though, the Iron Bank wouldn't admit to having an account for criminals, at least until they had enough wealth they could join the upper classes.
Staying useful to everyone and not a threat to anyone was a fine line to walk, thugs had tried to shake me down a few times, one nice thing about the canals everywhere was that I could throw the mooks around a lot harder without worrying about the first law. My coat had saved me from at least one stabbing although I didn't think that had to do with my work and the threat of my little ball of sunshine had prevented any of the local talent from trying anything. After two years of struggle I was finally feeling like things had gone back to the way they were in Chicago, I even had my same ad: "Lost Items Found. Paranormal Investigations. Consulting. Advice. Reasonable Rates. No Love Potions, Endless Purses, Parties or Other Entertainment"
Past the whole medieval Venice/Holland thing going on the only real change was my family. I'd lost all of my friends in the event that had transported Maggie and I here, but I did see the Red Court die as we left so I was hopeful that they had survived. I worried for them, but having Maggie here made her my first priority beyond finding a way back.
The guard split off as we reached the island I lived on, he had further to go towards the harbor. I could feel the wards on my house as soon as I stepped off the bridge, living with Maggie had given me a threshold immensely stronger than my old burned apartment and I had spared nothing on the defenses. I often wished Bob had come with us just so he could see the work I had done without him. For the first six months I hadn't let Maggie out of my sight but now with the wards, the locks, and the help of the wives and families in the neighborhood I felt confident enough to leave her for part of the day.
Two years in it wasn't as big a shock to see her. She still had Susan's complexion even in the perpetually cool, cloudy and rainy Braavosi weather and she was beginning to look almost coltish from the height she got from me. I could see her with her friends, she had adapted marvelously from her suburban life to being kidnapped by vampires and then thrown into a fantasy world with a man claiming to be her long lost father. She spoke the numerous languages of Braavos with fluency I couldn't match, I had learned some Braavosi but the so called common tongue of the Andals was much closer to English and I used that whenever possible. We had both learned to read, her almost embarrassingly quicker than I but I'd made too many friends in books to be illiterate. "Papa" she cried on seeing me "did you find it?"
I smiled as I shouted back "Of course, that's why you get to hang around all day and have fun while I crawl in the mud!" She laughed, the other fathers on the island told me I was lucky to still be in the stage where I was my daughter's hero. I knew I didn't deserve it but that didn't stop me from loving it.
She ran back towards her friends, they were giggling about something, apparently gossip was universal. I lowered the wards as I walked up to our house, the first room going in was where I met clients, behind that was the start of the house, a two story stone building that backed onto a shared courtyard. It was larger than my apartment had been and while lacking many comforts it was a home. The bedrooms and my lab were upstairs, I had replicated Little Chicago and I had the start of a library. Maggie had recently shown her first signs of magic and I wanted to ensure that all the magic I knew and the laws were preserved in case anything happened to me.
I wasn't too worried. Braavos was a peaceful and strong city, unlike the kingdom across the sea or the other free cities there were no hereditary nobles. In many ways Braavos was the best city to land in. Finding lost items was more lucrative here than in Chicago, I had a healthy amount saved in the Iron Bank and even owned a partial share in a trading cog who's captain owed me for finding his stolen cargo. It wasn't America or the twenty first century, but it was home and had my family. Things certainly could be worse.
2.
My lab was a mess. In Chicago sharing the space with Molly had led to some clutter but nothing like here. I missed my three ring binders full of notes, all of the materials for spells and potions and most of all Bob. I'd say I was a fairly well educated and skilled wizard but compared to Bob's knowledge of the obscure and esoteric I was an apprentice again. Here I had several tables covered in parchment, the notes of all the magic I was trying to preserve for Maggie. The heavy wooden tables were scorched in places, she shared my affinity for fire and brutish magic and I was happier for it. Training her was the opposite of Molly, if I'd given her the beaded bracelet Molly had struggled with she'd have blown it up. Maggie wouldn't have the temptation to mess with her friends' heads though and her talents would allow her to follow in my footsteps as a detective if she wanted. Of course I hoped to be around for a long time coming but planning for the worst never hurt anyone.
The lab overlooked the canal along the long side of the island, Maggie and her friends weren't visible but I wasn't worried, no one would let anything happen here. It had taken a year of constant work but I'd managed to acquire our current home on an island of the upper middle class. There were houses of silversmiths, bankers and the families of ship captains along with extremely visible and regular guard patrols. It was probably the safest part of the city given that the true upper class had an obsession with dueling to the death that the more mercantile citizens disdained. The neighbors were friendly people, I had told them a version of the truth, that Maggie and I were stranded here in the same accident that had killed her mother. They had reacted with an extremely polite lack of curiosity which I was grateful for. Life was good, one of the silversmiths was even collaborating with me on the development of a small printing press. I wasn't in any position to go all Connecticut Yankee on Braavos but I felt I could advance things in some small ways. My GED hadn't focused too much on Medieval Europe but Braavos seemed like it was on the verge of when the Renaissance should show up. If in the future the Dresden-Koren press was lauded as the spur to literacy like Gutenberg I wouldn't complain.
There were other projects I was working on, maintaining my model of Braavos was a constant struggle and I was working on a world map by buying the charts of sailors whenever I saw them. Essos, the continent I lived on, was dominated by the free cities which were founded by or against the fallen dragon empire. There was a massive river, comparable to the Amazon or Mississippi back home into the interior, a vast plain called the Dothraki sea. Mongol like horseman roamed the grasslands occasionally raiding and sacking the cities surrounding it. Braavos was safe from their deprivations though, apparently they feared salt water.
Across the narrow sea was Westeros, the sunset lands. They had just finished a civil war when Maggie and I had arrived, apparently caused by a mad inbred king. It sounded like a feudal dystopia and I was glad we had landed where we were rather than in some Hundred Years wars type struggle.
My main magical project past detective work was enchantment. I had been able to create objects that I could use and power for years but I wanted to make something like a Warden's sword. An object that anyone could use without their own magic. My results after six months of hard work were rudimentary, I finally understood the difficulty Luccio must have had after switching bodies. I'd taken a month to make a rope that couldn't be broken by any load applied but that was the highpoint. I wouldn't be making Durandal anytime soon.
Despite my failures in item creation, finding lost things was my principal source of income and we lived well on it. Maggie had everything she needed and most of what she wanted, while I had enough to play around and try to improve my magic. My reputation was solid in the city, improved by the last job and I felt that my efforts with the smiths would allow me, or possibly Maggie if they were slow, to see the technology of the world we left behind. While I would go back to Chicago if I could Braavos was much better than I'd feared the consequences of the Winter Mantle would be.
Naturally this introspection was ruined by a knock on the door below. Looking out the window I saw a well dressed man who looked deeply uncomfortable on the edge of the canal. Using my carefully honed deductive skills I surmised he was a potential client. I was tempted to ignore him and call it a day but the mercenary instincts honed over a desperate year of taking every job to provide for Maggie stopped me. I hurried down the stairs and went to the front to greet the man.
"Harry Dresden, I am Noho Dimittis. I would like to hire your services." Noho wore the dark colors typical of the somber city and based on his hands worked in an office.
"Come in" I told him, "and have a seat." He did and I moved around to sit at my desk. "So Dimittis, what can I do for you."
He leaned forward "It is said that you can find anything if you are given a small part of it. Is this true?"
"Mostly, there are limits, but if you tell me what you're looking for I'll tell you if I can be of any use."
Noho sat for a moment, seemingly trying to decide if the particulars were worth sharing. Eventually he made up his mind and put a small bag on the desk, "I represent a firm that had a vault plundered, but not completely. The thieves missed these coins."
I reached for the bag glancing up at Noho to see if he minded, he didn't, and I slid the coins out. There was nothing special about them, square iron coins of the type commonly found in Braavos, minted and backed by the ferrous obsessed Iron Bank. I rolled one of the coins between my fingers as I thought, it was something my Dad had taught me when I was young and traveling with him as a stage magician. It was also good therapy for my burned hand which Noho had seemed to have just noticed and was staring at queasily. I saw his discomfort and stopped, I had gotten used to the appearance but it was horrifying on the first glance. It was getting better thanks to the miracle of magic but Noho probably wouldn't appreciate seeing it even in another ten years.
"I may be able to locate the rest of the coins from the vault with these but I make no promises." I looked out at the canal, the water was almost at its highest and the time for a tracking spell that had an incredibly weak link was approaching. I scooped up the bag and stood. "If you wait here for two bells" Braavos used a naval time-keeping scheme as befitted a city founded by sailors, "I'll either have results or I won't be able to help you."
Noho nodded as I began to walk towards the back and the stairs. "If my daughter comes in, tell her I'm working and to find something to stay busy with" I called back as I went up the stairs, if he replied I didn't catch it as I began to focus on the problem.
Coins from a vault were not very similar thaumaturgically speaking. I could certainly use the coin to find other coins that were near but if I tried that blindly Little Braavos would just show me the famous vaults of the Iron Bank where the largest concentration of coins in the city was. Or so I assumed, some merchant prince might have chests full but either way it wouldn't work very well. Instead I had to use the bag of coins, to try to feel out their common past and from that where the rest was. It was a delicate spell and I wasn't altogether sure it would work especially with all of the water in the city. I tied the bag of coins to a lanyard hanging over the city model, washed myself briefly to try to remove any other influences I'd picked up wandering and waited.
The moment the tides changed was detectable, not like sunrise or sunset in their rigid demarcation but a softer feeling, perhaps a drawn out note rather than a percussive pulse. It was that moment I was waiting for, when all of the water in Braavos was still, magically speaking, for my tracking spell. It was coming up, when I felt it I muttered my spell and fed power into the model and the coins. Somewhat to my surprise the bag of coins spun towards an island. I looked at it, trying to think of the area. It was a nice place, more upscale than my island with villas and larger houses. I had even seen a few trees there which were a mark of extreme wealth on the rocky islands. Knowing which island the rest of the coins were on was probably enough, if Noho and I left now we could make there well before sunset and get a more precise location.
I went back to my office, Noho had been reading something from a ledger and making notes and looked up as he saw me. "Good news" I said "I've narrowed it down to one island, if you come with me now we can find the house they're in. That's as far as I'll go though, if you want retrieval you'd better find some other help."
We went out, I grabbed one of the wives watching the children and asked her to keep an eye on Maggie, she agreed. Noho had gotten the attention of a gondolier in the meantime, we boarded it as the man gave my size a dismayed look. Noho was a true Braavosi, other than asking the price if we found the coins he was somber and silent. The only color in the grey city was of its Bravos, young men with nothing better to do than drink and fight for outrageous reasons. They reminded me of the Sidhe courts in a way, minor slights became feuds that turned bloody all behind a polite facade. None were out though, it was still early afternoon and they were all likely sleeping off their hangovers.
We reached the island, Noho paid the man as I focused on the bag of coins. It swayed down along the shoreline and we followed it until we reached a palatial home with a red door. Noho reacted for the first time in our trip showing slight surprise. "Well Dresden your reputation is deserved. It's amusing the thieves stayed here but you could not have known in advance who they were. You'll have your payment and the thanks of the Iron Bank."
I was shocked, I knew that I was becoming well known especially after the little test this morning but this was something else. The Iron Bank was reputed to have toppled kings and ruined princes, it was the driving force of the city and probably owned half of it. It wasn't anywhere near as powerful as some I'd worked for though, so I kept my poker face. "It was a pleasure to assist. I didn't realize you had actually had individual vaults, I thought it was all kept in your ledgers." as I nodded towards his heavy satchel.
"Most are, like your own for instance" he replied. "Some clients prefer more physical proof that their riches are present, this vault belonged to one of them."
"Well keep up the good work then, I hope you recover the rest of the account." Noho handed me a draft, and I managed to grab another boat. Something about pushing someone six and a half feet tall around seemed to make the gondoliers annoyed. As the ride ended I tipped the gasping man, the tide was against us the whole way, and went home a second time. I lit the stove as Maggie came back in laughing, we had dinner, spent an hour playing with fire and meditation, I sent her to bed as I began to set the wards for the night. It had been a good day, two cases two successes and very real proof I was moving up in the world. Naturally the next morning Noho was back at the door with friends.
3.
Neither of the two new faces looked particularly dangerous and as Noho was an office worker, I wasn't too worried about their intentions. I just had no idea what their intentions were, the Iron Bank couldn't be robbed everyday and I doubted they were seeking me out for my incredibly vague awareness of 21st century accounting. Deciding the simplest way to find out what they were up was to ask I did.
Noho introduced his friends, Johannes Bille and Willas Morin, fellow employees of the Iron Bank. Johannes, a corpulent fellow who was about my age started their explanation. "The vault that was stolen from, that you found the remainder of, belonged to a prominent man."
"Belonged?" I asked "Did he lose it or is he dead?"
"The second I'm afraid, just three days ago. His death was what allowed the thieves, his former servants, to succeed. They had a draft he signed and were able to withdraw almost all of his money, leaving only a little to avert suspicion. It was only when the man, Ser Willem Darry, didn't arrive at the bank for a pre-arranged meeting that we were concerned." Johannes had a soft voice incongruous with his bulk. "Normally retrieving the money would be the end of the matter, Ser Darry had no heirs of the body and after dealing with any debts or bequests the account would be closed and the Iron Bank would hold onto the remainder."
"So what's different in this case? I never met the man and other than my involvement in locating the thieves, which you probably could have done given their location, his banking details aren't relevant to me."
"We would like to hire you again" Noho said. "Ser Darry had made an agreement with the bank that we are unable to fulfill ourselves."
"You want me to find something for a dead man?" It seemed a little ridiculous, who's will included quests for lost items?
"Not at all Dresden" the third man, Willas, spoke for the first time, "We want you to find someone for a dead man. Two someones in particular."
"I can't do people, look for a bounty hunter if you're trying to claw back debts owed him." I could of course find a person given something of theirs but it was a dangerous skill. Some people really don't want to be found and I'd prefer not to make enemies based on what I could do.
"You can find what they're carrying though?" Johannes continued "If you had part of something that one of the persons was carrying as long as they held it you could find them?" It was always annoying to realize that just because we were in the dark ages people weren't necessarily stupid. Even wizards got tripped up by that link and a random banker had deduced it.
"I might be able to find them if they're still in the city" I admitted. "But just because I can doesn't mean I will. Who are the people you're looking for and why did Ser Darry want them found?"
The three bankers exchanged looks. Noho looked aggrieved as he explained. "Ser Darry was from Westeros, he fought on the losing side of their little war and fled to Braavos to escape persecution. However he did not come alone, he had the son and daughter of one of his closest friends with him and he set aside his remaining wealth and property for their benefit. The Iron Bank agreed to look after them until the son was old enough to fend for himself and his sister." Noho sat for a moment looking for some reaction from me. The story of the rich exile was interesting but hardly unusual but Noho had looked for recognition of something. I had never heard of Ser Darry but perhaps I should look him up.
"So the thieving servants evicted the children from the house and now they've been wandering Braavos for three days?"
"Just so."
"Alright I'll look for the children, I'm trusting the reputation of your Bank to keep you honest but if I find you've lied the acts of the Bank's keyholders will be the least of your worries." The bankers looked unruffled by my threat, given the stories about the Bank's reprisals that was a good sign for their honesty. "What else should I know about the children, ages, hair colors, oh and their names?"
"The two children both have Lyseni coloring, silver blonde hair, Viserys is eleven and Daenerys is three. They both had sheltered upbringings and I doubt either is prepared to survive on the streets"
I sat back and acted like I was thinking but really I would have found the children for free if they'd asked. Seeing Maggie bound and threatened by monsters had left me with little tolerance for frightened kids. Children grew up faster here but an eleven year old shouldn't be on the streets looking out for his sister. "Alright I'll try. What do you have for me to use?"
Willas pulled a ruby the size of my thumbnail from his pocket. "This was set in a necklace Viserys will never take off. Is it sufficient?" I took the ruby, and hefted it. Selling the rock back home would have brought more money than I earned in five years. It paid to be nobility I guess. "I'll find the necklace and if he's still wearing it I'll find him"
Noho shared another look with his colleagues and then spoke up "Excellent, we will pay five times what we did for the coins, once you have the children bring them to the main office of the bank."
"If you've all told the truth and I find them, I'll bring them in." I was hoping the job would go smoothly, for lost items I charged a percentage of the value, Ser Darry had been rich and the previous day had been more than enough for half a year, the bank must be worried about their aura of infallibility if they were paying this much. The three men left and I saw them board a gondola back towards the city's financial center.
It was a few hours till the tides changed and while the ruby necklace link was stronger than the coins I didn't trust it enough over water. Maggie had finally woken up, she was usually up earlier but her exercises in magic last night had worn her out more than she'd admitted. She humored me by staying in to eat breakfast then ran off to join her friends in their plot to take over the island and the city. Or something.
I went up to my lab and began to consider what I'd need for the job. Braavos was a fairly safe city as they went but all cities have bad spots. Two children out alone for the first time and probably panicked couldn't be trusted to even know where the safe spots were. Slavery was illegal here but I had encountered some in my desperate first year who wouldn't hesitate to take an unattended child. I put on my shield bracelet and grabbed a chain I'd worked on to function something like Elaine's lighting whip. Without a convenient wall socket it was a bit less useful but I was able to dial down the power through it so that it merely hit like a taser. A lot of my more deadly tools I'd relied on in Chicago weren't that useful when all I could fight here were vanilla mortals. After fighting vampires, faeries, ghouls and ancient monsters, humans tended to seem a little squishy. That wasn't to say they couldn't be dangerous, Murphy alone was proof of what a motivated person could do, but I was much more limited in high end power against humans. Unless I wanted to go mad but a little difficulty seemed like a decent tradeoff.
I set the chain in a pile along with my duster and a few of my kinetic rings. I looked at my blasting rod but decided against it, I did take my staff though. It was of the first things I'd made coming here, the one I'd borrowed from Ebenezer didn't make the transition and I'd needed the versatile tool immediately. It was six feet of oak, it lacked the resonance of my old lightening struck staff but after two years I was used to it. I'd recently bought two pieces of a bone white wood that felt much more attuned to me but they weren't ready, I was teaching Maggie step by step how to make her own staff so I was limited to the speed of a ten year old. My current staff was good enough for today's work though so I laid it down with the rest of my gear.
I had time until the tidal shift came so I did what I usually did in my downtime, writing notes about magic and the world we came from. It was strange to think that almost all of the important magic I'd learned came from my grandfather and now to my daughter. I would have liked to talk with Ebenezer about why he never told me except that I understood. Keeping secrets kept me safe and I would probably have done the same thing in his place. I would have liked to learn more about my mother though, it seemed everyone knew her and I'd like to have more than Thomas's memories about Maggie's namesake.
As time passed I began to think more about the case. I'd have one shot to locate the island the necklace, and hopefully Viserys, were on. People were a little different from coins or crates of silk in that they could move themselves. It could take an hour to get to where they were if I was unlucky, in that time they could have traveled just as far. I'd just have to hope I'd close in on them so that I could find them even with their head start.
Most of the morning passed, Maggie had come in and banged around in her room for a little then went out again as it was about time for her lessons. There was a tutor who came around from island to island for the children of the middle class and they attended as a group, learning the four Rs of Braavos; reading, 'riting, 'rithmetic and rhetoric. The joke lost something here as neither the common tongue of Westeros or any of the Valyrian dialects even had a letter R but as I taught Maggie in English she had politely laughed at the joke.
I left a note for her, so when she got home she'd know what I was up to and having killed enough time performed my tracking spell. Little Braavos had benefitted from my experience with Little Chicago and took the power in smoothly. The ruby moved towards the edge of the city, near the wharves where the ships were berthed. I swore, it wasn't the worst part but it was close by. Sailors on land always craved certain things and just like back home the red light district was conveniently adjacent along with its accompanying criminal ecosystem.
I put on my gear, grabbed a gondola, for once the tide was in my favor and I tipped the man as we reached my destination after half an hour of travel. Holding the ruby, concealed in a drawstring bag, up I pushed a little power into and felt for the link. Improbably it worked, the necklace was on the island. The ruby led me into a maze of yards and warehouses, goods were transhipped here and temporarily stored. I emerged back onto the shore on the bay side of the island and the necklace felt close. Regrettably the pull was headed towards what looked like a bunch of pawn shops. For a necklace he never took off it hadn't last very long.
I went into the shop with the strongest tug, the door opening rang a bell and it seemed so normal that I almost forgot I wasn't in Chicago. The proprietor, a average looking man except for some scars on his arms that made it seem like his life hadn't always been too ordinary stirred. "Can I help you?" he asked as I walked towards him. I was wearing a black leather coat and carrying a six foot staff after having to duck to get through the door but his voice was calm. "I hope so, I'm looking for a necklace."
He gestured towards a table off to the side, it was covered in jewelry but most looked fake and certainly none was missing the ruby I held. "The necklace I'm looking for has a bit more character" I drawled, "Isn't there a place where you keep the better stuff?"
The pawnbroker smiled "I'm not entirely sure what you mean, my entire stock is visible there." The smile didn't reach his eyes and one of his hands was below the counter.
I shook my left hand to free up my shield bracelet, I didn't think the situation wasn't salvageable but a nervous gesture that would protect me from whatever he had over there was a move born from painful experience. "I'm looking for a golden necklace that you acquired in the last three days. It's missing a gem in its setting and I'd like to know how you got it."
The man who I was relabeling from a pawn to a fence didn't change his expression. "I've told you, I don't know what you're talking about." This was where I missed my reputation back home. In Chicago I was thought to be a hitman for Marcone on the mundane side and two steps from declaring myself the Dark Lord Dresden on the other. Needless to say most people answered my questions, hoping to get me out of their lives and flammable buildings as quickly as possible. Here I was known mostly to businesses who wanted to recover lost items, it wasn't quite the same vibe and I was sure the fence had never heard of me. Oh well, a few threats and perhaps some violence would serve to start the stories again. I took a step towards the fence, I still hadn't gotten his name mainly because I didn't want to introduce myself either, lifted my staff and with a minor effort caused the runes carved on it to burn with an actinic glare.
He nearly wet himself. "Please don't" he cried, I heard whatever he had been holding fall to the floor as he pressed himself against the back wall. It wasn't quite the most satisfying reaction I'd ever gotten but it was up there. "The necklace is in the back, I got it yesterday from two boys!" Well maybe Viserys hadn't sold it, unfortunately that meant he'd been robbed at the very least, finding the two children was even more urgent now.
"Where can I find the thieves?" I growled, as long as the man was terrified I might as well try to get all I could.
"They'll be here in the afternoon with whatever they got today, please have mercy they're just pickpockets, they've never killed anyone!" There was a difference between feeling like Batman and tormenting a guy so I stepped back and extinguished my staff. He was still staring at it in fascination even without the light show.
"We're going to wait here for them and then they're going to tell me everything they know."
Last edited: Sep 2, 2017
A Song of Ice and Fires that Weren't All My fault (ASOIAF/Dresden Files) - Indiana Jones and the First Crusade(multi-cross) - I Prefer Poirot (RWBY) - Realignment (HP) - Agents and SHIELD (Worm/MCU)
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Puzzle
Apr 18, 2015
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Apr 18, 2015
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#38
4.
The two thieves came after three bells of awkward waiting. They were young, fourteen at the oldest, and their eyes darted around the room looking for any threats. Naturally I was against the entrance wall and slammed the door behind them. They were as brave as the fence had been but it was much less satisfying against a couple of kids. I did the whole light-up staff thing again to set the mood and then held up the necklace. "Tell me everything there is to know about this necklace, I'll know if you lie."
The two boys shared a glance, the fence was nodding at them in a way I recognized as "tell the wizard what he wants to know before he burns the block down." Like laughter, the pantomime describing the fear of seeing everything you own destroyed at the hands of indifferent fate was universal. I wasn't sure how I'd ended up seeing the latter more than the former but I suspected my guidance counselor was to blame. The shorter of the thieves spoke up "We took it off some kid, he was wandering the Sealord's Square yesterday."
"Was he alone?" If the two had split up already finding them would be immensely harder. White blond hair wasn't too common but enough had it that my chances of finding the correct children would drop dramatically.
"I don't know we only took the necklace because it visible and we didn't see any adults with him. The square is too well patrolled for pickpockets normally."
"Tell me more, was there anything strange about him, anything else you noticed?"
"He chased us when we grabbed the necklace, not too far but he followed. He didn't shout for the guards when he stopped either, he can't not have seen them."
Viserys stopping after a short distance was an encouraging sign. I had been eleven once and if I chased someone who stole my pentacle I wouldn't have given up that easy. If he was being watched by a knight, he probably had been taught how to fight a little and a big eleven year old could have thought he would win the scuffle. Unless of course he was watching his three year old sister, and had to keep track of her in the crowd. I put out my staff and pocketed the necklace. "I'm keeping this, if you're lucky none of you will see me again." I let myself out and began to walk towards the square to consider my next move.
The Sealord's square reminded me of St. Mark's in Venice. It was in front of the palace, open to the water on one side and held cast bronze statues of the previous Sealords. I had only been to St. Mark's once while teaching Molly about navigating the Ways, but the paved square had the same feel, where both tourists and residents went to people watch and wander. The necklace was a dead end, the two thieves had just taken the chance and the fence knew nothing. I considered going back to Iron Bank and admitting my failure but the square was near so it was worth a visit in case inspiration struck.
Reaching the square from the side of the Purple Harbor gave me a view of the entire area. As I expected it was bustling, street vendors, merchants and sailors wandering through as the first bravos made their appearance. I thought about using the necklace to track Viserys since he had always worn it but I wasn't sure I could do it. Possessions were a weak link to their owners at the best of times and being stolen twice could only further dilute it. I took the necklace out of my pocket hoping to see a strand of hair I'd missed during my inspection earlier, but none had miraculously appeared. I wandered around a little before deciding that as long as I was here it was worth asking the guards if they had seen anything. The first two I tried hadn't been on duty at the time but the third was more interesting. "No I didn't see them, but you're not the first person to ask about them."
Braavos was a large city but the odds someone else was looking for two kids of the same description who had money coming to them seemed remote. The guard didn't recall much about the other man asking questions, dark haired, short, no accent and dressed neatly, but enough that I could ask the bank if they'd hired others of that description. If they hadn't I had to worry about who else was looking. Either way going to the bank was my best move.
The bank was close to the Sealord's palace, there was probably some one-upmanship going on there with the height of their towers and most subtle opulence they could display without being gauche. I had been many times before, both to cash drafts and to deal with my account. I asked a teller for Noho and after a little waiting another man came and escorted me up to his office.
"No luck Dresden?" he asked after seeing I didn't have the kids. In response I set the necklace and the ruby down on his desk.
"I found the jewelry and its thieves, but the kids weren't with it or them. They got mugged in the square." Noho picked the necklace up and tried to fit the stone in, the ruby fit but one of the prongs, they were carved as claws, was broken off letting the ruby fall out.
"This is clearly the necklace" he agreed "but if Viserys has lost it then you can no longer track him?"
"Not with the necklace" I replied, "but if you let me into their house there might be something else that he'd have part of." I was certain that in a house the two had lived in for three years I'd find a hair or three, especially since the servants didn't seem too dedicated what with throwing out their new employers before the old's body was even cold. I'd have to fake something else though, I didn't want anyone to realize how much I could actually do and the bankers had already shown the ability to think about my power. "Another thing, do you have other agents out looking for the kids?"
Noho shook his head "No, our branches have their descriptions but we are a bank, even going so far as to hire you to track children is outside of our usual scope. If it wasn't for Ser Darry's contract with us we wouldn't even go this far usually."
That 'usually' was the stone the bank's reputation rested on, destroy one monarch and no one ever shut up about it. For all that I occasionally missed my reputation, the notoriety was nice to be without. I wasn't sure whether I should tell Noho about the competition but in the spirit of full disclosure I shared. He didn't add much but he admitted that the children of formerly prominent Westerosis might be valuable even without knowing of their inheritance. He wrote a quick note to present to the guards on Ser Darry's house letting me go in and telling the guard to record anything I took from the property and have me sign for it.
Armed with bureaucracy, I traveled back to the house with the red door, the guards let me in without trouble, their leader nearly walked into me as I stopped suddenly after entering. The entrance room to the villa was covered in dragon hangings. I knew that losers of the civil war had the dragon as their banner and from the looks of it Ser Darry was still pulling for them. There were dragons flying, walking, rampant, reposing and most of all burning. I knew that the Valyrians had ridden dragons once, but it was far enough in the past it didn't strike me. Here were the relics of a dynasty that had conquered most of the known world on the backs of flying lizards.
I wasn't there to geek out about dragonriders no matter how metal they looked. Riding Sue through Chicago during a zombie apocalypse was up there for album covers but I didn't feel that it would beat fighting dragon to dragon over two armies. Reluctantly I tore myself away and asked the guard where the children's rooms were. He didn't know since he worked for the bank, but we climbed the stairs and investigated. The house was trashed, the servants had indulged themselves in their temporary wealth. Luckily all of the bedrooms except the largest were untouched. A small one looking at the courtyard with a tree out its window yielded several white hairs from the pillow. I palmed them while acting like I was looking for something. The guard didn't know who I was or my methods but I didn't doubt that he'd report all he saw to Noho. Noho was aware of my claimed limitations so I needed something that could conceivably work.
Daenerys's room was a bust on that front, there were some clothes but nothing that could fake a link. We then left and eventually found Viserys's room. I found and took more hair, with that I was sure I could find them, and then saw what I wanted. His desk had papers on it, after scanning them a few seemed ripped from his journal. It was an expensive habit before mass production but Ser Darry was apparently able to sponsor him. The ripped pages also fit what Noho knew about my skills, finding the book using the ripped pages was similar to the necklace from the stone and I was sure he'd buy it. The only issue would be if Viserys left the journal somewhere the bank discovered it, but it seemed like a negligible risk. I told the guard I was taking the papers and signed a receipt. If I hurried I might be able to make it home for the change of the tides and locate the two children tonight.
It was a close call but I made it. Maggie was home, escaping the drizzle that had caught me for the second half of my trip. I invited her up to watch the magic but she had seen me do tracking spells a hundred times and when I told her that she couldn't do the spell this time she declined. Kids, give them reality warping powers and all they do is ask what else. Tying Viserys's hair over the model I was somewhat surprised he had longer hair than his sister, but then again she was three and long hair was fashionable for the young. This case had been more work than I expected, but hopefully this last search would lead me to the children. Once again the tides changed and I exerted my will. The hair flew directly to a poorer district, it was a far better link than the ruby. The hair hung over it for a moment then the pause of the flow ended and it fell. I grabbed the hair, pocketed it and headed out.
I walked this time and every island I crossed to I tried the tracking spell. When I was about halfway there I started getting a pulse in the same direction I was going, there was a reason I never let anyone have my hair or blood and this was it. Even the slightly running water of the canals wasn't enough interference to stop my spell. The bravos were out in force now, prowling the streets with one hand on their swords. A few looked speculatively at me, but when they saw I wasn't carrying a sword and was wearing dark clothes they moved on. It was just as well, I could win a fight against almost any number of the bravos but their ensuing humiliation would sweep the streets and bring me into the public eye.
Braavos at night was a different city, the fog that was irritating during the day became something grander in the dark, softening the edges and adding a little mystery and glamor. After two years I was used to it and kept marching through. Six bells rang across the city as I arrived. The hair led me into the island, the streets were cramped and while the buildings were still stone they looked flimsy.
Triangulating by going down a few alleys gave me a fix on their location. I strode into the shadows off the main street and resisted the urge to illuminate it. Overt magic never went over too well even if most did better than the fence this morning. "Viserys, Daenerys, are you there?" Meeting lost children was always a little dicey, one of my first cases back into Chicago had been very similar to this and had almost ended with me arrested for kidnapping.
A blonde boy wearing the remains of expensive clothes stepped forward brandishing a rock. "Who wants to know?" The boy, who I was sure was Viserys, pulled his arm back as if to throw the chunk of stone.
I held up my hands conciliatory, trying to look non threatening. "I'm Harry Dresden. I was hired to find you by the Iron Bank." Viserys looked conflicted until another shape came out of the shadows.
"You work for the bank? Ser Darry says you're all snakes we can only trust so far as your contracts run." The little girl, Daenerys, walked up trying to pass her brother who stepped in front of her.
"Don't go any closer Dany."
I crouched down, Viserys was small for his age and I'll always be a long way up for a three year old. "Ser Darry left you his wealth and house. The servants who threw you out have been arrested, you can go home." Daenerys looked excited, apparently she was ready to leave the streets but Viserys was more hesitant.
"How do we know you're not working for the usurper?"
I snorted. "Kid I can't even name the king over there. Come with me to the bank, I'll stay twenty yards in front of you the whole way. Let's just get your sister to a warm bed and you can talk to the bankers." He searched my face and apparently decided to trust me.
"Alright, you go first and straight to the bank." Shepherding two children at night through Braavos wouldn't be the hardest thing I'd ever done. I turned to leave the alley when a man stepped into its mouth.
"He may not work for the Stag King, but I'm sure your heads will get us something over there."
The gloater had brought friends and they spread out to clog the alley. I looked back at the two children panicking children, "Stay there for a moment." I turned back towards the thugs but I wasn't too worried over the vanilla mortals. I readied my shield bracelet and as the men hefted clubs or drew swords I gathered my will and lowered my staff.
