blööh1 Chapter 19: blm, a 9 to 5 fanfic

Team Builder (CYOA Story)

By: Gothicjedi666

[NSFW] - Team Builder (CYOA Story) by Gothicjedi666

Status: ongoing

Published: 2022-12-09

Updated: 2023-02-26

Words: 162272

Chapters: 65

Original source: https/forum./threads/20571

Exported with the assistance of

Team Builder (CYOA Story)

Introduction

Set up and LOTR Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5

Part 6

Part 7

Part 8

Part 9

Part 10

Part 11

Part 12

Part 13

Part 14

Part 15

Part 16

Part 17

Part 18

Part 19

Part 20

Part 21

Part 22

Part 23

Part 24

Part 25

Part 26

Part 27

Part 28

Part 29

Part 30

ASOIAF 1

ASOIAF 2

ASOIAF 3

ASOIAF 4

ASOIAF 5

ASOIAF 6

ASOIAF 7

ASOIAF 8

ASOIAF 9

ASOIAF 10

ASOIAF 11

ASOIAF 12

ASOIAF 13

ASOIAF 14

ASOIAF 15

ASOIAF 16

ASOIAF 17

ASOIAF 18

ASOIAF 19

ASOIAF 20

ASOIAF 21

ASOIAF 22

ASOIAF 23

ASOIAF 24

ASOIAF 25

ASOIAF 26

ASOIAF 27

ASOIAF 28

ASOIAF 29

ASOIAF 30

ASOIAF 31

ASOIAF 32

ASOIAF 33

ASOIAF 34

ASOIAF 35

Set up and LOTR Part 1

Spoiler

Team Builder v4.22

Lord of the Rings (Shire)

Good Girls

Gain: 5

Take only Good Teammates.

Any normally 'Evil' Teammates have 'Good' alter-egos instead.

INCOMPATIBLE WITH 'BAD GIRLS'

Anvil Drop

Free

DROP-IN

You have been dropped into your world. With just the clothes on your back and what you have purchased.

Standard Shipping

You will get a weekly physical shipment to your location.

Legacy

Reward: 3 per World

For every world you travel to you must establish a significant presence i.e. organization, city, etc.

Stamp

Cost: 1

This stamp or branding tool places a magic tattoo on your new recruit. The tattoo will grow over time, slowly influencing her mind. A complete tattoo indicates she is fully loyal to you.

Fresh Catch

She came captured already. And she will be obedient and loyal to you.

Dragonborn

Cost: 5

You are The Dragonborn, a master warrior, cunning hunter, skilled mage, and expert craftsman. You can strike fear into Dragons and channel the Thu'um.

UTILITY

Skeleton Key

Cost: 1

A special key that can get through almost any safe, lock, cyber-defence, or magic ward you can think of.

UTILITY

Tool Box

Cost: 1

You bring with you the necessary tools and equipment to maintain and/or build the equipment of you and your companions. It also includes 'general' tools for your setting.

SELF-IMPROVEMENT

Money

Cost: 1

You will be provided with a large enough weekly stipend of local currency to make you moderately wealthy. It can be kept with you or stored in the local bank.

SELF-IMPROVEMENT

Supplies

Cost: 1

You are provided with a weekly supply drop of food, medicine, fuel, or something specific to you or your companions, to sustain your group for a moderate amount of time.

APPAREL

Invisibility Cloak

Cost: 1

This cloak conceals whoever or whatever it covers from visual, technological, magical, and psionic detection. The various alchemical fibres and runic weaving patterns grant the cloth flight, protection against the elements and magic, and can unravel prehensile strands that grab and manipulate objects at a distance.

WEAPONS

Basic Armory

Cost: 1

A small arsenal of weapons, armour, ammunition, and other miscellaneous military equipment adhering to your setting.

MISCELLANEOUS

Encyclopedia

Cost: 1

A magical book or E-Book subscription that provides the sum of human (or equivalent) knowledge. Everything from books to music to images and scans of physical art

Locator System

Cost: 3

You will be supplied with a magic map or app that is connected to our tracking network. You can search for and track almost anyone and anything that isn't specifically extra-shielded from surveillance.

Mental Shield

Cost: 1

You and your team are protected from brainwashing, mind reading, and any attacks that target the human mind.

Physical Shield

Cost: 1

You and your team are protected from biological attacks, esoteric effects on the body, and some resistance to normal physical hazards.

Fatigue Shield

Cost: 1

You and your team have resistance (but not immunity) to psychological & mental stress and physical exhaustion & thirst/hunger.

SPECIALIST

Hermione Granger

Cost: 1

Author Note

I'm not having much luck adding to my other stories so I thought I'd write something else in order to keep my creative juices flowing.

My plan is to have the MC go from world to world after completing missions that amuse the R.O.B. so he won't be able to travel freely or chose his missions.

Since I'm not that well-versed in Tolkien's work do let me know if I've gotten something wrong so I can make corrections.

GREETINGS LESSER CREATURE. YOU HAVE BEEN SELECTED TO JOIN THE TEAM-BUILDING PROGRAM! THE 'WHY' IS BEYOND YOUR FEEBLE MIND'S ABILITY TO COMPREHEND. ONLY THAT YOU SUBMIT OR ELSE…

EACH WORLD YOU VISIT WILL HAVE A BUDGET BASED ON ITS LEVEL OF DANGER TO YOU PRIMITIVES.

USE YOUR BUDGET TO EMPOWER YOURSELF, COLLECT AN ARSENAL, AND BUILD A TEAM. WE WILL BE WATCHING…

Based on Spktr Alpha's Team Builder

https/virtualadventureagency./teambuilder/index.html

The story so /post/The-Team-Builder-Story-So-Far-C0C3HBXIR

"One Ring to rule them all,

One Ring to find them,

One Ring to bring them all

and in the darkness bind them."

- J.R.R. Tolkien,

Team Builder

Part 1

The Shire. Middle Earth.

So one moment I'd been minding my own business, looking at some CYOAs that might be fun to fill out, when a terrifying and powerful creature, one of those R.O.B.s that I'd read about, had forcibly recruited me for some sort of game. I'd been made to fill out a CYOA while the R.O.B. waited, and then it had sent me off to have some real adventures regardless of what I wanted.

At the time it seemed to be something of a good thing, and perhaps it was, but as I lay on the grass in some other world I couldn't help wondering why some all-powerful being would bother with this. Was I mere entertainment for some bored entity? Or was there some greater purpose behind all of this?

Maybe the R.O.B. wanted me to have a positive impact on the dimensions I visited. Was I meant to help or did it not matter? The missions in the CYOA offered rewards to me for changing things, but it didn't have to be a change for the best. Besides who was I to bring about such changes?

Now that the shock was starting to wear off and I didn't have a scary creature demanding that I fill out a form which I'd done in a bit of a rush, I'd come to realise that this was a chance to obtain real power and obtain even more than that. I could now go beyond my rather dull little life and experience far more than most people would ever get to.

I would be able to explore fantastic worlds, gain great powers, and acquire useful skills, I would face challenges that should allow me to grow and I would get to meet some interesting people. This was not a torment from some higher power, rather this was an opportunity. With that in mind, I decided that it would be a good idea to get up and start living my new life.

As I picked myself up off the soft grass-covered ground I noticed that my body had changed and this almost led to me losing my balance as I wasn't used to it. I was taller and my body had become muscular, although there was also a leanness about me. I'd been transformed into a warrior and I could feel the power within me.

I didn't just have mere physical might I had plenty of magical power as well. I could feel it within me an energy of some sort, and something else as well, something mighty and primal. Thanks to the CYOA I had become the Dragonborn, the Dovahkiin of legend.

This was a mortal body with the soul of a dragon and the memories of a man who'd adventured all across Skryim, not as a character in a video game, I'd been a real person, who had done some incredible things ending in absorbing the soul of the First Dragonborn and becoming trapped in a realm of Oblivion.

Within my mind, I had memories of learning to hunt and how to fight with different weapons, I could cast spells, brew potions, and craft many things. I knew how to forge weapons and armour, and how to build homes, as well as to make the tools required for such creations.

My clothes had been replaced with a set of armour made from leather, fur and some metal. On my head, I wore a helmet, a horned one, and given the quality of the items it looked as if selecting the armoury option from the goods section on the CYOA had equipped me with some basic adventuring gear.

The simplicity of my gear did not worry me. This was not Skyrim and I had the powers of the Dragonborn as well as the knowledge of a master mage, and the ability to make myself better armour if I could find the right materials. There was no need for me to worry.

At least I was armed. I carried a sturdy-looking steel sword and I had a dagger at my side. Slung across my back was a simple shield. Even if I'd been totally lacking in physical protection between my spells and my Shouts I'd have hardly been defenceless.

The only thing that seemed to be of higher quality than the rest was my cloak, I knew from the CYOA setup that this item was a cross between Harry Potter's Invisibility Cloak and the Cloak of Levitation worn by Doctor Strange.

It could turn me invisible and allow me to fly to an extent, it was even resistant to the elements. In my view, it was worth far more than the single point I'd spent on it, but I wasn't going to complain about getting such a powerful item for next to nothing.

"You must be my master," said a female voice.

Somehow I'd forgotten that I'd not come here alone. One of the points of this CYOA was to build a team to aid you on missions. Either by purchasing someone or by using a feature of the CYOA to basically enslave someone.

Once I'd spent nearly all of my points on a variety of options, giving myself powers, some defences, and equipment to help me survive my adventures, I'd picked a companion worth a single point as that was all I'd had left to spend.

I'd chosen Hermione Granger because she cost one point and while her type of magic wasn't very impressive when compared to that wielded by the Dragonborn, it was rather versatile and Hermione Granger was very good with the spells she knew.

Granted her character could be annoying at times, but she had her good qualities, she was a reliable source of information, loyal and rather skilled with her world's type of spellcasting.

She looked much as she did when off on the Horcrux hunt during the last two movies, only a little older, and while she didn't seem unhappy to be here, her facial expression made me think that she wasn't exactly gleeful about it either.

Her calling me master felt good. It seemed right that even this powerful, young witch, be subservient to me, and if the points system meant anything as an indication of power then I was much mightier than her. Becoming the Dragonborn had cost me five points while she only cost one to buy.

I recalled that dragons of the Elder Scrolls verse, which were much more than the flying fire-breathing reptiles that they seemed to be, had a strong desire to dominate, so it made sense that I would feel good about having this witch refer to me as her master.

"Yes," I replied "You can call me…".

I wasn't going to use my old name. If nothing else letting supernatural beings know my real name might give them power over me.

"Marek Dovahkiin" I was now saying.

I wouldn't use Miraak even if I did see myself as a powerful Dragonborn such as him.

"Yes Master Marek," said Hermione Granger "I guess you already know who I am since you selected me as a companion for your adventures".

Since I didn't know how much she knew about what was going on here we'd have to discuss it soon. It wouldn't do for her to into trouble because she was ignorant of this world. Not that I was an expert on Middle Earth, but I did know enough about this world to recognise the dangers.

"Do you know where we are?" I was asked, "I just know that I would be sent to a different world to serve my master".

I wondered how the companions were recruited. Were they just taken from their lives as I had been? At least this witch wasn't panicking or getting upset. We both seemed to be holding up rather well given our situation.

"Yes," I said, before providing more information "We should be somewhere in Middle-Earth, The Shire to be precise".

While I lacked any pouches of holding, something I should correct later, I did have some regular pouches attached to my armour as well as a book that seemed to be a sort of interface between myself and the CYOA.

I had no points left to spend, but it did keep track of my purchases and let me know what my mission here was. Should I complete it I could move on to a different world and gain some more points. I didn't know what would happen if I didn't complete the mission. I might end up spending the rest of my life in this world. Not that this would be horrible.

The mission would have to be completed. I wanted to acquire more power, obtain useful items, and build myself a proper harem. I was the Dragonborn it was only right that I take what I want.

"You mean were are in Lord of the Rings?" she asked "I never read it, but I did watch an animated version of the story when I was a child".

To be fair most of my knowledge of this world came from the live-action movies and lore videos found on Youtube. I really should have watched the Rings of Power, but I'd been put off by the reviews. I tried to read the books. I could recall reading some of the Hobbit when I was young, and I'd tried to get through the Lord of the Rings Saga as an adult more than once. Alas, I'd failed and that might turn out to be a problem.

"I picked a place with the lowest level of danger," I said to the witch "That might change if we leave the Shire, but we have time to figure things out. First of all we need to find somewhere to spend the night".

Since it was going to get dark in a matter of hours it seemed wise to find shelter. Would the Hobbits have an inn for us to stay in?

"I have a tent, Master Marek?" mentioned Hermione "I still have everything from when my friends and I were looking for the Horcruxes".

Well, that was useful. I only had some very basic adventure gear. I was supposed to have some supplies and tools, perhaps they would be delivered to us once we got settled in somewhere.

"Okay let's set up here" I decided "The Shire is peaceful, but the Hobbits aren't the most welcoming of people towards strangers and I'm hoping that our supplies will catch up with us if we stay in one spot".

I knew a spell to summon up the Dremora Merchant so I could do some trading as soon I got the money promised by the CYOA.

"We can set up here and I can hunt if our supplies don't appear," I told Hermione "We can collect some local plants. I have training in alchemy so I know how to identify edible plants".

Brewing potions was a more complex practice in reality than in the Skyrim game, you needed proper equipment and plenty of time, but we should get that required equipment delivered to us, or perhaps we would be able to purchase what we needed from the locals. Given enough time I felt certain that I could construct everything we needed.

For now, we needed to set up the tent and secure the campsite as best we could as while the Hobbits were highly unlikely to attack us there could be dangerous animals about. I'd rather not have to deal with a bear or some wolves until I'd have a chance to try some of my powers and get a feel for my weapons.

Part 2

Team Builder

Part 2

The Shire. Middle Earth.

By the time the sun had begun to set behind the hills, we had a proper campsite set up and our supplies had arrived, having been delivered to us inside a few wooden crates by someone we didn't see.

Thanks to this delivery we had an ample supply of food as well as the tools I needed to maintain my equipment and do some building, we even had more weapons, and some of what we needed for enchanting and the making of potions from both our worlds.

What we didn't have I was already working on putting together as Hermione did her best to cook a stew over an open fire. I felt glad that our supplies had included some pots and pans for cooking.

For some reason, I'd been supplied with arrows in a quiver, without a bow to fire them, so I was using my crafting skill to make from some local wood. A more time-consuming task than in video games.

"Don't throw the tins away" I ordered "I can use them".

Hermione looked at the tin can she'd just emptied into the stewpot.

"What for?" she asked.

Being a witch she didn't have much experience with building things and seemed interested in watching me put together a bow.

"They are made from aluminium," I told her "It's a useful material because of its lightness, durability, and its resistant to corrosion".

I'd read up on that more later on with my magical book that contained all of humanities knowledge from my world.

"We've got plenty of money" pointed out Hermione "Can't you just buy what we need".

Not in this case.

"Aluminium isn't something they'll have in this world as it's not something you can dig up," I told her "It has to be manufactured".

As for buying what else we needed, I felt sure that even with their dislike of strangers that the locals would do business with us. Hobbits aren't exactly xenophobic, at least not to the point that they'd try to chase us out of The Shire or refuse to do business with us.

When it came to money, we had plenty of that and Hermione could use magic to increase our supplies, even if that had limits, so we were in no danger of going hungry. Even if we had been I could hunt and forage for us.

"The Hobbits are a pre-industrial society based around agriculture" I mentioned "They won't have much in the way of metals to trade as they'll use what they have for tools and such".

I'd have to find an iron mine while travelling so that I could transmute some ore into silver and gold. Then we'd have something to trade if we ever needed a large infusion of cash, and later I could make some better-quality enchanted items. Being able to sell my own Rings of Power would be cool.

Thanks to the transmutation spell I knew how to use magic to transform iron into silver and then I could transform that silver into gold, it wasn't something you could reverse, the metals would be as real as anything that came out of the ground.

I wondered if the spell could be modified to turn gold into mithril, which was a naturally occurring element in this world that was supposed to have magical qualities. The spell used for transmutation could in theory transform one element into another if the spell could be reverse-engineered, in a sense, and then altered.

A very long-term project to be sure. I figured that Hermione Granger should be able to help with that as she was bound to have studied all kinds of magic. Perhaps she knew about what they called alchemy in her word which involved turning less valuable metals into gold.

"We can still visit the towns and see what they have to offer," I said to Hermione "But I'm more interested in finding out when we are. The wars with Morgoth and Sauron won't take place during this time as those are much higher danger ratings, but Sauron could be working in the background or this could be after the Lord of the Rings books".

I suddenly realised that I had a way to check. I took out my magical map, which could locate people as well as objects that weren't shielded by some sort of special technology or magic.

"Looks as if we're pre-Hobbit," I said to Hermione "Gandalf is on the map, and so is Thorin Oakenshield, and Bilbo Baggins, but there's no Frodo Baggins, the One Ring is somewhere over in the Misty Mountains. Sauron is either shielded or still in spirit form as he doesn't appear on the map".

This was all very useful to know and it allowed me to refine my plans.

"We'll need to go to Rivendell and see the elves," I told my companion "If the events of the Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings haven't happened yet then we can warn the elves about what is going to happen. I bet the elves and Gandalf can deal with the One Ring".

Hermione didn't know what I was thinking, but she seemed to be doing a good job of keeping up with my ever-growing plans, or at the very least she picked up on the parts that really mattered.

"The One Ring, isn't it a kind of Horcrux?" I was asked.

That wasn't a question with a simple yes or no answer.

"It's similar in some respects" I started by saying "You have to understand that Sauron isn't just some dark wizard, he's more like a fallen angel than anything else. He used to work for Melkor, who is basically Satan in this universe only he wasn't cast into hell exactly. Sauron can take physical form, but he's a spiritual being, he doesn't have a soul as we do, or rather he is his soul".

I had more to say on this matter.

"So destroying the One Ring doesn't make Sauron a mortal man. If I recall my lore correctly once the Ring is destroyed he ends up a spirit that fades away" I told Hermione "As for the One Ring, it might be vulnerable to the same things a Horcrux is. It's believed that it can only be destroyed by being thrown into the lava inside Mount Doom, but it might be that it can be destroyed by basilisk venom or fiendfyre. It's not like anyone has destroyed the Ring before so we don't know for certain".

Not that we had any basilisk venom as for the volcano I'd always wondered why everyone thought that the One Ring could only be destroyed in the fires of Mount Doom. It's not as if anyone had tested this and only Sauron would know its weaknesses since he'd made the One Ring and he wouldn't tell anyone.

"I don't know if I can control Fiendfyre" warned Hermione.

Destroying the One Ring wasn't our business I just wanted to warn the elves and Gandalf about it so they could take some sort of preemptive action. That way a few wars could be avoided and a lot of lives saved.

"Don't worry about it?" I said, "I don't want to go anywhere near the One Ring".

I would be too easily tempted by its power. Even now I was thinking if it might be possible to use the Bend Will Shout to bring the One Ring under my control. After all, if I could control dragons who were angelic creatures in their own right then shouldn't Sauron's ring also be controllable?

No, the risk was too great and there were lesser rings of power to consider, the ones Celebrimbor made as essays on the craft. They weren't linked to Sauron as far as I knew, and while they were nowhere near as great as the Rings of Power I wouldn't mind possessing one. Something I began to explain to my companion as we ate the stew she'd made.

"I'm going to write some of this down" she decided after finishing our simple meal "We need to properly plan out what we are going to do".

My overall plan was now coming together. In order to leave this world and get more points I needed to gain influence over people, however, that didn't need to be limited to The Shire.

We could travel this world, trading as we moved about. While we didn't need the money it would give us an excuse to interact with people and spread our influence even in a minor way, and we would explore.

I wanted to learn more about crafting and Hermione desired knowledge of magic so visiting the elves at Rivendell made sense. Hopefully, we could trade information about the dangers in the future for useful knowledge that the elves had obtained over thousands of years.

"Learning a little of the dwarves know about crafting would be good" I mentioned "If we find the time".

I could pay for that knowledge with transmuted gold. Something else to consider.

"Okay so we tell Gandalf and the elves about the One Ring" summarised Hermione as she began to write in a notebook "We learn from the elves and maybe dwarves, trading what we can along the way so that we can pass as travelling merchants".

I hoped that over time we would gain influence all over Middle Earth.

"Yes," I said, "And we'll see if we can pick up some interesting books along the way".

They would be expensive due to books being handwritten in this world, but worth it.

"So what about these lesser rings of power you want to find?" Hermione wondered.

I was pleased that we were getting along so well and working together to come up with plans of action.

"The Dark Lord Sauron taught the craft of Ring-making to the elven smiths in one of their kingdoms," I told the young witch "Not many of the leaders of the elves trusted him even as he pretended to be a good guy, but a few did and they worked with him to forge magical rings".

I could tell her more about Sauron later on.

"While the smiths were learning they forged many lesser rings and nineteen greater rings," I told the witch "The greater rings ended up in the hands of nine mortal men, who were kings and sorcerers, seven went to dwarven lords who rule their own kingdoms underground, and three were given to the elves while Sauron forged a master ring to control the other greater rings".

That was a very basic summary.

"As for the lesser rings" I was now saying "they were destroyed or lost, but I have a map that shows me that there are still a number of them out there and while rare they aren't lost totally because Gandalf assumed that Bilbo's ring was simply one of these lesser rings, so it seems likely that he'd encountered lesser rings before".

I could make a ring of invisibility so it wasn't that big of a deal, or at least one that made you nearly invisible. Enchanting the Skyrim way involved trading souls for power and the souls of lesser creatures weren't worth as much, but even if I had a black soul gem I wasn't sure that I'd be willing to subject a person to the Soul Carin just to make a fancy ring.

"It was only when he found that Bilbo wasn't ageing as much, that Gandalf suspected it could be one of the Great Rings, and even then he does assume it's the Ring of Power until he does some research" I added, "So to me, it seems as the lesser rings aren't that dangerous".

Hermione looked deep in thought.

"Wouldn't it make sense to find some dwarves and use their equipment to forge your own version of a ring of power rather than set up in the wilderness?" she asked, "You mentioned that you can enchant objects, so why not make your own? It seems safer".

I'd expected different questions from her.

"That does make sense" I admitted, "And I want to enchant at least some of our gear before we leave The Shire as it's more dangerous outside of it. But we only have a few lesser soul gems and I'm not sure how the local wizards will react if they find out we're harvesting souls for power".

Using the filled soul gems should be fine since they'd already been harvested. At least in my view.

"Maybe we can learn about making Rings of Power from the elves" I mused "Although I'd wait until the One Ring is destroyed before making my own so Sauron can't influence me".

That was another long-term project to focus on later.

"We could do so with a wagon and a horse as well," I said, changing the subject "I think we could get those in Bree which isn't too far from here".

By now it was getting dark, and soon it was agreed by the both of us that we would get some sleep and go to meet the Hobbits tomorrow. It had been a busy day.

Part 3

Team Builder

Part 3

The Shire. Middle Earth.

Just by looking around the small town that we were exploring I could tell that this land was inhabited exclusively by hobbits, otherwise known as the Shire-folk or halflings.

I knew from my limited knowledge of this world that these people were largely sheltered from the goings-on in the rest of Middle-earth. The locals didn't react much to our presence or question why we were dressed so strangely. In fact, they barely spared us any glances.

I'd donned muggle clothing that Hermione had her expanded bag and was able to re-size for me that must have belonged to Harry Potter or Ron Weasly as I'd thought that wearing my armour might scare the Hobbits.

That was why I also kept my dagger hidden and placed my sword in Hermione's bag. There was no need to come off as hostile and I had my powers if any of the locals did feel like picking a fight.

Since we both carried backpacks, they were part of our adventuring gear, I imagined it looked as if we were passing through, and to an extent, we were as with the tent we didn't need to set up anywhere just for me to enchantment some of our gear, and I could do some proper crafting of magical items once we made contact with someone who would hopefully supply me with what I needed.

While the Hobbits were pre-industrial they weren't as primitive as I'd expected. I'd say they were roughly Victorian or Edwardian in terms of development. I wondered if the humans of Middle-Earth were this advanced or if the Hobbits had done all of this on their own, surpassing the humans of this world.

The Hobbits had a nice bit of land to call home and despite being plump creatures they weren't shying away from hard work. I saw shepherds tending to animals, and farmers moving wagons full of crops. On the map, I could see the halflings even had their own quarry.

There was a market that I decided to visit, but no one seemed willing to do business with us. There was little here to interest me anyway as aside from food, most of what was for sale, was wool, beer, and simple tools, none of which I needed.

I wondered who made and sold household items. Where did the Hobbits get their, plates, bowls, cutlery and so on? Was there a shop around here that I hadn't seen?

"Master, I don't think we're going to learn much here" commented Hermione.

No one was actively being hostile towards us, aside from some muttering and unfriendly glances, and I didn't think we'd be attacked, but it was clear that we weren't welcome here.

"You're right," I said "Perhaps we should move to Bree sooner than I planned".

I'd seen no reason to rush, but if the locals weren't going to engage with us then there was no point hanging around. Perhaps they had some knowledge to share, even a library, however, I didn't think they'd sell any books to us or even give us access.

As for Hermione, I'd not fucked her yet despite us sharing a tent as yesterday had been rather hectic at least mentally I wanted to get to know her before I ordered her to spread her legs for me. It would just be easier on the both of us if she could be relaxed around me and I didn't think she was going to be able to do what with the halflings being so rude.

"A pity, it's really a nice place" I commented "A shame we aren't staying".

To my surprise, an elderly Hobbit actually addressed what I had just said.

"We don't get many visitors in these parts," he said.

The old halfling who was sitting outside of what I assumed to be a pub, explained to us that while The Shire was protected by Rangers of the North, who watched the borders and kept out intruders, humans were a rare sight here, as there wasn't much trade and Hobbits weren't the kind of people who liked to chat with travellers.

Aside from the Rangers, the only strangers entering the Shire were Dwarves travelling on the Great Road from their mines in the Blue Mountains, and occasional Elves on their way to the Grey Havens. Although no one had seen an Elf in a long time.

At least from this we now knew that we could talk to the locals. The CYOA didn't have an option that allowed for translations such as a special device or power, at least not that I could remember, so it must be an inbuilt feature.

This made sense as if we were here to entertain a R.O.B. it would be a lot easier to do so if we were able to interact with the locals with more than just hand signals and with us figuring out a few words. That would stop being amusing very quickly.

The lack of friendly contact didn't surprise me. I didn't think even Gandalf was well-liked by everyone despite his frequent visits and his fireworks, which were at least enjoyed by the children of the Shire.

"If you want to learn about Hobbits then go to the town of Bree" suggested the elder halfling "You'll find a few odd Hobbits there who like to talk to big folk".

From the town of Bree, it should be simple enough to get to Rivendell as Bree had been built at a crossroads and one of those roads goes east directly to the home of the elves if my map was correct. There I would hopefully be granted an audience with Elrond Half-Elven who according to my map was at home.

"Then we're off to Bree" I declared to Hermione.

I planned to walk, to take the road east, at least for a while. If it got boring then I could find out how fast it was possible to fly using my cloak.

"Yes, Master Marek," said the witch.

As we headed out I did give some thought to conquering the Shire by simply killing anyone who protested until everyone knelt before me. I decided against that because I'd get very bored here before long and it would sour things with the very people I wanted to warn about Sauron.

If nothing else Gandalf would get rather upset if we found out what someone was messing with The Shire and while he might not seem like a big threat I recalled well that he beat the Balrog, even if it cost him his life, and so he would be a threat to me.

Still, it was tempting to enslave them into making a temple in my honour. That had to be the Miraak in me. I'd be careful not to listen to that side of myself too often as it could get me into trouble.

Hermoine and I began walking. Taking the paths east and while moving we got to see some of the homes lived in by the Hobbits. Since they were partly underground it was difficult to tell, but I got the impression that some homes were bigger than others.

The bigger houses were further upwards, we were in a small valley, and I wondered what sort of class system they had here. Thinking on I realised that Bilbo Baggins didn't have a job, leaving one would have come up in The Hobbit, and yet he was well off even before he came home with his share of the treasure.

Perhaps they had landed gentry who made money renting land to farmers?

"This is all very British isn't it?" commented Hermione "I used to wonder if wizards had places like this to grow their food, but I never found any mention of it in the library".

Knowing her world as I did I figured that the wizards, who didn't have much of a population, either stole food from the muggles or they enslaved another magical race and had them doing all the work like the House Elves. Something I mentioned to the witch.

"It wouldn't surprise me" she replied "I wanted to join the Ministry and try to stop that sort of exploitation".

A noble goal sure, but it sounded rather dull to me.

"Well you can help me prevent a war," I said "That's got to mean something".

Given that there should be an endless multiverse out there then stopping Sauron before he could get going again might not matter much in the grand scheme of things, however, being able to prevent a war must count as having influence over the people of this world. If nothing else being able to direct the course of history for this world would be satisfying and a good measure of my power.

"I guess," Hermione said to me "I just wish that I'd been given a choice in the matter".

So far I was finding Miss Granger to be rather pleasant company and while I'd not been a very sociable person for the last few years, and not always by choice, I found myself wanting to converse further with her.

"How do you end up as part of the CYOA?" I asked, "Did you get forcibly recruited as I did?".

Had someone just sat me down and made the offer I felt sure I would have agreed, it was just that like Hermione I would have liked to have been able to choose my fate.

"I was," she told me "Not that I can really complain. I'd been in hiding for a while, ever since I got separated, I lost Harry and Ron".

She knew that to me she was a fictional character and that I knew her story. Only as it turned out her life wasn't all known to me.

"You got separated?" I asked, "When did that happen".

She stopped and sat down on a low stone wall. I decided to join her. We had a long journey ahead of us so it wasn't such a bad idea to rest our feet.

"It was the locket Horcrux," she told me "It didn't affect me much, but Ron and Harry got into a fight. We broke camp and Ron stormed off. I went after him to drag him back if I had to. He left and dragged me along, we ended up running into a gang of snatchers who caught us".

She didn't need to explain to me who they were or what they wanted.

"Ron being a pureblood wasn't treated too badly and they took him to the Ministry" she was now saying "But with me being a muggle-born they decided to have some fun with me at their camp before handing me over to someone".

I felt the desire to go find those snatchers and show them what true power looked like.

"They were sloppy and I managed to get away with my bag" she mentioned "I looked for Harry, but he didn't want to be found, and I think Ron ended up a hostage. I've spent a lot of time alone in a tent knowing that I was being hunted because my parents were not magical people who married their own cousins".

There was nothing wrong with muggle-borns. They were just the Jews of their time and for that culture. A mostly powerless and small group who could be blamed for social problems they had little to do with.

"So when I got the chance to leave I took it," said the young witch "At least I can move about freely in this world. Non one cares who my parents are and maybe I can make a difference here".

I felt the urge to put an arm around here and so I did until it was time to move on. While we weren't in any real rush I'd like to get out of this Hobbit settlement before it got dark. If we needed to camp I'd rather do without any passive-aggressive locals around.

Part 4

Team Builder

Part 4

Barrow. The Old Forest.

According to the map, this part of Middle-Earth was called The Barrow-downs, an area made up of low hills that were located to the east of the Shire and the Old Forest, and west of the village of Bree, our destination.

While I'd never managed to actually read more than a little of the Lord of the Rings Saga, I had made an effort more than once, and as such, I knew that there was a lot more going on in the books that could have been shown in the films. In fact, they could have made multiple movies for each of the books and still missed bits of the story.

Tom Bombadil is an example of something totally unseen in the movies. In the books, he is a man, or perhaps something else, who seems to be a good guy and helped out the Hobbits. Yet at the same time seeming to be totally uncaring about anything that happened outside of the lands that he called home and despite this, the elves think highly of him.

I'd not sought out that person because I had no idea what he would make of me. He might kill me or sing me a song. I'd decided to simply avoid such a situation and focus on something else.

I was keeping my eye on the prize, that being one of the lesser rings of power and to obtain it I would need to enter one of the barrows.

When the four Hobbits enter a barrow they are attacked by a wraith of some kind if I remember correctly. I felt fairly sure that it was the point in the story when one of the halflings picks up the sword he later uses to wound the Witch-King because the sword had been forged for a war against Angmar.

Since I was the Dragonborn, or at least I remembered being the Dovahkinn of legend, I had some experience with barrows and I knew how dangerous they could be. They could be full of traps, and undead creatures as well as the home of wild animals.

Bleak Falls Barrow was a memory stronger than the others and even though I felt nothing about the places and people I could recall from that life, how that barrow had been a challenging place for that Dragonborn to get through.

Under other circumstances I wouldn't enter one as I have respect for the dead, however, this barrow contained one of the lesser rings of power according to my special map. There were a few of them scattered about, and half a dozen were somewhat close together over in Mordor.

I had no intention of trying to collect them. Even if Mordor wasn't home to Sauron these days it could still be infested with orcs and I was no Talion I couldn't make Mordor my bitch.

As to why I wanted one of the lesser rings, it could boost my already impressive powers. This world wasn't very dangerous, at least not when compared to worlds I could visit, but I might need more power in the future. It seemed worth the risk.

"Isn't this a tomb?" my witch asked "Are we raiding someone's tomb".

And me without a Laura Croft companion.

"It's a burial mound" I answered "More than one person would have been buried here a long time ago. Our ancestors used them before the Romans turned up".

An entire clan could be buried here and that actually made it even more creepy that I wanted to go in there and take something.

"Are you sure that we should go in there?" Hermione asked.

It was risky, however, as the Dragonborn, I'd faced many horrors before and come out of those encounters even stronger than before. I would enter the Barrow and claim the lesser ring of power. However, I would not wear it until I'd gotten someone wiser than myself to check it out. Sure I was hungry for power, but that didn't make a fool. I wasn't going to put on something cursed.

"You can stay out here" I offered.

She was too Gryffindor for that. Hermione took out her wand and followed me in, lighting up the stick as we entered the barrow. I used magic to create light as well and I didn't need a bit of wood to manage it.

The inside of the barrow was as expected full of dead people, but unlike in Skyrim, the dead here didn't violently protest when someone came to visit them. Nor was the structure just the tip of the iceberg with the barrow being much larger than it needed to be, containing many rooms underground.

There were lots of dead bodies, some of which had their final resting places sealed while others were wrapped up in cloth that hadn't rotted away completely for some reason. Some sort of enchantment I assumed.

People had left offerings here long ago. On the ground, I saw bits of broken pottery and shards of something that could have been wood. The only thing that had endured was the gold and the jewels.

In some cultures it wasn't odd to bury the dead with objects they could use in the afterlife and that seemed to have happened here. Coins, amulets and so on had been left here for the use of long-departed souls.

"Master, You aren't going to take any of that are you?" Hermione questioned, "Stealing is wrong".

I had no desire to take any of it as I'd come for a single item and with the money supplied by the CYOA, I had no need to steal from the dead even though I remembered doing so often as the Dragonborn.

"You can't steal from the dead, that's called archaeology" I pointed out "But no, I'm only going to take the ring".

We moved around the circular structure as the map zoomed in. If one of these corpses wore the ring I was going to have to man up and remove it despite not really wanting to do that.

"Odd the ring is moving about" I mentioned.

I showed Hermione the map and she saw that the ring was indeed moving about the place.

"Did someone beat us here?" she asked.

Who would come here looking for magic rings? Some servant of Sauron? A treasure hunter? A lost Hobbit?

It suddenly got much colder than before, and the map told me that the ring was now moving towards me.

"Something is coming this way," said Hermione.

I put the map away and took out my sword. On a hunch, I then cast a Detect Dead spell. As the name suggests the spell detects the undead, corpses and reanimated bodies in a similar fashion to the Detect Life spell. The spell creates an aura around the undead that can be seen even through the thickest of walls.

"It's some kind of Draugr most likely," I said.

Then I remembered that they don't have Draugr they have wraiths here. Ghosts that can interact with the physical world rather than corpses that are animated by magic.

The creature when it appeared was a dark phantom whose eyes were luminous and its very presence made the air cold. It reached out with skeletal hands one of which held a sword of some kind, and I heard Hermione mutter something about Dementors. To be fair the creature did seem to have some sort of aura of despair around it.

Lucky for us I'd purchased the Mental Shield feature which protected us against attacks on the mind as such while there was a sense of dread and I could feel myself getting even colder we wouldn't be disabled by fear like someone facing a Dementor could be.

When the creature got close enough I lashed out with my simple steel sword and the blow was intercepted by a black blade that I was able to batter aside before I struck at the monster, driving my weapon into what passed for flesh. Yet this only caused the entity to back off. I seemed to have only stung it.

"I think we'll need magic for this," I informed Hermione.

She must have been planning to act as she got a spell off very quickly.

"Expecto Patronum!"

That was probably the famous spell known to any fan of the Harry Potter movies due to it being used during the Prisoner of Azkaban to fight off a lot of Dementors. A slivery-white form, some sort of small mammal, ran right into the undead thing and drove it away.

This gave me time to realise that light and fire would be the best ways to fight this unnatural thing. Undead creatures tend to fear fire and sunlight more than anything.

"Try to drive it outside" I ordered.

Knowing that my sword would be of limited use against this foe I placed it back in its scabbard and called upon my magical powers so that I could hold fire in the palms of my hands. As the Patronus tried to keep the undead thing away I threw fireballs at it.

This didn't do much and the patrons didn't last so I was forced to resort to something even more powerful.

"RII VAAZ!"

Essence Tear was a Shout so powerful that it could destroy the body and attack the soul. Since this abomination was more a ghost than a zombie, in some sense, it was a soul, the Shout proved effective and the creature lost its ability to manifest. As it did a gold ring dropped to the ground.

I was not foolish enough to touch the ring with my skin as I had no idea what it would do to a person so I telekinetically, I knew that spell too, carried it outside and found that it was a plain gold band, not unlike the One Ring.

"Better let Lord Elrond have a look at it," I said to myself as I placed it in my pouch.

If it turned out to be cursed I was sure that I could use the Th'um to destroy the ring.

"Good job with the Expecto Patronum" I praised my companion "It weakened that thing. Whatever it was".

She seemed pleased by words, but it didn't last.

"I thought this world was supposed to be safe" she commented.

Safety was always a relative term.

"We've left The Shire which was the lowest danger level and entered a level 2 danger setting as I understand it" I let the former Hogwarts student know "These lands are dangerous as your world before Voldemort returned and you were nearly killed a few times before that Dark Lord got back into the swing of things".

Aside from the troll, there had been Voldemort possessing a teacher sort of, that big scary snake and the Dementors as well as a werewolf. All of which I mentioned to her.

"Your potions teacher was a dark wizard, and you had a mass murder pretending to be your friend's pet rat" I then said, "How much safety did you and your friends have when Voldemort was lurking in the shadows?".

Thinking on it the subject I figured that I should put my armour back on.

"So we need to be more careful" stated Hermione who had gotten my point "What other dangers can we expect".

I'd given the matter some thought before and I did so again.

"Sauron isn't supposed to be active yet so I don't think we'll run into any orc warbands," I told her "We could encounter bandits, small groups of goblins, maybe even some trolls, but we don't have any Nazgul hunting us so we should make it Rivendell in one piece as long as we are careful and that would be true even if we were just humans with some survival skills".

I was more concerned about Saruman than Sauron. The White Wizard hungered for power and wasn't above betraying his allies to get it. If Saruman found out about Hermione and me, he might try to take our power from us, if such a thing was possible.

"We should get moving" I decided "I think we should put some distance between us and the barrows before it gets dark. Those things are most likely bound to the barrows, but I don't want to take needless chances".

I'd had enough of the dead for one day.

Part 5

Team Builder

Part 5

The Prancing Pony. Bree.

"This place reminds me a lot of the Leaky Cauldron," said Hermione Granger as we sat down in the pub, having taken over a booth away from the door "If the streets were cleaner you'd think we were in Diagon Alley".

Since I'd never been to the Wizarding World and I lacked any real desire to despite it being on my list of options, I had no idea if the magical street looked anything like this part of Bree, but I had watched the movies and I could recall how old fashioned they dressed when compared to their non-magical counterparts.

We'd just arrived in town after spending several weeks following the road as we headed east. The map hadn't given me a proper sense of how far we'd actually needed to travel. I'd forgotten that Middle Earth was an entire continent.

I'd grown up on an island that you could drive to any part of in less than a day so I was really prepared for long it takes to get places on foot. It was a good thing that we weren't in any rush to get anywhere. As a bonus, all this walking would keep us both in shape.

Since we'd left Hobbiton we hadn't seen any people or glimpsed any living being that wasn't a plant, insect or bird. There were no highwaymen on the road to rob us or any lone wolves sniffing around our campsite.

Overall it had been a dull journey, involving a lot of walking, but the scenery had been lovely, and it had given us a chance to get to know each other as we travelled. Hermione and I had both spoken a lot about our past lives, and how excited we both were about the future we would share.

Thinking more about the village of Bree, I supposed it would remind her of the Wizarding World. It looked to be about a century behind my civilization, but like The Shire, it wasn't as primitive as I'd expected. This was good, although we'd be setting up the tent inside a rented room as the beds on offer might not be free of pests.

Sure this pub was lit by candles at night and the roads were covered in mud, but the style of clothing and general hygiene of the locals was better than it could have been. They didn't smell so bad and no one seemed to have lice, not that I looked too closely.

The fabric of the clothing worn by the people here was of higher quality than it would be for a medieval setting and the lamps outside looked Victorian in style.

I hoped that we would be able to acquire a horse and a wagon while visiting this village as it would be better than walking as I'd had quite enough of that even if it would keep us in shape.

Since I had a way to get some goods from Skyrim, thanks to a certain summoning spell, as well as money to purchase some locally made items, I would have plenty of stuff to sell as we moved around.

Being a travelling merchant was just good cover, and no one should pay too much attention to us now we had cloaks to cover our modern clothing. As a trader, I should be able to easily acquire information, even if I had to pay for it.

"I'll order us some food," I said.

Hermione should have a break from cooking and it was nice not to have to gather firewood or set up the tent right away. I would still tell my witch to put up protective enchantments when we slept as I didn't want to foolishly lower our guard now that we'd left The Shire and entered a more dangerous part of this world.

The former Hogwarts student should know a spell or two to make sure that the food didn't make us ill. Something I confirmed before actually making our order. It wouldn't do for one of us to get sick even if I did have a few restoration spells at my command.

I'd already reserved a room for a few days as we needed time to acquire horses and a wagon, as well as to do some shopping. I doubted that anyone around here had much money, so it was good that making a profit wasn't important to me even if having a treasure hoard of my own was tempting.

Looking around I saw the pub was providing shelter to people who mostly seemed to be Victorian-age humans, they wouldn't have looked out of place in an Oliver Twist production, and there were a few dwarves here as well. If there were any elves about, and I doubted it, they were doing a very good job of blending in.

There was no sign of Aragorn, aka Strider, however, that didn't mean he wasn't watching us right now. If anyone was going to take notice of our strange clothing or the fact that Hermione and I were too clean for people who'd been on the road then it would be him.

Thinking about it he might not have even been born yet. The events of the Lord of the Rings happen many decades after the Hobbit. Bilbo was quite young by Hobbit standards and he was getting old by the time Frodo took ownership of the One Ring.

Then again Aragorn wasn't a normal human if I recalled correctly so it was possible he was around.

There would be other rangers about who might take notice of the fact that we didn't really blend in. Yet no one here seemed interested in coming over and talking to us, nor we were getting any looks sent our way.

"Who are looking for?" asked Hermione who had noticed that I was keeping an eye out.

"Suspicious characters" I answered

No one here seemed to be hostile and this was a time of peace so I might be worried about nothing. It wasn't as if the Nine were going to enter town looking for the Ring-Bearer.

"Or anyone offering a quest" I joked.

That got me a funny look.

"This is a world of fantasy and adventure" I explained, "In games based in these sorts of worlds the local tavern is often the best place to pick up a quest when you are some hero and you want your character to go out to earn some sweet XP".

Our food arrived before she could question me about that and we began to eat after Hermione carefully waved her wand over the simple meals. We ate our cheese, meat and bread, washing it down with some local ale that went well with the food.

After we'd finished our dinner we headed upstairs to the room I'd booked and Hermione used her magic to secure the room while I began to set up the tent.

I'd expected her to retreat to her own bed to do some reading, as she'd brought quite a lot of books with her, only this time she lingered and she didn't seem to have anything to say. She'd just started watching me as I began to undress.

Since I was no fool, I knew that should be a good time to advance our relationship, I reached over to her and took what I wanted. I pulled the young witch into my arms and kissed her. She didn't respond right away, but soon she had her own arms around me and she was very much getting into the spirit of things.

My hands began to roam over her slim body. Her breasts weren't likely to grab attention, but she was far from flat-chested, and they felt nice even through her clothing. Being a bum man I couldn't help feeling up her arse, and in my view, it was one of her better features as she nicely filled out her jeans.

"Would you sit down" she suddenly requested.

Once I had, Hermione got to her knees and grabbed the front of my trousers. She slowly unzipped my jeans and began pulling them down. She seemed rather pleased to see the erection that my boxers were doing little to hide. It was undeniable proof that I found her attractive, although I felt sure that she'd notice the looks I'd given her just as I had noticed the smiles she recently started to send my way.

Once my cock was free she took it in her hand and lightly touched the tip. As time passed and she got bolder, she encircled my manhood with her hand and gave me some long, slow strokes. She acted as if she was fascinated by what she was doing and I couldn't help wondering if she'd ever gone this far before with someone else or if this was all new to her.

Hermione looked up into my eyes before glancing down at my cock again. Then she began moving her head, licking my cock from base to tip, trying to figure out how to best please me. She did this some more until she put my dick into her mouth.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" I asked.

I'd gotten the impression that the Snatchers who'd grabbed her might have done sexual stuff to her, yet she appeared to be quite eager to do this, so perhaps they hadn't actually gotten around to assaulting her in that way.

While I owned her in some sense, I didn't want her to feel that she needed to service me sexually like she was my slave, even in some ways she was.

"Yes, I really want to do this, Master," she told me.

She used her large brown doe-like eyes to convince me more than her words. I couldn't resist that look and I didn't doubt for a moment that she use it again on me. Even the mighty Dragonborn has his weaknesses.

The young witch took my cock into her mouth again, not gagging at all as she made my dick disappear inside her. It was hot and wet inside her mouth, I wondered how her pussy would feel once I'd claimed it.

Hermione continued giving me a blowjob, and she was making noises with her mouth that were rather pleasant to hear. She kept going, figuring out quickly what I liked and being careful with her teeth. She'd either done this before, or she was a natural at sussing out what would make a guy happy.

Relaxed, I sat on my bed as she worked. She kept going, not stopping to catch her breath, or because she wanted to take a break. She focused totally on pleasing me and after a while, she completed her task.

"I'm gonna cum" I warned her.

Hermione barely had time to react before I shot my load inside her mouth, I could feel it flooding into her. It had been far too long since I'd gotten a woman on her knees in front of me. I was glad that this could become a regular thing.

The witch pulled back and pointed her wand at her mouth.

"Mouth cleaning and breath freshening charms" she explained "The girls in my dorm room told me about them. Helps deal with the taste and you don't have to worry about not kissing me afterwards".

I couldn't help feeling amused.

"Would you like me to return the favour?" I asked.

She nodded a little, stood up and then stepped away from me. She'd never seemed as shy as she did right now yet despite her nerves she unbuttoned her shirt and jeans. Her underwear and bra were both plain white.

The young witch blushed when she saw me admiring her and she tried to cover herself a little. This was not a good thing. I wanted her to be more confident about her body and for her to be relaxed around me even if she was naked. This was important because I wanted to see her undressed quite often.

"You don't need to be embarrassed," I told her "You're a beautiful young woman, Hermione".

Her skin was pale and unmarked as far as I could see. This version of her had never been to Malfoy Manor so Bellatrix Lestrange had never been able to scar her.

Since she seemed to be waiting for something so I finished undressing her. Removing her bra before I spent some time playing with her breasts. Hermione inhaled sharply as I played with one of her nipples while taking the other in my mouth.

"I'm glad you like them" I heard her say.

It took some time for me to pull myself away from her boobs. She'd been

quite happy to just stand there as I played with them.

She reached a hand down and pulled her knickers down as I made an effort to help, allowing me to see her pussy. She had a good amount of hair, which obscured her pussy from view. I'd have to have her do something about that later as I found a bare cunt to be far more attractive, but that could wait as I wanted to make her feel good about herself.

"Turn around for me" I ordered.

Right away I noticed that she had a tattoo of some kind of her back. It was familiar to me.

[img: proxy.%2Fimages_k%2Fskyrim-silhouette%2Fskyrim-silhouette-17.png =99446cd41bb2e74dc31cb15546022cbb]

This must be the mark that would appear on the people I could capture. I'd not given it any thought until now as I'd not been intending to capture anyone, at least not in this world.

"Did you know about this tattoo?" I asked,

Hermione nodded.

"It's your mark, Master," she said "It's not the Dark Mark it just symbolises that I belong to you".

