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Team Builder
Part 41
The Red Keep. Kingslanding.
Even from inside the castle that served as the seat of power for the king of the Seven Kingdoms you could smell the overwhelming stink of this city.
It was tempting to go ignite the wildfire stashes just in the hopes that the city could be rebuilt in a way that resulted in there being a sewage system. But I wasn't willing to kill that many people.
They had no bathhouses here or any real sanitation if my nose was any judge. Sure Braavos was hardly immaculate, but at least there was some effort to clean up the garbage and get rid of all the human waste.
I felt glad that my plan to uplift the known parts of this world didn't include trying to sort this dump and it would be an uphill battle, to say the least. I might have built an army and conquered the country just so I could something about the smell
Also, I was very glad that I had no reason to come back to the Red Keep once my business here had been completed. The magisters of Braavos were bad enough, as I'd recently discovered, and the people who ran Westeros were worse.
As to what I'd come here for. That would be the Iron Throne. The seat of the king and from where I stood, the fancy chair didn't look at all practical as a throne or comfortable to sit upon.
It wasn't the show version of the throne, this was a massive mess of swords all claimed by Aegon the Conquerer and melted down by dragon's fire.
"It's so ugly" Hermione commented.
I'd brought my witch along for this trip as Kingslanding was within the range of a portkey and because she'd been working hard to get things organised for me so I'd thought it a good idea to take her out of the manse for a few hours.
Granted this wasn't exactly a sightseeing tour, but at least we were spending time together, and in my experience, Hermione did like it when I spent time with her like this.
"The story goes that the Iron Throne is made up of a thousand swords that were lain at the feet of Aegon the Conquerer when he made himself the first King of Westeros," I said. "And that they were all melted by dragon's fire. Aegon wanted a throne that would remind people of his conquest and one that he would never sit comfortably upon as a king should never rest easy".
Hermione made a very unladylike snorting noise. No one would have paid the sound any attention even if there had been anyone around to hear it thanks to the charms we had placed on us.
The Red Keep was practically deserted due to how many people had gone off to the Iron Islands to deal with the rebellion and it also helped that it was very early in the morning.
As long as we didn't do anything to draw attention to ourselves we would remain unnoticed by the spies, servants and the few members of the nobility that were here rather than spending their time sucking up to King Robert.
The only living creatures that paid us any attention were the many cats that roamed the Red Keep.
"That's stupid," she remarked "How are you supposed to render fair judgement and listen to important news if you're being poked in the bottom by half-melted swords?".
I smiled upon hearing that.
"Poking your bottom is my job" I stated.
She smiled back at me.
"The Targaryen dynasty is full of such stupidity" I commented, being serious again "They became the most powerful family in the world, and they did little with that power, at least when compared to the Valyrians of the Freehold. Westeros doesn't have any proper roads, aqueducts, or buildings that I've seen when scrying what's left of Valyria".
Centuries after the Doom and there were still bridges, towers and aqueducts standing in the ruins. Many of the homes of the Dragonlords made the Red Keep seem puny.
"Even this castle isn't more impressive than Casterly Rock, Highgarden, Stormsend, Sunspear or Winterfell," I stated.
All of which I'd seen when scrying and many of which I intended to visit.
"I'm glad you made Danny a Dovahkiin, at least in name," said Hermione "She's better off without the baggage of being a Targaryen".
You could argue that this was all hers, I doubted Viserys was going to live much longer if he kept pissing off powerful people, and since he'd stolen from me I wouldn't support his claim to anything.
I supposed that by taking the Iron Throne then I was stealing from her, but as her parent, it was my job to protect her, and the Iron Throne would always be a temptation for her.
No, it was best to be rid of it even if the throne itself wasn't really the problem, rather the issue was what it symbolised, but tearing down the power structure of the Seven Kingdoms while tempting would not aid in my mission.
"We'll come back for the throne" I declared "I want to look around first, and see if there is anything else worth taking. There should be some Targaryen property in the treasury. If it is all Danny's then she can have when she's older".
We did find a few relics of the Targaryen dynasty, such as dusty suits of black armour, that were just standing around in some corridors. Given that good steel is hard to produce and how many of work can go into making the armour it was a display of wealth to have these suits on display.
"Do you know how to animate suits of armour?" I asked my witch, "To make them work as guards?".
She stopped to give it some thought.
"I've never tried it" she admitted to me "If you give me some time I'm sure I can manage it".
After making sure the coast was clear she began shrinking and packing the armour in expanded bags we moved on. I doubted anyone would even question it when they were discovered to be gone.
While looking around we found a few small statues of dragons that must be Danny's as King Robert would never have commissioned their creation given his hatred for all things Targaryen.
We took those as well. Once we had the pocket dimension I would want to make it dragon-themed and the statues could help with that.
Before long we headed down and found the dragon skulls in the basement. They were an impressive sight and I wanted them.
"A fortune in dragon bone left to collect dust" I commented "What a waste".
You couldn't magically shrink dragon bone as even weaker and dumber versions of Dov are hard to affect with magic, so Hermione had to unshrink quite a few matchbox-sized chests and then shrink them again once they were full.
She only altered the outsides of the chests so that dragon skulls wouldn't be crushed.
"I considered just buying the skulls, but after summoning up an undead dragon that wouldn't be a good idea even if the crown was in massive debt," I said.
Even King Robert might figure out that the guy who wanted dead dragon parts might have something to do with an undead dragon.
Derp feature or not, Tywin Lannister certainly could put it together and I'd rather not get that man's attention yet as it would upset my plans.
"Let's head to the treasury," I decided.
Hermione frowned at me.
"I didn't think you'd take the money," she said "If that's tax money then it belongs to the whole of Westeros, not the royal family".
She need not worry.
"It's not the money I'm interested in," I told her.
Now that I had the support of the Magisters of Braavos thanks to that really boring dinner party that involved making a lot of promises of support and outright bribing people, I'd soon be able to start doing business in Braavos, and as such, I would have plenty of income even with people taking their cuts.
"I want to see if any of Danny's ancestors left anything that was hers by rights" I explained "The treasury on Dragonstone was empty, so it seems likely to me that the Targaryens moved most of their valuables to the Red Keep".
Getting into the treasury was easy since it was only guarded by a couple of men, who could be quickly stunned and the treasury was only secured by some mundane locks that Hermione easily dealt with.
Hermione would alter the guard's memories on the way out.
As it turned out I was at least partly correct. King Robert's spending had emptied the treasury yet so there were some coins around, but we ignored those and focused on the crowns that were sitting on the busts of past monarchs.
"The Crown of Aegon I" Hermione read out.
She took out her wand and tapped the item. The rubies glowed for a moment.
"It's a fake" she stated "That spell detects if something contains real gemstones and valuable metals. I learned it when I found out that Voldemort Horcruxes might be Founder's relics. I thought he might have placed fakes to fool people".