"Forzare." The wave of force, nothing to what I could really do, hit the men like an offensive line. The mass of them were on the ground scrambling and there was definite terror as they saw my glowing staff.
"Infriga!" My second spell was harder, losing the Winter Mantle had made ice less reflexive than when I bore it but some of the finesse had lingered. I drew the moisture out of the air and froze their clothes and weapons to the ground. They would escape eventually with no permanent damage but well after we were gone. "Viserys! Daenerys!" I shouted as I turned, "It's time to go." Apparently dealing with assassins had proven my bonafides, the two stuck close to me as we passed the iced over men. Both were staring at me with awe and Viserys's mouth was opening and closing in shock.
I pulled them both in closer as we hurried through the streets. If there was one band of cutthroats out there, there might be more. I also didn't know how they had found the children, could they have followed me? The thought sent ice through my veins, if they had followed me they would know where I lived, they would know where Maggie lived.
Last edited: Apr 27, 2016
A Song of Ice and Fires that Weren't All My fault (ASOIAF/Dresden Files) - Indiana Jones and the First Crusade(multi-cross) - I Prefer Poirot (RWBY) - Realignment (HP) - Agents and SHIELD (Worm/MCU)
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Viserys and Daenerys were struggling to keep up with my pace. I wanted to sprint home but I wouldn't leave them undefended when they had already escaped death once tonight. I reached down and picked up Daenerys, Viserys looked like he might object but his eyes flicked to my now dark staff and he silently increased his pace to keep up with me. After an eternity of dark streets and water where my mind was going through everything that could have happened to Maggie we reached my island. I had given Maggie a pentacle like my own and I had done the spell enough that sensing it was easy. The pull was in towards the courtyard, still holding Daenerys with Viserys at my heels I entered it drawing in power just in case.
The courtyard was dark, the moon wasn't out and the ever present clouds dimmed the stars. There was just enough light that I could see Maggie was sitting on the edge of the central fountain next to someone I didn't recognize. Looking around the rest of the square showed it was deserted although I could see lights in a few of my neighbors windows. I walked towards the two of them, setting down Daenerys. "Maggie what have I told you about talking to strangers?"
"Not to! But she knew my name and yours, so she wasn't a stranger." Maggie seemed calm, the first year we'd been here she'd been nervous around anyone she didn't know and had flashbacks to her time with the vampires. The woman rose to her feet and turned to face me. She was tall and slender, dressed in a dark cloak but the most striking thing was her mask. It was red, looked to be made of lacquered wood and hid all but her eyes and mouth. The shock of seeing it made me call Maggie to my side. She came quickly, there had been enough close calls that she recognized when it was necessary to obey without question. Feeling somewhat more secure with all of the important parts of my life behind me I continued to inspect the woman. She had smiled a little at the urgency of my voice but now what I could see of her face was as blank as the rest of her mask.
"You daughter has a fitting name, Warden."
When the last word left her lips I reacted. I had been on edge ever since the earlier fight and her knowing things she couldn't scared me. My staff blazed with power as I pulled water from the fountain drenching her and then I ripped the heat from it, encasing her in ice. "You are going to tell me where you heard that name" I spat out.
"Maegi? It means wise surely a traveler like yourself would know that." Despite being covered in an inch of ice and minutes away from hypothermia her voice was calm.
I stared at her, with her frozen time was on my side and against one woman who would be shivering too much to hold a weapon for the next hour I wasn't worried about her physical threat. Her knowledge though, everyone who knew that was in another world and Maggie knew not to tell stories about me. "Right now I'm considering why I should let you live, perhaps you could help your case."
"Is it the act of the wise to destroy what you don't understand? I am here merely to see the new voice in the chorus."
"Fewer metaphors will increase the odds of your survival." The woman still hadn't betrayed any emotion past her first smirk. "Tell me your name and how you heard about us." I demanded. This conversation was not going how I expected, the power I'd thrown around should have been enough to cow anyone here and the mask wasn't like anything I'd seen or heard of.
"I am Quaithe of the Shadow, Harry Blackstone Copperfield Dresden, and your coming shook the world as far as Asshai. Even now you change the tempo with your rescue of the dragons." She had nodded towards the children as she said the last but I was more focused on my Name. She had said it perfectly but there was no power behind it. For a woman frozen in ice she had an annoying way of retaining the upper hand.
"Well Quaithe" I started but I was interrupted.
"Who are you talking to?" Daenerys asked as she peered around Viserys, I looked back at her incredulously, then turned back to Quaithe. Who was gone. Right. The only evidence that she'd been there at all was Maggie's equal confusion and the ice leaving a hollow exactly matching her contours. I swore and looked again with my Sight the courtyard was empty except for us, Maggie looked like she always did, beautiful and shining with her power. I turned to scan the rest of the area, Viserys and Daenerys looked much the same as normal except their silver hair and purple eyes blazed and they each held a jeweled rock in their hands. I pulled back, letting the sight go and exhaled.
"Sometimes in the dark you see things. I think its time for all of you to go to sleep, we'll go to the bank in the morning."
Maggie and Viserys looked indignant but Maggie was still worried about the vanishing woman and Viserys was probably a little scared of the hallucinating wizard. They followed me into our home and I sent them upstairs trusting Maggie to figure out the logistics. I reset the house's wards and added a bit more power to them than usual, Quaithe's little trick had spooked me more than I'd like. It had been two years where the only magic I'd seen was mine and Maggie's, losing my uniqueness along with her strange awareness of my old world was a rude shock. There was plenty of magic claimed around here but I'd never seen any proof, the true magic was always far away and on the edges of maps, in Asshai, Qarth or north of the wall. I had assumed it was just ignorance leading to superstition when I first arrived but I had been preoccupied with survival. Looking back now I felt as foolish as the police officers who only saw what they wanted. There was clearly power in this world and I needed to know about it. It certainly knew about me.
The kids all woke up early, Daenerys had spent the night in Maggie's room while I let Viserys use mine. I slept in my desk chair all night, partially for fear of Quaithe coming back but more for the gangs who might be hunting the two children. After a quiet breakfast I took them along with Maggie to the Iron Bank.
It was a rare sunny day, the bright light seemed to wash away the night's terrors and the three children were having fun playing tag as we walked along the canals. The fishermen were already returning with the day's catch and there was a flow of dark dressed men along our route. I kept a close watch on all of them, even though in the daylight along these streets the worst there could be were pickpockets and the bankers and the merchants paid for guards to discourage them. We went into the lobby of the bank flagged down a teller and went up to meet with Noho. The two kids clearly recognized him and relaxed. "Excellent work Dresden,I trust there were no complications?" Noho was writing something as he spoke and barely looked up.
"The competition showed up, said something about the Stag King but they weren't too much trouble." Noho paled but continued to write as if nothing had happened.
"That's unfortunate, but it was anticipated. I'll have your fee deposited in your account with the thanks of the Iron Bank. Is there anything else?"
"It's more of a general knowledge question. I encountered someone else claiming magic during the search, is there anywhere that the myths and rumors about it are recorded."
Noho stopped writing and steepled his hands. "Magic, I do not know about. What I do know is that there is a group of respectable men who seek the truth behind the superstitions of the world. Johannes Bille, who you met, is a member. He might be persuaded to let you attend some of their meetings."
I thanked him and said goodbye to the children. They were more sad to see Maggie go than I, but seeing an adult they knew had calmed them. We walked back towards our island with Maggie still in high spirits. I bought us both some sugary treat, almost like a cinnamon bun but different in a way that could probably be blamed on not having healthy American chemicals, and we watched the city bustle. I was worried though. Back home I had access to more information than most and with my own innate power I could judge what risks I ran and usually come out on top. Here I had nothing. My magic worked the same and I had thought I was the only one but that was clearly not the case. Looking back I didn't even know if Quaithe was threatened at all by me, was she ever there or was she able to project an image across the world? The shape she'd left in the ice seemed to indicate she had a physical form but magic was a function of belief and if I meant to freeze all the water around a person and not in them I might be able to, even if the person strictly speaking wasn't there. I missed Bob and even Lash, I really had been spoiled for supernatural knowledge.
It was a dilemma and while Maggie was cheerfully oblivious I knew it would eat away at me. Luckily I was in funds for quite awhile thanks to the Iron Bank so I had time to research what I could. Sadly there were no public libraries in Braavos, books were expensive and not for the hoi polloi. Johannes's group was probably my best bet for the time being unless I wanted to hang out with drunk sailors and try to sift the truth from the lies and rumors.
We returned home and Maggie went out to meet with her friends before their lessons. I went up to my lab and started to work on my new white wood staff. I couldn't wait for Maggie to be ready, if there were supernatural threats out there I would be as prepared as I could be and a properly attuned staff would be needed.
Last edited: Apr 19, 2015
A Song of Ice and Fires that Weren't All My fault (ASOIAF/Dresden Files) - Indiana Jones and the First Crusade(multi-cross) - I Prefer Poirot (RWBY) - Realignment (HP) - Agents and SHIELD (Worm/MCU)
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Getting an invite to Johannes's group, the Voyagers, was easy. He, Willas and Noho had benefitted from my quick work finding the two kids and was happy to invite me to speak about my 'talents'. The meetings were held at what seemed to be a club that Victorians would have joined. The floors were thickly carpeted, servants in dark clothes and white gloves took our coats and offered us wine as we entered. The walls were dark wood panels with mounted heads along them. There were deer, bear and elk that I recognized but there were other stranger animals. There was a what looked like a pug-faced alligator with brown scales, a furry rhinoceros and at the end of the room hanging above the head of the table was the prize of the collection, a dragon skeleton. Johannes laughed as he saw me stare. "It is impressive isn't it? That was a young dragon, barely old enough to bear a man. Looking at it always makes me proud to be a man, we may not have fangs or claws but we rule the beasts!"
I nodded absentmindedly. Even with just the bones it looked dangerous, without the flesh it looked quick, sharp and predatorial. I didn't see how it could fly though, anything with that much weight would need much larger wings. The answer was magic of course and I cursed inwardly at my past complacency. Johannes didn't appear to notice my flagging attention so I followed him and grunted at the appropriate points. The other members of the group were a diverse lot, for every businessman there was a scarred captain or trader wearing the exotic clothes of far off lands. I could hear at least five languages, three of which I didn't recognize and there were small groups clustered around whoever had brought back the most interesting prize. I was just now realizing I was going to be the star attraction for the group and hoped it would go better than Larry Fowler's show.
We eventually sat down around the table, Johannes and I were under one of the dragon's outstretched wings, and some of the members began to stand and give their presentations. They had maps of their travels with notes on each area they traveled through. They were sparse as they started but when they went further afield the details increased dramatically. The current speaker had traveled to the extreme south, past the Summer Islands onto the continent of Sothoryos. He described a land that was straight out of Edgar Rice Burroughs, brindled half-men, giant predatory lizards and abandoned haunted cities. I would have rejected these stories except everything was rigorously documented with sketches, detailed logs and the bones and relics that he brought. When he was done there was a break as we all got up to stare at his treasures. I was tempted to look at the statues with my sight but plundered images of gods from a dead city seemed like the sort of thing to not know the truth of.
Another round went by, this man had gone east along the north side of Essos and mapped it in what he claimed was unprecedented accuracy. There was a lot less discussion as we looked at his maps, he looked like a kid who's classmates had insulted his show and tell item but he was given a glass of wine and a hand of applause which appeared to console him. It had been an enjoyable night, I was half expecting Allan Quatermain to show up and tell the story of King Solomon's mines but then Johannes stood. He launched into a brief introduction then told the crowd about what he'd seen me do to find the necklace. The other members perked up, apparently bones and notes didn't compare to in your face magic they could debunk.
I had anticipated this and had planned ahead with a few magic tricks. I wasn't ready to tell anyone all of what I could really do but after what I'd seen I felt this group was my best bet to learn about the supernatural. I stood and was gratified to see a little surprise at my height. "My name is Harry Dresden, I was stranded here from a land I didn't see on any of your maps and I wouldn't know where it should be on them anyways". They were impassive, I imagine claiming you're from a lost civilization was a pretty common fraud. "As Johannes told you I have some skill in magic of a kind I haven't seen or heard of anywhere in these lands." A few of them were muttering, I thought I recognized one of my past clients in the back and he seemed to be telling his neighbor something. "Beyond the tracking described, fire is at my call."
When I said 'fire' I ignited a ball of flame that burned brighter than the sun in the palm of my hand. The room was suddenly starkly lit with long shadows going back from the leather backed chairs and the closest men were squinting at me. Looking around I decided another trick was needed to cement my reputation, I extinguished the flame and with a gesture and a muttered word froze the wine in all the glasses. It was more than a bit trickier than it sounds to freeze it in a way that wouldn't shatter the glasses, but for such small volumes Elaine and I had managed it one summer. Twenty years later I could do it to a crowd and it caused an uproar.
Fire was something that could be understood and I'm sure half had been thinking of ways they could have faked my trick. Ice in front of them, in glasses that I had never touched, in wine I hadn't poured was much more convincing. Johannes looked overjoyed. I couldn't imagine the fat man taking any role in the expeditions other than financier and now he had come through with the goods. There was a moment of silence then the room erupted in questions.
I didn't answer all of them, enough to give some broad strokes of my magic and to tell them it couldn't be taught without the aptitude and I hadn't encountered anyone in Braavos with it. There was some disappointment but seeing my tricks had put them all in an excellent mood. It was my turn to ask some questions. "Part of the reason I came here, past Johannes's excellent recommendation," he was still preening, "was to ask a few questions about other magic you've seen." I briefly described my encounter with Quaithe, leaving out Maggie, the children and encasing her in ice.
There was more murmuring and then a fellow in the back spoke up. "I don't know about the disappearing act, but 'of the Shadow' can only make me think of Asshai."
"The shadow-binders guard their secrets jealously" another man offered. "I've heard tales of them using blood to summon demons that do their bidding." There was more discussion about the shadow-binders which was accompanied by some outrage, the club wouldn't have liked the White Council's information sharing practices either.
The room was silenced as a sharp featured man at the head of the table stood."Many groups claim true power, the Warlocks of Qarth, the priests of R'hllor, the Green Men on the Isle of Faces. The shadow-binders make no such claims and all know of them. If you seek for this magic you do not know, travel beyond the shadow." He sat and the silence continued. Eventually a few of the braver members asked me more questions but the energy in the room was diminished. People got up and were milling around discussing the events. I felt a little bad for overshadowing the explorer but he was as interested as the rest in my little act. I wanted to talk to the last speaker but he had left in the confusion.
I fielded a few more questions from the crowd before Johannes came back to me still glowing. "I hope you enjoyed yourself, thank you again for speaking."
"It was nothing, I would like to come back sometime. Who was that last guy, the one who talked about the shadow-binders?"
"Him, that was Tregar Antaryon, the brother of the Sealord. They had a falling out when they were young and he sailed far to avoid even hearing Ferrego's name. The gossip is that the death of their father ended their rivalry because that's when he came back to Braavos for the first time in decades." Johannes thought for a second more, "He doesn't usually come to these meetings, perhaps one in five, I think he was here for the Sothoryos expedition."
I now had a name and place to investigate. Anyone related to the Sealord was at the pinnacle of society, my best bet to meet him again and ask more questions would be to return to the club. In the meantime trying to find out more about Asshai and its shadow-binders would be my new goal. I walked out with Johannes, stared down a particularly vicious looking stuffed lion and headed home through the damp streets. Maggie was still up when I got home, she'd eaten dinner at a friends and without supervision had decided she was too old for her bedtime. I utilized my parental veto, caved to her demands for a story and then finally went to my lab to record my notes on the day.
Writing all I learned about Sothoryos and the shadow-binders was depressingly quick so I started dossiers on the people I met at the club. They were wealthy, experienced and influential, knowing them could hardly hurt. I also wanted to bring my press to the attention of the Voyagers, they would certainly see the utility of it for their mission of documenting the world and enough ran businesses it would be helpful for that it would come into common use. It would also make the silversmith Koren and I rich, but I was prepared to accept the burden of wealth.
Going to bed myself I felt better that no one seemed to have the overt magic of my world, seeing Quaithe vanish and the information she'd had made me fear she had equal offensive powers to her apparent skulking abilities. Given the low profile of sorcery in this world I was confident if anyone could destroy armies on their own for the low cost of going mad I'd have heard about it tonight. Just because I had the edge in power didn't mean I was safe though. I'd shown that a little information could be dangerous to those stronger and I'd prefer not to fall to the shadow-binders' uglier, less hard working, evil version of Harry Dresden. He probably had a mustache.
Last edited: Jun 21, 2016
A Song of Ice and Fires that Weren't All My fault (ASOIAF/Dresden Files) - Indiana Jones and the First Crusade(multi-cross) - I Prefer Poirot (RWBY) - Realignment (HP) - Agents and SHIELD (Worm/MCU)
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#138
7.
I spent a lot of time at sailors' bars over the next few months. Tregar had not returned to the Voyagers' Club, but Johannes assured me that long absences were not unusual. So instead of facts, I got to listen to the drunken rumors of far off lands. Every sailor had a story, mermaids, sea serpents, red priests sacrificing men to get a favorable wind but nothing local. Much like I'd thought initially, all of the supernatural was far from Braavos. Asshai was a year away and I wasn't willing to take Maggie into the potential heart of the enemy to learn how to defend myself. Time and distance seemed likely to be some barrier, since it had taken Quaithe two years to contact me. So I sat listening to the ramblings of wine-soaked customers, and took notes on what they had to say. Much of it was contradictory or only came from one tale, but a few consistent claims came out. The followers of R'hllor claimed to be able to see the future in their flames, some north of the wall in Westeros could see through the eyes of nearby beasts and the Valyrians once could shape molten stone, along with taming dragons. The shadow-binders had their own stories though, no two alike. They could use blood to save a man, to kill him or to bring him back to life. The could enslave shadows to do their bidding and travel the wastelands past Asshai up to the cheerily named 'Corpse City', Stygai where no one else returned. They wore masks, one of the sailors almost described Quaithe's, and there were no children in their city. It sounded like just the place to go on holiday with my daughter.
With no new leads to pursue I kept working on our home's defences. I erected wards against spirits, demons, bugs, ghouls and refined the ones that vanilla intruders and burglars would trip. I didn't know if anything would work, but I was going with the plan more is more. Maggie helped me, carving runes into the floor and engraving symbols on the entranceways. I made a circle in each room ready to be called up with an effort of will and drilled her on raising her own. She, of course, thought it was fun and enjoyed having a secret from her friends, who merely thought I had poor taste in interior decorating.
The neighbors had warmed up to us from their initial polite disinterest, which was largely due to Maggie's diplomacy. She must have gotten it from Susan, as I had almost as many failed negotiations as burned buildings, numbers which were in no way related. My work with Koren the silversmith had helped a little, casting miniatures with the Alphas had been good practice for movable type and the first printed pages in the world had been created a week ago. Seeing I had useful skills, rather than wandering around aimlessly finding things had convinced them that I was respectable enough to be acknowledged on our island.
If they could see Maggie and I now though, their opinions might change. We were in my lab with her against the far wall. I had a ball of leather wrapped wood and was chucking it at her as she tried to raise a shield. It wasn't as harsh as DuMorne's baseballs, but Maggie was younger than when I started. She wasn't able to generate the shield every time, only about one in three but they would stop the ball. After almost two bells of work she was frustrated and tired, but I kept on throwing the ball. This world was dangerous and even if she grew to my size, it was no defence against swords and arrows. She needed to be able to protect herself if I couldn't and a strong shield would be needed. "Why can't we stop?" she demanded after dodging a quick throw that had shattered her shield. "I'm tired and my head is pounding." I was sure she wasn't lying and it hurt me to continue but she needed to learn.
"Fifteen more blocks and we'll be done." I felt terrible, forcing her to keep going, but part of mastering magic was building a will of steel. She had to be able to concentrate even if her hand was melting, and while I hoped she never felt them, there were far worse pains then headaches. She nodded, but looked mutinous, and I hoped that she would get her shields up quickly as I wound up and threw the ball.
A bell later she had recovered some color, when she had put up her last shield she had been pale behind her dark skin and her eyes had bags under them. Magic wasn't easy work, tiring both the mind and body. We were sitting in the dark living room as she ate fruit and drank water I had chilled silently when she spoke up. "Why, why are you pushing me so much harder now?"
I exhaled. Maggie had heard many of my stories and thought of me as an invincible hero, I had saved her from an army of monsters, fought faerie queens, werewolves and ridden a dinosaur. She didn't see Quaithe and her magic as a new and terrifying threat, but another enemy of the week in my long line of defeated foes. "This world is different than the one we left. I had thought there was nothing here that would threaten us beyond the ordinary sins and evils of mankind. I looked hard when we first arrived, and didn't see anything I recognized as magic. I was complacent." I stopped for a moment, Maggie was staring at me, her dark eyes unreadable. "Quaithe was the first sign I was mistaken. There's no Nevernever here, or at least one that I can reach, and her disappearing trick, along with her knowledge shows there's more than I know out there."
"You can make illusions, you showed me how you could turn invisible and told me how Molly could make images and sounds. Why is Quaithe such a danger?" Maggie had been stewing over this for some time I realized, but getting hit a few times by a hard ball had given her the impetus to ask.
"She's different. In a city the size of Braavos on earth there would be multiple groups of practitioners, and if I tried I could feel them. There aren't any here. Her magic is different and unknown and you should always be cautious of new and surprising magic. I've been researching-"
"Is that what they call drinking now?" Maggie had a small smile even though she still looked exhausted.
"Quiet you. Seriously, I've been researching the stories about magic here, and some of it is scary. The Voyagers thought Quaithe was from Asshai based on her name and the entire city sounds like bad news. Sailors claim they do everything from killing to necromancy along with vague darker magic. If Quaithe can do a tenth of what the stories describe she'd be a threat. Worse I don't know how to guard against it. Was she in the city when she visited, or did she project that image across the world. How did she even find us? She knew my Name and I know I've taught you enough to know how a big a deal that is." I paused looking at her, Maggie's joke had encouraged me, but she was somber now.
"So you want me to be able to defend myself."
"Yes, you know that I can't always help, even if there's nothing I wouldn't do to save you. I won't be around forever and you need to know this even if its two centuries into the future." I felt bad even obliquely mentioning Chichen Itza but I stuffed down the guilt. "I would like nothing better than for you to live a long peaceful life but based on my luck that's wishful thinking." We both sat in the dark quietly for a few minutes until I stood and told her it was time for bed. She went to her room with only a token protest, the magic and discussion had worn her out.
The next morning was cloudy but Maggie had recovered her spirits. I watched her play with her friends and wished that we were back in Chicago, where I had allies and knowledge enough to ensure she was safe. Instead we were trapped in some other world and threatened by some guild of sorcerers. There was a Voyagers' Club meeting tonight and I was going to attend to try to speak with the elusive Tregar. I didn't know if he'd be able to add anything but it was worth a shot. Johannes had mentioned that he was apparently working on something to present in the near future but no one had any idea what it could be. I decided not to worry about it, and told Maggie she was skipping school. We spent the day wandering the city and not discussing magic until it was time for the meeting. I left Maggie after dinner with instructions to practice her meditation and took a boat to meet with Johannes on the way. I saw the large man from a distance and had the gondolier pick him up. He saw me and boarded causing the gondola to sink and sway but we eventually got underway without getting soaked. "So did you hear if Tregar is coming tonight?" I asked.
Johannes looked stunned. "You haven't heard? Tregar Antaryon was found with his throat ripped out in his locked study yesterday morning."
A Song of Ice and Fires that Weren't All My fault (ASOIAF/Dresden Files) - Indiana Jones and the First Crusade(multi-cross) - I Prefer Poirot (RWBY) - Realignment (HP) - Agents and SHIELD (Worm/MCU)
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#177
8.
By the time Johannes and I got to the club I heard all he knew about the murder. Tregar had gone to his study two nights previously, and locked the door. When the last servant had gone to bed the door had still been locked. The next morning Tregar did not appear for breakfast, after checking his bedroom and the rest of the house they decided he must be in his still locked study. The servants knocked on the door but there was no response. Thinking he might be asleep on his work they resolved to wait a bell and try again. At that point there was considerable worry as Tregar usually woke up with the dawn. They broke the door down and discovered him at his desk, with his throat wide open and no sign of a weapon. Losing my best chance to learn about the shadow-binders was a blow but the details of the murder interested me, it almost sounded like a classic locked room mystery. I would have suggested an orangutan did it, but I wasn't sure if they existed here and I was quite sure no one here had read Poe.
The discussion at the club mostly focused on the murder with the members trading theories on how it was done and who could have been behind it. His brother, the current Sealord, was brought up due to their old grudge, but most thought that a sickly man would not cut down his younger brother. Tregar had made enemies on his voyages, from merchants he had swindled to husbands he'd cuckolded. Many of them were rich and many more might have wanted revenge. The servants were the logical suspects was the consensus. The door could be unlocked from the outside I learned, but they claimed to only know of the key that Tregar had. Most of the servants in the house had worked for him for decades but a few were new and no one was assumed trustworthy given the amounts of money his enemies could spend. I was most curious about the timing, Tregar had largely been retired for years. His children were grown and out of the city and he was thought to have no influence on his brother. Killing him now seemed pointless unless revenge was the only motive.
As I sat through a speech on the possible limits of Valyrian stone crafting based on the architecture of Dragonstone I wondered if Tregar's research had anything to do with his death. He had been working on something and most thought based on his interests it would be on the magic of the priests of R'hllor. From what I knew of the religion it sounded like Zoroastrianism with two Manichean gods, the good one being R'hllor and the bad some unnameable being of ice and darkness. The priests claimed diverse powers and I was curious what Tregar with all his resources had managed to find out. They seemed low key, no crusades or forced conversions that I had heard of, but every religion had fanatics who thought that only they knew the will of their god. He might have committed some blasphemy and a deluded believer might have killed him for it. This was all useless speculation until I had more facts though. It could very well have been over some mundane cause, after all something like eighty percent of all murders were by people who knew each other and being rich and scholarly didn't protect one from human nature.
I left the club wondering what my next move should be. It was unlikely I could get access to Tregar's records, I couldn't even claim to be an acquaintance, much less a friend. If they were auctioned I had nowhere near enough money to purchase all of his books in the hopes of finding the right ones. The information I sought was just too difficult to reach, locked away in private libraries, the centers of cults, or far off cities. For now I was stymied.
In my doldrums I found myself wandering towards the richest part of the city and Tregar's house. I recognized it from touring the city when I first arrived and was trying to get the lay of the land, I wouldn't have known it was his house were it not for the crest above the door matching the current Sealord's. The house was dark, the servants had been let go and the only presence was a single guard. I looked around, the island was deserted and I resolved to do something stupid.
I stopped walking and concentrated, "Obscurate" I breathed and drew light around me. In the dark and misty Braavosi night I was invisible. My veils still didn't match Molly's but I had improved even more since I had last taught her. As long as I moved slowly and carefully no one would see me. Tregar's house, more of a mansion, was a large three story square with a courtyard in the middle. It was rather like my home's arrangement except that our entire block would have fit in his house. The guard was standing in an arched entry tunnel with the gate open. The island was patrolled regularly and he must have thought that he would be a sufficient deterrent to thieves. I simply walked past him without drawing any attention and looked around the yard. Wide steps led up to the second floor, I could imagine guests at a gala walking up them and being introduced. I climbed them with less ceremony, and tried to decide where I would put a study if I was stupidly wealthy and had no other hobbies. It turned out my thoughts were nothing like Tregar's, and I found the study after going three quarters of the way around the building.
The door was still broken from when the servants battered it down although the debris had been swept up. The bloodstain and the chair he'd died in had been removed but his papers were still on his desk. I walked to the desk and Listened, it was a talent that let me hear things in greater detail like footsteps of another guard. The house was quiet and I was alone so I dropped the veil with a sigh of relief. I called a dim light from my pentacle and started to shuffle through the documents. There was an ink puddle and smudging on one, it seemed that it had been the last page he'd worked on so I started with it. The parchment was part of a letter to his son in Pentos, congratulating him on the birth of a daughter. It didn't seem relevant so I started on the other papers. They were also entirely routine or personal, and I was beginning to feel a little guilty for raiding the house of a dead man.
I extinguished my light and pulled up my veil and left the study, leaving it as I found it. I went the opposite way I came, the short way, towards the entrance and was almost there when through an open door I saw books. If I could look at them in advance, I reasoned, then I could simply buy the ones I wanted at the estate sale and get the information I needed. With renewed purpose I entered the library, Listened again and dropped my veil. I was wishing that I had grabbed some paper from the desk to make notes but I didn't want to disturb the scene. I really missed Lash, her ability to retain all I saw would have been perfect, and I could have scanned in the whole library. As it was I went by titles, Mysteries of Asshai was going in the to-buy cart, Signs and Portents was being given a miss and the rather pretentiously titled Book of Lost Books was definitely not on my list. I was so entranced by my reading that I almost missed the sounds of footsteps. My interesting life has given me several talents by necessity though, paying attention to my surroundings not least among them, so I put out my light and re-veiled before another cloaked figure entered the library.
He, or a tall and bulky she, so probably he, was carrying a lantern with the sides down so it barely emitted any light. He went over to the wall of books like I had and began to go through them. I half wondered if there was a schedule I had preempted, and the next seeker of arcane knowledge would be by in a bell. The new guy was much less discreet than I had been, he pulled several books from the shelf, some of my list among them, before stopping. He gave the shelves one more thorough going over, and put the books he'd withdrawn in his bag. He picked up his lantern and took several steps back while reaching under his cloak for something. He walked to the door and with a quick motion flung the object at the shelf where it shattered, spilling forth green flame.
After his spontaneous arson the figure ran, I started to follow before deciding saving the house was more important. I reached out to the flames to try to extinguish them before they got a hold, but something in them flung my power back. It startled me, no ordinary flame, no matter how hot, should be able to resist my power to that extent. I tried again with more force and was repulsed. My efforts seemed only to strengthen the fire, as if it fed on the magic I'd put into it. The whole bookshelf was now in flames and little licks had begun to advance onto the floor. I'd been in enough burning buildings to know it was time to leave as the room began to fill with smoke.
I ran towards the exit, barely keeping my veil up and trying to get a glimpse of the arsonist. I leaped down the steps and sprinted through the courtyard, I slowed when I saw the guard was dead, he'd been stabbed several times and his tunic was dark with blood. I entered the street and didn't see the other guy but I could hear the slapping of his boots. I sprinted after him, rounding the corner I could see him heading for a bridge off the island. I was catching up, my longer strides eating up the ground between us. I realized I wasn't sure what I would do if I caught up, I couldn't kill him and I didn't want anyone to know I'd also been in Tregar's home. I decided that complex decisions could wait until I was closer, and continued the chase. The felon ran the length of the island before slowing, I was perhaps fifty yards behind him and still invisible, although I was starting to get the first twinges of a headache. He walked briskly but calmly towards the center of the city, acting like he hadn't just murdered a man and set a building on fire. I kept on following him as he went further into the city, half thinking I'd find his home and come back later to rob it.
That plan fell apart as we entered the temple district, even late at night there were still plenty of people out enough that I could get closer without him hearing my footsteps. He pushed through a crowd with me right behind. Now that I was close again I could see his cloak was dragging on the ground giving me an idea. I hadn't brought my staff or any tools but my shield bracelet to the Voyagers' Club, which I was now regretting but since I was so close I figured the spell wouldn't get away from me. "Scalpere" I whispered as I simultaneously stepped hard on his cloak. The part I'd sliced ripped away, the thief turned back to glare at me but I'd already crouched and vanished back into the crowd. Without a target for his ire he went on as I grabbed the piece of his coat. Congratulating myself on my cunning I almost missed the man walk up to a side door of the red temple knock twice and get let in.
A Song of Ice and Fires that Weren't All My fault (ASOIAF/Dresden Files) - Indiana Jones and the First Crusade(multi-cross) - I Prefer Poirot (RWBY) - Realignment (HP) - Agents and SHIELD (Worm/MCU)
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#273
9.
I walked towards home after that, holding the piece of fabric and thinking about the case. I wasn't sure when I'd switched from thinking of it as a case from research, but historically cases involved more burning buildings than research so the new classification had a sound footing. The man who stole the books went to the Red Temple which implied he was a believer, had a confederate in the temple or that the temple would let in anyone who knocked. I didn't really know anything about their god's position about sheltering arsonists, but based on their rites, I felt they must be at least have a relevant encyclical. All things considered I was leaning against the man I'd chased being the murderer. Beyond the question of how he'd have done it, if he was going to sneak into Tregar's house and kill him why wouldn't he rob his library then? It had been two nights since the murder which made it seem like he'd waited for the heat, pun not intended, to die down a little before burglaring. I wasn't even sure of the motive for the robbery. My first speculation had been that Tregar was blaspheming in some way and that a devout follower had decided to speed up their god's justice. Stealing the heretical books made a little sense then, to keep their beliefs from spreading, if not fully answering the question why wouldn't they just remove the blasphemer and his books all in one night. Based on how the thief's fire had spread they wouldn't even need to remove the books, I was sure the room was down to ashes within minutes and saving possibly heretical books didn't make much sense. Unless he'd saved rare books that weren't heretical, and then burned the rest. Arriving home I decided that I didn't really know anything and perhaps some sleep would help.