She didn't seem bothered by being branded, so I let the matter go and led her over to the bed. She laid down on it. I pushed her legs apart, and she looked away embarrassed but the young witch made no effort to stop me from looking at her most private of parts.

Nor did she do more than gasp when I began to play with her pussy. I slowly pushed a finger in and out of her, before adding another. It was easy to find out that she was still a virgin, so she hadn't been raped by the Snatchers or willingly taken by any other man

I began doing my best to use my hands and mouth to please her. It had been a while since I'd gone down on a girl, so it was good that I'd gotten so much practice when I was young. I knew how to use my tongue to pleasure a woman and to pay attention to her clit, something that made her gasp.

"Master put it in. Please, I can't wait anymore!" she called out.

Knowing better than to question this I lined up my cock with her pussy. I gently pushed into her and Hermione moaned before she whimpered.

"Are you okay? Should I stop?" I asked.

Hermione bit her lip and shook her head.

"I just need to get used to this," she said "Don't worry about me getting pregnant I'm on a potion".

Before long my cock was fully inside her. Hermione looked to be in pain, yet when I tried to pull out of her she held onto me. Clearly, she wanted to get through this and lose her virginity.

I knew that one day soon I'd have her riding my cock and I'd be able to fuck her hard, and she'd love it once she was used to having me inside her.

This first time would not be so much fun. I broke her hymen and she screamed so I stopped my motion. She recovered fast, getting her breathing under control.

"You can move now," she said "Just go slowly".

I started to slowly thrust in and out of her, it was even better than her mouth. Hermione started to whimper too, starting to enjoy it more as she got even wetter. After a while I started to go faster and faster, putting more power behind my thrusts.

Soon, the tent was filled with the sounds of a witch who was getting fucked. Hermione's cries had heightened in volume, and I could feel her fingernails digging into my back as she held onto me. It felt as if she was trying to force me deeper inside her.

"Master I'm cumming!" Hermione called out.

She screamed out my name as I kept thrusting into her, filling her with my cum, as she screamed very loudly for what I hoped was a good reason.

Part 6

Team Builder

Part 6

The Road. The Lone-Lands

As the goods-filled wagon, that they'd purchased back in the village of Bree, took them ever eastwards towards the elven settlement called Rivendell the witch known as Hermione Granger sat nestled between their more comfy bits of cargo and felt thankfully the trip was so far proving to be a smooth one. She had a lot to think about and motion sickness would be distracting, it would also prevent her from reading.

The former Hogwarts student was finding out that for the first time in a very long while that she felt happy about her life. She missed her friends, but it was so good to be able to travel freely, to be able to go places without having to look over her shoulders. In this world, there were no Snatchers or Death Eaters hunting for her.

Here no one cared that her parents had been dentists who couldn't trace their family back through hundreds of years of magical history. Even the Hobbits had only been a bit hostile towards her because that was their way and not because they had anything against her personally.

She still wished that she could have seen her friends one last time, to make sure that they were safe wherever they'd ended up, but she had a chance for a fresh start, somewhere far away from those who had wanted to hurt her just because she'd not been born into the right family.

Now that she'd finished placing expanding charms on their pouches so that they could carry a lot more on their person, Hermione didn't have much to do until they stopped for the night. This made her glad that her master and lover had given her access to the two magical books he'd gotten from the CYOA.

The book that contained all of humanity's knowledge from his world was very interesting, even if it didn't contain any useful information on magic since it didn't seem to exist in Marek's world outside of fiction. Yet it was the other book that held her attention and got her thinking.

This item was some sort of interface between them and the CYOA. If Marek had any points left they could have spent them and gotten useful objects, more powers, or even another woman to spend his time with. Until they completed the mission and went to a different world all she could do is use it to make some plans.

She'd have set it up differently if she'd been given the choice, however, there was no sense in pointing that out because it was done and she had no idea how rushed the Dragonborn might have been at the time. Her efforts would be better spent making suggestions for the future, helping Marek to spend his points more wisely.

What really grabbed her attention in the book was the choice of custom worlds.

WORLD RATING

URBAN FANTASY

Harry Potter (2nd Magical War)

There was an option for custom worlds. So did that mean her world was accessible to them? Could they go there and do something about the Dark Lord Voldemort? Going there any time soon would be foolish she knew that and even if she hadn't the danger rating made it clear, but if they got stronger as a team by adding members, and got the right equipment. Could they then go to her world and put a stop to the Death Eaters?

Hermione didn't like the idea of sharing Marek, but as she'd come to realise that this CYOA could take them to her world she'd also realised that they might need some powerful allies. Mere moments ago she'd been content to leave her old life behind because she didn't really have a choice in the matter. Now things were different.

"Master I need to talk to you," she said as moved to the front of the wagon.

She still found it odd how comfortable it was to refer to Marek that way. She was devoted to him, granted not by choice, but it still felt right. She liked being his. It was nice to have someone looking after her for a change.

"About what?" he asked.

It was a warm afternoon and their journey was a sedate one through peaceful countryside, not the ideal setting for such a serious conversation. Yet it was important so she shared with Marek what she had on her mind.

"We might be able to go to my world and help out my friends," she said.

She explained her plan as best she could.

"The Danger Rating is way too high for us right now" the young witch was now saying "But that can change".

Her Master stopped the wagon so that he could better listen and think about what Hermione had just been saying to him.

"It could take years to prepare to take down Voldemort and his Death Eaters" he warned "We'd likely end up setting up a rebellion against the Ministry he controls. We'd have to tear down the corrupt government the Dark Lord has set up. That means killing the Death Eaters and a few higher-ups at the Ministry as well, and that might just be to start with. It means going to war".

She didn't agree with that.

"If we have the right allies and tools we can find all of the Horcruxes. If we destroy then Voldemort can be killed" she insisted "If we take him out the Death Eaters can be sent to Azkaban".

Marek scoffed upon hearing that.

"Voldemort didn't take over just because he's powerful, he has supporters, people who believe in his agenda, so even if we did take out the Dark Lord it wouldn't change anything," the Dragonborn told her "The Wizarding World of Britain is run by a government that was corrupt and cruel long before Voldemort took charge. Look at all the danger and bigotry you were subjected to as a child. The only way to bring about any real and lasting social changes would be to overthrow the existing establishment before installing a new one".

Marek stopped speaking so that he could drink some water.

"I'm willing to consider going to your world to overthrow Voldemort even with the prophecy getting in the way and I'd help you find your friends," he told her "But I'm not going to put myself and people I care about in danger just so the Purebloods can bribe their way out of trouble and go back to running an unjust society".

She thought about what the Dovakinn had just said. Could she start a war to free her world?

"I'll need to think about it," she said.

They wouldn't be ready for her world for years as such she had plenty of time to think about it and to make her plans.

Weathertop. The Lone-Lands.

After several more weeks on the road, I'd decided that we'd stop for a few days at one of the landmarks on my map. There was no point travelling around Middle-Earth if we didn't stop to see the sites and this spot had a bit of history.

During the time it had taken to get here Hermione and I had gotten to know each other even more. I could tell that she'd become much more relaxed around me, even more so than she had by the time we'd reach Bree, and we were still having sex quite often as such I was quite happy with our relationship.

We'd also begun seeing more of this world. There was here than just a road. There were farms and a few hamlets, that were too small to refer to as villages, and the people there were willing to trade with us, something important for maintaining our cover.

They didn't have much so I'd been generous and ended up buying food that I didn't need. Thankfully, the Dremora Merchant who I could summon with magic was eager to buy anything I wanted to sell even if it didn't make me much money. I wondered who would purchase the junk I traded to him.

There seemed to always be a demand for a man who could fix things and so when we stayed in the hamlets built near the road I found some work to keep me busy. As for Hermione, she had a bit of experience with healing and we had some potions as well as spells. People weren't as mistrusting of magic as I'd worried so we avoided being chased away and no one tried to burn us for witchcraft.

In terms of money, I'd gained quite a lot. The Dremora Merchant was happy to pay in gold dragons, called Septims due to the engraving of Tiber Septim on one side and the symbol of Akatosh. Engraved on the coins were the words "The Empire is Law. The Law is Sacred" and on the reverse were the words "Praise be Akatosh and all the divines"

Coins from the Elder Scrolls verse also included silver drakes, and pennies. They didn't exist in the game as far as I could remember, and despite having done business with the merchant several times I still didn't know how many drakes made up a Septim and how many pennies were worth a silver drake.

Not that it mattered to me much as I had far more than I needed I just found the coins to be interesting. Although it was nice to have a source of both gold and silver that I could melt down should I need those metals be lacking any iron ore to transmute.

I'd learned that in Gondor, the chief currency was a small gold coin called a Castar, and there was a small silver coin known as the Tharni that was worth one-fourth of a Castar. A man in Bree had identified them for me.

Also, I had a large number of silver pennies in my pouch, which was a type of currency used in Bree and other places here on Middle Earth. With the stipend that I got from whatever it was running the CYOA, I'd easily been able to purchase horses and a wagon.

Because the Dremora Merchant kept changing his inventory it was worth summoning it up every few days to do a bit of business. Mostly he sold weapons and armour, more than enough to keep the wagon loaded, but he sometimes had potions and a history book much to Hermione's delight.

While the tent, wagon and horses were set up on flatter ground I'd come to the peak of the watch tower that overlooked the Great East Road here in central Eriador so that we could enjoy the view. It was well worth coming up to watch the sunset. I'd consider this romantic if I cared for such things.

"I was thinking that we could take a detour and go north to find Sting" I mentioned to Hermione "It seems to be in a cave towards the mountains. It's being moved south for some reason".

Odd that since the sword was part of a troll's treasure hoard that the creatures were supposed to bring it down from the mountains sometime before the start of the Hobbit book when they migrated south sometime in the future. Perhaps the trolls had been moving around the area for years or maybe the sword was something they found while coming south?

"Sting, that's Biblo Baggin's sword isn't it?" Hermione asked.

I'd been sharing as much more lore with her as I could remember, and that turned out to be far more than I'd thought I knew.

"Well, it's more of a dagger," I said to Hermione as we started to make our way back down to the camp "And there's some other treasure there as well including some rather nice elvish swords. It's a bit of a trek, but I think it will be worth it to get our hands on some decent weapons and I think we can spare the time".

The swords could be useful for barter or as gifts to a potential ally. I might even be able to use them to get an audience quickly with Elrond.

"If you think it's worthwhile, I trust your judgment," she said.

I didn't need Hermione's permission to do anything it was just good when we agreed on a course of action.

Part 7

Team Builder

Part 7

Troll Cave. The Lone-lands.

As we'd gotten closer to the location on the map where the sword called Sting could be found, as well as other treasures I hoped, I'd filled Hermione's head with as much of the lore as I could remember in case the information ever came in useful. I wondered if it was still a novelty for her to have someone else providing the information while on an adventure, or if it was getting annoying. Normally providing important information was her role in this sort of situation.

In the book and movie, the Trolls' cave was the hideout of the three trolls who during an early part of the story, captured Bilbo and the dwarves. The big monsters planned to eat Bilbo and the company of Thorin, but they spent so long arguing about how to cook the dwarves that they didn't realise that the sun was coming up until it was too late and they ended up becoming stuck as stone statues.

After Gandalf had rescued Thorin and his party, he reminded them that the trolls must have a cave or hole they could hide in so as to avoid the sun. After looking around they came across a big stone door hidden by bushes as we had done.

Attempts at pushing and incantations by Gandalf did not open it. Then Bilbo asked if the key he had found would help.

My memory of that part of the book was poor, but I felt certain he'd stolen the key while trying to prove his worth as the rogue of the adventuring party. My memory of the movie was much clearer and far more amusing.

Not that we needed to worry about finding any special keys thanks to one of my purchases.

Skeleton Key

Cost: 1

A special key that can get through almost any safe, lock, cyber-defence, or magic ward you can think of.

The cave served the trolls as their hideout from the sun, as well as their treasury and storeroom, and that treasure would be found shortly after the tolls turned to stone, an event still years in the future according to my calculations.

Not that the dwarves would find any treasure if they ever came this way, as I planned to take it, but since I also planned to totally derail this entire timeline by telling Elrond and Gandalf about how to find the One Ring before Sauron began making moves, it hardly mattered.

I'd been expecting to find the trolls hiding out here or for the cave to be empty because trolls aren't normally found in these parts due to their need to hide from the sun.

The cave was occupied and it wasn't a trio of trolls that we found within, instead, we found a small band of goblins and they were not happy to see us. They looked like deformed savages to me. They wore crude armour made of scraps of cloth, bits of metal and bones.

Their weapons were also primitive in appearance, but I was sure that could kill us with them if given a chance, so I decided not to give them one.

"ZUN HAAL VIIK!"

It was midday, I'd made sure we approached the cave with the sun at its zenith as it gave us an advantage, and while the goblins couldn't come out of the cave, they could have fired their arrows, thrown spears or rocks at us so it made sense to attack and not to give them an easy target.

My Shout made sure that they couldn't throw their weapons at us, and I ran into the cave before the goblins could recover their weapons. I lifted my axe, a dwarven one I'd purchased from the Dremora Merchant who'd gotten it from someone in the Elder Scrolls world, and I brought it down on the skull of a goblin who just stood there with a stupid expression on its pale face.

No sooner had its body hit the ground than the other goblins started to act. It made things easier for me that they didn't act in unison. I saw a couple of goblins go for their weapons while one screamed and tried to grab me. He, assuming they even had gender, didn't last very long.

The monster had no weapon and only crude armour to protect it, so I was easily able to drive my axe into his shoulder, and then when he dropped to his knees I swung again, almost removing his entire head thanks to the sharpness of the axe's edge and the strength of my blow.

I moved with purpose and avoided the thrust of a recovered spear just before I used my free hand to blast the goblin with lightning. The creature dropped to the ground as it convulsed. I didn't let it suffer for long. I was a warrior, not a sadist.

One of the last two remaining goblins, the group wasn't a large one, went for the entrance of the cave and screamed as it ran past Hermione who did nothing to hinder its flight. It wasn't a vampire, so it shouldn't burst into flames, but I figured that it was going to die out there unless it found shelter from the sun.

The last goblin had a wicked-looking blade and an expression on its malformed face that wasn't at all friendly. It was also the largest of the group and the most threatening looking so I assumed it to be the leader as creatures like goblins tend to follow the strongest as their leader.

I blasted this creature as well and while it remained standing it was unable to defend itself as my axe caved into another skull. There was something satisfying about doing that. It wasn't the killing, at least I didn't think so, but I felt good about winning.

With this skirmish over I headed out back into the sunlight just to make sure that the goblin that ran away hadn't doubled back to attack Hermione who wasn't paying proper attention to her surroundings.

She wasn't used to this kind of violence. I had the memories of a Dragonborn who'd thought and killed a lot of things, and I knew how evil goblins can be so this didn't bother me.

"We're a long way from the Misty Mountains" I commented as I came back outside "I didn't expect to find any goblins here".

The goblins had strongholds in the mountains to the east and while they didn't seem far away on the map we were still weeks away from Rivendell and the mountain range that divided Middle Earth in half.

Since I'd not been expecting them myself I didn't judge the witch for being unprepared, however, she would need to do better next time or she could get killed out here. To be fair I had attacked very quickly and the fight wouldn't have lasted more than a matter of seconds.

"Did you have to kill them?" asked Hermione.

She didn't sound as if she judging, rather she simply seemed concerned about me. Something I found odd given that they were goblins. It wasn't as if I'd just slaughtered some dwarves, elves or humans.

"Goblins and Orcs, if there is a difference between them other than size, are creatures descended by elves that were twisted and corrupted by Morgoth, who is basically Satan," I told the witch "Given the chance these things would have killed and eaten us, and maybe not in that order".

Sure there might be good goblins out there or at least natural ones, but I felt sure that this lot certainly were not nice ones because they were raiders and one of them was wearing human bones as part of its armour.

"Hermione, even if we could have stunned them and tied them all up securely there is no one to turn them over to" I explained "There's no Ministry here to handle magical creatures, and no Azkaban to hold them. The nearest bit of civilization that could handle them is Rivendell, but they don't take prisoners, they'd either execute the goblins or be forced to set them free. If they did that the goblins would go back to raiding and killing".

If she wanted me to go to her world and overthrow Voldemort and his evil regime then she couldn't be allowed to use her morality to hold me back. That would just get people killed and perhaps make the task impossible.

"Goblins like these can't move about during the day and they're can't be that many caves around here" I commented "Still I don't think we should be here once the sun sets".

The witch looked concerned.

"Sorry, I just thought that we would be safe in this world" she commented "I should have listed to you after that undead thing in the Barrow".

Hermione followed me back into the cave, and not for the first time I admired how she looked in her tight-fitting thieves guild style armour that I'd purchased from the Dremora Merchant and repaired while staying at Weathertop.

She wore a cloak to help keep herself warm and to help me not get too distracted by how good she looked in black leather. Getting to dress her up was a lot of fun and she seemed to enjoy the attention. I figured that she'd been alone for longer than she'd hinted at.

"When we left the Shire we entered a higher danger setting" I reminded her, and not for the first time "This world is at least as dangerous as mine and as yours when Voldemort is unable to act. Even without an active Dark Lord, there are still dark creatures in your world. Lucius Malfoy unleashed one on your school and you nearly died".

"Try to think of the goblins and such as something like Acromantula," I said to the witch "They aren't natural creatures, they were created to kill people, to serve evil, it's just what they are".

Hermione seemed to get the point.

"You're right," she said "I'm just not used to this sort of thing. I'll do better".

My witch cast some charms to freshen the air, but she didn't go far inside, wanting to keep her distance from the bodies I'd created. She wasn't used to gore. I'd be desensitised by video games and the memories of being a Dragonborn.

The cave floor was covered in bones, and things I tried not to think about, as well as a whole mess of plunder. There were brass buttons that had been added to pots of gold and silver coins. Necklaces, rings, amulets and other decorative items as well.

There was quite a lot here, far more plunder than a few goblins could have gathered. I wondered if this loot had changed hands a few times and been moved around by different gangs of raiders.

On the shelves was a good deal of food not suitable for human consumption, along with a barrel of foul-smelling ale. The clothes of the human victims were hung on the walls like trophies, there was blood on the clothing and other stains.

There was also a horrible smell in the air that Hermione's charms hadn't been able to get rid of fully. It motivated me to hurry up and take everything of value before sealing this cave. I didn't want any more monsters to be able to make use of it.

While looking around I found quite a few swords of various makes, shapes, and sizes, some were crude goblin blades, and others were forged by humans. They weren't worth more than those we had in our wagon, which was at the campsite we'd set up on flatter ground and hidden by charms.

I took the human-made weapons anyway in case anyone wanted them, and then I turned my focus on the elvish-made swords. There were four large swords, two were much like each other, but the other two were much fancier with beautiful scabbards and jewelled hilts.

"One of these is the sword Gandalf uses," I said to Hermione who was keeping watch at the mouth of the cave "I'll make sure he gets it".

I forgot the name, and I could see that it was a hand-and-a-half sword. The other sword I would keep for myself, Orcrist if memory served, had a beautiful scabbard and jewelled hilt. There were runes on the sword which I didn't understand and might have some magical purpose or it could just be the name of the sword.

Before leaving I took all the coins and placed them into the expanded bag that Hermione had kindly made for me. While money wasn't a concern I didn't want this wealth to be lost and I could always donate some to the poor if only to make myself feel better about setting up my own treasure trove at some point.

"Take this" I instructed Hermione as I passed her Sting.

She looked at the dagger, which wasn't much bigger in her hands than it would be in a Hobbit's as she wasn't tall and she had a slender build.

"I've never used a sword" she commented.

That didn't concern me.

"You can lose your wand," I said "You need a backup weapon and I'm sure we can find someone to train you. Besides, the blade glows blue when orcs are near. That might save our lives one day".

I could teach her the basics, but given her slender frame, it would be better to find an elf to tutor her in the use of weapons.

"We need to seal this cave so that no more monsters can use it," I said.

Between us, we had more than enough destructive power to bring the roof of the cave crashing down while remaining outside.

"Let's head back to camp" I decided "We've still got quite a few hours of daylight left and we can start making our way back to the road".

The land further south was much flatter and the forests were less dense so there would be few places for goblins to hide. Still, I was thinking of finding out if I can summon and bind a Daedra to act as a guard I didn't want to rely on the wards alone if there were raiders around.

Part 8

Team Builder

Part 8

Rivendell. Eriador.

"There it is," I said as I stopped the wagon at the top of a hill so that we could get a good look at our destination "The home of Lord Elrond".

It was a truly beautiful sight even when seen from this distance and larger than I'd been expecting if my sense of scale could be trusted at this distance. From the road, I could see a massive waterfall fed by streams coming down from the mountains that joined into a mighty river, all of that led into a gorge.

The buildings were mostly hidden by many large trees so until we got closer we wouldn't be able to see much in the way of details. The town seemed to be tucked in by the mountains and I knew that beyond the elven settlement that was passed through the mountains for those brave enough to risk the route.

"This is where Thorin Oakenshield and company will come when travelling from the Shire, across the Misty Mountains and into the Wilderland," I told Hermione "Which might not happen now since we are going to further alter the timeline".

I told Hermione all about how Frodo Baggins and his companions journeyed to Rivendell, where they met Bilbo Baggins who had set out sometime before. They had to get Frodo here in a hurry because he'd been stabbed by a cursed blade carried by one of the Nazgul.

"Following the destruction of the One Ring at the end of the Third Age, Elrond's ring lost its power, and so Elrond, and a lot of other elves left Rivendell to sail for Valinor," I said to Hermione "I wonder what happened to this place after the elves left, or rather what will happen".

She seemed amused by my words.

"You'd have so been in Ravenclaw" commented Hermione.

I agreed with her. I did love my books and I was hungry for all the information I could gather on this world. Plus I looked good in blue.

"This place is also known as the hidden valley," I said "But's not very well hidden, we followed the road to it".

I didn't sense the arrival of the elf who suddenly spoke to us.

"You can get lost even on this road, and not everyone can find this place," he said.

Hermione jumped a little as I almost went for my sword, but there was only one elf here and he didn't have a weapon in hand. He did carry a sword, a dagger, a bow and a quiver of arrows, however, his stance was relaxed his expression friendly.

I wondered how many of his kin were standing by ready to attack if we proved to be hostile. We might have a dozen archers nearby ready to end us at a signal from this elf.

"Greetings I am Elladan" he introduced.

I gestured to myself and to my witch.

"This is Hermione Granger and I am Marek Dovahkiin" I replied "I've come to speak to Lord Elrond about an urgent matter".

The elf didn't seem surprised by this.

"And why do you seek my father?" he asked.

I wasn't sure how much to say. I didn't know who else could be listening.

"It concerns a threat to Middle Earth" I answered "I need a wiser mind than my own to decide what to do about it".

The elf nodded as if he'd been expecting this.

"Many come seeking words with my father" stated Elladan "Even the wizards".

The elf looked at us as if seeking something.

"Are either of you one of the Istari?" we were asked "I had thought they all took on the guise of old men".

Hermione looked at me. I could tell that she was confused. I had told her about the wizards, but I couldn't recall if I had referred to them as Istari. To be fair there had been a lot to go over and many gaps in my knowledge that I was trying to fill.

"Aren't the Istari a group of wizards, you mentioned them before" she wondered.

Gandalf and the other wizards might seem like old men, however, they were in fact closer to angels than what she would think of as a wizard since they were normal for her. They were in reality spiritual beings who'd been sent to Middle Earth by what passed for gods in this world.

"The Istari are a group of Maiar, we'd call them angels in our world, who were sent to Middle Earth to advise the people here and help them resist Sauron" I explained, "They do look like mortal men who've mastered magic and have lived long lives because of it, but that's just a cover".

I turned back to Elladan.

"We're both humans," I told him "We just have access to some powerful magic".

Elves were magical themselves, as such there was no point in lying to them and trying to pretend that we were normal humans who were merely travelling. Elrond certainly wouldn't be fooled and might already be aware that we were heading this way. It would explain how his son happened to be here just as we arrived.

"My father will wish to speak with you," said Elladan "Follow me".

We did so at a sedate pace and this was good as Hermione had questions about Rivendell as she too desired knowledge, and Elladan was happy to answer them, some of the talking I listened to when not distracted by my own thoughts.

"Time is different here" I heard Elladan say "Even the short-lived men can find the quick passage of their lives slowed down by a stay here".

I wondered if that was a byproduct of elvish magic or just the result of spending time in a location that was so relaxing to be in. Decreasing your stress could extend your life and Rivendell was also a place of healing.

Another thing I wondered about was my own lifespan. Miraak was very long-lived, but he was the servant of a Daedric Prince and he spent much of his life in Oblivion, where time can work differently.

I recalled Arngeir the Greybeard, explaining to me that when the Dovahkinn absorbs a dragon's soul he or she absorbs its consciousness as well as its life force. A Dragonborn with a single dragon soul inside them would have a lot of life force since dragons are not mortal creatures, and I could recall taking in the soul of more than one dragon.

My thoughts about my own mortality were put aside as our horse and wagon were taken away by some elves. I wasn't concerned about them stealing from me as if they did help themselves, something I thought to be highly unlikely, it hardly mattered as both Hermione and I kept everything we cared about on our person in our expanded pouches.

Rivendell was a small town, or so it appeared. I didn't know what the buildings were all for and there seemed to be a fair few elves around so they could be homes. The elves had carved a lot of stone to make statues and even small bridges.

The elves had built their home without harming nature so the path we took twisted around trees and we had to cross over some streams before we met up with the ruler of this settlement.

Lord Elrond did not have a throneroom to meet us in like a human ruler might, nor did he meet me in private in a study, rather he met me in a garden that contained a large stone table.

I didn't see any guards around yet I felt sure that if for some reason either of us made a hostile move we'd find elves ready to deal with us, or Elrond could handle us himself as he was supposed to be a decent warrior in his right. Also, he had his won Ring of Power that could allow him to do many things I had no way of countering.

"I wondered if a dragon was approaching Rivendell," said the elf lord "It confused me when I sensed you coming from the west and not from the north. Yet I sensed no hostility".

Dragons also known as the Great Worms were evil creatures seen mostly in most northern Middle-earth. They were greedy, cunning, and malicious, much like goblins, and that made since the dragons of this world were creations of Morgoth. It would be worrying to think that one was in the area.

"You sensed us?" asked Hermione.

Elrond didn't explain how he knew were coming, he was waiting for me to tell him something. I began to explain as best I could who we both were and why we had come here. The leader of this place seemed to believe me. I knew he couldn't read our minds as they were shielded, so perhaps he sensed something with empathy or already knew much more than he was letting on.

Things became more relaxed after I'd done my best to explain that I was not the same kind of dragon as Smaug and his kin. As we spoke another elf came along and served some wine, that was much fruitier than any I'd tasted and it went down smoothly.

"So, what brings you to Rivendell, Marek Dovahkinn?" I was asked.

This was going to take some more explaining and I would have to confide in Elrond. Since he seemed to be extending some trust to me it seemed fair. Given that the fate of Middle Earth was at stake it would be foolish of me to hold too much back.

"I have a special map," I told the elf lord as I spread the item on the stone table before us "It shows anyone or anything that isn't shielded by magic. Including the location of the One Ring".

Elrond dropped his glass, it didn't smash on the stone table, but its contents were wasted. Clearly, he had not been expecting me to mention the One Ring during this conversation and despite the seriousness of this situation I couldn't help feeling amused about how I'd caused him to lose control if only a moment.

Looking worried he came over to check the map and saw that the One Ring was close to Goblin-town, which I knew to be a Goblin dwelling somewhere under the Misty Mountains, which was ruled by the Great Goblin if my memory served.

"I brought this information to you because I'm hoping that you can get The Ring and take it to Mount Doom before Sauron returns," I said.

Elrond gave me a questioning look.

"Sauron has been gone for a long time," he said.

He was either wrong or trying to hide the fact that the Dark Lord would soon return.

"I can't find Sauron on the map, but I knew that he will return and take on the identity of the Necromancer, he'll set up at a fortress called Dol Guldur" I informed my host "He'll start wars and thousands will die unless you destroy the Ruling Ring".

Elrond sat down as I did my best to explain a bit about the future. I was under the impression that Sauron had been at Dol Guldur before, but it was hard to keep everything straight.

"How can you know all of that?" he asked.

I had to choose my words carefully.

"It's hard to explain" I answered "I've seen glimpses of the future. I know that Sauron will return in a matter of years and that he will summon the Nazgul to him. He can't be defeated as long as the Ring is intact. It ties his spirit to this world".

They didn't appear on my map either. I hoped that it was because they were contained somewhere, or it could just be that people in the spirit world didn't register because they weren't really here in a physical sense.

"I will need to speak with Mithrandir," Elrond said.

That was the name given to Gandalf by the elves.

"You must stay here" insisted the elf lord "For your own protection, if the dark one is returning and he learns of you, of what you know, he will try to claim you".

Since Elrond has his own Ring of Power then he could protect Rivendell from Sauron to an extent so we would be safer than anywhere else.

"I had hoped to spend some time learning from your smiths" I mentioned "And my companion has a love of all knowledge"

This seemed to please the part-human.

"I'm glad that you will have something productive to do here, Rivendell is a place of peace and learning, not a stronghold, or a prison," he said "I have to keep you here, but it would be difficult for us all if you were kept as a prisoner here instead of a guest. You will find here that the troubles of the world diminished and time itself can be kept at bay".

At some point, I'd have to enquire more about how time worked here and how it could extend life for a human, assuming that it did.

"We will talk later" promised the leader of this place "For now you and your friend should rest. Feel free to explore Rivendell and speak with the people here. There is much you can learn".

With that we were left alone, but not for long as one of the locals appeared and offered to guide us to somewhere we could rest. Hermione, who had remained quiet during the talks, no doubt had many questions for me, some of which I could try to answer.

Part 9

Team Builder

Part 9

Rivendell. Eriador.

Hermione and I settled in quickly, we were given room to set up our tent and left to attend to our own business for the most part.

The elves who lived here were polite and answered all of our questions when asked, yet while they were never rude, they seemed content to keep their distance from us.

None of the natives seemed interested in interacting with us unless it involved offering or exchanging knowledge or carrying out their duties as our hosts.

It was easy to get one of the locals talking about history, the geography of this world or even what some might call magic, however, the talk never become personal.

I didn't get the sense that we were a bother to anyone, or that they disliked us being here, and they didn't try to exclude us from anything, it was a polite indifference rather than any sort of hostility.

Perhaps it had something to do with humans being so short-lived when compared to elves. I could imagine an elf not wanting to become attached to a human who would die before too long.

Elrond was much friendlier, only he had little time to speak with me, and when he did our talk centred around the One Ring along with future events. He was very interested in how Middle Earth was going to change and seemed to trust my words.

Despite how important it was for us to talk it made sense that he was busy elsewhere as even with the elves leading what I would think of as a sedate lifestyle there would still be matters for Lord Elrond to deal with as a leader.

If my memory of the first Hobbit memory was anything to go by Elrond was not the kind of leader who sat in an office. He would lead patrols of the lands he had some kind of authority over to keep them safe from hostiles.

Still, he made an effort to chat with us and this morning he had invited us to have breakfast with him, and our talking was more casual than normal. It was a nice change from our other interaction with elves went.

Elf meals were lighter than human ones and contained lots of fresh vegetables with a little bread. If I needed a snack or some serious protein, we had our own supplies thanks to the CYOA, so I wasn't concerned by the lack of meat.

The meals we'd attended were often eaten with some formality by the elves even if they were relaxed. Evening meals were a big deal here, they involved music and the reading of poetry. Since I had no musical talent I was glad that I'd not been asked to perform and I didn't know any proper poems either.

Our host invited us to these meals because he was trying to make us feel like his honoured guests when we were in reality prisoners here, at least in some sense. It was more protective custody than being under some sort of house arrest.

Since Hermione didn't have my level of knowledge, nor was she as powerful as me, she wasn't as much of a threat. But she wanted to stay with me so was irrelevant if Elrond would let her go or not. Besides, she could still be of interest to powerful people.

As to why I wasn't concerned about the elves forcibly keeping us here, I didn't think they actually could contain us if I decided that would leave.

Even if Hermione couldn't teleport us out of here, I should be able to fight my way free, or we could just walk out of here and see if the elves were willing to try stopping us by using force.

Not that either of us had any desire to leave, and there was more than one purpose behind our being here.

"I've sent out messengers to find Mithrandir," Elrond told us "But the wizard goes where he wishes. It maybe be months before he makes his way here".

This didn't concern me as it was going to take months just to start learning about how the elves used what I would call magic.

The elves were warriors, craftsmen and scholars so they had a lot of knowledge to share.

"There are others I must speak to" our host mentioned.

I assumed he was talking about Saruman, maybe Radagast, and Lady Galadriel. They would be able to decide what to do and I hoped to talk with Gandalf about Saruman who might be trustworthy when it came to the One Ring.

"Master Marek I would like you to join us when we met and tell them everything you have told me" requested Elrond.

I agreed to this as it was part of my plan. If I could become one of the people who helped decide the fate of Middle Earth then that meant I had a lot of influence over this world which is what the being behind the CYOA wanted from me.

If that wasn't enough, then I had some ideas about going to Gondor and improving that kingdom so that it could better resist Sauron's armies should the One Ring not be destroyed.

I had a book that contained a great deal of information on guns and cannons that Gondor could use to defend its walls in the future.

Given the choice, I'd prefer simply to destroy the One Ring because anything I gave to Gondor could be stolen and used by Mordor. There was a risk of strengthening the enemy by trying to help people who could be my allies.

"Don't forget about the swords" reminded Hermione, taking me out of my thoughts.

I'd not forgotten them. It was just that the elf lord and I had needed to discuss more important matters.

"Yes I noticed the weapons that you, and Mistress Hermione, carry," said Elrond "They are of elvish make. Where did you find them?".

I took the two longswords, which were both rather plain compared to the others, out of the expanded pouch that my witch had made for me, and then I carefully placed the two more well-decorated weapons next to them. Hermione did the same with Sting.

"We came across a cave being used by a few goblin raiders south of the Ettenmores," I told the leader of this elvish community "I intended to use the two longswords to barter our way into Rivendell if it became necessary, I suppose they can now they are just gifts".

Elrond began inspecting the weapons.

"These are Elven-made swords from Gondolin" our host soon informed "During the First Age, these swords were forged by Elf smiths and saw action during the Goblin Wars. Most were lost during the Fall of Gondolin".

Hermione had something she wanted to ask.

"What's Gondolin?" she wondered.

Elrond explained to us that Gondolin was a city of the Elves that had been destroyed long ago. It was founded by Turgon the Wise, an elf king in the early First Age.

The Lord of Rivendell inspected the runes that had been carved into the blades of the two more fancy swords.

"This is Orcrist, Goblin-cleaver in your tongue" our host explained.

I would have to ask an elf about languages at some point. People must be hearing us speak some local human language, one that was understood even in The Shire.

We didn't have some sort of automatic translation going because when the elves spoke their language I didn't understand them.

"This sword might have been used by King Turgon or one of the Lords of the Gondolindrim" Elrond let us know "The smiths of that age can not be matched in our time as we have lost much of our knowledge".

Next, he inspected Sting, although it didn't have that name yet.

"Given its scabbard and the quality of the weapon, I would say that this dagger was used by an elf who held Orcrist or one of the other swords like it when in battle," he said, "It was clearly forged for an important leader or great warrior. Although it carries no name".

Not for much longer.

"It's called Sting" I stated "Trust me on that".

He took up the other fancy sword.

"This is Glamdring," he said, "It will have a whitish-blue glow when orcs are nearby, the brighter the glow the closer in distance the orcs will be. It was a common feature of elvish weapons forged during that time".

If Gandalf went after the One Ring he would need that warning of danger given how many goblins infested those mountains.

"This sword would be called F0e-Hammer in your tongue," Elrond said "Do you intend to carry both swords?".

It was tempting to keep both, but it wouldn't be the smartest thing to do.

"I'm keeping that for Gandalf" I mentioned.

Elrond gave me a questioning look.

"He's going to need it" I added "It's just something I know".

The elf lord nodded. He'd quickly come to accept that I knew things about the future that I simply shouldn't and while I'd done my best to explain he didn't fully understand the nature of what had brought us here.

Elves didn't have an understanding of computers, but they did know about gods so Elrond accepted that Hermione and I were in the service of a very powerful being who had sent us here to fulfil an objective, possibly just for its amusement.

What mattered was that no one here saw us as a threat.

"If there are indeed dark times ahead and then this weapon will serve him well" he stated "These swords were used during the War of Wrath and to great effect".

Hermione looked concerned about something.

"Shouldn't you have all of them?" she asked "I don't like the idea of us keeping your cultural treasures".

Our host smiled at her. I was a bit annoyed at her for suggesting this given how much trouble we'd gone to acquire the swords, but I wasn't concerned about our host trying to claim them.

"A sword is meant to be used," he said, "The two longswords you recovered for us will both be placed on display and be studied. As for Orcrist, Glamdring and Sting, I think you will need them far more than we do. Besides, it was you two who recovered them".

Elrond stood up and directed someone to take the longsword to a place where they could be put on display. I made a mental note to go check out that broken sword they had here the one that cut the One Ring from Sauron's hand.

"If you two are going to use elvish weapons then you will need to be taught how to wield them correctly" he declared "I shall arrange lessons for both of you".

While I'd gained combat skills from the CYOA and I'd handled a group of goblins easily enough I'd be foolish to turn down instruction from an elf teacher who would have centuries of experience.

Sure I had magical spells and Shouts, but there were ways to counter magic so I would always need a good sword at my side.

"There is one last thing I'd like you to take a look at" I mentioned.

Carefully I took out of my expanded bag the gold ring I'd claimed after defeating the Barrow-Wight shortly after leaving The Shire. Elrond carefully took the ring and examined it.

"I think it might be one of the lesser rings of power" I mentioned "I was hoping to find out what it did and if it's safe to use".

Judging by the expression on our host's face there was a reason to be concerned.

"This is not the work of an elvish smith," he told us "This ring was crafted by a much darker hand".

I did not like the sound of that.

"Have you heard of Angmar?" we were asked.

I had, but I didn't know much about it so Elrond explained a little about it to us.

"Angmar was a realm established long ago by the Lord of the Nazgûl, he who became known as the Witch-King of Angmar. That land has a history you will have time to research on your own. What matters is that the Lord of the Nazgul had many minions under his command and not all of them were living creatures".

Elrond stopped for a moment, I wondered what he was remembering of that time. Had he been involved? Or did he lose people he knew during that conflict?

"The Witch-King dabbled in sorcery and in mimicry of his master he bond spirits to himself, just as Melkor and Sauron have done in ages past" we were told "The Lord of the Nazgul created lesser rings so as to bind his undead minions to him as his own ring binds him to Sauron. This ring worked to bind an undead creature to the will of The Witch-King and your encounter with it could be a sign that the Nazgul are returning".

Elrond gave the ring back to me.

"The ring has no power over the living," he said "Still I suggest you destroy it and our smith can help you do just that. I will speak with him".

A shame that it wasn't something I could use, but I can enchant my own gear so it wasn't a big loss.

"Thank you, my lord," I said.

Hermione and I were left to finish breakfast, once that was done we went back to our studies as there was much to learn and this place had an impressive library.

"Are you going to destroy that ring?" asked Hermione.

I decided that I would.

"Even if it could benefit me it's linked to the Witch-King who might be able to influence me if I keep the ring" I replied "And if it is linked to the Ring of Power that the Witch-King wears then it will lose its power when the One Ring is destroyed because they are linked together. The lesser rings I'm interested in pre-date the Rings of Power and aren't connected to them".

Perhaps it was better to look into forging my own Ring of Power. Once Sauron was defeated. If anyone had any clues about how to do that it would be the elves so it was time for the library.

Part 10

Team Builder

Part 10

Rivendell. Eriador.

Time had little meaning in this elvish settlement and as such there was no chance of either Hermione or I getting bored while staying in Rivendell.

We both had our lessons to help keep us busy and one day easily became the next. We could have been here for weeks already, it was hard to tell, and it didn't concern me that a lot of time could be passing.

I wasn't just being tutored so as to improve my combat skills, which involved the use of the bow, dagger and sword, Elrond had arranged for me to learn the elvish art of crafting under a master.

It struck me as odd that elves only focused on a few different weapons. I hadn't seen any with spears, axes or maces, just different kinds of blads. Perhaps it was some sort of cultural thing.

Meanwhile, Hermione's tutor was instructing her about matters such as herblore and the history of this world that she felt she needed to know more about. She spent much less time than me learning about how to stab things.

That was fine as I just wanted her to be able to use Sting as a backup weapon should she lose her wand or for some reason be able to cast a spell.

Given her slight frame and lack of interest in physical training, she was never going to be able to wield a proper sword in battle. Besides, I much preferred to be the one doing the penetrating.

My combat skills as the Dragonborn were undoubtedly effective, yet crude, involving overpowering a foe with brute force, and to be fair the Dovahkinn is a powerhouse.

Despite this, while in Rivendell I could learn to refine my fighting style and once this business with the One Ring was dealt with perhaps I could learn from the Rangers and perfect my tracking skills out in the wild.

In the evenings I spent my time going over books that were written in Westron. Also known as the Common Speech, it was the closest thing to a universal language they had in Middle-earth, at least during this part of history.

Westron is for some reason presented itself as modern English to Hermione and me. Something to do with the CYOA I assumed, and it was a good thing that it did happen, otherwise, no one around here would understand us.

I couldn't take any of the books with me when I left as none of them were for sale at any price. Even if these elves did use money, they wouldn't have parted with them no matter how much wealth I offered.

So it was a good thing that I was able to secure a supply of parchment and ink, and then Hermione had enchanted a quill for me that would record my words whenever I spoke to it.

This meant that my research was a mess of notes taken from parts of books that I could understand along with some speculation of my own, but it was better than having nothing to refresh my memory once I'd left this world.

I could spend years studying here and only learn the very basics of what the elves were trying to teach me. As such, I was glad that Gandalf and the other important people Elrond had summoned here would take a while to arrive and that I could record so much.

"For Elves, their bodies and spirits work in harmony, and they claim that creation comes naturally to them," I said to the quill "The Elves were taught arts and crafts by the Valar over in Valinor".

Humans couldn't travel to Valinor so there was no chance of Hermione and I going there to learn from Valar directly. Although I doubted they'd have taught us anything given that we weren't a part of their creation.

"They were taught to place dedication and love into everything they make" I recorded "It reminds me of the old expression 'Made With Love' the idea being that you can put into something you are making the love you feel for someone. The expression 'he poured his heart and soul into it' could apply as well".

"It might seem like sentimental rubbish" I went on to say "but I feel otherwise. After all, didn't Sauron make the One Ring by filling it with his desire to dominate and his malice? That was more than just someone being poetic I think".

If my research was correct it was the literal truth even if the process of imbuing a part of your spirit into an object on purpose seemed to be something rather complex.

"So it seems to me that the secret of enchanting the way the elves do it is to put part of yourself into the creation," I said as the quill moved "What I wonder, aside from the exact method, is how you can do that without diminishing yourself".

Elves were different from humans and not just in physical ways. They worked differently in terms of soul. Human souls were supposed to leave Arda when their bodies died, although if this was so it made me wonder how Aragon found an entire army of ghosts.

Elf souls were bound to Arda until the end of time according to the lore. As such when an elf dies their soul is summoned to some place called the Halls of Mandos, where the Valar could re-embody the Elf in a body that was identical to the Elf's previous body.

"Since human souls are different then it might not be possible for a human to safely place some of his spiritual self into a created object" I was now saying "At least not regularly, not unless your spirit can be replenished in some way".

I suddenly remembered something the Greybeards did for the Dragonborn.

"The Greybeards when training the Dragonborn somehow transfer their understanding of a certain Shout via a process that reminds me of Soul Trapping" I recorded "They didn't do this too much, either because they didn't want the Dragonborn to advance too fast or because it might damage their spirits".

There was more to be put down on parchment.

"If the spirit is diminished and needs to be restored that might explain why elvish craftsmen took so long to make the Rings of Power" I mused "They didn't just need to learn about the method of crafting they had to allow their spirits to recharge after making the lesser rings of power".

I figured that I already knew how they managed that.

"One of the books I've read mentions that the spirit is not an object that can be broken into pieces or cut up," I said "Rather it is like a fire because it is energy. This might explain how Voldemort made multiple Horcruxes. He didn't really break bits of his soul, this is a misunderstanding, rather he somehow transferred a lot of his spiritual self into an object. If spirit can be replenished then that would explain why the main part of Voldemort's soul could still function even after creating so many Horcruxes".

Sauron proves that you don't need to be good to be spiritually powerful. He was able to restore much of what he'd lost after having the One Ring cut from his hand.

"Both the Greybeards and the elves seem to have peaceful lives involving introspection and meditation" I was now saying "They value knowledge over material goods and to an extent they isolate themselves from the rest of the world. The elves aren't too dismissive of the physical world, they care about their bodies and they wish to have beauty around. Elves don't seem to eat meat, but they aren't pacifists, in fact, they see great value in being a warrior. The Greybeards shun violence, yet are willing to train the Dragonborn despite him being a warrior".

It didn't seem as if you needed to be a Buddist Monk living up on a mountain and spending all your time meditating under a tree, or whatever it was you needed to do in order to reach enlightenment.

I figured that I would need to talk with some of the elves on this matter to see if I was on the right track. Elrond might be willing to explain some of this to me if he could find the time.

For now, I needed to focus more on how the spirit was used to enhance an item.

"Elves do use the word magic, but that seems to be a term they use because the other races don't understand how they make something that seems to be magical," I said to the quill "When they imbue an item with their spiritual energy it seems to give some properties of the spirit to the object such as permanency. The spirit is not affected by time as the physical world is. Time is held back in some sense in the places where elves live and in the objects they make. Orcrist my sword was forged thousands of years ago in another age, no human-made weapon could endure that long".

I took a sip of coffee, we had some in our supplies and I winced because it was stone cold. Then I got back to note-taking.

"So the elves seem to be able to imbue something into weapons that appear to be magical but it isn't magic," I thought out loud "How do they do that? Is it directed by their will? Sauron created the One Ring with the purpose of dominating the other rings. So can you imbue purpose onto an object via spiritual energy using your desire?".

I had another thought.

"When Hermione and I faced the Barrow-Wight an undead spirit bond by the Witch-King my steel sword had little effect on it, however Hermione's Patronus and my Shout both seemed to harm the spirit," I said the quill "So if elvish weapons are imbued with the power of the spirit they should also be able to effect spirits".

I carried on recording my thoughts.

"Brandishing a sword is something that can be done to frighten an enemy" I recorded "The Elves of Gondolin created blades that would shine with a light when orcs are near. Does it detect their spirits somehow?".

Since I didn't have a human soul, I was a dragon, it might be possible for me to create magical items as an elf could. Even if I couldn't imbue my spirit into an item I could still improve my abilities as a craftsman

"Due to their immortality, elves can reach levels of mastery in arts, crafts, and lore beyond that of any human," I thought out loud "So even if I'm wrong about imbuing objects with spiritual power I can still improve upon my techniques".

Hermione entered the tent that we were still sharing and upon seeing me at work she went to a chair to sit down with a book of her own.

"In addition to creation and craftsmanship, Elves can have great skill with healing. This can seem like magic to those who don't have such skills" I said.

I decided to stop there as I had something on my mind that I wanted to think about further. I didn't have a human soul. What had happened to my soul? It bothered me that I might not have my soul.

Hermione picked up on what had me a bit concerned.

"Knut for your thoughts" she offered.

I saw no harm in sharing.

"Do you remember what I told you about what makes me a Dragonborn?" I asked.

I'd explained to her as best I could about what it meant to be a Dovahkinn as we travelled to Rivendell. I didn't really understand it all myself, so I'd just done my best to help her understand what I am.

"You're a dragon in a human body," she said "To put it simply".

That was the crux of the matter.

"Well I use to be a normal human and so I should have had a human soul" I was now saying "What I'm wondering now is what happened to that soul. I am just capable of mimicking a Dragonborn or was my soul transformed somehow or was it replaced?".

Comprehending the spirit was an important part of understanding what made elves seem to be magical. If it was indeed their spirit that allowed them to create what seemed to be magical items then I wanted to learn this process.

Sauron was a spiritual being and could forge Rings of Power, if I had a dragon's soul, perhaps more than one, could I place some of that power into an object? and if I did would my spirit replenish itself?

"I never thought of that," said Hermione "I know souls are real because I've seen Horcruxes, but other than that I don't much about them".

Neither of us spoke for a moment.

"Is there anyone in this world who is an expert in souls?" Hermione wondered.

I had no idea, and I figured it might be something I would have to figure out for myself, and when it came to enchanting objects I did have other methods I just didn't want to use them here in Rivendell in case it offended our hosts.

"Gandalf might have some advice for me" I mused "He is a spiritual being that has taken physical form so he might be able to sense something about my spirit".