I couldn't recall her using this spell before. Not that she had any reason to think any of my treasure was made from worthless materials since most of it was dwarven-made. They didn't fill their treasure hordes with fakes, nor would they be fooled by them.
"It's supposed to be a circlet made of Valyrian steel, set with big square-cut rubies," I said "But this thing isn't magical at all".
I'd become sensitive to magic even if the sense didn't always work. I suspected that I would need to be an actual dragon for it to work properly.
"The rubies are real" Hermione pointed out "And if nothing else it's a nice display piece".
My witch made a magical duplicate that I knew to be worthless as it would tarnish and fade away over time, but that would take a while, and not many people came here, and it was a fake anyway so would the king even care?
We found the crown of Aenys it was made of gold, it was elaborate and larger than the crown of Aegon the First. It was inlaid in jade and pearl with the faces of the Seven gods of the Andals.
"King Aenys was clearly not a man of good taste" I commented "I could make a better crown than that".
I decided to leave it.
"The crown of Jaehaerys I," I read out.
It helped that the names were carved into the bases of the busts. As for the crown, it was a simple band, set with seven gemstones of different colours. Far more appealing to look at some of the others.
"Totally fake" informed Hermione "It's not even real gold".
And I soon recalled why this would be.
"After Rhaenyra Targaryen fled King's Landing, she sold the crown to buy passage on a Braavosi merchant ship," I told Hermione, "One of the Magisters I spoke with at the dinner party mentioned that it is part of his collection and he offered to trade it if I any Valyarian treasures I was willing to part with".
Hermione was thinking again.
"She was the first ruling Queen of Westeros if I recall the history I've been putting together for Danny's education," said Hermione "She a good example of how barbaric the Seven Kingdoms really are. So many people couldn't accept being ruled by a woman. How backwards".
I couldn't argue with that. By my time Great Britain had been ruled by a few queens, two Elizabeths and Victoria, even if the second Elizabeth was a figurehead, and we'd had two female Prime Ministers in my lifetime. Even the wizarding world had a few females Minsters of Magic.
"Are you going to buy the crown the magister offered?" I was asked.
I nodded my head.
"My plan is to offer some weapons from Skyrim for the crown since they won't be too expensive," I told her "I want Danny to have it even if she'll never be a queen she's still a princess and the last dragonlord. Unless Jon Snow is Lyanna's Stark son in this timeline and can ride a dragon"
We soon found the Crown of Aegon III
which was a simple circlet, unornamented, and real so I took it. Hermione made another magical duplicate.
The Crown of Aegon IV was huge and heavy, each of its points a dragon head with gemstones for eyes. It was Aegon the Unworthy's so I left it. That king wasn't worth remembering.
"All the rest are fakes" informed Hermione as we inspected the crowns of less well-known kings and queens "I wonder where they went?".
No doubt they were hidden away in some vault. Most of the rings and such in here were fake as well.
"There's not much in here that's real" my witch commented.
Yes, it was disappointing considering the Targaryen Dynasty had been nearly three centuries old.
"In the show, Eddard Stark mentions that after the Targaryens were ousted that the Mad King left the treasury overflowing with gold. King Robert squandered away on parties, jousting, whores, and feasts, but he's only been king for half a decade".
I wondered if anyone raided the treasury when Kingslanding was sacked by Tywin Lannister's army,.
Who had commissioned all of these fakes? It couldn't be Littlefinger as he was still a tax collector in Gulltown. Perhaps I'd find out one day.
"It doesn't matter" I was now saying "We came here to acquire a few things for Danny and I know where Dark Sister is so I can at least recover that for her".
That was when I noticed something. A dagger made of Valyrian steel with a dragonbone handle. A rather infamous dagger that for now was just sitting around. In the books and show it would change hands a number of times.
"Now this is a treasure" I stated "Danny should have it, but I want it and I can give her something of equal value in exchange".
I could make her a taira or something equally girly from mithril and gold.
With no more reason to stay here, we headed out. Hermione modified the guard's memories and made sure that were hidden.
"Can we loot the library?" Hermione asked, "I mean those books are Danny's as well and she won't mind me borrowing them, and her education would benefit from them".
It amused me that my witch had at least partly embraced my looting ways.
"No," I said, "Those books are needed to run Westeros".
At the very least one of them plays a role in Eddard Stark uncovering the fact that the queen's children aren't King Robert's offspring.
"We can go into the city" I offered "Kingslanding must have at least one book store".
That cheered her up and soon we headed for the throne room so that I could claim the Iron Throne and gain another point.
Team Builder
Part 42
The Dragonpit. Kingslanding.
Hermione and I didn't leave the city as soon as we'd located a bookstore, spending another small fortune on books, as I'd planned.
Instead, we decided to do a little sightseeing now since we were here and the city seemed peaceful despite my very recent theft of the Iron Throne, and looting of the treasury.
I assumed that the queen had ordered that the news be kept quiet and she'd likely gotten the Keep locked down in an attempt to trap any thieves. It wasn't as if anyone could have carried the throne out of the castle it was too big.
No doubt the evil queen would punish someone for my actions, but I didn't feel bad about that as I am not responsible for other people doing cruel things.
Despite that, it might be for the best if I had the queen killed or handled her myself, given that I knew what she was capable of doing and what she had already done.
Perhaps I should do something about her children as well. It was something to consider and add to my to-do list. For now, I had my attention on something else.
Up on Rhaenys's Hill. you could find the blackened walls of the Dragonpit, its huge dome had long since collapsed, and the place was now just a ruin, a mere reminder of what it had been.
It was avoided by the denizens of the city, something Hermione and I discovered in person when we ventured into the Dragonpit. Perhaps they believed it to be haunted.
In the past, The Dragonpit had been a huge, cavernous building that sat atop the Hill of Rhaenys here in King's Landing. It was once a home for the dragons of House Targaryen, but by this time it has been abandoned for a century and a half.
Despite it having been one of the largest buildings in the city it is believed by some that the confines of the Dragonpit restricted the growth of dragons kept within. More than one Maester had expressed that opinion in a history book.
Given that two of Danny's dragons in the show were locked up and one wasn't, and the dragon allowed to fly free was larger than its siblings, if I remembered correctly, then there seemed to be some factual evidence to back up that theory.
This was in fact why I wanted to keep the dragons I planned to hatch in a pocket dimension so that they wouldn't have to be hidden away and could have room to grow.
I'd likely have to pay to expand the pocket dimension when they got older so that they would have room to fly around, but it would be worthwhile and by the time they were large enough to need the space I'd have plenty more points to spend as I'd be exploring a new world.
According to a book about Kinglanding that I'd just purchased, back in 129 AC at the start of the Dance of the Dragons, King Aegon II Targaryen was crowned in the Dragonpit. According to the author of the book, more than a hundred thousand smallfolk were jammed into the building.
Being here myself I didn't think you could have crammed quite that many people into the Dragonpit but it certainly could have seated a very large audience.