It didn't. Maggie was up and running around early, apparently the meditation I'd assigned her had filled her with energy and there was nothing better to do than wake up at dawn and keep her old man from resting. I didn't have any paying cases currently, I'd mostly been costing off the Iron Bank's fees as well as my partial share in the cog. Since there was no chance of going back to sleep I thought I'd wander back to the scene of the crime. The city was gloomier than ever, the recent sun had passed and the city was shrouded in low clouds. Honestly the Valyrians probably had found this city and decided that even spending the time to burn it would be too much exposure to its crappy weather. I took my brand new Gandalfian white staff with me, I wasn't sure if a better tool would have let me deal with the flames last night but I didn't want to be unprepared twice.
The island that Tregar's house had previously graced was crowded with gawkers. Smoke was still rising from parts of his home, and I could see more guards picking their way through the wreckage looking for anything worth saving. I wasn't sure what they'd find. From my brief foray through his house I had no doubt Tregar had been immensely wealthy, but in the style of Braavos the ostentation was subtle, shown off in superbly crafted common items, not gold chandeliers or gilded mirrors. Most of what I had seen would have burned in a regular fire, much less a magically accelerated one. At least there were no bodies visible. I'd have felt much more guilty about not stopping the fire, or warning the inhabitants, if the mansion hadn't been deserted. After a brief inspection I left, one burned building was much like another and the books I was interested in had been incinerated. From a certain point of view I hadn't lost anything since I had never had any information and the books I'd chosen might not have helped. It was a blow though, first Tregar's lifetime of knowledge and then his library snatched from my grasp. I didn't even know where the stolen books went, and even if I found the remains of one in the library, the fire would have destroyed any thaumaturgical links between them.
I ate lunch at the Sealord's square, rumor had it that he was hit hard by his brother's death, but you wouldn't notice it from the public's mood. Throwing the remains of my fish in/on bread thing, that was almost a taco but not quite, into the canal I headed home again. I would perform a tracking spell on the cloak, but if it was in the Red Temple I wasn't sure what I would do. They definitely had access to magic with their super-napalm substance and I wasn't willing to raid a stronghold of potential enemies with unknown magic; I'd learned my lessons about that the hard way.
Walking home I thought about why I was interested at all in the murder. Besides my curiosity, which nothing had yet managed to stamp out, my initial goal was Tregar's knowledge. In retrospect I didn't even know if he had the information I wanted, I had just latched onto him and his reputation in the eyes of the Voyagers. Invading a temple for what I might not even want was too risky, but I had gotten proof that magic existed in Braavos and I could inquire elsewhere about the strange green flame. Crossing the final bridge to my island I was barely paying attention to my surroundings until I heard someone shout my name.
It was Koren, the silversmith I was working with, and he looked excited. "The press, I just sold it and got another two orders!" It took a moment to mentally shift gears from murder and magic to movable type but I eventually made it.
"Who bought it?" I had mentioned the completed press to Johannes but he didn't see the utility, I was content to let history prove me right but he hadn't been the only one sitting near me.
"Two men from your club and they brought another, some Westerosi, Haldon, who spent some time looking at it." It was good news, in exchange for my help and the idea I was getting a small percentage of the profit. I wasn't too concerned about the money, however if I was going to spend my life here, mass literacy would make it more comfortable.
"That's excellent news, the kind of men there, if one has a new toy everyone needs it. Expect more orders from them." The press might actually offer more opportunities I realized. Historically the cheap mass printing of books had spread information throughout the world, perhaps it could do the same here. I might be able to gain access to private libraries if I had established a reputation selling books. It would probably be more fruitful than listening to sailors in bars. Of course with my new found wealth, I could just hire someone else to run the bookstore which sounded much more appealing than working myself.
Koren and I chatted a bit more but he clearly wanted to get back to his forge and I was hoping to track down the thief. I arrived home just as Maggie was sprinting to her lessons, we shouted 'hellos' as we passed, and I went up to my lab. The months of a majority of my time devoted to magic had changed the place. Before it had been largely empty, but for a workbench and Little Braavos. Now it had shelves covered in my notes, clay jars full of ingredients for potions or spells, a full set of engraving tools and an iron ring five feet across in case I ever found anything to summon here or as a possible last refuge from projections. One wall remained clear for Maggie's practice though, it had a few scorch marks, but so far she hadn't followed me into mass destruction of buildings. I grabbed the piece of the cloak I'd ripped from the thief and wandered over to Little Braavos. Through sheer luck the tides would be ready soon, in the interim I thought I'd start planning a new focus, a gauntlet for water magic like I'd seen Carlos Ramirez use. I had never really used the more subtle element, my power gave me the luxury to be brash, but against a fire based religion water seemed as if it could be useful, or at least dramatically appropriate. It would make a contrast to my blasting rod as well as giving me more non-lethal options. Flinging fire around here carelessly would be an easy way to break the first law and slide into madness.
I passed the time until the tides shifted sketching possible designs and runes for he gauntlet. When the moment of stillness arrived I performed the tracking spell, and as I had half expected and dreaded, the cloth went right to the Red Temple. Well at least I'd confirmed one religion here had access to supernatural powers. Their green fire wasn't quite a Sword of the Cross but in this apparent low fantasy world it might have the same impact. Thinking of the swords made me think of my own projects on enchanting. I had made a sword that would always be sharp when it was in my home or I held it but had no luck beyond that. The cheap cutlass I was working with probably didn't help my spells, but I wasn't willing to pay for an expensive blade that I would in all likelihood destroy. Luccio's skills had only risen in my estimation after each failure of mine. I could only keep myself distracted with my experiments for so long though. The tracking spell wasn't proof that the thief was affiliated but it was strong evidence. There was still so much that I didn't know, unless more clues fell into my lap the murder case, and the hunt for magic here, was stalled.
A Song of Ice and Fires that Weren't All My fault (ASOIAF/Dresden Files) - Indiana Jones and the First Crusade(multi-cross) - I Prefer Poirot (RWBY) - Realignment (HP) - Agents and SHIELD (Worm/MCU)
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#284
10.
I was in my lab staring at a hovering ball of molten gold. Maggie was watching too, pretending to work on her homework, but what I was doing was so cool I didn't say anything. Since I didn't want to check out the red temple, even though it turned out that they probably hadn't made the green substance, wildfire, my investigation into Tregar's death had stalled. I didn't really mind because I'd had somewhat of an epiphany regarding enchanting. I had previously been trying to give arbitrary items arbitrary abilities, which in retrospect, sparing a glance at the beat up cutlass, had been foolish. Instead now I was trying to imbue a permenant link between two items, using the expertise that my most used branch of magic had given me. The gold floating in front of me was my sixth try but I had had some encouraging success with the previous two. The item, or items, were simple conceptually speaking. One was a small block of iron that I had engraved runes into and filled with gold. The second, the gold that was even now drifting worrisomely close to my eyebrows was the to be the arrow of a compass. I hadn't let the gold solidify since I had pressed half into the runes and was now focussing on forcing the gold into the proper shape while holding the connection between the gold blobs in my mind. I would never have been able to do this before coming here, it was exceptionally delicate work, but the two years of enchanting failures had given me lots of practice. Even with that I was cheating. My water gauntlet project had been cannibalized to create a focus that would hold the liquid gold in the air, and I was using Soulfire to help apply my will. I had no idea how Klaus the Toymaker or Luccio had managed without the literal fires of creation aiding them but the shining white energy smoothly sank into the gold and shaped it into the thin arrow.
I breathed out in relief, the first time I'd tried the gold had splattered, luckily away from me. Cooling the gold was tricky, metals contracted as they cooled and my first rushed attempt had warped and broken when I went too quickly. It was only after talking to Koren about it that I had a better idea of what to do. This time was it though, I could almost feel the crystalline structures in the metal forming as I still forced my belief into the gold that the arrow and the runes were still the same piece of gold. Hardly daring to relax I let the arrow sink back to the surface of my workbench. It was still very hot, leaving scorch marks on the wood, but I picked it up with my gloved left hand. I let it rest flat in my palm and then moved my hand around the iron block. With no effort of will the arrow smoothly tracked, the sharp end constantly pointing at the rune covered cube. I had done it.
Maggie had hopped up to come look at the arrow with a distinctly unimpressed look. "So what, it can only point to the square and that's easy."
"Well my young apprentice, it may be easy for you and I, but this arrow will always point to the block, no matter who holds it." She still didn't look convinced, she had enough skill now to sense the magic I had used and she probably had expected something much grander as a result.
She stared at it a little longer, I dumped the now cool arrow in her hand and watched her toy with it before she looked up. "Jack Sparrow's compass was cooler" she pronounced handing it back, and walking to her desk. It was a blow, my own flesh and blood betrayed me.
"Wait, when did you even see that movie?"
The others at the Voyagers' Club were much more impressed. "It will truly give us the bearing of the block from anywhere?" A swarthy bearded man was holding the compass incredulously as he watched the arrow swing, unerringly pointing at the cube.
"As far as I know. Unless in the far corners of the world some other magic can block it." I had presented the compass and then passed it around the room for the members to play with. Unlike the press, which three more had ordered, everyone saw the utility. "I'm willing to sell them for time and cost, as long as you pledge that I have the right to read any books on magic, or examine any items you find and bring back." The captain and the onlookers nodded barely paying attention.
Another man in the back spoke up "With two of these and a chart you would never be lost, they are worth far more than your price."
"Well only you guys get the special offer, and once others see these I'll have more orders than I can fill." As it turned out almost everyone there wanted one, most two. Geometry was an old science here, even if it was only what the Greeks had managed using a straightedge and compass. They could see that having the two blocks in different places would let the user place themselves at the intersection of the two lines. I wasn't quite good enough at math to see intuitively how it would work, projecting lines from a spherical planet onto a map but I could overhear a group talking about trigonometry and the apparent distortions that would result from going further north. Answering a few more questions about when they'd be ready I made my way over to Johannes.
"You certainly make these meetings interesting Harry, your device was as well received as I expected." The fat man and I were friends by now, and I had invited him over to see the compass before tonight. "Have you thought further on how you're going to sell them?" It was a decent question. I'd intentionally kept a low profile in the city, certain groups knew of me, but now I'd be selling something revolutionary. I didn't want people to know where I kept my stock, or who I was, the compasses would be valuable enough that they'd attract thieves who might not be deterred by the guards on my island.
"I was half thinking about enlisting the Iron Bank." Johannes perked up at that. He managed several accounts I knew, but bringing this business in could push him up closer to the Keyholders. "I want to keep my name out of the spotlight, so if you're alright with it I'll announce to everyone here that if their friends want their own compasses to contact the bank."
"I'm not certain that would work, the Bank does not openly involve itself in commercial ventures." Seeing the look on my face he continued "However we can certainly help set up a location that will not be linked to you, you've mentioned before your desire to use your presses to publish books, perhaps you could use the same building for both. The Bank would be immensely happy to help finance something along those lines."
It wasn't quite what I wanted, a way to just shove all of the complicated parts onto someone else and just have fun with the magic but I did need to think more long term. I had another two centuries easily left in me and at some point I should start to plan for the future. In Chicago, before Maggie, I had slipped into a year to year pattern. In this world, with my only family sharing my same timeframe, I should use my lifespan as the gift it was. I didn't want to spend my whole life in medieval times and as Ebeneezer, my grandfather had said, nothing worthwhile ever comes without hard work. I was comfortable with my life but I knew I could do more. "Ok" I said "let's do it."
It wasn't quite that easy of course. The next day I met with Johannes and another banker to discuss the loans for the startup, both for the presses and the building. It went smoothly enough and the amounts were such that I felt I could pay them off eventually even if the business somehow went under. With the paperwork out of the way we went to look at possible locations. I followed Johannes's lead there and we eventually decided on the building of a bankrupt insurance agency, several ships they had covered had never returned, enough to drive them out of business. It was a solid two story building and had space upstairs for multiple presses. The compasses were to be stored in a bank vault before being sold to discourage thieves but there was plenty of room to display them, books or anything else I created. Johannes assured me he knew of several reliable and clever men who would be excited to work doing something new and I decided to trust him. We left my new office and wandered over to Koren's smithy to spend more money on presses than I'd spent on my house, my car, and my magic combined and parted ways with Johannes still jubilant.
I walked home from there, thinking about my next step. I felt that short of taking risks in the Red Temple or traveling to Asshai myself I had done almost all I could to learn about the magic here. Several members of the Voyagers had invited me to read their libraries in exchange for a compass, though all admitted that they weren't as large or as focussed as Tregar's. The response had made me think that selling the compasses was the right move even if I hoped that the publishing house I'd started would eventually do far more in the world. As I went up to eat dinner with Maggie I felt that for the first time here I had a smooth path leading forward.
Last edited: Apr 26, 2015
A Song of Ice and Fires that Weren't All My fault (ASOIAF/Dresden Files) - Indiana Jones and the First Crusade(multi-cross) - I Prefer Poirot (RWBY) - Realignment (HP) - Agents and SHIELD (Worm/MCU)
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So in my mind Braavos is one of the most advanced places, with technology around the mid 1400s, right about the start of the Renaissance. Reliable and easy navigation through the use of the chronometer only really arrived in 1761 and wasn't fully adopted for cost reasons for another fifty years. The compasses are essentially three hundred years in advance minimum. There's a reason everyone likes them better than printing presses. A magnetic north compass and one of Harry's wouldn't be sufficient because it wouldn't give only one intercept with the base bearing. It's pretty much the same thing as Radio Direction Finding. That said here's the next chapter.
11.
There were numerous difficulties in getting my store off the ground. Johannes had come through with the promised employees and I sent them to Koren's smithy to get a grounding in using and maintaining the press. Luckily the fundamentals were simple, setting the type and applying ink to pages was laborious but for the enthusiastic workers it wasn't too much of a challenge. Making new letters was little more tricky, but lead was cheap and any flawed castings could just be replaced. I intended to contract the work to Koren for now anyways, his apprentices used the letters as practice in making fine designs since without the molds it was challenging to make letters that fit the grooves. Paper was another challenge, I was vaguely aware of how paper was made and thought with effort I could figure it out, but I was in no position yet to deal with it myself. Parchment would have to suffice for now.
Beyond printing the real source of income would come from the compasses. I had asked around the club to see what they thought would be the correct price point, the answers were large enough that the gold used creating them was a rounding error. There was a backlog from giving out my samples to the members but I was thinking of that as advertising. One of the earliest captains to get one had already tested his out, leaving one cube in Braavos as he sailed to Lorath and left the other cube there. He had taken a circuitous route back and the compasses always matched up with his location. He had loudly proclaimed this to me at the club, and there were discussions underway to create new charts using the angles to various locations as reckoning points. The eventual goal would be to have tables of coordinates with the angles to base locations, a few of the richer members were already discussing funding expeditions to place the base blocks across the known world and create new and more accurate maps. I intended to print the new charts and navigational aids once they were made, but I was leaving the exploration to others.
Time passed but making the compasses had invigorated me. I had always loved magic and using it to create and improve the world fit right in how I felt it should be used. I had fought with magic for noble causes, saved lives and arguably the world, but something in me exulted at using it in a purely beneficial way. I finally managed to build the compasses without the crutch of Soulfire, and with increasing skill came speed. I hadn't had any other marketable ideas but when I had them I wold be ready. I had a lot more time with Maggie as a result since I wasn't constantly wandering the city looking for lost items. I wanted Maggie to have the same joy in using magic I did, so I spent my time not being the means of production trying to show her the fun and beauty we could create. We made spells together, instead of Flickum Bickus hers was Luci, to shine. When she first called light using her own spell I knew she was hooked. We continued with her hated shield lessons, but now that she saw what she could do, she do she was much more willing to press on.
It was partially as a reward for her hard work that we were on a ferry to the mainland. In the two years and change we'd been here neither of us had left the city, and I was hugely excited to escape the omnipresent scent of fish. We were going to a set of springs two days travel into the countryside that were a popular resort for the rich, whom I was rapidly joining. Being wealthy was strange since for so much of my life I'd struggled to make ends meet. It was nicer, don't get me wrong but that was somewhat muted here given that all the comforts of wealth were matched by my previous lifestyle in Chicago.
We were joining a caravan of others, tourists and traders, and I had enough equipment to continue constructing my compasses. Once we were at the resort we would have enough space and privacy for Maggie to play with more exuberant magic, fire, force and lightening. So far it seemed she shared my strength and getting her the hang of her powers was better done quickly. "Have you ever ridden a horse Papa?" Maggie asked. Ever since she'd learned we'd be riding she'd been excited about horses. I wasn't quite prepared for my daughter to go through a horse loving phase but living on an island at least gave me a decent reason not to get her a pony.
"When I was younger, on my grandfather's farm." I had told Maggie all I knew about our family, it was depressingly little between my half forgotten life traveling with my father, the stories Thomas had and the years of not knowing Ebenezer was related. All of them were out of reach now so I didn't feel keeping them secret would serve any purpose. Besides, Maggie had lost her adopted family, trying to give her a sense of a new one was the least I could do.
I had forgotten how sore horseback riding could make me when we stopped for the night. We were just outside of a farming village that supported Braavos and the caravan had enough guards for when they went further afield that I felt safe. Maggie and I wandered around the little town, eating at the inn before returning to the group. It was a cool night, but not too cold to sleep under the stars. The seasons were strange here, I had tried to figure out what sort of orbit could produce them but had given up. Now that I knew there was magic in the world it seemed a more likely suspect. Perhaps some analogues of the faerie courts were feuding, whatever it was I'd have time to figure it out. Maggie was asleep under blankets and I was sitting by the low fire, watching it burn out. I looked over to towards her, she didn't snore and her quiet breathing had occasionally terrified me when I first took care of her. Seeing that she was just as silent as ever and not abducted I turned back to the fire and saw Quaithe sitting across from me.
I didn't panic or scream like a little girl but I did pull my staff to my hand with a burst of wind while jumping up. Quaithe, still in her mask, was as unreadable as ever staring up at me. "Why don't you sit Warden?"
"Why don't you ever walk up to people shadow-binder?" I wasn't sure what to do with her, I was pretty sure that she was a projection I could disrupt, but as long as she was in front of me I wanted answers.
"There are many things I have to do, walking takes time I don't have." Quaithe maintained her inscrutable air and seemed happy with the increasingly awkward silence. I began to walk round the fire, keeping a distance from her. She twisted to look at me but didn't say anything.
"If you're so busy, then why are you here? The view isn't very good in the day and less so in the dark." I finished my circuit and sat back down, although I kept my staff up and readied my shield bracelet.
"You continue to change things. Much was foretold of the coming years, and you are pushing the world from it's course."
"You said that the first time we met. Almost all I've done since is in response to your arrival." Quaithe's incredible vagueness was annoying but two could play at that game.
"I cannot say too much, if the future is to hold secrets must be kept."
I didn't take my eyes off her, that had sounded like a prelude to vanishing. "You know if I didn't live here I might let you get away with that. Now, however," I drew in as much power as I could hold, slammed my staff to the ground, and closed the circle I'd drawn around the campfire, "you will answer my questions."
I wasn't sure what Quaithe would do in response but laughter was not anticipated. "Warden your binding will not hold me."
I continued to hold the power I'd called. "You say that, but I don't see you leaving."
"Oh, well then.." Quaithe looked as if she expected to end the conversation when her figure blurred but it reformed. For the first time I saw true emotion on her face, fear.
"Now I don't know all about how your magic works. In fact I spent a lot of time trying to find anyone who did. But in my world if you're trapped away from your body too long.." I trailed off letting her draw her own conclusions. At least one thing seemed to be the same between here and home. "Tell me what I want to know and give an oath not to harm or incite harm against me or mine and I'll release you."
She shrank on herself in a way that brought up what Murphy called my caveman instincts. I suppressed them, Maggie was more important that chivalry especially out in the country away from the wealth and friends I'd made. "Ask your questions Warden."
"How did you know about us and how did you find us?" It was the first and most important question. While Quaithe had not been malicious, to my knowledge, what one could do another could duplicate, and I might not be lucky twice.
"It is like I said, your arrival caused a shock through the world." She paused looking into the fire. "For those who have been trained, futures can be seen in the flames and they whisper names, truths, and lies to us. I saw you and your daughter in them and recognized Braavos."
"Can anything block this sight?" I didn't want random people scrying for me, Toot-Toot's information about location had been too useful for me to cede it to others without a fight.
"I had thought not, but tonight was the first time I'd seen you since I last came to you." So it looked like my expanded wards had done something. I'd have to see about expanding them from my island to all of Braavos, maybe the Titan would be a suitable base for them. It would be a monumental undertaking though, especially not knowing what ward did what. Vanishing an entire city from future knowledge might also be a clue that those involved should come and investigate which could ruin the whole thing. I might not even be able to do it either, large scale permanent workings like that relied on enormous ley-lines and I hadn't encountered any fit for the purpose yet. Whatever, that was a tomorrow project, I'd focus on the witch in front of me.
"What other powers of magic do you have that I should be worried about?" It was a vague question sure but as long as I had the chance I'd grill her for all I could get.
"Our powers are vast, beware of shadows for we can command them. Never let a shadow-binder have your blood and don't trust anyone a shadow-binder healed" Well that was fairly normal, standard practice but for the whole shadow command thing, and I'd fought shades before. It wasn't enough to make me confident but I felt better knowing more.
"What should I do to defend myself against your kind."
"This barrier seems efficacious, but the traditional way to stop a shadow-binder is complete darkness. Without light there are no shadows." Quaithe was starting to look a little ragged, I'd never seen someone die from a failure at astral projection but I knew it was possible. Time to wrap things up before I killed her.
"Swear your oath then and I'll release you."
Quaithe swore with desperate quickness and I scuffed the circle. She blurred then vanished immediately. I got up and drew a circle around Maggie and I, we wouldn't be sleeping anywhere without at least minimal warding from then on. I lay down with my eyes open, the starry sky which had looked beautiful before was now just pinpricks of light that could spawn hungry shadows. I stayed up for awhile but eventually sleep overcame me, and I dreamt of snatching shadows and red and gold masks looking down.
Last edited: Apr 25, 2015
A Song of Ice and Fires that Weren't All My fault (ASOIAF/Dresden Files) - Indiana Jones and the First Crusade(multi-cross) - I Prefer Poirot (RWBY) - Realignment (HP) - Agents and SHIELD (Worm/MCU)
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12.
After my chat with Quaithe the rest of the journey to the springs was smooth. If Maggie noticed that I had barely slept she didn't mention it, somehow she was a natural rider and had been moving back and forth along the caravan. Reaching our destination was a relief, the two days riding had left me sore and tired. If the ride back was the similar I'd need another vacation to recover. The resort we were staying in had belonged to a noble family which had lost everything in the last hundred years, and some enterprising merchant had snatched it up. They moved into the estate, kept the main house for themselves and built rooms all around the grounds. It was quite nice, individual marble pools collected hot water from the springs, and we were separated from the next inhabited villa by almost a mile. It would be a shame to blow it all up.
Maggie did not share my apprehension. After splashing around in the sun, it was sunny here, a nice change, she wanted to get to the real reason we were out here. I had scouted the area near us and there was a ravine that looked as if some of the building fill had been quarried there. It was below ground level and far enough away from others that I didn't think we'd be disturbed. Best of all there wasn't anything flammable in it.
"Fuego" Maggie shouted, she had chosen to imitate my spell in this at least, and from the staff we'd worked on for months came a pathetic stream of fire. It was one of the most beautiful things I'd ever seen.
"Good work!" My prior experience teaching Molly helped me, but teaching Maggie was much easier. Maggie's power was much closer to mine in all respects and I remembered having the same problems she was encountering. She wouldn't reach her full strength for years, and wouldn't be truly skilled for decades, but I was confident that she'd have a smoother path than I did. Of course as long as she didn't burn her teacher alive at sixteen she'd have an easier time so perhaps I should shoot higher than better than me. "Remember your will is what gives it shape, power, and direction, the staff is only a tool." I was standing a little behind her, close enough to shield but not close enough that she'd feel safe from the fire. Our powers could create very dangerous things and she had to understand on a visceral level what her magic could do. Currently her will was immolating any weeds we found growing amid the dirt.
"Fulminos" Maggie liked her lighting better, perhaps because it was accompanied by the droning roar of arcing rather than my laughter.
"My own little Sith lady!" The Mendozas had shown Maggie Star Wars which one more reason to be eternally grateful. Being the only one on the planet able to get my jokes would have been even worse than the lack of indoor plumbing. Maybe that should be my next project.
She turned to glare at me but was having a hard time concealing a smile. All around us smoke was rising and dirt patches had been melted to glass. If I ever doubted that she was my daughter that moment would have settled it. "Not everything should be a Star Wars reference you know."
"I've gone nearly forty years without knowing that, so I suspect that you're incorrect."
"Whatever, are we done for now? I want to explore the rest of the place."
I looked around at the blasted earth. "Yeah, I think we're good for today." Maggie looked happy to be done, for all the fun she'd had magic could be exhausting. We wandered up from the ravine, back to our little villa, changed from our smoky clothes, and towards the center of the estate. The grounds were manicured, keeping the look of a forest in places, but there was no undergrowth beyond flowers. It was quite lovely and I had to struggle not to feel out of place. It was nice to have money, but hanging out with the rich and famous was a new and stressful experience. Dinner for the first night and a few others would be served at the main hall to force people to mingle. It would be awkward, especially since I didn't want anyone here to know who I was and keeping track of various stories would be tedious. Hopefully I'd see someone I knew and could sit with them and not make any new friends.
I was half lucky, and in a way that was worse than no luck at all. The tables had six seats, filling the other four were a man and a woman I didn't recognize and a Voyager and his wife. "Dresden, not making your compasses around the clock?" Well there goes that secret.
The other man, dark haired, dark eyed and shorter than me, not that that was unusual, looked up. "You're the one who makes those marvelous devices?" The man spoke Braavosi fluently but with a slight accent I thought was from the common tongue.
I pulled out Maggie's chair before sitting myself. "I am their creator."
"When I heard of them I thought it was trickery, but after playing with one," he actually reached into his coat and pulled out a block and compass. "I am convinced."
"Well its nice to have a satisfied customer." Servants had bustled over to fill my wineglass and give Maggie some fruit drink. More potential witnesses, great.
"But, I have heard your name and I can see you do not know me. I am Oberyn Martell." He said it like I should recognize the name and there was a brief pause when he realized that I had no idea who he was. "I am a Prince of Dorne in Westeros." That was enough for me, Dorne was one of the Seven Kingdoms that had not so recently now fought a civil war. All I knew about Dorne was that it was on the south end of the continent and they made sour wines.
"You're a long way from Westeros then, what brings you all this way?"
Oberyn shifted idly, moving the compass around the block and watching it spin. "Beyond the toys, I have some extended family in the city. The springs were something my companion," he turned to his guest, a gorgeous blonde woman, "desired to see." He darkened a little. "Besides Westeros has lost much of its lustre since the war." We sat silently, Oberyn certainly had a gift for creating awkward moments. "But enough about sad things, you have not introduced me to the most beautiful woman at the table." Maggie blushed, making me realize that soon she was going to be interested in boys, to delay that I'd buy a million ponies.
"My daughter, Margaret Dresden." He took her hand and kissed it causing her to giggle.
"Charmed, you'll no doubt be a heartbreaker, far sooner than your father would wish." I forced a smile as the others laughed. "So how does one get into the business of making magic?"
"Accidentally for the most part, I learned of a need I could fulfill and was lucky enough to have friends to help get me off the ground." I gestured vaguely at the Voyager member, his name started with an S but I couldn't quite recall. "Much the same as anyone else in trade I imagine."
S-man spoke up then "And what of you Margaret, will you follow the other path to gain a trade, following your family's?"
I was hoping for Maggie to somehow evade the question but she was only eleven. "I'll probably make something much more exciting than compasses." His eyes lit up, Syrio, that was his name, smiled further and opened his mouth to ask another question-
"So Syrio how is the shipping business these days?" Oberyn preempted him and I was grateful for his intercession. Looking at him I could see he shared the same expression as Syrio but even so I was glad she was spared further questions. The rest of the dinner was tense, even though Oberyn and Syrio were both witty and their companions took an interest in Maggie having whispered conversations with her, I couldn't forget the interest that both shared, our powers attracted attention and now Maggie was known to have them too.
Walking back to our rooms I stared into every shadow, for all my power against humans I was restricted. If I broke the laws even to save Maggie I wouldn't be able to save her from myself. The next two weeks passed quickly, we spent more time in the ravine having fun with mass destruction and exploring the rest of the estate. We didn't eat dinner with Syrio or Oberyn again but I could see them look at us when we entered the main hall. As soon as the threat of Quaithe was dealt with another arrived.
13.
The trip back was slightly less painful than the trip out, I wasn't sure if my body had remembered how to ride, or if my fear that Maggie's talents could be exploited distracted me. Oberyn had left ahead of us, headed to Braavos as I learned from questioning the staff. Syrio remained behind us, so at least they couldn't learn anymore immediately. Maggie was not worried about Dornish princes or potentially corrupt businessmen, again entranced by horseback riding. Quaithe didn't make an appearance on the trip either, I drew a circle around us each night in the hopes of preventing her or others scrying. All told it was a relief to descend into the fog that surrounded Braavos, and board the ferry back home.
Leaving Maggie at home after powering up the wards, I went to visit the store. In my absence they'd sold almost all of the compasses, the money was almost enough to buy and outfit my own ship. I had never expected them to take off so rapidly, in the four months I'd been making them I'd sold over two hundred and the demand showed no sign of stopping. The presses were much less profitable, the first book we had experimented with had been an almanac of general 21st century knowledge. It was mostly comprised of my notes for Maggie about the world we came from, but a little editing turned them into a passable textbook. It covered what I knew of germ theory and pasteurization, the basics of astronomy, planets, stars and comets, and quite a bit of physics and math.
When I was younger, learning with Ebenezer, I had thought it strange that magic, an exercise of raw human will, could be improved by a thorough grounding in thermodynamics. Being able to anticipate how much energy it would take to boil or freeze something, and the energy transfers required, helped me not to waste power. I also included a section on steam and water power, I didn't know too much about the fine details of historical innovations but I figured getting the principles down early could only help.
All together it wasn't especially advanced stuff but the products of five hundred years of science could do quite a lot. The books were messy, printing was a matter of skill we lacked, and the less said about bookbinding the better, but they were at least an order of magnitude cheaper than previous books. The first run of fifty had barely broken even, and most of the purchasers had been curious members of the Voyagers' Club. Practice made perfect though, and the second editions would be better. I wasn't sure what to print next, I was tempted to follow Gutenberg exactly and print the closest thing to a Bible this world had, the Seven Pointed Star, but that seemed needlessly inflammatory.
It was almost a relief to return to the club after being submerged in so much capitalism. However it had been long enough for the members to play with the compasses that it wasn't an escape. The first presentation was of a longer journey, from Braavos to King's Landing and the emplacement of a cube there. The captain had then sailed to Pentos and recorded the vectors at points along his route. I was gratified to hear they worked but I hadn't really expected otherwise. The power I had poured into each made me confident they would work all around the world.
The second presenter was the mapmaker from my first visit to the club. He had brought props, a globe with two rings rotating about it. One of the poles was set through Braavos and the outer ring was able to be slid both along the inner and rotate, to allow for an intercept with another base block location. It was marvelous craftsmanship, even if the vast majority of the globe was blank. He announced that anyone who provided a city's vectors would be gifted a globe, apparently my free stuff for information thing was a popular model. He also brought proposed chart layouts, a circular map with curves running across it, he gave a long discussion about azimuthal and retroazimuthal projections which went over my head and apparently those of most of the audience. When he finished there were a few who clapped, and he was surrounded by them after with questions.
I said a few hellos to other members and briefly discussed my book, saying the information in it was from the school I'd learned my magic in and clarifying a few points. I was on my way out when Oberyn Martell stepped out of the crowd. "Dresden, would you mind if I walked with you?"
I was torn, anyone interested in Maggie was potential bad news, but I felt since the cat was out of the bag nothing could hurt from talking to him. "Sure, come along if you like."
We left the club together and he took a moment to gather his thoughts. "When I was younger I aspired to the knowledge of the maesters." He continued walking to let me stew on it. In my research frenzy I'd learned that the maesters were a Westerosi order of knowledge monks who were responsible for much of the continents education. I wasn't too impressed by them considering they claimed to be thousands of years old and hadn't seemed to spur any advances. "I forged several links in my chain before growing bored, one was of Valyrian steel, on sorcery." He paused again, his rhetorical style was beginning to irk me. "Yet nothing I learned there was anything like what you can do, Syrio was forthcoming, speaking about your introduction to the club, and I thought to see you in your natural habitat."
"It's common knowledge that my daughter and I were shipwrecked here with no way of returning home. Is it so surprising that a far off land has different and unknown magics?"
"It's enough to make me wonder how a man who can find anything, could find himself so very lost." He stopped and turned to face me. "I visited your villa and saw the marks in that pit, why is a man with your power content to live in this damp city slaving for coin?"
I looked up at the cloudy sky, it had been nice to see stars for a little while, even when clouds weren't present the streets were often lit and there was always smoke from fires. "Family, nothing that power could give me is worth more than my daughter." Oberyn accepted my answer without further comment and we started to walk again.
"I told you I was here to visit some distant family members, did I not?" With my nod he went on. "I was surprised to discover they had already met you when I told of our encounter."
Small world it seemed. "Who was it? I've had quite a few clients in my time here and one is much like another."
"You'll remember these, because they were your quarry rather than your employers."
