The Master's Collective.
Success breeds enemies, that is the way of the world and with the accomplishments of the Cabal it came as no surprise that they made some. Not only did they make many of them, but they were very powerful.
In the far east of Essos, in the city of Carcosa, one individual in particular had taken an interest in the actions of Maegor Blackfyre and his companions. His name was unknown to any, but all knew him as the Sorcerer Lord.
He claimed to be the 69th Yellow Emperor and the rightful ruler of Yi-Ti. But this was only a great ruse. he had no connections to the Yellow Emperors or any of the God emperor Lines, he wasn't even Yi Tish. But his other title was more than well deserved. Hailing from the Shadow city of Asshai, The Sorcerer was a master bloodmage and shadowbinder. He spent generations traveling the world learning the arts of magic practitioners from across the world to gain as much experience as possible. After settling in Carcosa he began building an army drawn from the darkest corners of the world. Reavers from the Shadowlands, Brindled Men from Sothoryos, Shapechangers from Mussovy, Necromancers from Nefer, Bandits from the Howling Hills, Savages from the Bone Mountains, The People of K'Dath, Cannibals from the Sands, Bloodless men and lizard men from Shryke.
Initially he had planned on marching against Bu Gai and declaring himself God-Emperor. He would then use their combined armies to march against Pol Qo, but the Cabal had changed that. Pol Qo was his biggest threat to securing Yi Ti for himself. He had a large army at his command and was well regarded by his subordinates. Now not only was he in a well-placed position of power, but he also had several dangerous allies. This became clear when Pol Qo mustered his forces and conquered the Five Forts. No doubt at the behest of his new ally, the Sorcerer figured. From that moment, The Sorcerer decided he had to alter his plans so instead of overthrowing Bu Gai he would empower him.
Dismissing Pol Qo was a huge mistake in Bu Gai's part, and now his power was confined to his own walls and commanded a mere 250,000 men. The rest of his former holdings Asabhad, Jinqi and Ti Gui were now under the control of ruthless warlords. Fortunately, their own power was as limited as Bu Gai's and commanded armies smaller than the 17th Azure Emperor.
At first these warlords were content with ruling over their own kingdoms. But upon seeing the actions of Pol Qo the warlords grew envious and decided to take advantage of Bu Gai's weak rule. They send assassins to eliminate him and seize his army for themselves. The Sorcerer Lord send his own agents to Bu Gai and stopped the assassins.
Though Bu Gai had survived the attempts on his life filled him with rage and resolve. Convinced to unite Yi Ti under a single ruler once more, Bu Gai sought to subdue the renegade lords bring them under heel.
The loss of Pol Qo effected his ability to wage a proper war, The Sorcerer now believed it was time to introduce himself to the emperor. He sent his most trusted servant Zahiir to offer his services to the emperor and as a sign of good faith, he presented Bu Gai with the head of the magistrate of Trader Town. The emperor was pleased by the gift and tasked Zahiir with subduing the rival warlords
One by one the city states of Yi Ti fell Asabhad, Jinqi and Ti Gui. Under Zahiir's command, Bu Gai crushed the forces of the other Warlords the men that surrendered became part of the army and those who resisted met an agonizing death. Yi Ti was once again united under a single God Emperor and Bu Gai's army had swelled to half a million strong, a result of conscripting his enemy forces. Al that remained was the Five Forts which remained in command of Pol Qo.
As Bu Gai was reuniting Yi Ti another plot was brewing in Slaver's Bay, one that did not go unnoticed by Zahiir. Slaver's Bay as the name strongly suggest is the heart of slavery in Essos. Their history, culture, and economy completely revolved around slavery. Because of this their income relied upon the many powerful and wealthy city states that bought their slaves. With the exception of Braavos, every major city in Essos had a hand in the slave trade even Pentos despite the strict regulations enforced on it by Braavos. The fall of Tyrosh, Pentos and Volantis were a crippling blow for them.