When Rhaenyra Targaryen ruled the city, the Dragonpit housed nine dragons: Caraxes, Vermithor, Silverwing, and Sheepstealer (that name I found very amusing) as well as Shrykos, Morghul, Tyraxes, and Dreamfyre. It must have been quite the site to see so many dragons.
During that time the Dragonpit became the site of executions of traitors, rebels and murderers. For the price of three pennies, the people of the city were allowed to watch criminals be beheaded and their corpses fed to Rhaenyra's dragons.
That sounded very gruesome, and it must have been like the Roman gladiatorial games, I wondered if there had been any snack sellers at those events.
By 130 AC, it had become the custom that at least one dragonrider must reside in the Dragonpit, to rise to the defence of the city should this be necessary as back during the Targaryen civil war, known as the Dance of the Dragons, a few Dragonriders fought against each other.
Near the end of Rhaenyra's hold over the city, the five dragons that remained in the city were killed during the Storming of the Dragonpit, when tens of thousands of crazed and starving smallfolk led by a figure known as the Shepherd, stormed the Dragonpit to kill the dragons.
All four dragons inside the pit, including Rhaenyra's own Syrax, were killed in the struggle, as well as thousands of smallfolk who were burned, clawed and eaten by the dragons.
According to the book the heads of the five slain dragons were displayed to the public and the Shepherd preached while standing between the skulls of the dragons.
This Shepard fellow reminded me a little of the High Sparrow character in the show. Anyone who could stir up a crowd of thousands of people, turn them into a mob and then aim that a target was a very dangerous person.
Two days after Lord Borros Baratheon reclaimed the Red Keep in the name of King Aegon II, the Shepherd was arrested amidst the ruins of the Dragonpit.
After Aegon II returned to the city, he commanded the Dragonpit to be restored and rebuilt. Whomever he sent to oversee that work hadn't done a good job.
While putting together the history of the Targaryen Dynasty was important for Danny's education, at least according to Hermione, I'd come here for a purpose beyond mere sightseeing.
While it seemed unlikely I was hoping to find some dragon bone left behind, and there could be some wildfire around here. I should at least confirm the location of the stash before leaving.
I had no intention of securing any wildfire until I had my pocket dimension and a bunker built within that hidden space.
That seem foolish in the extreme given that I'd have a house in the place as well as dragons, however, the stashes had been here in a busy city for years without anyone setting them off.
Plus the bunker I planned to build would be very secure and sturdy, and I only planned to acquire enough of the substance to study as an alchemist. I wasn't planning on blowing up any churches. I'm not Cersei Lannister.
"According to this book, Lamentation, a famed Valyrian steel sword which belonged to House Royce was lost when the smallfolk killed the dragons here" I was currently saying to Hermione "Ser Willam Royce wielded the blade during the Dance of the Dragons. The sword was torn from the hand of Willam, however, when he was killed during the Ride of the Seven. With Willam's death, the sword was carried off, never to be found again".
The book stated that it was most likely traded between the smallfolk until it ended up being lost or sold to some foreign merchant, however, according to my special map the sword was here. Dragon bone could wait. I wanted that sword.
"Why wouldn't House Royce come looking for their sword?" questioned Hermione "Aren't they supposed to be very rare and extremely valuable?".
They were worth having even for someone like me, a person who can make their own magical weapons. Valyrian steel blades are lighter, stronger, harder, and sharper than even the best swords made here in Westeros.
"Yes," I answered "And House Royce still exists. House Royce of Runestone is an old and powerful noble house of the Vale, sworn to House Arryn. Their seat is the castle Runestone, located on the coast of the narrow sea north of Gulltown according to the map".
I really did love my magical map. Best three points I ever spent.
"They must have sent someone to look, but this a big place and it's probably not that stable" I reasoned.
My magical map helped me find things and people, without that I'd have needed clear the entire hill to be sure of finding Lamentation.
"It's under all that rubble," I informed my witch, pointing to the location of the sword.
I could see why none one had stumbled across it. There had been little in the way of restoration work no matter what any king may have ordered.
"We better get to work," I said
I was about to start using my magic to move the rubble, and hopefully avoid having more of the place collapse, when Hermione stopped me.
"No, just keep watch," instructed the former Hogwarts student. "I'll clear up".
Hermione took out her wand and began to slowly move it. As she did bits of rubble began to move, returning to their proper place, and it was like I was watching this part of the Dragonpit collapsing only in reverse.
It eas much like that seen in the first Fantastic Beasts movie when the wizards start undoing all the damage undone by the Credence Barebones, only on a much smaller scale.
Her magic only restored a small part of the Dragonpit and given the size of the place fixing it all up could have taken hours, but she was able to clear the rubble for me with little effort.
Once she was done I saw the remains of a man who'd been wearing armour, and the skeleton was holding onto a sword.
"Oh you are so getting to visit another bookstore today," I told Hermione.
We might as well Portkey home, rest for a while, and then have Ciri take us to Oldtown. Hermione had been hinting about visiting the Citadel and trying to claim some of the texts on magic the Maesters ordered.
"I hope no one saw that," she remarked.
Ignoring the body I went over and picked up the sword.
"Yep, it's Valyrian steel," I said.
I fully intended to take the weapon for myself. Hermione had a different opinion on the matter.
"House Royce will be happy to have it returned to them," she said.
I'd not considered simply returning the sword to its rightful owners and my witch picked up on that she knew me well.
"Didn't we come here and take the Targaryen crowns because they belong to Danny?" she rhetorically asked, "Ciri keeping Nightfall was okay because you took it from people who were using that sword to go on raids. House Royce hasn't done anything wrong".
Given that they were a noble house of Westeros it was safe to assume they'd done quite a few morally questionable things, but Hermione had a point, and I could see a practical reason for returning the sword despite my strong desire to keep it.
"I suppose that if I were to send a message to the current Lord Royce about having purchased the sword in some trade deal and mention I want to return it, that would put House Royce in debt to me" I mused "It could spread my reputation around Westeros as well, if I could just return a Valyrian steel sword and ask for nothing in return it will get me noticed".
That sort of attention isn't always a good thing, but if I was going to uplift this world then I needed connections with the people in power, and a friendship with House Royce could be the start of that.
If they were near Gulltown they should have some influence over that port city that could lead to easier trade in the future. They would just be returning a favour.
"See, being good can have benefits" Hermione teased.
Given that both evildoers and heroes often end up having rather miserable lives, I preferred to live my life in shades of grey.
"Besides there's bound to be a few more Valyrian steel swords you can claim," said Hermione.
That was true. According to one of the books I'd read there was even a Valyrian steel arakh being carried by a Screamer in one of the Dothraki hordes. Perhaps I would steal that weapon and add it to my treasures.
Hermione transfigured the skeleton of Ser Willam Royce and made me promise to bury him somewhere. I couldn't return his body to the Royces without them asking a lot of questions so he would have to make do with an unmarked grave.