"Viserys and Daenerys, Ser Darry's wards? I knew they were some noble's kids but I didn't realize they were family to the rulers of Dorne." Oberyn smiled at my description of them, it made me remember I had once wanted to look deeper in Ser Darry, before the whole Quaithe fiasco exploded.
"Yes, a distant relation, four or five generations back, but we remember our history. They told me of a fantastic tale, of you throwing assassins to the ground in groups of hundreds with blasts of force and frost, of course children exaggerate but you have my gratitude."
"Children shouldn't be left to die on the streets, it would be nice if all my cases had such happy endings." Our discussion had carried us about halfway to my home and I still wasn't sure what Oberyn wanted.
"I never had much of a gift for sorcery, in truth of all the citadel taught me, my favorite was biology." He threw an outrageous leer at that causing us both to laugh although he sobered quickly. "I did learn of what various groups claimed they could do. Red Priests of R'hllor and Shadow-binders are said to be able to raise the dead at a price, can yours do the same?"
I didn't want to answer the question and Oberyn must have noticed my reticence. "I don't ask for a trivial reason, or perhaps no more trivial than anyone else who wants to bring a loved one back. Tell me what do you know of the usurper's war across the sea?" As he said the last his face twisted, in sorrow or rage I couldn't tell.
"No more than the next shipwrecked magician, the old king killed some of his high lords after the prince abducted another's daughter. The rebels won and there's a new king on the throne."
Oberyn laughed bitterly. "So much was lost for two sentences. You have the broad strokes correct, but there was far more tragedy. I have fought across the plains of Essos and the Dornish marches, I know war is terrible, but I have never seen so much lost for so little." His pauses that had bugged me before now seemed to have a grander purpose, as if he was gathering his strength. "Robert's Rebellion, as they call it, was started by my good-brother's, the Crown Prince's, actions. He took a girl from her father and betrothed and when her family came to seek and take her back, his father killed them. I hold no special enmity for the Starks, that was the girl's family, or the Arryns or the Tullys or the Baratheons. If my niece was stolen, and my brother slain trying to rescue her, I too would have marched and killed."
I was trying to keep my feelings on his story off my face, I knew that I would have done the same as the rebels, I had already started and ended wars for the love of my family.
"There were battles, thousands died and at last the rebels were victorious, killing my good-brother and throwing down a centuries old dynasty. Until then I hadn't lost enough to complain about, an uncle died, but compared to others I had not suffered." His voice was growing harsher as he continued. "My sister and her children were in the capital then, trapped with the mad king as to ensure Dorne and my brother stayed loyal. When I heard of the defeat on the Trident I left Dorne to rescue my sister. Before I was there." He stopped again and this was no planned pause. "I heard the news, my sister was raped and murdered and her killer's daughter was the new queen."
We had almost reached my island and Oberyn didn't appear in a mood to continue his story but he seemed to rally. "I could not save my sister. I could not save my sister's children. I could not even avenge her death." He looked at me then and despite my years of practice I met his eyes and a soul gaze started.
Oberyn Martell stood in the midst of a desert, dressed in scaled copper armor and holding a long spear as the sun burnt down upon him. A red snake was coiled around his neck, hissing into his ear with poison dripping from its fangs. In the shadow he cast I could see dark haired girls looking up at him, but he was looking away, back over the shoulder the snake was on, blind to them.
With a wrench I broke free, to see him backing up hurriedly palming a dagger. "What are you, what was that?"
"That was my soul. I saw yours, and you saw mine. Try not to make anything romantic out of it."
The joke seemed to steady him a little as he grinned, but whatever he saw, and our previous conversation was still weighing on him. "I know that you have lost much, I could see that at least. Can your power restore something I have lost, can you bring my sister back?"
Before I had planned to flatly deny it. Now though, after seeing the truth of him, I felt he deserved more. "I could. If you gave me your sister's body I could rip her soul from wherever it went and chain it back to this mortal plane." Oberyn was listening intently although I could see his shoulders slumping, waiting for the catch. "If I did that she would be tormented and twisted, she would never know peace and she would not thank you for her return. I have lost those I loved before, you were right, and I know how little telling you this helps but if I thought for an instant that bringing back the dead would be what they wanted, I would gladly damn myself for it."
We had now reached my island and Oberyn seemed to realize our talk was at an end. "Dresden, I thank you for your truths. I cannot promise I will not seek other ways to return Elia but your wisdom is appreciated. I owe you for more than saving my little cousins."
"Look to the living, Elia would not begrudge you that." He nodded and turned to vanish into the mists, I went back to my home and as I set the wards couldn't help but think of the Darkhollow, and Kumori's quest to end death.
Last edited: Apr 16, 2016
A Song of Ice and Fires that Weren't All My fault (ASOIAF/Dresden Files) - Indiana Jones and the First Crusade(multi-cross) - I Prefer Poirot (RWBY) - Realignment (HP) - Agents and SHIELD (Worm/MCU)
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14.
Entertaining guests was a new and unpleasant responsibility that came with wealth. I had been invited to far to many dinners and parties and couldn't politely refuse all of them. Going to them forced me to extend at least a few invitations of my own, and somewhat predictably, my friends would bring along their unmarried sisters, daughters, nieces, and once or twice, granddaughters. It would have been flattering, if I wasn't sure they were after my bank account, or my power. Syrio discovering that Maggie also had magic was one of the most annoying potentially dangerous things that had ever happened to me, a combination that was somehow far worse than either mere danger or irritation.
I didn't want to move from our current house, the threshold, while not especially remarkable, was quite strong and I had anchored numerous wards to it around our home and the island. If we moved it would take time for a new threshold to develop, and given I had confirmation my current wards protected us from magical threats, I wasn't willing to leave. This wouldn't be a problem except that to host people without insulting them I needed more space. I had hoped that my small downstairs would be seen as fashionable in its Braavosi style complete lack of ostentation but apparently the hipster movement here had ruined that ploy long ago and lacking all refinement was just seen as poor.
Luckily money solved the problems it brought, and we were able to purchase the house next to us and expand. Maggie and I enjoyed the new lab space, with more room she could play with a bit more energy, and I further expanded my enchanting workshop. The compasses, while lucrative, were getting boring. I had gotten the time to make one down to about a bell and would make around ten daily. The initial excitement of their construction had faded, I'd be making them for the foreseeable future to supply my current backlog, and enough to supply the demand at a vastly higher price point. I had other ideas running through my head, I'd been toying with a gong like device to transmit sound as well as bells I wasn't sure which would work, if either would. I was also considering my next phase in the "advance technology enough that I can hex it again" plan, I was running into roadblocks where I just didn't have the proper knowledge to bootstrap the technology.
With my mind so occupied I completely missed a question and now half the table was looking at me, waiting for a response. I cast my mind back, we had last been talking about a play inspired by a story that had been engraved into some cities walls, maybe they were asking if I would see it? "I'm not too sure it's anything I'd be interested in."
"Oh but you must do something for the Uncloaking!" Said one of the girls vying for the position of Mrs. Dresden. "Your talents could surely create something marvelous."
The Uncloaking right, I had no idea how the conversation had jumped from the theatre to the annual city wide masquerade ball, but seeing Maggie's puppy dog eyes about it, I knew I'd regret not paying attention. "Perhaps I could put something together, I'll have to think about it."
The rest of the dinner I was forced to stay alert, committing myself to something elaborate and crowd pleasing just to keep Maggie happy was a once a night phenomenon. As I showed the guests out and the caterers cleaned up last of the food, Johannes, who had been lingering after finishing his third plate, approached me. "Providing entertainment for the city is no small thing you know. Traditionally those just entering the ranks of the truly wealthy, which you and I are both far from, sponsor something to announce their arrival. If you do something public it will be seen that way, there will be vastly increased scrutiny of you and yours."
Well there went that plan. My obscurity had taken quite a hit, with my change from a detective to a tech mogul, but I wasn't sure I wanted to face that level of attention. "Maggie will have to live with disappointment, that sort of attention is something I don't want."
He nodded but hesitated. "The whole city would be too much, but the Bank hosts a party every year for our employees and largest depositors. Many of the other Voyagers attend. If you truly wish to do something for your daughter it would be a more discrete audience."
"Still using me to score points with crowds Johannes?" he grinned at the memory, "Maggie has been talking about the Uncloaking, she's getting to the age where galas and romance are the most exciting things in the world. I'd like to do something for her, just to keep her as my little girl longer."
"It's settled then, the party is towards the end of the festival so you have around two months to prepare. If you can't put anything together don't worry, you shall still be invited, although I may insist you take my good-mother, she's been intolerable since her husband died and I will use anything to distract her."
"There's no need to go that far, I'll have something to impress your coworkers."
Johannes left after that saying his goodbyes and entering the cold night, I barred the door and reset the wards while thinking about what my inattention had gotten me. I was considering what would impress a crowd here, my first thought was fireworks, I'd always enjoyed copying Gandalf, but my gunpowder experiments weren't ready for the light of day, much less fireworks. I wasn't really sure I wanted to introduce it either, my compasses were an unmitigated good, but gunpowder would have entirely different repercussions. It would show up eventually I was sure, but that didn't mean I had to be the one to 'invent' it.
That left illusions then, I doubted the bank would thank me for destroying whatever hall they held the party in if I used real magic. I wasn't as skilled with them as Molly had been, but with time to practice I could make something large and detailed enough to stun the crowd. With my mind made up, I went to put the little instigator to bed. Maggie had just brushed her teeth, dental hygiene was one thing the middle ages would never take away from me, and was practically bouncing. "Are you going to do it? Can I help?"
"I'll be doing something, and you helping, we'll see."
"Papa, that always means no!" she thrust her hand out and muttered, lightning sparked around her hand and arced to and from her fingers. "Everyone will admire us, but since we'll be wearing masks, no one will know, so it'll still be a secret!" I laughed and hugged her, keeping her crackling hand away as I did.
"Sweetie, there's one family in this town with magic, they'll know it's us the moment it begins."
"So I can help?" Of course she'd latch onto my vague pronoun use.
"We'll see, it depends on how you do with your shields." Her enthusiasm was a little dampened by that but she still looked excited as I left her room, extinguishing her candles with a whisper.
"Flickum Bicus" I spoke as I walked into my expanded lab. Around the room candles were lit by sparks of flame, and the mirrors hung around the walls brightened the room. I wandered over towards my latest project. I rapped sharply on one of the brass bells and the other barely twitched. It had worked better before dinner, the connection was decaying rapidly. I hadn't yet figured out how to link the two properly, if I picked up either of the bells, the other would also rise, I had no idea how to restrict transfers to only ringing. The gong had the same issue although the spells tended to last longer on it for some reason.
I left them and went to the more scientific side of the lab. I had a piston partially disassembled, I'd shown it to some of the sailors at the club and described how it could power a ship or anything really, if they had a ready source of heat. Steam engines were a simple enough concept that I felt they would progress without my help, now that the initial idea was out there. I knew enough about boiler explosions that I didn't want to play with them myself and had shared the potential danger with my observers. I had some copper wire laying around unused, Ben Franklin's adventures with lightning were something I got everyday with Maggie, and I didn't want to tempt fate by giving it more ways to electrocute me. My notes on various experiments were loosely bound, the club was going to start a journal of each meeting and I wanted to have everything in order for when I showed off an 'invention'.
Walking back to a workbench I started to sketch out ideas for an illusion focus, I'd never made one before, but for other tricky magic they helped so perhaps a new tool would be just what I needed.
A Song of Ice and Fires that Weren't All My fault (ASOIAF/Dresden Files) - Indiana Jones and the First Crusade(multi-cross) - I Prefer Poirot (RWBY) - Realignment (HP) - Agents and SHIELD (Worm/MCU)
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15.
I stood in the center of the crowd, holding my newest creation. All around me men and woman dressed outrageously, with masks covering their faces, danced. This was the one week where the staid and conservative of Braavos collectively let their hair down and they were enjoying every minute of it. A few had noticed me, standing still in the center of the whirling motion, but most had eyes only for their partners. That would be changing soon.
I had spent a lot of the time I should have worked on my projects over the past two months playing with illusions. I taught Maggie a little as I went, but she shared my lack of finesse and had difficulty with them. Since she wouldn't be able to help directly with the magic, she decided to let me let her plan what would be shown, our whole attendance at the party was for her so I gave her command. With the show planned, a month's practice on one specific illusion let me create something far grander and more vibrant than my normal limits. I wasn't any better at quick and spontaneous deceptions, a month of effort wouldn't erase years of neglect, but this one would be good.
I held my newest focus, an enormous fake diamond of glass, into the air so it caught the lamplight and around me people were beginning to notice the disturbance. I pushed my will into it, sending out a pulse of pure white light that forced those looking directly at it to shield their eyes and almost everyone to blink to recover.
When their eyes opened, the roof was gone, stars more vibrant than anything visible here or on earth shone down on the hall, filling the room with an eerie light. There were galaxies, nebulas, lone stars and bright comets, all moving just above the heads of the crowd. The music had stopped, no one was doing anything but staring up. I turned to look for Maggie in the crowd, the joy on her face convinced me that all the effort was worth it.
I wasn't quite done with the show yet, even though I felt that my effort already surpassed the jugglers, sword swallowers and fire dancers. Out of respect for my father I didn't judge the stage magicians. With a twist of my hand the stars fled into the now apparently infinite sky, a knight, who I unrepentantly copied from Michael down to the red cross and white mantle, rose up before us. A roar shook the room and I threw illusory fire amongst the crowd to scattered screams that stopped when they realized they weren't burning. I had never seen a dragon in its scaly flesh back in our world, and Michael, as irritatingly modest as ever, never spoke in detail about his slaying of Siriothrax. The monster I summoned, modeled on the Voyagers' skeleton, might not have had the same power or purpose as those back home, but sixty feet of armored flesh and fire was enough to intimidate anyone. It circled the room once, breathing fire and roaring again, before homing in on Sir Totally-Not-Michael. It crashed to the ground amid more screams, the drunker here hadn't realized it wasn't real, and roared again. I had thought that one or two roars would be enough, but Maggie was a member of the Michael Bay school and insisted. It breathed fire at the knight, who caught it on his shield in a completely realistic, and definitely allowing for convection sort of way, before lunging and snapping at him. The knight dodged and seized a hold of a spine on its neck and was carried up as the dragon reared, getting in a blow before being flung to the floor. Lurching up, in a punch drunk manner I was far too familiar with, he readied his sword as the dragon stuck again. This time the sword found its mark through the roof of the dragon's mouth and it pulled back, wings beating as it thrashed, screamed and rolled. The crowd was cheering now, and with a final gesture I had the dragon's body explode in flame, washing over the entire hall. When they dissipated I had staggered halfway to the wall, illusions were easier than reality of course but that had been the largest, longest and most involved one I'd ever done.
I almost made it to a table, and a dignified collapse, when Maggie smashed into me. I lurched, but somehow managed to walk with one leg dragging an overjoyed eleven year old. "Everything you hoped for?" I said as I finally managed to sit down and accepted a glass of wine. The grin on her face told me all I needed.
Johannes swung by to congratulate me and I was forced to dance a few times with the unmarried brigade, Ebenezer's lessons were still more useful than I'd imagined when spinning around a nursing home with near geriatrics. All told it was far better than my last costume party, I had never told Maggie that story of her mother, and I wasn't sure I ever would. I didn't let that night overshadow this one and was enjoying myself, naturally that was when a kid with white blond hair and a dragon mask came and started to rant at me.
I put up with it for about thirty seconds before I interrupted. "Kid, just because you're in love with dragons doesn't mean you get to complain about the show. Besides how do you even know it was mine?"
He scoffed. "Please, how many freakishly tall wizards can there be in one city, I remember you Harry Dresden. And I'm not in love with dragons, I am a dragon."
I gave him a slow once over, for long enough that he'd notice. "Hair, no fangs, no scales, no claws, no wings; I'm not really seeing it."
He stamped and I mentally dropped his age a few years, "I am Viserys Targaryen, rightful king of Westeros, and I will have my respect!"
"Wait,Viserys?" I reached over and pulled up his mask, sure enough it was the same boy I'd found and rescued. I lowered the mask back down and took half a step back. "No wonder Martell was so entertained that I didn't know who you were."
"Prince Martell, you know him?" His face lit up at the name.
"We met once or twice, he said you were distant family."
"Indeed, and with his, our, family's help we will"-
An older man who's only concession to the occasion was a bright toucanish bird mask interrupted "We will stop bothering the wizard. Thank you for speaking with Viserys Dresden, I think I speak for the crowd when I say we enjoyed your sorcery." he took a firm grasp on Viserys's shoulder and steered him back into the crowd.
Well that was a thing. I turned to Maggie who had returned from her mingling. "How does it feel to have hosted royalty, should we try to sell our stories to the tabloids?"
Maggie considered it "I thought a king would be taller." She paused for a minute before going on. "Besides, Aemma said he was a terrible dancer."
"That's why we hold elections in America, we can choose the taller and better dancers instead of leaving it up to genetics" She laughed and I grabbed her, taking her onto the dance floor as the music picked up.
Much later we left the ball and began to walk home. Our costumes attracted little interest on the streets, the bravos were nowhere near done with the evening and compared to them ours were extremely restrained. The Uncloaking was in full swing, music and lights spilled from every door. The ever present mist diffused the lights from colored lanterns, and pleasure barges drifted through the canals. It was magical in a way that all our power could not quite replicate.
The next morning was rough. I hadn't drank too much, but the late night, the power I'd used, and the alcohol all combined for an especially unpleasant wake up. I expected it to be a slow day, most of the city was hungover after all, and had planned to spend the day toying with my gong phone. I hadn't made much progress in being able to move them independently but they could now transmit sound. I didn't have a firm plan on how to solve their issues, so I had hoped that a day of experimenting would give me new ideas. Right after I finished breakfast and headed up to the lab the wards twinged, alerting me that someone was at the door. I looked at myself, mildly more presentable than the average Braavosi, at least this morning, and went down to answer it.
The man standing at the door was dressed entirely in black and reminded me of Hendricks for his sheer size. "The Sealord requests your presence."
I looked down at myself, the clothes I'd been fine with, weren't really what one wore to see a king. Of course I'd been less dressed for better so it wouldn't stop. I did want to get Maggie up though. "Dressed like this?"
Pseudo-Hendricks had been thinking the same based on his sneer. "Just hurry."
I closed the door in his face and turned towards the stairs. It looked like my flashy and attention grabbing magic had grabbed attention, fancy that. I burst into Maggie's room and was extremely satisfied to wake her for once. "Maggie, get up, come on." She eventually shifted, slowly blinking her way to full alertness. "I'm getting called to visit the Sealord, do you remember our plan?"
She looked blank for a moment then rallied. "Once you leave, raise the wards, if men come from him without you, or your password set the shield crystal in the front room, then take an escape potion to the safehouse and wait for a day."
"Great, I don't expect any trouble, but be careful. Stay inside until I come back." I was hoping I was being paranoid, that the plans for her safety would never be used but being called to the leader of the city was unusual enough that I wanted to make sure she was prepared. I threw on some nicer clothes and my new enchanted coat. I put on my shield bracelet and grabbed my taser chain and slide it into a pocket just in case. I didn't think they'd let anything obviously magical like my staff or rod in, but I felt those items would go under the radar without actively prejudicing him against me.
I went back down to the messenger and got into the boat he indicated. The rowers were quick and put up with the load of two large men without complaint and soon we arrived at the Sealord's palace. Walking up from a side entrance the halls were lined with portraits, previous rulers or perhaps just art I didn't know. Pseudo-Hendricks had a brisk stride until we reached a door which he entered leaving me outside. After a minute he opened it and beckoned me into the Sealord's office.
The Sealord was once a strong man, he sat tall even now and his shoulders were broad. He had Tregar's eyes and chin, but the similarities with his murdered younger brother stopped there. Tregar always had an air of restrained energy, as if any minute he could leap into action to fend off pirates, or escape a collapsing tomb. Ferrego Antaryon lacked that energy. His arms look shrunken, like the muscle had gone and the skin remained and his eyes were surrounded by deep wrinkles. He didn't look up when I entered, slowly dragging a quill across a page with a rasping sound leaving me standing awkwardly in front of his desk. Just watching him write left me feeling exhausted.
Just when I was wondering if he'd noticed me come in, he spoke. "I have heard many things about you Dresden, but after last night I felt that I should speak with you." He started to write again with his slow motions and I was beginning to wonder if he expected a reply. Whoever taught rhetoric in this world put far too much emphasis on glacial pacing. "What brings a sorcerer of such power to my city?"
"Shipwreck and misfortune initially, the friends I made kept me here though."
"Ah my brother's little club. Before that though, you spent your days tracking lost cargo, why did you spend years wandering amidst the dregs of my city?" The drone of his quill started again.
"I was searching for a return to my homeland and didn't want to grow attached before I realized the futility of my quest."
"There are other cities in the world, if none quite so fine as this, if you'll forgive my bias. In Qarth they venerate sorcerers, why stay in our damp city when you can have all the treasures of the East and West there?"
Saying that at first it was ignorance probably wouldn't be believed. "I may have washed ashore here but it has become my family's home. I have no desire to travel halfway across the world."
"You are a stranger to this part of the world I know. Have you ever wondered why Braavos lacks a group like the warlocks or the shadow-binders?" I shook my head. "I see, we do not have them, because we do not tolerate them. The Faceless men remove any threats to the city, and as is fitting for an order formed against the sorcerers of old Valyria they take a dim view of magic. For all the good you've done for the city, I'm told your compasses will change the world, you may have one year of grace. By the time the next Uncloaking ends, you will be gone or you will be dead."
A Song of Ice and Fires that Weren't All My fault (ASOIAF/Dresden Files) - Indiana Jones and the First Crusade(multi-cross) - I Prefer Poirot (RWBY) - Realignment (HP) - Agents and SHIELD (Worm/MCU)
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16.
"What."
The Sealord looked up, as if surprised I was still there. "I thought it perfectly simple, if you don't leave Braavos within the year, the Faceless Men will kill you."
I had taken a lot I wouldn't normally accept since arriving in this world, but bowing to the whims of a bunch of upjumped ninjas was a bridge too far. "I understand they'll try, but why are you bowing to their demands? Why are you letting a cult of assassin's run me out of your city?" Some of my anger leaked into my voice and the Hendricks look-alike moved closer, I threw a glare and him and he stopped, looks like he'd been at the party.
"The Faceless men-"
I cut him off "The Faceless men are a group of thugs, we're sitting in the greatest city in the world, and you'll cater to their every desire?"
The Sealord looked stunned, I doubt he expected me to argue and it may not have been wise, but Braavos was my home now, I wasn't leaving without a fight. "You don't understand, they never fail, they cannot be stopped."
"Should that matter? This city was founded by slaves fleeing an invincible empire, should they have just accepted servitude because the dragon-lords couldn't be stopped?" I was nearly shouting now, I'd survived the assassins of the Red Court, the Summer fae and the Denarians, an entire city should not be driven by the fear of a small group.
My words and disrespect enraged the Sealord "You think it is so easy?" He rose from his desk with his face twisted in anger. Despite his wasted appearance he was still a large man and he loomed over my seated form. "They can reach anywhere, slay anyone, the last man they killed for magic was my brother, and you know what happened to him, his throat was slit in a locked room!"
"And you did nothing in reply? You're the most powerful man in the city!"
He sank back down, looking defeated. "My brother and I quarreled when we were younger, he spent over fifteen years out of the city, and I was never happier than when we reconciled." His tone of voice changed, from angry, to contemplative. "He had his hobbies, as you know, and I believed them harmless until one day a servant of mine handed me a note. It was unsigned, and told me to stop my brother's research. I thought nothing of it, until I sent for the servant to see who it was from, or tried to, my majordomo told me I must have been mistaken, that the servant I named had drowned the day before. I warned my brother of this, and he scoffed, the next day he was dead. When that same servant gave me another note, your note, I knew it was them."
The one thought that stuck in my mind was that the red priests hadn't killed Tregar, and the case was closed. I shook my head to clear it, and continued to argue, less loudly though. "You didn't retaliate, you must have people who know who they are."
He shook his head, "They can change their faces, their very shape, I know that they are associated with the House of Black and White but what can I do? Send my guards to kill everyone there? How would I know if I got them all, I would be looking over my shoulder for the rest of my life, and I am not so old yet to welcome death."
"So you've given up on justice, do you think I just should flee then?"
He looked tired now, a broken man. "If I could have vengeance I would, but with all the might of Braavos behind me I would fail, what will your illusions and tricks do that I cannot?" He sat for a moment. "I know you have a daughter, do not leave her an orphan, a man of your talents can go anywhere, learn the lesson taught by my brother." It was clearly meant as a dismissal so I stood and left the room with the bodyguard remaining behind.
I thought it was odd I would be left in the palace unescorted, when a balding man with a hooked nose called out. "So are you the sorcerer?"
I turned to face the slight man "I am unless the Faceless men have their way, should I recognize you?"
"All should recognize me, but you are a foreigner so it is forgiven, I am Syrio Forel, the First Sword of Braavos, and I could not help but overhear your conversation." At the volumes we'd used he'd hardly have been able to hear anything else. "It was my impression that you intend to confront the Faceless men?"
"I don't plan to roll over for them, why, are you going to deliver another warning?"
"All men should be wary of assassins, valar morghulis as they say. But if you plan to fight them, you might want a sword at your back. I am the finest in the city and my lord will not object to my accompanying you."
I gave Syrio a once over, he'd had a half grin the entire time we spoke, and it was incongruous with the subject matter. When he moved it was smooth and he never appeared anything but perfectly balanced. I knew the best fighters in the city competed for the honor of being the first sword, and if he was the greatest, he couldn't hurt to bring into a fight with ninjas. Besides water dancing sounded like a piratey thing and that would definitely help . "Sure, anyone willing to face unstoppable killers with me is welcome. If I go in I'll give you a call." I searched through my pockets for anything I could give him and track, only coming up with coins, they'd have to do. I drew my finger down the center of one, muttered "Sectis" and a deep gouge followed. I worked the coin apart and gave one half to Syrio who managed to look entirely unimpressed by my overt wizardry. "As long as you have the coin I can find you, when it's go time, I'll make the coin heat up and glow, I'll wait in the square for a bell afterwards."
He spun the half coin through his fingers before looking up. "When you are ready summon me, and we shall show them that all men must die." I nodded and began to walk back towards the exit, he followed, apparently I wasn't going unescorted. The awkward silent walk continued until I reached the canal where a boat was waiting. I gave the gondolier my address and sat back to think.
I knew next to nothing about the Faceless men. The common knowledge was that they were assassins who were masters of disguise, who had a perfect reputation, and a correspondingly high cost. I had never heard of their bias against magic though, I had thought them just another gang of hired swords. Killing Tregar in his own home was no mean feat though, he'd traveled the world and seen his share of battles, surprising him enough to not let him even get up from his chair showed real skill. I'd need to know more before I did anything else and before any of that I needed to get back to Maggie.
I could feel the strength of my wards as soon as I set foot on the island, I had fed more power into them every night since my second encounter with Quaithe, and the air practically hummed with potential. I lowered them as I entered, and saw a nervous Maggie looking from the upper window. I heard her thunder down the stairs and she ran to greet me. "Papa what happened, is everything alright?" She hugged me and gave me a quick inspection to ensure I still had all my limbs. "What did the Sealord want?"
"Apparently the witch-hunters here make appointments. The Faceless men want us out of the city."
Maggie was much more plugged into the gossip and rumors of the city and she paled. "What can we do, once a Faceless man is contracted you're as good as dead!"
I stepped forward and wrapped her in my arms, she had shrunk on herself in fear, and I mentally cursed the assassins. I could take death threats with equanimity thanks to an interesting life, but I didn't want that for her. The idea of murder terrified her, as it should, and I didn't want her to change to be paranoid, and constantly looking over her shoulder. "It's alright, I'm here. They will never touch you while I'm around." Apparently that was the wrong thing to say as she burst into tears, burying her face in my coat. I moved us over to the couch and held her until she stopped.
Later, after Maggie calmed down, I went to see Johannes. Maggie insisted on coming with me and I didn't have the will or desire to say no. We took a boat over to his house and knocked. We'd both been there before and the servants recognized us and let us in. While we waited his youngest daughter, a nice girl a little older than Maggie came to greet us and I was relieved to see them talking quietly. His manservant beckoned me, and I went up to meet with Johannes. "What's the occasion Harry, you rarely bring Maggie for visits, except for dinners."
"I might need a favor. The arrangement Ser Darry made for Viserys and Daenerys, could I set up something similar?"
"It would be costly, you have enough but it would be at least half of your total wealth. But Harry, you don't need to worry about that though. If, gods forbid, something happened to you you have enough friends that Maggie would be taken care of. I'd be honored to in fact." Johannes sounded almost offended that I wouldn't ask him first.
"If it were a normal situation I would be happy for you to raise her in my absence, however this is anything but. What do you know about the Faceless men?"
Johannes actually laughed. "Harry, I sometimes forget you're not from here, you don't have any enemies that could afford their prices. If someone threatened you with them, rest assured it's only a bluff, and a poor one at that."
"Well the Sealord and Tregar would disagree."
He stopped laughing immediately. "Tregar Antaryon was killed by a Faceless man? His price would bankrupt a kingdom, how did Ferrego know?"
"A man wearing the face of a dead servant delivered a warning that Tregar ignored. You told me yourself what happened next. The Faceless men don't like magic it seems, Tregar found something or went too far in his research, and now my illusions put me next on their list. They gave me a year to leave the city and then it's open season." I paused to let him recover. "That's why I asked about the bank, I couldn't ask you or my other friends to take that kind of risk."
Johannes sat back considering it. "Maggie will have a place in my home if you cannot care for her, never worry on that account." I never deserved my friends, in this world or the last. "What do you plan to do, will you run?"
I stood, "I don't want to, I'm going to prepare, and then say hello, with the First Sword at my back. The Sealord told me to seek them at the House of Black and White."
A Song of Ice and Fires that Weren't All My fault (ASOIAF/Dresden Files) - Indiana Jones and the First Crusade(multi-cross) - I Prefer Poirot (RWBY) - Realignment (HP) - Agents and SHIELD (Worm/MCU)
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17.
Maggie and I left Johannes's house after he told me all he knew of the Faceless men, it didn't really add anything to what I'd learned through osmosis in the city, or from the Sealord. We didn't go home immediately though, the presses were our next destination. Ever since I got the business up and running, I'd been offering members of the Voyagers deals on reprinting their books. If they let me copy a book from their libraries, I'd give them a percentage of all of its sales. It was good practice for the printers to keep them busy, and democratized knowledge, or at least whatever information was in the books. There were plenty of books there that hadn't yet been copied though, and it was beginning to resemble a library, even if most were just the same book, copied over and over again. Before the whole assassins mess I'd actually planned to found a library, I had considered several names, but I currently was leaning towards the Ivy and Bob Memorial Library. Hopefully the current situation could be resolved and I'd go back to more domestic pursuits. In all the books that hadn't been copied yet I was hoping to find one that shed more light on the Faceless men.
Maggie and I spent the rest of the day there, reading through old and dusty books. Indexes weren't a thing in books here, so to get a sense of the book you had to read the introduction at the very least. Even then some valuable tidbit could be hidden away further in and we'd miss it. Having a spirit of knowledge around to do research really had spoiled me.
The Faceless men came up several times in histories of Braavos. Sealords, kings, and merchant princes had been allegedly killed by them, the only clue to the seeming accident being the sudden poverty of the assassinated man's enemies. Tregar's murder seemed uncharacteristically overt, but the expertise in disguises shown by the dead servant was a definite hint of their involvement.
Another book on secret societies had a few more clues, the Faceless men weren't covered in too much detail, the majority focused on a group of the knowledge monks who apparently wanted to destroy all magic. The author sounded like a conspiracy theorist, which made me a little leery to trust it, but it did have the most information. He claimed the Faceless men had been founded in Valryia before its fall, and somehow contributed to the Doom which even now made trips there extremely dangerous. They apparently worshipped a death god who had aspects in all religions, and killing for them was a ritual sacrifice. The most worrying thing he wrote was that they apparently had some means of taking the faces of the dead. I had thought them simply masters of disguise but after Quaithe I was forced to acknowledge they may have some sort of glamour based magic. It was an unpleasant thought, the Sight would burn through all illusions, but I had seen enough with it that I would never forget to be wary of it's use.
We left the shop when the sun was about to set, they may have promised a year but trusting killer cult members was never a winning move. Maggie had calmed down over the day, like when dealing with Quaithe, she had an unshakable confidence in me that I knew I couldn't live up to. I had more work to do though, the assassins might not have known the value time gave a wizard but they would regret it.
My first priority was our home's defenses, given that the Faceless men might be illusionists I was working on a ward that would disrupt them. It would only function inside a threshold but it would stop them from infiltrating my house if they somehow got past the other wards. I'd probably install the same ward on any of my friends' homes who had strong enough thresholds, I couldn't think of a good reason for them to refuse.
My next project was also related to dealing with illusions. When the Faerie courts fought, the Gatekeeper had given me an ointment that penetrated glamours. I had of course kept some, and with Bob's help, reverse engineered it. It would spare me from using the Sight and I could give some to Syrio or anyone else who came with me. Honestly I was tempted to make a barrel of it and give out free samples. Magic might be different here, but the essence of life should not be used to facilitate murder. Anything I could do to impede that goal would be worthwhile.