When Tyrosh fell, most shrugged it off. Though Tyrosh had always been a major slave hub, and the loss put a dent in their usual revenue there were still many others that would fill their coffers. The fall of Pentos was not even noticed since so few slaves resided there. It was only after Volantis was conquered that they realized the gravity of the growing crisis
The loss of their biggest and nearest customer forced them to recognize the threat the Cabal posed. The new rulers of Pentos Tyrosh and Volantis no longer dealt in slaves and now the waters around Westeros were closed to their ships. Thanks in no small part to the new King on the iron throne who dealt with slavers in the harshest manner. If Valyria's first daughter could fall, how long before Myr fell or Qarth. How long before the Cabal set its sights on Slaver's Bay itself. This Cabal threatened to destroy their way of life.
If something was not done soon the Slavers stood to lose everything and their civilization would crumble to naught but dust. So, they began sending envoys across Westeros to find allies to help them. Fortunately, they didn't have to look far to find allies. Several of the key masters from each city received letters to meet at the island of Ghaen.
The Masters arrived to find they were not the only ones summoned to the isle. They came from everywhere. Pentos, Norvos, Myr, Tyrosh, Lys, Volantis, Astapor, Yunkai, Meereen, Qarth and even Yi Ti.
Bu Gai- the 17th Azure Emperor of Yi Ti
Great Madame Galazza Galare- Head of House Galare, High Priestess of the Green Graces
Iron Master Yurkhaz zo Yunzak- Head of House Yunzak, Ruler of New Ghis
Great Master Hizdahr zo Loraq- Head of House Loraq, Ruler of Meereen
Good Master Grazdan Mo Ullhor- Head of House Ullor, Ruler of Astapor
Wise Master Yezzan Zo Qaggaz- The Yellow Whale, Ruler of Yunkai
Nyessos Vhassar- Volantene Noble, Leader of the Elephant Party
High Priest Nero- Head of the Bearded Priests of Norvos
Xaro Xhoan Daxos- Head of the Thirteen of Qarth
Pyat Pree- Leader of the Warlocks
Egon Emeros the Exquisite- Leader of the Qartheen Pureborn
Illyrio Mopatis- Merchant Prince of Pentos
Horun Drahar- Magister of Myr
Tregar Ormollen- Merchant Prince of Lys
They spend an hour getting acquainted with the others when finally, the man who summoned them made his appearance. A streak of lightning began to swirl around the entrance to the room. howling wind could be heard as is seemed everyone shadows were pulled from their owners towards it. Finally, there was a blinding flash of light and smoke embellished the room causing the inhabitants to start coughing. The smoke cleared and there at the double doors stood a tall figure.
He was an ancient man bent with age that he walked with a staff. Everything about him was thin from his face to his limbs giving him a skeletal appearance. His skin was white, not as in a normal person but white as in salt, snow, the belly of a fish. The pupils of his eyes were red and his teeth were filed to fangs. A foreboding silence filled the room as the attendees stared at the figure.
"I thank you all for accepting my invitation to meet with me today," the figure said with a ragged voice sent chills up everyone's spine. "I know all of you, but you cannot know me. However, in Yi Ti, I am known as the Sorcerer Lord."
Upon hearing this the Man from Yi Ti sprung from his Chair, "Have you lured me here to assassinate me is that it?" He demanded."
The Sorcerer laughed, "You need not fear that Bu Gai, I have no intention of the sort. I don't even have a claim to Yi Ti since I have no connection to the Yellow Emperors, I'm not even Yi Tish."
"Then why challenge me?" Bu Gai wondered.
"Boredom mostly," The Sorcerer replied with a shrug. I saw vulnerability in Yi Ti and sought to exploit it."
"May I ask what this meeting is about?" Xaro Xhoan Daxos intervened.
The Sorcerer looked at him, "as you all know several territories and cities have been taken over by various parties." While this normally would not be a problem these newcomers don't seem too keen on doing business with any of you. As a result, we have all suffered deeply."
Yurkhaz Zo Yunzak nodded, "Essos hase never seen such an alliance of scum since the Band of Nine."
Nyessos Vhassar laughed bitterly, "How small you think my friend, these people make the Band of Nine look like an acting troupe."
"And it's all thanks to this Maegor Blackfyre," Grazdan Mo Ullhor spat. "Finally, a member of that decrepit family achieves success and ironically doesn't seem to have any interest in Westeros."