We also located the wildfire and while Hermione wasn't happy about just leaving it here she understood that it would be foolish to try moving such a dangerous substance and the local authorities couldn't be trusted with the stuff.
"Let's head home and I'll write a message for the Royces," I said.
It would be better to leave the sword with the Iron Bank rather than risk having someone try to reclaim the sword from me directly by attacking my manse or risk a thief stealing it from me, if done through the bank everyone involved would be safer.
Once the portkey had transferred to my garden in the manse back in Braavos I was approached by one of my plain-looking maids.
I'd not learned all of their names as I had trouble remembering them all, but they were totally loyal to me and willing to do whatever I told them to, and that was what mattered.
"Sir, a letter was delivered just now," said the maid "I was told to make sure I gave it directly to you".
I could smell perfume and the letter was sealed with wax. Braavos wasn't as backwards as Westeros, a lot more people here could read than in the Seven Kingdoms, but only the wealthy would waste perfume on a letter, and it was good perfume judging by the smell.
The seal was unknown to me as I'd not been in communication with the elite of Braavos for long, and there was a small lump inside the letter. This alarmed me a little at first, but it was too solid to be a powder that was deadly on contact with the skin.
"How intriguing" I muttered.
I opened up the correspondence and found a black pearl. Not an expensive thing to send for a wealthy person such as myself as pearls were common here in Braavos, but it being black gave me a clue as to who the message was from.
"What does it say?" Hermione asked.
I had no idea as it was in some variation of High Valyrian which I'd seen in some of the books we'd purchased from sellers here in this city.
The Free Cities, other than Braavos were, outposts of Valyria and the old Ghis Empire, as such many Essos languages are descended from the speech of those peoples just as European languages trace their roots back to ancient Greece and Rome.
We all spoke the common tongue, which anyone watching the show hears as English, and it gets translated automatically by some feature of the CYOA. However, that only applies to the commonly used language so I didn't know what it said.
"I don't know" I admitted "But I know it's from the
Courtesan called the Black Pearl. It seems likely that she's trying to get my attention".
She must have heard about the dinner party I held. By now rumours of my wealth would have spread all over the city-state and I was favoured by the Iron Bank. That could be enough for a Courtesan to think it worthwhile to meet me.
"You have Ciri and me as consorts" stated Hermione "Maids and guards who will have sex with, why would you care about a courtesan?".
She didn't sound as if she was judging me her tone was one of curiosity.
"Courtesans have a lot of influence, they are like very famous celebrities," I told Hermione "Making one or more of them an ally could help my business interests a lot. At the very least I need to make sure I don't make an enemy of them".
My witch saw the logic in this.
"So no trip to Oldtown?" she asked.
She'd need not be disappointed.
"No, we're are still going" I assured her "If I rush off to see her it will give the impression that I'm at her beck and call. I'll make her wait a couple of days and then send her a gift. And I need someone who can read this letter before I do anything more than that".
It was time to go find Ciri so she could transport us to Oldtown.
Team Builder
Part 43
Oldtown. The Reach.
The Citadel was not a single place, rather it was a university-like complex made up of buildings built along both banks of the Honeywine River.
This made sense as the river was what Oldtown had been built around, because not only was it a source of water, but it also allowed people to sail into the city and upstream of here a great of agriculture was performed.
Boats laden with harvested crops could be sent downriver and then loaded onto ships before being transported to other parts of the Seven Kingdoms or used to feed the large population of the city.
Like in Braavos, there were a number of small islands here that had been built upon and the different islands were linked together by bridges. These bridges also allowed people to easily cross the river.
I didn't think the Citadel was as fancy as some of the universities back on my version of Earth if only because of the lack of technology, and having only male students detracted from it could have been.
Still, even if the headquarters of the Order of the Maesters wasn't as impressive as the books suggested, Oldtown was at least much more pleasant to visit than Kingslanding.
The city had a large population and it seemed crowded, yet it smelt better than Kingslanding and was more attractive to look at. Even the peasants seemed happier.
While sightseeing was interesting it wasn't why we'd come to this city. We needed to go to the Citadel if only to acquire a black candle, as that item was a collectable and obtaining one would get me a point to spend.
This place was important because I knew that the Order of Maesters exhibited a huge deal of influence all over the seven kingdoms. Nearly every castle and keep here in Westeros had a maester within its walls who acted as an adviser and most likely spied on the lords they served.
The ruling council of The Citadel was called the Conclave, a group composed of archmaesters. They elect the new Grand Maester, who serves on the Small Council, after the passing of the old, they decide on Citadel policies, attend to the administration of the Citadel, and oversee the training of new recruits.
From what I understood The Conclave also appoints the Seneschal, the maester who has to run the bureaucracy of the Citadel on a day-to-day basis. We might need to seek out the Seneschal in order to meet with the Archmaester who studied magical mysteries.
I suspected that a generous donation to the Order of the Maesters would help me greatly with obtaining an appointment with Archmaester I wished to speak with if only because he'd be able to get me a black candle.
If there was anyone at the Citadel who could help us to find books on the subject of magic then it would be Marwyn the Mage and I hoped that we would be able to make a deal.
Marwyn the Mage was a bit of a joke to some given that the Citadel's official policy was that magic had gone from the world, but you don't become an Archmaester without a lot of effort and study.
Much like the professors in a university faculty, each of the archmaesters is the foremost expert in a specific field, such as the archmaester of medicine or the archmaester of economics, and so on.
The maesters crafted individual links composed of various metals to signify their fields of expertise. There were 16 recognised fields within the Citadel that I knew about, each with a different metal chain to recognise some mastery of that field.
While the Citadel focused on scientific matters and greatly disdained magic I could have flourished here i figured since I had a 21st-century education and therefore a good scientific understanding of the world.
I figured that I could have earned a chain of my own in very little time even without the book that contained all of the knowledge of my world.
Although I might have some trouble with the Archmaesters because my knowledge in some areas would be beyond theirs and they would not accept someone coming along and challenging their expertise in the fields of knowledge they claimed mastery over.
The Citadel's disdain for magic and girls was unfortunate as I knew that Hermione wanted to take some time to study the magic of this world even if I knew she'd learn little at least when compared to what we'd learned from the elves.
Perhaps they had some theoretical knowledge of the arcane arts within their vast library that she could have spent time studying as a guest of the Citadel.
I deemed it worth trying to acquire this knowledge regardless of the Citadel's sexist policies since it hadn't taken us much effort to get here thanks to Ciri and with the proper use of magic, no one here should even remember our visit.
Upon my entry into the Citadel, I found one of the so-called Knights of Knowledge who did not look at all pleased to see me, not when he looked up from his desk and saw the two women at my side.
I was about to offer a bribe and ask for an appointment with Archmaester Marwyn as planned when one of the Maesters came running over to my small group. His chain made a rattling noise as he moved with haste.
"It must be you," he said.