My normal gear, staff, blasting rod, water gauntlet, and of course my latest coat were all ready and had all the enhancements I could think of, since I'd worked on them ever since Quaithe appeared. It was two weeks after I received the warning that I walked with Maggie to Johannes's now heavily warded house, and with my heart pounding, left her there.
I stood in the Sealord's Square with the half coin I'd given Syrio burning in my hand. I could feel the other half approaching me, and I turned to look for him in the crowd. He emerged, wearing dark clothes and a narrow sword, moving with a predatory grace that reminded me of Thomas. "It is time then?"
I nodded and then opened my Sight, Syrio looked much the same except instead of standing still his sword was in his hand, while he shifted from stance to stance like lightning. I closed my third eye with relief, I had wondered since his convenient appearance if he was who he claimed. He was the First Sword, and only mortal, if he betrayed me it wouldn't be through magic. "I think so yes. Let's see what the House of Black and White has to offer us. First though, smear some of this over your eyes." He took the small jar of the ointment, cracked the lid and looked at it dubiously.
"What is it? Warpaint is not something I feel the need to indulge in."
I grabbed it back from him and put two stripes over my own eyes. "It will let you see through illusions, if they've got magic this will beat it."
He took the gunk back and applied it while looking mutinous. "I'm grateful for your gift, but please endeavor to make your next cosmetic less rank." After spending a week with batches constantly being made and tested I didn't even notice the smell, whatever method Rashid had used to make it scentless it eluded me.
"You'll be grateful for it the next time an invisible demon tries to eat your face."
"This hypothetical demon will be repelled by the smell? If I have to wear it that long, I might welcome it." While he complained, we started walking towards the temple of the Many-Faced god. The square was fairly central and the temple wasn't, it was on its own island, creepily deserted of course. Walking across the final bridge, we left the teeming masses of the city behind us, and with them, their noise. The only sound were our footsteps, well my footsteps, Syrio's were silent as he managed to look even more dangerous as we walked up the rocky hill the temple was built on.
The main doors were monochromatic, one door was of ebony and the other was made of the pure white wood I'd used for my staff. They were half closed, and the interior was in deep shadow. Syrio and I exchanged a glance, and pulled them the rest of the way open, letting in the wan light in as we entered ourselves. I could feel death in the air, back home I wouldn't have dared entered the Nevernever here, for fear of what lurked on the other side of a place like this. The temple was dark, low fires in alcoves carved in the walls provided what little illumination there was. There was a dark pool in the center of the floor and and around the room were statues of gods I vaguely recognized. Syrio, seeing the direction I looked whispered their names, "The Stranger, Bakkalon, the Weeping Woman, the Merlyn King." He stopped there, but there were far more statues than the four he'd named, and I didn't like that the last one shared the greatest wizard ever's name.
There was only one man in visible in the temple, he was dressed in a gray robe and didn't acknowledge our arrival. He continued to sweep as we approached, only stopping when we stood in front of him. He turned to look at us and Syrio gasped, whatever illusion he projected was defeated by Rashid's concoction. The man was wearing a mask, at first I thought it was finely dyed leather, but then I realized no tanner had made it. It was the skin off of a corpse, the edges were stained red in what I knew was blood, and I had to resist the urge to rip it from his face. Illusions based on flayed faces were not the best introduction to magic, and Syrio looked pale. "Two men are here, a man wonders why."
Syrio gripped the hilt of his sword, "We came to speak to the Faceless men, and we have found one, although perhaps we should call you the two faced men?" His lethal grace remained, but he now moved in a manner that suggested violence was imminent. He surged forward, shoving the man hard. "I have had friends come here to die, and you wear their skin? What part of the gift of death is that?"
The cloaked man barely reacted to Syrio's push, he recovered his balance effortlessly, and stood still a few paces back. "A man still wonders."
Syrio seethed at my side but didn't reply. I stepped forward. "You and yours threatened me, and killed a friend. I would hear the reason why."
"We have killed none of your friends."
"Fucker!" Syrio almost blurred forward, and grabbed the edge of his facemask. "You killed Tregar Antaryon, and I want to know why!" With a sharp motion he tore it free, throwing the priest to the ground with it. "Don't like anyone else with magic, how's it feel to be on this side of it!" He lunged forward and kicked the man in the side, his breath came out came out in a rush and he curled around himself. Syrio stepped back. "Well? We're waiting."
As the priest wheezed another voice came from the back of the temple, and I spun to face it, Syrio's outburst had surprised me, and I was inwardly cursing about not watching my back in a ninja fortress. "Tregar Antaryon did not die by our hands."
Facing him I lit my staff, the entire length shone white, and chased the shadows of the temple away. In the glare the mysterious temple now looked shabby, the dark grandeur was lost with my light. "And why should we trust the word of an assassin?" The man walked towards Syrio and I, as the beaten priest crawled away.
"We are servants of the Many-Faced god, we serve a grander purpose than murder."
"I doubt it makes much difference to those who end up on your blades." He had continued to walk nearer, if he got too much closer he might be able to act before I could. Syrio unsheathed his sword and stepped forward, the man stopped just short of skewering himself.
"Death comes to all men. Through us it comes gently, it is a gift. Tregar Antaryon's end was not ours." Despite having a razor sharp blade inches from his throat, the priest was calm, or at least his flesh mask didn't show emotions. "A man wonders why you believed our guilt?"
"A man wearing a dead man's face came to warn the Sealord" Syrio bit out. "Whatever would make us think of you?" He traced the air in front of the man's mask with his blade. "If not you whom?"
"We are not the only ones in this city who can hide behind another's face. You stand next to another."
"Since he'd drive himself out of the city. Name names, or we're going through this building ripping off every face, if its the one they were born with or not." Syrio's voice was growing manic, but his sword was perfectly still pointing at the priest's eye.
"Tregar Antaryon was killed by a shadow-binder, the followers of R'hllor have them in their number."
"It is said you kill those who study magic in this city. Why do you tolerate their sorcery?" He turned to look at me, his eyes didn't dilate at all staring into my light, and I realized with a shock he was blind.
"We serve the Many-Faced god. When sorcerers seek to claim those who have received the gift, we act, and not before. You have nothing to fear from us yet Harry Dresden."
I wasn't quite willing to take his word but Quaithe had acted as if oaths mattered. "Swear this on your power, and in your god's name, or I will join Syrio in the cleansing of this place."
"Of course, the god I serve does not lie and neither do his followers. You have my vow." At that he turned away, and began walking back into the depths of the temple. Syrio shuddered and then gave a harsh exhale.
"Let's leave this pit, before I have to kill everyone in here." He hurried out, his quick steps more than matching my longer strides. The sunlight outside was a shock, even with my light the temple was dim. We left the island in silence, before hailing a boat when we reached a busier canal. We sat as the gondolier pushed us out and he eventually spoke "Do you trust them?"
I thought about it, either we trusted them or we would fight, I wasn't going to live with another sword hanging over my head. "I don't know if we can, but we can pierce their illusions and without that they are just men, trained and skilled no doubt, but mortal." Syrio nodded and was silent for the rest of the trip. As we parted ways in the square I handed him the jar of ointment. "Keep it just in case, when you run out I'll make more."
As I started to leave he called out. "Dresden, what will you do next?"
I stopped and turned back, "I think we'll need to visit the Red Temple."
A Song of Ice and Fires that Weren't All My fault (ASOIAF/Dresden Files) - Indiana Jones and the First Crusade(multi-cross) - I Prefer Poirot (RWBY) - Realignment (HP) - Agents and SHIELD (Worm/MCU)
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18.
Getting out of the gondola and walking the last distance to Johannes's house I tried to think of my next move. I'd already opted out of entering the Red Temple once, when I thought they had produced the wildfire. Now that I knew they had a shadow-binder, or at least the Faceless men said they had one, I was even less enthusiastic about it. I'd been able to handle all of the magic Quaithe had shown, but she hadn't been trying to kill me, and didn't expose all of her tricks. The alleged shadow-binder had already killed once, and I didn't even know how.
Johannes and Maggie were relieved to see me, I'm not sure Johannes expected me to come back, but Maggie was still clinging to my apparent invincibility. I gave them both a quick overview of what we'd learned, Johannes's faced twisted at the mention of the Red Priests, and then Maggie and I headed home. Maggie was in high spirits with my safe return, but my mood was somber. There was so much I could do, and had done, to help this city, now I was about to face off against a gang of pyromaniacs. With my luck though we were probably doomed to fight as soon as they found out about my cavalier use of their god's element.
Stepping back behind my wards was a comforting feeling. I had never raised anything near as intense on my home back in Chicago, and when I lived with Ebenezer he evidently hadn't felt the need for such layered defences. Or I hadn't been able to sense them, that would fit better with the mindset of the Blackstaff. The threshold surged with power, my magic defending against anything I could think of, and Maggie's, lesser but still present, adding a another note to the almost audible droning of magic. It was tempting to just bar the doors and stay behind the walls of magic but that was hardly a solution. Instead I went to the lab, Maggie followed and I started to brainstorm about why the Red Priests wanted me gone. "Maybe they're jealous?"
Maggie's voice surprised me, I didn't realize I'd been talking to myself. Her interruption broke my train of thought, now I was wondering if for all my years as a detective my internal monologue had been external. "Oh well, everyone needs a little noir in their life." Maggie was thrown by my non sequitur, but I pressed on. "They could be jealous, that would explain why they only did something after the party. It was a lot of visible magic."
"Why would they give you a year then? It doesn't seem smart to warn you." That's my daughter, wondering why her old man wasn't instantly bumped off by cultists.
"They might have wanted to avoid this situation, where I knew someone was gunning for me. If they tried and failed, they don't know what I could do to retaliate." Maggie was nodding along, I'd told her suitably edited versions of most of my cases, and she looked excited to be part of her very own Dresden adventure. "Especially with the framing of the Faceless men, you saw how everyone here is terrified of them, they might have thought I'd be too worried and relieved to have time to go that I wouldn't stick around to investigate. If it worked, I'd be gone with no effort on their part, just an illusion and a warning while further discrediting the Faceless men in the eyes of the city."
"But now you know it was them, their plan is ruined." Maybe my abridged adventures had cut too much, omitting the terror and violence of the last showdowns might have given Maggie the impression that at the end all I did was pull a Velma, and remove the villain's mask. Actually if it was the Faceless men I could have done that, although Syrio had taken quite a bit of skin when he'd defaced that one mook, modern mask technology apparently beat the mystic arts in ease of removal.
"We don't really know that much, we only have the words of a bunch of assassins. It is a lead though, and I'll check it out." Maggie was mollified a little by that ,and I managed to get her to practice her shielding. I would have tried to have her do homework to get her mind off of magic, but her lessons had a seasonal break following the Unmasking festival.
I spent the rest of the afternoon playing with enchantments, my recent preoccupation had almost entirely cleared out my backlog of compasses, and to keep myself entertained I tried to add new features. The next logical step for the compass was to somehow indicate distance, if I got that worked out only one would be needed for navigation. Of course my tracking spell didn't really give me a distance either, just a bearing, so I'd need to improve that spell before I worked out how to set it in the molten gold. It was a nice break, for all of the fighting I'd done in my life I really enjoyed using and learning about magic. The compasses might not have been as impressive as a zombie dinosaur, but they'd done infinitely more for the world than riding Sue through Chicago.
It was with that in mind that I ended up going to the Voyagers' Club that night, I hadn't been for the previous month or so, I'd been busy, first with my illusion and then gearing up for the Faceless men. I wanted to go though, I didn't want a threat that was less than what I'd dealt with back home preventing me from doing what I enjoyed. Of course I wore my coat, carried my staff, and had my holstered blasting rod as I went there, being willing to face danger did not equate to stupidity.
I arrived just before it started, Johannes wasn't there, so I sat at a small table in the back with another man who I recognized as the leading mapmaker. He looked excited to see me, he'd been to my shop several times to buy more compasses and ask questions about their functions. I mentally resigned myself to a slow night when several laborers, their cheaper but durable clothing and heavily muscled frames distinguishing them from the members, entered, staggering under the load of the crate held between them. Another man, his frame almost cartoonishly muscled on one side but dressed much more in line with the rest of us, entered along with one of the magnates I'd talked to about pistons and steam. The four sweating men lowered the crate onto the front table which groaned under the load, and the fifth man, producing a small crowbar, split the crate open.
It was an ugly assemblage of black iron tanks, it looked as it was made from armor plates that were then hammered together. Bands of iron went around the tanks, presumably for reinforcement, and what looked like a bellows was attached to one end of it. The shipping magnate stepped up in front of it, all eyes were on him and the spectacle. "Gentlemen, together with Jacob Guldenmann" he gestured towards the man I assumed was a blacksmith, "and the insights of Harry Dresden, I have harnessed the power of steam." His proclamation was met by some confusion, other than the few who I had spoken with about pistons and steam expansions no one looked very impressed.
Another man said what everyone but the select was thinking, "And what does that mean Mangini?" Mangini, the shipper flushed, and gestured at the blacksmith. He turned something on one of the tanks and with a hiss the bellows inflated, lifting a rod attached to it. Another sharper hiss, and it collapsed, before rising again in sequence. Around me the members got up to inspect the device but I remained in my seat, no matter what happened with the Red Priests, Mangini had just become the James Watt of this world and the industrial revolution was coming. By the time Maggie was my age there'd be steamships traveling the Narrow Sea, and in a century who knew? Pushing this world ahead could only help, in our world the supernatural predators were only driven back when humanity mastered technology, maybe with this the assassins and sorcerers would no longer be able to command cities. For all the issues I had with the White Council, I never disagreed with their role as guardians of regular human life, performing that role on a new world was as good a purpose as I needed.
I managed to get out after the meeting ended, only answering a few questions from the mapmaker who I invited to my shop to show his new maps. His enthusiasm was tiring, and when I was dealing with him I missed the chance to talk to a few other members, I still wanted to found a library and some of them had been interested in helping, especially since any books they donated would be returned with interest. It was a longer term concern though, despite the evening's pleasant distraction I still had to focus on the temple of R'hllor.
Last edited: May 6, 2015
A Song of Ice and Fires that Weren't All My fault (ASOIAF/Dresden Files) - Indiana Jones and the First Crusade(multi-cross) - I Prefer Poirot (RWBY) - Realignment (HP) - Agents and SHIELD (Worm/MCU)
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19.
Taking the afternoon off was pleasant, but the next morning I was back in the Sealord's square with the half-coin pulsing in my hand. Syrio, accompanied by another guard, both with stripes of Rashid's ointment over their eyes, found me in the crowd. "The Sealord wants to talk to you."
I looked at them, my gaze lingering on their painted foreheads. "Why do you think I'm here, let's go." We walked into the palace, there were more guards visible than on my previous visit, one in every squad was wearing the new makeup. "So you're going to want a bit more of that goo? You're enjoying the smell after all?"
Syrio snorted "Just so. The Sealord liked having the odor of bird shit around him so much he's made everyone wear it." I was a little impressed that he'd scented out one of the components, I wouldn't have recognized it were it not for the week I'd spent collecting it and mixing it. Seabird's had sharp eyes that could often see through the water, it was an obvious ingredient for potions to look through illusions, if it wasn't for the smell I'd always have some on hand.
We reached the Sealord's office, the Hendricks clone was sitting there with him, again with the stripes, the Sealord wasn't wearing any, but the jar I'd given Syrio was sitting on his desk. "Harry Dresden, I am grateful for the work you have done in interrogating the Faceless men. I am especially happy that you have given me someone to hold responsible for my brother's murder."
"I assume Syrio told you all we saw in the House of Black and White?" The Sealord nodded, he looked better than the last time I saw him, the prospect of vengeance had shaved years off of him. "Then you know all we have is the word of assassins that the Red Priests have anything to do with this."
"Be that as it may, I am the Sealord. It is well within my power to send men into their temple and drag anything there into light, particularly this shadow-binder." He stood up and looked towards the large glass windows overlooking the bay, "And make no mistake, if the murderer is there I will have him crawling at my feet and their Temple will be burned in the fires they love so much."
I knew what the Sealord was feeling, I had done the roaring rampage of revenge before, but it had never been easy, or without cost. "I was planning to go to the temple, let Syrio come with me and we'll see what they have to say." The Sealord barely waited for me to finish before turning back.
"No. I do not negotiate with murderers. My guards will be storming the temple, your only choice is to go with them or give the shadow-binder free rein against them."
That was how I found myself with Syrio and fifty stone faced men marching towards the temple district. They had used the last of the ointment I'd given Syrio, and all were wearing mail coats and dark leather. The crowds scurried out of our way as we approached, bravos, pickpockets, and bankers not daring to impede us. I didn't want to do it like this, I'd have preferred a softer approach, but if there was a shadow-binder I didn't want the vanilla mortals to be slaughtered without my help. I also had a chance to prevent it from descending into violence, if I didn't go and there was a massacre either way I would blame myself for not doing what I could.
Walking up the steps next to Syrio in front of the soldiers half reminded me of Darth Vader's first showing, but I fought down the image. We were going to try to find a dangerous warlock and I didn't know how dangerous the shadow-binder could be. A young acolyte dressed in red robes saw us coming, his eyes widened and he swallowed, but he came to us anyways, I was a little impressed. "How can we serve the Sealord?"
"Don't impede our and turn over the shadow-binder you shelter." Syrio brusquely spat out. He looked back at the guards and gave them several hand gestures and they spread out heading towards the other chambers of the temple. "He is suspected of the murder of Tregar Antaryon and we will have our answers."
The acolyte gulped and nodded but I doubted he had any real power, we were threatening someone barely a step above an altar boy. Syrio's teams were returning, herding everyone they found into the main chamber, he probably had more men outside watching and taking anyone who tried to leave into custody. We waited for a little longer as they got everyone, several older priests, both men and women, tried to talk to Syrio but he didn't look at them and the guards pulled them back into the rest.
If I hadn't been paying close attention I wouldn't have seen it. Syrio perked up, when he stood normally he was relaxed, in a peculiar way that promised speed and death at a moments notice. Now he was almost quivering, one of the teams hadn't returned. He barked out several commands and two thirds of the the men began to push the mass of priests up towards one of the walls, the remaining third formed up on us. Syrio was in front, I followed just behind. We headed for the door the lost team went in, it lead to a narrow stair leading down and I was beginning to sense something I hadn't felt in years, dark magic and necromancy. "There's something here Syrio. I can feel it." He nodded and drew his sword but kept on going. For a man whose experience with magic was strictly of the horror and death variety, he was keeping his cool admirably. As we kept on descending the taint grew stronger, torches flickered as we passed and I started to draw power. I made sure my shield bracelet was free, and ran my fingers over my kinetic rings. I was as ready as I could be as we went further into the miasma of black magic.
The stairs eventually ended in a circular room with several doors. The taint was so pervasive I couldn't sense a direction and if I looked with my sight it might put me out for minutes. We we crowded in the space, there was plenty of room but in some ancient instinct we had clustered together in the center of the room. Syrio started to speak and for the first time lost something of his composure. He cleared his throat and tried again. "Muller, Hestorin, take the rooms on the left. Nahar, Qarro, go to the right, the rest of you," He gestured at me as well, "we're taking the center. Anyone here, take them down, they can answer questions if they live, or we'll find out ourselves if they're dead." The named men nodded and there was a last pause as they checked their weapons and loosened daggers in their sheaths. Syrio looked at the biggest man in our group, almost as tall as me, and heavily muscled. "Tormo, kick that fucking door down."
The big man charged forward as the other teams ran towards their doors. I prepared a shield as I followed, shouldering through the splinters Tormo left and nearly running into Syrio. The room was empty except for five men with their throats cut lying neatly on the ground. We stared at them for a second, and that was when the screams started.
I turned back, stepping into the antechamber, the torches' flickering lights disguised it at first, but the shadows were moving with purpose, and where they went, sheets of blood followed. My first reflex was to call for light, but the sudden glare just made the shadows sharper, I could see their rapid movements as they sheared through metal and flesh alike. The terror the wraiths brought filled me for a second before I fought it down, I had destroyed unruly spirits before, and they would not stop me now. Infusing my will with Soulfire I whipped my staff forward. "Laqueus!" a silver lash whipped forth and curled on one the shades, I pulled back and with a scream the shadow fell apart as the garrote pulled through it, I swung it towards the next one, but it dodged smoothly before leaping towards me. I stepped back and threw up a shield before it reached me. Its blade screamed as it hit my shield and I felt feedback cascading through my bracelet. With an effort I pulsed the shield larger, throwing it back, and drew my chain in an effortless practiced movement. "Fulminos" I bellowed, the thunderclap from the white-hot beam staggered even the shades, as the one I'd targeted was obliterated.
I seized the moment and called forth another whip of Soulfire, the shades had dropped everyone else in the room and I swept it through the entire chamber catching the other two shades and shredding them. The room was silent for a moment before the moans of the wounded started up. The soldiers who had been behind me with Syrio were the only ones uninjured, and looked at me with more than a hint of fear. "There were five corpses and four shades." I didn't look back at them, keeping my eyes on the chamber. "The shadow-binder still has one left."
"What can we do against it? They cut us all to ribbons!" I looked over my shoulder at the terrified guard before returning my attention to the room.
"What men have always done against darkness, face it no matter what." With that hopefully inspiring, but entirely useless advice given, I stepped into the center of the room. The light now was entirely from my staff, the silver filled runes in it blazed as the staff itself shone, the only shadows were of my making. Standing in the center of the room amid the wounded and dead, with Syrio and the soldiers standing back in the room with the corpses, I began to turn. I was pretty sure I knew how this was going to go, the shade would erupt out from behind me as soon as I turned my back, and then with me out of the way, would kill its way through the rest of the guards. Fortunately that was pretty standard monster fare and I was ready. As soon as the shade moved I felt it. I roared "Defendarius!" as a solid blue shield formed around me, and the shade smashed into it and rebounded. With a snarl I sent forth the same Soulfire powered lash and ripped it into three pieces.
The feeling of dark magic immediately lessened, and I could feel the power of the shadow-binder now that it was the sole source of the intense wrongness. "Syrio." He walked out into the room with his sword ready at my call. "The shades are gone, there's only the monster responsible left."
"Well let's send him to his god then." Syrio stepped forward and the courage he displayed against the unstoppable forces that slaughtered his men was inspiring. I kept my shield bracelet ready as we advanced on the room, and I stepped through the door first. The shadow-binder was pressed against the wall staring at something over my head and muttering. The magic might be different here but black magic still corrupted and he was far gone. Syrio snarled at the sight. "This wretch killed all my men? I'll see him begging for death for days before I let him go!"
He looked at us now and his mutters became shouts "The queen of ice and darkness holds your soul and death walks behind you! Servant of the Other! Begone!" he flung his hand towards me and I raised a shield on reflex, fire burned against it but couldn't penetrate. As soon as I dropped it, Syrio surged forward past me, and impaled him. He gasped out his last words, each quieter than the last. "Ice will kill you too, a snow cloaked man will be your death."
Syrio roared as he pulled his sword free. He slashed through the shadow-binder's throat, his crimson robe now covered in blood. "You know what we say to the god of death necromancer? Not today!" he stabbed the man again before turning away, breathing heavily. Syrio may have rejected the man's last words as ravings but I knew better. He had seen things, Quaithe was not the only one who knew things about my old world.
We walked back to the antechamber, the soldiers that could stand were leaning on each other, and those that couldn't and still lived were being carried by the remnants of Syrio's squad. The stairs were even longer going up, and when we reached the main chamber the other red priests were on their knees, with their arms bound behind their backs. "Oman, get them up, Beric send a runner to the palace, tell the Sealord to expect some guests." Some of the soldiers came to help carry the wounded, the rest, with mailed hands and spearbutts assisting, got the priests moving. The looks we'd gotten on the way there were nothing compared to now, seeing the entire clergy of R'hllor bound and marching through the streets drew a crowd that the unsheathed swords of the guards only moderately dissuaded.
Reaching the palace was a relief, there were apparently enough cells below it to hold them while the Sealord decided what to do with them. Syrio assured me he could handle the immediate reporting as long as I'd come back the next day, while I hadn't thrown around too much power the soulfire and struggling against the taint of black magic had exhausted me. Despite it being the early afternoon I went home, said goodnight to a confused Maggie, and slept, dreaming about Mab's icy grasp.
A Song of Ice and Fires that Weren't All My fault (ASOIAF/Dresden Files) - Indiana Jones and the First Crusade(multi-cross) - I Prefer Poirot (RWBY) - Realignment (HP) - Agents and SHIELD (Worm/MCU)
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I woke up the next morning feeling excellent, until I saw Maggie sprawled out on my bedroom chair. I hadn't told her any of what happened, she must have been panicking while I was dead to the world. I managed to pick her up, she was getting tall and heavy, and carried her back to her room. Tucking her in, the thought of how surreal it all was hit me. Not a day before I'd been facing off against a necromancer in the bowels of a temple, and now I was putting my daughter to bed. I didn't know how Michael managed the switch from family man to Fist of God so easily. I was grateful for the opportunity though, losing my friends had, still, hurt but getting the chance to raise my daughter was worth it. To keep her safe I'd fight a thousand necromancers, I was hoping there was only the one here though.
I didn't immediately leave to visit the Sealord, instead I made breakfast while waiting for Maggie to wake up. I didn't Listen but in the quiet house with the only noise being the crackling fire, her moving around before coming down was audible. "Are you alright?" I nodded my head, she inspected me for a moment as if to ensure I wasn't lying, then stepped forward and slugged me in the chest. I could only stare at her.
"What was that for?"
"For being an idiot! We're wizards, we're supposed to plan ahead and have plots, not march into temples with a bunch of red shirt guards. I heard half of them died!" Behind her anger, her eyes were bright, she was near tears.
"I'm sorry." Her lips were quivering now, she looked inches away from breaking down. "How did you hear about it anyways?"
"The whole city knows the Sealord raided the Red Temple and half his guard died. You come home exhausted and singed, it wasn't hard to put it together." She choked out the last few words and I enveloped her in a hug.
"It's ok. I'm safe, we're safe now, the shadow-binder is done."
"But what if you weren't? I don't want to have to live with someone else, I've already lost one family, I can't lose you too."
That shut me up, I didn't have a good reply to her worries. I hadn't wanted to fight, but I chose that over running. It had turned out fine so far, but should I have just acquiesced and left the city? I had the money and reputation needed to start over in Pentos for instance. It was like the Miami to Braavos's New York, warmer seedier and full of cartels, but Braavos practically owned it and had banned slavery. We could have been fine there. Had I let my pride overcome the need to protect Maggie? I wasn't sure, so I continued to hold her as she gathered herself.
The breakfast I'd been making had burned during our conversation, so we went to a little cafe two islands over. They served a very strong tea and egg sandwiches so normal they almost made me forget I wasn't home. Maggie ate hers in silence, resisting my attempts to draw her into conversation. We walked home and I agonized over what to say. Right when I was about to make a stab at it she spoke. "Just don't do anything dumb. You don't owe them anything." She glared at me to ensure compliance. "Good, go see the Sealord, and come back for lunch." I walked her to our door, and then followed her orders. I wasn't quite sure how that had happened, but if it made her feel better I'd do it.
This time I didn't need the coin to gain admittance, one of the guards from our ill-fated confrontation with the shadow-binder saw me coming and brought me in. I waited in a conference room for awhile, I wasn't sure what impact arresting the entire clergy of a major religion had, but I was sure it wasn't minor. The Sealord hadn't seemed worried at the prospect, but he had been a little preoccupied with avenging his brother. After seeing the wounds left by the shades I was pretty sure we'd gotten the man responsible, but a religion with shadow-binders serving it wasn't likely to take the humiliation lying down. Fortunately that wasn't my problem, at least not yet, and hopefully not ever, and the room I was in had a wide variety of cheese and fruit.
Two or three bells later, a servant finally came to get me. The Sealord's office was more crowded than I'd seen it before. Ferrego, pseudo-Hendricks, Syrio, another three men I didn't recognize, and the admiral of the city's fleet filled it. On of the unidentified three spoke. "Syrio has told us the broad strokes of what transpired, we would like you to tell us more about the battle."
I gave them a quick rundown of the fight, as well as all I knew and suspected about the shadowbinders, attributing my knowledge to books I'd borrowed from the other Voyagers. Admitting to consorting with another potential warlock didn't seem like a good idea now. When I finished all but Syrio had grave expressions, and the Admiral was having a fierce but whispered conversation with the Sealord. "Enough." The Sealord ended the argument, leaving the Admiral with a disgruntled face. "Dresden once again you have the city's gratitude. Your presence is likely the only reason my First Sword yet lives and half the city guard wasn't slain. But it is said the reward for work well done is more work. Your magic proved its worth against these shades, can anything be done to prevent them killing again?"
I thought for a minute, much of my obvious power was known to these men, the Voyagers knew I could control the elements and find things, and Syrio would have seen my shields and Soulfire. The fires of creation burned in a way that was difficult to forget and I was sure he'd mention the whips of it I'd used. I didn't have an easy answer for dark magic, if there was one I'd have used it in Chicago. I couldn't really prevent the shades from being summoned, but I could impede them. "To kill them, I'd have to be present as far as I know. I suspect they could only last a day at most, probably much less, but with their power a day is far too long. I might be able to set up defenses though. Not everywhere, and there are preconditions, but I think I have the spells to stop them." The Admiral looked a little relieved, downplaying my power tended to make a certain sort of person more comfortable, an expert soldier like him probably hated all his skill and experience being obsoleted by magic. "I can't say for sure though, the shadow-binder's magic is strange to me, we'll only learn if they work when something strikes them. Even then, if the shadow-binder gets inside all the magical wards will be useless."
The Sealord nodded. "What will you need to erect these 'wards'? The resources of the city are at your disposal." I managed to restrain a smile, I'd never been handed a blank check like that before.
"I'll know for certain when I've looked at the locations. I should warn you, the spells depend greatly on the character of the building. Your palace for example, its nature prevents strong wards from anchoring here. Your home, if you still keep one, would do far better. The Titan will probably be a strong anchor, and perhaps the Arsenal."
"Then erect what safeguards you can, Syrio will accompany you and ensure you are given whatever you need. If that is all gentleman? I intend to see to the questioning of the priests if any of you wish to join me." His face twisted at the last. I'd seen Mab inflict tortures and torments unmatched by mortal means on Slate, but seeing the mix of rage and anticipation on Ferrego's face chilled me. I left the office in a hurry, I wanted to get back to Maggie and forget about black magic, death, and torture.
It was not to be. The Admiral caught up to me and called my name. "Dresden, wait." He walked with the rolling gait of a sailor, for all that Braavos was built on the water, actual sailors rarely were seen in the nicer districts. The people there had either never lived on a ship, or had left their sailing days behind. "I've been meaning to talk to you for some time, please stay we have much to discuss."
I really didn't want to be there, but the Admiral was an important man for all I'd forgotten his name, his uniform was distinctive enough that it was the only thing about him I remembered. "Dealing with the Faceless men and priests has taken much of my time Admiral. If we could make this quick?"
I was amused to see him blanch at the mention of the Faceless men but he beckoned me into another conference room and a chair, no cheese sadly. "Our fleet has tested your compasses, we have also purchased maps from Hessler Oliva and the captains are impressed. In addition to your work on the 'wards' I would like to make a contract with you for four compasses and anchor blocks for every ship in the fleet."
"You know you only need two right?"
"I would prefer to know where my ships are at all times, as well as letting their captains know."
"Oh, ok then." I stood "Was that all?"
"Not quite. A mutual friend of ours, Mangini, has shown me a device he says you inspired. He claims that in your homeland it was used to move ships and wagons without winds or animals. Is this true?"
Well steam ships might be coming along faster than I thought. "Steam was used to power many things, I'm no craftsmen though, I told Mangini and few others much of what I knew, any refinement of their designs will be due to their work and diligence, not mine."
The Admiral nodded, I'm not sure how much of my story he knew, cared about, or believed in, but my stories about enormous ships that could sail upwind must have gotten to him. Keeping the premier naval power of the world in the lead was a difficult job, and he must have been constantly searching for the next big thing. "Mangini said as much, he and some blacksmith told me about the challenges they'd found you hadn't mentioned. When we first fit the engines to ships I would have your aid, often common knowledge can be lost in translation that would help a novice." I agreed, I didn't think they'd have anything ready for years, much less solve the problems of flames on boats made with wood and tar but it cost me nothing. "The last thing, in the temple we found stores of wildfire, do you posses the craft to make that concoction?"
"No Admiral, I don't have the skill or desire to make such a hungry flame. You'd be better off avoiding that substance when possible, it even burns magic." I said the last over my shoulder as I walked out, I was tired of interacting with the government and I was annoyed I'd been roped into making more compasses. I consoled myself with the knowledge that the threat of the shadow-binder was dealt with for now, and life could go back to a more normal state.