More research was required, but there was no rush, I should spend time with Hermione and find out more about what she'd been learning.

Part 11

Team Builder

Part 11

Rivendell. Eriador.

After doing some more research into the idea of imbuing objects with spirit so as to make them something akin to enchanted items without actually needing to use magic, I discovered that while I'd been on right track more or less, my understanding of the nature of spirit was lacking.

I had failed to see the difference between spirit and soul, as while they are linked they aren't quite the same thing.

That was the important difference between the Horcruxes, the One Ring and the powerful objects created by the elves.

The dark lords Sauron and Voldemort placed part of their souls into special items not just some of their spiritual energy. Until I understood the true difference between soul and spirit I wouldn't be able to create a Ring of Power without endangering my soul.

Hermione pointed out that the rules governing spirit and soul might work in unknown ways in different worlds, and since I had no intention of making a Ring of Power while Sauron was around, I might never be able to forge a proper Ring of Power if it wasn't possible to do so outside of this world and we'd likely leave this world once Sauron was dealt with.

While this was disappointing I still had my own magical abilities that could allow me to enchant an already existing item and I could still learn to forge items of great quality for later enchanting. It would just be a shame if I would never create powerful objects that could endure for thousands upon thousands of years.

With the intent of going back to research into matters of the spirit later when I had a better understanding of the non-physical world, I turned my focus to using alchemy to create mithril from gold.

Transforming gold into mithril might seem impossible, due to mithril possibly being magical in nature, but I was convinced otherwise and it turned out to be easier than expected to perform the transmutation.

The inside of the tent looked more like the lair of some mad wizard locked up in his tower. There were books scattered around the places and pieces of parchment covering almost every surface.

There were blackboards, Hermione had created via transfiguration, they were being used to display diagrams and magical formulas that I only partly understood because I'd been given a vast amount of knowledge of the magic of the Elder Scrolls world.

We'd have had no chance if not for the fact that my memories of being the Dragonborn including reading the Spell Tome: Transmutate and spell tomes aren't like normal books. They vanish once you've read them and you never forget their contents.

I had my own theory about why this was the case and if the merchant I could summon ever got his hands on a few spell tomes for me as I'd requested it would interesting to find out if Hermione could make use of one.

As an experiment, Hermione had let me try out her wand and I'd only been able to make some sparks so either the wand wasn't compatible with me because it had chosen me or I just couldn't use one.

I suspected that if I had more points I could select an option from the CYOA that would allow me to start using a wand as my companion did, but since neither Hermione nor I knew how to make a wand for me, it seemed pointless to bother giving me access to wand magic.

Speaking of Hermione, she had studied alchemy a little, mostly when looking into Nicolas Flamel during her first year and at other times when coming across bits of knowledge on the science when studying other subjects, but she'd never really gotten into that branch of magic until we discovered how the science of alchemy in her world and that of the Elder Scrolls universe were very similar when it came to transmutation.

Transmutation differed from transfiguration in that the latter changed one object into another, were as transmutation changed one element into another. Another big difference was that transfiguration was reversible and I got the feeling that transfiguration didn't alter an item's spirit because you can take a living thing, turn it into an inanimate object and back again without killing the living thing.

You also can't transfigure something into food, you can't turn a desk into a pig and then eat it, which made me wonder why anyone bothered with transfiguration at all, it didn't seem very useful out of duels and schoolwork.

Transmuted elements were different in that you couldn't just cast a spell and return iron that has been transmuted into some silver back to iron again because it has truly become silver. You could transmute it again, but that doesn't make it less real.

As such when we finally transformed some gold into mithril we didn't have to worry about it turning back into gold over time or doing so if we melted it down.

"I didn't think we'd really be able to do it" commented

Hermione as she held the small lump of mithril up so that she could better see it "Even Flamel only turned less valuable metals into gold. Assuming this all went right then we've turned gold into a magical metal".

We hadn't needed a magic stone to do our transmuting. Further proof that the Dragonborn was indeed superior to any silly wand waver.

From the books, we'd consulted we knew that mithril is extremely rare by the end of the Third Age, the time we were in now, due to it only being found only in Khazad-dûm.

Once the Balrog known as Durin's Bane, destroyed Khazad-dûm, the kingdom of the Dwarves in Moria, the only source of mithril ore was cut off.

Well as far the natives knew, my magical map did show that were a few deposits scattered around, but I didn't think they'd be easy to get to. I did wonder if the dwarves would pay well for information on mithril deposits, but to find the exact location of the ore, they'd need my map and I wasn't going to lend it to anyone.

Before Moria was abandoned by the Dwarves, while it was still being actively mined, mithril was worth ten times its weight in gold. After the Dwarves abandoned Moria and production of new mithril stopped entirely, it became priceless.

Mithril was a remarkable metal if it lived up to the hype. According to the books we'd copied information from the metal could be beaten like copper and polished like glass. From it, the dwarves could make a metal, light and yet harder than tempered steel.

Its beauty was like that of common silver, but the beauty of mithril did not tarnish or grow dim, as such it couldn't be a variation of silver. Perhaps it was some sort of gold that had been altered by being exposed to something magical over a long period of time.

Yet for all its rarity and supposed supernatural qualities, it was a mineral you mine and craft with such as iron, silver and gold, and once I'd managed to convince the elves to give me access to a small amount of the substance that they kept for study, I had begun to analyse the metal.

The only reason I'd been allowed to take Rivendell's only remaining bit of raw mithril was that I was able to purchase weapons forged in the Elder Scrolls world from metals that didn't exist in this world.

The elves also wanted to study exotic metals as they had a strong desire to acquire new knowledge, and Lord Elrond liked to put interesting items on display for his visitors to admire as well as to study.

While the spell tome provided me with the knowledge to transmute iron into silver and silver into gold using a great deal of magical energy, the spell was taxing even for me.

Also, I had to understand mithril to order to transmute gold into it. I had to know how it feels, what its weight is like, how brittle it is, and so on. Being able to visualise what you want to do is an important part of practising magic.

"I'm only disappointed in the quantity we were able to create" I mentioned to my witch "We are losing a lot of material when we convert gold into mithril".

When I transmuted a sample of an element it became heavier and smaller in size. I suspected that some of the mass was being lost to fuel the transmutation, but that was mere speculation.

"It has something to do with density," I said "I don't fully understand it, but we are losing mass when transmuting"

I knew that the density of gold is 19.03 grams per cubic centimetre. The density of silver is 10.49 grams per cubic centimetre. The density of iron is 7.87 grams per cubic centimetre. Mithril must be denser than even gold.

Mithril in its pure form was rather soft and malleable according to the books. It could be used in various alloys to produce extremely lightweight, hard and durable armour.

Given that it had properties similar to gold it shouldn't make for a good metal to be used when forging armour even as part of an alloy, not unless magic was involved.

"I can't help wondering if it's just Platinum that we've made," I mused.

Upon checking my book that contained all of the knowledge of my world I noted the similarities between platinum and mithril. Of note was that platinum has a density of 21.45 grams per cubic centimetre, greater than of gold.

Platinum used to be worth more than gold in my world and would be worth more in his world due to them having advanced mining methods, but I didn't think the subjective value of a metal decided by humans should matter when density makes more sense in explaining why it's easier to transmute some elements than others.

It takes less magical from me to transmute iron into silver, and these metals don't differ as greatly in density as gold and silver do.

I repeated my findings to Hermione who gave the matter some thought.

"What we need to do is get some copper and then transmute some iron into copper," she said "Copper is only a bit denser than iron so it should take you less effort to transmute iron into copper than it does to transmute into silver".

That should be easy to test and the elves do have smiths so they must have a supplier of raw materials who I can purchase some ore from. Rivendell doesn't use money internally, but they do trade and the people they trade with should accept money from me.

"Going back to the mithril. Maybe the dwarves do something to platinum to make it seem magical" Hermione mused "The goblins of my world do something to silver so they can make magical weapons out of it even though silver isn't a good metal to use to make a sword".

The sword of Godric Gryffindor was made from silver and decorated with rubies, making it rather impractical to use as a weapon, yet Harry Potter used it to kill a large magical creature so the idea the sword was imbued with some power that made it a great weapon made sense to me.

"I don't think it can be platinum even if it is similar to mithril," said Hermione "You were focused on transmuting gold into mithril. Intent matters with magic and the process worked".

I'd seen platinum jewellery before, and it does make for lovely decorative items, but it would make for crappy armour even if you made an alloy from it. So either mithril just seemed similar to platinum or something magical was going on.

My intention had been to create mithril so unless some outside force had interfered then it should be the right element.

"I need to talk to one of my tutors," I told Hermione.

The elvish smiths here in Rivendell also worked with the metal so they should know for sure if I made the right element.

"Can you transmute some gold into mithril more for me?" she requested "There are some spells I want to cast on some mithril to see if it has magical properties".

We should have enough gold ore to make a little more of the metal. The CYOA did supply us with materials to be used in our crafts, just not in large amounts so I doubt I'd be making armour out of mithril anytime soon, not unless I can get my hands on a lot o gold ore.

I had an idea about that, something to think about when I had some more points to spend. For now, I would just need to focus on creating small objects that could be enchanted with the hope that making them from mithril would allow the created objects to endure.

"Master, you might want to shower before you go" advised my witch "And change your clothes".

I sniffed myself and wondered how long we'd been working in this tent. I hoped that our host wasn't offended by our absence.

"Good advice, Hermione," I said before heading for the bathroom.

Better to attend to that, rather than to stink up Rivendell and annoy my hosts.

Part 12

Team Builder.

Part 12

Rivendell. Eriador.

"Marek, you look nice in those" commented Hermione as she entered the forge where I awaited my next lesson "Have you been shopping or can you sew as well as everything else?".

Since I could work leather and cloth into sets of armour it should be possible for me to use those materials for more fashionable purposes.

I had access to all human knowledge after all, and I was eager to learn to do more with my existing talents. Although I'd rather devote my skills to forging weapons, armour and magical items rather than concern myself with making nice clothes.

Not because I thought making clothes was womanly work, some of the great clothes designers are men, it just didn't have my interest.

I much rather be working on items that would last for centuries and play roles in historical events. My pride as a Dragonborn would allow nothing less and I kept the goal in mind.

People tell stories of great heroes with magical swords, enchanted armour, and powerful rings, no one cares what kind of socks they wore.

"A gift from our grateful hosts" I replied, knowing that she was referring to my new boots, tunic and trousers that were all made from a fine-quality fabric "They are very happy to have a source of mithril even if we can't provide them with much".

It had been risky to show Elrond that I could produce mithril, but I'd needed his expertise to confirm that we really had transmuted mithril from gold and not just made platinum.

Besides, I needed the help of the elves to secure a supply of ores for my alchemy and for them to teach me what to use mithril for.

"They have some plans for the mithril I can supply them with. It seems very important to them" I mentioned to my witch.

Our work in the field of alchemy had borne fruit. We had indeed created mithril by transmuting gold. It did seem to be platinum with some altered properties as far as Hermione and I could tell.

I couldn't help thinking given the fact there was so much of it in the depths of Moria, with only small amounts found elsewhere, that its magical properties had something to do with why there was a Balrog hanging around all the way down there.

Mithril was too pure to be the product of metal being infused with some sort of magical energy from a Balrog, but could there be something else down there?

Something powerful enough to affect the minerals in that part of the world and also draw a Balrog to it? I'd love to know if my speculations had any substance to them, but I wasn't going anywhere near that demon of shadow and fire.

Even with the powers of the Dragonborn I simply wasn't ready to go up against such a foe and even if I did take it that monster down without getting myself killed as Gandalf did, the hordes of goblins in those mines could take me down with their sheer numbers unless I had an army of my own with me.

"How are they going to supply you with enough base metals for the transmutations?" Hermione enquired "It's not like they have any mines here".

A very good question.

"The dwarves of the Iron Hills can supply more than enough, but it will take a long time for a delivery to get here," I told her "Elrond mentioned something about the dwarves of the Blue Mountains, but they are quite far away from here".

We might be done here by the time a large supply of ore was brought to Rivendell.

"If the dwarves find out what we can do they'd likely go to war with Rivendell to possess us," I said to Hermione "More so if they knew about this".

I took a lump of black ore out of my expanded bag. I didn't need to tell her what it was as we'd discussed it and the possibility of transmuting gold into it.

"Oh, you got some" Hermione said with a smile on her face "I've been wanting some to cast spells on. I bet it has all sorts of interesting properties".

She was pleased to see that our daedra supplier had been able to get me a sample of Ebony in its natural state. The material is a hard, durable, black glass-like substance that can be forged into high-quality armour and weapons.

In my world, ebony is a type of hard, black wood, traditionally used to make piano keys and in Hermione's world ebony was sometimes used as wood to make wands from.

That wood could in no way be related to the ebony in The Elder Scrolls series, which is more like a type of volcanic glass than can be shaped like a metal.

A closer equivalent in real life would be obsidian, though ebony's use in making armour and weapons suggest that it is far tougher and more malleable than obsidian, which is hard and brittle.

Perhaps it is obsidian that has been altered by exposure to something magical. It wouldn't surprise me at all as the entire of Mundas is a freaky place that often makes little or no sense.

"The lore says that it is the crystallized blood of a god or gods," I told Hermione, although I might have already "If so then no amount of alchemy should allow us to make more of it, but we would see for ourselves in time".

Given how little mithril we were getting from iron I imagined that I'd never gain enough ebony from transmutation to make armour and weapons. But I could use small amounts to make jewellery that could be enchanted.

Unless I could purchase Ebony armour and weapons directly from the daedric merchant before melting them down so that I could reuse the metal. The expense would be incredible and the supply would not be dependable.

"Can I start running some tests on it?" Hermione requested.

I let her have the sample of the ore so that she could begin her research. I imagined that we'd be spending many hours trying to turn the ores supplied to use by the CYOA into even a small amount of ebony.

Density and the value of the metal seemed to be important factors in the transmuting of metals, or perhaps it was something to do with the mystical properties of the metals.

Certain metals held enchantments better than others. Iron could be enchanted, even steel as the Hogwarts Express proved, but the best magical items were always made of rarer metals, and it wasn't just because it added to the value of the object.

As Hermione and I had expected transmuting iron into copper didn't require much energy when compared to transmuting iron into silver. Although given our limited supplies that didn't matter much.

"What we really need is access to large supplies of iron and even gold ore," said the witch "Otherwise we're are never going to get enough mithril to make weapons and armour".

She was correct and I already had an idea about that, but it would have to wait. We had other things going on in our lives we could focus on.

"So Hermione, what have the elves been teaching you recently?" I questioned.

The former Hogwarts student looked pleased to be able to tell me about her studies. I must make a big change from Harry and Ron who never took much interest in academic matters. At least not when compared to her.

"I'm learning about scrying using bowls of water, mirrors and crystals," she told me "That's the magical art of seeing far-off places even in different periods of time. I'm not very good at it, but I was able to see you here. I've always been bad at divination so it surprised me that I could see anything. Of course, it helps that the tutors here aren't drunk on cooking sherry".

When setting up using the CYOA I'd not purchased a means of protection from stuff like scrying because I'd needed to spend the points elsewhere and while there were the Seeing Stones in this world that could be used to spy on me there were few of them left.

If I could be so easily seen by people like the elves in something as simple as a bowl of water, then I would have to invest in better protection from remote observation when I reached the next world.

I would also like to learn about the art of scrying myself if I found the time while in this world as it wasn't a branch of magic that the Dragonborn I'd gotten memories from had ever bothered to learn about. Hermione would have extensive notes on the subject and be able to teach me the basics once she had mastered them.

"Speaking of tutors my smithing teacher is here," I said.

Lord Elrond had been truthful when promising to find me some tutors. I trained as a warrior with his son Elrohir to master the bow, sword and dagger, and when it came to crafting I studied under an elf called Dammion.

Hermione quickly made her goodbyes so that I could focus my attention on the elf who was taking time out of his long life to show me how the elves forged great items of beauty that endured through the centuries.

He wasn't a blacksmith, he didn't forge swords or beat metal into ploughs, but rather he was an elven jewelsmith meaning that he'd created much of the fine jewellery worn by all the elves who lived here.

Those fancy circlets all the elves wear in these parts are made from mithril and while I didn't fancy crafting anything so delicate looking I had to admit they were well made.

Their decorations looked fragile, yet I felt sure that they had been owned by the same elf for centuries as elven crafts tended to last. Something I envied as I knew that my own works would not endure for so long unless I learned more about crafting.

I didn't need aid in learning to forge a decent set of armour or a sword. What I needed was instruction in the finer arts of the craft. I wanted to learn about cutting jewels and shaping mithril, now that we had some, and most importantly I wanted to know about imbuing spirit into an item.

Dammion was one of the few remaining Gwaith-i-Mírdain which he had told me much about during earlier lessons when he'd tried to explain the theory behind his work.

This was something I had trouble grasping, partly because some of the terms used don't translate directly into Westron and therefore I don't hear them in English.

Dammion had trouble finding ways to explain the details of his craft with someone who wasn't an elf and I had no skill in learning languages. Even if I did my time here wasn't unlimited.

What I did know was that thousands of years ago some elves from Lindon led by Celebrimbor settled in Eregion near the dwarven kingdom of Khazad-dûm. Which is now known as Moria.

Because they were interested in the making of crafts and jewels, they became close to the Dwarves of Khazad-dûm. They created an alliance based on friendship and peaceful commerce. Elves and dwarves seemed to get along better back in those days.

The elves prospered and grew immensely wealthy for centuries, but Sauron, ever hungry for dominion over Middle-earth, was jealous of their power according to historical records.

He approached them while disguised as a being called Annatar (The Lord of Gifts), and the elves, ever eager for more knowledge, accepted his gifts and his instructions.

They also followed him because though they loved Middle-Earth, they wanted to have the bliss of Valinor which they missed greatly.

That land across the sea was very different from Middle-Earth and the elves had limited success in trying to recreate a bit of Valinor in this part of the world.

With this new knowledge, they forged most of the Rings of Power with the help of Sauron. Celebrimbor alone forged the Three Rings, which were not corrupted by Sauron's hand.

Sadly the smiths were betrayed and deceived when Celebrimbor discovered that Sauron had forged the One Ring to rule all the others. They then took off their Great Rings and hid them, something Sauron got rather pissy about.

He demanded that the Three Rings be given to him, perhaps so he could use them to corrupt some elves who weren't so wise, and when they weren't handled over he declared war on the elves.

Eregion was destroyed and Celebrimbor was slain along with many of his jewel-smiths. Some of them were evacuated to Rivendell with the help of Elrond and Dammion was one of them.

Like the other elves here he kept a certain emotional distance from me and acted stoically, yet he was willing to teach me his people's ancient ways so he couldn't be a total stick in the mud.

"You need no further instruction in beating steel into shape," said my teacher "I will teach you the finer uses of the smith's tools"

He was correct. I could craft a nail, forge weapons and repair tools with ease. Those were useful things to be able to do and there was no need to go over the basics as we had been doing.

"Listen to me Master Marek, before you can begin to shape gold, silver and gems, you must ensure that you have the right tools for the task" I was told.

I presented the toolbox I'd been given by the CYOA.

"Why would I need more tools, Dammion?" I asked.

I had more than I needed.

"You lack the correct implements for more delicate work" he explained "A jeweller's tools need to be more precise than those used by other smiths. You wish to match elvish work then yours will need to be even more so".

I had those tools as well so they must not meet eleven standards if he wanted to forge proper tools with me.

"Since you have a very limited supply of mithril we will use an alloy of it for your tools" I was informed.

Mithril in its pure form was rather soft and malleable. It could be used in various alloys including a type of steel according to my tutor.

"We will also require the ring you took from the barrow-wight, it can be purified and melted down" I was told.

Adding gold to steel wasn't a good idea as expense aside it would soften the steel, but we were working with magical metals so the normal rules didn't apply. I needed to learn more about that and focus my efforts on making my tools, so it was time to get to work.

Part 13

Team Builder.

Part 13

Rivendell. Eriador.

Olórin, Mithrandir as he was known to the elves, or Gandalf as he was called elsewhere, enjoyed his visits to the home of the elves. Rivendell was a place of peace and well-suited for spending hours in quiet contemplation.

Sometimes Gandalf needed to think about important matters without any risk of interruption. The elves here were always willing to give him the time and space he required.

The Shire was his favourite place to go when he found himself tired due to his endless work and he felt the need to renew himself. Yet he visited Rivendell more often due to his role.

During his travels when he came across some issue that he could not solve on his own, he would come here to seek out advice from one the few beings who'd lived upon Middle Earth for even longer than he had.

This time he had been summoned to Rivendell by Lord Elrond himself, and this was odd as while he was always welcome in the home of his old friend, the elves preferred to mind their own affairs as much as possible.

Elrond would not have sent messengers out into the world to find the wandering Gandalf unless it was a matter of great importance. An issue that superseded all others.

Whatever was going on around here it hadn't seemed to have affected life here in Rivendell. The elves were going about their business as normal, yet Gandalf could sense that something was different from the last time he'd been here.

He didn't sense any danger, there was no need for him to be alarmed, but there was something that greatly concerned Elrond, the wizard was able to tell as much simply by looking at the elf lord.

"Mithrandir" his old ally greeted "I am glad that you are here".

Elrond had known that the member of the Istari order would be tired from his travels and he had made sure to serve refreshments before they began to talk.

"Your messenger was quite insistent that I come here as soon as possible," said Gandalf "What has you so troubled, Elrond?".

He did indeed look worried.

"Weeks ago two humans, going by the names Marek Dovahkiin and Hermione Granger, came to Rivendell in the guise of traders" the elf began explaining, "I thought for a time that a dragon might be in the area so I had the roads until the two humans were brought to me".

A certain dragon had been on Gandalf's mind of late so the mention of one being sensed elsewhere in the world concerned the wizard.

"I discovered that what I'd been sensing was a man who claims to have the soul of a dragon" Elrond went on to say "He came here in the company of a woman who calls herself a witch, but she is no user of the black arts".

Gandalf was glad that there was plenty of wine on offer. He had a feeling that he was going to need it.

"A man with the soul of a dragon and a witch who doesn't practice the dark arts" mused Gandalf "Tell me more".

Elrond was glad to have someone to share this with. Any news of the One Ring needed to be restricted to as few ears as possible, and he didn't wish news of his guests to spread far either. He trusted his household, but there were others who visited Rivendell and those who had ways of seeing and hearing in far-off places.

"The man who I sense is somehow connected to dragons, he is might, Mithrandir" informed the elf lord "He is one of the most powerful beings I have ever met I am sure. His companion is not so dangerous I think, but she wields magic unknown to me and does so with ease".

Gandalf was starting to see why he needed to come here so quickly. It had been a long time since any strangers from a far-off land had entered Middle Earth and it rarely boded well when they did.

"If they are so dangerous why have you allowed them to stay?" questioned the wizard.

Elrond refilled their glasses before speaking further.

"I don't think they mean us harm. I just believe that they have the potential to be dangerous," the elf lord told his old friend "If anything they'd been good guests. They are eager to learn from us and are using their magical arts to aid us".

Gandalf wanted to ask about that and he would, but he got the impression that his old friend was leading up to something important.

"What concerns me is that Marek, who claims to have the power of a dragon in a mortal body, has with him a special map that shows the location of important people and objects" Elrond was now saying "With it, he has been able to locate the One Ring. Assuming that this is not some trick then it is not far from here, beneath someplace infested with goblins".

Gandalf didn't know what to say to that so it was good that his host did.

"I'm aware that this could be some trick of The Enemy," said the leader of Rivendell "But Marek seems to be telling the truth and if he is then we could claim The One Ring, take it to Mordor and cast into Mount Doom before Sauron become strong enough to threaten Middle Earth".

The wizard spent some time thinking about the matter. The One Ring had been missing ever since Isildur was killed during an encounter with some orcs many centuries ago.

Without the One Ring, Sauron could never return to full power, but he could still come to dominate Middle Earth unless the Ring of Power was destroyed.

"You've had time to think this over," said Gandalf "Do you have a plan?".

Indeed he did.

"According to Marek, the Dark Lord will soon begin to marshal his forces, calling The Nine to him at Dol Guldur" informed Elrond "If Sauron is there, even in spirit, then we can strike at him, or rather I plan to with the aid of Galadriel and Saruman. You must take a group and go for the One Ring while Sauron is busy elsewhere. Find some way to Mount Doom and destroy the Ring".

The wizard was not convinced.

"Is it wise to divide our strength?" he asked.

The elf lord had given this a great deal of thought.

"If Sauron discovers that we are seeking the Ring then he will move sooner than he would have" stated Elrond "He must be distracted while the source of his power is destroyed or will find ourselves in another war, and will be a conflict I am sure we can win".

Gandalf had been concerned for a while about the dragon Smaug and been making his plans, however, he knew that destroying the One Ring was more important than anything else.

"I wish to meet with Marek Dovahkinn and Hermione Granger" declared Gandalf.

Elrond had been expecting this.

"I already sent for them," said the elf lord "Their lesson with Dammion should be finished by now".

Rivendell. Eriador.

"I've never seen anything quite like it," Dammion admitted.

Even with the elves being able to secure me a moderate source of iron ore from traders, it would still be some time before enough iron arrived for me to transmute mithril in the amounts the elves desired.

So for now I was focused on using our limited supply to create items of beauty that were useful to my hosts as a way of expressing my thanks.

I'd thought about creating jewellery or a dagger for Elrond, but in the end, I had decided to give the matter more thought and to make something really special as thanks for the elf lord's hospitality.

"In my world, these are everywhere," I told my teacher "It's hard to imagine growing up without them".

For a moment I wondered if Hermione would make some remark about using quills at her school, she didn't as the young witch was more interested in looking over the design I'd copied from my book of all human knowledge.

Thanks to that book, it had been simple enough to come up with instructions and a design for a crude fountain pen.

This first model was made from steel/mithril alloy with an ebony nib. Hermione and I had been able to transmute some gold into a very small sample of ebony, but the amount produced by the process was even less than what we got when transmuting gold into mithril.

While disappointing it made sense since ebony is supposed to be god's blood or something like that. I had been rather surprised that we'd been able to transmute any at all. My magic was truly powerful, or the CYOA was letting me cheat.

Sadly, unless I got my hands on a massive source of gold ore I was never going to be able to produce enough ebony to make armour or swords. That was something to concern myself with later.

As for Hermione, she'd decided to learn the basics about smithing so that she could assist me in the future. Sometimes it was handy for a craftsman to have an extra pair of hands nearby.

"There will never be a pen quite like this one," I said to my teacher.

Not only would the others be made by elves who would do things differently, but they also would not use ebony for the nibs due to how little of it I could supply them with.

"Lord Elrond will be grateful" stated Dammion "Rivendell doesn't trade much with outsiders, so we will likely make simple pens as gifts to our allies and let them make their own. You will long be remembered as their inventor, Marek".

I'd not invented anything. Although the people outside of Rivendell would have no way of knowing that and there was no sense denying credit from the general population since I wasn't going to be around to accept any.

If nothing else creating this fancy pen had been a chance to make use of my mithril-alloy tools that were custom-made for such delicate work.

"A good thing to be remembered for," I said.

This CYOA required me to have influence over this world and becoming known as a great inventor could certainly lead to that. However, I hoped that when people spoke of Marek Dovahkinn in the future they would compare me to great heroes of different ages, those who faced the dreaded Morgoth, the cruel Sauron and the evil Witch-King.

"Master Marek, Mistress Hermione," said Erestor

"Lord Elrond requires your presence at once. Please follow me".

Erestor was Elrond's steward, he was not someone sent on errands so if he'd been sent to fetch us then this was important.

"I will tidy up" offered Dammion.

One of the first things the jewel-smith had drilled into me was the need for a craftsman to keep his workspace clean and organised. Every tool had its proper place and needed to be cared for.

Once I had the pen boxed up, Hermione and I quickly left the forge and headed for the meeting place. Elrond preferred to have his audiences outside. The gardens of Rivendell helped him remain calm.

I knew Gandalf at once. The wizard was impossible to miss due to his pointy hat and beard. He wasn't making use of his pipe and I wondered if this elvish settlement was one big no-smoking zone.

"Marek, Hermione," said Elrond "This is Mithrandir or Gandalf as he is known elsewhere. I've been telling him what you told me when you first arrived and discussing our plans".

Before I can reply to that the wizard inquired about the box.

"It's a gift for Lord Elrond" I explained.

I handed over the box and the important elf inspected its contents.

"It's called a pen," I said "In my world they replaced quills".

I then went on to explain how it worked.

"This is a thoughtful gift," said Elrond "If it works you say I will find my letter writing to be a more pleasant pass time".

Even if Rivendell didn't get involved much in the business of other realms it made sense that our host would communicate with the other elven kingdoms and I already knew that he employed messengers.

"I'd left the design with Dammion" I let Elrond know "If you like the pen he can make more".

Having used a quill a few times while taking notes I knew how much of a luxury a pen could be.

"Do we have a new Annatar come among us?" asked Gandalf.

Elrond spoke in elvish using the name Mithrandir as he did and he sounded upset. I didn't know if that was because the joke was in poor taste or if it was because he didn't like having his guests offended, it could be both for all I knew.

Hermione and I had been here for a while so perhaps we were more to him than mere guests.

"Who is Annatar?" Hermione asked.

I'd told her about what Sauron got up to back in the Second Age, but I'd never been good at remembering names so I'd not mentioned that one.

"Annatar, The Lord of Gifts, is the name that the dark lord used when he came to the elves while pretending to be an emissary from the Valar," I told Hermione "Annatar was the one who guided Celebrimbor as he made the Rings of Power. He acted as a friend and taught the elves about crafting, but he was using them as part of his scheme for world domination".

It wasn't hard to guess why the wizard had compared me to Annatar and I was rather disappointed as aside from Merlin, Gandalf was the most famous wizard in all of fiction, and I'd hoped to learn from him when I had the chance. Hopefully, we'd start to get along better.

"I'm no Maiar," I told Mithrandor "I'm sure you'd know".

The Istari looked a little abashed.

"My apologies," he said, "but you are unknown to me and the information you offer seems too good to be true. Sauron is not sometimes called The Deceiver for nothing.

I'd been given time to prove my good intentions to the elves, and I needed to convince Gandalf to trust me if we were going to avoid a massive war. To that end, I took out my magical map and showed the wizard the location of the One Ring.

"We need to secure the Ring, Mithrandir" insisted Elrond "It must be destroyed before Sauron is ready to wage war again upon Middle Earth".

Gandalf didn't really have much of a choice in the matter. Yet he didn't simply accept what the map told us.

"I want Marek and Hermione to go with" stated Elrond "Along with a team of my people. With your talents combined I believe you can safely make it into Mordor and destroy the Ring".

While I didn't want to go near that thing I was a smart choice for a team due to my range of skills, and I might know a way to speed up the journey thanks to something I'd discussed with Hermoine.

Part 14

Team Builder.

Part 14

Rivendell. Eriador.

We didn't just go rushing off into the wilds to find the One Ring and this was good as such an act would be foolish, to say the least, and likely result in at least some of us getting killed.

We took weeks to prepare and during that time I began working on a proper suit of armour for myself as I was going to need the protection once we left the safety of Rivendell.

If we got into some fights I'd have to serve as the group's tank to borrow a D term. Gandalf was a wizard and Hermione was a witch, they were best left to casting spells from a distance if possible.

Knowing my role, I'd forged for myself a new set of armour made up of a steel chest plate, some boots and gauntlets, with the rest being leather gained from different sources, and cloth woven by the elves that offered more protection than it should.

I'd based the design on the Steel Soldier Armor set I'd seen when playing Skryim and having downloaded some extra features. There were better sets, but I had limited resources to work with.

The steel I was using was actually an alloy that had a bit of mithril in the mix. Some of the metals ordered from the dwarves had finally arrived so I had enough to create my armour with a little mithril left over for whatever it was the elves needed it for.

This suit of armour was forged using elvish secrets and human designs. When forging the armour I'd focused on my intent to create something that would protect me and I'd attempted to put something of myself into the set, as such the armour had some spiritual power to it as well. Assuming that I actually understood what I was doing.

Even if I'd gotten the process wrong the armour was physically sound. The mithril made it lighter than it should be, something I would be grateful for once we started on our quest and had to traverse so many miles on foot.

It was much more durable than the armour I'd been equipped with at the start of my adventures. I knew that I would be grateful for the extra protection should we face hoards of goblins and creatures such as trolls.

If the Nazgul turned it wouldn't help at all, but they should still be dormant and if I did face them I would make use of my magic.

Since I had Orcist I didn't need a new sword, and the elves had gifted me with a good bow, so I focused some of my time on forging myself a dagger done in Nord style that was also made from steel along with some mithril.

I hoped that having a bit of the magical metal making up the blade would give it more bite against mystical creatures that had some residence or outright immunity to normal weapons.

Overall I was pleased with the armour. It was hardly what I would consider the work of a master craftsman, but it should serve my needs. It would offer some decent protection while remaining light enough not to hamper my movements in battle.

Hermione already had her set of thieves guild armour and her style of fighting involved keeping her distance and remaining mobile so giving her only light protection made a lot of sense.

I'd enchanted her armour before we'd even reached Rivendell using our limited stock of small soul gems that had been delivered to us already filled. The enchantments were weak, but they help her to move around more quietly and nimbly.

"Marek, may I talk with you?" someone asked.

I was just finishing up so this was as good a time as any for a chat.

"Mithrandir," I said "What can I do for you?".

Normally only elves called him that, but he didn't seem to mind me referring to him as anything other than Gandalf. I was glad the wizard wasn't so hostile towards me as I was a big fan of his and had I been my old self I'd be acting quite differently around him.

I noticed that he was carrying Glamdring, also called the Foe-hammer or the Beater, it was a hand-and-a-half sword, and the wizard was wise enough to know that he would need such a weapon in the future.

The blade of the weapon would glow blue when orcs were near and it had been forged with the intent of it being a sword meant to kill goblins. It would still serve the wizard well against other foes, but against orcs, it would be more effective.

"Lord Elrond has convinced me that you can be trusted despite your strange nature," said the wizard.

Both of us looked like men, yet we weren't, although I had been born as a mere mortal, there was nothing truly divine about me as I didn't think I was a real child of Akatosh. I had simply been altered by a very powerful being and sent off to amuse it.

"He tells me that you are some sort of man with the power to slay dragons," said the Maiar "Is this true?".

Being an immortal creature he was no doubt thinking of his long-term plans. Even if Sauron was defeated Smaug would still be out there and the dragon could burn entire kingdoms.

The dragon was content for now to sleep upon its treasure, but nothing lasts forever, sooner or later, either Smaug would decide to take the skies or some fool would wake him up and piss him off.

"It is" I stated, "I am the Dovahkiin. A mortal man with the soul of a dragon. In another world I have the power to slay dragons, but the dragons of this world are not the same as in others".

That was what concerned me about going up against Smaug. If Dragonrend worked against him then it would be possible to take the dragon down with some help, however, without that Shout, it would be much more difficult.

Smaug did have a weak spot, and perhaps with a strong enough arrow or spear, he could be slain, I'd seen it done.

Even with that, I would need a team of warriors, to act as my Blades, a group of elven archers to cripple Smaug's wings would be helpful.

Hermione might be able to wound Smaug if she could strike his eyes with the right spell.

"Would you be interested in joining a company I am hoping to put together?" Gandalf asked, "If we are successful in dealing with the One Ring I plan to travel to the Lonely Mountain and deal with a dragon who is a threat to all of Middle Earth".

I had mixed feelings about the idea. Part of me wanted to prove myself against Smaug, to break him or subdue him, to prove that I was mighty, but I also had no desire to be roasted alive by a dragon. It might not matter because I helped to destroy the Ring I might be leaving.

Doing either might be enough to allow me to leave this world and collect more points that I could use to make myself even stronger. Yet I would rather deal with the One Ring as Sauron was the bigger threat.

"Let's discuss it after Sauron is dealt with," I said "We need to stay focused on one evil at a time".

No sense in getting distracted, and if for some reason helping to destroy the One Ring wasn't enough then I could plan what to do next.

"Has Lord Elrond decided what team we'll be taking?" I asked.

Gandalf stood up from the stone bench he'd been using as a seat and gestured for me to follow him.

"The meeting will be starting soon," he said "You can ask him yourself".

Rivendell. Eriador.

The elf lord did not like holding back information from those she considered to be his friends, yet he had listened well when Marek Dovahkiin had told him about the future of Middle Earth.

He had to avoid that future for the sake of all that was good in the world, not just his own people.

The idea that Saruman the Wise could not be trusted to help destroy the ring worried him, yet he knew that even the Valar were not above the temptation of power.

If they had been free of it then this world would be a very different place as there would have been no Morgoth or Sauron, only Melkor and Mairon.

If Saruman had indeed developed an unhealthy interest in the One Ring then it would be vital that the wizard was directed to aiding himself and Galadriel as they assaulted the dark fortress of Dol Guldur rather than be sent out to destroy the One Ring.

Elrond had considered hiding the fact that they knew the location of the One Ring from the white wizard, however, the Maiar was smart enough to realise that if Gandalf didn't go with them to Dol Guldur then he must be doing something else important. As such, they would need to convince the wizard to devote his efforts elsewhere.

Saruman could be difficult to convince once he had made up his mind about something, but he wasn't so stubborn that he would withdraw his help should the others support Elrond's plan.

"How can we be sure that this Marek can be trusted?" asked the wizard in white.

Gandalf had been concerned as well at first and that had been wise. Galadriel didn't question it and Elrond wondered how much she already knew about the Dragonborn and his companion. Had she sensed him and been concerned about a threat? Had she used her powers to spy upon Elrond's guests?

Any leader in Middle Earth would give much to have Marek within their court. Just his ability to transmute metals could in time transform a kingdom and his knowledge from other worlds could tip the balance of power quite easily.

Elrond held the pen that Marek had created for him in his hand. It was such a small thing and yet it made writing so much easier. To the Dragonborn, the pen was an everyday item, never given much thought because they were so common.

Elrond had spent time wondering about what advances Marek could offer the people of Rivendell if he could stay here. His people would leave these lands one day, but not too soon, and they could leave behind a great legacy.

"I trust him," said the elf lord "Marek Dovahkiin and Hermione Granger have done nothing other than be good guests. I've seen no sign of any hostile intent. In any case, it is not your concern who I let into my home. We are here to discuss my plan to deal with Sauron".

Elrond hoped that Saruman was simply being cautious and not trying to discourage an assault because it would interfere with dangerous plans.

"If we strike now before the Dark Lord is ready to move then we will save many lives" Galadriel stated.

When Gandalf returned, having volunteered to bring Marek Dovahkiin and Hermione Granger to the meeting, the wizard and the two elves, exchanged looks, saying much without speaking a single word.

There had been much spoken between them without the need for many words. Elrond could feel Galadriel's concern and eagerness to deal with Sauron. He could sense Gandalf's concern and hopefulness as well.

Should Sauron be defeated then the duty of the wizards would come to an end and they could leave Middle Earth. They had been in service here for centuries and their work had a toil upon them.

"I have warned you before about Dol Guldur," reminded Gandalf "You preached restraint before. Now we have further reason to be concerned. We must strike before Sauron is ready to move".

Saruman was not so easily convinced by Lord Elrond's plan or Mithrandir's words.

"I do not believe the word of this stranger" Saruman stated as he gestured to the Dragonborn "This may even be a trick of the enemy to lure us into a trap".

Of course, they had already considered that. Elrond had watched his guests more closely than they could have realised. He'd gotten a measure of them and found that he trusted them.

"If needs be I will go alone" stated the elf lord "I sense that we have a chance here to change the future, to end this evil. I will strike".

Elves were not normally ones for rash action. Living for so long gave them a perspective different to that of mortal men, yet they were capable of acting quickly if the situation required it.

"You will not go alone" promised Galadriel.

She too seemed to understand that they were was a chance to end here what their people had begun so long ago.

If Gandalf could ensure that the One Ring was destroyed and they could banish Sauron then their ancient enemy would become lost in the Void, never to threaten this world ever again.

"It appears that I am outvoted," said the white wizard.

Elrond couldn't help noticing that Marek had some hostility towards Saruman. It was subtle, he was trying to hide it, but the Dragonborn did not like the wizard. This contrasted with how he acted around Mithrandir. Marek seemed to admire that wizard.

"So is it decided?" questioned Gandalf.

Neither Marek nor Hermione had a vote on this matter since they were not even of this world. Elrond had wanted them here in case either Galadriel or Saruman had questions. There didn't seem to be a need for any.

There had never been any doubt that Gandalf would go and carry out his part of the plan. It would just be better for the strike team they were sending if Sauron was distracted while the One Ring was dealt with.

"It is," said Elrond "I will go with Lady Galadriel and Saruman to Dol Guldur, to find any trace of Sauron and banish it before he can gather his dark forces to him. Gandalf, Marek, Hermione, and my sons will recover the One Ring, then they will travel to Mordor, to destroy the Ring once and for all".

That was it then. They would risk themselves for the future of this world. Now all they could is make their final preparations.

Part 15

Team Builder.

Part 15

Rivendell. Eriador.

There had been a delay. We were supposed to have left by now, but the plan had been changed, or perhaps refined was a better word.

Instead of having two teams sneak out the new plan was to make it look as if a large group was leaving Rivendell to go visit Lothlórien, also known as Lórien, one of the other elven kingdoms in Middle Earth.

The idea was that the strike team I was going to be part of would break off from the main party and go look for the One Ring once we'd left Rivendell and entered the Misty Mountains so as to make it harder for any spies to guess what we were up to.

Elves did make state visits to each other and a slow-moving party that was carrying a lot of luggage did seem as if it would provide some cover for our activities.

I wondered if that was all needless given that Sauron couldn't have fully returned yet, but there was no real need to rush and the extra secrecy might be a good thing if I was wrong about how much influence Sauron had over this world.

Who knew what sort of creatures might already be reporting to him? He might even be able to scry and spy on his enemies, the elves could do it, although they wouldn't attempt to scry and look for Sauron in case it tipped him off.

During the planning, it had been suggested by Saruman that we all go to face Sauron and then go after the One Ring as a larger group once we'd recovered our strength so as to ensure that the One Ring was not lost.

I didn't know if that was because he was simply being practical or because he wanted to go after the Ring later once Melkor's chief lieutenant had been dealt with, at least for a while.

Elrond shot down the idea, correctly pointing out that Hermione and I would not be assets when facing Sauron as neither of us had ever tangled with an enemy who would be present in spirit rather than flesh.

Even if that barrow-wight, itself a spirit rather a totally corporal enemy, hadn't been that dangerous, I didn't think a Patronus would do much to a being that could be compared to a fallen angel.

Okay so I could recall dealing with ghosts and Hermione had dealt with Dementors, but Sauron was on a whole other level in terms of power, and while I did have a Shout that could harm something spiritually, such as wights, I simply didn't know how to defend myself against the Dark Lord.

Hermione for all her intelligence and magical power was still a mortal woman, I just didn't think she'd be able to do anything to combat Sauron.

Our skills were much better suited to fighting orcs and seeking out the One Ring.

It stung my pride that I was afraid of Sauron, as a dragon I should be able to dominate or destroy any foe, however, my human mind reminds me that I can dominate anyone or anything if I am dead. Besides, I would destroy the One Ring and defeat Sauron that way.

While I was a talented mage for sure, it was just that I was better suited to fighting threats that you could hit with an axe, and my more spiritual powers were focused on dealing with dragons and monsters. I would [prove my superiority by slaying any goblin that foolishly dared get in my way.

I wasn't concerned much about the change in plans that would require the team going after the One Ring to go to Lothlórien rather than directly to Mordor once we had found the Ring, we would need some downtime and to resupply.

We would require some new guides as well since the elves in that part of the world would know those lands better. Even with my magical map, we were going to need aid in our travels.

I was not greatly concerned about the team going after Sauron. They had succeeded in the original timeline when the Dark Lord was stronger and they knew what they could be facing. They wouldn't be walking into the fortress blind to what they faced and they were taking the time they needed to prepare.

I'd spent this free time making chainmail for Hermione and myself knowing that I would be able to finish the project since we weren't leaving as soon as expected.

With the aid of my smithing teacher, I'd found a good mix for the mithril alloy that allowed for chainmail that was light and would offer some protection.

Despite the effort, I'd put into the armour, I doubted that my work would compare to the chainmail shirt worn by Frodo and Bilbo Baggins, but I'd do better in the future now that I'd gotten some practice with my craft.

Forging a set of chainmail was not exactly difficult, rather it was repetitive work that took a lot of time so I was glad to have some help.

With my work done for the day, it was time to get some rest and after I'd gotten cleaned up I found Hermione packing away some of her books. No doubt she'd been working on something that she thought would help us complete our very important mission.

"I've been looking into making us some portkeys" she let me know in a tired tone of voice "I never tried to make any before because the Ministry has ways of tracking them, and I have to know where we were going, so I can't create one to take us to Mordor, but we can use one to get out of there. I just need to make a few practice ones before we try for a long trip".

Having portkeys would be good as destroying the One Ring might cause Mount Doom to erupt and we couldn't depend on the eagles coming to our rescue.

I'd read about them and they were an intelligent race that acted as they saw fit for reasons of their own, that was why we couldn't just call some up and fly them to Mordor. They weren't horses.

While I did have the mark and recall spell that could teleport a person to a location I had prepared in advance, it could only transport me and only to a single place, so it would only come in handy if we got separated.

"We can talk more about it tomorrow," I said.

Without warning I grabbed her and she squealed as I sat her on my lap. The t-shirt she often wore to bed didn't do anything to hide the fact that she wasn't wearing any underwear.

"I assume you're done for the day," she said.

She knew what I'd been working on and how much effort was involved, so I saw no reason to rehash the details with her when there was something else we could talk about.

"Were you hoping that I'd notice your lack of knickers?" I asked her.

Hermione blushed as she smiled at me.

"I didn't see any reason to get changed given how late is," she said.

She didn't need to make excuses. She was a lot more comfortable around me than she used to be and didn't see any need to hide her body from my gaze.

"Hmm, if I had my way, you wouldn't be wearing anything at all," I told her.

Hermione fidgeted in my lap as I began to gently rub her pussy, she tensed up a little when I slid two fingers inside her, but only for a moment.

When I began to finger her, she ended up trying to hide her face, yet she did nothing to hinder me as I played with her cunt.

As time passed she got more into it, she moved her hips, rubbing her butt so that my cock soon felt as if it was going to rip through my boxers and drive itself inside her even if it had to destroy my sleepwear.

Before long my digits were soaked. I took them out and put them in front of her face. She didn't seem to know what to do, and to be fair she might not get what I wanted from her as she wasn't experienced when it came to sex.

"Open your mouth" I ordered.

Most of the time we were informal with each other, but she knew a command when she heard one and she knew to obey.

"Yes, Master," she said.

She did as she was told and before long she was treating my fingers as if they were my cock.

"Good girl" I praised.

She took them deep inside her mouth and began making a lot of lewd noises. After a while, I went back to fingering her bare snatch that she'd done something to make very smooth.

Hermione took off the t-shirt so that she was now naked while sitting in my lap. She happily wiggled about, feeling my dick as she moved. It made me want to fuck her even more so I decided to move on to the main event before my dick rebelled.

"Go lie down on the bed" I instructed.

She eagerly moved over the bed and laid down with her legs spread. She knew what was going to happen and she was looking forward to it. I'd come to realise that Hermione enjoyed the intimacy we shared and I got the impression that she'd not been given enough affection when she'd been growing up.

After getting rid of my boxers I moved my cock as I pushed into Hermione's tight pussy. Hermione tensed for a moment as she felt me slide inside her and then she relaxed as she put her arms around me as best she could.

"Mmm, Master" she whispered.

I looked at Hermione as I began to slowly fuck her, she had her eyes closed, and she was biting her lower lip in that cute way she did. I couldn't help wanting to fuck her harder, to use her body for my pleasure.

Without warning, I began to fuck her vigorously. I drove my cock in and out of her cunt with hard strokes that soon had her squirming and squealing beneath me as I began to use her body.

She'd been holding onto me tenderly until I'd started to really get into it, and now her soft hands felt as if they had transformed into the claws of some fearsome feline given how they dug into my back.

"Ohhh, yes! Fuck me! Master fuck me harder!" she shouted out.

Normally I was the one giving the orders around here yet I couldn't help responding to her words and I began slamming into her.

It was a very good thing that her kind of magic user seemed to be built rather sturdy (any normal human getting hit by a bludger during a quidditch game would at least break some bones if they weren't killed outright) otherwise I might have badly hurt her.

Hermione was now using her arms to wrap herself around me. Either because she wanted to keep me inside her or because she was holding on for dear life. It didn't matter which as I wasn't going to stop.

I just kept forcing my cock into her cunt, which for its part seemed to be doing its best to keep my dick inside the young witch.

"Fuck me! Fuck me!" Hermione urged

I was doing just that and if I didn't slow down I wasn't going to last much longer, not that I cared. I just did my best to fill her well-used cunt with as much of my baby batter as I could, something that made her scream in what could have been delight or pain.