I didn't understand what he meant. He couldn't possibly know any of us. Even if he had some magical way of spying on people such methods wouldn't have worked on us.
"It is truly a pleasure to have you here," said the old man who came over to greet me. "I am Archmaester Marwyn known as Marwyn the Mage".
The robed man wasn't as elderly as he first appeared and given the pace that he moved he seemed to be in better shape than you'd expect for someone who spent their lives with their noses in books.
"Please follow me" the robed person then said.
If nothing else I felt intrigued so I followed the man to his office and as soon as I entered the four candles, three black and one green, suddenly lit themselves. Marwyn was amazed. It took him a while to recover from the sight.
I didn't know why that happened or which one of us caused the candles to react like that. Perhaps having all three of us in the same place made us detectable in some way. Worrying if true since we were supposed to be hidden from magical detection.
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The candles must be sensitive to those with magic. They hadn't predicted my movements or tracked me, they'd just reacted to mine or our presence, or perhaps it was the result of me carrying the Dragon Ring of Power.
Could it be detected despite the ring being a part of myself, at least in a spiritual sense?
This actually wasn't very concerning since the candles must not have lit up until we entered the Citadel. The Archmaester had then put them out when he realised that someone magically powerful had arrived.
The candles were very rare. I only knew about the four of them and other methods of scrying in this world, such as looking into flames, shouldn't get passed my defences.
"In all the time have been the Archmaester of Magic here in The Citadel and no one other than myself could even make one of the candles light up, not until the island of Dragonstone was destroyed," the Archmaester told us "These candles were brought to the Citadel from Valyria many years before the Doom of Valyria, and for the first time since the Doom they are lighting up again".
The candles were tall and twisted things with sharp edges, they gave off an unpleasantly bright light and they played tricks with shadows on the wall. If they were for scrying, then I'd stick with the eleven methods that I'd been taught.
"It is claimed that when the glass candles burn the sorcerers who stare into the flames can see across mountains, seas and deserts, give men visions and see into their dreams. If two sorcerers had candles they could even communicate with each other regardless of the distances involved" I was then informed.
Given that Hermione had made magical mirrors that allowed for real-time communication across Middle Earth it wouldn't shock me to discover that the Valyrians had figured out how to use magic that way.
"The night before an acolyte of the Citadel says his vows, he must stand a vigil in a vault with nothing but a black candle and no other light is permitted" we were now being told, "He must spend the night in darkness unless he can light one of the candles".
Yes, I'd heard of that tradition. Maester Luwin mentions it to Bran when they discuss magic.
"According to my peers, this ritual is done to show that even with all the knowledge one has acquired here at the Citadel, there are still some impossible things," said the Archmaester "The truth is however that it is an old test to discover if a person has a magical talent, you three lit all of them just by entering the room without using even a drop of blood. Are you all mages?".
At this point, I started contemplating whether to destroy the Archmaester or not. That whole anti-magic agenda might be a real thing and I didn't want the Maesters coming after me.
"The other archmaesters must not know!" he then said.
I was taken aback by the seriousness in his tone of voice. None of us had even spoken and he seemed convinced that we are all mages.
"Why shouldn't they know?" I wondered.
I had no plans to let them find out I just wanted to know why this old man was so adamant about it. He seemed very worried.
"You may have heard of the Citadel's disdain for magic and the Higher Mysteries, what we call magic" the Archmaester answered "However, the truth is that most Maesters distrust magic and have done so ever since our rivalry with the Alchemist's Guild first started".
I heard Hermione mutter something. I didn't know what she whispered, but I felt sure it had something to do with her disliking of the Maester. She was offended by their efforts or limit knowledge to men they found acceptable as recruits and the social elite they were supposed to serve.
"It has turned from irrational fear to an effort to destroy anything magical so as to turn the world into a place that fits their vision of what is right," the robed man was now saying "I suspect that the Dance of the Dragons and even the death of the last Targaryen dragons were at least in part due to the machinations of the Citadel. They might have even played a role in the disaster at Summerhall when one of the Targaryen kings tried to hatch dragons"
Yes, I'd read about such theories online, and there was likely some truth to them. Mostly I put it all down to Targaryen inbreeding and stupidity.
"So you must understand the severity of the situation and the need for secrecy between us," said the Archmaster.
Was he suggesting some sort of alliance?
"Us?" I asked
The old man smiled.
"You're going to teach me a great deal, more than I'll ever learn alone" he replied.
I had no intention of doing that. For starters I couldn't, I didn't even know that much about how magic worked for other people. The best I could do for him was to supply him with enchanted items to increase his own power.
Then I considered that if Hermione and I wanted to learn more magic (Ciri was interested in other things) then he might be of aid to us. Perhaps I should agree to some sort of exchange. A lesser ring of power would be a great boon for this man.
"What can you offer me?" I asked.
The old man smiled and opened a cupboard.
"I have in my years here carefully copied every word about magic I could find into these, and I have even gathered bits of information from outside sources and made careful notes" he explained, "In exchange for your knowledge, I will happily give you these texts. I have several copies of each book stored away".
They were just a few heavy leather-bound tomes, but could already feel Hermione's urge to go over and inspect them.
"Shadowbinders, Shapechangers, Skinchangers, Dragons, Warlocks" the man was now saying "Knowledge of them all is here".
For this world, these books were basically the mother load of magical knowledge.
"In exchange for these books and one of those candles I will supply you with some magical items of my own" I offered.
It was a deal he eagerly accepted and I felt that I'd gotten the better part of the deal even as I reached into my pouch of holding for some of the magical trinkets I'd gotten from the Daedric Merchant.
I'd purchased some enchanted rings and amulets, from that creature that I had little use for myself since I could make better stuff and the enchantments were weak enough to go unnoticed.
He wasn't even asking for anything concrete and it wasn't as if he could expose me because he had no idea who any of us were.
He would find out and then we'd need to make use of magical vows. Those vows combined with us being the only group who could supply the Archmaester with what he desired, should keep him from exposing us.
And if it didn't, well the Order of the Maesters could always replace the Archmaesters if I had to kill them all. I didn't even think Hermione would complain if I did due to how much she loathed how the Citadel was run.
Team Builder
Part 44
Three-Eyed Raven's Cave. North of the Wall.
Ciri almost effortlessly transported me near to the Weirwood tree here in the far north that looked to be the only living thing within hundreds of miles of where I stood.
This wasn't the case, but before we did meet anyone living we were set upon by a small army of wights and one of the White Walkers who might be some form of undead.
I'd not seen the creature in my scrying when scouting out this location, so I was surprised when we came under attack by a small army of wights that were being overseen by a Walker.
How they could know we'd be here I didn't know and this wasn't the time to speculate. This was a time for action.
"I'll deal with the Necromancer!" yelled out Ciri.
While I would like to see if Stormbreaker could slay one of the Others it made sense for her to after the Walker as we knew her Valyrian steel sword Nightfall could slay one. and she was more mobile than me.