"He clearly smartened up," Hizdahr zo Loraq replied. "After failing five times he must have decided that we were easier meat."
"The point remains," The Sorcerer continued. "The success of this Cabal is largely thanks to their mutual cooperation. If you are to survive that you must also do the same."
"And how are we to do that?" Yurkzak asked. "We don't have the military power of the Cabal, Norvosi has a City Watch of axe-men, Astapor has Unsullied the rest of us just put spears in the hands of our slaves or hire sell swords. The only ones here with a standing army is Qarth and Yi Ti."
The Sorcerer chuckled, "you have plenty of gold and even more slaves, I suggest you use your resources to build an army. In time you will be able to build a large enough host." The members looked at each other unsure and the Sorcerer continued. Or you can go about your way of live and wait for the Cabal to pick you off little at a time.
With the threat of the Cabal looming over them, the slavers agreed to form a pact of their own. A treaty was drafted, and the Leading members sighed their names This list would be expanded as more names of masters, merchants and even mercenary companies were added to the list. Thus the Master's Collective was born.
When the Collective was formed, they immediately set out to build an army. With few customers left to them, the Masters were able to use the slaves for themselves. To this end they would plunder helpless kingdoms that were not under the influence of the Cabal. These included the Island of Naath and the Kingdom of Lhazar. With a massive fleet they launched a full-scale invasion of the island and stripped it of all its people. They set up a base here so they could drain the Islands resources. These included silk, and spiced wines.
Lhazar suffered a similar fate, the Masters brought the entirety of its people away in chains. The subjugation of Lhazar extended the territory of slavers bay and gave the control over the trade routes of the area. Slavers Bay and Lhazar was reforged into the New Ghiscari Empire. This allowed them a direct line to both Qarth and Yi Ti.
In Qarth, the Thirteen began its own grab for power. Thanks to its merging with the Stepstones Trading Company, the Tourmaline Brotherhood had been wreaking havoc on the trading guilds of Qarth. Siezing their ships and cargo for themselves and selling the goods. So far, their main target was the Ancient Guild of Spicers and as a result the Guild had lost 300 of their ships. In their weakened state, Xaro Xhoan Daxos was able to broker his own merger between the Thirteen and the Guild, He had the current leader of the Guild assassinated and replaced with a trusted lieutenant Xhanel Pral. This combined with their alliance with the Warlocks significantly increased their power and influence in Qarth.
In Slaver's Bay was expanded greatly, the Isle of Cedars and Ghaen were repopulated, and new cities were built there. The crumbling walls of Yunkai and Astapor were rebuild and properly fortified, this was nessessary now that they were now vulnerable to an attack from the Cabal. In order to strengthen their hold on the smaller cities such as Tolos, Mantarys and Elyria, they appointed some of their own people to rule over them and expanded the city limits.
The Masters also decided to change their slaving business. Businesses such as bed-slaves, pit fighters were halted to put more focus on farmers, herdsman and builders. But the most focus was put on slave solders. Astapor made the best soldiers being Unsullied but the other Masters found this to be time consuming and they needed soldiers fast. So, it was decided that Unsullied would be reserved as their elite infantry while the rest would be trained by the Grand Masters of New Ghis. Of the cities in Slaver's Bay, only New Ghis had a proper army. Many of their freedmen were trained into Iron Legions. Though inferior to Astapor's unsullied, they were far better than any of the Guards the slaver cities had. Free cities such as Elyria and Tolos also contributed to the armies. Elyria trained Crossbowmen and Tolos trained Slingers.
Every city started training their own slave soldiers. Yunkai ceased making bed slaves and started focusing on other kinds or work. The fit males were trained to be soldiers while the rest were trained as farmers and builders while women became seamstresses. Yunkai would become a second Astapor and now also trained unsullied with the aid of the Good Masters from Astapor.
The unsullied training was also altered, boys that failed in the training were simply taken into the Iron Legions as opposed to being killed and the slaying of the slave infants was also cut out. This allowed them to field more soldiers and extend their work force.