Somehow I managed to roll off her and we both just laid there for a while, neither of us speaking or moving for what could have been mere moments or half an hour. I'd lost all sense of time.

"I'm going to need some bruise salve" the witch commented as she reached over to grab a bag that she kept under the bed "You did quite a number on my poor little pussy".

She seemed happy about that rather than sounding as if she was complaining, and she didn't even whimper as she applied the creme, she just moaned some more.

"That's better," she said playfully "I don't think the damage was too bad even if you were trying to wreak me like the magnificent beast that you are".

I couldn't help feeling a little pride upon hearing that, and Hermione displayed her affection to towards me with more than words. She laid her head on my chest and snuggled into me as she drifted off to sleep.

Part 16

Team Builder.

Part 16

Goblin Tunnels. The Misty Mountains.

We were deep within the massive mountain range that acted as a divider, separating the western parts of Middle Earth from the eastern.

The elves had a legend about how the Misty Mountains were created by Melkor a long time ago. He made them because he wanted to make it difficult for Oromë, the Valar who was pretty much the god of the hunt, to be able to hunt and kill Morgoth's fell beasts across all of Middle Earth.

These mountains were once the location of the largest and most powerful Dwarven realm ever to exist in Middle-earth, Khazad-dûm, later named Moria.

It had been located at the midpoint of the Misty Mountains and the mines were used by the Fellowship of the Ring during their attempt to get to Mordor when they couldn't go through the mountains.

Sadly the great Dwarven realm came to an end when the Dwarves who were digging deep so as to find more mithril, unearthed a Balrog, a demon I was very glad to be keeping my distance from even if it did bother my inner dragon to hide from any creature. Luckily my human mind was far more sensible about the matter.

Since the fall of Khazad-dûm, the Misty Mountains have become increasingly perilous for travellers as goblins and other foul creatures came to dwell here in great numbers. They lived both within and under the mountains as in their vast tunnels it was easy to hide from the sun.

I could vouch personally that these mountains were indeed infested with goblins. They had kingdoms of their own down here, which we were making an effort to avoid as we moved ever closer to our goal.

As planned Gandalf, Hermione, Elladan and Elrohir the twin sons of Elrond, and I, as planned, broke off from the group that looked to be travelling from Rivendell to Lothlórien. We did so under the cover of night and with as much stealth as possible.

Even with my memories of going on hunts as the Dragonborn, I felt loud and clumsy when compared to the elf brothers. They never complained about us making noise or slowing them down, and the twins were more friendly towards us than most of the elves.

I wondered if that was because they had some humans in their family tree or if elves were just less formal when outside of Rivendell.

Elladan and Elrohir both had a strong hatred for orcs due to something that had happened to their mother, and I was glad that while this made them eager to engage the small groups we ran into, they didn't rush off on their own.

We had a mission to complete and we had to remain focused.

Not that this stopped me from collecting a few trophies along the way, something that repulsed Hermione.

"Do you have to keep doing that?" she asked.

I was removing a tooth from the mouth of a goblin that I had slain in combat not so long ago. Doing this should disgust me as well, but I could recall doing this many times in the past in my false memories, and it seemed right. The taking of trophies was just something warriors did.

"It's not that different from harvesting potion ingredients" I pointed out.

Our conversation was cut short as Elladan came over. He'd been scouting ahead.

"More goblins ahead" he warned "Just a small group. I think they are hunting us".

Making our way through the mountain to find Gollum was taking its time. The twisting paths were sometimes naturally formed while others were the result of digging, and more than once we'd needed to double back to find a different route because some tunnel had collapsed.

As for the goblins, they didn't take kindly to having what appeared to be a group of humans and elves moving through their territory.

I knew that it was very good for us that they weren't able to coordinate a proper search or they could have overwhelmed us with sheer numbers by now.

It also helped that when we made camp we could place defensive enchantments up that led to the goblins not being able to find us. More than once a gang of the creatures had wandered right past us.

"We must press forward" insisted Gandalf.

While few knew it, all the free peoples of Middle Earth were counting on us to find the One Ring and then destroy it.

Gandalf's staff provided us with light as we moved through the darkness. Not that I really needed it as I was using a spell that gave me the ability to see in the dark.

To me the world lacked any colour and it was hard to see any fine details, but I could see threats and the path ahead, that was what mattered and there wouldn't be much to admire down here anyway.

The last time I'd summoned the Dremoa Merchant, I'd purchased a well-built shield, it had proven its worth as we'd through the tunnels. Soon it would serve me again even if it was getting a little battered.

"Oak and iron, guard me well, or else I'm dead and off to hell" I whispered.

I heard the goblins before I saw them and I saw them soon after my sword started glowing in the darkness. Orcrist did indeed have that feature and it worked even after thousands of years. Elvish works were truly marvellous and more than ever I hoped to one day be able to emulate their work.

When we entered a cavern, I didn't have time to count the numbers of the enemy, all any of us could do was fight. Hermione and the elves hung back so that they could use ranged attacks while I got into melee range so as to keep the attention of the enemy on me.

The wizard known as Gandalf stayed close to me, making sure that nothing could attack my rear. His staff was rather good at cracking skulls and like me had a sword meant for ending the lives of goblins.

It was a testament to the skill of the elves and Hermione's careful spellcasting that I was never the victim of any friendly fire. Not that I was worried about that right now as I was too busy fighting.

My shield blocked the blow of a goblin who had tried to strike me with some sort of club. I pushed my shield away from my body, moving the enemy's weapon with it. That left the creature exposed enough for me to drive my sword into the monster's chest.

Orcrist went through the flesh of orcs with barely any effort, making battle with them easier. No wonder they feared weapons such as this.

I let the goblin drop to the ground and moved on to my next target. I swung my sword and cut the creature open even just before an arrow struck it in the shoulder. The elf who'd just fired his blow had known exactly where to strike.

Lashing out again I removed the arm of a large goblin as it lifted up some sort of hammer, then I used the first word of the Drain Vitality Shout so that I could steal the last of the being's stamina as it bled to death and use it to keep myself fighting at my best.

Quickly I turned my body and protected myself against a goblin archer, they were slow and had Stormtrooper levels of accuracy when compared to the elves, but they could get lucky so it was good that I'd brought my shield up in time.

" Petrificus Totalus!"

Hermione didn't know many lethal spells so she focused on disabling foes for others to finish off once the skirmish was over.

Her Hogwarts education hadn't prepared her for this sort of fighting, not that this was her fault given the poor quality of the Defence Against the Dark Arts teachers and Hogwarts lacking duelling lessons.

She'd learned something from being a part of the DA, and when fighting Death Eaters, she disarmed and disable many an enemy during our fights.

Despite her lack of lethal force, I was impressed by how well she was doing. She'd already realised that by hanging back and offering support she could be of great aid in battle while keeping herself out of the fighting.

It helped that I'd been able to provide her with an amulet that gave her the night vision spell without having to keep casting it. My spells could last quite a while, yet I still had to keep casting them to allow myself to see while down here.

I removed the head of the goblin before checking the map. Gollum was moving and hiding down here, which was why we'd not caught up to him already, and I was happy to see that this had changed.

"He's here," I informed the others.

I cast the detect life spell as Hermione waved her wand.

"Homenum Revelio".

She's cast a spell that should reveal any human presence nearby, but only she and I were affected.

"Won't work. He's not human" I told her.

Elrohir suddenly moved and grabbed something that had only just registered to me thanks to my spell. It was Gollum, the horrible creature struggled as the two elf brothers tried to restrain the poor sod with some sort of rope, that didn't look strong enough to keep anything tougher than a kitten yet proved effective.

"I have it," said Elladan

He held up the One Ring and the wretch went crazy. I knew that to do and I drove my sword into Gollum.

"Was that necessary, Marek?" Gandalf asked.

That had been an accusation as well as a question. To be fair, it had been a rather shocking action.

"The only thing keeping Gollum alive is the Ring" I explained "He'd have died with the Ring and until then he'd been driven to reclaim it. Which means he'd follow us all the way to Mordor and try to murder us to take it back".

Practical reasons aside I'd done that partly out of mercy not just because it made sense.

"Gollum had the Ring for centuries and he was twisted by it" I went on to say "No one should live like that".

I'd been planning to kill the poor sod to put him out of his misery for a while.

"That thing was corrupted by evil" stated Elladan "Little different than every other abomination living

in these tunnels".

Gandalf and Hermione didn't agree, I could sense that, however, they saw no reason to argue the point.

"We need to get moving," said the wizard "We must leave these caves and seek out of the sun".

I noticed that my witch looked upset.

"There are fates much worse than death," I told her "What happened to Gollum was a bit like how Ginny Weasly was affected by the diary Horcrux only spread out over centuries. The Ring drove Gollum mad a long time ago and made him into a monster. I would rather die than become like him".

It had already been agreed that none of us would carry the Ring for more than a day. and Gandalf agreed to be the one to carry it first on a mithril chain I'd made once I'd gotten done with the chainmail.

While I felt sure that the mental protection given to Hermione and myself by the CYOA would provide some protection from the corrupting effects of the Ring, it wouldn't last forever so we best get this over and done with as quickly as possible.

"Here," I said to Hermione as I passed her a bottle "You'll need some of this".

Stamina potions were easy to make and you didn't need to drink a whole one to get the benefits. The natives didn't seem to need any aid and that was good as we didn't have that many potions.

As the group headed out of the tunnels we found out that was already morning. My sense of time had failed me as I'd been convinced it was the middle of the night.

"We just use the day to put some distance between us and the goblins," said one of the elf twins "Make haste, we must travel many miles south to my grandmother's home".

I'd forgotten that Elron's wife Celebrían was Galadriel's daughter. Elladan, Elrohir, and Arwen sure had a lot of important relatives. I'd met Galadriel only briefly and I hoped to see her home as it was supposed to be even grander than Rivendell.

Part 17

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Team Builder.

Part 17

The Vale of Anduin. The Wilderland.

While following the river made sense as it would take us very close to our destination of Lothlórien, as the river went right by that elvish kingdom, thus reducing the chances of anyone getting lost if we were somehow separated, there was a risk as the river flowed between the Misty Mountains and the Greenwood.

If we'd so wished then we could have followed the river right to the borders of Mordor itself as the waters passed by that horrible place before finally making it to the sea.

Although I didn't think we'd be taking that route, Gandalf had hinted that he had some plan to get to us Mount Doom quickly once we'd rested and resupplied within the elvish kingdom of Lothlórien. He was keeping the details to himself in case the enemy had some way of hearing us.

As for the risk, this was because the Greenwood or the Mirkwood as it was also known, contained the ancient fortress called Dol Guldur. Like the mines of Moria that was a place, I wished to avoid as I knew that despite all my power I wasn't prepared to face such a threat. I might be able to handle one of the Nazgul, but I'd rather not have to try.

I wondered if there were giant spiders in the Mirkwood yet. Dragonborn or not I'd rather not go find out as I didn't find even normal-sized spiders to be pleasant to have around.

Massive ones would be unsettling to see. I felt fairly certain that the end result of my meeting with such abominations would be a good part of the Greenwood being lost to a massive forest fire. Something that would greatly upset the elves.

My focus was better spent on dealing with orcs and guarding the One Ring. Both of which I'd been doing a lot of recently. Sauron must indeed be returning to power if the creatures of Melkor are around in such numbers. I wondered if this meant the events of the Hobbit must take place soon.

The history books say that without a powerful leader to unite and drive them the orcs tend to be more of a nuisance than a real threat to the kingdoms of Middle Earth.

With the return of Sauron, his evil influence had begun to spread like a sickness, and their numbers were increasing once more. Hence why there were groups of orcs to be found wandering these lands.

We'd been followed south by the goblins from the Misty Mountains, however, since they had to avoid the sun and we had elven rangers with us to guide us while working to cover our tracks, they'd lost us.

That should have been the end of our troubles for a time. Only we'd run into a group of orcs, these larger and more dangerous than the creatures we had battled before, and we'd had trouble taking them down, or at least we'd had to put more effort into slaying the bigger monsters.

I ended up with a few more teeth as trophies. By now no more cared about that as long as I didn't let it slow us down by more than a few moments.

As we moved south we worked to avoid more camps until Gandalf decided that we needed to find out what they were doing here. We could keep avoiding the orcs as the elven twins could scout us a route that avoided them, but that wasn't enough for the wizard who was growing more concerned as time passed.

To this end, we'd taken shelter in a thicket of trees and started watching a camp. The last few days had been rather cloudy due to a storm building up in the north, but today it was much brighter and the orc party was sticking to its camp to avoid the sun.

While the camp was next to a river and set up somewhere cool, with pleasantly green surroundings, they were set up in such a way that you'd think they were camping in a desert.

The majority of the foul creatures were sleeping and eating, with very few of them paying any attention to their surroundings. A mistake.

"I can make one of them talk if we can capture an orc," I said.

Gandalf gave me a disproving look.

"Torturing even an orc is distasteful" he admonished.

On that, we agreed. There were much more humane and effective ways of gaining information. Besides, Orcs are sadistic in nature and possibly masochist as well, if so then inflicting pain on them could be counterproductive to breaking their will.

"I have ways of making them talk," I told the wizard "Just restrain one of them and I'll get the information we need from it".

We did need to know why they are here. Were they scouting the area for an attack? Or were they looking for someone? Maybe something?

"So we attack" stated Elladan.

He and Elrohir would have both run out of arrows if not for the fact I'd packed plenty extra for myself, keeping them within the expanded bag Hermione made for me. They were good with a sword, but I'd rather have them fighting at range while I played the role of tank.

"We attack" agreed Gandalf.

I turned to Hermione.

"Try to petrify one of them" I instructed.

We'd already discovered that the larger orcs had a bit of magical resistance in them. Enough that the Stupefy spell didn't knock out one, our other spells were thankfully more effective, and my Shouts worked just fine. This wasn't surprising to the witch, she'd informed us that many magical creatures in her world could resist spells cast by a wand to some degree.

After resting for a while the elf brother declared that it was about midday and the sun was bright in the sky, so it seemed like a good time to attack. We sneaked as close as we could, and when I was spotted I charged into the camp as even a couple of orcs who were on watch, died as arrows hit them in the necks.

Orcs are made to follow strength as such their leaders tend to be the biggest around or at least the best well-armed of the group. Orc leaders also liked to get stuck in and led by example, so it wasn't hard for me to locate him.

I intended to kill the boss so that the rest of the scum would be demoralised or at least less organised. He might have access to the most information, but if he wasn't the toughest of the group he'd also be the toughest for Hermione to disable.

An orc with a spear came charging at me, I could see the bloodlust in its eye despite the distance between us. Its charge didn't last long as the monster hadn't accounted for the brightness of the sun.

Killing that idiot might be a favour to the species since I'd be removing a fool from their gene pool. Assuming that orcs had a gene pool? Weren't they grown in cocoons rather be bred the old-fashioned way?

While it tried to shield its eyes I brought my sword down and broke its skull before turning my attention to the camp.

"FUS RO DAH!"

The Shout struck the camp, sending small objects flying and knocking down things. Some of the tents the orcs had been using to block out the sunlight to make it bearable for them, no longer offered any protection.

This didn't cause them to catch fire, or anything so dramatic, but as the monsters tried to pick themselves up it became clear they were in pain and they couldn't properly see.

As the monsters recovered from my Shout they began to run, somewhat unexpectedly, and I let them be chased off by arrows and spells as I planted a boot on the chest of the leader who had dropped his weapons as he fell.

I carefully placed the tip of my sword very near the monster's eye to make sure it wouldn't try anything foolish.

"You're going to tell us what you are doing here" I stated.

The ugly being growled at me.

"I don't talk to man-filth," he said.

Given that this creature looked and smelt as if it had never taken a proper bath I found the insult rather amusing.

"Yes, you will talk" I corrected.

I waited until the others came over to me before acting.

"GOL HAH!"

It was as if a switch had been flipped and the orc went from hostile to acting as if being pinned to the ground by me was a perfectly acceptable situation and that my sword wasn't ready to end its life.

"Ask your questions," I said to the wizard "I've bent his will to my own, but it won't last for long".

Thanks to the CYOA I had a way to bind someone to my will permanently, but I only intended to do that to someone like Hermione who could be of use to me. I'd want her to get something out of it too. If only to make myself feel better about making someone my slave.

"What are you doing here?" Gandalf demanded to know.

The creature didn't even try to resist my mind control, and the wizard didn't waste any testing my statement, he just went for the knowledge he sought. Gandalf might not approve of my methods, but he wasn't going to argue about their effectiveness.

"We were sent here by our master" admitted the twisted being "To search for a ring made of gold. It was lost here a long time ago. The Master wants it. If it is here then we will find it. We have many bands out looking".

None of us needed to learn more to figure out which ring the orcs had been sent to find. This river must be where the One Ring ended up after it betrayed Isildur during an Orc attack.

The person whom Gollum had once been, later found the One Ring and took it into the Misty Mountains for reasons that I'm sure made sense at the time.

"Who is your Master!" Gandalf questioned.

Either the spell was ending or the orc was starting to resist my power. I could see the hostility returning as its body language changed.

"Sauron!" it yelled.

The tip of my sword went into its skull via the eye socket before the creature could do more than roar at us. Even Hermione didn't protest, she understood what was at stake.

"Marek I must see your map" insisted the wizard.

I took it out and I focused the map on Dol Guldur, a place that wasn't far from here. By the looks of things, Elrond and others were making their way to the old fortress. It wouldn't be long before they faced The Necromancer. I couldn't help wondering what that battle would be like.

"You four must carry on going south," said the Maia "I will join you in Lothlórien".

With that Gandalf started moving towards Dol Guldur at a pace that made it clear he wouldn't be convinced to come with us.

"I don't understand," said Hermione "What's changed. We already knew Sauron was there".

Something had changed. Sauron was on the map, his name kept appearing and then vanishing and there was another name there, one that remained fixed.

"Who is Khamûl?" Hermione asked.

I actually didn't know.

"He is second in command of the Nazgul," said Elrohir "He is known as the Black Easterling or the Shadow of the East. If he is at Dol Guldur then The Nine have returned, at least in part. The hour is later than we thought".

Sauron must have Khamûl overseeing the orcs who were looking for the One Ring. Perhaps the Dark Lord was getting some sort of status report from his underling, or maybe he could sense that the Ring was near. I could only speculate and the Maia wasn't my concern.

"Let's look around the camp for anything useful" my witch suggested.

She was likely thinking about something like written orders, or maps, of which there were if rather crudely done, I was more interested in any loot they'd found, but aside from some rations and basic tools, there wasn't much here.

I did find a few bits of what looked like gold prospecting equipment such as those pans you can use to filter out mud and bits of plants. For a group of savage orcs, this lot had been rather well-equipped for their mission. An indication of how important their work was to their master.

"We need to keep moving" declared Elladan "Our father and grandmother can handle the enemy. We need to get our burden away from Dol Guldur as fast as we can".

It was a good thing Gandalf hadn't been carrying the One Ring when he'd decided to go running off on his own. Taking the One Ring anywhere near Sauron was a very bad idea.

"Those orcs we scared off will be back, and in greater numbers" the other elf stated.

On the subject of running the twins were off again. We just couldn't keep up with them so Hermione would have to apparate the two of us as far as she could see so that we didn't fall too far behind while moving south.

Hermione could only transport us to somewhere she could visualise and it wasn't something she wanted to do if she got too tired so we'd have to make camp when it started to get dark and keep depending upon the protective enchantments.

Part 18

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Part 18

Caras Galadhon. Lothlórien.

I'd read back when staying in Rivendell that Lady Galadriel had turned this part of Middle Earth into a blissful but isolated Elven haven, and I could see what the author had meant, there was a sense of peace in the air and the locals certainly looked content.

However, the elves living here seemed disconnected from what was going on around them. It seemed as if they weren't fully part of this world, and I wondered if that really was the case.

They paid no attention to Hermione and me as we moved around the settlement, taking in the sights. Often elves walked right past us as if we were invisible, showing no sign that they had even noticed us on the path. I wondered if this was how the homeless felt when in a human city.

While we'd been in Rivendell many of the elves had treated us with polite indifference, they'd never been rude, but they'd not made any effort to get to know us, to treat us like proper guests.

Here in Lothlórien, we might as well have not existed. There was no malice in us being ignored, it was just clear that the elves didn't care that we were here. Perhaps they hadn't even noticed us.

Long before coming here I'd read about how Caras Galadhon means Fortress of Trees. Although it didn't seem very defensible to me, I wondered how much of this place's defences were magical rather than something physical.

It would be very interesting to learn more about that, alas I didn't think anyone would be willing to spend any time explaining it to strangers.

There certainly were a lot of trees. It was hard to tell when nature ended and the work of the elves began. In Rivendell roads and homes had been built where there had been space so as to avoid harming the trees and allowing the water to flow naturally.

Here in Lothlórien, civilization and the wilderness were more fused. As if there wasn't as much difference between the two as normal.

While walking around I recalled how during the events of the War of the Ring, the Fellowship of the Ring was brought through Lórien to Caras Galadhon, and here Galadriel was tested when Frodo offered her the One Ring.

I had no intention of testing anyone with the Ring or letting anyone other than Hermione or me carry it from this point onward.

Elrond's sons had done an admirable job resisting the Ring while we travelled together, and they quickly went off on their own once we'd arrived here. Since they never had any issue with Hermione or me, I suspected that they wanted to put some distance between themselves and the One Ring.

"We should get some rest" Hermione advised.

At least we'd been shown a place we could stay in and it was so peaceful. We should rest while we could. It had been a hard journey even before Gandalf had gone running off to help his friend.

I could only assume that had been the work of the One Ring, as it was able to influence even the wisest, and that the wizard had been influenced into rushing off to weaken the group. Perhaps the One Ring had been trying to get Gandalf to go into the Greenwood while he was carrying it to get it closer to Sauron.

At least Gandalf and others were well. I'd not been watching the map when they'd arrived at the ancient fortress, but I was tracking them on the map and they were heading this way at a good pace.

Neither the Dark Lord nor his minion could be found on the map so it seemed likely that they'd been weakened enough that they couldn't manifest in the physical world.

At least for a time, and that should at least delay their plans and make it harder for anyone to stop us from taking the One Ring to Mount Doom.

I hoped that when Gandalf, Galadriel, Elrond and Sauraman arrived that we wouldn't delay long before moving on to the next stage of the plan.

So far the Ring didn't seem to be affecting Hermione and me, perhaps because we were alien to this world or because of some feature of the CYOA, however, I felt that given time this would change.

We'd run into orcs far too often on our trip for the One Ring not to be doing something. Without the elven twins as guides, we wouldn't have been able to avoid the orcs as they moved their camps and we'd been chased into this forest by a large group.

"Yes, let's lie down," I agreed.

We might as well take advantage of this place while we were here. Lothlórien itself seemed welcoming and safe as if the troubles of the outside world ended when you entered its borders.

I laid down and when I woke up I wasn't where I should be, yet I felt no concern over this, it was as if I were still in Lothlórien and protected by it.

However, I certainly wasn't where I was supposed to be because for sure I'd not gone to sleep on the ground and there certainly hadn't been inside a massive fortress.

This fortress and I called it that because I couldn't think of a better word to describe this place, was a truly massive scale and almost empty.

In the distance I could see people, humans and elves although it was hard to tell, moving through vast halls as they went somewhere I couldn't see.

I simply couldn't take it all in because this place was so grand that it seemed impossible that this place could have been built.

It took me some time as I randomly wandered about, but I found something to focus on that I was able to better understand.

For some reason, I was now surrounded by tapestries, and upon closer inspection, I discovered that they depicted many different scenes that were important events in the history of Arda. As I followed them to the source I saw different bits of history.

There were beings of starlight standing over a flat world. Some sort of demonic figure being cast down, Melkor I assumed, I saw battles between elves and orcs, the slaying of dragons, and Balrogs marching to war.

I also found scenes showing dwarves at work, digging in their mountain holds, other scenes showed humans farming and elves at peace in their forests.

"Few of the living ever walk the Halls of Mandos," said a voice "Even in spirit".

I turned and felt the urge to drop to my knees, and I ended up falling over as I also tried to back away from the being who had just spoken to me.

She, the figure was feminine and humanoid as far as I could tell, walked towards me, and as I stood up I realised that she was much taller than me.

The woman, if that term applied, wore a dress made of some golden fabric and she had what seemed to be a literal halo around her head.

It took me a few moments to figure out what sort of creature I was looking at. She had to be an angel, she had an aura of power that outshone my own as the sun outshines the moon.

"I am Vairë the Weaver," she said.

Now I was beginning to understand what was happening. She was one of the Valar, someone who was the closest thing this universe had to archangels or lesser gods of a pantheon, and she was not someone to be trifled with.

"I record the history of Arda and spin the threads of fate" Vairë declared.

Since I had no idea what to say or what I was doing here, I kept my mouth shut. If nothing else it wouldn't do to offend someone who could smite me from existence on a whim.

"You have changed the fate of Middle Earth" Vairë stated.

She moved away and I felt compelled to follow, as I did I saw a tapestry that was not yet finished. It depicted events that should have happened and I'd gone and derailed the timeline so hard that all of this work was useless.

"Unless fate is changed, Aragorn will never be the King of Men, the elves will flee Middle Earth and the dwarves will dwindle away as they hide in their mountains" I was told, "The golden age of man will never come about".

It took me a few moments to figure out why I was being told this. I must be successful in destroying the One Ring and thus preventing Sauron's next attempt to take over Middle Earth.

Without that war, Aragorn would never unite so many men under his command and he won't have the support he needs to be crowned King of Gondor.

If I hadn't been standing next to an angelic figure I might have been able to think things through, and come to my own conclusions more quickly, being here in this place, had me feeling a bit overwhelmed, and as such it took me longer to put things together.

"Do you want me to do something about it,?" I inquired.

I wouldn't be here if this angelic being just wanted to lecture me on how I'd messed up her hard work. I proved to be correct when the Valar showed me more of the things that could happen in the future.

"Just as Sauron was the successor of Morgoth, so too will Sauron have a successor" I was informed as I saw a tapestry depicting two dark creatures battling each other "The mantle of the dark lord will be passed on".

The two creatures were the Balrog and a dragon I guessed to be Smaug, each had an army of orcs and trolls with them.

"There can only be one dark lord" I was told "The war to decide who will wear the crown would destroy the last kingdoms of men, yet there must be an evil for men to rally against at the end of the Third Age".

It wasn't until I saw the next scene that I realised what my purpose here really was. I saw Smaug, who stood on a pile of treasure, being stabbed with a spear, the people in the scene moved as things played out and I assumed it was me slaying the dragon.

Then I saw more. The Balrog of Moria marched at the head of an army made up of monsters, only to be defeated by another force. One made up of all the more good races, even the eagles.

"Man, elves and dwarves, standing together at the end of the age" explained Vairë "Mankind will be united as never before".

For a moment I wondered if there was any point in destroying the One Ring if someone else was just going to fill the void left by Sauron.

Perhaps the war against Durin's Bane would result in a lot fewer people dying. Saving lives had been a strong motivation for me when deciding to tell Elrond about future events.

I also wondered why any of this was my concern since I wasn't of this world and I hadn't originally planned to be involved in dealing with the One Ring.

On the other hand, I had been considering going and slaying Smaug anyway so perhaps this angelic woman was just trying to encourage me to take that path.

In the original timeline, both Smaug and the Balrog are defeated before Sauron, so there was no successor, aside from Saurman, for Sauron who would just fade away once the One Ring was destroyed.

"Why can't Saurman be the next dark lord?" I wondered.

He wasn't corrupted yet even if he had his own plans that could lead him to become corrupted. He could sort of serve Sauron as Sauron had worked for Morgoth in ages past.

"Saurman is not touched by Morgoth" I was informed "He can not wear the mantle of the dark lord. He would always be a pretender to the throne and would meet his end quickly".

Without a proper leader, the orcs would remain few in number and never again become organised enough to threaten a kingdom.

"So assuming that this isn't some dream, you're telling me to go kill Smaug after dealing with Sauron so that the people of Middle Earth will only have one new dark lord to worry about" I summarised.

Certainly easier said than done, but not exactly a complex plan, I could with the right team and the right weapons take down Smaug. A mortal man had done it and I was a being meant to slay dragons.

While I didn't feel that I had to do anything I didn't wish to doom Middle Earth. I wasn't evil.

"I'll do it" I stated.

Why not? I'd be a famous dragon slayer, and be able to carve my name into the history of this world. As the Dragonborn should.

Part 19

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Team Builder.

Part 19

Caras Galadhon. Lothlórien.

Within what I could best describe as a very fancy tree house, even if that term didn't do the building proper justice, I sat with Hermione, Gandalf, Saruman, Elrond and Galadriel as we discussed our plans for the future of Middle Earth.

Aside from being a surreal experience, because I was being treated as an equal by such powerful beings, it was a very important meeting as I needed to tell them about the possible future I'd seen when one of Valar had deemed to speak with me.

I'd gone into great detail about what I'd experienced and what it meant for Middle Earth as these people needed to know that information.

What I'd been shown should Sauron be destroyed rather than later, was only a possible future, nothing was written in stone, yet it was likely to happen it would be for the best if it was prepared for.

I didn't mention the bit about Saruman siding with evil because I didn't think he'd really gone over to the dark side yet, and he might not if we got rid of Sauron.

Besides, the last thing we needed right now was any division in the ranks. The Dark Lord had been weakened, but he could still act even if it was in a limited way, and we needed to keep up a united front, at least until the One Ring was destroyed.

Oddly no one thought me mad, or that I'd just been dreaming, I had gained some powerful allies who seemed to trust me.

Saruman still gave me the odd look which let me know he wasn't totally on my side, however, yet he didn't seem interested in working against the rest of us even if he wasn't eager to commit to any action. That could just be him being overly cautious.

This meeting was different than the last one I'd intended with these VIPs because I wasn't just here to provide information.

I was here as part of a group that would decide the fate of Middle Earth because even if there was some sort of divine plan, it seemed a flexible design that could be changed by the actions of people who were willing to act.

It made me wonder if free will and fate could co-exist after all. That was something to ponder in length at another time.

"So we defeat one darkness only for another to rise" summarised Elrond.

I would understand if anyone thought it made defeating Sauron a bit pointless, but I didn't think that was the case.

"If nothing else Durin's Bane and Smaug aren't as crafty as the current Dark Lord," pointed out "And it would be much worse if Sauron was somehow able to subdue one or even both of them into his service".

I knew that Gandalf had for some time been thinking about how a Smaug/Sauron alliance would doom all of Middle Earth.

"In the short term I don't think this should change our chosen course of action," Mithrandir said to the others "We should destroy the One Ring as it is a danger to us all even without its master".

The others were deep in thought.

"At least we have been given time to prepare" stated Elrond.

No one seemed comforted by that.

"Even with time we might not be able to hold back the darkness," said Galadriel "When the One Ring is destroyed our rings will lose their power and we elves may need to leave these shores".

As I understood the matter, elves only age when they are weary of the world, and they are drawn to cross the sea. The elven rings help to keep the elves living in both Lothlórien and Rivendell from becoming weary.

If the elves left then only men would be around to fight the next evil and that might not be enough. The dwarves were mostly a broken people having lost too much of their strength to dragons and the Balrog.

"Why can't you just make new rings?" asked Hermione. "Marek has been looking into the idea for a while".

The council members seemed surprised by the question.

"Most of the knowledge used in the forging of the Rings of Power was given to the elves by Sauron" Saruman "We have some of the lore, but not enough to copy Celebrimbor's work".

I'd already given this matter a lot of thought. I wouldn't have tried to make a new Ring of Power with the One Ring still intact, but once the One Ring was destroyed and Sauron was just a formless spirit, then things would change.

"It's not like Celebrimbor did it all alone" I reminded everyone "There were other smiths involved and as for the lore, there might be a lot of it scattered about".

People were always too eager to accept that impressive things done in the distant past couldn't be matched by the people of today. As if we were somehow lesser in terms of intelligence and creativity than our ancestors.

"If the lore could be gathered and we had the right experts, I think we could give it a try even if it takes time," I said "It's not like we can go after Smaug right after dealing with the One Ring".

Gandalf would have to go and find Thorin Oakenshield, and put together an expedition. That alone could take months since Thorin likely had plans of his own. Then we'd need supplies, weapons, and a safe route to the Lonely Mountain.

Plus I wanted some elven archers to go with us and given Thorin's disliking of the elves getting him to agree to that would also take time.

"Do you think it is possible?" asked Saruman with great interest "I have looked into the matter myself. Perhaps you and Mistress Granger should visit Orthanc. My library might contain the knowledge you seek".

I worked hard to hide how repulsed I was by that idea. I'd actually like to visit Orthanc, I just didn't trust Saruman not to try locking me up and forcing me to forge him a Ring of Power. Lucky for me I didn't have to shoot down the idea.

"Rivendell would be best," said Elrond "Marek has studied our crafts with one of the last remaining Gwaith-i-Mírdain".

Paper had been a bit of an issue for me until recently when some notebooks had been sent to Hermione and me. They had mixed in with the supplies sent to us as part of the CYOA. I showed the VIPs my plans.

"I have an idea to forge seven Rings of Power to be divided among the leaders of Middle Earth," I said.

"Each would be made of mithril that I can transmute or it might be better to melt down something of this world that is made of the metal. Each ring would also have a gemstone of a different type to help tell them apart".

My skills at drawing were crude, so it was good that rings are easy to draw.

"Why seven?" Galadriel wondered.

That hadn't been my reasoning.

"Seven is a powerful number when it comes to magic" Hermione explained "Certain numbers like one, three and seven are more likely to be successful in magical endeavours than others".

Voldemort wanted his soul in seven parts for a good reason.

"The Rings of Power had an easier time corrupting men because nine is not a good number in terms of magic" I added, "If there had been seven Rings of Power for Men as there had been for the dwarves then things could have worked out differently".

I was sure that Sauron would have still chosen ringbearers who were open to his influence, it just would have been harder to turn them into the Nazgul.

"The rings I envision wouldn't be that strong on their own" I was now saying "But combined they could be used to overcome a great darkness".

I envisioned my rings as a way to bring powerful people together for a common cause.

"We start with rings of water, air and fire," I told everyone "Then a ring of the earth for one of the dwarves, a ring of nature, a ring of light, and a ring for the future king of men. That ring would have to symbolise people in some way. Perhaps by giving the wearer power to influence the minds of others, or at least make others more open to his words".

What I wanted the rings to do would become important when it became time to forge them. Until then I could refine my ideas.

"Who would these new rings go to?" asked Saruman.

A very good question.

"We'll need new elven rings they can go the current owners of the three rings if they feel fit to carry on with that burden" I stated "And the ring of light would be suited for the White Wizard I think".

It was a calculated risk giving Saruman a Ring of Power, assuming that we could even make any, I intended the Ring of Light to provide guidance and keep the bearer on the right path.

There was a chance Saruman might corrupt the ring, but if I didn't it might cause division between him and the rest of this group.

He might corrupt the Ring of Light and make it a Ring of Darkness, he also might try to forge a new One Ring in an attempt to control the others if denied his own, thus letting history repeat itself.

Despite these concerns, I knew that the future wasn't fixed and Saruman would never be the Dark Lord. I hoped that with a ring meant to be used with others that the wizard would become closer to his allies.

"Thorin seems like a good candidate for the Ring of the Earth," I said.

I intended that ring to aid its bearer in remaining strong, and reliable and to care for the world around him. A good ring for a king under the mountain.

"The Ring of Kings will be for Aragorn," I told everyone.

Elrond spoke next.

"I know Aragorn, he can be prepared for his role," said the elf lord.

When he was only two years old, his father Arathorn was killed while pursuing Orcs. Aragorn was afterwards fostered in Rivendell by Elrond. Since I'd never heard anyone in Rivendell other than myself use the name Aragorn I assumed he must be hidden away and be using a different name.

A wise precaution as Sauron would want to wipe out Isildur's line as while that king did succumb to the One Ring, he was also the man to defeat Sauron during that battle so long ago. History can repeat itself and Sauron wouldn't want to lose more of his fingers to Isildur's heir.

"I see no harm in attempting this once the One Ring is destroyed," said Gandalf "Lord Elrond can oversee the work to ensure that it proceeds safely. This Aragorn can be prepared to lead the kingdoms of men and Smaug the Dragon shall be slain".

There were no disagreements with this plan. The elves need Rings of Power to preserve their realms. Once the One Ring was destroyed the decay of time would start to affect this place and Rivendell. I hoped to be able to forge rings that could hold back the decay even if it was just for another century.

"I will return to Orthanc and seek out any tome or scroll with any knowledge that will aid us" declared the white wizard.

Galadriel promised the same here.

"I will be going with you to help destroy the One Ring" stated Elrond "I wish to help finish what should have ended thousands of years ago".

From the accounts, I'd read Elrond didn't push Isildur into the fires of Mount Doom or take the ring from him and throw it in himself because he'd known how dangerous the One Ring was at the time.

Besides if he had killed or attacked Isildur that could have started a war, with so much having been lost already, another war could have spelt the doom of all civilization in Middle Earth and it wasn't as Elrond could have known what was happening here in modern times.

"I sent the message already," said Gandalf "The Eagles should be here within a few hours. With a little luck the Ring will be destroyed before the end of the week".

Mithrandir had hinted about having a way to quickly end our quest, but he'd been light on the details until now for fear of Sauron getting wind of the plan.

With the Dark Lord having been weakened it was safer to speak of such things since were deep within an elven kingdom so this was as secure as we could be.

"Then we should gather our supplies and leave as soon as possible" Elrond told us.

While we would be flying it would still take time to get to Mount Doom and we could be delayed or forced to walk if anything happened to the eagles, so we'd be wise to pack provisions.

"I don't like flying" stated Hermione.

If possible I'd let her stay here, but we were the only two people who seemed unaffected by the One Ring. If in the end, I couldn't bring myself to throw it into the fire she had to even if it meant disabling me. Something I'd given her orders to do.

The One Ring had to be destroyed.

Part 20

I hope you've all had a Merry Christmas. Here is a little present for you.

Team Builder.

Part 20

Mount Doom. Mordor.

Flying to Mordor on the back of an eagle took longer than might be expected. After all, they were not supersonic jets, they were living creatures, that needed to stop to rest, and find food to fuel their flight, as such getting to Mount Doom took a few days.

Still, it had been a great experience to fly like that, to look down on Middle Earth from above, even if Hermione spent most of her time holding onto me for dear life and sometimes screaming far too loudly given how close her mouth had been to my ears.

At first, it had been a nice feeling to have her holding on to me like that, but I'd taken my armour off so as to reduce my weight and the eagle's burden (once stored away the armour did seem to add to my mass) and after a few days my ribs were aching a little due to Hermione having a lot more strength in her arms that she should.

It would have been nice if they could have flown us directly from the Misty Mountains to Morder, however as Gandalf had mentioned just before we took flight, the eagles are an intelligent race with no obligation to anyone other than themselves.

Given that they came when he called I wondered if perhaps they owed Gandalf some sort of debt and were working to repay it, or they were helping us now because Sauron was their enemy too.

If they were suspectable to the power of the One Ring, and it made sense that they would since they were complex beings just like elves and humans rather than mere animals, then understandably they would want to limit their exposure to it.

Before leaving her kingdom, Galadriel had given us a supply of Lembas, which was a type of bread I'd been told, even if it had the texture and taste of a cake.

I'd been told that it could last for months if carefully carried, so it must be imbued with some of the power that kept the elven kingdoms I'd visited from suffering the ravages of time.

Perhaps on the way back, I could learn how it was made as it would be useful to Hermione and me if we could make such long-lasting rations that could nourish the body without having to eat a lot.

Sure we had our supplies that got delivered regularly thanks to the CYOA, but supplies can be lost or cunt off, and we'd be able to feed more people if we had the recipe for Lembas as well.

Hermione and I took turns holding onto the Ring. We kept it in a box that we carried in our expanded bags as we got closer to Mordor in an attempt to keep from thinking about it by keeping it out of sight.

I could feel something coming from the ring, something that was increasing as the Ring got closer to its end.

It wasn't anything mental like telepathy, I heard no seductive whispers, offerings of power or anything like that, it was more subtle.

I felt as if a weight had started pressing down on me. Hermione and I were both having trouble sleeping and our appetites had diminished as we got closer to Mount Doom.

I wondered if this was how it started for Frodo. He resisted the Ring's effort to make him use its power so it began doing all it could to slow the Hobbit down, to make him feel as if his task was impossible so that he'd give up, and accept death or become like poor Gollum, a slave to the Ring.

As we got closer to the end, I did my best to ignore the feeling and was glad that this would soon be over. The eagles made this all so much easier and the lack of giant flaming eye or Nazgul on flying monsters meant a journey free of hazards. We had spotted some orcs, but we flew right over most of them.

Sadly not all of the orcs could be bypassed, but there were no armies of thousands to block our way, only scattered groups, most of which were too far away to make any difference and not all of them were even heading in the right direction.

Sauron must have been weakened enough that he can longer direct them. He somehow knew we were here, yet couldn't focus his forces on us.

I did notice quite a few camps at the base of the great tower, which had not yet been fully rebuilt, and I wondered for a moment if Sauron feared that we were coming here to finish what had begun in the Greenwood.

The idea that the Dark Lord might be cowering in his fortress made it easier for me to endure the final part of this quest.

There had been no time for me to put my armour back on once we'd landed, so I was attempting to deal with the orcs who tried to stop us before they got too close, as were my travelling companions. It was good that we had such powerful people in the group.

Elrond led the way and it was easy for me to see from where his sons had inherited their skill with the bow, and when he ran out of arrows he used his elvish blade to a significant effect, moving with a speed no orc could hope to match. He was death to any monster foolish enough to get too close to him.

Gandalf swung his staff, sending rocks flying at targets with enough accuracy to make me wonder how much control he had over the world around him. When the enemy dared to get close he too would use his sword and it glowed blue in the darkness as it ended the life of many an orc.

Hermione was always on the move, knowing that she was no match for an orc even if she had Sting, a weapon I'd given to her to be used as a last resort, and she stuck her wand. She was skilled at non-verbal casting and knew many spells to disable, drive away and even kill those who got in our way.

When things looked the most desperate when we had dozens of orcs who were riding strange creatures baring down on us, I used the Animal Alliegnece Shout. The power of my Thu'um turned to steads against their riders, and the orcs were ripped apart as we ran to the entrance of the mountain.

"We're almost there!" I heard the wizard call out.

An arrow went right past my hand so I sent a fireball back at the orc and then suddenly we were out of enemies to fight. For some reason, they weren't willing to get too close to Mount Doom. Something that worried me.

In the movies this volcano is seen as active, filling the air with smoke, and lava can be seen flowing from it. In reality, Mount Doom was dormant, and while it filled the air with the stink of sulphur, it wasn't until we entered the volcano that we could feel the heat and the smoke began to sting our eyes.

"Mordor hasn't changed in centuries" Elrond commented.

Rather than reply to that, I took the box that contained the One Ring, and when I did I almost put it on without meaning to.

I could feel the desire to possess the Ring to begin to fill me, I wanted the power it would grant me, and it would increase my power. I could subdue it with the Bend Will Shout and make it serve me. Then I could do whatever I wished.

It wasn't until something struck me that I came back to the world.

"What was that?" I asked.

I'd nearly dropped the box because had hit my hand.

"Stinging Hex," said Hermione "You're letting the Ring distract you".

She'd done as I'd told her to, I'd warned that this could happen and she'd cleverly come up with a way to snap me back to my senses.

I began moving closer to the volcano's centre as I did my best to strengthen my will. No piece of gold was going to get the better of me. I am the Dragonborn I would not be controlled by some fancy magical item no matter how powerful it was.

"Cast it into the fire!" someone yelled.

I was about to that, to take those final steps, when someone or something appeared, before blocking my way. It was a figure made of fire and shadow, yet the fire did not show me what I was seeing, it was as if the shadowy parts drove away all light.

Until now I'd never known what true evil was like, but I felt it now and far worse than being around an orc or Gollum. It was as if malic and the desire for total power had been given a form.

"Sauron!" I heard Gandalf call out "Go back to the shadows".

Darkness enveloped me only for a barrier of light to appear suddenly to drive the shadows back. The light was as intense as the darkness and the two forces fought against each other. Neither giving any ground. It was the unstoppable force meeting the immovable object.

"He is still weak from our last encounter," Elrond said "We can drive him back. We need more light".

Hermione acted before I could.

"Lumos Maximus!"

I had an idea for something more effective.

Mul Qah Diiv

Energy surrounded me as I externally became more like the power within. I was now armoured by the power of the Dragonborn, and I felt my power filling my body.

I stepped out of the light and swung my sword. It shouldn't have harmed a being of spirit, there was no flesh to cut, no bones to break, no blood to spill. But my attacks were not purely physical blows.

Thanks to the Shout I was channelling a spiritual power and this was Sauron's less stand, he was much weaker now than he had been before. He could not stop me from finishing this quest.

There was no style to my attacks, no plan of action, I lashed out as I drove the fallen angel away from the group, matching the power of the Dragonborn against this former servant of Melkor. I won, I could feel the Dark Lord being forced back.

The fire and shadow fled as I pushed forward with great effort, and I almost fell to my death, only just stopping myself from tumbling into the lava.

Then I threw the metal box and the One Ring contained within, into the magma. I gave the One Ring no last chance to sway me I just threw it into the heart of the mountain.

Nothing happened at first, but soon it became clear that the volcano was going to erupt in speculator fashion, and none of us would survive that.

So as planned some time ago, we all grabbed the chain that Hermione had turned into a portkey for our quick escape.

We were pulled out of Mordor and when I let go I found myself at the campsite we'd stayed at a couple of days ago. This place was called Emyn Muil, it was a collection of jagged rocks and crags that even an experienced climber would have trouble with.

There were some flatter parts hidden between the rocks, but unless you could fly you'd be unlikely to stumble across them.

The eagles came to rest on long trips according to Gandalf and it would have been almost impossible for a gang of orcs to sneak up on us even without keen eyes keeping watch.

"Well, that went well" stated Gandalf.

Everyone was now picking themselves up from the ground. That had been a hard fight even if it hadn't lasted long, and I figured that we'd all had to resist the urge to take the Ring at the end.

In a way, Sauron had done me a favour by showing up as it had ensured that I was too focused on defeating him to let temptation bother me.

"Are you sure the One Ring was destroyed?" questioned Hermione.

Given that we'd nearly been killed by a volcanic eruption that seemed an odd question, however, she was simply being cautious, and who could blame her given all the trouble we'd just gone to to get rid of that abomination?

"I can feel my ring losing its power," said Elrond.

Gandalf confirmed that this was the case for him as well, knowing that there was no point in hiding the fact that he had one of the elven rings.

Of course, I'd know all along, and I'd told my witch, but I'd made it clear that we shouldn't talk about it in case someone heard and tried to take the ring.

"Will the eagles be okay?" Hermione wondered.

I'd warned Elrond and Gandalf about the potentially energetic reaction, hence why they'd been prepared to use the portkey, so the wizard should have warned the eagles away.

"They knew to keep their distance and to keep the skies," said Mithrandir "Once the mountain the Ring was destroyed their part in this was over".

Which meant we would have to walk about to Rivendell stopping off to see Galadriel along the way.

Unless everyone agreed to try using another portkey, although given the strange nature of the elven kingdom I'd rather walk in from outside the forest.

Maybe a walk would be nice. Now that the Ring was gone we could actually enjoy the scenery and talk more about our plans for the future.

Part 21

Team Builder.

Part 21

Rivendell. Eriador.

Destroying the One Ring had not been enough to allow Hermione and I to leave this world despite how it changed the timeline and altered the fates of many people. Even if they might never know it.

Not that surprising considering that my mission was to establish a significant presence within this world, to put myself into a position where I had a lot of influence over its people.

Due to the secrecy involved in claiming and then destroying the One Ring very few people knew about me and even fewer knew the One Ring was anything more than a legend.

Only a handful of elves and the wizards knew that it had been destroyed when Mount Doom went off or that what was left of Sauron's kingdom got destroyed along with it since people tended to avoid going near Mordor.

Although I imagined the people of Gondor might have already realised that something major had down since their cities were close to Mount Doom.

I'd realised that Gondor could be for a harsh winter if enough ash got into the air and began blocking out the sun, but they'd survive and the future would get better for them I felt sure since they didn't have a dark lord as a neighbour.

Staying here wasn't a bad thing as while I was eager to gain more points to spend so as to increase my power there was still much I could do while here in Middle Earth.

Knowledge to acquire and skills to practice. I had plans to set myself up as the man who shaped the future of this world even if few people who ever understand just how much influence I'd had over them.

Slaying Smaug would be different. People would know about it. I'd become a famed dragon slayer, a hero, folks would sing songs about me and maybe raise a few statues in Dale and within the Lonely Moutain to honour me.

Until then I would keep my head down and focus on crafting some great works.