Due to Ciri teleporting around the wights couldn't get at her and they decided to focus on me. That proved to be a mistake as they came at me in a group. My Witcher companion beat me with agility and speed, but I had superior destructive force.
"Yol Toor!"
The Shout washed over the wights, setting them on fire, and the mere touch of flames was enough to end whatever foul magic that animated the corpses of men, women, children, and even some animals.
Those few wights that didn't burn soon collapsed when Ciri slew the Walker with a single blow. There was no one left to direct the dead, but I burned what remained with fire just to be on the safe side.
"These Walkers aren't that big of a deal" commented Ciri when she rejoined me "This ambush was poorly planned".
I gave the matter some thought.
"This wasn't an ambush for us" I deduced "That Walker was here for another reason"
I took a moment just to wonder why Ciri had gone to the trouble of putting on an outfit with fur as part of it if she was going to keep exposing so much skin. Even warming charms can only do so much.
This was something to discuss later as someone who was hopefully non-hostile was currently heading our way. No, wait there were several figures coming towards us they were almost Hobbit-like in their ability to move around unseen.
"They remind me of godlings" commented Ciri.
In her world, Godlings are woodland creatures dwelling in burrows and moss-covered hollow stumps on the outskirts of human settlements. They are similar to children in terms of behaviour and appearance, and, like children, they delight in causing mischief and playing games.
However, they also watch over people as well as animals and being shy they try to do so while remaining unseen. This makes them seem like tricksters, but they aren't cruel, if anything they are kind creatures.
Godlings are drawn to joy and innocence, and so delight in the company of children and usually only show themselves to the young. I wondered how many imaginary friends in Ciri's world were actually Godlings.
Soon we were greeted by several of the Children of the Forest. I assumed that they were guarding the cave and those within it. There were not many of them left by this time from what I knew.
"I'm here to speak with the Greenseer" I mentioned.
He wouldn't get many visitors out here, so I wasn't going to need an appointment.
We were invited into the tunnels and as we headed inside the witcher began to gather information on this race.
"Why are there so few of you?" Ciri asked.
That was an awkward question I sensed. The Child of the Forest had just mentioned that the last of his or her race dwelled here.
"They have gone down into the earth," one of them told Ciri "Into the stones, into the trees. Before the First Men came all this land called Westeros was home to us, yet even in those days, we were few. The gods gave us long lives but not great numbers, lest we overrun the world as deer will overrun a wood where there are no wolves to hunt them".
"That was in the dawn of days when our sun was rising. Now it sinks, and this is our long dwindling" the alien creature went on to say "The giants are almost gone as well, they were our bane and our brothers. The great lions of the western hills have been slain, the unicorns are all but gone, and the mammoths are down to a few hundred. The Direwolves will outlast us all, but their time will come as well. In the world that men have made, there is no room for them, or for us".
That was sad and what made it feel worse was that I could do nothing about it. For all my power I was not a god. Not that I dwelt on this for long as I needed to focus on the things I could do.
The one who spoke to us must be Leaf she looked somewhat familiar to me so I must have seen her in the show. She did seem a little alien to my senses.
But I was used to non-humans having spent time with elves and dwarves, I'd even been around a number of orcs for a short time and I'd ridden a giant eagle.
Compared to the White Walkers, she was not at all threatening.
"Yet there is hope we will linger for a while longer now," Leaf said.
We headed deeper inside the cave and we ended up stepping over a worrying amount of bones. A lot of which looked to have come from humans.
"We're not going to end up joining these piles are we?"
Ciri wondered.
I didn't think that we were in any danger.
"These men came here to harm us" Leaf explained "The animals we hunted".
Soon there was a change of topic.
"The Greenseer did not see you coming" Leaf was now saying "Yet he has seen how you have altered the song".
My group couldn't be magically spied upon, however, it made sense that our actions would make ripples that could be detected. There was no way the Greenseer could have missed the island of Dragonstone being lost to a volcano.
"We have little strength left, but we will help you if we can" offered the alien being.
That was nice of them. I'd praise them for it if not for the fact that this was their mess I was trying to clean up. I felt sure that the fucked up seasons were a byproduct of their creating the Night King.
If making the Walkers had created some sort of imbalance in the world that affected more than the weather, then it could explain why so many of the people here seemed to be even crueller than was normal for humans.
Sure a cruel world makes for cruel people, yet the sheer amount of evil shit being done by humans to each other seemed insane to me.
"I'm sure we can work together," I said diplomatically.
They may have fucked up the world by making Ice Demon Necromancers, but there was no sense in being mean about it.
"And what are your names?" Ciri asked the Children of the Forest who escorted us.
Leaf introduced himself or herself before gesturing to the others, she/he introduced them as Twig and Branch before falling silent again. I had to shake my head at the silliness of those names. The Child of the Forest had just made those names up on the spot I just knew it.
Soon we arrived at the Three-Eyed Raven's cave. He didn't bother with introductions. Manners seemed to be in short supply north of the Wall. Mind you everything other than snow was in short supply around here.
"Why have you come here?" the old man asked.
No small talk either it seemed.
"I've come seeking knowledge and to form an alliance" I answered.
No sense beating around the bush.
"Just a few things," I said, "To start with why do the White Walkers take Craster's sons?".
That part of the show had always bothered me. What was special about Craster? Why take his sons? There were lots of people in this part of the world despite the conditions so no shortage of male babies.
There never seemed to be a lot of Walkers either. At least not in one place so perhaps the Night King couldn't convert just any old human baby into one of his minions.
"Craster is Aemon Targaryen's bastard son. Aemon fell for a wildling's charms once" I was told, "Craster is the blood of the dragon, although diluted, as are his sons".
That was not the answer I'd been expecting. Although it would explain the incest. The Targaryen men seemed to enjoy impregnating their relatives. As for Maester Aemon, well that did explain why he didn't judge Samwell for Gilly, or Jon for that red-headed wilding. And he hadn't always been old.
But Targaryens were aligned with fire, not ice, how did the Night King subvert that? Something I would enquire about later if the Greenseer and I could come to an understanding.
"Not of all his sons survived being transformed, some died in the cold before one of the Others could get to him" I was now being told, "Should the Night King be destroyed they will be no threat".
I wasn't worried about taking on the Walkers much. They weren't that hard to kill if only faced one and had the right weapon for the job. Samwell Tarly proved that.
"What plan have you devised to defeat the Others?" the Greenseer asked me.
There was no sense in not sharing information if I wanted this man's trust. I didn't think that Bloodraven had any influence outside of Westeros and he couldn't work against me directly since I was beyond his power.
However, he could hinder me somewhat if he could influence events here in Westeros, and I did need to make allies in the Seven Kingdoms in order to bring about an uplift.
Besides, it would benefit me if Bloodraven and I could come to an understanding so that we could share information.
I wouldn't mind doing the Greenseer a few favours if meant he could keep informed about important matters going on here in Westeros.