Last edited: May 4, 2015
A Song of Ice and Fires that Weren't All My fault (ASOIAF/Dresden Files) - Indiana Jones and the First Crusade(multi-cross) - I Prefer Poirot (RWBY) - Realignment (HP) - Agents and SHIELD (Worm/MCU)
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It took months to set up the ward schemes around the Titan. Enough people lived there full time, and considered the fortress their home that it had a threshold, albeit an extremely weak one. It took time to anchor the wards to it, I had experimented with wards a lot while teaching Molly and Maggie, but I still had a long way to go before claiming expertise. I knew the Merlin was able to place them in arbitrary places with incredible power, but he didn't get on the Senior Council by collecting bottle caps. I still needed something to attach them to, a threshold, and had to be careful to layer the wards on slowly enough that it didn't collapse. Warding was tedious and difficult work, any mistake could have caused the entire magical structure to fail and trying again would be harder with the ruptured and even weaker threshold. It was also a little awkward that no one but Maggie could tell I was doing anything. Syrio had followed me around the first few days, but there's only so much rune carving and meditation you can watch before it gets boring. He assigned one of the crippled guards from the temple raid as my minder, he started whenever I spoke, and tried to keep as far from me in a room as possible. I managed to learn he had a family, and Syrio gave him the sinecure since he had been wounded in service to the city. I made a note to introduce pensions, and tried to avoid troubling him as much as possible.
I could do nothing for the Arsenal, and told the Admiral that, but touring it was incredible. I knew Venice had something similar in the Middle Ages, but knowing something, and seeing the acres of shipbuilding space and industry on one of the barrier islands was different. The foreman, Oliva, a cousin of the mapmaker as it turned out, was excited to show me around. Galleys and cogs were constructed from prefabricated parts, and he claimed they could build one ship a day, while supplies lasted. I had never really grasped how much went into making a ship before, the wood was obvious, but rope, sails, and tar were also used in huge quantities. I didn't really know how mass production started on Earth, but here the Arsenal would probably be the model.
He proudly showed me the base room, where all of the Braavosi anchor blocks for the naval ships were kept, and the compass room next door where the ships were tracked. The Titan apparently housed the other set of compasses, and every night the bearings on the two compasses would be compared giving a location for every ship at sea. After almost an entire year of making multiple compasses everyday, I was much less excited about them, and barely managed to get through without offending him.
The last and most exciting part of the tour was the warehouse they had set aside for engine research. The city was running its own project in parallel with Mangini's work, with a particular focus on the navy. They had developed the paddle wheel concept on their own, it was an easy leap from water wheels, but Oliva was quite excited about the propeller when I described it.
All together though, I was glad to be done with government contracts. They had paid extremely well, but one of the things I liked best about being a detective was being free to set my own schedule, and to do a variety of things. Spending four hours everyday enchanting. and then another three getting to the Titan and erecting wards got boring after about a week. Demand for the compasses was finally tapering down, at their current price I had worked through my backlog, and hopefully I'd only have to supply the new ones for the Arsenal.
The first day I was free in what felt like years, I slept in and refused to wake up even when Maggie knocked. It was a beautiful day, and sleeping through half the extremely rare sunny morning felt even more indulgent. I had nothing that needed to be done, it was such an excellent feeling that I contemplated just staying in bed all day. Eventually my body protested, and I was forced to get up, although I resolved to be as lazy as possible all day.
I went out to eat, the waiter gave me a strange look for showing up at lunch time and requesting breakfast, but one of my favorite parts about being rich kicked in, anything out of the ordinary I did was no longer strange, or weird, but eccentric. Eating an omelette on the rooftop patio in the sun was the only thing better than lazing around in bed and I mentally congratulated myself on a perfect idea. Naturally Noho Dimittis and Viserys Targaryen decided to join me.
I looked askance at the two who had just invaded my table, and Viserys at least shifted uneasily. "What brings you fine gentlemen out this morning?" Noho had the poker face that seemed mandatory at higher levels of the Iron Bank and resisted my disapproval.
"Viserys and I were touring the city as part of his education, when he saw you, he insisted on saying hello." I was a little impressed by how effortlessly Noho threw him under the bus for interrupting my brunch, and turned back to Viserys who seemed to have found his spine.
"Your powers, the magic you showed at the ball and when you rescued us. Can you teach me it?" Viserys waited, looking excited, and I couldn't decide how to crush his hopes. I extended my senses, I couldn't feel any power from him but that hardly proved anything. The Targaryens were of old Valryia, and I knew they had powerful sorcery, enough to leave roads of melted rock untouched for four hundred years after their fall. I reached out and grabbed his hand, when nothing happened I knew.
"I can't teach you, you need to be born with the power that I have." I looked to Noho, he should have known that, and I was surprised he let the boy's hopes get so high. Viserys was despondent, he must have dreamed of somehow regaining his family's throne by wielding a special power like his ancestors. I had looked into the Targaryens after my last encounter. Viserys and Daenerys were the last remnants of Westeros's former royal family. Their father had gone mad, along with their brother, leading to a revolt that ended with Ser Darry smuggling them out of a besieged fortress. It beat execution, but from a prince to an exiled pretender was a long fall, and I didn't doubt he would do quite a lot to rise again.
Magic of my variety would have been terrible for him, anyone motivated like that ran a heavy risk of breaking a law of magic. If Viserys had it, and went untrained I didn't doubt he would turn into to a warlock, even the noblest intentions couldn't stop the corruption of black magic.
While I thought, Viserys was visibly drooping. It might have been the last remnants of my morning's good mood, but I might be able to do something. "You may not be able to learn my magic, but there are other forms in the world. I've been putting together a library of all that is recorded, with your guardian's permission", Viserys turned his beseeching eyes on Noho, "you can study what I have. I'm not sure how useful most of it will be, and there is knowledge I will forbid you from learning, but if you truly desire it I will help."
Noho looked somewhat troubled by the idea. He had known that my magic couldn't be taught, perhaps he was hoping a flat rejection would turn Viserys away from the idea. Rumors about sorcery and black magic had swept the city after the purge of the temple, and I was sure he thought I was responsible. Giving his charge access to the sort of power that had killed almost twenty guardsmen, not that I'd let him learn that, had to be a worrying decision. On the other hand, in three years Viserys would be of age, and a valued client to the Iron Bank. "Perhaps one night a week? Two bells no more?"
I nodded, that time commitment was fine, especially since he would just be reading for most of it. "Sounds good, shall we say the first one will be five days from now, at six bells at night?" The two agreed, Viserys much more enthusiastically, and got up to leave. I grabbed Viserys's arm right before he left. "If you truly mean to regain your throne I think you'd be better off studying people, wars, and what Noho says, than sorcery, but magic has brought me enough joy in my life that I don't want to take away anyone's chance to learn."
He stood for a moment, I hoped my words would have some impact, before nodding sharply and hurrying after Noho. I looked down at my half finished plate and decided to eat the rest of the omelette. Maybe the day, and my pledge of laziness weren't completely ruined.
A Song of Ice and Fires that Weren't All My fault (ASOIAF/Dresden Files) - Indiana Jones and the First Crusade(multi-cross) - I Prefer Poirot (RWBY) - Realignment (HP) - Agents and SHIELD (Worm/MCU)
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As much as I was happy to be done with my externally driven projects, I had gotten used to being busy. Sure lazy days were nice, but the two years of constant struggle for survival, followed by months of constant magical labor, had managed to beat an approximation of the Puritan work ethic into me. Maggie bore the brunt of my new energy and time, we spent hours most days studying magic. DuMorne and Ebenezer hadn't taught me as intensely, but they both had other jobs and responsibilities. Since I wasn't squandering my time creating warlocks to overthrow the White Council and destroy creation, or being the Council's wet work man, I could put more effort into teaching her. She learned quickly, and was far more skilled than I had been at her age. Part of that was in the similar nature of our power and part was her aptitude. Her mother had been very smart, and most people didn't call me stupid; ignorant, foolish, stubborn and thick-headed yes, but rarely stupid. I wasn't sure if it was just my fatherly pride talking, but Maggie was very clever, and grasped most concepts readily. We didn't spend all our time with magic, I didn't want to burn her out, but it was so much fun it certainly was our focus.
The other major recipient of my time was trying to introduce new technologies. A lot of the modern conveniences I missed relied on technologies that were impossible on a renaissance industrial base. Low power steam engines were the current limit of metallurgical efforts, and even then they were expensive. Mangini was using his to pump water from mines, where they were just barely cheaper than human labor. I knew they'd improve in time, especially as they were widely adopted and more brainpower was brought to bear, but I wanted them now. I had hit similar limits in most of my uplift efforts. It was fine to know that sending electrical signals down a wire was the basis of a telegraph, but it was useless to actually build one. I wasn't an engineer, I didn't have the knowledge of minutiae in all fields, from naval engineering to chemistry, and I felt I had hit the limits of my pre-existing knowledge. Naturally I sought to solve the problem with fire.
"More heat Maggie!" She pushed her sweat-damped hair from her face and groaned.
"It'll just set the balloon on fire again! It's not working!" Despite her defeatist attitude she raised her blasting road and sent another stream of flame into the cloth enclosure. I had thought hot air balloons were within reach, and rather than small scale experiments to get ready, I had bought and painstakingly sewed a fifteen foot diameter sack and had Maggie try to set it on fire. Or fill it with hot air, she had trouble distinguishing between the two. The cloth started to smoke, but I was able to pull the heat out of it, unfortunately that cooled the air inside. We had been at it all afternoon in the wetlands lining the lagoon, and it was starting to get dark, but I wasn't ready to call it a day just yet.
"Once more, with feeling!" Maggie glared and sent a bar of flame into the bag, this time I was too slow to save it. The sight of a flaming balloon, like a giant sky lantern, rapidly ascending distracted me a little. As we watched it climb into the darkening sky I walked over to Maggie who did not look at all displeased by the outcome. "For all of your excellent traits, why did you have to keep my inclination towards burning things?" She smirked as she watched the balloon rise.
"At least it was only a balloon, and the wind will sweep it out to sea. When I've destroyed a block we can talk." Telling her some of my more pyromaniac approved adventures had been a clear parenting mistake.
"Whatever. Get to my age and then we'll compare records." Her grin hadn't wavered but I was determined to be the mature one in the family and refrained from further commentary. "Any ideas on went wrong with the balloon? I didn't think we'd have too much trouble."
"Well while you were standing back and shouting, I was carefully observing it. It looked like hot air was going through the fabric, not lifting it."
One more technical problem, paper or parchment would probably work for a small one, but if I wanted to get people aloft I'd need something more durable. "I really didn't think this would be so hard, it's such a simple thing."
"Don't worry about it, instead just think what the people will think of a ball of fire traveling through the night sky." Looking up the balloon was still visible, the fires were still burning and it was moving quickly towards the ocean.
"With my luck Viserys will think its a dragon, and ask for my help to track it down." Maggie laughed and we began to walk back to catch the ferry.
Despite my worries, two nights later Viserys didn't mention the balloon. He was a decent student, clever and attentive, but arrogant. I didn't even really teach him, I just gave him the books I had, and messed around in my lab while he read them and occasionally asked questions. The magic of this world was strange and unknown to me, and I made sure he knew that coming in, but learning and talking about it was fun. I had removed all the books that discussed black magic, leaving mostly scrying spells and discussions on the Valyrian sorceries. He was predictably most interested in those, dragon binding and shaping stone would catch the imagination of any boy, much less a descendent of previous users. Magic in this world was said to have been linked to the dragons, and when they died the greater part was lost. None of the rituals we tried worked, whatever secrets Quaithe and the shadowbinder knew weren't written down. Viserys took it in surprisingly good grace, apparently trying to resurrect the dragons had been an obsession of the Targaryen kings, leading to tragedy every time. While he was disappointed as I with our failures, I think he saw the weekly magic discussions as an entertaining break from his increasingly heavy workload from Noho, who was responsible for his and his sister's education.
Currently though he wasn't even pretending to read, and was watching me closely. At the last Voyagers Club a man had been complaining about his Myrish glass window being broken and I had managed to purchase the shards. I knew glass could be made by melting sand and had done it, but I didn't know what was added to make it clear. Having clear glass on hand would let me experiment with it, as well as possibly identifying what else went into it. Using my molten metal lifting focus I was holding a ball of molten glass in the air, and trying to mold it into a lens. Shaping the floating liquids in midair was easy after the thousands of compasses but I didn't have a firm idea on what shape lenses should be. A little magnification was easy to achieve but I was hoping for a microscope. The work would have been simple except that I needed to let the glass cool, it was at least a thousand degrees, before I could look through it. After six or seven tries I was satisfied ,and flipped the now cool lense to Viserys, who caught it. "What is it" he asked holding it up, one eye comically enlarged, "A Myrish eye? I think you'd be better selling your compasses for all the work that took."
"Not quite, you'll see next week I think." I could feel someone approaching the wards, Noho was just about due. Viserys handed me back the lens, and marked his spot in the book he was reading.
"Either your printers are making lots of typos," the word had caught on fast even here, "or that author could hardly spell, it was like a different language at times." For all books on magic I had the printers exactly copy the words, I didn't know if it would matter but more accuracy was usually better in magic.
"Hopefully the latter, they're paid well enough for it."
With Viserys gone Maggie emerged. Neither of them really liked the other, Viserys was both in the girls are gross years and jealous of her power, and Maggie didn't see him as worth her time. Plus she was taller than him. "The 'dragon' is gone?" Oh she also thought his ambitions were ludicrous.
"He's gotten better, he didn't even mention he should be king this time." Maggie laughing at him to his face may have been a little rude, but he did tend to go on about it. "Enough about him though, take a look at this."
She examined the lens before setting it down. "Well we'll finally get to see if boiling all of our water these past few years was worth it."
"Please, you still like heating water by throwing fire into it. If you had your way when I first taught you, you'd have left Braavos sitting on the bedrock with the ocean boiled away."
#1,308
23.
My microscope took longer to finish than the week I'd confidently predicted for Viserys. It was primitive, two lenses that could be moved on rails to adjust the focal point, but it was sufficient to show bacteria. My insistence, and Maggie's obsession, with boiled water was vindicated, several members of the Voyagers Club were a little disturbed to see what lurked in the canal waters. My scientific pronouncements were generally trusted after the success of the steam engines, but seeing bacteria that I had predicted with their own eyes silenced all doubters. The remaining copies of my almanac sold out after that and I was contemplating a new edition, farming practices, animal husbandry, and genetics might make good additions.
Farming was the one outlet for technological improvement I had left. Ebenezer had been on his farm in the Ozarks for over a hundred and fifty years when I spent time there, and had the entire evolution of farming equipment in one of the barns. I drew plans for horse collars, horse drawn threshers, and plows and gave them to Guldenmann, the blacksmith who had assisted Mangini with the steam engine. I didn't know how quickly they'd catch on but I was hoping my reputation would ensure enough were made and sold to introduce them to the wider world.
It was much more boring than possible steam powered ships and new enchantments though, which is why I was contemplating Oberyn Martell's offer. He had apparently been hanging around the free cities since I'd last seen him, going up and down the coast. He was viewed as a destabilizing influence in Westeros and his brother nominally wanted him off the continent or out of sight, where he couldn't cause trouble after the civil war ended. Since I knew he was meeting with the pretenders to the throne of Westeros, I'm sure his brother had his reasons beyond the publicly stated ones Oberyn admitted to. Whatever his purpose, Oberyn's semi-exile was at an end, and he had invited us to travel back to Dorne with him.
"I know you are more than a merchant and a scholar, but the furthest you've been from the city is a day's hard ride. Surely you're looking for a bit more excitement, I intend to land at King's Landing." He had crashed a Voyager's Club meeting and commandeered a map of Westeros where he was eagerly plotting a route. "Then we'll take the Rose Road through Highgarden to Oldtown, if you're missing your books by then you'll have your fill. Then we can take a ship to Starfall and travel across the width of Dorne back to my home!"
It sounded fun, traveling with a high ranking noble would probably be the best way to see Westeros and he was right, I had been bored. "How long would the trip take? Months, a year?"
"Four months to Dorne perhaps, and if you're somehow able to tear yourself away from my homeland, another one by ship back to here." Oberyn when not discussing the deaths' of his family members was much more exuberant. Spending four months in fairly close quarters with someone that energetic would be a downside. I imagined that he would also be showing me off as we went, as an exotic foreign magician, but for an all expense paid tour I felt I could live with it.
I knew Maggie would like the idea and I did want to travel the world. Spring, of the freakishly long season variety, had just started and it was apparently the optimal time to sail. My businesses were practically self operating, and I had a large enough supply of compasses built not to worry about running out. If I hung around without anything obvious to do the Sealord might hire me to ward more fortresses, I had only escaped last time by the demands of shippers to let me go back to making compasses. Just because I was bored with them didn't mean I wouldn't use them as an excuse. "Sure, let's do it."
A week later Maggie and I stood on the wharves looking up at the ship we'd cross the narrow sea in. It had no oars, a rarity among the ships here, and had a figurehead carved like a bird. It certainly looked more robust than the cog I'd managed to acquire part of, and I felt much better about the cruise. We saw Oberyn looking over the railing, and waving us up. "Harry, Lady Dresden, welcome aboard the Purple Martin, the fastest ship on the narrow sea."
Maggie looked around the deck wide-eyed, I had been to the docks many times before tracking lost or stolen items, but I had rarely let her onto the wharves. The vantage point from the elevated deck showed the bustling port of Braavos, crates were being swayed on and off ships and the produce of two continents was being moved. The ship itself was crewed by Summer Islanders, tall and dark skinned, wearing colorful clothes. A man, who based on his even more extravagant clothing, I assumed was the captain approached Oberyn. "These are the last two passengers? I'll have their luggage taken below, for we shall set sail within a bell to catch the tide."
Leaving Braavos on the Purple Martin was unlike any sailing I'd done before. The Water Beetle didn't compare to the way the swan ship cut through the harbor, as the crew constantly adjusted the sails, pulled on ropes and performed a million other arcane tasks. We sailed directly between the Titan's legs, looking up I could see the murder holes and scorpions pointed down, all while the wards I'd built hummed at Maggie's and my passing. We reached the open sea and the swan ship showed why it deserved the name as the crew raised more sails and we scudded across the waves. It would be around ten days till we reached King's Landing, assuming average winds, and I hoped to enjoy all of them.
Maggie was almost as excited, I had brought a telescope I'd made, and she was watching the barrier islands sink below the horizon behind us as well as looking for whales and dolphins breaching the surface. She showed no signs of seasickness yet, but I was going to try to teach her a mental trick I'd learned from Lash on how to focus in a way that removed nausea. If she got seasick or nauseous from trying, I'd view it as a valuable and ironic part of the learning process.
"A lovely girl." The captain had walked up behind me as I watched Maggie and I tried not to jump. The noise of the wind, the waves and the ship had masked his approach and his voice startled me. "Is this the first time either of you have sailed?"
"I've been on some fairly large lakes, but this is my first time crossing an ocean, the same for her." Now that I was close to the man his clothes were even more unusual. He was wearing a cape made of bright feathers and pants dyed an eye-searing green, after so long with the somber Braavosi it was extremely distracting.
"The Narrow Sea, from here to King's Landing is nothing. Shipbreaker Bay, south of it, can be a challenge but this trip will be smooth, especially in spring." The captain had a deep voice, it made gave his commentary sound like received wisdom from on high. I hadn't been too worried about the trip, especially after looking at the low insurance rates for cargo on the route, but a confident captain was nice. We stood and looked at the waves for a bit, away from Braavos its fog dissipated, and the crests of waves were reflecting the sun.
"I've worked a little in the shipping business and I've heard about something new, compasses that tell you where you are, does this ship use them?" I was a little curious how the end users felt, on Earth sailors were notoriously superstitious, and I was wondering how'd they react to actual magic.
The captain's face darkened and he spat into the ocean. "Those things. I spent fifteen years under my father learning to read the stars, the winds and waves. I could find my way from Yunkai to Ibben without once going in sight of land, and now? Buy two compasses and a chart and you'll never be lost. The skill is gone, thousands of years of knowledge will be forgotten."
With his mood soured the captain wandered off to perform some other important captainy duty and I returned to watching the sea. Introducing the compasses had been good I was sure, even if only to improve maps. It was just one of the first ripples I'd caused, I knew the steam engine would do far more. Not everyone would like the world changing, I already felt a little guilty at the loss of the Summer Islands' tradition. In the end it would be worth it though, I didn't doubt that the technology I was introducing would improve lives, and speeding up the natural progress could only help. Still looking at the wide white sails it was hard to look forward to them being replaced by smokestacks belching coal.
A Song of Ice and Fires that Weren't All My fault (ASOIAF/Dresden Files) - Indiana Jones and the First Crusade(multi-cross) - I Prefer Poirot (RWBY) - Realignment (HP) - Agents and SHIELD (Worm/MCU)
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I was in our cabin with Maggie, working on her meditation, when the winds picked up and the ship started rocking. I wasn't too worried, over the past few days we had sailed around a few squalls that had caused similar motions, but when it didn't show signs of letting up I went on deck.
The afternoon sky was dark, I couldn't see any breaks in the clouds, and the crew was rushing around the ship, tying things down and reefing the sails. Or furling, I had never been clear which was more or less but they were definitely pulling the sails in as the wind gusted. The waves were shuddering against the hull and the accelerating wind was blowing the spray up onto the deck. All together it didn't look promising. "Dresden, you should go below." The captain had once again surprised me, I was beginning to think summer islanders wore such bright clothes because that way you could see them after they snuck up on you. "This storm, it came up fast and we'll have to run from it. It will get worse before it gets better and we don't need inexperienced men on deck." Taking one last look around at the darkening sky, I nodded and went back down.
I thought of asking Oberyn, who had sailed far more than I, for his thoughts, but he had barely left his cabin but for meals on the trip, being ensconced with a woman with her hair dyed blue. I didn't really feel like interrupting, so I went back to our cabin where Maggie was waiting. "What's going on, is everything alright?" There was an undertone of worry in her voice so I fell back onto an old parenting trick.
"He said we're going to be fine."
Naturally it came back to haunt me. The storm had driven us well north of our original destination and we had to put in at another port to make repairs. As we watched the local pilot take us into White Harbor, and past some rather impressive fortifications, Maggie was telling Oberyn and his current friend how I'd tried to reassure her. "And then he came back, white as a sheet, and told me it was going to be fine, before hugging me and not letting go." They laughed at my sterling example of parental care as I tried not to sulk.
"Harry my friend, take it from me, a man with many daughters." Oberyn gestured expansively. "All of your efforts to shelter and protect her will be scorned, just give her the tools to protect herself and be ready to help. That was what I did for my Obara, and she has had no complaints."
I left them to their mockery and eavesdropped on the pilot and the captain's discussion. The main mast had developed a crack and would have to be replaced. The pilot was confident suitable lumber was available and we'd only spend a few days making repairs before continuing south. I pulled my coat tighter around me, south sounded good. For all the talk of spring there were snowbanks visible in the streets, and hunks of ice were floating through the bay. I didn't know much about White Harbor but I'd picked up a little. It was a secondary port on the east coast of Westeros, and the major one of the north. It was on the mouth of a river, the White Knife, that penetrated well into the interior and was responsible for shipping almost all of the goods from the north. Just from looking at it ,as we sailed in, it was far smaller than Braavo but a pretty city nonetheless. The buildings were made of a white rock, probably the source for the name, and when the sun pierced the clouds the city shone. Maggie had joined me looking over the railing. Nearly being shipwrecked had severely dampened her enthusiasm for sailing, and she and I were looking forward to solid ground. "Aren't you glad we didn't appear here?"
I thought about it, even knowing next to nothing about the city I didn't think we'd have done so well. "Yeah, Chicago is the one cold white city I'll live in. What about you? Didn't you ever want to have a snowball fight?"
Maggie shivered theatrically, "If I ever wanted that, I don't now. Even Braavos gets too cold for me, I miss Guatemala's weather."
"I like having seasons beyond rainy and dry, of course the way they stretch on for years here might be too much of a good thing." Maggie nodded and huddled up to me. She was wearing a sweater of mine, Braavos was in summer and King's Landing was apparently hotter, so she hadn't packed too many warm clothes. She was swimming in it, a recently twelve year old girl, even a tall one would never fit my clothes and the sweater looked closer to a dress on her.
We waited as the ship docked, waiting longshoremen threw up lines and part of the crew tied us down as others had already started work on stripping the mast for it's replacement. Oberyn joined us near the gangplank, he had changed into a tunic wearing the crest of his house, a spear piercing a red sun. "Are you two ready to visit the Merman's court? I doubt a Martell has been here in a hundred years, if ever." We followed him off the ship towards the white castle overlooking the city. The streets were clean, and the cold prevented the smell of fish from being as pungent as Braavos. The houses were smaller and they had thicker walls, no doubt to keep out the far harsher winters. I wanted to explore the city longer, but we'd be in port for several days at least and I'd have time.
The guards at the castle's gates looked surprised to see us, but admitted us into the keep. A large balding man, in his early to mid thirties, wearing a blue cloak pinned with a mermaid brooch and a sword sheathed at his side approached us. "What business does a Martell have in White Harbor?"
"Well, I am Oberyn Martell, Manderly, and my ship had some trouble in the recent storm. But now that I am here, I may try to further my goal of making the eight." The fat man blushed at that, and I was hoping whatever the joke had been also went over Maggie's head. Traveling with Oberyn had made it clear he was a bit of a libertine and I didn't want Maggie exposed to it much more than necessary. He was a fun person to know, he had stories from around the world and a quick wit, but twelve year old daughters weren't the ideal audience in my mind.
The Manderly seemed to have recovered, "My apologies my lord, I am Ser Wylis Manderly, who else do I have the pleasure of addressing?
"Ser Harry Dresden and his daughter Margaret, late of Braavos. I invited them to accompany me back to Dorne and thus far I have been a poor host, with our ship nearly sinking beneath us. I had hoped that the hospitality of your hall would help." He looked inordinately pleased with his alliteration and Wylis joined me with an incredulous look.
"You of course shall have it. If you wish, you may stay here until your ship is ready to depart." With that awkwardness out of the way, he led us into the castle. The rooms we were led to were warm and decorated with tapestries. Guards patrolled the halls carrying tridents, the mermaid theme had been taken a little far in my opinion, and instead of mounted animals, figureheads from ships adorned the walls. Wylis had sent someone to get our luggage from the Purple Martin, and we had hours until dinner. I lay down for awhile, relishing the solid and not rocking bed before rallying. I was about to find Maggie, and try to tour the castle when there was a knock on the door.
A servant in the green and blue livery of the house stood outside, "Lord Manderly hopes that you will attend him in his solar." I assented and followed him through the halls and up the stairs. Entering the solar I nearly stumbled. Lord Manderly was the fattest man I'd seen since coming to this world, back on earth he'd be overflowing a mobility scooter, but here he was the lord of a major city, despite having the mass of an elephant seal. "Thank you Stebbins, you may leave us now." The servant bowed and left. He waved a flipper languidly "Why don't you have a seat Ser Dresden." I sat in the indicated chair, and took some of the wine Stebbins had poured for us. "So tell me Ser, how did you come to be traveling with the Red Viper?"
I didn't know if Oberyn had a cover story, so I decided to tell a vague version of the truth. "We met almost a year ago outside Braavos. We had several mutual friends and when he knew I was looking for entertainment he invited my daughter and I to join his trip. White Harbor was an unexpected, although enjoyable addition."
Manderly drank some of his wine before replying. "It seems rather capricious of you. Traveling across the sea and continent can be hazardous, especially on a whim." He reached down into his desk and I tensed from old reflexes. "Especially when without you these will stop being made." He had produced one of my compasses and I groaned internally. I didn't know how everyone I met seemed to know they were mine, but it was another annoying part of the compasses. "They are marvelous, some of my captains have even started buying one on every trip to Braavos and selling them when they return. Even at their current price it's easy money."
"They certainly have succeeded beyond my hopes." I managed to say that and appear somewhat happy, it was getting harder every day.
"Well they are a gift to sailors and thus to me. Even if you weren't traveling with a Prince of Dorne I would feast you for that. Will you be staying in Dorne when you reach it?" Oberyn had claimed that northmen were blunt, he wasn't joking. I hadn't thought a lord of the north would care where I lived but it seemed that my work was influential enough that I was a geopolitical consideration. Joy.
"I plan to return to Braavos after we arrive, something about the city appeals to me." Manderly nodded and if he was happy it didn't show. He asked a few other questions about the compasses, nothing about their construction, and then excused himself saying it was almost time for dinner. I left, following Stebbins who had stepped back in, before Manderly could leave his chair. I half though cranes might be involved in getting his bulk up.
The feast was interesting. It was mostly fish, with eel pies as a course, but there was also venison and beef. Red meat was expensive in Braavos and was often of low quality, Maggie and I both ate more than we should, although we didn't compare to any of the male Manderlys, who could probably have eaten a cow apiece. The main hall, the 'Merman's Court' was more adherence to the castle's theme. The walls were wood with carved reliefs of sea creatures, sharks, smaller fish and whales, while the floor had coral, seaweed, and crabs. It was an impressive room and sitting at the head of the table gave an excellent view. Wylis and his brother, the Lord's sons, told stories about fishing, hunting, and sailing. Several times it seemed like they would tell a story about the war, but quick looks at Oberyn stopped that. For a first meal in Westeros it was excellent. The only diversion from the light subjects was Lord Manderly questioning Oberyn if he'd heard any rumors about the Ironborn. From what I gathered they were viking like raiders who had scourged the west coast before the kingdoms unified. Apparently they had been quiet lately, normally some would sail around the entire continent to prey on the shipping of the free cities, but there hadn't been any yet. Oberyn didn't know anything, but told a story about the islands, which made me glad Maggie was sitting with Wylis's much younger daughters. Returning to my room and ensuring Maggie found hers, I sank into my stationary non-hammock bed, and dreamed of white trees and black birds.
Last edited: May 8, 2015
A Song of Ice and Fires that Weren't All My fault (ASOIAF/Dresden Files) - Indiana Jones and the First Crusade(multi-cross) - I Prefer Poirot (RWBY) - Realignment (HP) - Agents and SHIELD (Worm/MCU)
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The dream stuck with me after I woke and went to the main hall with Maggie. I forced myself to stop thinking about it, I'd had enough bad and weird dreams that one more wouldn't phase me. The hallways were fairly empty, and I felt like we'd beaten the crowd as the main room was deserted.
Oberyn had not yet appeared, in addition to the purple haired woman he brought, he'd been flirting with a serving maid and they had all somehow left the hall together. It was impressive in a way, he was a man who knew what he wanted, and set out to get it as much as possible. It could have been practice or natural ability but he would have given Thomas a run for his money. Either way I didn't imagine he'd be up for an early morning. Lord Manderly's younger son, Wendel, was there when we arrived with the detritus of his breakfast in front of him. He wasn't anywhere near as big as his father or brother, but he was still large, a manatee to their whales. "Ser Harry and Margaret. Good morrow to you both."
He spoke more formally than I was used to in Braavos, which I did my best to emulate. "And to you Ser. May we join you?"
He looked at his emptied plate and then beckoned a servant over. "Three more helpings for us." The servant nodded, I imagined they were all used to reloading the Manderlys. "So do you two have plans for the day? I understand you were blown off course, but even an unbiased man would call White Harbor worth seeing."
The servant came back, visibly weighed down by his burden. When he set a loaded plate in from of the knight I had to speak up to be heard over the suddenly groaning table. "We were planning on exploring a little, it's the first time in Westeros for the both of us, and we'd like to see as much as possible."
Wendel nodded after inhaling half of his breakfast. "If you'd wait an hour or two you can accompany me. I have to deal with an issue at the mines and I could give you a tour on the ride out."
As soon as Wendel said ride Maggie's eyes lit up. She had taken all opportunities to ride horses since our vacation, and even the cold here wouldn't stop her. "Please Papa, we'll be able to see more than walking if we go with Ser Wendel."
Wendel was grinning at Maggie's pleading expression and my imminent caving. I threw him a look. "Wait until you have daughters Ser. We'd be honored to accompany you."
"Excellent, then after we finish breakfast I'll have some horses saddled, and some furs gathered for you, spring here is winter anywhere else, and we can head out."
After our excessive breakfast, Wendel joined us in asking for seconds, we headed to the stables. The weather had cooled during the night, there had even been a dusting of snow. Every breath we took turned to steam in the cold air. The sky was a deep blue though, and the city's white stone and the snow reflected the sun, making it almost blindingly bright. Sunglasses might be something worth inventing. Actually regular glasses too. We found three horses ready for us, two with furs draped on them. "I hope they fit you Harry, you're a tall man."
I gratefully pulled them on, "It should be fine, it's not too bad right now anyways." Maggie obviously disagreed and wasted no time in pulling the furs onto her shoulders and around her tightly. We mounted, Wendel, despite his bulk did it gracefully, and Maggie still was a natural. I felt a little self conscious as I bounced along next to them.
The castle was on a hill overlooking White Harbor and a long white-stone cobbled road stretched up to it, riding down through the snow covered town felt like a scene from a Disney movie. Wendel gave us a history of the city as we rode through it. His family had lost a civil war hundreds of years ago in the south before Westeros was united and the Starks, then kings, took them in. They had built the city on trade and silver mines, eventually becoming one of the strongest vassals to the Starks. The narrow cobbled streets and the architecture reminded me a little of Europe's old cities. When cars, or whatever their analogue here would be, arrived they'd have a hard time driving through. Until then it was a nice sunny day and it was living up to my hopes for the tour.
After a lap through the city we left through the thick walls. The guards called out a greeting to Wendel and we paused while they spoke, our horses stamping as we idled. The road to the silver mines was wide and smooth, we pushed up to a canter to Maggie's joy and my spine's irritation as we went. The mines were in the hills an hour's ride away. Maggie and I left Wendel to his business and rode through the little town. After we'd seen all of that we cared for we entered a tavern that catered to the miners. The lunch there was just as substantial, the cold drove large appetites as everyone sustained a layer of blubber. During our meal Wendel sent a runner to inform us that he would be busy longer than expected and that we might want to see a true godswood since we were in the north.