Thanks to the use of portkeys it hadn't taken long for us to return to the home of Lord Elrond and when we returned I saw that without the power of the Rings the elves were already having trouble holding back the ravages of time. Summer was ending and as the Starks were known to say 'Winter Is Coming'.

If I wasn't able to forge new Rings of Power the elves here would either have to sail across the sea to join the Valar or radically change their lifestyles.

The elves who lived in the Greenwood had no Ring of Power to shield them, but they were different from the elves who lived under the command of Elrond and Galadriel. I'd be unhappy if they become more like the Woodland elves.

I suspected that Galadriel, who must have given a lot in the fight against Sauron if she was unable to go to Mount Doom with us to see to the One Ring's destruction, would also be suffering due to the loss of her ring.

While I'd not noticed it at the time, looking back it became clear to me that she had been tired. Yet despite my concerns for the two elven leaders, the creation of new Rings of Power could not be rushed.

I didn't even have the knowledge I required to make them. Even if I had I lacked the right materials or the proper equipment for the forging.

To help with that Gandalf had gone to the capital of Gondor, a city that has its own vast library containing lore that the Gondorians had amassed themselves during better times, along with what they had learned from other races over the centuries.

He had promised to copy what he could and join us later. Hermione had thoughtfully provided him with a portkey that should bring him to the road we'd first used to enter Rivendell when he was done in Gondor.

Saruman was hopefully doing the same with the books he kept in his tower. I'd recalled hearing a theory about him working on his own Ring of Power, but I'd not gotten into the lore enough to know for sure.

What mattered was that if he had been working towards that goal then he must have acquired a lot of knowledge on the subject. This knowledge he would hopefully share.

If that knowledge was combined with the help of my mentor in crafting Dammion, who had studied under Celebrimbor, then I felt confident that we could recreate Celebrimbor's greatest works. Since we were recreating it shouldn't take too long.

"I've finished!" called out Hermione.

Currently, I was in my outdoors forge/workshop that the elves had kindly provided me so that Dammion could teach me the practical skills he wished to pass on.

Not long ago I'd finished creating two mirrors and then let the elf smiths create fancy frames for them before Hermione did her enchanting work.

Despite providing transmuted materials for the frames myself, the elves had still taken days to finish them when they didn't need to be that fancy at all.

The mirrors had a practical purpose, although in part I had created the mirrors to test my growing skills as a craftsman. Glass is actually quite hard to produce when you're not working within an industrialized society.

"Good work" I praised.

The mirrors were important for another reason. They were a combination of elvish crafting methods and wand magic.

Not that the elves called it magic, and what mattered was that I'd imbued a sense of permanency into the mirrors so that they shouldn't lose their lustre over time or even require much polishing.

We'd made them in part to see if the different kinds of magic could work together and hopefully, they would, and we had created something beautiful as well as very useful.

Hermione's part had been to place certain charms on the mirrors that could only be successfully cast by witches and wizards with some skill in charms. A witch who'd not even completed her Hogwarts education should have found it much more work than Hermione did.

"Will you now explain the point of these mirrors?" requested Dammion.

I'd wanted it to be a surprise.

"Hermione," I said to the mirror near me.

Suddenly her face appeared in the mirror as if she was looking through a window at us when she was in fact out of sight while remaining within range of my hearing.

Since she wasn't that far away when she spoke I heard her voice both close up and in the distance. It was not a comfortable experience.

"Hold on. I'll move further away," Hermione said as moved into a different part of Rivendell.

My crafting tutor being a clever elf quickly realised what was going on.

"You've created something akin to the palantír" he whispered in awe.

A palantíri is one of several supposedly indestructible crystal balls that play an important role in Tolkien's world. The word comes from Quenya (the elf langue) it is a combination of palan 'far', and tir 'watch over'.

In times past the palantírs were used for communication and to see events in other parts of Arda, and even allowed glimpses into the past if the lore was correct.

The palantírs were made by the Elves of Valinor back in the First Age. By what the locals considered modern times, the end of the Third Age, a few palantírs remained in existence.

They are used by Sauron, Saruman, Denethor the Steward of Gondor, and two members of the Fellowship of the Ring, Aragorn and Pippin.

They weren't like the crystal balls used by Seers in Hermione's world. You couldn't just stare into them and be granted a vision. It took great strength of will and focus to make use of a palantíri.

Also, the stones were somewhat unreliable since you might not be able to tell if an event you are witnessing is the past or the present and if you don't see enough you might get enough context to understand what you are seeing.

This could lead to someone taking a poor course of action because they misunderstood what the crystal showed them.

For example, you might see what you think is the murder of someone you care about when actually they could have just been two people rehearsing a play. Imagine avenging that murder only to find out it was all just a performance.

Another risk was that users with sufficient willpower could choose what to show and what to conceal from someone using another of the Seeing Stones.

By this point in the timeline, one of the palantír had fallen into Sauron's hand making the usefulness of all other existing stones questionable.

Given that Sauron was gone the remaining Seeing Stones should be safer to use, but Saruman had one and he could turn evil, as such while I was interested in making my own palantíri one day, for now, we would be better off making use of a different kind of magical item.

"Not exactly," I said before addressing the image of the witch "Hermione would you explain how these mirrors work".

She got on that right away.

"This is a two-way mirror," she told Dammion "I've got the other one of the pair and they are magically linked to each other. If you need to speak to the owner of the mirror yours is paired to then you just speak their name to the mirror. Your image will then appear in their mirror no matter where in the world it is".

In the Order of the Phoenix book, Harry Potter is given one of these mirrors by his godfather. If he had used it rather than Dolores Umbridge's fire to contact Sirus Black then Kreacher would not have been able to lie to Harry about where Sirius was, and thus Harry would never have gone to the Department of Mysteries to rescue his godfather and Sirius would not have died.

"The idea is that one of a pair could be sent to every leader in Middle Earth" I was now saying "That would allow Lord Elrond to speak with any other leader whenever he wished as long as they accept a mirror and since they are paired there's no way, at least that we know of, to magically spy on the communications".

You'd still have to worry about being overheard, but that was true with any sort of verbal communication. Letters can be stolen and messengers captured.

"The frames would have to be improved they are far too plain for such important items" stated my teacher "Other than that the only problem I can foresee is the difficulty in transporting the mirrors".

They are known to be fragile and that whole seven years of bad luck might not just be superstition.

"I've placed charms on them to help with that" Hermione told the elf.

Transporting the mirrors over such distances would still be a chore, but well worth it if the other leaders of Middle Earth would accept the mirrors.

"Now we just need Lord Elrond's approval to link a few to him," I said.

"They sound like an impressive use of your talents," said a voice.

I turned to see that Elrond as if summoned by the use of his name, was now heading towards us, and I could tell that he was pleased.

"My compliments to you Master Marek and Mistress Hermione" he went on to say "These mirrors of yours will be of great use to us. I know that in the future the Free People of Middle Earth will need to be able to coordinate their efforts as much as possible".

That had been the biggest factor when deciding to create these mirrors. Communication is very important at all times, more so during a war, and it could make a big difference when the next dark lord begins his conquest.

"As such, I would like to commission the creation of two sets of mirrors to link myself to Lady Galadriel and Lord Saruman" he requested.

While their homes were not that far away when you looked at a map the mountains made reaching them harder than it might seem. Even without the distances involved sending a letter via a messenger wasn't always reliable as this could be a dangerous world.

"That shouldn't take too long" stated Hermione.

Producing the glass wasn't too hard even without the tools of my world since I had magic to help, and the enchanting part while not easy wasn't exactly time-consuming either. The elves making the frames took by far took the longest.

"And this will be a good way to practice your growing skills" stated Dammion.

If I was going to forge Rings of Power I would need to level up my smithing and unlock new perks, to put it in gaming terms. That meant exploring new ways to use my skills and to keep using them.

"While I have your attention, my lord," I said to Elrond "I need your help with something".

He seemed interested in hearing what I had to say.

"I need you to contact the best dwarven smith you know of and request that at least one of them come here" I informed my host "I can pay them out of my own pocket, but I need someone who can't be ignored to invite them here".

While Rivendell was important the elves here lacked the population or desire to threaten anyone, yet they were powerful enough to be respected.

Elrond was listened to and was on friendly terms with many groups. Even the Hobbits in the Shire had heard of Rivendell and spoke of it with admiration.

The elf lord didn't question my request. No doubt he'd already deduced my reasoning or at least some of it. He understood how well-suited he was to aid me.

"Why would you need a dwarven smith?" questioned Dammion "They work stone better than anyone and have a great talent for metalwork, but you require delicate hands to complete your tasks".

I had my reasons and I would share them.

"Numbers are going to be important in forging the new Rings of Power," I told the elves "Three smiths to forge seven rings will ensure that the new rings work better together".

Hermione had assured me that this made sense. Many rituals had three components or were performed by one, three or seven people because it increased the chances of success.

"Having a dwarf work with an elf and a human to forge will help with their purpose to bring unity to Middle Earth during times of strife" I then added.

I wasn't a native of this world or even fully human, but didn't matter much according to Hermione because people would see the rings as the result of members of the three main races working together. That did matter and my working with a dwarf and an elf would help to give the rings more than mere symbolic power.

"My friendship with the dwarven people is not what it once was," informed Elrond "Yet I should be able to convince someone with the talent you require to aid us".

That would take time, and that was fine as I wasn't ready to begin my work. I just hoped that the elves didn't suffer too much by waiting until I was prepared.

Part 22

Team Builder.

Part 22

Rivendell. Eriador.

To my disappointment, when checking my awesome map I sadly discovered that all the lesser rings of power had vanished from Middle Earth.

It had taken me a few moments to realise that they hadn't actually disappeared, rather they'd lost their power as the greater rings had recently done.

Sauron must have used his ring to connect his existence to all of the magical rings forged under his guidance, not just the greater ones. He really had been the Lord of the Rings.

Without that power, the lesser rings were just round bits of metal. No different than a thousand other pieces of jewellery worn by people all over the world.

They might have value as something to trade, but since I got an allowance from the CYOA and I had the means to forge my own rings, the former lesser rings of power were worthless to me.

This was sad for a few reasons. One of which was what I'd wished to collect a few for myself and for the elves as I'd hoped that they could the power of the lesser rings to cover for the lost greater rings for a time.

It hadn't seemed very likely, but it had seemed worth trying. With Hermione's portkeys and elven guides, it wouldn't have taken us long to go out and find some of the lesser rings.

Since recovering that the lesser rings were no longer worth anything, I'd devoted myself even more to the forging of the new Rings of Power.

As the weeks went by I'd absorbed every bit of lore that my allies could provide and taxed the patience of the elves who were willing to discuss such matters with me by pestering them with questions.

Many of them had been there when the rings were forged and remembered little bits of the overall story. During my investigations, I felt more like a historian than a craftsman.

Saruman had proved true to his word and aside from copies of at least some of the information he'd amassed over the centuries, having been sent to us via messenger, he delighted in using his new mirror to call up Elrond when he had something of interest to share that he must have found in his own library.

It seemed odd for such a powerful and ancient being to delight so much in the communication mirrors, but upon thinking about it I deduced that since he'd been on Middle Earth for centuries he was likely bored a lot of the time.

He must have been everywhere, read every book he could find, seen every invention, and figured out how it all worked. Having something new to play with would make his life more enjoyable.

Perhaps Hermione and I should create a few more enchanted items for him if only to keep the wizard distracted for a while. I would ponder that idea more at a later time when I wasn't so busy.

I wondered if that was a factor in him coming under Sauron's sway, at least partly. The Dark Lord could have tempted the white wizard with bits of knowledge that Saruman didn't already possess.

It would explain why Saruman knew less about the forging of the Rings of Power than I'd hoped. He might simply be holding back, or maybe he didn't know much and was simply doing his best to help.

Due to being loyal to me and also hungry for knowledge, my witch had remained at my side, filling a notebook with the information she deemed worthy of recording.

Because she was good to me I'd decided to forge a lesser ring of power for her. One meant to boost her magical powers and make her spells more effective.

This prototype might not even work, but sooner or later you had to put theory into practice and unlike Celebrimbor I didn't have centuries of life ahead of me, or at least I didn't think I did. I certainly wasn't to be here in Middle Earth for that long.

For now, I needed to focus more on my work. I'd gotten the gold required for the lesser ring by melting down Hermione's galleons, what they called gold coins in the Wizarding World, and while doing so I'd discovered that they didn't contain much gold at all.

A witch or wizard can't use the magic of Hermione's world to create gold unless you have the Philosopher's Stone, you can however increase the volume of something you have with magic, including gold and the goblins had done that with their coins.

While that explained the exchange rate of about five British pounds to the galleon it was bad for me because I had to melt down most of the contents of Hermione's money pouch, but sacrifices had to be made and I needed to use gold from her world for the ring as it should help her content to the ring.

The Rings of Power are tied to this world and might not work outside of them, at least according to my research, but I should have found a way around that by having Hermione sacrifice her wealth to make the lesser ring.

I watched as the gold, now in liquid form due to having been melted, was poured by me so that it flowed into the mould after moving some channels that had been carved into a large stone apparatus.

The molten metal would have already begun to cool as it entered the mould, and the mould was exposed as this process of casting as it was called, let the air cool the metal rather than dipping the metal into water.

This was a very crude way of making jewellery and the ring wouldn't even fit Hermione if it weren't for the fact that elvish-made rings resize to fit the wearer. I would imbue that power into the ring as I worked upon it.

There would be much to do once the metal cooled. I'd have to file the ring, to even it out and remove the access material. Then would come the polishing and the inscribing of the name.

Names had power and each of the elven rings had a special name I knew, and so did the others more than likely. The Elven Rings were called Narya, Nenya and Vilya.

I knew that Nar was an elvish word for fire so that ya part must mean ring. Since I was making a ring of magic it would be called Gûlya.

Despite not using it themselves the elves do have a word for magic and it is golo, which in time became gûl, as seen in names like Morgul 'black magic' or Dol Guldur which means 'hill of dark magic'

As such the Ring of Magic would be Gûlya. Being a lesser ring it would only boost the power of the spell cast by the wearer rather than grant new abilities, and given that we should be going up against a dragon she would need the boost.

I could have just enchanted any old ring using Elder Scrolls magic to get that effect, but this ring would have more features. It would when finished resize to fit the wearer and be far harder than a simple band of gold should be.

Also, it was an essay in the craft. My attempt to mimic Celebrimbor's work. I longed to be able to talk to that elf to know his methods.

I'd even considered using Call of Valor Shout to try to summon his spirit, but elf souls don't work like human ones and I didn't want to risk offending the Valar by messing with the afterlife.

Time passed by as I worked. The day became night and I noticed the coolness in the air as I poured a little of myself, giving willingly of my spirit to aid, another as I used my mithril alloy tools, which were themselves enchanted objects, to create something of true beauty.

While it wasn't much power it was still a little of myself, but I'd learned of ways to renew the spirit, and as such, I wasn't concerned about losing too much of myself.

When I was done I'd turned a pile of coins into something of true value. Compared to the One Ring this was a mere trinket, but it would still boost the power of any magic user who to wanted to throw around some spells.

"Hermione!" I called out.

She came over and inspected the gift. The ring was light and smooth to the touch, with the elvish writing being barely visible. I didn't know how to hide writing until it was exposed to fire, a shame as that was an interesting feature.

"What does it say?" Hermione asked.

She could not read elvish, and neither could I, I'd just copied what Dammion had written down for me.

"It says: This is the Ring of Magic, use it well," I told her "It's called Gûlya".

Given the look on her face, you'd think I'd proposed when giving her Gûlya. The reaction wasn't unexpected, all the rings of power, greater or lesser, were more than mere rings. The power within them could be felt.

"May I inspect the ring?" requested Elrond.

My witch wasn't the only one here. I didn't realise it,

but Elrond had dropped by again, perhaps he had sensed my efforts here, and he looked as if he was concerned about something.

"Is something the matter?" I asked.

Gûlya seemed fine to me. It shouldn't corrupt anyone it was pure in its purpose and gifted to someone I cared about.

"I have no concerns with your work, this ring is a fine start," said the elf lord as he gave Gûlya back to Hermione "There are other matters you need to know about".

Elrond took a seat.

"Winter will soon be upon us," he said "I've sent messages out to the dwarves requesting the aid of a master smith and the promise of generous pay for their time. I still have ties to a few important dwarves who will send someone, but they won't travel until the spring".

I wouldn't be ready before then to even try making the Rings of Power.

"Gandalf might remain in Gondor for the winter," said our host "He'll wish to find as much of the knowledge you seek as possible and he will want to monitor any conflicts the Gondorians have with the orcs to ensure that they have become as unorganised as they should without a leader".

I didn't think that they would rally to the next dark lord anytime soon. Not if fate had it planned out so that Aragorn would lead the charge against that evil. However, I'd proven that fate could be changed so it would be best not to assume much.

"Winter is my concern for now," said Elrond "Without Vilya I fear the Rivendell might not survive the winter".

Vilya, also known as the Ring of Sapphire, the Blue Ring, or the Ring of Air, was one of the Rings of Power made by the Elves of Eregion. Like those Rings, it had special powers.

It provided the ability to heal and preserve. It also granted some power over the element of air, and Elrond used it to spare Rivendell from the ravages of time as well as the elements.

Without it, Rivendell would not be sheltered from time or the elements, a problem once the cold winds began to blow and the snow fell.

"What do you need?" I asked.

He hadn't come here just to chat.

"We are preparing as best we can by insulating our homes and rationing our supplies," said Elrond "But we need food and warmth. We do not cut down trees we can only collect fallen branches to use as fuel and even if we had time to prepare more fields for growing food the growing season has passed".

If this were the spring they'd have time to prepare and by next winter they could be, however, they might not survive the winter if something was done.

"You can purchase food from Bree," I said "I have more money than I need and we've imposed as guests for long enough".

I'd destroyed the One Ring so I doubted Elrond would ever consider that debt repaid I was just trying to make it sound as if I was bailing them out of trouble. To be fair they wouldn't be having this trouble if I'd never come to this world.

"I can enchant clothing with warming charms" offered Hermione "We'll need to make some winter coats for me to enchant them spells on".

That would keep her busy for a while and perhaps a trip to Bree for supplies would be a good idea. I could do with a break from my studies and I would have all winter to work on the Rings.

I would talk with Elrond some more and make the arrangements for a trip to Bree to purchase as much food as possible and materials for winter clothing. I could certainly afford to buy what was needed and I wouldn't mind securing some pipeweed as well as I'd been meaning to find out exactly what it was.

Part 23

Team Builder.

Part 23

The Prancing Pony. Bree.

Hermione Granger felt glad to be back in this village and to be sitting in an inn that felt familiar to her. She liked Rivendell well enough, but there was something about Bree that made her feel as if she wasn't as far from home as it seemed.

Perhaps it was the families going about their lives or the people in this tavern simply chatting as they drank. They talked about their lives and played games to pass the time after a hard day's work.

This seemed normal to her even with some dwarves and halflings around. The Leaky Cauldron had hosted members of magical races as well as humans.

Her life had been rather hectic recently and there had been a lot of travelling as well as a great deal of fighting. She'd seen more action in the last few months than during entire years spent in the Wizarding World.

As such, being able to sit back and relax in a somewhat familiar setting after all that made her feel good. Marek had been right to bring them both here for some time away from important matters.

Not that she minded helping to defeat a dark lord before he could return to power, or living in Rivendell, it was just that very little of her life had been simple since they'd arrived here.

She was glad that she'd helped to defeat Sauron, as if nothing else their victory spoke well of their chances of being able to deal with Voldemort, who wasn't that scary when you've been attacked by the spirit of a fallen angel.

Voldemort might seem barely human, yet if his Horcruxes were destroyed he could die like a mortal man. She looked forward to that day.

Hermione had worried about finding the Horcruxes and defeating Voldemort without Harry being involved because of the prophecy, but if Marek could alter fate in this world he should be able to do so again while in her reality.

She was sure that the Dragonborn would defeat more than one dark lord before their adventures came to an end as all adventures did.

They'd had allies when facing Sauron, and so Hermione hoped that they would do so again, however, she didn't worry about that too much as she understood that they would both be a lot more powerful when they made it to her world than they were now and Marek was already very impressive.

He was a man that shouted at the world and made it obey him. He faced dark lords and monsters. He even recreated magical objects that seemed as if they should only exist in legends.

The young witch wondered what else her lover would do as they travelled together and how much she would change as the years went by.

Hermione already felt much stronger than she had when she'd been separated from Harry during their hunt for the Horcruxes.

That was not just because the CYOA granted her certain boons in the form of protection, or even because of her training, it was the experiences she'd had over the last few months that had really changed her, and it was for the best.

During their travels, her spells had become more lethal when fighting the orcs, and not because she'd started enjoying killing, but rather because she'd come to realise that sometimes you have to kill to survive and to protect others.

By killing Sauron, or coming as close to it as you can when dealing with a fallen angel, they'd prevented a war that could so easily have resulted in Sauron gaining dominion over all of Middle-Earth.

Okay, so there would be another war anyway because of some divine plan, but that wasn't Marek's fault and he was helping the people of this world to prepare for the coming conflict.

Hermione's eye was again drawn to the magical ring that the Dragonborn had made for her. It was such a small thing and yet it meant so much to her.

Not only because it made her spells more powerful, although that was something she liked, and its attractive appearance was also just a nice bonus.

No, what mattered to her was that Marek had forged it for her as a gift. Even going as far as to imbue the ring with some of his own power. He'd made it for her before anyone got one, and she couldn't help thinking that it was proof of his real affection for her.

She'd been obedient and loyal to Marek since they'd met and she'd been okay with that because she'd made to be okay with it, and it wasn't as if she'd had anyone else. At some point, she'd developed a real love for the Dragonborn.

Hermione had not admitted her feelings to anyone and to her the ring was to her proof that Marek cared about her beyond what she could do for him.

Some might say that perhaps she read too much into the act, but she knew what was involved in making even a lesser ring of power. It wasn't something you did on a whim.

Looking over at the Dovahkiin she saw that he was still in talks with some local merchants as he had been for a while as these deals were important even if they weren't on the same scale as destroying the One Ring.

Marek was working to ensure that the elves would have all they needed come winter and this was important because Rivendell would not be sheltered from the season as it had been for centuries.

The elves simply hadn't been prepared for the sudden change in their circumstances, and in her view, it was a good thing that they had Elrond as a leader as he had taken action swiftly enough that the elves should survive the coming winter.

Hermione had noted, and not for the first time, how people seemed to accept the authority of the Dragonborn as if some part of them understood that he was some sort of superior being.

He was supposed to be at least partly divine having the blood of some god called Akatosh, a being Hermione knew very little about other than him having dominion over time.

Even Elrond, a powerful leader in his own right who had centuries of wisdom, sought Marek out for his opinion on matters and the merchants listened as he organised the supplies that would travel from Bree to Rivendell.

He didn't demand anything, and he offered to pay a percentage of the cost in advance, and people accepted this, choosing to follow his plan with minimal fuss or discussion.

Hermione knew that was smart, but she wasn't a leader, she worked better in a support role doing research, creating the needed tools, and offering advice when people bothered to listen to her. She could do that for Marek and it was enough for her.

The more she watched Marek work to save the people of Rivendell from a harsh winter the more she hoped that he would be done soon and that he would return to her.

They'd set up the tent, the closest thing they had to a shared home, in a rented room and she wanted to go up there with the Dragonborn and get some attention from him.

She finished her simple meal while thinking about what Marek might want to do to her later on, and she was deep in thought she didn't even notice when Gandalf entered the inn.

The Prancing Pony. Bree.

I'd been so busy making arrangements to make sure that Rivendell would get the supplies it needed that I'd almost missed Gandalf entering the inn.

To be fair, there was a lot to arrange. The elves needed a large supply of food and fabrics in order to ensure that they would survive through the winter and while the food wasn't too hard to sort out, there were plenty of details to hammer out.

The harvest in the Shire and surrounding areas had been a very good one due to the pleasant spring and long, warm summer, and the Hobbits did do some trade with the outside world via Bree so the merchants here had food to sell.

However, buying so much meant the demand was higher, which increased the prices, and if I brought too much, others couldn't. I had to get as much as the elves needed without going overboard.

This resulted in bargaining for quite some time as the merchants would need to purchase food from different sources, and then transport it for me all the way to Rivendell before winter set in.

What we could transport ourselves was limited. The elves who'd come on this trip weren't used to bartering since they didn't use money and until now they'd not needed to do much in the way of trading.

It was good that this world had moved past the medieval stage as while the humans of this world hadn't become industrialised, and this was in ways a good thing as meant no overcrowded cities and excessive pollution, they did have decent agriculture and this resulted in the production of more food than was required to sustain the population.

"So we have a deal?" I asked as I handed over some more silver pennies to the traders I was meeting with "Lord Elrond will pay the full value of the goods when you arrive and I will pay the agreed-upon amount now".

They needed to be paid a bit in advance as they would have expenses to cover before they even left Bree.

"The road is long" commented a human merchant.

It should be safe as the rangers patrolled and I'd had no trouble either time I'd used the road.

"The memory is elves is longer" I reminded the group "They'll remember those that came when they needed them and those who turned their backs".

I was not threatening I just pointing out that having good relations with the elves could be of benefit to these traders in the future.

"Aye," said another merchant "And I wouldn't mind seeing Rivendell for myself".

Elves were aloof, but they did understand the importance of hospitality, and Rivendell was still a beautiful place despite time starting to catch up with the elves.

"It's agreed then" stated a third "We'll take your silver now and receive payment in gold when we reach Rivendell".

I could transmute metals and I received shipments of iron so I always had some spare gold if I needed to make a deal.

"And the pipeweed seeds?" I asked.

Pipeweed was a plant native to Middle-Earth that is grown in great amounts in the Shire and enjoyed much by the hobbits. I'd wondered if it was some sort of cannabis, as that would explain a lot about the halflings, but it was actually a type of tobacco only much more pleasant smelling than I was used to.

I'd been thinking about trying to introduce it while in other worlds I visited, as long as it wasn't dangerous to do so, and for that, I'd need a lot of seeds. It might not lead to anything, but I had more money than I needed so I wouldn't lose much if the idea failed.

If nothing else I might take up smoking pipeweed. I had brought a pipe to help me blend in while here in Bree, as people always felt better doing business with someone who seemed to be like them.

Simply holding the pipe and pint of ale made it so I blended in better despite my armour and weapons.

"That I'll take a few days" I was told "But you'll have what we can spare".

With my business done here, I headed over to the table that Hermione and I shared. Gandalf soon joined us. He seemed relaxed, but I didn't think this was a chance meeting.

"Hello, Mithrandir" I greeted, "Lord Elrond told me you'd be wintering in Gondor"

Gesturing to the tavern wench, ordered food and drink for the wizard intending to treat the Maia to a meal as he looked as if he needed it. Gandalf lit his pipe before speaking and began to visually relax.

"I made use of the portkey provided to me by Miss Granger to quickly return to Rivendell" he explained "I plan to spend my winter in the Shire. I have been feeling more tied of late and I need some rest".

The portkeys were proving to be a great boon and as for Mithrandir's tiredness, it made sense since he didn't have his Ring of Power anymore.

From the lore, I knew that wizards like the elves only seemed to age as men do when they became weary of the world.

Although accounts stated that they always take the appearance of wise men so only the elves would ever notice the difference as centuries passed by. I wondered if I was the same since I wasn't truly mortal even if I did look like one.

With Sauron defeated Gandalf's purpose here in Middle Earth was finished. He could return to the Undying Lands with his head held high knowing that he'd completed his work and deserved to go home.

Yet I knew he wouldn't leave these lands until Smaug was slain and perhaps he would endure until Aragon united mankind.

"Soon as I dropped off the information on your project that I found in Gondor with Elrond, I rushed here to Bree to see if I could assist you" mentioned the wizard "I see there was no need".

While I was used to everything having a fixed price since I'd established myself as a trader here in Bree a while back as a cover, it hadn't been hard to carry on with that role.

"It's all been sorted," I said "The first shipment of supplies will be heading to Rivendell in a matter of days".

Gandalf looked pleased. I'd taken a weight off his mind.

"I'm glad," he said as Gandalf's food and drink arrived "Now all I need to do is tell you that when the weather permits I will travel to the Blue Mountains to seek out Thorin Oakensheld. I hope that before spring's end that we will be in Rivendell to meet with you while en route to the Lonely Moutain".

I recalled something about the secret entrance being accessible only on the last light of Durin's Day or something like that, but I had my special key and if we going to fight Smaug rather than sneak around we might as well go in through the front door.

"My plan is to be done with my project by then, "I said.

No sense in letting people know about the new Rings of Power just yet, and I had some other ideas to look into before we went dragon slaying.

There were certain weapons suited to dragon slaying that I could forge and spells that needed to be practised before we faced Smaug.

Hermione enquired about what Gandalf planned to do in the Shire as we ate our food and finished our drinks before retiring.

Gandalf would soon be heading west while we would go east. So I invited him to join us for breakfast so we could go over anything we might hav missed and he agreed.

As for tonight, I got the sense that Hermione might want some attention.

Part 24

I'll mostly be skipping the winter as the MC will be doing research and practising his skills. Things will get more interesting once spring starts and I guess you could call this filler since it doesn't matter to the overall plot.

Team Builder.

Part 24

Rivendell. Eriador.

"This has been a successful festival," stated Elrond between taking small sips of wine "It is almost a shame that will not celebrate like this again".

I wasn't sure that my plan to lift everyone's spirits over the winter period by having a sort of Christmas was really working out. It had seemed like a good idea at the time, but the reality was disappointing, a lot like every other Christmas I could remember.

Perhaps I just couldn't read the expressions of elves very well, as while no one looked to be depressed they didn't look at all jolly. Even the little hats didn't make them seem festive.

At least the food was being enjoyed. When in Bree I'd purchased and then carefully stored away enough provisions for a big fancy meal as feasts such as this are good ways to bring people together.

It had cost me quite a few silver pennies to afford it all, but it wasn't as if I had a lot of expenses while living here in Rivendell since either my hosts or the CYOA supplied my needs.

"Are you sure?" I asked from my seat near the lord of Rivendell "Everyone seems rather sedate to me".

I'd gotten the idea to have a midwinter festival before leaving Bree as I'd been thinking a lot about how humans dealt with the issues of that season when I'd been bartering for supplies.

Dealing with winter wasn't all about avoiding the cold or keeping your larder stocked, as winter can also be a rather depressing time of the year. The bad weather and lack of sun can make the world appear to be a bleak place.

While in Bree I'd discussed it with Hermione, who'd thought it a grand idea, and we did have lots to celebrate what with Sauron no longer being able to return to Middle Earth.

It hadn't been hard to set up once we had Elrond's approval, and if nothing else, planning the event was a nice change of pace from my studies and the practical work that consumed so much of my time.

Normally the elves did their dining and celebrating outside with trees to shelter them and cool breezes, however, Rivendell did have its main hall for formal audiences and such. Not that Elrond ever used it for that purpose.

Today it was a well-decorated space as were the few evergreen trees they had here. The elves of Rivendell had done well in making the hall very colourful.

Hermione had worked hard to conjure up some sort of fire that provided warmth and light without burning anything that had been contained in a number of jars. I thought it was a nice feature.

"The feasts of elves are stately affairs," said Elrond "We don't celebrate events as the dwarves and humans will do. Well, not when at home with our own kind, but we do make exceptions when visiting others. Before I married I had quite a few wild nights with my dwarven and human friends".

I was amused by the idea of a younger Elrond attending a noisy dwarven feast or getting drunk at a human party. I wondered if Gandalf was doing something like that with the hobbits he cherished so much.

"Everyone liked the idea of making each other presents" reminded Hermione.

Elves do like their fancy robes and jewellery, but aside from that they aren't the kind of people to fill their homes with things they don't really need, and they don't trade unless it's with outsiders as such they don't have shops. Therefore everyone had chosen to make presents for one another.

I'd explained to Elrond about how this one-time celebration (I hoped to have a new Ring of Power that would return Rivendell to normal ready by the spring so that they didn't have to worry about next winter) should be about giving and having an enjoyable time together as a community.

Aside from that and the celebration of Sauron's defeat, it was about increasing morale and making sure that the people in Rivendell wanted to stay here rather than sail west or move to somewhere with a more pleasant climate.

Hermione and I were no longer considered guests, we were residents and not the only humans around who were staying in Rivendell. A very young Aragorn had become Elrond's ward and I'd not interacted with him since I was quite busy. He was being groomed for his future role as king from what I understood.

I'd watched the exchanging of gifts with interest when it happened a bit before dinner. Clothes had been gifted for the most part. Robes made of thicker material than normal had become quite popular in Rivendell as autumn gave way to winter.

When it came to giving gifts I'd selected Hermione, I'd forged for her a bracelet made from a gold/mithril alloy that like her lesser ring of power would be rather hard to even damage and it changed its size to fit the wearer, but other than that it was simply a fancy decorative item.

Hermione had spent quite of her time using how to fashion a material called Hithlain which was used by the elves to make ropes that were very light, slender, and flexible, yet extremely strong.

They could be unknotted at will by their users due to rope having some sort of magical properties and despite feeling as soft as silk to me, it would cause discomfort to any corrupted being that came into contact with it.

"I imagine that the poetry reading will be more lively than normal" commented Elrond "And the choir has been working on a new song just for this event. In fact it looks as if they are ready to begin ".

Elvish songs dragged on quite a bit longer than human ones, and when it was over I decided to excuse myself with the excuse of having drunk too much wine at dinner.

Hermione followed me of her own accord and once we got back to the tent I decided to have some fun with my gift from her.

"I want to do something a bit kinky with you," I told Hermione.

Given how much of our time the both of us had devoted to research and the learning of elven crafts, it wasn't surprising that we hadn't spent much time together doing something sexy since we'd gotten back from Bree, and that had been weeks ago.

I intended to have some fun with my witch and remind her that she belonged to me. She was here for me and would obey me.

As I put my arms around Hermione and began groping her I wondered how many hours of my life had already been spent playing with her tits, licking and sucking on her perky little nipples.

However long it had been, the young Miss Granger didn't seem to mind at all. She still had a smile on her face when she felt me begin to touch her like this.

"Undress for me" I ordered.

Hermione did so without delay, exposing to my hungry eyes her young and slim body. She'd long since lost any modesty she had around me and she had no problem letting me admire her form.

If anything she still enjoyed the attention as she desired my approval and praise. I made sure to compliment her mind and body, but right now I was interested in doing something else.

I moved behind my witch and began to use the gift she'd gotten to restrain her as best I could. Soon it became impossible for the mage to move her arms.

"You fiend" she teased "I'm going to be totally helpless. You're going to advantage of me. Have mercy, I'm just an innocent girl".

I took what I wanted from her whenever we had sex, this was just going to be more fun than normal.

"You're going to be a good girl for me," I told her "Aren't you, Hermione?".

Soon her sensitive nipples were being held by my fingers and I began to treat them rather badly as the poor witch stood naked and constrained in the middle of our tent.

She was helpless, she didn't have her wand and no one would hear her scream due to the many protective enchantments placed around the tent.

This only made things more exciting for her. I could hear her breathing and how she shivered in my gasp, yet she wasn't scared, or at least not afraid in a way that would result in her trying to escape.

She was anticipating what I would do to her helpless form. No doubt she was imagining where my hands would go and what positions I would force her to take.

"Yes,

Master" she whispered.

I let a hand move between her legs. She was very warm down there and already getting wet. I began to rub her cunt and she soon had problems staying standing up so with my free hand I held onto her arm so she wouldn't fall.

"Good girl" I praised.

She didn't just stay still as I touched her. She moved her hips and once I had a finger inside she began humping my hand. Was she putting on a show or really getting into this? Perhaps it was both.

I stopped before she could reach orgasm and she made very adorable whining noises when I stopped touching her.

"Please, Master" she pleaded.

She knew that I enjoyed such shows of subservience. They were highly satisfying and I sometimes wondered why the likes of Sauron, Palpatine or Voldemort would care to rule people they would never even meet.

Why bother ruling distant lands when they could focus on having someone they actually knew bowing before them willingly and not out of fear?

I had the brightest witch of her age, at least according to some, willing to perform deviant sexual acts for me with a smile on her face. This was an example of real power, made all the sweeter by her eagerness.

"Please what?" I asked as I let my hands roam over her youthful body "I want to hear you beg".

She might have dropped to her knees if I didn't have her within my grasp.

"I need to be fucked" she admitted "Please fuck me".

It amused me to think how shocked her friends would be if they ever knew what a kinky little thing Hermione Granger turned out to be. Would they even recognise the naked and bound witch?

"Please, I want to feel you inside of me" she begged.

I couldn't resist her when she spoke like that. She did have some power over me and she'd figured out how to use it. She could entice me into certain actions in subtle ways.

After being her over I made sure that she wouldn't fall and I pushed my cock inside her eager cunt. I slipped in with ease, enjoying the feeling of warmth and feeling pleased by how soaked she felt down there.

I ignored any words or sounds that came from the witch's mouth as I began to use her for my own pleasure. I soon got to fucking her at a good pace. She even tried to push back against me. Not easy given that she was tied up and would have fallen over if I hadn't been supporting her.

Despite me not being a gentle lover, I knew she enjoyed me fucking her like this as she always had a grin on her face afterwards and a desire to latch on me as if breaking contact with me was something that needed to be avoided.

There were no sounds from either of us aside from that made by our bodies and the odd noises that came out of Hermione's mouth that sounded as if they came from a savage animal rather than a thinking being.

By the time I was done with her, and her little pussy had been battered by my cock before being filled with cum, she couldn't even try to stand on her own.

I left half on the bed and half on the ground. I would have to clean up the mess as there was no way she could and I had no intention of freeing her until I was ready to sleep.

Poor Hermione would just have to endure it if I felt like fucking her or making her crawl over to me before she began giving me a blowjob.

Part 25

Team Builder.

Part 25

Rivendell. Eriador.

The new Rings of Power were the result of much research, some experimentation, the use of priceless mithril, and a lot of hard work, as well as the surrendering of some of my spiritual strength so as to aid others.

Thankfully as the Dragonborn, I had far more spiritual power than even an elf lord and there were ways to renew my spirit so I wouldn't be damaged by the creation of the new Rings of Power. Rather I'd just be weakened for a time.

Over the winter I'd put finished putting together the required knowledge that I'd gotten from many different sources.

I had used what I'd learned from forging the prototype to create the new Seven Rings of Power as the spring began. This made sense as spring was a time for the renewal of old things, for life to flourish once again.

During the winter I'd created another lesser ring of power called Tanoya, the Ring of Crafting, Tano being an elvish word for craftsmen. I'd made the ring for Dammion to aid us in our project and to test my growing skills. He wore it gratefully.

Along the way, there had been a few mistakes, such as when I'd made a ring of invisibility and ended up with a ring that was invisible and therefore very easy to keep losing.

It didn't make the wearer invisible and I'd ended up losing the ring twice. The first time it had amused Hermione, at least until she stepped on it while she was barefoot.

The timing of the project's completion was good as Hermione and I had recently been sent a letter by Gandalf telling us that he would be meeting Oakenshield in the Shire during the spring.

Via that letter, the wizard had also assured us that he should be able to convince the dwarf to come to Rivendell to recruit Hermione and me in person.

If I remembered the coming events correctly the company of Thorin would need to come here to Rivendell anyway so as to read some runes on a map, or something like that.

I assumed that Mithrandir wanted Thorin Oakensheld to hire me like he would Bilbo for my expertise in dragon slaying. I was the closest thing this world had to an expert, at least outside of legends.

As for Hermione, her portkeys would greatly reduce travel time and her wand magic could be useful in many a situation. She even had potions that could come in handy.

My thinking was that we'd be re-enacting at least parts of the Hobbit story and Bilbo still had a part to play. Since the One Ring had been destroyed I'd thought to make the halfling a lesser ring of power that would make him invisible.

My mistake was due to misunderstanding the nature of this world. The One Ring hadn't made people invisible strictly speaking, rather it took them to the spirit realm a place that few can see into.

The Nazgul for example were part of the realm, hence why the Witch-King had been able to see Frodo well enough to stab him without outright killing him.

From that mistake, I'd learned to better plan out exactly what I wanted for the rings and to look more into the nature of this world so that the new Rings of Power would not be flawed.

Now the new Rings of Power were finished and each had a clear purpose. These rings would be nearly impossible to destroy unless you were a dragon, or a Ringbearer decided to throw one in a volcano for some reason.

They would also change their size to fit the wearer as while that wasn't that impressive compared to their other powers, it wouldn't do to have one slip from a finger and be lost.

As the new Rings of Power were seen together for the first time Elrond said something that I didn't understand due to it being spoken in the elven language, but given the tone of his voice, it wasn't hard to tell that he was in awe of what we had created.

On the surface, they looked to be nothing more than rings of high quality, yet they were so much more. Anyone who wasn't a total Muggle would be able to sense it as together they were at their most powerful.

"They are so beautiful" stated Thrad.

Yes, they were. Each of the rings was made from a gold/mithril alloy that came from local sources. The original elven Rings of Power and some other bits of jewellery had provided the mithril and the gold came from the dwarves.

No two of the rings were exactly alike, each had its name engraved in elvish and each had a small gemstone embedded within. The gems were very important as they did more than merely symbolise the purpose of each ring

The molten metal used to make these rings had carefully been purified by Thrad, a dwarven smith who specialised in crafting rings of a more mundane nature that were prized even by kings.

Just as carefully the gold/mithril alloy had been purified and poured into the moulds, running through special grooves carved in stone so that each mould was evenly filled with little of the metal ending up wasted.

That had been the easy part and the end of Thrad's involvement since he didn't know how to imbue an object with spirit, or rather he knew only the dwarven methods of doing so as they seem to do something similar for their great works.

Thrad's role might seem minor, but no one other than a dwarf could have perfected the gold/mithril alloy and purified it, so as to ensure that the rings were made from the best materials we could use.

Also, his presence here was important because I wanted three smiths to work on the seven rings, and for each smith to be a different race, with me standing in for a human of this world

This was part of the plan to make the rings more unified than the others. They would be stronger together and should help the people of Middle-Earth to defend their homes.

The dwarf had carefully watched without saying a word as I'd worked for hours to file and polish the rings so that each was smooth and even.

During that time I'd put part of myself into the rings, remaining focused on their purpose, as I worked to make each ring as perfect as possible. It had been tiring in ways that went beyond mere physical effort and mental focus.

Dammion's part as a jewel-smith was to carve the gemstones and to ensure that they were all fitted properly. Each ring was made from the same alloy and had a different gem so they couldn't be mixed up.

Each ring did have a small mark on it that you'd have to look close to see. I used crowns to mark the rings meant for Aragorn and Thorin, stars for the wizards and leaves for the elves.

"We have the replacements for the Three," I said.

Gandalf wasn't here to take his so it would be protected by Elrond who would take his ring when I presented it to him.

Named for the three elements of fire, water, and air, the original Three Rings of the Elves were the last to be made before Sauron's solo creation of the One.

While Celebrimbor forged the Three Rings alone in Eregion many centuries ago, they were still moulded by Sauron's craft and were bound to the One, but far less so than the others since the dark lord had not been present at the forging.

Despite this, only after Sauron's defeat, when the One Ring was cut from his finger at the end of the Second Age, did the Elves begin to actively use the Three to ward off the decay brought to their homes by time.

"Narya, the Ring of Fire, set with a ruby," I said to everyone "For Gandalf".

Elrond took that ring, it would be kept in a box in a secure place until Mithrandir could claim it. Ruby jewellery is believed to make the wearer more aware, more focused, and remain alert. It should also help him to keep going despite his weariness.

That had been the intent when forging all of the rings. My purpose was what mattered most when it came to enchanting this way.

"Nenya, the Ring of Water, set with an aquamarine stone," I said.

Aquamarine represents happiness, hope and everlasting youth. Well suited for Galadriel I'd thought when selecting the materials for this project.

She seemed to be ageless and there was a sadness about her that I wondered if the ring might help to heal. As for hope, that would be needed when the next war against evil began.

Galadriel had used the original Neya to protect and preserve the realm of Lothlórien this new Nenya would do the same.

The elf lady took the ring and put it on. Right away she was pleased with the new Nenya. If only because it had no connection to Sauron, whom she despised.

Once she returned home she could once again protect and maintain her realm by using her Ring of Power. Her people had suffered this past winter as well.

Even if these rings didn't last for thousands of years I was confident that the rings would work as long as they were needed as that had been my purpose when making them.

Next came Vilya, the Ring of Air, the original was the mightiest of the Three, but the Seven were meant to be equal. This ring had a sapphire and it was a symbol of honesty, and purity, it would work to build trust.

He thanked me and put on the new ring. His smile let me know that he was already feeling it begin its work. Rivendell would again be protected from the ravages of time and its more physical enemies.

"Radagast this is your ring," I told the wizard who loved nature so much "Cuilya, the Ring of Life".

I wasn't sure if the translation was correct, but Cuil meant life and ya meant ring so Ring of Life, just as Nar was a word for fire.

The emerald represented love, rebirth, and fertility. For some reason, the wizard decided to put the ring in his mouth and taste it before putting it on. Testing for corruption perhaps?

Then he showed it to the bear he had brought along because from what I'd heard he'd been hibernating with the animal. I tried not to think too much about his sleeping habits.

"This is Calaya," I told the white wizard who come over to claim it "The Ring of Light".

Saruman's ring held a bit of citrine, a bright yellow gem meant to symbolise the sun. It was meant to protect from evil thoughts and negative outside influences, to keep away the darkness. The ring should also help to ensure prosperity and success.

The other two rings were just as special. They would not be worn yet, Aragorn was too young for such a powerful item and Thorin would only get his ring if was at least willing to work with the elves.

Should he prove worthy in my eyes he could be given Caumaya. Cauma meant protection, in the sense of a shield or shelter. It was embedded with an Amethyst, and it was called the Ring of Protection as its purpose was to protect, but just the body it would guard the spirit as well.

I'd originally meant to make a different ring for Thorin, something meant to symbolise stone, but while planning I'd remembered how sick he'd get when he started getting obsessed with treasure. Best to do so something to counter that now rather than have to take drastic action later.

Last of all was Aranya, the Ring of the King, it had a diamond for its gem and it was meant to grant strength of purpose, initiation, and clarity. All valuable attributes for a king to have.

"Seven rings, forged by three smiths of different races, at the end of an age," I said "Two for the elves, a lord and lady, three for wise men to guide us, and two for kings who have yet to be crowned".

Not exactly epic poetry, but I was no Tolkien and someone else could write this into the history books. Alas, the Three Wise Men reference wouldn't make sense to anyone other than myself and Hermione.

Despite this being a historic moment and a great achievement there was no clapping or cheering of any kind. If anything this was a solum time.

I'd imbued the rings with a sense of responsibility, they were a boon to be sure, but also a burden as those that wore these new Rings of Power would be driven to use them in defence of Middle Earth.

Upon returning to my tent I felt the sudden urge to check the magical book that served as something of an interface between myself and whatever system it was that ran the CYOA the R.O.B. had decided to make me take part in for reasons I apparently wouldn't understand.

According to it, I'd completed my mission of :

Legacy - For every world, you travel to you must establish a significant presence i.e. organization, city, etc.

Forging the new Rings of Power must count as me having a significant presence in this world, and it made sense. Word of the forging would get about, I'd be remembered for a long time and my work would influence events for centuries.

I could just pack up, select the next world and leave. However, I had promised Gandalf that I would slay Smaug, and it was important for the future of this world since the natives didn't need a Balrog and a dragon fighting it out for the mantle of the dark lord.

Besides, I would be doing myself no favours if I didn't discuss this with Hermione first. We weren't ready to go to her world, and we needed to prepare, as such, we would need to make careful choices.

We would need to select a world that contained magical objects that might be useful to us, or maybe useful allies, or magic we could learn. At the very least it should have some useful resources.

Also, I was interested in setting up somewhere remote so that I would be able to devote some time to understanding more about what I could do with my growing powers.

I didn't wish to try out necromancy and daedra summoning in this world, not where the wizards and elves would protest or risk the Valar getting upset.

No, I would sit down with Hermione and make plans. I would rest and prepare for Gandalf's arrival. I needed to renew myself as forging the new Rings of Power had taken a lot out of me.

But right now I was going to sleep for at least twelve hours. I was that tired.

Part 26

Team Builder.

Part 26

Rivendell. Eriador.

With the new Rings of Power now supporting the two elvish kingdoms I was allied with, things had gone back to what could be considered normal around here.

Thanks to spring having claimed the land the many trees here bloomed again and the elves were able to grow all the food that they needed despite it not being the season for harvesting.

Winter would not touch Rivendell again as it had last year. Something the elves were very grateful for and I'd been rewarded for my efforts by being gifted with my own lesser ring of power crafted for me by Dammion using the methods I'd developed.

No further greater rings of power would be forged due to the dangers involved. There was simply too great a risk of them being subverted or one of them falling into the wrong hands.