"Like you, I have the ability to see far-off places" I explained "If you're aware of what happened at Craster's Keep then you know we can slay the Walkers. We can track them and kill them one at a time if needs be. Once we have thinned their numbers I plan to go after the Night King".
I would need more forces than I had now to be sure of victory. I might end up spending a point so as to gain more immortal warriors to command or have Hermione enchant suits of armour that I forged.
"Stranger," said the Greenseer "I must tell you that your actions have stirred up accent powers, making me feel stronger. You will find something similar has happened with the Others, your actions have strengthened them as well. They are moving south sooner than I foresaw".
This was bad news because Mance Ryder was years away from uniting the Free Folk. As separate tribes, they'd be even easier to defeat and every slain Wildling would become another wight in the army of the dead.
"Then we'll need to work together," I stated.
We would have to strike at the Nigth King sooner than I'd planned for. I could start to prepare for that when I returned to Braavos.
To help cement an alliance against our mutual enemy I presented a lesser ring of power to the Greenseer.
"I have ways of increasing your talents," I told the man who I thought of as Lord Bloodraven
Rings of Power, even the lesser ones, have an appeal about them, and the Ring of the Seer as I called this ring, was made from gold and mithril. The Greenseer was grateful for this gift.
"I have other trinkets that can aid you in your work" I mentioned "If you agree to work together I will supply you with them".
One of the Children brought forth a sword made from Valyrian steel, it was Dark Sister, the sword I'd come here to trade for. There had been no need to request it, the Greenseer only one thing worthwhile in trade for what I was offering.
Perhaps the Three-Eyed Raven knew how to create the steel since he could find out pretty much anything he wanted to learn from the history of Westeros. But forging the steel was something that would have happened in Essos so maybe not.
"Don't you need it?" Ciri asked our hosts.
"Metal does not sing to us," said the alien creature.
The Child of the Forest who'd brought me the sword handed the weapon to me and backed away. In return, I had brought out some trinkets from my pouch of holding.
"Once I did wield that blade, but I am too old to do battle," said Lord Bloodraven.
I'd spent quite a bit of my gold on minor magical items from Skyrim so I would have plenty to trade with the Greenseer as I had done with the Archmage. It was worth the cost to forge these alliances.
I wondered if these enchanted items would add to the power of this place and help the Children of the Forest keep this place free of the dead.
That would be something else I would need to enquire about. But first I needed to learn more about what I might face should I go after the Night King before he left his home and came south.
Team Builder
Part 45
Manse. Braavos.
Now that I'd started making more allies over in Westeros, and with the White Walkers having been weakened enough for now, I needed to devote some of my time to the uplift.
It was all well and good going around gathering knowledge and the collectables, but I was never going to be able to leave this world for the next if I didn't start introducing some advancements.
Aside from leaving a legacy equal to that of forging the New Rings of Power, I needed to uplift the known world. Not an easy task.
Sure I wasn't in any real rush as there was still plenty of this world I'd like to explore, but I also had the desire to gain more points, which meant completing my missions, and this wasn't the dimension I wanted to settle down in.
To this end I'd recently started spending quite a lot of time in my study/workshop I started to bring together some elements of my plans for the uplift.
My focus this afternoon was on sailing vessels and so I had called Asha Greyjoy to my study/workshop, or rather Yara as she was just going by that name now as it wasn't wise to use the Greyjoy name given how many people that family had pissed off during their recent rebellion.
Aside from the rebellion issue I didn't want anyone to associate me with the Greyjoys as their bad reputation aside, I had to ensure that no one thought that I could have in any way been involved with what happened at the end of the rebellion.
As for Yara, she didn't much care what happened to her family as she had little love for any of them other than an uncle on her mother's side, who was still alive, and Theon who I had ensured would be raised in a somewhat wealthy home thanks to Hermione doing a little mental manipulation.
Normally my witch wouldn't do that sort of thing, but since it involved making sure an orphan got a nice home she hadn't protested at all about carrying out my commands.
On the desk, before Yara (who had simply taste in clothing I'd noticed) and me were some designs for wooden sailing vessels that had been common in my world once you got past the late medieval era.
While I had no desire to help industrialise this world like I had read about in some stories, since Braavos was a city-state that projected power via its ships using military might and trade, it made sense to give them seagoing vessels from the Age of Sail.
I had been thinking more along the line of introducing the Renaissance, but Braavos seemed to be at an early stage of the Renaissance already, at least in some areas, so I figured I'd need to do more than I'd planned at first.
Currently, Braavos made great use of war galleys that are propelled by sail or oar power and are used for warfare, trade, and sometimes piracy or for dealing with pirates.
Their large rower crew makes them manoeuvrable and swift but they also require frequent stops so that the crew can replenish their stocks of food and water.
A galley has supplemental sails to replace or augment the effort of the rowers, particularly during long journeys, but they can't carry a lot in terms of cargo.
For that, the nations of the known world make use of Cogs that are mostly propelled by sails, which make them difficult to sail, especially upwind, and they are hostage to breezes and currents in a way that the swift galley is not.
However, it can better manage rough seas and its small crew combined with ample storage space give that class of vessel greater freedom of movement, making it better suited for trade.
They also have Carracks, large ocean-going vessels. They are stable in heavy seas, and roomy enough to carry provisions for long voyages.
Thanks to my studies, Yara's expertise in all things involving sailing, and my book of all human knowledge from my world I knew that this world was at the level of the 15th century in terms of ship design even if more primitive types of seagoing vessels were still in common use.
I intended to change this.
"This design is for a class of vessel called the Galleon" I explained to Yara "In my world, they came in use in the 16th century so it should be possible to build one here in Braavos for you to command".
Galleons were large, multi-decked sailing ships first used as armed cargo carriers by European nations from the 16th to 18th centuries during what is known as the Age of Sail. An age I wanted Braavos to enter, followed by other factions, since it would result in an uplift required by the CYOA.
I'd read a few uplifts fics back when I'd had nothing better to do, and I'd been a little annoyed by the fact that the person doing the uplift is able to introduce classes of vessels with metal hulls before anyone in this world has gotten past the 15th century.
Iron-hulled sailing ships weren't common until the 19th, you can't skip over three hundred years of development like that.
While Yara was still having some trouble wrapping her head around me coming from a world more advanced than hers, she knew her ships and so understood why I wanted to introduce the galleon.
"I see why you'd lower the carrack's forecastle and that hull looks like it would be stable in the water, it should lower wind resistance" she commented "I can see it working".
Unlike carracks, which in this world tended to be lightly armed and used for transporting cargo, galleons were purpose-built warships, as such, they were stronger and more heavily armed.
The expenses involved in galleon construction were enormous. Hundreds of expert tradesmen including carpenters, blacksmiths, coopers, and shipwrights, would be working for months before this world's first galleon was seaworthy.