We tramped back outside, reluctantly mounted again, and followed the messenger's directions. The godswood was on the crest of a hill that stood out from the others. Only the top was forested, the rest had been cut away for buildings or supports in the mines, giving the hill a crowned look. Once we reached the trees we dismounted and tied our horses. It was silent under the canopy, no bird calls or animals rustling. There were buds growing on some of the hardier trees, but most still had nothing and the sun easily pierced the bare branches. The ground was bare but for the snow, there was no undergrowth, despite that we found a hard trodden path, made by people walking the same way for hundreds of years.
After perhaps five minutes in the quiet woods, even talking felt vaguely sacrilegious, we reached the summit, a white tree with red leaves stood alone with its branches creating an empty area around it. It was striking in a harsh way, I followed Maggie as she walked around the edge of the clearing. The far side was carved with a face and something, paint or sap, made it look as if it was weeping blood. I walked towards the tree, hardly knowing what I was doing, and touched it.
It was just wood, cold and smooth beneath my gloved hand. I turned to look at Maggie but something caught my eye, an enormous crow sitting on a tree over her head. I twitched back in surprise, it was the first living thing I'd seen since we entered the woods and it was uncannily still as it stared at me. After a frozen moment it took off with a clatter of wings and I followed its flight until it went behind the white tree. I took a step back to try to track it, and my eyes caught the face of the tree, its eyes almost looked as if they'd moved to look at me. Giving up on the crow I moved closer to inspect them, if the red stuff was sap it was a neat trick of carving to get the optical illusion. I traced the face, it was carved deep into the wood and had to admire the craftsmanship. Whoever had done it had been a master. I looked up to see the full face and the eyes were staring at me. With an ice cold blast I fell into a soulgaze.
"OTHER OTHER OTHER!" I was on my back before the tree with small brown shapes flitting through the trees around me. "OTHER OTHER OTHER!" There was constant shouting in my head as the voices pounded. "SERVANT OF THE NIGHT'S QUEEN!" I tried to struggle to my feet but the noises were hammering me whenever I tried to rise. I rolled, fighting to get up, beyond the clearing the trees were dark with hundreds of crows, staring at me. "OTHER LEAVE THIS PLACE!" Their wings thundered as they descended on me, buffeting me to the ground. "LEAVE!"
And then I was out. I stumbled back and fell, Maggie rushed to me. "Papa are you alright? You're bleeding!" I was, thin lines of blood were coming from my nose. I wiped it away with one hand and staggered up with Maggie's help.
"I don't know. There's something in the tree, it didn't like me much." I looked back at it. The eyes were gushing sap now and it looked even more like blood. "Let's head back to town, I think we've seen enough nature for the day." The crow I'd seen before followed us through the trees, cawing harshly behind us as went. The horses were still there, we mounted and Maggie lacked her usual joy, giving me worried looks.
Ser Wendel was waiting for us as we reached the town, his evident good mood sharply incongruous with my thoughts. "Ser Harry, you're becoming a Northman, leaving your furs open!" I looked down, sure enough the furs had opened when I fell. A thought suddenly pierced me and I needed to test it. I practically fell off my horse in my hurry, striding over to a mound of snow. I pulled a glove off and picked some up, I didn't feel the cold.
Last edited: Jun 3, 2016
A Song of Ice and Fires that Weren't All My fault (ASOIAF/Dresden Files) - Indiana Jones and the First Crusade(multi-cross) - I Prefer Poirot (RWBY) - Realignment (HP) - Agents and SHIELD (Worm/MCU)
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For the entire ride back I was quiet. Maggie was resilient as ever, and chattered with Ser Wendel while I occasionally answered with monosyllables. The Mantle wasn't gone. When we arrived in Braavos, after falling through darkness from Chichen Itza in a moment simultaneously instant and eternal, the lack had been one of the first things I'd noticed. The icy power, the seeming limitless strength, and the predatory focus had all vanished. I'd thought whatever magic the Red Court had made stripped it from me, but I knew better now. Whatever kept us here and sealed the Nevernever must be powerful though, Mab wouldn't tolerate going without her court's strongest mortal tool for three years and change. I didn't know what to do, I still had no idea how to get home and honestly the new revelation made me even less willing to find one.
Trying to dismiss Mab and her possible vengeance from my mind, I started to think about the tree. It had felt like a soulgaze when it started, but past that nothing was what I expected. In some respects it was like when Molly and I had practiced building mental defenses, but I hadn't tried to push into the trees mind so any defenses it had shouldn't have grabbed me. The voices were another thing. The shadowbinder in the temple had called me a servant of the others and referenced what could have been Mab as well. I'd read about their beliefs, the priests of R'hllor worshipped their fire god who struggled against a 'Great Other' of cold and darkness and death. It wasn't hard to reconcile the two, Mab didn't control death but Mother Winter could probably make a decent go at it. At the time I had thought it was just the ravings of a madman, if fighting He Who Walks Behind was visible to the sight, carrying the Winter Mantle would probably leave a mark. Now I wondered, could the Great Other be an aspect of Mab or something close?
Two gods fighting, one of fire and one ice did bear a marked similarity to the Faerie courts. I'd speculated before that the strange seasons were linked to battling supernatural powers and nothing I'd encountered so far had disproven it. Whatever had been in the tree had certainly thought I'd been an enemy, a servant of the Night's Queen. I vaguely recognized the name, a book of myths on the north had described an apocalyptic war against zombies and Others that had only been won at great cost. The wall, a gargantuan structure of ice that I wouldn't believe in had I not met men who'd stood on top of it, had been built to keep them out and a brotherhood, the Night's Watch made to man it. An early commander of the Night's Watch had betrayed them, taking an Other for a wife and was known as the Night's King, making an Other the Queen. It was unsettling but had also occurred eight thousand years ago and no Others had been seen since, whatever power the Others had might have been broken by the passing of time. There was nothing I could do for now though, while I had thought we had reached the gates of White Harbor.
During the dinner that night I barely paid enough attention to not be rude, luckily Oberyn managed to hold the table's attention, telling stories of Dorne, Essos, and his wars in the Disputed Lands. It was strange, four years ago they had been fighting against each other in a vicious civil war, and now they were sharing drinks and laughing about it. It didn't match with the Oberyn I'd first met, I didn't know if he'd given up his goal or was just a good enough actor to hide it. For his sake I hoped he'd moved on, even if he succeeded the black magic would wreck his soul. Maggie was once again relegated to the kids table. Wylis's older daughter Wynafryd, I was beginning to think that the Manderly's must have a monogrammed heirloom somewhere, was seven or eight and they seemed to be having a conversation that immensely entertained Maggie. Hopefully nothing there would come back to haunt me.
After dinner I walked her to her room next to mine and she waved me in and closed the door. "Papa what happened today with the tree? You didn't say anything the whole ride back." As she spoke she made strands of lighting dance between her fingers. I watched it for a second, I had never favored lightning, early in my career it had reminded me too much of Elaine, and after I knew she lived it wasn't as versatile as fire for me. Maggie's focus had given her skill enough to make it a nervous habit. If I tried to play cat's cradle with lighting the way Maggie did I might have lost a finger. As it was her hair was rising from the excess energy, a side effect I hadn't mentioned to her because I thought it looked hilarious.
"I don't know, there was something in the tree like I said. It pulled me in almost like a soul gaze and then spat me out." I didn't want Maggie to know about the Winter Mantle just yet. She couldn't do anything about it and at worse she might think it was her fault since I sought the power to save her. I had told Uriel once I'd watch the world burn to save Maggie, and if I could spare her any pain I would. "It's something to look into when we return to Braavos, or perhaps Oldtown and the Maesters' library." Maggie wasn't as excited as me to see the library, Oberyn's stories about tournaments and balls had captured far more of her attention, but maybe seeing me get knocked over by overgrown shrubbery would prompt her to do some research. We chatted a little more, she refused to tell me what she she and Wynafryd had been laughing about, only telling me that I'd find out tomorrow. I went to bed hoping Maggie hadn't started a crusade or something worse.
The next morning we again beat Oberyn to breakfast, Lord Manderly and Ser Wylis were there and looked happy to see me. "Ser Harry you're up early, would you care to join me in the yard?" They were wearing simple clothes and looking around there were a number of other men who had scarred hands and strong arms. "Our daughters may also have bet on the result, reluctantly I must defend her honor."
I looked at Maggie, she'd affected an innocent mien. I'd fought with swords before, fencing mostly although I'd messed around with other styles when I'd been taught how to fight with a staff. The Manderlys were big men, and Wendel at least had muscle beneath the fat. They were also knights, trained to fight since birth. They weren't supernatural monsters though, and I was sure I wouldn't embarrass myself too badly. "I suppose I'll also have to step up." I said shooting Maggie a glare. "I'll have to borrow a blade though." I had brought a sword I'd never even swung on the Purple Martin, despite my string of failures I still wanted a magic sword. Now if needed it would be a useful prop to keep up Oberyn's charade.
Fifteen minutes later I found myself in a padded jacket, a gambeson if I remembered correctly, holding a blunted blade facing Ser Wylis. He was big, but moved like a man who knew what he was doing. As we circled he called out. "So what were you knighted for Harry?"
I kept my distance, if he didn't want to fight yet I'd wait. "My brother's niece was kidnapped, I received my knighthood for the rescue mission."
"A noble cause then." With that he closed, swinging his sword down in a slow arc towards me. I batted it away, the practice blade was well made and felt natural in my hand. Wylis's bulk had made him slow and I didn't doubt I could win. My earlier worries seemed foolish as I flowed forward and pressed the attack. Each move he made was telegraphed, a few swings later I saw my chance, launched a feint towards his head and then lunged forward planting a shoulder in his chest.
Wylis dropped to the ground and scrambled, trying to get back to his feet, but my sword was there at his throat. He theatrically dropped his sword and I pulled mine back, I wasn't even breathing hard. "Well fought Ser, hopefully the stakes weren't dire." Maggie and Wynafryd were cheering as I gave him a hand up, he came easily to his feet.
"If you're looking for a bit more of a challenge you could try Ser Marlon." At the sound of the name one of the spectators moved towards us. He was my height but much more solid. He had the general look of the Manderly's but lacked their girth.
"So your daughter's bet cost us the castle nephew? I'll try to restore some honor to the Manderlys for our careers as sellswords and bandits." He walked into the center of the yard with me and hefted his sword. "Well Ser Harry, up for another bout?"
I nodded swinging my own sword idly. If they doubted me I'd show them all. Marlon stepped forward and launched a thrust towards my gut, I slipped it to the side and tried to shoulder him like I had Wylis. He took the blow but stayed on his feet, looking much more wary. "You've got some strength for a beanpole." The condescension irritated me much more than it should and I pressed forward to keep the initiative. The fighting wasn't anything like fencing, Marlon used both his hands on the sword at times and was constantly looking to grapple or tie me up. It was brutal for all that it was practice, and a fierce joy rose in me as we battled. After what felt like a half a hundred blows I had his measure, I stabbed forward and locked our hilts for a moment, before using my strength to send him tumbling to the side. While he staggered I swung hard at his blade and knocked it from his hands, for a second he looked like he might try to close to wrestle, but then he raised his hands in surrender. I bared my teeth in a grin as a savage exultation overtook me, my position at the top was secure.
Nearly the entire yard had watched our fight, even Oberyn had appeared from somewhere standing next to Lord Manderly. "What do they feed you in Braavos? I haven't seen Marlon beaten that easily since he fought King Robert before the rebellion."
"Just fish they say, but who really knows?" Lord Manderly laughed as the other men went back to their own bouts. I left the yard after refusing few more challengers, apparently Ser Marlon had been enough to prove my mettle. Shedding my jacket, I was sweating in the cold air, I walked towards Maggie to try to teach her a lesson on not challenging people on my behalf. Oberyn intercepted me before I reached her.
"You didn't mention you were a swordsman of such caliber." I held back my instant rebuttal, I had been suspiciously good, Ser Wylis I might have beaten fairly, but Ser Marlon should have wiped the floor with me without magic. If I had doubted that the Mantle was mine, that fight proved it. The action movie strength and speed were back, and I didn't think my new found skill with a blade was all my own either.
"You didn't hear I'm a knight now? Of course I'm an excellent fighter."
Oberyn laughed at my deflection. "If all my lies came true like that, I doubt I'd ever say an honest word. When do you have the time to keep in practice? I know how busy your work kept you."
"Oh you know, a few minutes here and there add up."
He looked completely unconvinced but let me go as I looked for Maggie and Wynafryd who had scurried off as we chatted.
Last edited: Mar 2, 2016
A Song of Ice and Fires that Weren't All My fault (ASOIAF/Dresden Files) - Indiana Jones and the First Crusade(multi-cross) - I Prefer Poirot (RWBY) - Realignment (HP) - Agents and SHIELD (Worm/MCU)
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We spent two more days in White Harbor and I was quite happy to see the last of it. I'd asked about the white tree, a weirwood, and learned a lot I didn't like. Weirwoods were the center of the old religion of the North, the religion of the First Men who received it from an extinct race, the Children of the Forest. Their nameless gods were said to look through the faces on the trees and used to have criminals executed in front of them. I wasn't a fan of any of it. Old nameless gods tended to do things like wait until the stars were right and destroy the world. Learning that the trees held power, received sacrifices, and contained something with a mind, kept that association going strong.
Even worse whatever they had done had released the Mantle. The strength, speed, and power I'd bargained for were nice to have, except the price was high. Past whatever Mab was cooking up on the far side of the dimensional barrier the Mantle had a way of infiltrating my thoughts. Whenever I fought I had the urge to rend, tear, and attack with all my power at any weakness. Even more whenever I saw something I desired I had to fight the urge to take it by force and show the world my strength. It was a predator's mind, a wolf hungry in the winter.
I kept to myself as much as possible for those two days, Maggie definitely noticed something, and tried to chain it deep within my mind. I had kept Lasciel out of my head for years, I could keep a set of dumb instincts buried. The Mantle didn't want to stay down though. Whenever I pushed it back it seemed as if something was keeping it close. I could keep the Mantle suppressed for a time but it would come back, a wolf circling a dying campfire. I didn't like the metaphor.
The Purple Martin hissed across the Bite, the large bay we'd found ourselves in, and the captain had promised two more days to King's Landing. The storm had driven us quite a ways inland but with our damaged mainmast the captain had wanted to stay close to the coast. White Harbor was the closest port on the northern edge of the Bite and when we were done running from the storm it was the only safe option.
Oberyn looked just as happy to be leaving the North, for completely different reasons though. The girl with purple hair had apparently discovered he had a mistress, or as he called it a 'paramour' who had given him a daughter and was practically his wife. I didn't want to get in the middle of the Julia Roberts story that she thought she'd been in, but it had been hard not to hear about it. She had stayed in White Harbor when we left and had taken up with one of the guards. It was a little sordid but the drama had helped keep the last day in White Harbor entertaining for Maggie.
The man himself appeared on deck and joined me at the bow. "So shall we keep up the charade Ser Harry? I don't think anyone who saw you with a sword would doubt it." Oberyn after his initial surprise had taken my newfound skills with aplomb, joking that a magician should have many tricks. 'You'll probably need a bit more detail than the yarn you spun for Ser Wylis."
"Let's keep it vague, say a knight in service to the Lady Mab, the member of a powerful family, gave me the title for the rescue mission." I almost stumbled over Mab's name. I hadn't tried to summon her when I was first stuck here, now with the mantle showing the connection I didn't dare to.
Oberyn had noticed my stutter and looked overjoyed. "This Lady Mab has a hold on you still? Who was she, some great beauty, a harsh taskmistress, or just a flight of fancy?"
I snorted. "Yes to all of those to some extent. Talking to her always felt like a sort of dream, a terrible one."
Deprived of his usual pursuits Oberyn hounded me about 'my lost love' for the remainder of the cruise. It was a relief to cross into Blackwater Bay and past a brooding Targaryen castle called Dragonstone. I recognized its silhouette from the books Viserys and I read, it was one of the last examples of the Valyrian stoneshaping magics and had been the base Aegon conquered the seven kingdoms from and forged them into one with dragonfire. I would have liked to visit, except it would have meant another day on the ship which was infinitely worse than anything I could easily imagine. I'd have to try to see it on the way back.
We could smell King's Landing before we could see it. Braavos was lucky in that respect, other than the fish scent the lagoon's current swept the stenches of civilization out into the ocean. King's Landing was not so fortunate, half a million people lived in a few square miles and it seemed like none of them had ever heard of personal hygiene.
We wouldn't be there long though, the city was full of bad memories for Oberyn and we'd only be in the city as long as it took to unload Oberyn's souvenirs and meet our escort. The Martells kept a house in King's Landing and Doran, Oberyn's older brother, had sent horses and a wagon to meet us there. The wagon would be with us for a week or two before it would leave our scenic route and head directly to Sunspear.
To get to the house, or the manse as Oberyn called it, we took actual litters from the docks. The three of us shared one and Oberyn pointed out local attractions, the Great Sept of Baelor, the slums with the attractive name of Flea Bottom, brothels, the Dragonpit where Targaryens used to keep their dragons, the Red Keep, more brothels, and finally his family's house. I still had my sealegs, the ground seemed to be moving beneath me as I walked, but it was nice to stand up straight on solid ground. Naturally we mounted our horses immediately and with another twenty men riding as an escort ,we left the city by the closest gate before riding almost entirely around to the south and joining the Roseroad.
We made it about ten miles from the city before calling it a night. I had the feeling Oberyn would have pushed on further to get away, but with the sun setting we were forced to make camp beneath the trees of the Kingswood. Aegon might have been an excellent general but he was evidently terrible at naming things.
Sitting at the fire with Maggie as the guards told stories about Westeros was what I had hoped for with this trip, and I was able to ignore the Mantle's constant presence. The night was clear and a little cool, but laying under the trees looking at the stars that poked through the boughs reminded me of simpler times learning magic with Ebenezer. Despite the new problems I faced it was nice to share the time with Maggie.
When I finally managed to sleep my dreams weren't my own. Ever since I'd come to Westeros my rests hadn't been and this one was no different. I'd met my literal dark side before, the better dressed, better groomed, worse shaved version of myself, but he had added a new wrinkle for his first appearance in the new world. Instead of the leather duster he now wore black armor with a snowflake device across his chest and a sword belted at his side. "Harry, Harry, why'd you have to go and wake up the Mantle, it's getting crowded in here now."
"You know it wasn't my choice, I didn't really see the mysterious tree spirits coming. What's with the new outfit?"
He traced a pauldron with a gauntleted hand. "Oh this old thing? I figured as long as the Mantle was going to be with me I might as well get some use out of it. Why, jealous?"
"Hardly. I've tried the games workshop look before, not a huge fan." I looked at him again, if my subconscious was just surfacing because of the Mantle why wait until now? "What do you mean crowded anyways, we've had house-guests in here before and if you're making a small brain joke, it's on you too."
He looked annoyed now, it was the same face I often made into mirrors and was especially familiar. "We had a house guest. Now we have two, and the first one is growing."
I had no idea what he was talking about, the only previous inhabitant had been Lash and she had sacrificed herself to save me in the Raith Deeps. She had been in my brain and it had taken the damage, but as Butters had discovered wizards heal perfectly. Could she be back? "Lash, she's still in here?" It was great news, she had split from Lasciel at the end, and became an ally. She had kept her knowledge though, if anyone knew how to get out of this dimension it would be her.
"Not quite Harry, just try to keep the problem in mind." He faded out, and if I dreamed more after I didn't remember when I woke.
The ride down the Roseroad was enjoyable and the beauty of the forest and then open fields distracted me from the new revelations. The Mantle had given me more skill at riding, part of the general instant badass package I assumed, and I wasn't sore at the end of the days anymore making the whole experience much better. We hunted a little on the way, Oberyn as the brother of a Lord Paramount was apparently able to hunt in any of the King's woods while traveling, and chasing deer through the woods satisfied the Mantle enough to keep its urges under control.
After almost two months of travel, stopping at castles every third night or so, we reached Highgarden, the seat of the Tyrells. It was the most Disney castle so far, dwarfing White Harbor's New Castle and looming over the countryside. It was built on top of a hill overlooking the Mander with several layers of walls visible as we approached. Vines thickly covered the inner walls, I didn't think they'd stay up for long during a siege, and made the inner keep appear to be the summit of a grass covered hill. We entered the gates unchallenged, Oberyn was apparently recognized, and were ushered into the main hall without delay.
"Oberyn Martell, your brother has finally let you slip the leash?" Lord Mace Tyrell was a strongly built man with short brown hair and a neatly trimmed beard. From the stories I'd heard of him I'd expected a drooling idiot but Oberyn had apparently let his disdain for the man overwhelm the truth.
"My little exile has ended my lord, I once again have free rein across the seven kingdoms." He accompanied his words with a flourished bow.
"It is good you have come here now then, my son Willas", he gestured to a boy, fifteen years old or so, "Is to compete in his first tourney in a week. The flower of the Reach's chivalry shall be competing, but no field would be lessened by the Red Viper. Will you join the lists?"
"Gladly my lord, gladly."
A Song of Ice and Fires that Weren't All My fault (ASOIAF/Dresden Files) - Indiana Jones and the First Crusade(multi-cross) - I Prefer Poirot (RWBY) - Realignment (HP) - Agents and SHIELD (Worm/MCU)
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Lord Tyrell looked happy with Oberyn's response. "Splendid, splendid, the tourney will be in a week, the day of my boy's nameday feast. It should give you enough time to equip yourself." He then finally appeared to notice Maggie and I, "And who are your companions Prince? I can't say I recognize them."
"I have had the honor of traveling with Ser Harry Dresden and his daughter Margaret since leaving Essos and we've shared adventures along the way." Lord Tyrell's son perked up when he heard my name, I restrained a grimace, anonymity had been nice while traveling.
"Any friend of House Martell is a friend of ours. Will you also compete in the tourney Ser?" Lord Tyrell didn't seem to care about my response, as soon as he didn't recognize my name his attention waned.
"My thanks my Lord, but I will have to decline entering the lists. Living in the free cities has left me out of practice." He nodded and waved us away, the son's eyes followed us as we left the hall.
Oberyn was ebullient. "A joust! It's been far too long since I used a lance, are you sure you won't join in the fun?"
"I hardly know the first thing about it. Anyways, with my luck, I'd skewer a spectator."
"With the way you are on horseback? I doubt it. For all your complaining about riding your form is perfect for the tilt, you don't ride like that without years of training."
I could hardly explain that as the hitman for a supernatural queen I had the relevant combat skills installed as part of the general violence and mayhem package, so I grunted noncommittally.
He laughed "One day Harry I will hear your whole story, until then I'll just tell more and more ridiculous tales until you're forced to tell the truth in embarrassment."
"You can give it a try, but I doubt you'll approach reality."
"Now that is unfair, you can't just tease me with revelations like that." As we bantered we circled the inner keep. The space between the castles and the first layer of walls was crowded with buildings, a smithy, barracks, stables and an armory. It was easy to forget while walking amid the flowery walls that this was a fortress, that almost all of its architecture was designed to make killing the enemy easier while simultaneously protecting its defenders. I didn't really understand how such massive fortifications could be built, I didn't think anything on earth from this time period was so large. The only easy explanation was that the extraordinary political stability of pre-conquest Westeros had allowed the castles to grow without end. The Gardeners, the late and roasted ruling family, had claimed a heritage that stretched back thousands of years, far longer than any dynasty I was aware of.
It took almost half an hour to circle the main keep, we had just begun to investigate the apparently famous briar maze between the second and third layers of wall when we were intercepted by the heir of House Tyrell.
"Prince Martell, I'm told we've met before."
"Once yes, you couldn't have been more than six, I was visiting my sister for her first pregnancy. Harry this is Willas Tyrell, the next Lord of Highgarden. Willas this is Ser Harry Dresden, best known for his practice of letting his foes throw him down twice before defeating them, and his lovely daughter Margaret."
Willas didn't quite know what to make of that, so after a moment of confusion he pressed on. "A pleasure I'm sure. I recognized the name Dresden, are you the wizard of Braavos?"
Subtlety and tact were apparently somewhat heritable, looks like Maggie was in trouble. "I haven't claimed or heard that title, but I am from Braavos."
"Are you the wizard then? My grandfather has brought me an amazing device that he said were made by a man called Dresden, is that you?"
"I have some skill, it can't be taught you're seeking power you'd be better off studying politics." One highborn semi-student was enough, even if I hadn't been only staying a week.
"I'm not my aunt, I don't want to waste my life failing to get spells to work, I just wanted to see some magic, your compasses weren't what I dreamed of as a young boy." I glanced around, other than the four of us in the labyrinth no one was in eyeshot. I was really being too much of a softy.
"Alright, for an early nameday present then." I held out my right ungloved hand and theatrically pulled back my sleeve. "My hand is empty, nothing hidden in my coat?" He nodded, eyes fixed on my open palm. If I'd been doing stage magic it would have been a perfect time to ready something in my off hand. I wasn't my father or my namesakes though, no props were needed. I raised my open hand to the sun, focused for a second, closed it, and brought it back down in front of Willas. "You're satisfied my hand was empty?" Maggie was grinning at me, she'd seen this trick before. At his gesture I opened my hand, and for a second it blazed with sunshine, causing Willas and Oberyn to flinch back. "Many happy returns."
If it had been an act it would have been a perfect exit line, but Willas immediately exploded with questions. "How- wait magic obviously, is that all you can do? No the compasses, what else can you do? Are there other wizards around? Where did you come from?"
I answered his last, "I've never met anyone with my power since I arrived. I was lost for a time until my daughter and I found ourselves in Braavos, so if you're seeking other wizards you're out of luck since I can't find them either."
He barely waited for me to finish before continuing "Did you study in Qarth or Asshai or are you from even further? How did you even get lost enough to reach Braavos?"
I cut him off before he could continue further. "Magic, for all of them. I wouldn't be much of a wizard if I explained all my tricks." He looked a little abashed, perhaps he had slightly more tact than his father. "I know the Prince needs armor and we all need lodgings, where should we go to find them?"
Instead of giving us directions, he called for his horse and led us, first to a blacksmith who had plate that only needed minor adjustments to fit Oberyn, and then to an inn that catered to visiting nobles who didn't rate quite highly enough to have rooms assigned in the castle. The entire time he refrained from asking further questions, although he kept shooting me glances when he thought I wasn't looking. He chatted with Maggie when he wasn't answering Oberyn's or my queries, and my initial impression of him as a younger version of his father was fading as he seemed well-spoken. He left us at the inn eventually, claiming he had duties at the castle and riding back up towards the keep.
"So he saw more magic in five minutes than I'd seen in two months of travel. What's the secret? Flirt with Maggie? Because if so, I assure you that I can do that." Maggie blushed, she had been riding next to Willas for the little jaunt, and ducked into her room to avoid our laughter.
"Not to be too overprotective, but that might get you a bit more than sunlight." I turned back from watching Maggie's retreat towards Oberyn and held my hand out, this time calling my little ball of sunshine, casting heat from the blazing pinprick that could be felt a yard away.
He was completely unintimidated by the glare from the ball. "So that is the trick then. Tell me, can your magic help me in the joust? If I win, I swear I'll be as zealous as you in defending her honor."
"Well a wizard might help for that, but as a knight I never could."
"Then I only have myself to blame. I should have introduced you differently if I wanted to make my victory even more certain."
"You're that confident? I'm surprised that Lord Tyrell invited you to potentially overshadow his son's big day then."
Oberyn was pensive as he replied. "He wants one of his sons to be the next Leo Longthorn, in truth Willas is too young to be jousting against the knights here. One fewer skilled knight won't get him to the finals and some part of Lord Tyrell knows that. It also would have been rude to not invite me, there's enough bad blood between our families that he doesn't want to add anymore."
"How old is he anyways, thirteen, fourteen?"
"He was born in two hundred and seventy four, so either thirteen or just fourteen then. He should still be with the squires, he doesn't have the experience or bulk to face knights."
"Well let's hope he gets knocked out cleanly in one of the first rounds, no one needs to get injured in a spectacle."
"Honestly if his father wasn't the Lord Paramount no one would be in the tourney, jousting is dangerous enough. An inexperienced opponent can be deadlier than an expert and he's not the only borderline candidate I saw walking Highgarden."
"Well then, win the tourney and hope he's not in your bracket, at this point you're committed."
'"True" Oberyn exhaled before brightening. "So if Maggie gets asked for her favor will you curse or help the poor boy who dares to cast his eyes so high?"
Last edited: Apr 16, 2016
A Song of Ice and Fires that Weren't All My fault (ASOIAF/Dresden Files) - Indiana Jones and the First Crusade(multi-cross) - I Prefer Poirot (RWBY) - Realignment (HP) - Agents and SHIELD (Worm/MCU)
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The town around Highgarden was strange in a few ways. Braavos and White Harbor, the two other cities I'd spent time in, were more mercantile and despite all of their differences shared attributes with Chicago. Highgarden's castle town was completely dominated by the Tyrell's, the presence of the Lord Paramount loomed over the town as much as Highgarden's walls. There was a market, the Mander river was joined by a tributary just north of Highgarden, and goods from the fertile fields of the Reach were loaded onto barges and smaller oceangoing ships. Other than that the entire city was dominated by industries catering to the nobles. Armorers, swordsmiths, seamstresses with the finest fabric, and other less savory entertainments were everywhere. Aside from the omnipresent brothels, there was bear baiting, acrobats and tumblers as well as midgets in motley. The mercantile middle to upper class didn't exist at all, the feudal structure dominated the town.
As a putative noble it was an interesting place to visit, but my American background made me a little uncomfortable to be bowed and scraped at. Even Maggie, who had seen enough Disney movies to want to be a princess, was discomfitted by the reality of it. The divide between us and the peasants was stark, even worse was the complete indifference Oberyn showed the smallfolk. I knew him to be decent, if mercurial and slow to forgive, but growing up as an aristocrat had shaped his perceptions enough that those without a title were barely even human. We were friends, but if I lacked my wealth and power he could have ridden past me being beaten by a noble and not even cared. All the glitter and pageantry of Highgarden was supported by nameless legions toiling in its fields; it made me want to write another book when I returned to Braavos, a plagiarized version of Locke's Two Treatises.
Other than inspiring thoughts about the inalienable rights and dignity of mankind Highgarden was interesting. We were invited back to the castle for the feasts leading up to the tournament and Oberyn went hawking several times with the Tyrells. I used the time without him to practice magic with Maggie, given the presence of observers for much of our trip she had been idle, restricted to meditation and very subtle spells, which she was just as bad at as I had been.
The night before the tourney was the grandest feast yet, there were seven courses, elaborate cakes in the shape of birds and beasts, and tons of jesters who juggled, told jokes, and performed slight of hand. Willas's eyes turned towards me whenever they did a trick but I refused to meet his gaze, one spell was enough for the trip. I mostly stayed out of the dancing afterwards, pleading unfamiliarity with the steps for those sufficiently desperate to ask an unknown traveling companion of a Dornish prince. Maggie was much more popular with the squires. Oberyn and I made fun of them as they blushed and stammered, I saved my glares for those who looked a little more confident. She had fun though, even if she turned pink when Willas asked her for a dance.
If anyone had asked for her favor she didn't tell us as we sat in the stands the next morning. Oberyn's joust was later in the day, he was in the same bracket as Willas but wouldn't meet him until the quarterfinals, if they both made it that far. It was festive, we sat with the nobles in the stands and the cool clear weather was perfect for a sunny day outside. Across from us was the mass of peasants, held back by ropes strung with bunting laying out the lists. Everything was green and gold to match the Tyrell's colors and there were roses everywhere, enough that their scent overwhelmed both the horses and the masses of sweaty people.
Oberyn critiqued the jousters as they went, pointing out their errors in form as well as telling as many stories about their houses as he could remember. He'd attracted his usual coterie of women and they hung on his every word and tittered at all of his jokes. As the day went on I could tell he was making his increasingly outlandish stories up, they were not so lucky and I wondered how many reputations would be forever tarnished as a result of his jokes at the tourney.
Just before lunch he left us to prepare for his jousts, due to his fame he'd been given a bye past the first round. His first opponent bore a shield with a green apple, Ser Jon Fossoway according to Oberyn's still present fan club. They thundered towards each other on the first pass, both their lances splintered but Fossoway looked much less steady as he cantered back to get another. On the second pass Oberyn did something like a pump-fake and slammed Ser Jon's shield hard enough his lance slipped past to his breastplate, and sent him flying from his horse. Oberyn did a lap of the field as Ser Jon staggered to his feet and saluted him.
Willas was up next, he'd won his first round over another young knight, and waved to the crowd as he and his opponent went to their respective ends. The knight he was facing looked much larger than him, I wasn't sure how much of that was armor, but either way he dwarfed Willas. I was inclined to root for Willas's opponent purely because of his shield having a bull's head on a red field, I still held some loyalty for Chicago. Their first round left them both swaying in their saddles, and Maggie was gripping my arm tightly as they set up again. The second time Willas's opponent's lance shattered while his skated off the bull's face. The third and final joust was similarly inconclusive and Willas appeared to slump, the judges would decide it and his opponent had appeared superior.
