"Silence for His Grace Joffrey of House Baratheon, the first of His name, King of the Andals, the Rhoynar and the First Men, Lord of the Seven Kingdoms and Protector of the Realm!" Proclaimed the Royal Steward before I walked out onto the steps of the Great Sept of Baelor. I sighed apprehensively as I viewed the huge crowd who was here, waiting to discover who caused what had been creatively dubbed 'the Great Fire of King's Landing.
After the fire I had ordered a 'full inquiry' into the incident. I already knew what had happened but it sounded good and therefore it was done; I tasked Lord Tarly with heading the investigation and left him to it. He overtook the interrogations of the various members of the Alchemists' Guild and whatever else he decided to look into. I wasn't worried that he would find anything that I didn't want him to and I was genuinely interested in seeing if he found anything I didn't know.
Of course the people lapped it up and why wouldn't they? They have a king that actually gives a shit that many of them died. I was surprised that they weren't used to it already but I guess that spoke wonders of what they had experienced previously. It made my blood boil.
The crowd died down and the Steward stepped back to join the members of the Small Council, the Queen Mother (as was Cersei's official title now, much to her chagrin, she had less power now after all. Though I still wouldn't want to get on her bad side too much if I couldn't hide behind my Kingly position.) Prince Tommen and Princess Myrcella were also their, at my command - it was time for them to see what the life of a royal was like, as much as I wish I could shield them from the evil of King's Landing.
I gathered my thoughts and began to talk to the gathered crowd of commoners and noblemen alike.
"A few months ago the greatest travesty to ever strike this fine city occurred. As Steward Tyrion's men worked to improve the quality of living of King's Landing one of their tools struck a barrel of wildfire. This caused the substance to ignite; immediately engulfing a large portion of the city to ignite in its demonic flame. If it were not for the work of the brave men and women, many of whom are here today, the destruction may have been much worse.
After the incident I ordered a full inquiry to determine just how something like this occurred, and yesterday my Master of Laws Lord Randyll Tarly gave me his findings on the matter. And this is why I called you all here today, so those who are responsible for such a cruel act, one that ruined the lives of thousands can be held fully responsible in front of those they wronged.
I shall now read the report compiled by Lord Tarly and his team."
I unraveled the scroll handed to me by Lord Tarly and began reading.
"This inquiry - conducted at the behest of and with the full support of His Grace Joffrey Baratheon discovered that it was the Alchemists' Guild that created the wildfire that lit aflame on the evening of the 15th day of the eighth moon of 299 AC. And after the interrogation of the members of the Guild, learned that the wildfire was brewed at the behest of King Aerys II. We discovered that the Mad King ordered the substance to be created and put in locations around the city so that if there was ever a time that the city should fall it could be burned to the ground. It is the findings of this inquiry that the destruction caused by the fire can be put mainly at the feet of the madness of the Targaryen family; specifically the Mad King Aerys II.
Moreover, this inquiry discovered that the Mad Targaryen himself ordered the ignition of the wildfire during the sack of King's Landing and that the Chief Pyromancer (Wisdom Rossart) was on his way to do just that when Ser Jaime Lannister -who had heard the insane shouts of "burn them all!" by the King, slew the Pyromancer before he could carry out his task.
This was revealed by Ser Jaime himself, who felt responsible for the fire, due to not realising exactly what the Mad King meant before he killed him -the man who had sentenced millions of innocents to death- though it is the opinion of this inquiry that Ser Jaime Lannister should bare no blame for what occurred. If anything he should be commended; if the Mad King had gotten his way then each barrel of wildfire would have been lit, rather than the fraction which exploded, causing the Great Fire.
This inquiry found that in total seven hundred and twenty three barrels of wildfire were hidden around the city. Each of these barrels have now been destroyed, under the supervision of myself Lord Randyll Tarly. Though we unfortunately cannot be sure that we have found all of the barrels and ask the people of the city to report anything suspicious to the City Watch immediately.
This inquiry discovered that only the Mad King and members of the Alchemists' Guild knew of this plot in enough detail to have been able to prevent it. Though the ring leaders of the plot (King Aerys II and the Chief Pyromancer) are deceased, it has been determined that all in all thirty six other members of the Guild knew of the plot in the detail needed to have prevented its occurrence. Of those only nine are alive at this present time. These men are currently being held in the Black Cells awaiting the King's Justice.
In conclusion, this inquiry finds that the people responsible for the Great Fire of King's Landing were: King Aerys II of House Targaryen, the Chief Pyromancer of the Alchemists' Guild and thirty six other members of this Guild. Although twenty seven of these people have died, the following men still live and shoulder responsibility for the incident:
Chief Pyromancer Brackwell
Wisdom Spenler
Wisdom Chapmyre
Wisdom Kannor
Wisdom Krey
Wisom Thaller
Wisdom Flaur
Wisdom Sentel
Wisdom Graen
These are the findings of this inquiry into the Great Fire of King's Landing. It was conducted as previously stated at the behest of His Grace Joffrey Baratheon and was conducted chiefly by myself, His Grace's Master of Laws, Lord Randyll Tarly."
I rolled the scroll of parchment back up and gave it back to Lord Tarly.
"I have decided that the findings of the inquiry are trial enough for this men and that a formal trial is not necessary. I Joffrey of the House Baratheon, the first of my name, King of the Andals, the Rhoynar and the First Men, Lord of the Seven Kingdoms and Protector of the Realm do find all thirty eight people listed by Lord Randyll guilty of murder. I hereby sentence all of the living men to a life servitude, defending this realm with the Night's Watch."
The crowd jeered slightly, obviously expecting blood to be spilt.
"While they are guilty of not reporting this crime and some of being involved somewhat I do not judge it serious enough for the death penalty."
Furthermore, men who know how to create wildfire would be a useful asset to the Night's Watch when the long night comes.
"Moreover, the Alchemists' Guild is hereby officially outlawed and the production of wildfire unless ordered by the King himself is also banned." I ordered. To a loud cheer from the crowd.
"That is all, may the Seven bless you all."