Like the slaver cities, Norvos was also expanding its slave army. Their Ruler High Priest Nero of the Bearded Priests set about training thousands of slaves into axe-men. Norvos became a powerful contender among the free cities with an army of 50,000 axe-men. Now using their army for conquest, they carved out a vast kingdom that extended beyond the hills of Norvos and stretched from the Darkwater to the Upper Royne all the way to the Axe. Their borders stopped at Braavos which had taken the hills of Andalos for its own.
Despite this vast territory gain there was still one problem, their territories were separated by the Bone Mountains. The Bone Mountains were controlled by the Patrimony of Hyrkoon. With no connections in the city the Collective decided to seize one of the passes. So, the Collective laid siege to the fortress city of Bayasabhad which would give them control of the Sand Road.
As the Collective worked to cement their own presence in Essos, the Sorcerer Lord began making plans to add one key member to his alliance. that person was a certain exiled Targaryen prince currently residing in Braavos.
The Unraveled Web
The next few years were rather uneventful as Varys and Mopatis worked to gain new allies for the Targaryens. Ser Willem Darry and the four loyalist guards were joined by Gerold Hightower, Oswell Whent and Jon Connington who were guided by Varys' Spiders. Together they helped safeguard Viserys and Danaerys in the House with the Red Door. Ser Willem would die just after the end of the Greyjoy Rebellion. It was fortunate that the Targaryens had the two kingsguard with them for Essos was about to become a dangerous place.
Another associate Myles Toyne captain of the Golden Company would die in Battle. He was supposed to be succeeded another ally, Harry Strickland. But due to his unpopularity the Serjants chose a promising newcomer claiming to be Maegor Blackfyre despite Harry being a fourth-generation member. Varys knew that it made sense since the Blackfyre cause was built on similar circumstances. Harry then left the Golden Company and was now serving the Targaryens managing what little money they had
It didn't take long for Varys to discover Maegor's true identity but didn't know what to do with the information. Telling the company was no good since Tychus was related to the Blackfyre line through marrage. If he gave the information to Stannis, he might also brush it aside due to Tychus' status as a rebel hero.
Then the Cabal was born ,and it was the actions of this group that truly made things difficult for Varys. The bloody campaign of the Cabal caused the deaths of many associates, this made finding allies rather scarce. Those that Varys was able to save such as Illyrio found themselves with significantly less power thus weakening their influence.
Varys had considered having assassins take out its members and would have done so were it not for the People the Cabal had scorned had banded together. Varys would have considered meeting with these people were if not for two factors. Most of the Collective's members were slavers, but most daunting was the fact that their leader was a skilled practitioner of magic. Varys' blood went cold at the very mention of such a person. His own experience with magic left him with a deep hatred for the practice. Still, it didn't help to have eyes within their ranks, so he sent Illyrio to the Collective to be his informant.
Already the Collective was able to conquer a substantial portion of the continent, recruiting people who might have been potantial allies. Varys watched as many flocked to pick a side joining either the Cabal or the Collective. If the Sorcerer Lord achieved absolute victory, then Varys could think of nothing worse. But one thing was perfectly plain, was was coming to Essos. Neither side was a friend to them and if they were not careful, they could find themselves caught between the two organizations.
Varys could not help but laugh at the irony that Tychus Lannister's rise to power was all partially his doing. It was he that told the Lannister Guard about Tychus' mistress. Varys knew that Tywin would have the woman killed thus turning father against son. Varys had hoped to use this hatred to turn Tychus into an ally since he expressed fascination with the Blackfyres
The guard had been unwilling to say anything about it at first fearing for his life. But Varys had promised that he would protect him. Varys to his regret was unable to fulfill the promise and the guard suffered a horrific fate. To make matters worse Varys underestimated Tychus Lannister's resolve, the last thing he expected was for the Demon of the Rock to have plans of his own.
"It seems that things aren't working out the way you had hoped my friend, Illyrio japed bitterly."
Harry Strickland shook his head, "What is the plan now Varys?"
Varys shook his head, "the best thing to do is tread lightly and Watch Tychus as best we can. I do not know what Tychus is planning but whatever it is it can't be good. An opportunity will present itself and when it does, we must be ready."
The other men nodded and drained their goblets, and Varys stared at a nearby hearth, "What are you up to Tychus. What plans do you have for Essos?"