Maggie relaxed and I turned to comment, when the crowd roared. Lord Tyrell had sent his son to the next round, there were a few jeers for the obvious favoritism but it was Willas's tournament and most were willing to give him the home field advantage. The bull knight's expression was hidden behind his helm but he rode quickly off the field after barely acknowledging Willas.
Oberyn returned to us still clad in his armor with a worried expression. "I had hoped to avoid this matchup."
It did seem a little lopsided, Oberyn was a grown man and had won his share of tourneys, while Willas was cruising on his father's favor. "You could throw the match."
He scoffed. "Even if it weren't more dishonorable than I'm willing to be, everyone would know. Willas's seat is unsteady and he holds his shield too rigidly, Ser Buford would have beaten him if he wasn't the heir to Highgarden." He took a long pull from a wineskin before continuing. "Even then no joust is perfectly safe, it's a bloodsport no matter how well armored or trained you are. I can't even guarantee my safety, let alone his."
As the last of the second round finished his mood improved. He accepted the favor of one of the prettier girls in the group and told them he had been holding out for Maggie's, but she cruelly spurned him. They giggled at that before Maggie, used to his jokes by now spoke up. "I'm not especially interested in old and decrepit men."
Oberyn lit up, he'd been trying to get her to banter back the entire trip. "You prefer a boy who's growing strong then? I'll try to leave him in one piece, or maybe just a little injured so you can nurse him back to health." She blushed at that as Oberyn smirked, blew a kiss at his soon to be conquest and left for the field.
There were two more jousts before Oberyn and Willas met, one went to the judges while the other ended more definitively with a knight in the dirt. Willas appeared first at one end, his armor green and gilded with gold ,while his horse's saddle was embroidered with roses. It stamped nervously as he waited for Oberyn to appear. At last he rode in, his new armor was polished steel and gleamed in the afternoon light. His shield bore the spear pierced sun of his house and in contrast to Willas, his horse was perfectly still beneath him. Maggie's hand had found its way back to my arm and the crowd quieted as they faced off. Oberyn threw a glance and a wave at our section of the stands, the girl he'd chosen nearly swooned, before the herald called for them to start.
Oberyn's lance was perfectly still as he charged, the motion of his horse didn't seem to affect his aim at all as they rapidly closed. He hit Willas's shield right in the rose and Willas reeled, barely staying on his horse while Oberyn blew past.
Willas looked shaken, his lance swayed as they set up for the second round and at the herald's cry they started again. Oberyn repeated his earlier move, the pump-fake worked a second time and Willas tumbled. He didn't fall cleanly though, his leg caught in his stirrup and the horse reared and stumbled back before falling back onto him.
His scream of pain pierced the air, Lord Tyrell looked stricken and Maggie's grip was painful. Oberyn galloped back and reached him first. He leapt off his horse and cut the saddle free, letting the horse roll off Willas's leg as others rushed onto the field. Willas was quickly surrounded by a crowd and Lord Tyrell was striding across the field towards the knot of people. Willas's screams finally stopped as I stood. Maggie looked at me as I pulled her up.
"Come on, we don't want to be here if this gets ugly." Oberyn was also riding away, he and Lord Tyrell had exchanged words and it looked like he decided discretion was the better part of valor in the face of an angry father.
We pushed our way through the crowd, people were surging towards the stands to watch the spectacle, and headed back to the inn. I'd give Oberyn some time to catch up, but from what I'd seen Willas's leg was shattered, and if Lord Tyrell wanted vengeance on the man who crippled his son I didn't plan to be here for it.
Oberyn met us fifteen minutes later, he'd thrown a cloak over his armor and discarded his shield. "I think you have the right idea, we should leave here before tempers grow much hotter." I had packed Maggie's and my stuff while waiting and already had our horses saddled. We collected our guards and left the town, riding quickly south towards Oldtown.
We pressed on until it was too dark to ride and camped off the road, I kept watch, if we were pursued I'd hopefully be able to veil us enough that we'd be missed. It was a long night and we were somber during the next day's ride. Oberyn threw glances over his shoulder, his expression dark, and he barely spoke. The trip had changed character, we no longer rode slowly and explored, we pressed our horses as fast as they could go and lived rough. We couldn't count on the hospitality of the Reach lords anymore after injuring the heir so badly. It was a relief after three weeks of hard riding to approach the coast and the last of the Reach, until on our last night we saw a glow in the southwest sky and the next day, smoke rising from the walls of Oldtown.
A Song of Ice and Fires that Weren't All My fault (ASOIAF/Dresden Files) - Indiana Jones and the First Crusade(multi-cross) - I Prefer Poirot (RWBY) - Realignment (HP) - Agents and SHIELD (Worm/MCU)
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We approached Oldtown and its billows of smoke through a stream of peasants, refugees with all they could carry on their backs. The smoke had been visible from our camp twenty miles out and it just grew darker as we approached.
Oldtown was large, not quite as populous as King's Landing but far more sprawling. The walls around it were high and the smoke seemed to be coming from the coastal side. My attention was drawn to the other pillar stretching skyward, an immense tower, as high as any Chicago skyscraper rose from the edge of the city. The massive structure dominated the skyline and was completely incongruous with the city. The only thing I'd seen that even remotely compared in this world was the Titan of Braavos, but the Hightower the ruling family got it name from dwarfed it.
As our party reached the gates guards rushed out with spears leveled at us. Oberyn spurred his horse to the front "What is the meaning of this? What's happened here?"
One of the guards, a particularly grizzled and scarred man spat. "Ironborn have been raiding up and down the coasts, half the Redwyne fleet is at the bottom of the ocean and as far as we know we weren't the only ones hit. No one enters Oldtown unchallenged, there are reavers abroad. We saw at least one ship went up the Brightwater." He stepped forward, his men tensed, and our guards moved their hands closer to their swords in reply. "Now who are you, and what's your business here?"
"I am Prince Oberyn Martell, now let us in, and take me to Lord Hightower." The guard stared at us a moment longer, his eyes tracking over our guards' matching armor and weapons. before lifting his spear back to his shoulder.
"I'll take you in but don't expect much hospitality here, crippling a boy didn't win you any friends viper." Oberyn grabbed one of his guard's arms as he started forward, halting his response.
With a strained voice Oberyn replied. "Thank you, now take us to Battle Island."
The guard captain gave us a foul look before motioning his men off to the side and detailing another to lead us through the city. We rode through the gate, I could hear mutters about Dornish bastards from the guards and Maggie drew closer to me as the crowds inside the walls looked increasingly restive at our appearance. If Oberyn noticed the mood of the people he didn't acknowledge it, keeping his eyes forward and above the heads of the crowd. Our guide had mounted and we followed him through the city at a trot.
The streets were crowded with people just milling around, whatever Oldtown's normal state was, this wasn't it. The streets of the city were narrow and winding, the longest straightaway was barely fifty yards. We eventually reached a canal that seemed to run directly to the harbor and rode along it, the source of the smoke was visible at last.
Burned out hulks lay smoldering down to the waterline throughout the harbor and ruins of warehouses were smoking. Oberyn looked grim and nudged his horse into a canter. He had studied here when he was younger and seeing a city partially burned wasn't pretty. The guard we were following saw our expressions and began to speak.
"It was two ships, they just sailed in, regular merchants for the sight of it. And then last night they started fires, they had scorpions on deck that were throwing flaming bolts. I heard they even had wildfire, half the sailors were asleep and the rest were drunk, they were right in the heart of the anchorage, by the time people were up they'd set fire to the nearest ships and no one could get close enough to fight back." We listened to his story in silence as we kept riding on. "That wasn't the worst of it though, they'd let reavers off their ships and they were armed and armored, anyone they saw trying to fight the fires they killed, they wouldn't have spread half so far if it weren't for them. Word is they did it all up the coast, at Three Towers and Blackcrown, who knows if the Reach is all they struck."
We had reached the edge of the burned zone as he spoke, a canal had acted as a firebreak, the other side was a sea of ash and scorched stone. People were crawling over the wreckage, trying to salvage what they could or looting. Guards were watching but made no move to interfere as long as the scavengers were peaceful, there were still a few fires burning, throwing up the smoke we'd seen and been breathing all morning.
Oberyn reined his horse to a halt looking over the devastated harbor. "We need a boat to the Hightower, the Citadel is our best bet." Without waiting for the guard he spurred his horse south towards an unburnt complex with solid stone walls.
The Citadel was the headquarters of the knowledge monks of Westeros, the maesters. It was a combination university and monastery, it was somewhat fashionable for nobles to spend time there studying without actually joining the order. The white stone walls ran right to the water and we rode around to the landward side where two carved stone sphinxes stood watch besides a closed gate. Oberyn rode up to the gate and hammered it with his fist, a slot slid open. After fumbling with his saddlebags he pulled something from them and passed it through the slot which promptly shut. A moment passed and the gates began to grind open, he barely waited for enough room before he urged his horse through and beckoned us in behind him.
The Citadel's interior didn't match it's martial walls. There was a square, presently deserted lined with stalls, we rode past them with Oberyn barely throwing them a second glance. He was headed straight for a dock with a pinnace tied alongside it. The boat was the largest one I'd seen on the water that wasn't burnt and Oberyn rode right up to it and dismounted. We followed him, and the sole sailor aboard looked panicked at the sight of twelve armed men and a girl looking down on him. "This boat is going to Battle Island, if you wish to keep it you're coming with us." The poor man nodded and after hastily tying our horses we boarded the boat and began to row out to the Hightower.
The colossal structure was even more unbelievable up close. The tower was built on a foundation of black stone that seemed to emerge unbroken from the harbor. As we drew closer I could see the sheen of the rock, it was similar to the oily stones from Sothoryos's ruined cities. The Hightower sprang further up from the mysterious island, it was a paler stone, maybe granite, and even ignoring the black base was tall enough to pierce the sky. With all of us rowing we quickly found our way to a small harbor carved into the rock of the base. We disembarked with Oberyn flipping the boatman a coin as he began to climb the steps up from the water's edge. Maggie paused and I followed her gaze from the waves washing on the steps, up the stairs to the tower, past the innumerable balconies and windows along its height and finally to the top which blazed with light. "It's a long way to the top." I nodded and we followed the guards up towards the tower.
After twenty minutes of what felt like non-stop climbing around the circumference of the island we reached the gates of the Hightower. We were admitted and after another interminable climb entered the main chamber of the hightower. It was a pillared room with massive columns framing tall and narrow windows that looked in all directions over the city and the bay. The center of the round room held a throne where there was a knot of people gathered. Oberyn gestured for the guards to wait at the edge and he and I went forward until the man on the throne recognized us.
"Prince Martell, what brings you back to my city in such times, are you trying to bring greater misfortune to every castle you visit?" The group of lords around him stared coldly at us, they shared his thoughts even if they didn't dare to insult a prince of Dorne as cavalierly.
Oberyn held his temper although I could see a vein on his forehead pulsing. "Ser Baelor, I came to both offer my assistance and to find out what happened, the reports from your guards were incomplete."
Baelor snorted. "What's there to say, rebellion. The Ironborn have attacked the entire coast, we've heard from the Arbor to Old Oak, longships have been burning and raiding, more ravens are coming in by the hour. The Redwyne fleet took a heavy blow, somehow the Ironborn were able to concentrate at a single point in the open sea, they led the parts of the fleet they hadn't burned at anchor into an ambush. Our fleets are scattered now and until the Royal Fleet comes around Dorne the Lannisters have the only concentrated group of ships, assuming they Ironborn didn't hit there too."
"Have they put men ashore?" I didn't listen to the rest of the conversation, I was focused on a single line. Baelor didn't know how they'd managed their ambush but I did. This was my fault, my compasses I'd been so proud of had let a gang of pirates destroy the navies of the Reach. Even now they were murdering, raping, and slaving and they couldn't have done it without me.
Last edited: Apr 16, 2016
A Song of Ice and Fires that Weren't All My fault (ASOIAF/Dresden Files) - Indiana Jones and the First Crusade(multi-cross) - I Prefer Poirot (RWBY) - Realignment (HP) - Agents and SHIELD (Worm/MCU)
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The rush of guilt almost overwhelmed me, I left the group of men and walked towards the window looking over the sea. It was growing dark, the ash had melded into the clouds and the sun was nearly down. Fog was rolling off the sea and I stared into it.
The Ironborn using my compasses wasn't my fault. I didn't even know they'd had them for sure, my only clue was a naval ambush. They were famed sailors, maybe they could have pulled it off themselves without them? From stories I'd heard from the Voyagers back in Braavos the height of naval tactics on this world was apparently sailing out of sight of land, and rushing in before anyone could react. If they had just gotten lucky it might seem like genius and sorcery to the witnesses. My rationalizations didn't help me though. An invention I'd thought had no downside was probably crucial to a plan responsible for the deaths of thousands.
Lost in thought I remained at the window, only now focussing on what was in front of me. The sea was grey melding with the sky, and the fog hid the horizon. I wondered how far the Hightower's beacon could be seen, it wasn't really much of a lighthouse, the harbor was clear of obstructions and it had no obvious reason to exist. In any case whatever the maximum range was it would only be two or three miles tonight, the dense fog was moving in quickly. Even now it was entering the harbor, the watch towers that anchored the wall to the sea were being swept up, their bases hidden by the mist.
Preoccupied, I almost missed the activity atop one of the watchtowers, the bonfire they lit that pierced the fog and the droning horn that carried over the harbor ensured I was paying attention. The men behind me rushed to the window surrounding me and looking out. "The south tower, they've spotted something!" We watched as low grey shapes emerged from the fog. The longships' oars almost looked like wings as they beat the waves, the poor visibility gave them an almost dreamlike quality.
Baelor broke the illusion with a curse. "How did the bastards get here without being spotted?"
One of his companions spoke "The fog Ser, its dense-"
"Of course it was the fog! But how did they get into the sound without Blackcrown alerting us? They can't have gotten through entirely unseen." Baelor's voice trailed off as he spoke, whatever the Irobborn had done it had worked and more and more of their ships were entering the harbor. "By the Seven, they mean to land and finish the job."
The longships were splitting up after they entered and were headed for the shores of the harbor, their raiders the night before had destroyed whatever of Oldtown's navy was in port and most of the rest had been lost at sea with the Redwynes. They were ignoring the Hightower, without ships the garrison of the island keep couldn't get to shore, and the soldiers and guards in the city had been fighting fires all night and day.
"They mean to hold the city." Oberyn had been watching the invasion but had been silent until now. All of us turned to look at him as he continued. "With the ships they have here so far they have at least five thousand men, they'll be hard men, killers since before they fucked a woman, without the walls to help they'll go right through your guards. Everything that isn't nailed down will get loaded onto their ships and then they'll raid up and down the Brightwater. Oldtown's walls and gates are enough to stop anything short of an army, and if one comes they'll just leave. Until the Royal fleet comes around Dorne there's nothing on the west coast that can stop them."
The Reachlords exchanged looks before one spoke "The Lannisters-"
Oberyn's voice struck like his namesake. "Need I remind you what happens when you trust a Lannister? Besides this was too well planned to be the only strike. Do you think Balon Greyjoy would leave that fleet untouched and attack the Reach first? Lannisport probably suffered the same as here, though I doubt they're going to try to hold it against Casterly Rock. Whatever defense you gain from a few hundred yards of water you lose for not being able to sally to your city."
Baelor was pale with rage at Oberyn's mocking tone, "And what do you suggest Ser. Just stay here and watch them burn my city?"
Oberyn looked almost entertained by the younger man's ire. "What else can we do? The only boat we saw on the island was the pinnace we took from the citadel, anyone of those longships would just run it down without noticing. If you have a plan tell us, Ser Harry, my guards and I will be happy to assist if we can get there without drowning in the bay."
The first ships were ashore and if they were facing opposition from the guards it didn't seem to hurt them, I could see groups of men rushing into the streets past the burned out docks. There were at least thirty ships in the harbor and more kept coming, a few had taken up position around Battle Island and one seemed to be headed for the same cove we landed in.
Baelor saw it too and shouted to his guards, "Get to the slips, we can't let them get a foothold!" He turned to Oberyn and smirked. "You'll help with the defense? Fine, then take your men and go."
Oberyn was moving before he finished, his guards were streaming towards the door and Maggie stood in their midst terrified. I stopped next to her briefly, the best way to keep her safe was to repel the Ironborn. "Stay here, and pay attention, if anything goes wrong, hide." If we'd had our horses I would be much less worried, the bags held an arsenal of potions that would have gotten us out of the city with ease, not to mention my staff and blasting rod. I clapped her on the shoulder and met her eyes, we'd had our Soulgaze long ago. "I fought through an army of monsters once to get you back, I'm not going to let a different set have you again." With that hopelessly inadequate goodbye done, I sprinted after Oberyn.
The Winter Mantle was energized now, and I let it slip from behind the shields I tried to keep it penned with. Any tiredness from riding all day vanished and my senses sharpened. Each step I took seemed to accelerate me further and I was rapidly catching up to the Dornish even after their head start. I caught them at the first set of stairs and slowed to stay with them. Oberyn threw a surprised look at me, if he'd expected me at all it would have been further along. We thundered down the steps, the twenty minutes uphill would take us maybe five down, and the longship might already be docked.
Finally we reached the last set of stairs, Oberyn stopped and drew his sword. I knew from sparring with him that he preferred a spear, but he too had left weapons back with the horses. It was only through chance that I had mine, I had wanted to keep up the knightly charade and it was much more plausible when I bore a sword. I drew it and felt a thrill run down my spine, the longer I let the Mantle work the harder it became to tell my thoughts from its. With steel in my hand I felt better, stronger, faster, and ready to kill anything that came in my path. The sound of battle rose up from below and after one final look at us Oberyn led the way down the stairs.
The Hightower guards from the throne room were already fighting the first of the Ironborn. They were a contrast to the neat and livered soldiers, no two of the pirates matched. As I ran down the steps screaming inarticulately my mind was calm. The small inlet was crowded with the pinnace and the longship, it had just touched onto the dock and was disgorging men. The raiders were mostly wearing mail coats, but there was one with a dripping sword that was wearing plate and carried a shield. He looked up, saw us charging down the steps, and then went back to fighting, hardly seeming to care about us. Something about the indifference enraged me, I took two long strides to the head of the pack, then we were at the bottom of the steps, and on them.
The Mantle surged with power and I sank back and gave it its head. Instincts from a thousand battles, ambushes and assassinations called to me and I followed them. A quick feint with the sword, and a slash cut one of the raider's throat to the bone. Beneath the icy joy the victory filled me with, my mind was moving glacially. My eyes tracked the spray of blood and I thought it was strange, so few of the things I fought really bled.
I was already shouldering past the gasping dead man, my sword licking out, almost every strike biting flesh. The dornishmen and Oberyn were at my back as I cut through the Ironborn, their triumphant faces shifting towards fear as they watched me advance implacably.
The fear energized me, they knew their place now as prey below me, the pirates still on the ship looked hesitant, only the push of bodies behind them keeping them coming forward. I dismissed them, the only thing I could focus on now was the armored man who had turned to face me at last, I'd make him choke on his earlier apathy.
I flicked a testing blow at his face which he parried, before lunging at me behind his shield. I met his shield with my shoulder and rocked him back, no mortal was a match for Winter's power. He gave up ground as I advanced on him, ready to finish it. I had his measure now, one blow with my Queen's strength would be enough, and I strode forward swinging my sword for what would be the last time.
He cowered behind his shield as my strike connected with its edge, it pierced deep into the soft wood and he had somehow managed to avoid the killing blow. His body language changed, I noted with the clarity the mantle gave me, it was almost as if he wanted his shield splintered around my blade. I tried to pull my sword free and he twisted his shield arm, the sword was suddenly binding on his shield and I yanked with him towards me, his sword thrusting at my stomach and only then did I see his plan.
Against anyone else, an unarmored man too close to dodge and with no chance to parry it would have been enough and his skill would have defeated my boundless strength and rage. I was winter's champion though and the man who could kill me with a sword was not yet born. "Infriga!" I barked sweeping my hand down. The pirates entire side froze, covered in an inch of ice. I grinned, from this close I could see and smell his terror, ripped my sword from his octopus covered shield, and with a swing, finished it.
I turned back to the rest of the fight, our charge had broken them. The last of the Ironborn had managed to get their ship free from the dock and were backing water trying to escape. Their cowardly retreat ruined my good mood from slaying the armored man. They wouldn't be free of us that easily. Pulling deeper on the well of Winter's power I stepped into the water and released the gathered energy. "Infriga."
Ice spread rapidly from me, groaning and cracking, as it rushed to fill the inlet. The drain nearly staggered me but the entire area of the docks began to freeze, ice racing around and beneath the longship's hull, their oars skittering on the ice as they frantically tried to escape. I stepped up from the ground onto the ice and towards the captured ship. I stopped when I didn't hear anyone following me and looked back. The guards and Oberyn were staring at me.
Their expressions ran from terrified to incredulous, I looked down at myself and checked to see if I'd taken a wound in the melee. I hadn't noticed, but I knew of plenty who had bled out without knowing they were hurt. There was no blood on me though, just frost covering my coat, and I looked back at them. "What shouldn't we finish the job?" I turned back towards the longship and strode across the ice, every step was sure, before I gathered my will and my Queen's power and leapt over the railings onto the deck. The remaining crew members groaned at the sight of me, one particularly brave man charged at me with an axe screaming. I took one quick step to the side, and cut through his raised axe and throat in the same swing. "Anyone else?" There was a clatter of weapons as they dropped their swords and I laughed. Oberyn and a few of the guards had finally made it onto the ice after me, and I leapt down to meet them. "I'm afraid you missed your chance gentlemen, they've surrendered." Oberyn had a strange look as I spoke.
"No Harry, I think we've had our fill." His words were slow and calm and his grip on his sword was tight. "Perhaps we could let Lord Hightower's guards handle the prisoners and you and I could go back to the tower, and you can talk with Maggie." Maggie, stars and stones, I knew I was forgetting something but it hadn't seemed to matter during the fight. I took several steps towards the docks and began to try to push the Mantle back down since I didn't need it anymore. It resisted far more strongly than the first time, I was barely paying attention as I tried to rebuild the mental walls until I nearly tripped.
I looked down, the near tumble had somehow been the shock needed to bind the mantle and I was curious what it had been. At first I thought it was a ball, a second glance showed it was metal, the third that it was leaking blood, the fourth, it was someone's head. I looked up and swayed, all of the energy I'd used in the fight was coming due now, and I staggered into something cold. I pushed up off it and glanced to see what I'd hit. It was a headless body, with one slide slumped and hanging, and the other encased entirely in ice. All of a sudden my sword felt like it was made of lead, I let it drop, the world rotated and I started to fall until someone caught my shoulder. Oberyn had me, and along with another Dornishman pulled me towards the stairs as the world faded.
A Song of Ice and Fires that Weren't All My fault (ASOIAF/Dresden Files) - Indiana Jones and the First Crusade(multi-cross) - I Prefer Poirot (RWBY) - Realignment (HP) - Agents and SHIELD (Worm/MCU)
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Oberyn and his man half carried me as I stumbled up the steps. The world was alternating between darkness and blinding light and I looked around to see where the glare was coming from. The guard cursed as I slipped, barely keeping his hold on me. My head lolled towards him, and whatever he had been about to say, he swallowed as I carefully stared at his forehead.
The Prince of Dorne didn't share his reticence. "You're heavy enough without falling all over us Dresden. Shape up."
I planned a retort but the greasy black stone seemed almost iridescent in the changing light and I decided watching it closely was more important than demonstrating my wit. That focus was enough to keep me a bit more steady as we kept climbing, I felt my mind was recovering a little from the beating I'd given it with all the magic and then chaining down the Winter Mantle. When we reached the foot of the Hightower I shook them off and took a few exploratory steps.
"Thanks, but I'm alright now." They didn't seem to inclined to trust me but my continuing uprightness convinced them. I leaned against the pale stone of the tower and ran my hands through my hair. When I stood up I felt almost human, I had barely even wondered how the tower was built when I stared at it. "My little Rambo moment took a lot out of me, I'm fine."
The guard's doubting expression didn't change but Oberyn looked at me and nodded. "If you trip again we'll just watch and take bets on how long you'll be down for."
"Fair enough." We walked past the guards at the gate of the tower and I paused, with tons of pirates in the harbor the gates should be locked and barred. "Where is everyone, shouldn't there be guards everywhere?"
"Most of the Hightower's men were in the city fighting fires already. I'd be surprised if there were a hundred men on the island. As to their defenses, we can ask Baelor when get back to him."
We made it back to the throne room without further conversation, I was glad to have more time to pull myself together. I saw Maggie who looked relieved to see me and followed Oberyn to the heir of the Hightower. Baelor was giving orders to the few men who remained and looked surprised to see us. "The cove, is it secure?"
"None who resisted lived, I left my men and your guards down there in case more follow."
"They will come, this was too well planned for them not to have an idea on how to take my tower."
"Harry might have slowed them a little, he killed a kraken on the docks." Baelor looked at me for the first time in the conversation.
"Truly, which one?" I drew a blank at the question, the fight was a blur of blood and death and the only thing I remembered with clarity was ripping the heat from an armored man.
Oberyn came to my rescue "Ser Harry is not from here, he didn't recognize them. I looked at the head, I know it wasn't any of the three eldest. I've never seen Aeron or Balon's boys, but one fewer squid is something to celebrate."
"Well I doubt Balon would let this fleet be led by a green boy, Euron, Victarion or maybe a Harlaw or some other lord of an island is in command here." He walked towards the edge of the room and looked over the harbor. No more longships were coming in now but I thought there were at least sixty ships beached and more were establishing a cordon around us. "We can't count on being relieved until the other Reachlords muster and march. It could be weeks."
I stayed silent, for all that I'd fought I'd never been much for large scale battles, a besieged castle was entirely new. "Then how will you defend your keep? How many men are with us, we're twelve swords, with your lords and guards can we hold the island?"
Looking over the fires that were freshly burning in his city seemed to sap Baelor's energy. The sun was entirely down now and the thick fog made it even darker. "We have the servants, sixty guardsmen, Lords Cuy and Mullendore with a few of their sons, Ser Bulwer and a few of my household knights."
"That's not enough to hold the lower walls?"
"Against a full assault? No. It's good we still hold the docks but there are other spots to land for a longship, we'll be spread too thin."
Looking down from the tower I could see the lower walls, they were set back from the water's edge and up steep hills and cliffs but they weren't very tall, twenty feet at most and their backs were hardly smooth. A determined man with a rope or ladder could be over in seconds if unopposed and a hundred possible fighters couldn't be everywhere. Oberyn joined me studying the walls and his slumped posture showed agreement with Baelor's analysis.
"We can only hope that the city bleeds them too much to risk further losses storming the island, even if they can't get at us we still can't hurt them." He paused and looked to me, the question clear in his eyes. "Unless?"
I was shaking my head before he finished. "If I could do that it wouldn't end well. For any of us."
Baelor swiveled his head between us, obviously puzzled. "What did you think Ser Harry could do?"
"I suspect since Ser Harry is Harry Dresden the wizard of Braavos, Prince Martell expected some magic." The new voice surprised me, all three of us turned to look at the white-haired man approaching.
"Father, this is Ser Harry, Ser Harry, my father, Lord Leyton Hightower, Defender of the Citadel and Lord of the Port." Oberyn smirked at the titles, he would find the evident failures amusing.
"His name has made it to the top of my tower, although I admit I didn't imagine a wizard to appear quite so martial." I was racking my brain over where I'd heard his name and it came to me, this was Willas's grandfather, who had given him one of my compasses.
"I'm flattered to be recognized, I didn't expect my reputation to have traveled so far."
Lord Hightower kept walking as he passed us to stare out the window. "I had hoped it would look less bleak from down here." His son moved and stood next to him silently. The moment crawled on until he straightened and seemed to shake the weights of duty and age off his shoulders. "Well nothing to be done about the city now, it's our own skins we have to worry about. Dispatch the guards to the lower walls, if the Ironborn come we'll pullback to the tower and try to wait them out, but there's no point in letting them know that without bleeding them for it."
Baelor was nodding as his father spoke and left to give the men their orders. Hightower turned to me then after another long glance at the smouldering city. "Ser Dresden, if you and your daughter would join me I'd appreciate a few words. If nothing else my library will probably be the premier one in the world after those dogs are through with the citadel. If it wasn't for the rest I'd almost be glad to see those grey sheep shook up."
Maggie rushed to me as I followed Hightower towards the stairs up, I wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her in tightly. "You're fine?" She asked, looking me up and down and inspecting for wounds. "Why are you all wet?"
That was a good question I thought absently, I was soaked, up to my knees could be explained by jumping in the water but the rest- oh right, all the frost had melted. The Winter Mantle apparently was brand conscious enough to display itself when I drew on it heavily. "Magic."
Maggie accepted that's all she would get for now and nodded. Lord Hightower glanced back, eyes gleaming with curiosity but didn't say anything as we continued to climb the stairs. The stairs went through the immense outer walls and spiraled up in long arcs. They were lit by thick candles, enough to see the steps, but far too dark to read.
As we climbed I marveled over the current architectural mystery. The Hightower made no sense, it was nominally a castle but from the top of the island's bedrock it stretched easily sixty stories into the air, it was a match for any skyscraper, especially with the immense stone walls that supported it. The only structures on Earth that compared were cathedrals and obelisks, and those weren't designed to have giant balls of rock or battering rams hitting them. Even if the height had simply been a vanity project I had no idea how it didn't simply topple over and crumble, I didn't even know if modern engineering could build a stone tower so tall and robustly. Things were just big in this world,the castles, the random statue shaped castles, the giant walls of ice and now their lighthouses. I was almost convinced there must be some magic woven into the stones but I was willing to hold belief in human ingenuity a little longer.
"Could your magic build me another tower?" Lord Hightower had been watching me as I examined his castle.
"I think one Hightower is enough, it would lose something if there was another that instead of fire was crowned with rocky spears. It might be a little derivative." He nodded, I looked at Maggie, to my despair she'd missed it.
"Being among the ten wonders made by man would be a little less exclusive, Longstrider was right to stop when he did." It was my turn to miss a reference but I decided to push on and ignore it.
"So what are you bringing us to see? I'm not a fighting man by trade but I could help the defenses and I'm as opposed to a foot of steel in my gut as any man."
Hightower kept climbing, living in this building must promote some impressive leg definition. "I had hoped that we could chat and share knowledge, your Margaret could meet my Malora."
"Malora?" Maggie spoke up asking the question I had half wondered about.
"My eldest daughter, she shares my interest in the arcane, I've always found it a bonding activity much like you two I have heard."
I didn't like the sound of that one bit. It was known among the Voyagers and some of my friends that Maggie shared my power, but here we were, halfway around the world, and a random noble was discussing it? I hoped he was just guessing, but the sinking feeling in my stomach persisted. "And are you successful? I'll admit I've studied some other magic and I couldn't get any of it to work. It seemed to be the common result of all who dabble in sorcery."
"Before the past few years not much worked, I'd seen wildfire of course, though I'm not convinced that's not simply a hotter burning oil, but a few years ago some other efforts began to bear fruit." We had reached a level with a wide landing and Hightower finally stopped climbing. The stairs had been spiraling up in the center of the outer wall with doors leading to each floor, but here the stair emerged into an open space. He crossed it to a heavy wooden door and with an effort shoved it open. A strange light spilled forth, the colors were twisted by it and the shadows were so dark that I was half worried I could fall into them. Hightower showed no fear. "Now the glass candles are burning, not just mine but others through the world."
I'd heard of glass candles, they were ancient Valyrian devices that reminded me of Palantir. "You know how I said your tower was at risk of losing its individuality?" Hightower glanced back confused. "Don't worry about it, it's a lost cause already." His expression didn't change but I entered the room, Maggie at my heels.
It might have been rude, but instead of greeting Malora I walked up to the candle. It was mostly as I'd read about, black stone, obsidian or something stranger I thought, carved with sharp edges that twisted as the rose. The light though, I recognized the description from the books, but they hadn't captured its essence. It reminded me of the sight in the way that some things were illuminated but it was distinct from it. I looked down at myself in the glare, my coat seemed to shimmer with the magic I'd woven into somehow reflecting the strange light. My ungloved hand was also blazing, I looked to my left and though the glove blocked most, I could see a sigil, not quite Lasciel's shining through. I decided freaking out over that could wait ,and turned back to Hightower. He had moved to confer with his daughter and seeing my attention shifted back to them coughed.
"Malora this is Ser Harry Dresden and his daughter Margaret, Dresdens, my eldest daughter Malora."
"Charmed" I said and Maggie jerked her head in greeting, she was staring at the glass candle still,watching its flames flicker.
"My candle, I can't say I've mastered it, but it will show you things if you know how to look." He approached the black spire and stared into the strange flame "I searched for you when I first heard your name, I only saw you a few months ago, in the north if the trees were any guide. Your appearance is a curiosity though, and we have larger matters to attend to." Malora was looking at Maggie and I, her eyes flickering between us, it was clear the conversation wasn't of any interest to her. "I can see Lannisport burning, Paxter Redwyne and his fleet are sunk or scattered, and the Ironborn are scouring the coast. There will be no aid at sea until Stannis Baratheon rounds the arm of Dorne and even then the only ships are the royal fleet and the Manderlys. The Greyjoys will own the ocean for the near future and we are besieged." It was a grim picture he painted, the guilt I felt over my compasses use returned in full force. "So I will ask you like the Prince did, can you do anything to save my city?"