To cover the expense, galleons were often funded by groups of wealthy businessmen who pooled resources together so as to build a new ship. I would do the same here and try to get some of the Magisters to invest in this venture.
This would also reduce the chances of anyone sabotaging the project since if it went well then everyone involved would profit and those seeking to undermine my work wouldn't want to anger so many VIPs.
"I've seen your other drawings," said Yara "Why did you pick this one".
My plan was to patent a number of ship designs, but the galleon was the only one I planned to invest in since investments in ships carry a lot of risks.
"Because it was a very well-known design in my world that was in use for a couple of hundred years," I said "My hope is that the same will be true here".
If galleons started being built by Braavos the other city-states and parts of Westeros would have to try competing by building their own versions.
My hope was for them to steal the design or purchase the patent rather than have them try to prevent my ship from being built, but should that happen it would only hinder one of my many plans.
"And I'll be the Captain of the first galleon," said Yara.
That was the plan, but I couldn't have a sailor unknown here in Braavos command such a vessel. So I was going to purchase her a less impressive vessel and let her captain it as she transported some trade goods for me to Gulltown and White Habour.
As for what she would be trading it would mostly be normal trade goods and something I planned to introduce. I had already drawn up the design for the still required to introduce this world to vodka.
I could make the stills myself and start production on a small scale right here in the manse. Then if there was a demand for the product, and I was sure there would be, then I would set up a larger operation somewhere in the city.
More than once I'd read about a SI introducing whiskey to this world, it was a good idea, but whiskey takes months to produce, and vodka needs only a couple of weeks.
Then you need to let whiskey mature for years before it can be called proper whiskey. That sort of venture was too long-term for me, although I could sell the idea to someone who is looking for a new business.
If I could find a source of juniper berries I might look into making gin, but right now I had a lot going on, and producing vodka was important to me.
To become a Magister you needed to dominate a type of trade in a city, be that silk, wine, cheese, or spices, and while they make their money from trading one of those they have fingers in pies. I would need to do the same.
Vodka would be my main product and while I would deal in other goods it would hopefully be my main source of income. I would earn the title of Magister of Braavos.
To fulfil my plans I would need to keep the means of producing vodka a secret until demand outstripped my ability to supply and I had to upscale production.
While someone would steal the recipe by the time they were ready to start selling I would already be exporting and it shouldn't be too hard to ensure that only my vodka could be sold in ports.
Plus I can use magic to increase the volumes I deal in and while this magic had limits, it would lower costs and make it hard for anyone to compete with me.
This would lead to the smuggling of stolen goods and people trying to make their own vodka cheaply, but this didn't worry me as there would be a lot of customers out there.
Since introducing vodka could anger the wine merchants I planned to soothe them with the knowledge to make whiskey, or some other product, as while it took time to make, established merchants had the time and the resources required.
I was still growing pipeweed, alas I had limited room to work with and magic could only do so much, so it would be a while before I had a big enough stock to start selling it even with magic letting me cheat.
"Yes," I confirmed, "After you've built up a bit of reputation here in Braavos as a good sailor".
Before we could discuss that further, a maid came in.
"Sir, the Black Pearl is here to see you," she said
How odd. Normally Courtesans take visitors on their barges or meet them at social events. From what I'd been able to learn about them they don't make house calls like this. At least not very often.
Since I'd looked into her I knew that the Black Pearl of Braavos is a traditional title borne by a descendant of Bellegere Otherys, the first Black Pearl, she had been a pirate queen who became a mistress of Aegon IV Targaryen.
Bellegere Otherys was the daughter of Sealord's son and the child of a Summer Islands princess so she could have been a proper queen in her own right if she'd married the right person.
The bastard daughter of King Aegon IV and the pirate queen, Bellenora Otherys, became a courtesan under the same name. Bellenora's descendants became courtesans as well, each eventually bearing the name of the Black Pearl.
Bellonara Otherys was the current Black Pearl and she was grooming her daughter Bellegere for the role as Bellonara wasn't a young woman anymore even if she was still considering a great beauty that men would fight over just to be allowed to spend time with her.
"I'll meet her in the living room," I said.
That was a room we'd given over to receiving visitors as I couldn't keep meeting people in my study now that I was working on so many designs. My CYOA-granted protections don't prevent people from stealing from me.
"Why are you meeting with some whore?" asked a confused-sounding Yara.
I didn't have time to explain fully.
"Courtesans have important connections in this city," I told her "If I can ally with one of them it will make my future projects much easier to bring to fruition".
I quickly got cleaned up and made my way to the living room to find my guest waiting for me.
Bellonara Otherys was a true beauty and showed little sign of her age. While she lacked any noticeable Targaryen features, there was something about her that funded me a little of the elves. Some sort of power.
I wondered if Danny would show this as she grew. She was considered to be a very desirable woman by many if my memories of the books were correct and not just because of her dragons or her name.
"Lady Otherys," I said.
I didn't know she had any proper titles so I addressed her as if she was a Westerosi noble. Since I was not a native of Braavos it should be forgivable.
"Mr Dovahkinn," she said with a slight curtsy.
One of the maids served tea. Proper tea that I got with my CYOA-provided supplies.
"I've come to meet with you today because I have something to discuss with you privately," the Courtasen told me in a soft tone of voice "I've heard that you are not one for small talk so I will get to the point of this meeting".
She'd mentioned wanting to meet with me to discuss something of importance in her letter, but she hadn't gone into any detail.
As for the lack of small talk, I didn't much care for how the elite in this city talked without really saying much that was important. Manners were one thing, but there was no need to spend so much time beating around the bush.
"My daughter is not yet ready to take my place, however, she is almost ready to become a courtesan," I was informed as the important woman sipped her tea"I wish for her to practice as it were with you".
An interesting and unexpected request.
"What exactly would that involve?" I asked.
I knew some of what courtesans got up to. I would need more details if I was going to be seen with one in public.
"She needs to be seen at a few social events with an important man at her side" was the answer I was given "She's untested and might embarrass a Magister. You are new to Braavos and an outsider so you won't be expected to know all of our customs so a mistake by Bellegere wouldn't damage your reputation badly. It helps that you are very wealthy as well, it means few will wish to offend you by mocking you by pointing out your lack of understanding about our culture".
Already I could see the benefits of such an arrangement. Braavos had its own Game of Thrones, even if wasn't as bloody as that played in Westeros. This made sense since the Seven Kingdoms are more primitive than Braavos at least.
I needed alliances if I was going to move up the ranks and advance this city-state from mostly late medieval and early Renaissance to more of a later Renaissance/Age of Sail era.
"I'll do it," I agreed, "As long as I can call upon you for a favour in the future".
Getting my ship built would be a lot easier if a Courtesan was willing to support the venture.
"That is acceptable," said the Black Pearl "My daughter will call upon you soon. You will be seen visiting her on her barge".
It needed to be done for the sake of appearances, and since the VIP knew that I didn't wish to socialise any more than I needed to she soon wished to be escorted out of my home.