My lesser ring was called Finweya, the ring of creation, meant to help inspire a craftsman, and while it was a simple band of gold and mithril, and might not even work once we left this world, I already treasured it greatly.

Dammion had not made it all fancy and I was grateful for this as I had no desire to wear something I deemed gaudy. My tastes were more simple than an elf's when it came to wearing decorative items.

The current situation also benefited me as it meant Lord Elrond had some free time that he was using to personally educate both Hermione and me in a sort of magical art. What she would call legilimency

Legilimency was the act of magically navigating through the many layers of a person's mind and correctly interpreting one's findings. It wasn't telepathy like what people like Professor X could do in the X-Men franchise.

The most powerful of the elves had the time and the skill to perfect the art to such a degree that they could speak to people telepathically and over a distance depending on how well they knew the person they were trying to reach.

They could send words to you to a person as if were part of a verbal conversation even if they couldn't read your thoughts.

You could also learn to defend your mind. Mental shields aren't really a thing because any wall you put up can be broken down by someone stronger than you. As such it was better to learn to hide thoughts and memories you didn't wish to share.

Hermione knew the basics of this art as she had researched them in an attempt to help Harry who just didn't have much talent for the mind arts and with a Horcrux in his head, it wouldn't have helped anyway.

In my view, Harry Potter was more the kind of person who learned by doing rather than reading and he performed best under pressure. As such just giving him a book on the subject wouldn't help much.

Hermione and I didn't need to worry about protecting our minds as the CYOA did that for us thanks to me making a smart purchase with my points.

Mental Sheild - You and your team are protected from brainwashing, mind reading, and any attacks that target the human mind.

Without that defence, I was sure that I would have tried to dominate the One Ring and I would have become corrupted by it.

"As I have mentioned before, to reach into the mind of another takes great focus and strength of will," said Elrond "There is also danger as when you allow your mind to reach out, something unexpected can always reach out to you".

At least Hermione and I didn't have to worry about that.

"Elrond, you mentioned that Gandalf learned the mind arts from the elves," said Hermione "If that's true then it seems odd that while we were taking the Ring to Lothlórien that Gandalf didn't use it to question an orc prisoner we captured. Marek used his powers to subvert the orc's will so it would talk to us".

The elf lord didn't need long to think over what my witch had just spoken about.

"You see Mistress Granger, orcs are not without their own power," he said "Granted most are barely above beasts, however, some are stronger than others, smarter and crueller, more like their master, and they were driven by the will of Sauron. Mithrandir would have needed to overcome not only the will of the orc but also he would have needed to overcome the driving will of Sauron".

The orc we'd questioned had been a leader and even my Bend Will Shout hadn't lasted for long. I'd been impressed by the orc's strength of mind at the time, now I was wondering how much of that had been Sauron's influence.

I recalled how in the Shadows of Mordor games how Celebrimbor was able to dominate orcs. Assuming that could actually happen he must have overridden Sauron's influence and replaced it with his own.

The Dark Lord did seem to be able to break their control, but that involved the orc having a reason to betray the Bright Lord. It was also possible for an orc to resist any attempt by Talion to dominate its mind.

I wondered if I could learn to dominate any being like that. Would the CYOA allow for it since I was supposed to be claiming people to build a team with not building an army?

Thinking about it I figured that building a team and making allies as needed seemed like a far better idea than trusting dark creatures. I would be far less likely to be stabbed in the back that way.

I pushed aside such thoughts and focused on the lesson. We were told that few humans could ever master this art because many men lack a strong enough spirit.

Basically, you had to have some magical power to do this even if that magic just is a source of energy to help fuel the process.

"Now since you two have some strange power guarding your minds you will both attempt to reach into my mind and view the memory I will focus on" Elrond instructed "It is a powerful memory due to the emotions I was feeling at the time. Memories of great sadness and joys are always the easiest to reach, more so if they are fresh".

I did my best, but this subtle art was going to take quite a bit of practice.

"You're holding a baby," said Hermione "You're very happy in the memory".

Elrond smiled at Hermione. This wasn't the first time we'd tried this, but only she'd had any success. I wondered if the ring I'd made her helped as while it was meant to boost her spells she might see the mind arts as wandless magic and therefore Gulya should enhance her efforts.

"Well done" he praised "That is the memory of the birth of my daughter. Few of my kind have large families. Fathering my twin sons was a blessing few elves will ever know, to have a daughter as well filled my heart with joy, and still does when I think back to that day".

I felt sure that I would get the hang of this if given enough time to practice, however, that practice would not happen today I guessed as another elf came over to our study area (which like everywhere else important around here was outside) and whispered in the ear of Lord Elrond.

"Gandalf has arrived sooner than expected," our host told us "And with a large party of dwarves. I must attend to my duties".

We all went our separate ways. Knowing that we'd be leaving soon meant that Hermione was more determined than ever to record all the knowledge of this world she could find.

As for me, I soon headed back to the forge as I was working on my new set of armour and I'd rested enough to be comfortable imbuing a little of my spirit into the armour while forging it.

My lesser ring of power was helping with this as I could feel my desire to create be strengthed as I worked.

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This set of armour offered far more protection than what I'd worn when setting out to destroy the One Ring. I'd time to work on it and my skills had greatly grown since I'd destroyed the One Ring.

Being made from a mithril alloy the armour was much lighter than it should be and easier to forge into shape. Mithril really was an amazing metal and it was a shame that there was little of it even with performing alchemy to produce more.

"So you're the craftsmen" someone stated.

Normally I was more aware of my surroundings, but when crafting I gave my project my full attention as such when Thorin Oakenshield entered my workspace I'd not noticed his presence or that it was getting dark.

If I were anywhere other than Rivendell I would not let my guard down so easily.

"That's me" I replied "I am Marek Dovahkinn".

For some unknown reason, that name just felt right for me.

Thorin was tall and handsome for a dwarf, not that I'd seen enough dwarves to get a proper sense of that, and he looked strong, he wore his armour well, and he'd put on the ring I'd made for him.

"I am Thorin son of Thrain," he said "According to Gandalf you can slay Smaug".

That was the plan. Sort of.

"We will slay Smaug" I corrected "I have certain skills that will make it possible, but I can't do it alone".

The Dragonborn of legend always had their Blades, warriors fighting with them to slay dragons and to found empires.

"What skills would that be?" I was asked

Before speaking I reached into my pouch of holding and pulled out a spear. I'd forged it using ebony and iron to create a type of steel that I'd later enchanted Skyrim style. It had an absorb health enchantment on it and even dragons were only resistant to magic so it should weaken the creature.

"I can forge magical weapons and armour, create objects of power" I stated, "As I did with that ring you wear".

Thorin looked at the Ring of Power.

"It is powerful" he admitted "The moment I put it on I felt more confident of our quest than ever have before. It is as if I have made a strong ally".

It would help to protect him, and a king had many dangers to worry about.

"But can you fight?" Oakenshield "I don't need another smith on his quest".

This was a valid question and one easily answered.

I took the staff and spun it as I moved. Then I drove into one of the mannequins I used to display my work. The spear went right through it.

Thorin was clearly impressed by what he saw, he eyed the spear as he knew a well-crafted weapon when he saw one.

"Dragons have few weaknesses," I told the dwarf "The eyes are vulnerable, and Smaug had a scale missing on his underside. Even with that, it would take a mighty blow to pierce his hide. I intend to strike that blow".

Thorin listened attentively.

"Aye I've heard of that vulnerable mark," he said, "And the eyes, an arrow, sword or spear driven into the beast's eyes could slay it".

Hopefully, Dragonrend would work or we'd be stuck trying to hit a small part of a massive moving target that could breathe fire and squash us like bugs with just its bulk.

Dragons are far too OP for anything other than a highly experienced group of adventures. What I wouldn't give for heavy weapons from my world.

"Lord Elrond wishes to send his sons to aid us and asks for nothing in return," said Oakenshield "I do not trust elves".

Thorin had his reasons for not liking the older race.

"Don't make the mistake of thinking that one group of elves is the same as the others" I warned, "I've been to Lothlórien and I've stayed in Rivendell for many months. They are not like the Greenwood elves who abandoned you when Smaug came, and we will need their help".

I had more to say about this.

"Elrond would not risk sending his sons with us unless he thinks we can win and that Smaug is a danger to us all" I informed the dwarf "The safety of Middle Earth means far more to him than any treasure in your mountain".

"Besides, elven archers are the best in the world," I stated, "And we will need them to blind Smaug for us".

Even if Dragonred worked that would just make the dragon mortal, it would still be an armoured killing machine, but if blinded then there was a chance that I could strike at Smaug's weak spot.

"If the elves come with us they will be your and Gandalf's responsibility," Thorin told me "I will not endanger my kin for an elf".

I felt sure that Mithrandir would convince this stubborn dwarf to accept some help.

"I'm told you have a woman with you with powers of her own," said the dwarf prince "I wish to speak with her. Then we can discuss your contracts".

Hermione's role in this would be a supportive one as even the dumb dragons of her world took a team of witches and wizards to handle. Her magic just wasn't suited for battling the likes of Smaug.

She would be better used to provide us with potions, to distract Smaug if needs be, and to use her powers to make our journey safer.

My magic was different and would win us the day, or so I hoped. Only time would tell.

Part 27

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Team Builder.

Part 27

Rivendell. Eriador.

Hermione and I were often invited to dine with Lord Elrond even when he didn't have important guests, and in my experience, the meals were sedate affairs with music being played, talk and more poetry readings.

For some reason, the elves really enjoyed poetry readings, and there were very long songs performed by an entire choir if it was a special dinner. I'd long since grown tired of such affairs.

This dinner was more to my liking even if the Company of Thorin complained about the food it was nice to hear people having dinner and treating it as if wasn't some stately affair.

Elves can take themselves far too seriously in my opinion, they need a bit of silliness in their lives, and my effort to make them celebrate a version of Christmas hadn't loosened them up much.

At least this time we did have important matters to talk about so Hermione and I sat with Thorin, Gandalf and Elrond at a separate table as we went over the details of the quest.

Terms would need to be agreed upon by all parties before we signed any contracts. I didn't have a lawyer so I would need to check the fine print carefully to spot any details a quick read-through would miss

Dwarves were known to honour their word, but they were an alien race and I could misunderstand their intentions, so it would be wise of me to make sure that I fully understood what they wanted from me before agreeing.

Also, I wanted Hermione to confirm that the contacts weren't in anyway magically binding. I knew enough magic to know that I never wanted to be bound by any bargain that had magic backing it up.

In my view, if you sign a magical contract then there is always going to be some situation when you'll need to break the terms of a deal to prevent something bad from happening. Then you will suffer because the multiverse seems built to create needless drama.

"Rivendell will in exchange for the agreed upon payment provide two of our people to act as guides and protectors," said Elrond "As well as supplies and you can stay here as our guests to rest before you head out on the next part of your journey".

I'd been surprised to hear that my host wanted a share of the treasure, even if it was a very small one, but given what happened last winter it made sense that he might want a little treasure stored away in case they ever had to face that situation again.

Elrond wasn't the leader here just because he had the patience and skill needed to deal with outsiders. He was known for his wisdom and ability to make plans.

"You ask for much and offer little in return," stated Thorin.

This version of the dwarf prince wasn't as hostile towards elves as the movie version, but it was easy to tell that he didn't much care for them. Sadly there was resentment between the two races due to past events.

The lack of trade didn't help. Long ago the dwarves and elves had done a lot of business, but that faded over time as the elves diminished and more of them sailed west.

These days many dwarves exchange the fruit of their labour for actual food with humans who they seem to get along with rather well. It helps that dwarves don't act all superior when they are around humans.

"I am sending my own sons with you and you are facing a dragon" reminded Elrond "They may not come home".

Knowing the twins as I did I doubted that Elrond wanted Elladan and Elrohir going. I was confident that they would be of aid in their quest as they had been in the last one.

Hermione and I would never have made it from the Misty Mountains to Lothlórien without them to guide us. Not after Gandalf was influenced enough by the One Ring to get him to go running off to help his friends.

"Elven archers are the finest in all the world" stated Gandalf.

Something that I had told Thorin earlier.

"I've brewed up a poison that works on the dragons of my world to make them sluggish," said Hermione "If coated on an arrow that hits Smaug in the eye it will at least slow him down".

Smaug might be much smarter and more powerful than the dragons of the wizarding world, but he was still a living being, so can be poisoned even if it wouldn't do more than make him feel ill for a while.

"Fine" agreed Thorin "I'll take the elves with me, but I will not be responsible for their safety".

Something he'd mentioned to me before. I got the sense that he was more concerned about having strangers along because they might endanger his kin rather than be worried about dividing up more of the treasure.

"We'll need to pass through the Greenwood and that means entering the domain of King Thranduil, he isn't as friendly as other elven leaders from what I have heard" I mentioned to Thorin "Perhaps Lord Elrond can assist us in securing passage?".

The elvish lord didn't mind what I was trying to do. I doubted that I was the first human to sit with an elf and dwarf in an attempt to get them working together.

"I can contact King Thranduil and write you a letter that will identify you" Elrond offered "You will need to resupply and the Woodland elves can guide you through their lands".

No doubt Thranduil would want us to pay for his aid. In the movies, he wants some special gems and I'd be willing to make them part of my share of the treasure if it smoothed things over in this timeline.

"What's next?" asked Thorin "Will the men of Laketown want to be paid for letting us pass through their lands?".

That wasn't a big concern since I didn't intend for us to go near that place unless we really had to.

"When it comes to Men, you might want to consider investing in the rebuilding of the Dale" Gandalf suggested, "If only to secure yourself a trading partner".

That was something to be decided on later. No sense in planning for future trade relations until you actually have a kingdom and stuff to trade.

I guessed that once Smaug was gone the humans in the area would be drawn to Dale in the hopes of a more comfortable life. It had been their home before Smaug came south so they had a right to return.

"I have coin if we need to pay a toll" I mentioned, "Or if we need to purchase more supplies".

Due to my lack of expenses I'd amassed quite a bit of wealth thanks to the CYOA and my ability to transmute metals.

Hermione hadn't been eager about claiming a part of the treasure. Partly this was due to practical reasons as we could only transport so much around even with expanded bags, but she had no interest in amassing riches.

I'd pointed out that when we got to her world we'd need a lot of gold as wars aren't cheap.

We'd need to set up safe houses, purchase supplies, and maybe hire some magical mercenaries if such people existed. I imagined that we'd also need to bribe some people, pay for information and so on.

If they had bounty hunters in that world it might serve to place bounties for Death Eaters, if we offered lavish enough rewards we could end up defeating some of our enemies without having to risk our own forces.

I doubted any successful bounty hunter would be foolish to take a shot at Voldemort, but for all his power he couldn't be in two places at once, at least not without a time tuner, and not all of his followers were skilled with a wand.

Then there were the goblins. We'd need them to support us if we wanted to set up a new and more fair Ministry of Magic, and that would require a lot of treasure.

As would the rebuilding afterwards. Taxes are hard to collect during a war so we might need to fund the new Ministry of Magic for a time.

Add to all that we might international support before and afterwards. That could become much easier to acquire if we could bribe the right people and offer generous payment for their aid against the Voldemort-controlled government.

So it just made sense for her to amass wealth in order to fund the war of liberation she desired for her homeland. Even a small fraction of the treasures to be found in that mountain would be enough to fund our efforts.

"By using portkeys we can skip going through the Misty Mountains," said Hermione as she traced our planned route on the map.

Thorin didn't look happy.

"These portkeys are safe?" he asked.

We'd had no problems so far.

"I've used them a number of times" assured Gandalf "It's quite safe and will allow us to avoid trouble in the mountain pass".

The portkeys didn't concern me. Dwarves are hardy folk and Hermione was very skilled at using her kind of magic.

"Once you pass through the Greenwood you won't have to travel far to reach Erebor" stated Elrond "Then will come the hard part. You must aid Master Marek so that he can slay Smaug. Holding Erebor with the aid of the dwarves of the Iron Hills should be simple enough if they arrive before anyone else who wishes to claim those riches".

The orcs might not be driven by the will of Sauron since the Dark Lord had been banished to the void, but there could still be orc warbands in the area and they could be drawn to serve Smaug or they might just want to loot the Lonely Mountain.

"I'll concern myself about holding Erebor once I'm sitting on my grandfather's throne," said Oakenshield "For now, we must focus on Smaug".

A fair point. If we all died then there wouldn't be a dwarven kingdom to protect.

"Short of a siege engine, which we couldn't carry that far…"

That was when I stopped talking and looked at Hermione.

"My dear, how good are you with the shrinking charm?" I asked.

She didn't grasp where I was going with this right away. To be fair it wasn't as if she had experience or much of an interest in medieval warfare. I, on the other hand, had been a wargamer and I'd read about many an ancient battle.

"There would have to be room inside the mountain for them once they were unshrunk," said Hermione "And we'd have to practice firing them first because Smaug isn't going to stand still while we take shots at him".

I knew how to build a ballista. They aren't that complex and we had everything we needed right here.

"What are two planning?" asked a confused-sounding Mithrandir.

I did my best to explain.

"Hermione's magic allows her to take something big and make it so small you can carry it in your pocket," I told the others "I can build a few Ballista, weapons powerful enough to knock down the walls of a castle and Hermione can make it so we can easily carry them to Erebor. Then she can make them big again so they can be fired".

She'd have place charms to deal with the weight as well, but that wasn't much of an issue for a talented witch.

"The Halls of Erebor are massive," stated Thorin, who was starting to get the idea "If we can find Smaug before he wakes and move quickly enough we could strike with overwhelming force before he can defend himself".

I doubted it would be that simple.

"We won't be that lucky," I said, "But we do need to strike with a great deal of force you're right. Arrows in his eyes, a spear in his guts, siege weapons, magic, anything we can throw at him will be needed".

I'd even consider making some bombs if we had the time, but even with all of my world's knowledge that could be as dangerous to us as Smaug. However, I figured that with some practice a team of dwarves could easily load and fire a few Ballista.

"Twelve dwarves, four to a Ballista," I said "Building three should be easy enough".

Anything I can't get from my own supplies or here in Rivendell should be available in Bree which I can use a portkey to reach and quickly return from.

"We only have until Durin's Day to make it to the mountain" reminded Thorin.

That might not be a concern since I owned a special key, but I didn't know for sure if my special key would work.

"There are no better builders than dwarves" I pointed out "With your group, it won't take long".

Elrond stood up and we turned our attention to him.

"It seems you have a way forward," he said "Rivendell will remain open to you all until your preparations are made. Master Marek and Mistress Hermione will help you to prepare and my people will offer what aid they can".

We had a lot of hard work ahead of us and I might come up with other ideas so it would be best to start finalising our plans tonight.

Tomorrow I would start work on another project.

Part 28

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Team Builder.

Part 28

The Woodland Realm. The Greenwood.

Thanks to the use of a couple of portkeys we'd skipped over the Misty Mountains and come directly to the lands on the other side of the range.

This had made the journey so far much safer and shorter, something I felt grateful for as I knew that the mountains were still home to many goblins and even worse things.

Getting us this far was something that Hermione had been able to do as she'd been in these parts last year when we'd been dealing with the One Ring.

The difference this time was that we had not needed to take any efforts to avoid orc camps as there didn't seem to be any around. There was no need for them to be here looking for the Ring in the river as the One Ring was gone.

I wondered if they retreated to Mordor or headed up into the mountains so as to hide. If the latter was the case then it was another good reason to be thankful that we'd been able to bypass them.

We'd not arrived directly at the Greenwood, but we'd been close and Gandalf knew of the path that we needed to take.

To my pleasure the forest didn't seem to be sick even though it was a bit spooky, either Sauron hadn't corrupted it much due to not having enough time to spread his foulness, or his final defeat had lifted some sort of curse from the land.

Once we entered the woods it wasn't long before some of the local elves found us and brought us to their home.

Despite being under guard, I was pleased to be here as I wanted to visit as many of the elven kingdoms as I could while staying in this world.

This was the kingdom of the Silvan Elves, which was located deep within what some called the Mirkwood, otherwise known as the great forest of Rhovanion, and it had been since its beginning all the way back in the Second Age.

I'd researched Thranduil, the ruler of the Woodland Realm carefully because I knew that he was not as easy to work with as the elven leaders I'd allied myself with.

There were good reasons why he didn't stand with his peers and the wizards when they went to drive the Necromancer from these lands.

In the past things had been different with many famous elven kings carving their names into the history books, but these days most elves were ruled over by lords and ladies who were followed because they were respected leaders rather than because they inherited some title.

The elves of the Woodland Realm were known to be less wise and more dangerous than other elves, and by this age, they were the only remaining elves to be ruled over by a king.

Thranduil's father, King Oropher, died in battle during the Last Alliance when men and elves rallied together to fight Sauron. Following the War of the Last Alliance, Thranduil of the Sindar ruled over the Silvan Elves.

While Thranduil was no friend of Sauron, he'd been rather lacklustre in his dust as a defender of Middle-Earth. Pulling back his forces, rather than using them to drive out the evil spreading out from the heart of Mirkwood

Despite the heavy losses their people had suffered during the War of the Last Alliance, the Elves of the Woodland Realm survived and continued living peacefully in the forest for the next millennium.

Over time the forest became dark and tainted, infested with Orcs, great spiders, and other evil creatures. Rather than fight them off the elves withdrew to the northeastern region of the forest.

Thankfully I'd not seen any sign of spiders when we'd passed through the woods. Perhaps Shelob had pulled them back? I was unsure if they'd been under Sauron's command or if they had their own agenda.

Due to Thranduil not having his own Ring of Power and the elves of the Greenwood not being as wise as their kin, these elves needed to regularly trade with the other races.

They'd had ties to the dwarves of the Lonely Mountain and men of the Dale. Which allowed them to acquire what they needed.

This state of affairs was not to last, as when the dragon called Smaug came down from the north and destroyed both the Dwarves of the Lonely Mountain and the city of Dale the elves lost their trading partners.

They did still do some business with the men of Laketown, and I assumed others, although I hadn't been able to find out much about that while in Rivendell due to a lack of contact between Lord Elrond and King Thranduil.

That had changed recently as Elrond had sent one of the communication mirrors enchanted by Hermione to this kingdom and he'd done what he could to ensure that when we passed through the Greenwood we would be treated as guests.

Legolas, a key member of the Fellowship of the Ring was one of the elves who escorted us to meet with his father, and I remembered that one of my sisters had always been a big fan of the elf, she'd been seething with envy if she knew about this.

In the main timeline, when Thorin and Company came through the Woodland Realm on their way to the Lonely Mountain on The Quest of Erebor. Thranduil considered them trespassers and had them imprisoned save for Bilbo Baggins, who remained invisible with the use of the One Ring he later released the Dwarves.

Since Bilbo didn't have the One Ring it was good that we weren't being taken captive, as if nothing else I'd make an awful mess of this place when I started using my Shouts to ensure that we did escape any unjustified captivity.

After the death of Smaug, Thranduil offered relief to the Men of Lake-town and he assembled an army to claim part of the treasure, but Thorin Oakenshield refused to share it and so both parties prepared for war.

Bilbo tried to help the situation by delivering the ancient artefact known as the Arkenstone to the Elves and Men so that they could use it to make a deal.

I'd considered taking the Arkenstone for myself, but it would be better served as a symbol to rally the dwarves when the next Dark Lord began his conquest. No need to break my contract even if it wasn't magically binding.

Besides, I didn't even know if the Arkenstone had any special properties. For all, I knew it was just a pretty rock. Also, Thorin was offering Hermione and me a share of the treasure so there would be plenty to pick from.

I was hoping to claim a supply of gemstones since I could transmute metals and the CYOA supplied me with basic materials for crafting, even a set of horns recently that I'd used for my new armour. As such, I didn't need lots of silver and gold, nor did I need to raid the dwarven armouries.

The battle between the Dwarves under the command of Dáin Ironfoot and the elves led by Thranduil could not be allowed to happen as it did in the books/movies.

This was why it was so important for Thorin to sit down with the elven king and hash out a deal that would see the woodland elves offer some support to the quest.

Unlike in the canon timeline, the armies of elves, men, and dwarves would not be forced to join forces and fight a common enemy.

With Sauron gone, there was no driving force behind the dark forces and no Orc army was likely to turn up. As such a deal had to be made now so as to avoid a lot of fighting later.

"Greetings, Mithrandir, Thorin son of Thráin, grandson of Thrór, and Elrond's new allies," said Thranduil.

The king of the Woodland realm had not been told about the new rings of power, but I was sure he'd figured out that I'd been involved in dealing with Sauron he was still a powerful elf and must have been able to sense some of it.

I wouldn't be surprised if he also suspected the existence of the Rings of Power as well as their forging must have been sensed by some.

Rivendell was shielded so I didn't think anyone outside of those I'd gifted the rings to and those living in Rivendell would know about them. At least not yet, in time things would change and my legacy in this world would be known to many.

I wondered if this would be more like the books or the movies.

The Elves of Mirkwood are a minor element in the novel, and Thranduil in particular has no quarrel with Thorin or his company of Dwarves, who are only imprisoned because they are trespassing on the Elvenking's territory and refuse to tell him why.

This time we all knew why we were and just had to sort out what price the king of the Woodland realms wanted in exchange for his help. We would need elves who knew these lands as guides at the very least.

"Greetings King Thranduil," said Gandalf.

We all remained standing before the ruler of this realm even his own son as Mithrandir began to bargain with the elf leader.

Being the nearest major power to Erebor meant that when, or rather if, the dwarves retook it they would need Thranduil's support if only so he wouldn't get in the way.

In the long term when trading with Erebor started up again and the dwarves spent some of the treasure on rebuilding the elves were going to want a piece of the action as they controlled trade in this area.

If an agreement wasn't made the Woodland elves could make it very difficult for the dwarves of the Lonely Mountain to prosper as they once had.

A few guides and some more archers wouldn't go amiss either. Being able to blind Smaug was important to many of my plans to slay the dragon.

As Thorin, Gandalf and our host talked I looked around. I'd noticed that this kingdom wasn't as grand as Lothlórien or as welcoming as Imladris, but it had its own charms.

It was certainly secure and defended by many guards. The elves here were expecting trouble or at least remaining watchful for it.

On the way in it hadn't been hard to see that this home of the elves was far more defensible than Rivendell. It was partly underground and the trees here had grown in such a way that their branches had become like walls.

Roots had become walkways that snaked around buildings. If any outsider invaded they'd have a hell of a time getting anywhere. Above us, there were plenty of places for an elven archer to stand as he rained arrows down on any invaders.

"My son, Legolas wishes to go with you" informed Thranduil

A surprise, but a pleasant one to be sure. Legolas would be very useful should we run into any orc warbands. On the downside, it would mean that Thranduil would learn that Hermione and I have magical talents unknown to this world. Simply unshrinking the siege weapons would lead to Legolas asking all sorts of questions.

Perhaps it would be time to leave once Erebor was secure.

Thinking more on the matter, it seemed odd that the elf king would risk the life of his son like this even if restoring Erebor could help his own kingdom to prosper more than before.

Was he worried about Smaug coming out of the Lonely Mountain one day and seeking out more treasure?

"We welcome his help," said the wizard.

I didn't think the dwarves agreed with this, but when you're going up against a dragon it's foolish to refuse any help you can get.

As for the dwarves since many of them might die

so I'd not bothered to get to know any of them and Biblo kept his distance from me.

I wondered if he was scared of me for some reason. If he did I felt no motivation to reassure him as I had other matters on my mind.

"We'll set a feast for you tonight and you can leave tomorrow" stated the king "My warriors will escort you to the edge of the Greenwood".

This was taken as a dismissal and soon we were taken to somewhere we could rest until the evening meal. Which was much better than being locked up. Not that their cells could have held me.

Part 29

Author Note

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Team Builder.

Part 29

Erebor. The Lonely Mountain.

When I first saw the Lonely Mountain I called it massive, because that was the one word that came to mind when thinking about its sheer size. It simply dominated the landscape because it was massive.

The Hobbit movies did a good job of giving you an idea of the real thing, but it was even more impressive in person because no amount of CGI and model-making can compare to the real thing.

Even from a distance, I'd been able to see the statues and the main gate. The sheer amount of time and labour that went into something like this was staggering. Yet it was only a taste of the splendour within the mountain.

How many generations had laboured away to build the kingdom of Erebor?

Geologically the mountain was also impressive in ways other than mere size, it was rich in metals and jewels. Not just gold I'd been told, silver, iron and other minerals had been found in great amounts.

Not all of the treasure came from inside the mountain, a lot of it had been traded for by selling well-made tools and weapons forged by the dwarves who were each a master of their crafts.

Wealthy humans were known to pay the dwarves well for things simple things like toys and they would pay well to secure apprenticeships for their sons.

I'd been told that the inside of the mountain was filled with dwarven-made passages along with natural tunnels that you could follow to find huge cellars, feasting halls and homes that could be considered mansions due to their living space and decorations.

It was claimed by a member of the Company of Thorin, that even the poorest dwarves living in Erebor would never spend a single day hungry or lack a home large enough to comfortably house their family.

If the Dale was anything to go by the dwarves of Erebor sure knew how to build homes, and I hoped that the people of Lake Town were able to move back soon as this place would provide them with a much better standard of living.

Spoken about most often were the great forges where in the past great amounts of the gold dug up had been melted and then shaped into coins, plates, rings, amulets, necklaces, goblets, as well as many other things.

I would have admitted if ever asked that the craftsmen in me longed to see those forges. I couldn't help imagining what wonders I could forge with such tools and the help of hundreds of dwarves.

The main entrance into the mountain was the Gate of Erebor on the south side, which opened up into a valley, however, we were going to avoid that entrance and try to sneak in around the back, as part of a plan to surprise Smaug.

We planned to find somewhere that overlooked the main chamber which overlooked the treasure horde and then set up the siege engines.

"When King Durin VI was killed by the Balrog and the Dwarves fled Moria in the following years. The Dwarf capital was relocated to the Lonely Mountain which quickly became a stronghold in the north" I heard Gandalf saying to Bilbo Baggins as we began looking for the back door "The Dwarves mined into the depths of the mountain, gaining many riches and the Arkenstone was discovered, becoming the King's jewel".

Bilbo was supposed to go and secure the Arkenstone and take it to Thorin's cousin who was king of the Iron Mountains if we all died as the stone could be used to rally the dwarves and unite them for a common cause.

Tempting as it was to take the Arkenstone for myself it might be needed as a unifying symbol when the next dark lord began his conquests.

This was why we didn't simply try to kill Smaug first and then look for the stone. If we all died then Bilbo was to run away and get the Arkenstone out of there. Not that I planned on dying, but few do.

"The Dwarves left Erebor for a period but would return after a war with the Cold Drakes which saw the death of Frór" the wizard rambled on "Thrór took a colony back to the Lonely Mountain and re-

established it as a stronghold".

Mithrandir spoke of Erebor's prosperity to the Hobbit as we sought out the backdoor. It should be invisible until the last light on Durin's Day, but I had my special key so it wasn't just a matter of breaking the ward that kept the door hidden.

I proved to be correct as I found the keyhole and before long I had the door open. We headed inside and soon came across a room that looked as if it had been a meeting place.

We began to set up and I showed everyone my map again. By the looks of things, Smaug hadn't moved. We might remain undetected for a while longer.

"With that key, you could have come to Erebor without us, slain the dragon and claimed as much of the treasure as you wished" pointed out Thorin.

There were reasons why I'd never tried that.

"I wouldn't have been able to hold the mountain," I said "Even if I could keep the people of Lake Town out, your cousin would have turned up with an army. I don't fancy taking on a few hundred dwarves, or worse a thousand".

Even if I could have beaten them then larger armies would just turn up. Not to mention orc raiders, or maybe some assassins.

"I was wondering something," said one of the younger dwarves "If we actually manage to kill Smaug what's to stop another dragon from trying to claim the treasure?".

Judging by the looks on people's faces no one had considered that.

"I better build you some more siege weapons" I decided "Just in case".

It wasn't as if I planned to rush off after this.

"We need to locate the stone" reminded one of the dwarves "Then we can worry about defences".

It was important to stick with the plan.

"The Arkenstone is there, right next to Smaug," I told everyone "We must have stirred in his sleep".

This was not good news. When I'd last checked on the stone via the map it hadn't been so close to the dragon.

"I'll not send our burglar to certain death," said Thorin "Getting that close to Smaug is madness".

Or was it? I'd given this some thought before now and as planned I took out my cloak of invisibility, which I could lend to people, and it wrapped itself around Bilbo as it wanted to protect him.

It even resized itself much to my amusement. I'd spent weeks trying to figure out that trick for the new Rings of Power and the cloak could just do it.

"This cloak will render you invisible and will help to protect you," I stated "Once you have the stone, the cloak will fly you back to us".

Mr Baggins looked shocked.

"What do you mean by…?" he started to ask.

The cloak lifted him a few inches off the ground.

"It can fly and make you invisible" I explained "Don't worry about it, it's a magic thing, just trust me".

He still looked skittish around me, but he had no reason not to trust me, and Gandalf did his best to reassure the Hobbit.

"Use this map so you don't get lost" I insisted.

Items provided by the CYOA get restored to you if lost from what I understood so I should get the map back even if Bilbo got incinerated.

Aside from that, this version of the halfling hadn't been toughened up by his journey so he would need some help. The cloak would provide that aid.

"Take this as well" insisted Hermione.

It was just a silver coin, it didn't look at all special.

"If you get into trouble hold on to it and say 'danger'" my witch told him "It will transport you back here".

Emergency portkeys were always a good idea.

"We'll get set up for the attack," I said.

Bilbo Baggins went on ahead as the rest of us moved with as little noise as possible to locations that overlooked the main chamber that contained Smaug.

We didn't need much time to set up as the siege weapons were unshrunk by Hermione who just teleported herself from one site to another and then waved her wand.

The weapons were loaded just as practised back in Rivendell and they were each capable of breaking down a castle's walls thanks to my craftsmen skills.

Then came the waiting, and I was just starting to worry when I heard Bilbo shouting as he flew past. No one saw him, because he was invisible, but we all

heard him warn that Smaug was awake.

By the sounds of things, the dragon had woken up on the wrong side of his treasure hoard.

"Thief!" yelled Smaug "A curse on all dwarves!".

The dragon opened its mouth so as to breathe fire as the elves tried to hit Smaug's eyes. A poison-coated arrow hit the dragon, striking its left eye, and the potential dark lord of Middle Earth screamed in pain.

I felt sure that it had been Legolas who had hit the target as he seemed to have supernatural skill with that weapon.

Two of the bolts fired by the dwarves missed despite the creature's size, due to the dragon thrashing about, but the third hit one of Smaug's wings and pinned the wing to the wall of the cavern.

Smaug did not like that one bit and if not for the fact that elves are so agile, Elrond would have lost his twin sons to the beast's fire.

"Reload!" I shouted as jumped down into the pile of treasure below me.

I wasn't as graceful as I would have liked even with the Featherfall spell I cast just before jumping. It slowed my fall, but the treasure didn't make for the most stable of ground, so I ended up rolling down a small hill made mostly of coins.

Knowing that I need to move fast I got up and I Shouted at Smaug.

"Joor Zhal Frul!"

It worked as Smaug began to scream in what I could only call terror rather than pain. I was forcing the dragon to experience mortality, a completely foreign concept to the ageless and immortal dragons.

I'd known that the dragons of this world could be slain, but I'd not been sure if they ever died natural deaths like mortal animals did all the time.

Smaug at least was immortal in some sense, only he wasn't right now, and he did not like this at all, he was scared of what being mortal meant.

Some sort of spell cast by Hermione, most likely aimed at the dragon's still-working eye, struck the beast and it roared again even as I pulled my spear from inside my expanded bag and went in for the kill.

"Tidd Klo Ul!"

Smaug was thrashing about too much for me to strike at the weak spot on his lower body so I slowed down time as I ran at him.

While the Shout lasted I felt as if I was trying to run through liquid rather than air, but I managed to drive the spear into the dragon's flesh.

Smaug didn't simply drop dead, mortal or not, he was a massive creature, however, he did soon die as he'd already been badly wounded and I'd driven the spear deep inside him.

Mostly what did it was another bolt ramming into the dragon's mouth as he tried to breathe fire one last time. It sounded as if Smaug died while drowning in his own blood as I drove my spear deeper inside it.

The dragon fell, tearing its own wing as it did, and for a moment nothing happened aside from Hermione teleporting herself to my side no doubt to check up on me as I'd nearly been crushed by the sheer bulk of the creature.

Normally, I would have moved faster to avoid danger, only my spear had gotten stuck inside Smaug. I'd twisted the spear and it had caught on something.

Sadly I'd had to abandon the weapon. I hoped I would be able to get it back. A lot of effort had gone into making the spear.

When the body of Smaug began to burn up I ordered her to back off. I'd not known if this would happen because I wasn't a child of Akatosh, being the creation of something else, but it looked as if was going to take the dragon's soul.

Smaug burned up leaving only bones behind as his soul, lifeforce, spirit, whatever it was called, flowed into me. Soon I became overwhelmed by new knowledge and power.

I am Smaug, the greatest fire-breathing dragon in this world. I came to life in the Northern Wastes and took the skies as I pleased while lesser creatures were confined to the ground.

Time passed, I slept and I hunted for decades as I grew strong. I fought wars in the grey mountains against those who would invade my lands.

Orcs and dwarves tried to claim those mountains and they burned. They were vermin, fit only to cower from me.

The wealth of Erebor drew me south. The wealth in the mountain draws me to it. Men and dwarves flee before me as I arrived like a hurricane, destroying all between me and the treasure that is mine.

I burn some of the vermin as they flee, letting many of them go so that all we know what it is to fear me. This day would live long in their memories.

Once the vermin are gone I break open vaults and gather the treasure into one place. The hoard is such a beautiful sight and I will guard it.

It is mine I will not part with a single coin. The dwarves will come to claim what is mine one day, but for now, I rest in my new home.

It took some effort, but I was able to come back to myself as I heard Hermione calling out my name. I was Marek Dovahkiin, Vanquisher of Sauron, and the true Lord of the Rings.

Now I could add dragonslayer to my list of titles.

"Give me some time and I'll recover," I said to Hermione.

I was recovering fast. I could feel myself growing in power as what remained of Smaug's spirit became a part of me.

As for his bones. I would claim them and fashion myself a set of armour worthy of the Dragonborn. I will forge myself a new sword as well, one better suited to killing things other than orcs.

But first I was going to eat. Killing dragons makes you hungry.

"That went much better than expected," said Gandalf "You truly are a dragon slayer".

I'd told him about Dragonborn taking power from slain dragons so only he and Hermione weren't standing around in shock.

They could stare all they wanted I had dragon bones to secure and a meal to eat. After that, I was going to find somewhere to set up the tent so that I could fuck Hermione until her legs stopped working and her mind turned to jelly.

Part 30

Team Builder.

Part 30

Erebor. The Lonely Mountain.

Days had turned into weeks and then suddenly into more than a month rather rapidly, as we stayed as guests in the newly restored Dwarven kingdom of Erebor.

By my calculations, we'd been within the borders of Middle Earth for nearly a year. Much of that had been spent travelling, researching and learning from the elves who so generously shared their knowledge.

Gandalf had departed already, he and Bilbo only took what treasure they could carry with them as they returned to The Shire. It would have been far less if not for Hermione's ability to create what I called pouches of holding.

Before leaving, Mithrandir had gifted me with his old Ring of Power, Narya, which was now just a fancy-looking ring since it had lost its power, but I understood that he wanted me to have something to remember him by.

I might reuse some of the mithril when forging my own ring when we reached the next world. I would not forge my ring here in Middle Earth in case it interfered with the others as the One Ring had.

Before he'd left I'd forged another lesser ring of power for Bilo Baggins to give to Frodo should his nephew end up having his own adventure.

It was a ring that would enhance a Hobbit's natural ability to remain unseen. A mere trinket compared to the One Ring, however, it might come in useful one day.

As the men and women of Laketown had quickly migrated over to Dale and taken back what their ancestors had stolen from them, others had come to the mountain and Dwarves now secured it from the Iron Mountain as well as the siege weapons I'd provided just in case another dragon turned up.

Hermione had spent some of her time helping the local humans to settle in when not in the archives of the dwarves trying to copy out what information she could read.

The dwarves had recorded much of their history. Along with a lot of records about mining and smithing methods. Her hunger for knowledge could never be satisfied.

Amazingly, one of the first things she'd done after Smaug was slain was brew a hair-growing potion for Legolas whose lovely locks had been almost burnt off by the dragon.

Legolas seemed to be a bit like Samson in that without his long hair he lost his power, although in his case it was because he'd been depressed rather than his hair acting as the source of his power.

I'd spent much of my time forging what might be my single greatest creation, a set of dragon bone armour as would e worn by high-level Dragonborn in the Skyrim game.

The armour wasn't made totally from dragon bone so it was good that I had access to so much in the way of materials as well as a proper forge.

I'd used all my skills to make it and it was a powerful set of armour. Imbued with spirit it would endure for centuries, always be light in weight, and fit me perfectly.

Smaug had been so big that aside from the armour, I'd been able to make a shield, sword, mace and axe without even needing to break the skull apart, although I'd removed quite a few fangs.

The sheer quality and my new gear put my earlier efforts to shame. As an added bonus dragonbone offers more protection against magic than even enchanted steel.

No one cared that I used Smaug's remains, or they didn't care enough to comment, and the be fair to the dwarves, the dragon had killed a lot of their people before driving the dwarves from their home.

Hermione had a dragon's heartstring as the core of her wand so she couldn't exactly judge me for making use of dragon parts.

Gandalf might have been put off by the idea, but until he'd left he'd been busy acting the role of diplomat and hadn't spoken to me much. He'd worked to ensure that this mountain was secure.

I could tell that his mind was on the future, and how it needed to be prepared for. No doubt he saw Erebor as a mighty fortress in the war to come.

Despite having originally intended to make this set of armour in the next world it just made a lot more sense to do so here in Erebor where I had access to dwarven tools, forges and resources.

It just made more sense and I quickly learned dwarven methods of smithing, and I never commented on how similar they were to elven ones since dwarves are prideful about their crafts.

"Why are boys always so messy" Hermione commented as she entered the tent.

With my armour and weapons now forged, it was time to start packing everything away. My tools, what I'd created with those tools, and all the treasure we'd been given made up most of the mess.

We had a lot of chests lying around as Thorin had been very generous with our share of the treasure and since we might need to fund a war we'd let him share the wealth.

"If we weren't so messy you'd have less to nag us about and we'd one less reason to like having a girl around," I told the witch "Besides, you can clean up by waving your wand. I actually have to put effort into it keeping things tidy".

Hermione smirked at me.

"I can't argue with that," she said "And I suppose someone has to stop you from living like a dragon".

For some reason, my eyes had turned a purple colour after I took in Smaug's spirit and I felt different than before. Mostly I was stronger now, and Hermione thought I looked bigger, in terms of presence, not physical size.

More than that I felt like I really was the Dragonborn now, were as before it seemed more like I was just playing a role.

Due to taking in some part of Smaug, I'd gotten into the habit of having my treasure close to me. It was a good thing that no one other than Hermione ever touched my stuff or I might have ended up giving them a taste of Fus Ro Dah so as to express my displeasure.

Lucky for my hosts I didn't feel like claiming all of the treasure and while it was weird to be able to remember the taste of roasted dwarf I didn't dwell on it for the sake of my sanity.

I might have some of Morgoth in me, and that was not something I liked to think about even if it made me more powerful than before.

Holding my new love of hoarding treasure was easy enough when I reminded myself that I would other chances to acquire riches.

I hadn't acquired my own pocket dimension yet, but when I did it was going to be filled with a massive treasure and I'd forge some of those Princess Leia golden bikinis for my harem.

As I daydreamed, Hermione waved her wand and the small chests were each filled before they locked themselves. Then they each flew into larger containers that in turn moved into a chest the kind of which Mad-Eye Moody had been stored in.

"Did you finish setting up the plan for the next world?" I was asked.

This involved using the CYOA book to figure out how many points I'd get to spend when setting up in the next world and writing out my choices on some paper before I entered them in the book since there was no going back after that.

"Yes, Professor" I joked "I hope I get an Outstanding for my essay".

My witch smiled at me.

"Actually I was hoping you'd play the teacher and I could be the student who wants to bump up her grade" she teased.

We'd not gotten into roleplay despite having been together for a while. We really did get distracted.

World

ASOIAF

Danger Level 2

It might seem odd for me to choose to go to that world given all the options, however, I knew the setting very well, I knew the players in the Game of Thrones, and I wanted a Valyrian steel sword for my treasure horde.

Also, I might try capturing a few of the more attractive ladies so they could warm my bed. They'd be treasures of a different kind.

Derp

-1 Danger Level

Everyone here is a moron. The world is terrible only because of stupid and terrible people.

Keep the budget of a world but lower the danger level by 1.

"I'm hoping that will dumb down the book characters more to the level of the show characters" I mentioned.

To be fair the show characters weren't stupid per se, even if they were terrible people it was more that in the books you get a better understanding of their motivations and so it's easier to understand their actions even if they were morally wrong.

They had to keep things simpler in the show due to their having limited screen time and therefore fewer chances for a character's depths to be explored.

Polyamory

Cost: 1

Your teammates agree to share you. They will not fight one another due to jealousy or the need for attention.

"I don't like the idea of sharing you" stated Hermione "But, you're right about us needing a team".

She didn't have a choice in the matter and once I activated Polyamory she wouldn't care much about it. Mostly I just wanted to make sure that my harem would get along well enough to work together.

SELF-IMPROVEMENT

Safe Space

Cost: 5

A small can-sized idol that projects a barrier that prevents any hostile action done to you or your team in an area the size of a city block.

"You decided against the pocket dimension?" she asked.

I had my reasons. One of which was that I only had so many points to spend.

"With only three of us we can make do with the tent and the idol to keep us safe" I answered "We can always buy a house and I can upgrade it to modern standards".

WEAPONS

Stormbreaker

Cost: 7

A powerful aracano-tech hammer that grants godlike strength and control over lightning.

"Boys and their toys" commented Hermione "Don't you have enough weapons?".

Again I had good reasons for my choice.

"There's a dark lord in that world who can only be killed with a certain kind of weapon" I explained, knowing that she needed this information "Remember, I told you about the Night King. The hammer is for him in case dragon bone doesn't work".

Assuming that there even is a Night King. My hope was to get something close to the show version of Planetos, but I wasn't betting on it, so I wanted a weapon with divine power that could handle anything that reality could throw at me.

Granted I already had a lot of weapons. Aside from the basic armoury I had been gifted dwarven shields and weapons suited for use by humans by Thorin who knew that we intended to return to Hermione's homeland to liberate it from a dark lord.

MISCELLANEOUS

Privacy

Cost: 5

A lifetime subscription to our Privacy Program. No supernatural method of tracking or predicting your movements will work on you. Customer Satisfaction is Guaranteed!

MISCELLANEOUS

Soul Shield

Cost: 5

You and your team are protected from spiritual corruption and damage. It also includes attacks on the soul and life force.

MISCELLANEOUS

Causal Shield

Cost: 7

You and your team are immune to reality-altering effects as well as hostile action taken against you through altering the timeline.

"All those defences are needed," I said "They do have some powerful magic users in that world who can do some funky stuff".

Bran can mess with the timeline when he becomes the Three-Eyed Raven. That Red Woman might be able to find us with visions in the flames and there was bound to be magic stuff that I didn't know about.

SPECIALIST

Ciri

Cost: 7

"So you went with the girl who can teleport around really fast and cut armoured men in half," said Hermione "Is she really worth the expense?. She'll be stronger than you if the points spent mean anything".

Ciri being worth more than the Dragonborn did sting my pride because I was the Dragonborn. However, there were good reasons for picking Ciri. She was a very powerful woman and an experienced fighter.

I knew about her powers, and enough about her personality to know what could motivate her. She wanted to be a Witcher and there would be plenty of evil for us to fight in the future both human and not.

As for me. Once I forged my own Ring of Power I figured that it combined with my godly weapon and awesome armour would make her equal.

"Ciri can move people even further than a portkey and more easily," I said to Hermione "She can singlehandedly turn the tide of even the largest battles and we need a devoted warrior on our side. I'm too much of a jack of all trades to devote myself to becoming a full-time warrior and while you can kick ass with the best of us, in your heart you are more of an academic than a fighter".

Which wasn't a criticism. I needed someone to handle R .

"I can't help thinking that the pocket dimension would be a better investment" commented Miss Granger once she'd taken in my words "But that's just my opinion. I can see why you made these choices".

Between the wards and the idol, we'd be safe enough.

"If we get more missions I might be able to purchase one soon," I said "I left a point spare in case we need to purchase some medical supplies or some support staff".

Before we could discuss this further there was a knocking at the door to the room we'd set the tent up in. We went out of the tent and when I opened the door I found Thorin Oakenshild carrying a box.

"I heard you were leaving soon so I wanted to give you both something to help in your own quest," said the King Under The Mountain.

Of course, Hermione had to point out that he'd been more than generous already.

"It is not mere treasure I offer, Mistress Granger" explained Thorin as he came into the room and placed the box on a stone table "These are items to aid you and you did gift me with Orcist for my people's future".

While I'd wanted to keep the sword it wasn't going to be as useful elsewhere since it was made for fighting the orcs of this world. So I'd parted with it and presented it to Thorin with a warning about the dangers to come.

Letting it go had been hard, but I needed to be sensible and I could forge my won elven blade if I wished, one meant for foes other than orcs, and it helped that Thorin had lavished me with treasure.

The new king took out the mithril shirt that should be the possession of Bilbo Baggins. I hoped that Frodo never needed it. He presented it to my witch.

"Thank you, your majesty," said Hermione "But I have armour already".

She didn't understand what was being offered to her.

"Mistress Granger there is no armour like this in the whole world," said Thorin "This was forged for a prince of the elves. It is far too slender for a dwarf or a man, but perfect for one of your frame. It will protect you when you go to free your people".

I encouraged her to take the gift.

"That vest is of far higher quality than the one I made for you," I told her "Trust me you want that kind of protection".

She accepted the gift and the leader of Erebor took out his other gift. It was an ornate helmet of steel that was decorated with gold. It had a model of a dragon resting on top of it.

"This the Dragon-helm of Dor-lómin" said Thorin Oakenshield "Forged by the dwarves of the First Age and it somehow made its way to the vault of my grandfather long before I was born. No one has been able to unlock the magical properties of this ancient helm for centuries. Legend says it has the ability to protect the wearer from any harm or wound. I heard from Grandfather that only a dragon slayer could ever make true use of the helm and I don't intend to set eyes on another of those cursed creatures".

Legends tend to exaggerate such things, but there is always some truth behind them.

"I don't think there are words to describe the value of this gift," I said "So all I can do is say thank you, your Majesty".

Thorin didn't need to hear more.

"Use them well my friends," said the king as he left "I have other matters to attend to far less pleasant than handing out gifts".

I put the helm away with the intent of studying it later.

"Do you think we'll ever come back here?" asked Hermione.

I'd given this some thought already. Given the way, the CYOA worked it might be possible. It depended on the whim of the R.O.B. who funded our points and organised our missions.

"We can choose custom worlds so I suppose we could request to come to this world when the next Dark Lord begins trying to conquer Middle Earth" I mused "And it would be nice to see Elrond again. If we return in less than a century he might not have even noticed that we've left".

It would be interesting to see how things changed and how they didn't. Something to consider in the future when we were more ready for such a conflict.

For now, we needed to finish packing up and make our final preparations for our arrival in the next world.

ASOIAF 1

Team Builder.

Part 31

The Iron Bank. Braavos.

A common saying in some parts of this world about House Lannister is 'A Lannister always pays his debts' this means they will repay you any favours and also it can mean that they will get revenge for any slights against them.

There is also a common saying that the Iron Bank often uses to remind its clients who fail to repay their loans about how dangerous it is to cross them: 'The Iron Bank will have its due'.

This meant that if you didn't pay back your loans with money they would make you pay with blood. After all the Iron Bank could fund your enemies just as easily as it had funded you in the past.

This was something I would keep in mind when doing business with the Iron Bank. I might be the most powerful man in this entire world in terms of magic and might, but there were other kinds of power and I lacked political influence.

However, I was very unlikely to ever end up in debt with the bank due to my massive share of the treasure from Erebor and even if that was somehow lost I had other sources of wealth.

I still got paid enough by the CYOA to support a well-off lifestyle for the whole group. As an added bonus I'd not spent much of that money over the last year since I'd been hosted by the elves of Rivendell who hadn't charged me any rent.

Plus I also got lots of supplies from the CYOA and this cut down on my expenses. These supplies provided me with the raw materials I needed to work on my crafts and I could sell what I created to make even more money if I so desired.

The Iron Bank was founded long before the Doom of Valyria when Braavos was still a 'secret city' founded by escaped slaves that wished to remain hidden from the Valyrian Freehold.

It was formed by successful traders and artisans. The bank's name comes from the abandoned iron mine in which the bank's founders had placed all their funds when they were starting out.

From what I'd been told by the bank employee who'd shown us around just before taking us to the waiting area, the mine had a single entrance, which was sealed with several iron gates and it was protected by guards hired jointly by all the members.

Since then the Iron Bank has moved to new, grander quarters. Yet the mine is still employed as a depository and is visited due to it being a historical site of this city. Perhaps I would go check it out myself once we were settled in.

Upon arriving here in Braavos it had quickly become apparent to me that I needed to set myself up as quickly as possible as I had four missions rather than one as I had in Middle Earth.

The first was to ensure that I left a legacy behind when I left this world. Back in Middle Earth, I'd done this not by playing a major role in defeating Sauron, which you'd think would be enough.

I ensured my legacy by becoming the creator of the New Rings of Power and therefore ensuring that I would be remembered in that world for thousands of years even before I'd slain the dragon called Smaug and helped the dwarves reclaim Erebor.

Given my sheer wealth and power, I didn't think I'd have much trouble creating a legacy here. I just needed to spread my influence and have an impact on the timeline.

That would be easier to do once I got news of what was going on over in Westeros as that would help to pinpoint what point in history I'd arrived in.

The second mission which required me to uplift this world, at least the known parts of it I hoped, should itself be a legacy. I planned to be the father of this world's Renaissance era.

Braavos was well suited as a place to begin the uplift as it wasn't as primitive as Westeros, and it looked as if it didn't need much of a push to get fully into the next stage of advancement.

This city reminded me much of the Italian cities that would play a big role in transforming Europe from a collection of medieval-level societies into the modern world that I'd come from.

When looking for help with my plan I'd turned to the book that contained all human knowledge from my world to gain more information.

As such, I knew that The Italian Renaissance was a period in Italian history covering the 15th and 16th centuries and that if anyone place could be considered its origin that was Florence.

Much like in the Free Cities of this world the political power of Florence had rested primarily in the hands of the wealthy merchants rather than feudal lords. It was the wealth of that city which allowed for spending on the arts that began the Renaissance.

Braavos was a wealthy trade city that didn't make use of slavery so it had a workforce that didn't need to be oppressed with any sort of military might and they were industrious too if their shipbuilding capabilities were anything to go by.

In my view, this made it the perfect city to turn into the Florence of Planetos.

Another reason why I would stay in Braavos was that the city had people with enough free time and money to buy swords that they went around the city with while picking fights.

If they could waste resources like that then they must have money to spend on other endeavours such as the arts and I hoped that they would invest in new products.

I figured that once I started sharing knowledge that would make the merchants of this city even more wealthy they would embrace it if only due to their own greed.

It wouldn't be easy to bring about change, but this wasn't Westeros and I wasn't as if I had to deal with lords, slavers or Dothraki as long as I stayed in Braavos.

If Braavos began to advance my thinking was that the other Free Cities that depended upon trade would need to embrace the new methods in order to keep up their profits.

Given enough time this should affect Westeros too, and I had a few ideas about how to get the Seven Kingdoms to advance as well without spending too much time there.

I didn't wish to spend decades in this world trying to force it to change so it was good that the R.O.B. had not sent me to the Seven Kingdoms and then charged me with uplifting Westeros.

The true key to advancing this world would not merely involve introducing new technology. I needed to focus on funding art projects and on education.

Doing so would give me influence and I wanted to

others to try to match me. If they tried to undermine my efforts, well that was when Stormbreaker would come in handy.

My third mission was to look after an adopted daughter. If the words used in the CYOA were as I had interpreted them, it sounded as if the adoption wasn't optional and the reward was for being a good parent.

If a suitable girl to adopt didn't turn up via an act of R.O.B. I'd just go to a local orphan and pick up a brat since I didn't think the daughter needed to be a named character.

The fourth mission involved acquiring a list of items to be found in this world and collecting each would gain me a point to be spent. I figured I might need those points if I was going to carry out my plans.

As for my business at the bank, I was here to meet with Tycho Nestoris, who was a representative of the Iron Bank of Braavos.

I'd already heard he was a rational man, more interested in numbers than in words, reasoning that the former are less likely to deceive than the latter.

He sounded rather dull, to be honest. However, I only cared about his personality because learning about it would help me deal with the man it wasn't as if we were going to become friends.

I vaguely remembered him in the show, but nothing that gave me much information so I was glad that the bank employee had spoken so much.

It was important that I have a good working relationship with the Iron Bank if I was going to make any progress with an uplift. The bank would have connections and the influence required to greatly aid or hinder me.

I hoped that with my wealth that they would want to aid me if only to get their hands on more of my treasure. Storing a good portion of it in their vaults just made sense as you don't put all your eggs in one basket.

I'd made the appointment just this morning after we'd arrived in this city and thanks to me showing off some of my wealth I'd gotten an appointment this afternoon with Tycho Nestoris.

Only he was making us wait.

Hermione had simply cracked open one of the books that we had gotten while looking around the city when we were told we would have to wait and since then she hadn't spoken a single word.

Braavos being a wealthy city focused on trade had a few small bookstores that I knew Hermione would want to frequently visit during our stay in this world. No doubt I'd soon be glad of my vast wealth as books were very expensive in this world.

I might have to introduce the printing press just so she could have a proper library wherever it was we ended up calling home.

Meanwhile, Ciri, my new companion, worked on sharpening her dagger with a wet stone, something she could do as the guards hadn't taken our weapons from us. I found the rhythmic sound of her sharpening her blade quite relaxing.

So far I had been sitting out here, waiting for about a quarter of an hour. At this point, Tycho Nestoris was running the risk of losing my business just because he wanted to play some silly power game.

I knew that this would change soon enough. Before long people would come to see me and I would make them sit around waiting.

"Marek Dovahkiin, Tycho Nestoris will see you now," a bank employee said.

I got up to follow him into the nearby office.

"Wait for me here" I ordered the girls, speaking over my shoulder as I walked away "I'll call you inside when I need you,"

They both just shrugged and went back to what they were doing, as for me I was soon escorted into the room for the meeting.

"Welcome to the Iron Bank, Marek Dovahkinn," said

Tycho Nestoris as he stood from behind his desk with a polite look on his face "Forgive me for keeping you waiting for so long".

Motioning to one of the chairs he invited me to sit and as I moved I noted that this place looked exactly like a corporate drone's office from back home only much more primitive in design.

It was quite creepy how they how managed that soulless corporate feel, so well. The room was bare with nothing more than a desk and a few chairs.

Tycho the banker was in smart but average clothing the sort of thing that wouldn't stand out in most crowds.

Of course, he wasn't sorry for making me wait, bureaucrats such as him delight in making people waste their time, it's how they get their jollies.

"I believe you wanted to discuss opening a rather large account," Tycho said in a rather bored voice as I took the offered seat "Is this correct?".

Since I saw no point in pleasantries, I got right to the point.

"Recently I was part of a very successful treasure-hunting expedition" I explained, telling him as much of the truth as I felt comfortable sharing "Now that I have a sizeable fortune I need somewhere to store it and I need some help to set myself up here in Braavos".

I wished to become a Magister, a merchant prince, here in Braavos, the magisters participate in the election of the Sealord, and they can be considered the lords of Braavos. I would need that kind of influence to make the changes I desired.

Magisters tend to control some sort of trade although they aren't totally dependent upon trading only say spice, silk, or wine. Illyrio Mopatis a Magister in Pentos primarily deals in cheese, but if I recall correctly he also buys and sells all sorts of luxury goods.

"Perhaps the Iron Bank can be of aid," said Tycho "We do have contacts all over the city".

I'd suspected that given its influence that the bank did more than store treasure and give out loans. They must do if they sink so much money into Westeros.

"What sums of money are we dealing in?" I was asked.

I called for Ciri and Hermione. They brought in the small chests that were packed with dwarven-made coins as well as gems, bits of jewellery and so on.

"Transporting all my wealth will take time," I said "So I need the best security money can buy and as I mentioned before your help in setting things up so that I can stay here in Braavos".

I wanted to imply that more was on the way and I didn't want anyone to know the source of my wealth so it would be good if anyone too interested in it went looking for the treasure coming into the city when it was in fact already here.

My intention was for the bank to act as a sort of middleman. I hoped that by doing business through the bank that other powerful people and organisations would be discouraged from trying to rip me off as they would fear upsetting those who rank this powerful organisation.

"Are you looking for property within the city?" Tycho questioned, "Or outside of it?".

Braavos is a city-state so it also controls the lands around it and is supported by farms, quarries, logging camps and mines.

As such, I hoped to be able to purchase some decent land outside of the city that could be used to grow the pipeweed from the seeds I'd acquired in Bree last winter.

That was something to look into later when I had enough stock to get people interested.

"For now I'd like to acquire a manse within the city," I said "The sooner the better, and I'll pay more if it can be handled quickly".

I would soon find out just how fast the Iron Bank could move when it stood to profit. Once I had a suitable home I could start to focus on other matters.

ASOIAF 2

Team Builder.

Part 32

Manse. Braavos.

It truly is amazing what you can achieve when you have a lot of money to throw around. We'd been in Braavos for only three days, time spent exploring the city and getting to know Ciri, and now we had a new home to move into.

"How did you manage this so quickly?" I asked.

Tycho Nestoris had sent me a message early this morning, he knew what inn I'd been staying at, letting me know that a manse, a sort of fancy house/stronghold meant for the very rich, had just become available and that for a fee they could speed up the process, allowing me to move in right away.

When we'd met up I'd noticed that he was dressed in posher clothing than when at work and this made sense given the wealthy neighbourhood we were in. He was making an effort to look as if he belonged here.

I did find the ruffly thing around his neck to be amusing. I had no intention of wearing such a thing myself even if it would have helped me blend in better.

"The current occupiers of the property were guests of the recently deposed Sealord" the banker explained "Once they lost his patronage they could no longer afford to rent the property. The manse belongs to the Iron Bank and has done for years ever since the Magister who owned it last made some rather unfortunate investments.

The office of Sealord is not a hereditary one as it is for the Iron Throne or one of the noble houses of Westeros such as the Starks of Winterfell.

Instead, when the role is required to be filled one of Braavos's most prominent citizens is chosen to be Sealord by the city's magisters and some of the more powerful players, such as those who run the Iron Bank.

Once chosen, the Sealord serves for life, but some will try to cut that life short if it means a new Sealord will be chosen, one who they have influence over.

Given that the Ironborn Rebellion was supposed to have just started I couldn't help thinking that there was a connection between that rebellion and the recent need to select a new Sealord.

"Normally we'd wait until the current occupants have left the property, but you did make it clear that you wanted a suitable home as quickly as possible," said Tycho Nestoris as we passed through the front gates "The manse is partly furnished. It was fully furnished, however, the servants who were employed here until recently hadn't been paid so they helped themselves to some of the contents of the manse".

Not a problem for me as I had more than enough money to pay for the manse to be properly decorated. I might go a little overboard with my spending, but I could refill my coffers easily enough.

I didn't think Hermione or Ciri had a passion for interior decorating so I'd simply hire someone to decorate the place.

The manse had brick walls that were twelve feet high with iron spikes atop. There were three gates, the main gatehouse being the way in and out of the manse.

It was wide enough to allow a carriage through and in fact, we had a carriage that must have been the property of the former household. This entry would be for the family and important guests.

I was shown the second gate which was much smaller and to the side of the manse. I figured that it was meant to be a servant's entrance and the way in for less important guests.

The third gate was large as well, enough to let a wagon enter the grounds, and must be how food is delivered since that path led to the kitchens.

We had our supplies, thanks to the CYOA, but we would need food delivered to keep up appearances.

Perhaps we could donate food to the poor so that it wouldn't to waste.

I also thought about using my last point to buy maids to help keep the manse clean and orderly. That would give me no more points to spend, but there were a dozen items for me to collect that would each give me a point so I wouldn't be pointless for long.

The front door of the manse, the one to be used by members of the family and important visitors had been painted red, and it was decorated with carvings of animals.

For some reason, this rang a faint bell in my mind, but I couldn't recall why it was important. I would figure it out before too long I felt sure.

As we entered the main courtyard I saw that there was a fountain. The wealthy of this city could have water from the sweetwater river, which was actually an aqueduct, piped directly into their homes.

More proof, if any was needed at this point, that Braavos was the kind of place I needed to be to uplift the known world.

There was also a marble pool with a statue of a naked woman in the centre for some reason. It looked to be a tasteful nude so I decided to keep it. I would have guests in this garden, ones who were important to my plans, so it wouldn't do to offend anyone.

Trees were a rare sight in Braavos as all the islands within the lagoon were heavily built up. Only the wealthy could have gardens and I noticed that the trees here weren't well suited for the climate.

Braavos had foggy weather and cold winters so having a lemon tree here seemed really out of place even with the high walls to protect it. Apple trees would have been much more practical and would have provided fruit.

"Here we have the kitchens and the cellars," Tycho Nestoris said to me as we carried on with the tour "This manse can store a great deal of food, vital for the winter".

Winter lasted for years in this world and so stockpiling supplies was very important. Not it would affect the deliveries made by the CYOA. Winter in Rivendell certainly hadn't.

"Marek, you can't let them do this!" I heard Hermione shout.

She and Ciri had gone to check on the bedrooms. We all wanted our own space even if we were all willing to sleep together, or soon would in Ciri's case.

I was most interested in finding a room large enough to become my workshop. I had many ideas, I would need both the tools and the materials to produce them.

"Let them do what, my dear?" I asked.

Over the year we'd spent together, Hermione had become far more casual with me than she had when we'd first met, and that was fine most of the time, but I couldn't have her nagging me about things in front of VIPs.

This wasn't Rivendell, no Braavos was a much more dangerous place and to be accepted as a Magister I couldn't afford for people to think I wasn't in control of my household.

I would talk to her about that later and remind her that she wasn't my wife. She and Ciri had to play the role of my mistresses, and it was acceptable in Braavos to have mistresses openly.

In fact, this city had courtesans that married men would pay small fortunes to spend time with, and the courtesans were treated much like famous actresses were back in my world.

"You can't let them throw those poor children out" the witch explained.

That got my attention. I was willing to bet a sizable part of my fortune that they were the Targaryen children who must both be quite young at this point in the timeline.

When selecting this world I had hoped to meet her as an adult so I could make her my wife and hatch dragons with her, because who doesn't want a magical princess who can ride dragons on their team?

Alas the R.O.B. had chosen when and where I would arrive. I assumed it had something to do with the missions it had selected, or perhaps it just wanted to see me struggle to look after her.

"Ah yes, the former Sealord hosted the last of the Targaryen family" explained Tycho Nestoris "His successor has a different foreign policy when it comes to Westeros".

Yes, now I recalled Daenerys and her brother lived in Braavos for a time in a house with a red door. This was before they ended up wandering the Free Cities.

They would end up in the care of a Magister in Braavos who would arrange to marry Dany to the local version of a Mongol warlord. I figured that I'd be a better guardian for her.

"If you want to look after them then they can stay," I told Hermione.

My mission just requires me to be a good parent to a daughter I didn't have to be a great one and a good parent by the standards of this world was different than back home.

"Taking in the Targaryen children does come with risks" mentioned Tycho Nestoris once Hermione had raced off to go deal with the brats "But it could also be a profitable choice".

I wasn't worried about King Robert coming here to kill them at the head of an army as Robert didn't become concerned with Dany until after she married someone who could threaten the Seven Kingdoms.

Her brother was a different matter, but I didn't have to keep him. The mission only mentioned a daughter so her brother might not be an issue for long.

He could be useful to me if I took him as a ward rather than raise him as a son. For example, If I could marry Viserys to say Margary Tyrell or the Princess of Dorne, and combine their forces with a sellsword army funded by me, it would be possible to get him on the Iron Throne.

That plan would take years, a lot of sellswords, and some dragon eggs. It really depended on if I was going to be around long enough to carry out such a plan. I'd spent only a year in Middle Earth and while I'd likely be here longer the war of Five Kings was nearly a decade away if I had my timeline in order.

Actually holding the throne would be even more work as even if I invaded during the war of the Five Kings I could still end up facing half the armies of Westeros.

Something to consider further when we were settled in and it would be good to have several long terms plans that could help along the uplift.

Right now it was far more important that I set up a study/workshop so that I could soon begin my work.

Once I had some servants who could keep the house in order I would concern myself with the Targaryen children's short-term care.

As for my women, Hermione would be content with her books and research, and if she wanted to play big sister to the Targaryen children then she was welcome to do so.

Ciri would need something to help keep her occupied beyond teleporting me around. She was a fighter and had we ended up north of the Wall over in Westeros or ended up meeting a Dothraki Warband she'd be of more use to me.

Sure she'd make for a fine bodyguard and I could put her in charge of security, but she wanted to be a Witcher so she'd need monsters to fight. Lucky for her there were some monsters in this world that needed dealing with and not all of them were human.

Something had to be done about the White Walkers. That was also something to plan out later and discuss with Ciri.

"We'll take the manse," I said "I'd be grateful if you could send along someone who can handle decorating this place".

Braavos had many wealthy citizens and therefore there must be someone within the city who can handle that sort of thing.

"I'll make some enquiries for you" offered Tycho Nestoris "And I'll return tomorrow to discuss the terms of your loan".

Rather than buy the property outright I'd decided to make a hefty deposit and then take a loan from the bank to buy the manse from them.

This made sense as I was supposed to be a treasure hunter who got lucky and had wealth entering the city. Paying off the loan with treasure brought into Braavos fitted my role better.

With that, the banker let himself out and I wandered about until I found a room suited for me to serve as a study and workshop.

I'd need to set up the forge outside as you don't want to forge in an enclosed space and I'd need a roof to keep off the rain. That could be easily arranged.

"The courtyard will be great for sparing," Ciri told me as she came over "You will spar with me every day as you promised".

This version of the Lady of Space and Time wore an outfit that was apparently fashionable in Zerrikania unless I'd misunderstood her.

Hermione had given Ciri the fancy mithril shirt that Thorin had gifted her. This made sense since my witch was not a fighter and it did look good on my new woman.

"Yes, I will" I confirmed.

I had promised that while we'd been staying at the expensive inn when she had been complaining about no one in all of Braavos having a Gwent deck other than her. Something I would need to fix.

"We'll need to stay in shape if we're going to deal with the White Walkers," I said.

I had some ideas about making Witcher-style bombs that were packed with obsidian and then dropped on armies of wights from above. That was just one of my many plans.

"Dinner first" demanded the Witcheress "I'm starving".

I'd never met a woman who could eat like Ciri.

"Let me summon up some servants to help get this place in order," I said as I took out the CYOA book.

As I went to the right page and took in the information I realised that I would likely need guards and secretaries in the near future.

My home would be secure thanks to the magical idol I'd purchased, but the protection didn't cover the whole city and I couldn't keep us indoors all the time. Besides, I didn't know if the safe space it empowered would stop someone from stealing from me.

Concern about thieves was partly why I wasn't going to hire any locals as servants. They couldn't be trusted not to steal from me or not to share information with any business rivals that I made.

As for the secretaries, I didn't need them now, but soon I would require the services of people I could trust to oversee my business interests so that I didn't spend all my time micromanaging everything.

Maids

Cost: 1

A small army of maids for cooking, cleaning, and all other housekeeping needs including basic home maintenance. Sexual needs are also included.

Moments later I had more than enough staff to keep the manse in order as well as the grounds. They were dressed in sensible clothing for the climate and were all very attractive young women. Their style of dress and hair reminded me of Ayra when she was pretending to sell seafood around Braavos.

"Okay ladies," I said, "There's a manse to look after, gardens to tend to and meals to be cooked".

I didn't know if they were real people or magical constructs so I decided to let them get on with things. I could sort out pay later, important given the anti-slavery attitude here and I didn't want Hermione comparing them to House Elves and going all SJW on me.

They bowed called me sir and went to carry out their duties as any group of good little minions should.

"Marek, I'm not the kind of person who jumps into bed with someone I've just met" Ciri mentioned "But if I do end up getting along with one of them. Would you be upset if they ended up taking baths with me and keeping me warm at night?".

This version of Ciri must be bisexual. Hermione wasn't at all and so if I wanted threesomes then the Witchress was who I needed to look to.

"Not at all," I told her "I want you to be happy".

If only so she didn't bother me when she got bored. I had a lot to be getting on with.

ASOIAF 3

Team Builder.

Part 33

Manse. Braavos.

My plans for Viserys Targaryen ended before I even had a chance to sit the lad down and see if I could mould him into a king that would suit my needs.

He had been sullen during dinner last night, hardly doing more than grunting and Dany had barely spoken at all. So I'd decided to give them both some time to adjust to the change of circumstances.

Besides, I had a lot to be getting on with, there was a lot of unpacking to do and a workshop to set up as well as a forge to build in the back garden.

As such it wasn't until Hermione entered my study/workshop that I knew something had gone wrong. As soon as I saw her face I was able to guess that it involved Viserys or his sister.

I'd known her long enough to tell when she was mad about something and when she was worried about someone, and since I was fine I knew she must be worrying about someone else.

Given that Ciri could look after herself it seemed clear to me that it must involve the two Targaryen children in some way.

"Hermione, what's the matter?" I asked.

She took a deep breath before answering.

"Marek, I just found out that Viserys is gone," she told me "He must have left during the night".

I wasn't concerned about him because it didn't affect my missions here, and my security was meant to protect from harm not keep people from leaving. Hermione's wards would prevent it either.

"What about Daenerys?" I asked.

I could check the map to find out, but I felt sure that Hermione, who I noted was wearing simple Braavosi-style clothing, would have checked on the girl before reporting to me. She cared far more about the poor little girl than I did.

"He didn't even tell her that he was leaving" my witch reported.

I didn't know Viserys at all, but it seemed odd that he'd simply abandon her because sibling affection aside she was a Targaryen, as such her hand in marriage could be quite valuable.

My thinking had been that his mental health couldn't have been so bad when he was younger since he'd not been murdered. It seemed as if I'd been wrong about that. He was at least acting very foolishly.

"She didn't seem very upset" mentioned Hermione.

Perhaps he'd already started abusing her if only verbally. Not that it mattered now, I wouldn't let Viserys near her again if wasn't willing to even pretend to care.

"He's thirteen," I said "Practically an adult by local standards he's free to do as he pleases".

Hermione didn't argue about that, however, I could tell that she didn't agree with me.

"I'm not going to drag him back here," I told her "We have an entire world to worry about and a household to set up".

Hermione wasn't soothed.

"I'll find out what it takes to adopt Daenerys when I next speak to someone from the Iron Bank," I said to the worried woman "We can dye her hair and I'll pass her off as my daughter. She'll be safe here and we can discuss her getting an education once she feels more comfortable with us".

Hermione relaxed a little.

"From what you've told me about her she might be magical" she was now saying "When she's older I'd like to see what she can do".

Even if Daenerys wasn't able to wield a wand there was always the option of giving her spell tomes from Skyrim purchased from the Daedric Merchant or I might even be able to make some with the right equipment.

At the very least she should be able to brew some simple potions or learn some of the magic used by the elves that we had been taught.

Also, she was the key to hatching dragons I'd not forgotten about that and with my special map, it wouldn't be too hard to find some dragon eggs.

I'd rather hatch and raise them in my own pocket dimension so I would need to gather those collectables first. Having baby dragons in Braavos was just too risky.

"Make sure that Daenerys has a maid with her at all times," I ordered "Five year old aren't hard to distract, so they can keep her occupied".

At this stage of her life, the young Targaryen needed a lot of supervision and attention, something I couldn't supply right now, but I would find time to spend with her.

If nothing else I knew some awesome bedtime stories that no one in this world had ever heard before.

Thinking about it I should write some of them down and publish them.

Braavos being a more advanced city than was normal for this world meant that more people would be able to read. Books were expensive, but there were a lot of rich people around here so I would get some customers.

"Dear, is there something else bothering you?" I asked.

I could tell just by looking at her that there was something she wanted to tell, and I guessed that she was worried about how I'd react.

"Before he left Viserys stole some of your treasure," she told me.

I wasn't even surprised to hear that he'd been foolish enough to steal from me.

"It was a small chest, one he could carry out" Hermione explained "It was filled with dwarven-made cups and bowls. I was going to put them on display as part of your plan to take on the role of merchant prince".

Open displays of wealth were important so as to impress potential my allies, and the loss of any of my treasure irked me, yet I didn't get angry.

"He can keep the treasure as long as I get to keep Daenerys," I said.

It was better to wash my hands of the boy and focus my efforts elsewhere. Besides I had a feeling that he was going to be robbed and killed before long.

Sure the loss annoyed me, but it wasn't worth worrying about when I had so much else to be getting on with. I guess that I hadn't become too much like Smaug after all.

"Aren't you mad about your treasure?" asked Hermione "It isn't as if we can replace dwarven-made items. Well not unless we go back to Middle-Earth".

I could make my own treasure given the right materials and I had more money than I needed.

"If I want more wealth I have a map that will lead me to it," I said "Besides, I just don't want to deal with Viseyrs if I don't have to".

Perhaps I should get my property back, but I simply didn't feel motivated to do so.

"Sir, Tycho Nestoris is here to see you," said one of the maids as she entered the room, not bothering to knock since the door was wide open "He says he has urgent business with you".

I sure was seeing a lot of this guy.

"Go sort out Daenerys," I told Hermione "We'll go over the details later".

I then turned to the maid.

"Send him in" I commanded.

Before long the banker stepped into my still disorganised study/workshop.

"Good morning Mister Dovahkiin" greeted the local "I see that you are settling in".

Attempting to.

"Good morning, Mister Nestoris" I replied "I assume you are here to talk about the loan".

I gestured to a seat and sat down behind my desk. I didn't bother to offer him refreshment as he'd not done so for me and it was best to get on with things.

"Yes, I would like to discuss that" confirmed Tycho Nestoris "But first I wish to tell you that Viserys Targaryen came to the bank this morning and tried to open an account. Given that his House has lost its wealth, I was interested in where he acquired his funds".

Wow, that boy really was stupid. It took a special kind of fool to try to open up a bank account with stolen money when you're so well known.

"He didn't even try to deny it" Tycho Nestoris informed me, "He told me that he took the wealth and left you his sister in exchange. I enquired as to what value he placed on his sister and he admitted to never discussing it with you".

Given that the people of this city loathed slavery of any kind then it was no wonder Viserys hadn't gotten away with his crime. He'd basically traded his own sister for money. Since he did not even bother to get my agreement I was in the clear.

"The Targaryen boy has been arrested and will be charged with theft, fraud and slavery," said Tycho Nestoris "The last one carries the death sentence, but given his age, he'll most likely be exiled from the city".

I was surprised to hear that and the banker picked up on it.

"This isn't Westeros," he said "We don't kill children and we have no Wall to send them to".

Viserys fate wasn't my concern or Tycho Nestoris's for that matter. I could always back someone else when they made a claim for the throne and use them t make changes in Westeros if I needed to. The sellswords I planned gto hire wouldn't care who they fought for as long as they got paid.

"As for the wealth he stole that has been transferred to our vault for safe keeping" informed the banker "You can recover whenever you wish".

I would do so later. Right now I had important matters to discuss.

"If Viserys is executed or thrown out of the city, what becomes of his sister?" I asked.

I didn't want to be accused of some sort of kidnapping by keeping her here. I needed a good reputation here in Braavos for my plans to work out.

"Since he left her with you and Visyers is Daenery's only living relative then you can claim responsibility for her if you wish, or send her to the orphanage" I was informed, "The Iron Bank will not interfere and she has no family left to look after her, so there is nowhere to send her".

Well, that wasn't totally true. Her closest male relative of adult age would be Maester Ameon at the Wall. Only he was sworn to both the Citadel and the Night's Watch so he couldn't look after Daenerys. If she were a boy that might allow it as they do take in young boys, Mance Ryder being an example.

Jon Snow if he was her nephew happened to be the same age as her more or less so he couldn't look after her either. Even if Young Griff was a real Targaryen he was also still a child.

"She'll stay with me," I told the man from the bank "I'll adopt her as my daughter and she will become a member of the Dovahkiin family. I hope the bank will keep that to themselves".

There was no point telling him that I would kick her out because he'd notice rather soon that I suddenly had a daughter who was the same age as the Targaryen girl.

I planned to have her hair dyed black to better match mine and we had the same eyes already, but this wouldn't have fooled Nestoris.

"The Iron Bank didn't get where it is today by being indiscreet," my visitor said.

It was time to move to another bit of business.

"Mr Nestoris have you ever heard of a patent office?" I asked.

The banker clearly hadn't.

"I'm not familiar with that term", he admitted "I assume it has something to do with governance".

This would take some explaining.

"It's something we have in my homeland," I told the banker "The idea is that if someone invents something, such as a new game, or perhaps writes a play they can patent it so as to prevent others from profiting from their ideas without either purchasing the intellectual property or renting it".

Nestoris had a sharp mind so he caught on fast.

"I know that the playwrights have contracts with the different acting tropes," he said "But those deals could be more secure and you could claim anything you create as intellectual property, even a recipe for lemon cakes".

That was the idea and I knew that in my world the process was more complex than I was envisioning, but it could be kept simpler here in Braavos.

"The right to use a playwright's work could be borrowed by an acting trope in exchange for a portion of the profits made when the play is performed" I was now saying "And the fees would go through the patent office. The office would collect a small amount of the profits".

If the Iron Bank funded the office some of that money would go to them.

"You could patent stories, new designs for ships and swords, song lyrics, recipes anything that a person creates," I said.

I could tell that the banker was interested.

"People who can't afford to see their ideas brought to life could sell them to people who have the money to do so," I added "And the Iron Bank could profit".

Nestoris was now deep in thought.

"We'd never be able to prevent the minstrels from playing certain songs, and stories have a way of being spread about," he said "But if this patent office was back by the Iron Bank and the Magisters it could work. I'll mention it when I next speak to the keyholders".

Keyholders are officials of the Iron Bank of Braavos. They hold the keys that open up the vault that used to be an iron mine. Like the Magisters they are the true power in this city.

"I don't have the influence required to set one up myself" I stated "My interest is in patenting ideas from my homeland so that the wealthy of this city can introduce new products to their trading partners".

The office would need to be a government one in order to have any authority.

"I would be willing to help fund its foundation" I mentioned

Nestoris moved the subject on to that of the loan I'd taken. Interest rates and a schedule for payments had to be decided upon. Only then I could start work on my many projects.

ASOIAF 4

Team Builder.

Part 34

Dragonstone. The Narrow Sea.

Before the Doom, the island of Dragonstone was the westernmost outpost of the Valyrian Freehold, the dragonlords' empire in Essos, which dominated most of the known world much as the Roman Empire had once done in my world.

Much like the Roman Empire, the Valyrian Freehold fell and plunged the world into a dark age that lasted for centuries. A simplistic view of history to be sure, but exactly incorrect.

As for Dragonstone, it was home to a unique castle built by the Targaryens before they fled the Doom of Valyeria. If not for one of their own having dreams of the Freehold's end, the Targaryens would have died with the rest of the dragonlords.

The island was not claimed by the dragonlords of old because it had any mineral wealth to exploit, the only thing you could mine here was dragonglass, or even for its strategic position, rather it was used for trade with Westeros if the books I'd read about the island were to be trusted.

After the Doom, this island and the castle became the refuge of the last of the dragonlords, House Targaryen and from here Aegon the Conquerer launched his invasion of Westeros and united the Seven Kingdoms under his leadership.

It could have been the start of the greatest empire this world would ever know. Alas for the Targaryen dynasty, it was plagued with infighting and insanity.

With the loss of their dragons, the dynasty began its slow end. It didn't actually fail until Robert's Rebellion, but it had been dying since the Dance of the Dragons.

Once Aegon had united six of the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros under his banner (Dorne was never conquered it joined later under its own terms) Dragonstone became the seat of the crown prince due to its importance in the survival of the Targaryens after the Doom.

The Lord of Dragonstone had dominion not only over the island but also over the surrounding lands, which he would have to manage, a way to practice rulership before the crown prince took the Iron Throne.

Prior to the Sack of King's Landing by Tywin Lannister, and following the Battle of the Trident, Queen Rhaella Targaryen and Prince Viserys Targaryen were sent to Dragonstone for their protection.

Queen Rhaella perished here, during a stormy night while giving birth to Daenerys Targaryen who had recently become my adopted daughter.

Currently, it was held for King Robert Baratheon by his younger brother, Lord Stannis Baratheon, rather than be the seat of the Crown Prince.

Since the Ironborn were rebellion Stannis was far from here and his household was in Kingslanding. This meant the castle was practically empty, meaning that was a good time to come visit.

The castle contains the Chamber of the Painted Table, and that Painted Table was one of the collectables I needed to claim for an extra point, but that could wait until I'd finished forging the Ring of Power that would help me reshape the course of fate for this world.

I'd considered making three Rings of Power, one for myself, one for Hermione and the last for Ciri, but I'd decided against doing so.

Ciri was already very powerful, potentially more so than myself, and she didn't care much for the power she already had. Hermione wasn't interested in obtaining more power as she cared more about acquiring knowledge.

As for Daenerys, giving even a lesser ring of power to a five-year-old was just asking for trouble. When she was older and Hermione felt confident that Danny had enough control over her powers then I would offer her a lesser ring.

So I was making a single ring this time and I was doing it here on this island for a few good reasons.

The entire island and the castle I'd secured part of with Hermione's help, were connected to dragons. Granted the dragons of this world were not like the dragons of Skyrim, but from what I understood about magic, symbolism is important.

As such, here I was on Dragonstone, a volcanic island, deep within a castle that had been home to dragons, forging a Ring of Power for myself, the Dragonborn.

While I worked I poured just a little of what it meant to be a Dragonborn into the new Ring of Power as I didn't want to make something that would end me if it was destroyed.

To be a Dragonborn is to be a mortal blessed with the Blood and soul of a dragon by Akatosh, the Father of Dragons and chief of the Divines. Like a dragon, the Dovahkiin is a fragment of Akatosh's soul and thus can be considered angelic in nature.

Those with the blessing have an extraordinary aptitude in the use of the thu'um, being able to absorb the knowledge of Shouts directly from the souls of slain dragons

For me, things were a bit different. I had no connection to Akatosh as far as I knew since I'd been created by something else, and I'd not felt like a proper Dragonborn until I took in Smaug's soul.

Now I understood it all much better, the need to dominate to prove myself superior. I was meant to rule, to shape history, it was my purpose.

Other Dragonborn had built empires and become legendary heroes, and perhaps in Middle Earth I would be remembered as a legendary hero.

I knew that Reman Cyrodiil and Tiber Septim both founded their own dynasties that contained many emperors. Some of them had been good and some had been mad. Not unlike many of the Targaryens.

Like Miraak, the first Dragonborn, I had chosen a different path than becoming a great hero or conqueror when I arrived in this world.

Yet I would still decide the fate of this world and shape its history to my one liking. That was real power, the power of the Dragonborn.

Since I was still somewhat mortal I didn't want to forge my One Ring inside a volcano, just being this close to one, was fine with me. I had no desire to pass out due to the heat and fumes.

The Ring of Power was made of ebony with some gold to help make it more malleable during the forging. Rather than engrave it with elvish writing and embed it with a gem, I'd gone for a simpler design, much like when Sauron had made the One Ring.

I'd used ebony and gold because ebony was supposed to be the blood of a god, and it came from volcanic regions, and this mattered since I was trying to tap into the power of this place as I forged the ring.

Gold was less important. I used it to symbolise the treasure I'd claimed and would claim. Not that all the treasure I wanted was made of gold, as there were other things of value I desired, items and people to claim as my own.

This band had the three words that made up the title of Dovahkinn engraved on it in the Dovah language which would just look like claw marks to others. I'd filled in those marks with mithril that shone as I put the completed Ring of Power upon my finger.

Once the Dragon Ring of Power, which was a part of myself, become fully connected I could feel myself becoming mightier. I'd not just filled the ring with my own spirit I'd drawn upon the magic left here.

Dragonstone was not without its own power, it was the last ember of lost Valyeria and I'd taken some of that fire as I'd forged the Dragon Ring of Power.

Unfortunately, power always came at a price, and while it wasn't going to be me who paid that price, this world still demanded it.

The volcano was going to erupt as Mount Doom had when I'd destroyed Sauron's sort of Horcrux. Dragonstone would soon be destroyed. I felt this as soon as I put on the ring and the world seemed to shake.

Thankfully the mountain didn't go off right away. It took time for the pressure to build, and the quakes were a warning of the disaster to come.

This was different than when the One Ring was destroyed because that ended Sauron and he was heavily connected to Mordor. He'd used the ring's power to build his fortress and to increase his hold over all of Mordor.

There was a crack as Hermione teleported herself into the area I'd been using as a forge. She'd put up all the wards required to keep this place hidden from Stannis's servants and as such they didn't hinder her.

"What did you do?" she asked as I packed away my tools.

If she'd been my wife I would have found myself sleeping on the couch tonight. Lucky for me I had my own bedroom and I had other women to sleep with if the mood took me.

"Hermione, I have destabilised the island" I admitted, trying to make it sound like it wasn't a big deal.

To be fair, it wasn't as if I'd meant to do it and thankfully the island wasn't heavily inhabited, in fact, it was practically deserted due to the ongoing Ironborn Rebellion having called Stannis and his Household away.

"The volcano is going to erupt as it did in Mordor, just less dramatically," I said "It might take a few hours, but we should grab the Painted Table and leave".

Braavos wasn't too far from Dragonstone in terms of Portkey travel and since she could turn anything into a portkey she might as well cast the spell on the table and take it home. Then I could figure out how to get the one point for a single collectable.

"No, first we need to save the books" insisted my witch.

She'd gone to the castle's library to investigate it while I was busy forging.

"Marek, I need your expanded bag" she insisted.

Knowing better than to argue with Hermione when she was on a mission I just went along with her plan. She teleported us to the library and used the Pack spell to empty it of books that soon went flying into one of my pouches of holding.

"I can make copies later," she said "Oh maybe we could open up a public library!".

That idea had not crossed my mind, but I certainly could afford to fund one and there were spells that allowed books to be copied.

Back in the Wizarding World, there were spells placed on books to prevent that so you had to go buy copies, but Hermione would never try to limit the sharing of knowledge.

"If we can afford a suitable building and you want to run a library I will fund it" I promised.

Aside from making my witch happy, it would be a good way to spread knowledge and help this world advance.

"We'll talk about it later," I said.

Having scouted out the castle earlier with scrying meant that Hermione could take us directly to the room with the Painted Table in it. When we arrived it became clear that the island was being evacuated.

People were yelling at each other, voices called out to grab what could be carried and to get moving down to the docks.

"I hope everyone gets out of here" Hermione commented.

In my opinion, if you were willing to live next to a volcano then you knew the risks and should have an escape plan ready, or better yet don't live near a volcano.

"Stannis took his family to Kingslanding before sailing to the Iron Islands, and he took most of his men with him for the war," I told Hermione "Everyone who isn't a noble makes a living fishing, so they have boats".

I'd checked the map, so I knew that this island wasn't far from the coast. Besides, I didn't care much for the fates of strangers. I couldn't afford to when I had a whole world to focus on.

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When I touched the table it vanished and while I didn't have time to open up the CYOA book, as Hermione had moments ago filled the expanded bag with books, I could check it later to see if I'd gotten a point.

Rather than remark on this, Miss Granger tapped a chair with her wand. We didn't have time to talk about the strange thing that just happened.

"Portus"

It was now a Portkey.

"Grab the chair" Hermione instructed.

I did so and one uncomfortable magical transportation later we landed in the garden of my manse in Braavos.

"Next time you forge a Ring of Power, please don't do it near a volcano" Hermione chastised "Or at least make sure it's an uninhabited volcanic island".

While I shouldn't tolerate her speaking to me like that there was no point in having companions if you didn't listen to them. That was one of the differences between a leader and a tyrant.

Besides, she was right to be upset. What if Dragonstone had been our home?

It didn't matter, it was done, I could only promise to be more careful next time, something I did verbally.

"There you are," said Ciri as we entered the house "Danny just woke up from a bad dream about a shaking castle and I've had this oddest feeling that something went wrong".

That got my attention. Danny was having dragon dreams. These involve seeing the future or at least something important going on in the present. It was a rare trait of the Targaryens.

Some of those with the dragon blood in the Elder Scrolls verse had such dreams. I'd not had any yet, but that could change.

"You felt something?" I asked, "Was it just a feeling or did you really sense something?".

Ciri confirmed that she'd felt something for sure. If she had then others sensitive to mystical energies might also have sensed that something had changed in the world.

Since I had protections against magical ways of finding people, they would prevent people from detecting that I was the Ringmaker as the Dragon Ring was a part of myself now it was finished.

"I didn't sense anything, but I've never been sensitive to magic," said Hermione "I definitely felt the ground move".

Ciri looked perplexed.

"What did you do?" she asked.

This was going to take some explaining and that was best done with a drink in our hands.

ASOIAF 5

Team Builder.

Part 35

While the man who forged the Dragon Ring of Power remained hidden from those with a connection to the mystical as did the Dragon Ring itself once it was worn by its master, the forging of the Dragon Ring was noticed by those with the ability to see beyond the merely physical.

The forging of the Dragon Ring had done more than cause a volcano to erupt it had sent out shockwaves felt by those who were sensitive to such things, and it altered the course of history for an entire world.

Daenerys Targaryen dreamt of disasters and at the Wall, an old man dreamed of dragons hatching in a far-off land. Children in Winterfell howled in their sleep and wargs living north of the Wall felt their abilities grow stronger.

Magic had never left this world as the Maesters of the Citadel claimed, it was simply that Doom of Valyeria had shifted the balance between the seasons so that winter began to grow stronger than it should.

This caused the Walkers in the lands beyond the Wall to waken and once again threaten the living. As cold magics grew the dead began to rise for the first time in thousands of years.

For now, not many wights could be raised and driven by the Walkers, but their numbers were always growing as men and beasts crossed their paths, only to die and join the ranks of the dead.

The Doom of Valyeria had weakened the magic of fire and blood so that over time the dragons weakened as well. Until they left the known world and began to slip into legend as the Children of the Forest had done.

Soon dragons would return, and the magic of fire, blood, shadows and earth would rise, even as the magic of cold and death grew ever stronger.

The seasons attempted to be balanced, a long summer would pass before the second Long Night began and should the Long Night come then in that darkness the fate of the world would be decided.

When the Ring of Power was forged and the island of Dragonstone was lost the balance shifted. Before long a bloodred comet was seen in the sky all across the world. Few knew what its appearance meant, even if many understood its importance.

Magic had never left, but it was becoming a stronger force in the world.

In the far east, the Warlocks of Qarth drank their shade of the evening and experienced visions more vivid than ever before. They grew stronger and would in a matter of years move to take Qarth for themselves.

Across parts of Essos, the priests that served the so-called Lord of Light looked into the flames and saw more clearly than ever before.

They saw fire and ash claim Dragonstone as their own powers grew. They didn't know what to make of it, yet they believed it to be the work of their god and a warning of the changes to come.

In one temple a woman known as Melisandre of Asshai looked into the flames and tried to make sense of what she saw as she stared at the fire.

She had felt the shift more clearly than the others of her order and she tried to make sense of what she saw the woman started to believe that it was a sign from her lord that the Prince Who Was Promised had arrived as was foretold in the ancient scrolls.

She had to seek out Azor Ahai and prepare him for his destiny, to protect and guide him, for if she had seen this vision then darker forces would also have been alerted. She would travel to the Sunset Kingdoms and seek out the Prince Who Was Promised.

Over in Westeros, in the city of Oldtown, within the walls of the Citadel, a young acolyte on the verge of becoming a true Maester sat in a dark room failing to light a candle made from obsidian.

To begin with, he had like a thousand men before him, failed to get so much as a spark or whiff of smoke.

Only this time as the night dragged on the candle was lit and the man in grey robes began to see such things as wonderous as they were terrifying.

He saw a mountain of fire erupt, he saw dead men walking, and dragons in the sky. He watched as the world began to change. Old orders were swept away and a new age began.

When he reported what he saw to the Archmasters he was silenced by his superiors, sworn never to speak of what he saw, and sent to work in a remote keep. If his father hadn't been so important the young man would have been killed to make sure he never told anyone of what he saw.

Marwyn was the only Archmaester to be pleased by this news and his glass candles could now be lit. Soon he would be able to see into distant lands, spy on dreams, and learn of events yet to pass.

The Archmaester wished to seek out the source of the coming changes so as to advance his own knowledge. Alas, he had no idea where to look.

In the lands of endless winter, a man stuck in a tree struggled to find the source of the shift in the balance. He'd never been able to see events so easily yet he could not find the source of the shift.

All he had been able to find out for sure was that something world-changing had happened on the island of Dragonstone. A place connected to his own history, but he didn't think that mattered.

The Children of the Forest who attended him were not

as concerned about the shift as the Greenseer. They were feeling stronger than they had done in centuries and they liked this, so while curious they were not worried about the changes.

Not so far away in a palace made of ice, the Night King, the leader of the White Walkers and the army of the dead, felt something he had not felt in thousands of years.

He was afraid, there was something out there in the world he wished to claim for his own, something that could threaten him as Azor Ahai had done so long ago when the Wall had yet to be built.

He had thought the world of men too weak to resist him, he had thought that he would in a matter of years be able to march south and finish what he began so long ago.

By this time, the Watchers on the Wall meant to safeguard the living were diminished, the Children of the Forest were fading away, and the realms of men had forgotten them. Even the dragons had died.

The Night King had been wrong. There was a threat out there, and he had to prepare to meet it. He would not change his plans much, he would gather his might, build his army and when the Long Night came he would seek out this new Azor Ahai.

All across the world those attuned to magic sense and saw the world change. They believed it did so for different reasons and the only thing any of them had gotten right was that the world was going to change.

Someone out there was going to make it change.

ASOIAF 6

Author Note

If I don't reply to your comments it's because I don't care enough to bother. I just write for fun and if you don't like what I write or the setting then go read something else.

Team Builder.

Part 36

Manse. Braavos.

My study/workshop here in the Manse had quickly become a mess of tools, papers, blueprints books, ink pots, quills, pens, and half-drunk bottles of some rather good wine.

The only reason I didn't have dirty plates and bowls lying around was that the maids I'd gotten via the CYOA kept coming in to clean up. They'd turned out to be worth the investment.

There were also a number of unfinished projects taking up space such as the chessboard I'd made and hadn't finished carving pieces for.

I'd not finished because no one other than me played the game, Hermione didn't like chess, and I intended to patent the game once the Iron Bank had set up the Patent Office so there was no point finishing it yet.

That was not something which would happen soon even with me having offered to help fund the new office and having patents to file. Not that I was in any rush as I had other plans and concerns to focus on.

What mattered right now was the blackboard I'd set up that had the names of twelve special items on it that I needed to steal so as to get a lot more points, or rather eleven items as I'd already acquired one.

I wanted those items as I greatly desired those points so that I would have a pocket dimension as a safe place to raise dragons.

The hard part was obtaining these items as they weren't stuff you could just go out and buy.

12 Collectables

The Painted Table

"You got that already," remarked Hermione

That one had been easy to obtain since all I'd needed to do was touch it and no one was going to notice it was gone because the castle called Dragonstone didn't exist anymore. If it hadn't been outright destroyed then anything left was covered in molten rock and ash.

This annoyed me because the island was too dangerous to visit again and it was the primary source of obsidian in the known world.

Obsidian, or dragon glass as it was also known, could be used to destroy Walkers and wights, or just Walkers depending on the rules governing that in this universe. Either way, I would have liked a large supply of the material.

"Yes," I said "And I spent the point on our new guards".

Highlander Band

Cost: 1

A small, loyal clan of immortal warrior women. Infertile and only as strong as any 'normal' fit human they have literal centuries of skills and experience behind them.

There were more than enough of them to serve as guards and while their equipment was basic I could make them better stuff once I devoted some time to working at my forge.

Given the name of the band, it seemed safe to assume that they could only be killed by removing their head, something to be concerned about should they take part in a battle. Although destroying them with Wild Fire might also do the trick since I doubted they could regenerate from ashes.

I didn't really want my own army as that would cause trouble with the Magisters and Keyholders of Braavos who would feel threatened, but having guards was a very good idea.

Braavos was more accepting of having women in traditionally male roles than anywhere in Westeros other than perhaps Dorne, and while having female guards was odd, I'd not gotten any complaints so far.

Perhaps my neighbours thought it was acceptable because I was a foreigner with so much money that I could afford to be weird.

The Seastone Chair

"What's the Seastone Chair?" asked Ciri.

I hadn't known myself, hence why I had so much research material lying around. The local booksellers were making a fortune from me. Lucky for them I knew that books sometimes have more value than gold, and I had a lot of gold.

"It's the throne of the Lord-Paramount of the Iron Islands," I told her "The same Lord-Paramount who is currently rebelling against the crown so we might need to go and claim the chair soon in case King Robert decides to smash it".

According to my research, the Seastone Chair is made of a block of oily black stone carved into the shape of a Kraken. Legend says it was found on the shores of Old Wyk by First Men when they came to the Iron Islands.

In his book, of which I owned a copy, Archmaester Haereg pondered that the chair was created by a people who inhabited the isles before the First Men arrived and Maester Kirth speculated in Songs the Drowned Men Sing that the chair was left behind by a people from across the Sunset Sea.

I wouldn't mind going and finding out if there wasn't anything across the Sunset Sea. However, I had other concerns and knowing this world as I doubted that there was anything pleasant to find there.

Maester Theron suggested in Strange Stone that the chair was the work of so-called Deep Ones. Reading that led me to try to learn more about the Deep One just in case it was there's and stealing it upset them.

The only reference I'd found so far was that they were a "queer, misshapen race of half-men sired by creatures of the salt seas upon human women", according to Maester Yandel.

I was getting a Lovecraftian vibe from this, but it wasn't going to stop me from stealing the fancy chair, as it wasn't as if it would be in my possession and if there were Deep Ones I didn't think they cared for human affairs since no one ever saw them, or at least no one lived to tell the tale.

Crown of Rhaella Targaryen

"That's in my vault being guarded by the Iron Bank," I told my companions "It's the crown that belonged to Danny's mother. It's one of the few treasures that the Targaryans still have".

Viserys had tried to open an account with the treasure he'd stolen from me and his mother's crown as it turned out. The Iron Bank either didn't know or care, that it wasn't stolen property and had placed it in their vaults with everything else.

"Shouldn't you give it to Danny?" questioned Hermione.

Well, I didn't need all of the points and I wouldn't get my point for being a good parent if she found out I'd given away the only thing she had that belong to her mother.

"When she's older," I said, "If starts wearing it now it might tip off someone who wouldn't mind killing a child to gain King Robert's favour and children don't tend to be careful about such things".

Heartsbane

"That's a Valyrian steel sword belonging to House Tarly over in the Reach" I explained while showing Horn Hill on a map of the area I'd purchased recently "I don't mind stealing from him as he's a jerk".

I told my girls about Samwell Tarly and how his father had sent him to die at the Wall rather than send the boy to the Maesters or let him become a priest. There was no doubt in my mind that Lord Tarly sent Samwell to the Wall to die.

"Anyone who does that to their own child needs to be punished," remarked Ciri.

Hermione didn't seem bothered by my planned theft of a family heirloom.

Red Rain

"Red Rain is another Valyrian steel sword, this one belongs to House Drumm," I said "House Drumm are Ironborn raiders, the people who are currently raping, raiding and burning parts of Westeros".

I wondered why the list had two Valyrian steel swords on it. Are they meant to provide the CYOA with some Valyrian swords in case someone playing the CYOA asked for them as custom gear? Or was the list just a random collection of items selected by the R.O.B.?

Not that it mattered since it didn't make a difference to me. I just wanted the points.

An Iron Coin of the Faceless Men

"I'm going to need to visit their temple and try to make a deal" I reasoned.

There were a few assholes I wanted to be murdered so I might well find out if they were willing to trade one of their special coins while I was there. I had no desire to steal from them.

"What are iron coins?" asked Hermione.

Ciri seemed less interested in the details and had her attention on the contents of my wine bottles. The Daedra Merchant had somehow gotten his claws on someone's wine cellar and seemed happy to sell the contents.

"I don't know for sure" I admitted "But when Arya Stark had one she was given free passage to Braavos just by showing it to a ship's captain".

Since I didn't intend to use the coin I wasn't too concerned about what it did.

A Dragon Horn

"The only place we might find one of those is Valyria," I told the two women "They were used to control dragons from what I understand, but you didn't need one to tame a dragon from what I understand".

Venturing to the Doom was going to be risky, however, with our combined powers it could be done. Perhaps I could create some sort of hazmat gear to work alongside magical protection?

It depended on how bad conditions actually were there. If it's just a matter of foul air then we could handle it. If the land was cursed then we might better off simply avoiding the place.

Melisandre's ruby

"Isn't she one of the people you warned us to avoid?" questioned Hermione.

And I'd warned them both for good reasons.

"She's a witch and not a good one," I said "She has the ability to do some evil stuff with shadows and fire. She's also known for burning people alive, even children and she messes about with Blood Magic".

Okay so she hadn't burned Stannis's daughter yet, but she'd be willing to, and I wouldn't be shocked to learn that she'd murdered other children that way.

"She's no different than The Crones by the sounds of things" Ciri commented.

I knew who she meant, but Hermione didn't, so I decided to fill her in.

"The Crones are three creatures who are basically every story you ever heard of evil witches brought to life," I told Hermione "They lure children with sweets, put curses on people, and cook humans in pots.

Melisandre isn't on that level of evil, still, we should take her out and save a few lives and acquire the ruby which disguises her true appearance".

Not to mention I wanted to avoid having shadow baby assassins sent after me. I didn't know how one of those was aimed at a person so didn't know if I was protected against them.

A glass candle

"Easy enough," I said "There are a few at the Citadel and we should go there soon anyway. I want to steal their books on magic and maybe met that one Archmaester who studies magic".

I wasn't just a craftsman and warrior, I studied magic as well and needed to advance my understanding of the magical arts.

One of my ideas that I'd hopefully get around to looking more into was to travel north of the Wall and find myself a Warg to learn from. That wasn't high up on my list of things to sort out.

The Iron Throne

"That's the seat of the King of Westeros," said Hermione "Stealing that could cause all sorts of problems".

I'd thought about that.

"People fight and die to claim that silly thing," I said "Maybe Westeros would be a better place without it".

I had plans to sneak into the Red Keep at night and take it. They could always make a new throne.

"If its loss upsets Danny when she's older and I tell her about then I'll make a throne of gold" I decided.

A Dragon Egg

There were more of them than I'd imagined. The three that end up being hatched by Danny are currently in the Sealord's palace rather than in Pentos. It seemed odd that the Sealord would trade them even if the price was right, yet he must do it.

I'd read a story in which a noble house of Westeros ended up with a dragon's egg because Aegon the Unworthy gifted one to them and there were a few scattered about Westeros.

A golden skull

"According to my research, Golden skulls are the gold-dipped skulls of the deceased captains-general of the Golden Company sellsword company," I said, "The tent of the current captain-general is supposed to be surrounded by a ring of pikes topped with these gilded skulls".

Neither Ciri nor Hermione liked the sound of that even if they didn't argue against me stealing one. I thought it would awesome to have the gilded skulls of my enemies as trophies. When I mentioned this I got some worried looks. Women are so strange.

"So which are we going after first?" wondered Ciri.

I'd already decided.

"The Seastone Chair," I said "Robert doesn't deal with the Ironborn harshly enough so they end up rebelling again in a decade. Taking their throne, their treasure, and their library should send them a message".

They were pirates by profession and listed their hobbies as raping, raiding and enslaving, no one would miss them. They were no better than orcs.

"I'm not going to try to talk you out of it, but I want to sit this one out," said Hermione "Besides, we shouldn't leave your ward alone".

That was fine. I would have Ciri with me and some immortal warriors

"Someone should stay here with Danny and look after the house" I agreed.

She was better off babysitting and doing some more research into the magic of this world. She could leave the messy stuff to me and Ciri.

ASOIAF 7

Team Builder.

Part 37

Pyke. The Iron Islands.

While I'd intended to come here soon so as to deal with the Greyjoys and acquire the Seastone Chair as part of my Collectables mission, I'd not been in any rush and I had other things to be getting on with.

That had changed when my scrying let me know that the forces under the command of King Robert were now deployed on the island of Pyke so as to end the rebellion by taking the seat of the local Lord Paramount.

This meant I had to act now or run the risk of the Seastone Chair being smashed by an irate King Robert, and me never gaining the priceless point offering in exchange for the throne.

Another thing to consider was the sword called Red Rain, which was also on my list of collectables, happened to be within the walls of the castle Pyke. This meant that there were two collectables very close together, making them very tempting targets, so I might as well grab them now and get my points.

I also wanted to make sure that Balon Greyjoy died today so he couldn't rebel again in about ten years. Leaving a power vacuum here in the Iron Islands might not be tempting to the leaders of Westeros, but it suited my plans just fine as if the Ironborn ever ended up united under say Euron Greyjoy they could interfere with my plans.

Besides, it was time to flex my muscles and see what I could do. I had my magic, my Shouts, my skills as a warrior, my dragonbone armour and my version of Stormbreaker.

Thanks to Ciri's powers we appeared inside Castle Pyke, bypassing its walls and many of the raiders who were defending those walls from the army under the command of King Robert.

The trip here had been much smoother than it would have been by Portkey even if one of them could even transport us this far, and it had taken less time as well. Being able to teleport around the known world like this was a massive advantage that we had over everyone else.

According to the history books Pyke was originally built on a cliff jutting out into the sea, but over time the cliff has eroded, leaving the castle's keeps and towers standing on three barren islands and a dozen small stacks of rock, surrounded by water.

I knew that the towers are connected by swaying rope bridges, as such, it was a good thing that Ciri could teleport and I could fly as I didn't wish to try crossing such flimsy bridges, even less so during a siege.

Not that we should need to as this was the main keep and Balon Greyjoy should be in this throne room, sitting around while other men died for him. His cowardice and lack of care for his people were offensive.

"You ready for this?" I asked my companion.

She withdrew her sword from its scabbard.

"It's just a pirate fortress," she said.

My scrying had shown an unused room and Ciri had brought us to the right place, this meant we didn't have to start fighting as soon we arrived, but it didn't take long for us to find some trouble.

I wondered how I looked to the Reavers. I stood there in my dragonbone armour, my cloak of invisibility/flying hanging off my shoulders, and my Stormbreaker in my hand as the weapon sparked with electricity.

"Fuck me, it's the storm god!" yelled an Ironborn.

From what little I knew of the culture of the Iron Islands the storm god was the eternal enemy of the drowned god, he sent the storms to destroy the Ironborn ships that lacked the protection of the drowned god and would pluck souls into the sky so as to stop the from going to the underwater halls of the drowned god.

I threw my axe and the raider went flying into the wall with enough force to crack the stone and break all of his ribs as well as his spine judging by the amount of noise the blow produced. He didn't even scream, the raider was already dead.

"Fuck, he is the storm god!" another yelled.

These warriors, if they deserved to be called that, actually ran away after only one of them died. To be fair they were raiders, not proper soldiers, they didn't have discipline and they didn't often raid people who could fight back.

"Cowards!" called out Ciri.

Wisely she didn't go chasing after them and we weren't here to kill all of the rapists and reavers just the ones who got in our way, as such chasing them down made no sense.

Since I intended to destroy Pyke once I had my prizes the more of them who fled the better. I didn't desire too many needless casualties. I just needed to make sure the Ironborn could not threaten my plans and if I wished to I could attack their other castles in the future. Heck with the right Shouts I could take out their whole fleet.

Not all of the fighters fled and so we had to kill some people as we headed for the throne room that should still be occupied by the Greyjoy family. They were our real targets.

Along the way, we ended up in combat with many of the raiders, who fell quickly before our might, and those that didn't fight would flee as others had done. They were the smart ones.

The axe blade of Stormbreaker destroyed the crude steel weapons of the Ironborn and their armour (they wear metal armour despite preferring fighting at sea because drowning is holy to them, fucking morons) was offering them no protection at all against my godly weapon or Ciri's sword.

Only one weapon didn't break, the very sword I'd come here for. It actually managed to withstand a blow. Those Valyrians must have been fine craftsmen for one of their swords to withstand even a single blow of my axe.

"I'm not scared of you, even if you are an avatar of the storm god!" claimed the Ironborn.

Judging by the quality of his clothing and the fact that he carried a Valyrian steel sword this man must be a local lord.

"I am…" he started to say.

Who he was didn't matter to me.

"Gol Hah!"

"Give me the sword and then jump out the window" I ordered.

As soon as I touched Red Rain it vanished and the Ironborn soon went out via the window. He resisted at the end and sort of stumbled, screaming as he fell. I had to smile.

Ciri made some remark, but the man's scream drew more of the braver Ironborn to us so I never heard what she had to say about that amusing death.

I batted aside a raider and crushed the skull of another with the blunt half of the axe as my Witcher companion cut three men down. She'd vanished, appear, kill a man, and then vanish again.

"Hey this guy has a magic sword too" Ciri let me know once the fighting stopped again.

Thanks to my scrying and studying my special map I knew that this weapon was Nightfall, a Valyrian steel longsword belonging to House Harlaw. The sword has a moonstone pommel

"Can I keep it?" Ciri requested.

She gave me a look that I didn't even try to resist. I doubted that the White Wolf himself could have said no to her. Although the corpses around her didn't subtract somewhat from her attempt to secure her prize.

"Yes," I told her.

I'd recover Blackfyre if I wanted a Valyrian steel sword of my own. For now, we needed to get to the throneroom of the Greyjoys.

"Run, it's the storm god!" I heard someone shout as I threw the axe down a corridor.

The godly weapon zapped anyone who got too close, clearing the way as we moved closer to the throne room. There was very little resistance after that.

It seemed as if the siege upon the castle had really gotten going. I could hear the battle outside as the siege engines brought down the walls. We didn't have long before the Westerosi were here in force.

Two guards with pikes did their best to guard the door to the throne room, only for me to channel a lightning spell through the goldy axe, which directed and amplified the effects.

The two guards died screaming very quickly and I doubted that even the thick wooden doors that barred our way would muffle the sounds of their screams.

"Yennefer would like you" Ciri commented.

I had no idea if that was a good thing or not, and it wasn't important right now, so I ignored the words and threw the axe so as to bring down the doors to the throne room.

"Stay behind me" I ordered Ciri.

As I'd expected some fools tried to take me down with crossbows, only for the bolts to meet a magical shield I'd created. They broke against the barrier.

Before anyone could reload I once again channelled a lightning spell through my version of Stormbreaker and killed those who had foolishly tried to slay me with their primitive weapons.

"Stormgod!" was shouted out again as people fled.

Balon Greyjoy to his credit did not flee, nor did some of the men in a higher quality clothing than was normal, they must be Balon's sons and brothers.

There was also a girl in here who must be about sixteen. She must be Ashra/Yara Greyjoy and she looked as ready to fight as the others. She wouldn't fair any better.

"I really thought you guys would put up more of a fight" I commented.

At this rate, I'd never get to test my full powers.

"He's just a man!" called out one of the Greyjoys.

They were so wrong about that.

"Faas Ru Maar"

Chaos filled the throne room as men who had already been very nervous, perhaps even truly scared despite their angry expressions, completely lost their minds when struck with the Dismay Shout.

Some ran but I killed them anyway, some cowered and yet they still died, Balon whimpered in this chair and the children hide beneath a table. I noticed some wine on that table and decided to help myself once I'd done killing the pirates.

"Get off that throne" I ordered the rebelling Lord Paramount as I helped myself to his wine "You don't deserve it".

The man did and left a wet puddle behind that made me glad that I didn't have to sit on the fancy chair in order to claim it. Balon died like all the rest when I threw my axe at him.

Now I just needed to deal with the two children.

"Didn't you have a plan for them?" questioned Ciri.

I did indeed. I wanted to wipe out the whole family, but I'm not a murderer of children. I do have some morals.

"Gol Hah!"

Once the children were under my control a potion that puts people into an enchanted sleep. I'd planned to have Hermione wipe their memories of being Greyjoys and then I would arrange for their care with a family in Braavos who were involved in sailing as traders.

Now I was thinking that perhaps I should keep Ashra/Yara for myself, she wasn't that bad-looking, she was older looking than I'd expected, and having someone who'd grown up in Westeros around to provide information wasn't such a bad idea.

Plus I'd been meaning to test my ability to brand women and bring them under my control.

"Take them as we discussed" I ordered.

The potion would keep them unconscious for a while and I had guards to keep them contained until they were dealt with. Ciri took them to my manse yet that didn't mean I was stuck here. She knew where to meet me in about a quarter of an hour.

Before I destroyed this castle, something I was sure I could do, I went into the workspace of the Maester of Pyke. The man himself had fled, perhaps taking what he could with him, but he'd still left a lot behind.

There were very few books here, to what would be the dismay of Hermione, but that was good for me as I didn't want to spend a lot of time packing books into the expanded bag I kept for looting.

Once that was done I broke down a wall with Stormbreaker and then I flew out of the castle. My cloak kept me up in the air and invisible so I didn't need to worry about anyone trying to take me down with an arrow while I was distracted.

"Strun Bah Qo"

The Storm Call Shout took a day that was oddly peaceful in terms of weather and made it a sailor's nightmare. In no time at all the sea began to turn, as rain poured down from the sky, and the wind began to howl.

I lifted Stormbreaker and the godly weapon allowed me to direct the fury of the storm at the towers that made up the castle of Pyke as well as the main keep.

It wasn't as dramatic as hoped. The towers didn't crumble into the sea and the keep didn't collapse. There was soon a lot of smoke coming from the castle and the rope bridges were gone, but that was it.

"My compliments to the architect" I muttered.

Then to my surprise, a massive monster came out of the ocean a Kraken unless I was mistaken, it could have come right out of that Pirates of the Caribbean movie. It began breaking ships that were judging by their sails from all over the Seven Kingdoms.

I couldn't help thinking that this was somehow my fault. That comet had appeared soon after I'd forged my Ring of Power and recently begun enchanting the equipment of my highlander claim.

I'd suspected that magic might become more common I'd just not imagined that the drowned gold might be real, I doubted that some sea creature deiced to pop up randomly. This had been planned.

Even if this creature was just an avatar or a servant of the drowned god that had been sent to protect the Iroborn from invaders, it was a threat to me as I lived in a city that was a major seaport. It had to be dealt with.

I channelled lightning again and blasted the sea monster with the power of the storm. Electricity and water don't mix well, but this seemed to only stun the sea monster.

There was only one thing I could do to try to match that sort of power.

Well, that wasn't totally true as Alduin has a dragon shout named "Dragon Storm Call". It is similar to Storm Call, but it calls forth a meteor storm instead of a lightning storm and the sky turns red instead of stormy grey. Alduin used this Shout to destroy Helgen.

It was possible for me to perform that Shout since I understood the words of power involved, but there was something else I wanted to try first as the Dragon Storm Call might do too much damage.

"Dur Neh Viir! Hear my Voice and come forth from the Soul Cairn. I summon you in my time of need".

To my amazement, it worked and a dragon appeared out of some sort of portal. A dragon of Skyrim, it was larger and much more powerful than the native dragons who were themselves living WMDs in this setting.

I made myself visible and then I pointed to the sea monster.

"Krii!" I commanded.

That was the Dovah word that meant 'kill' and while Durnenviir wasn't compelled to obey my command the Dov was quite happy to go prove the superiority of dragons over sea monsters.

Having a dragon appear was going to throw Westeros into turmoil I knew, but that actually served my plans. The Seven Kingdoms needed to be shaken up and no one would know that the soon-to-be well-known Magister Marek Dovahkiin was involved in any of this.

The storm started to settle as Durnenviir swooped down and used the Drain Vitality Shout against the sea monster. The creature tried to grab the dragon with its tentacles.

Only Durnenviir proved to be too mighty to be dragged down into the sea by the creature that had already been weakened by a deadly Shout. His wings flapped and even from this distance, I could tell that he was struggling valiantly, refusing to submit.

While this wasn't the first time I'd seen a dragon I'd not had much chance to admire the sheer power of Smaug the Terrible. Now I was getting to watch a dragon fight and it was fucking epic. No amount of CGI could ever show something like this and compare it to the real thing.

Durnenviir managed to get the sea monster in his claws and lift it partly out of the water before biting the creature with his powerful jaw. Then when the dragon let go the creature either sank because it was dead or it had retreated. I hoped it was the former, but given the kind of world that I was in I highly doubted I'd be that lucky. The monster would appear again despite how much of its blood had been spilt.

Now that Durnenviir's job was done, at least well enough, the Shout came to an end and the dragon left this world, I went to meet Ciri down on an empty bit of beach, so that she could take us home so I could get some rest. The fighting had been easy, however, Shouting as I had really takes it out of you.

While I'd not destroyed the castle of Pyke the Greyjoys were over as a noble house and hopefully, the other nobles would be busy for a while killing each other so as to become the top dogs.

I'd done enough here and with the appearance of the sea monster, I knew that the danger rating of this world had increased due to me forging my version of the One Ring.

It was now more important than ever to collect the point I needed, get my pocket dimension and hatch some dragons as while I could summon one the Shout didn't last that long. I would need more firepower.

ASOIAF 8

Team Builder.

Part 38

Pyke. The Iron Islands.

Cirilla Fiona Elen Riannon, the Lion Cub of Cintra, the Lady of Space and Time, better known as Ciri, watched as the dragon faded away as if some spell had come to end

Given what she knew of the man called Marek Dovahkiin it wasn't hard for the young woman to guess who had summoned up that beast. There was only one man in this world with that kind of power. At least as far as she knew.

Ciri was normally up for a bit of monster slaying, but that sea creature would have been beyond her. Even a team of witchers couldn't have fought off that monster, not at sea at least and if Marek hadn't sent the dragon many men would have been lost.

She could imagine the look in Yennfer's eye if the power-hungry sorceress ever found out that there was a man around who could perform that sort of magic and it was a good thing that it wasn't something mages of her world could do.

She was a little worried about Marek being able to perform such magic. He could do a lot of damage if he decided to conquer this world or just lay waste to those he deemed evil.

The only reason she wasn't too worried was that the Dragonborn had summoned up the creature so that it would battle some sea monster that had suddenly turned up and started wreaking ships, dragging sailors to their deaths, and generally causing a lot of mess.

She dearly hoped that Marek Dovahkinn had wanted to destroy the sea monster to save lives rather than to show off his power.

Since there weren't supposed to be any proper mages in Westeros it was a mystery how the sea monster had turned up.

It wasn't unheard of for monsters to suddenly appear and there were even mages who had made such creatures even if they weren't so massive, but this world wasn't supposed to have anyone who could do that sort of thing.

Ciri assumed that it had something to do with the drowned god that the pirates worshipped and used as a justification for their crimes. It certainly had looked like something a sea god could have sent to aid its worshippers in their time of need.

Whatever it was, the creature had been no match for a dragon. That was actually comforting to know as there was a chance the sea monster might turn up again or something else equally dangerous could be out there.

Cirilla wondered why anyone would praise a deity that had either been drowned or drowned itself and if someone had drowned it then they were clearly more worthy of respect.

Perhaps it had been the storm god the pirates had shouted about when running away from Marek. A god of storms certainly sounded more impressive.

The sea monster was either sinking to the bottom of the sea or had gone off to lick its wounds. Either way, the battle was over and before long the fleet would reorganise and the castle of Pyke would be taken.

So in Ciri's view was a good thing that they would be leaving soon and going back to Braavos.

Ciri thought about her new life and found that she was enjoying it for the most part. No one had any expectations and there wasn't much going on that demanded her time.

She was taking advantage of that to relax, but she'd not gotten lazy, she still sparred and she was trying to learn about this world since it looked as if she was going to be here for a while.

When the god that aided her in the battle against the White Frost had made its offer of help in exchange for service in some sort of contract, Ciri hadn't known what to expect, and she was pleased that Marek seemed content to keep things casual between himself and the women who were meant to serve him.

Ciri thought back to that confrontation and how she'd foolishly rushed off to face the force that threatened more than one world.

In retrospect, she'd been more worn out from fighting the Wild Hunt than she'd thought and would have died if not for the actions of the entity that Marek called Rob for some reason.

It hadn't been a hard choice to make, she could have chosen to die then and there, but instead, she'd decided to take a chance. So far she wasn't regretting it.

Hermione, her fellow consort? seemed nice enough and far less arrogant than most mages Ciri had met. She didn't go around setting people on fire or cursing them. That was a nice change.

As a bonus, Marek wasn't trying to force Ciri into doing anything and she'd gotten a nifty magic sword earlier in the day. She'd be the envy of many a Witcher if they ever found out about it. Not that there were many Witchers left.

The Dragonborn wasn't so bad and she didn't think she'd mind having him in the same bed as her. He hadn't pressed the issue, due to being busy, and the had plenty of other women around if he felt the need to plough someone.

Ciri didn't want to be alone and it had been a good long while since she'd been touched by someone else in that special way. Perhaps she would be the one to make the first move if Marek didn't keep getting distracted.

The Dragonborn brought the Lady of Space and Time out of her thoughts as he landed on the beach. He was invisible, but she'd heard him hit the sand, and a moment later he appeared as if by magic because it was magic.

She couldn't see his face due to his horned helmet, but she got the sense that the Dragonborn was worn out. Making that storm and calling up a dragon must have taken a lot out of him.

"Ready to go?" she asked.

It had been a busy day and Ciri fancied getting something to eat before having a nice rest.

"I'm done here" confirmed Marek.

A few seconds later they were on their way back to the manse in Braavos.

Pyke. The Iron Islands.

Eddard Stark of House Stark had not seen his friend King Robert this angry since the rebellion and he was worried about how much the man was drinking.

The loss of Dragonstone to a natural disaster had been bad enough (but not that big of a deal to the monarch as the castle and island were Targaryen strongholds) but the appearance of an actual dragon had gotten Robert Baratheon more than a little upset.

He seemed to take the existence of the dragon, some reports of which stated seemed to be an undead creature like out of one Old Nan's tales, as some sort of insult, as if the monster existed to offend Robert Baratheon personally.

The king had already offered a great reward for the person, or more likely group of people, who brought him the creature's head and for some reason, Robert seemed to believe that the loss of dragonstone and the appearance of that monster were connected despite dragonstone being on the far side of Westeros.

Robert Baratheon also seemed to think that this was all part of a Targaryen plot to undermine his rulership, and he'd ranted about those who called him usurper, those who would welcome a Targaryen back on the Iron Throne.

Eddard didn't think this was a plot because it made no sense for the Targayens to destroy their own ancestral seat, but the king didn't want to hear that, nor did he care that the only two known Targaryens in the world were mere children.

None of the other lords wanted there to be a dragon about, not if they weren't the ones to control it Eddard thought, and so they had all agreed to spread the word of the dragon as well as the reward across their lands.

The Lord of Winterfell thought this a little foolish as news of a dragon being spotted anywhere in the Seven Kingdoms would cause panic and perhaps make those who still had some loyalty left to the Targaryens think that the Dragonriders might return, but the news would get about soon enough as many had seen the monster with their own eyes.

Another concern was how many sellswords and robber knights would soon be roaming the lands trying to find the dragon. They would no doubt terrorise the smallfolk as they chased rumours of a dragon sighting, or at least cause problems for the lords whose lands they'd trespass upon.

In the command tent that had been set up so that Robert had room for a full war council, Eddard Stark looked around at his so-called peers.

The Lion of Casterly Rock, Tywin Lannister, was no doubt thinking about how this situation could be made to serve his interest and advance his family. The man was always looking for such advantages.

Mace Tyrell was too foolish to do the same, but Eddard knew that the Lord Paramount of the Reach was not the entirety of his family and that Mace's kingdom was as full of schemers as anywhere else in the south.

Eddard wondered how the Dornish would respond to this news. Would they react?

At least Stannis had his priorities straight, he'd been sending off ravens ever since he'd heard of Dragonstone's loss and doing his best to prepare himself for his new role as Lord Paramount of the Iron Islands.

Eddard thought this was foolish as well as the Ironborn would never follow a Greenlander, not unless they were forced to and the Seven Kingdoms couldn't afford to station an army here permanently.

Robert had likely signed his brother's death warrant by giving him the castle known as Pyke and worryingly the king didn't seem to care when Eddard voiced his concern.

The castle was a wreck, which was why they weren't meeting within its walls, Pyke had been battered by an expected storm and struck by many lightning bolts. Some of the captives had spoken about an avatar of the storm god having rampaged through the castle and given the sudden storm.

Eddard couldn't help wondering if the storm god was real. He'd seen a dragon today, something thought to be a mere legend by many, and a sea monster so what else could be real? Giants? The Children of the Forest?

Someone had killed the Greyjoys, although they hadn't found the bodies of Theon Greyjoy or Balon Greyjoy's daughter, who no one really cared about as it was only important to secure Theon, since he was Balon's heir and could be used as a figure to rally the Ironborn, to lead them into another rebellion.

"So this storm god" Robert was now saying to his friend "He kills Ironborn and has a magic axe that controls lightning. Could he be a Targaryen do you think? Could he have brought the dragon here".

Eddard really had no idea. The dragon had simply vanished into the air and they were hard to miss so it wasn't as if could have flown off without someone seeing which direction it went in.

"I've never heard of a Targaryen with power over a storm," said some lord from the Westerlands said.

That was true. There were stories of Targaryens riding dragons, having strange dreams and being able to withstand the touch of a flame without being burnt, but this avatar of the storm god was something else.

Likely the captives were spinning a bit of a tale, however, there were bodies in the castle that looked to have been struck by lightning according to the Maester who had examined them.

Another oddity was that the dragon hadn't breathed fire during its battle with the sea monster. That was something else that no one could explain.

The Ironborm claimed that the sea monster was an avatar of the drowned god sent to save them and to do battle with the avatar of the storm god.

Only the sea monster hadn't turned the tide of the battle, although it could have, and likely would have if the dragon hadn't turned up.

It was all a mess and none of it made sense. Eddard badly wanted to go home and not just because he was worried about the safety of The North, but because life made a lot more sense back in Winterfell.

"Someone better find out who this avatar of the storm god is" demanded Robert "If he controls that dragon then he's got to have some connection to the Targaryens and he's a threat to the Seven Kingdoms".

Eddard wondered if that was true since the dragon had actually saved the fleet and the avatar had only gone after Ironborn. Had the raiders done something to offed a powerful dragonlord, one that may or may not be a Targaryen?

The Lord Paramount of the North did wonder, but he also figured that it wouldn't be a good idea for him to try to find out more. Offending anyone powerful enough to rampage three a castle was not a wise idea and he didn't want that dragon going north.

He would do his duty here and spread the word of Robert's bounty. He would also arrange to head back to the North as soon as possible. The south had once again proven that it was no place for a Stark.

ASOIAF 9

Team Builder.

Part 39

Manse. Braavos.

"They didn't take as long to make as I thought they would," I said.

Before us on the table in my study/workshop were the eight Gwent decks that I'd commissioned a local artist to paint according to my plans. While I was many things an artist wasn't one of them so I'd outsourced the work to a talented painter.

The eight decks were themed in a way that a person could play the game using cards from their homeland. As such, each deck had a certain theme to it.

For example, the Northern deck had direwolves, and regular wolves, while the Westerlands had lions of a few different kinds.

As well as peasant levies, cavalry and siege engines, each deck also had cards for special characters that would only be equalled by the most famous characters of the other kingdoms.

The Westerosi love their famous heroes and figures like Bran the Builder, Lann the Clever, Garth Greenhand and others that are still spoken about thousands of years after they were supposed to have lived. Assuming that they ever existed at all.

The eight decks were for the North, the Westerlands, The Vale of Arryn, The Stormlands, The Reach, The Iron Islands, Dorne and the Riverlands.

I'd not commissioned a deck for the Crownlands as they were Targaryen lands by tradition and I didn't want King Robert having a hissy fit about their being dragons in the game.

Offending King Robert as Magister Marek Dovahkinn would only frustrate my plans so perhaps I would make him a nice warhammer, one superior to any in the primitive Seven Kingdoms.

It would be amusing to me to keep aggravating the man while also pretending to be something of a supporter if only because I sent him fancy gifts.

What mattered most was that the decks be more or less equal so as not to offend some prickly lord who would then try to ban the game, at least on his own lands.

My target audience would be lords, knights and merchants, who wanted to show loyalty to the kingdom of their birth.

"So how exactly are you going to get people playing my favourite game?" the witcher asked me.

It shouldn't be too hard. People craved distractions and it wasn't as if there was anything in this world to really compete with Gwent.

"Once the patent office is up and running I'll patent the game of Gwent in your name since it's your game," I told the ashen-haired young woman "Then no one else in Braavos will be able to produce decks without paying a fee to the patent office".

At least in theory, and since no one wanted to anger the Iron Bank there would be few foolish enough to make any counterfeit decks. Those who did would find themselves with a powerful enemy.

Outside of Braavos things would be different, but it actually suited my plans to have people try to copy my ideas as it would force them to try new things and perhaps improve on old methods.

"In my name?" Ciri asked.

I couldn't have all the patents come from me.

"This is your idea," I said "You should own the game and collect the profits".

Hearing that pleased the warrior woman.

"When the patent is filed I'll hire people with some skill with paint to copy the decks we already have" I was now saying "I plan to buy some more property and open up a store that sells things from other worlds and things I make, including Gwent decks".

I could buy things cheap from the Daedric merchant and then sell those items at a profit here in this world because they wouldn't be common items in this reality and therefore could be sold at higher prices.

Also if I needed more money I could sell stuff easily obtained in Braavos to the Daedric merchant for septims that were gold coins and therefore could be exchanged at the Iron Bank.

If anyone asked about my sources I would claim that they were brought in from foreign lands I explored as a treasure hunter.

Another idea of mine was to forge some of the swords the Braavosi like to use in duels using more advanced smithing methods and I would put a little mithril into each blade. That way my swords would be superior to anything made by the locals.

Bravos use slender swords that are edged and balanced for the thrust, quite similar to rapiers back in my world.

Since I had access to all human knowledge from my world it wouldn't be hard for me to find a more advanced design than the one used by those that made swords for the Bravos.

The Bravos dress in colourful finery and some put scented oil in their hair. If they had the money for fancy clothes, scented oils and swords, as well as lessons on how to use them, then at least a few of them should have some coin to spend on the superior swords that I can supply.

I remembered seeing some of the Bravos here in Braavos when I'd last gone out, and how they wanted to pick fights and prove their skills.

Most will fight with little cause or no cause and anyone carrying a sword after dark in Braavos can be challenged to a duel. Even simply placing a finger on the hilt of a sword while facing a bravo can be considered a challenge.

Yet the Bravos never bother anyone without a sword, but if you have a sword they will challenge you to a duel for many reasons, some of which are quite stupid reasons in my view.

Braavosi bravos are known to fight duels in the name of courtesans, such as the Nightingale, to defend their own honour, or to avenge some slight that might have been imagined.

The greatest bravos in Braavos practice a style of sword fighting known as the water dance. If we were still in this world when Danny was old enough to start combat training I might hire a water dancer to train her.

Producing superior swords for the bravos and introducing new products would no doubt upset other business owners, so it was good that I had my own clan of immortal warriors and Hermione could ward places to keep them safe from hostiles.

Having the support of the Iron Bank was very important and I might need to do a little ass-kissing so as to get in good with the Sealord. It would only make things easier for me later.

While magic was more accepted in Essos, it was just part of life even if it wasn't that noticeable, that didn't mean it was a good idea to make blades that were noticeably magical.

I wouldn't enchant those swords, I would just make sure that they were noticeably superior to other swords and maybe patent the designs for other smiths to buy if my blades became popular.

As for making Gwent popular enough for Ciri to find players of the game in the taverns she visited, I planned to send a copy of each deck to the Lord Paramount of the Seven Kingdoms of the kingdoms I'd made decks for, aside from the Iron Islands since I'd killed the Greyjoys, as it might lead to more interest in the game.

"There aren't any Essos armies" commented Ciri as she looked through the cards.

Before selling the decks we had to play test them and this involved quite a bit of drinking and making bets. Since I was the source of her income I wouldn't have won anything even if I had managed to beat her in the game.

"Westeros has a strong military culture" I explained "They have lots of famous knights and stories of great battles. Essos is more about trade than war, and the Free Cities tend to depend upon sellsword companies and buying Unsullied, so they don't many famous warriors in their histories".

I might have managed a Dothraki deck if they had more than light cavalry, but I doubted any of those savages would pay for the cards so there would be no point, and no one who would play the game liked the Dothraki.

"You should do a sellsword deck" advised Ciri as she moved over so she could come and sit on my lap "Sellswords love card games if only for the gambling, and you can have their cards work so they can be added to anyone's deck since sellswords fight for whoever pays them".

That could make for a decent expansion later, even if many lords criticised sellswords they still made use of them in war and I doubted the merchants would care.

"If you want a sellsword deck I'll plan one out and have it made for you" I promised.

Rather than reply verbally she turned her body so that she was straddling me and began mashing her lips into my face.

I could taste the expensive wine she'd been drinking and feel the heat coming off her body.

As we began making out like a couple of horny teenagers, I put my hand inside the top Ciri was wearing and found to my surprise that she was wearing a modern bra.

"Hermione made it for me," Ciri said as she showed the item of clothing to me by taking off her top "She just waved that stick of hers and made one".

You can transfigure something into a bra?

After hearing that I spent some time admiring the view before making a mental note to introduce bras to this world as advancing women's fashion could also help towards my goal of an uplift.

I stopped caring about that when Ciri exposed her breasts to me by removing the bra and shoving her tits into my face.

Her attempt at seducing me was crude but extremely effective. I bit and sucked on her nipples, much to her delight, and I kept going until I decided that I wanted to see more of her body.

In one swift motion, I stood up and placed the witcher on the table, not caring for the cards that got knocked on the ground.

I then removed the leather trousers she often wore to show she wore modern knickers well. She noticed me paying them quite a bit of attention.

"They feel nice against my skin," Ciri told me.

She'd have to get a new pair as I removed the ones she was wearing and threw them into the clutter of study/workshop, something that made my companion giggle in a very girly way.

Soon I began to kiss and lick her bare pussy. I had asked Hermione to introduce Ciri to the feminine hygiene products that we got with our supplies from the CYOA and by the looks of things the warrior woman had made good use of the razors.

She wasn't at all shy about her body and was fine with me taking some time just to admire her form. Her breasts were modest in size, yet very perky and with nipples that just needed to be inside my mouth more often.

I also noticed the rose tattoo she had on her inner thigh, my mark (the old Akaviri symbol for the Dragonborn) was on her back as it was on Hermione's body. It showed anyone who saw it that she was mine, it served as a visible sign of the power I had over these women.

Spoiler

[img: https/images./8/80/SR-misc-Akaviri_Dragonborn_Symbol.png]

Her pussy looked ready to be used and the expression on her face was I needed to confirm this. Although she did give me verbal confirmation as well.

"Please!" she called out "I want you inside me. Fuck me, Marek".

I considered holding back to tease her, but I really wanted to fuck her as well, to use her body for my pleasure, so I did.

"Oh," Ciri whispered, her eyes locked with mine as I pushed inside her.

She seemed very happy to have my filling up her eager cunt. While she was tight, she was very slick so it was easy to get my cock deep inside her.

She was no virgin I felt sure, but I didn't think she'd gotten fucked much by a man so gave her a few moments to get used to having me inside her.

"Oh, fuck!" she called out.

Spoiler

[img: https/wimg.rule34.xxx/images/2748/218c1172c3fb9c2f0ed8e8d5cb6186a3.jpeg]

Her nipples looked as if they could be used to cut glass, and the amount of noise coming out of her mouth made it very clear to me that she was enjoying having me start to thrust inside her tight little fuckhole when I did start moving.

Despite needing to focus on Ciri I couldn't help wondering if I'd be doing the same to the Greyjoy girl I'd brought here once she was under my control. Would she be a cold fish in bed?

I pushed such thoughts aside and focused on what or rather who I was doing. Something that took real effort as my mind wasn't one that easily stopped thinking.

So I focused on how good Ciri's tight cunt felt around my cock as I pushed into her harder than before, trying to get balls deep.

She moaned and might have tried to speak, but she couldn't as her brain looked to have melted and poured out of her ears some time ago. She just wanted to be fucked, and I got on with that.

I picked up the pace, knocking everything else off the table, and making a mess for those poor maids to clean up later.

Ciri's grunts and moans became louder almost deafening to me, no doubt later she'd be glad to hear this room had charms on it to block out noise, although I'd gotten Hermione to place those to remove distractions while I was working.

There was no talk, we barely sounded human as I used Ciri's body for my pleasure. I pushed into her again and again, rocking the table and I was glad it didn't break as I pounded the female witcher.

I just kept going until my cum was filling her up. Something that Ciri delighted in giving the noises now coming out of her mouth.

She went limp afterwards as I sat down. It took some time, but we managed to recover our senses, and as it turned out Ciri's brain hadn't in fact melted and poured out of her ears.

"You ploughed me like I'm a cheap tavern wench," the warrior woman said as she smiled at me.

I felt it best not to offer a tip as I would have if she had been a real tavern wench.

ASOIAF 10

Team Builder.

Part 40

Near Craster's Keep. North of the Wall.

It might seem rather random for me to come to this frozen land and given how many matters needed my attention it would also seem to be a waste of time, but it certainly wasn't.

Nor was something I was doing out of the blue, because I'd been scrying to spy on certain people and groups ever since I'd arrived on this world.

The movements of the White Walkers, who as it turned out were the show version of the creatures (an effect of the Derp feature I assumed as it was meant to make this world less dangerous for me) were of great interest.

While I wasn't going to attack them in their icy fortress in the far north, it made sense to try to pick off any lone Walkers that I could find when I got the chance.

My concern for their growing strength was a valid one as mere hours ago when I'd attempted to check up on what the Night King was up to the water in the bowl I'd been using a conduit suddenly froze.

I didn't think the leader of the White Walkers had been able to see me due to my defences, but his being able to block my attempt to spy on him was more than a little worrying.

If the Walkers were growing in power then I needed to do something about it as it might be my fault if nothing else.

That sea monster over in the Iron Islands shouldn't have turned up, it shouldn't have even existed, and I just knew that it had to do with me forging the Dragon Ring of Power.

The comet was here many years early and while I didn't know for certain I had this feeling that I upset some sort of balance, that I'd stirred up ancient forces that the humans of this world thought limited to legends.

If the drowned god was real, and White Walkers roamed the far north, then what else was out there?

If nothing else I was trying to uplift this world and leave a legacy that would result in me being remembered for centuries. Neither of those objectives would work out in the long term if everyone was killed by ice demons and their armies of the dead.

"Are you sure this monster is going to turn up?" asked Ciri.

She was on edge because Craster had ventured out of his home a short time ago and left a baby in the woods. Her biology was telling her to go over to the baby and comfort the little guy, and I too felt the need. Taking in Smaug had certainly changed me, but I was still a human being.

I was just glad I'd gotten one of my immortal warriors to go wrap the baby in the blanket that Hermione had placed warming charms upon. If Ciri had gone over there the baby would be in Braavos by now.

Us being here while Craster was sacrificing one of his sons was not a coincidence, this was why a lone White Walker was off by himself and I'd tracked him coming this way.

A lone White Walker was simply too tempting a target, and we needed to ensure that Valyrian steel could destroy one of them. If for some reason it didn't I had Stormbreaker on standby.

"Using a baby as bait is wrong" complained Ciri.

We'd already been over this. I'd not placed the baby in the woods and if we left with him now the Walker would be free to go around killing people so as to raise them from the dead. We'd help a lot more people by taking out this Walker.

"I won't let it happen again" I promised.

Craster needed to die so that he couldn't supply any more male children to the Others. Aside from that practical concern, he was an asshole who needed to die and his family deserved better. As for the women, well dealing with them would be a more complex matter.

"It's here" I heard one of my immortal warriors whisper.

I knew since I kept track of the Walker on my special map. It didn't seem to know or care that we were here. The arrogant fool most likely thought that no one could hurt it and so didn't worry about us getting in the way.

"As soon as you see the Walker strike it down," I said to Ciri.

Spoiler

[img: https/us./5021068/uploads/editor/1f/54dv1u40edkm.jpg]

She did just that, vanishing and striking, the Walker shattered into little bits of ice that were soon taken away by the wind. Nightfall worked as Longclaw had in the show. Good to know.

"Well, that was easy," I remarked.

Ciri was already going for the baby so I went to join her.

"I was taught by the best," the witcher stated.

Indeed, Geralt had trained her well.

"And we know that the Valyarian steel works," I said.

Ciri held the poor baby close to her and rocked him. His crying soon stopped.

"They'll be more careful in the future" she commented.

Yes, that was a concern of mine. At least losing one of their own would slow them down and I intended to kill Craster so as to deny them more boys to transform.

They might have other sources of recruits or be able to obtain male children via other means, but I could keep an eye out for that and hinder their plans further.

We might end up taking on Walkers that have a lot of wights to protect them or they could start travelling in groups. We'd have to carefully gather intelligence on our targets and strike so as to keep the number of Walkers low.

Sooner or later the Night King would make a move and I would go after him with as much force as I could muster.

"Just let me drop this little guy off with Hermione," said Ciri "I'll be right back".

With that, she vanished and when she didn't return right away I didn't worry as more than likely she was fussing over that poor baby and chatting with my other companion about what a heartless monster I was for leaving the little chap out in the cold.

The fact that I was helping to safeguard every baby everywhere by stopping the Walkers would not be taken into account and I would no doubt be getting some sour looks from my witch for some time to come.

As for Hermione, she had taken to running my household rather well, and she was also educating Danny while instructing Yara Greyjoy in her new role, she'd even altered Theon Greyjoy's mind for me so that he could be sent to live with a family of sailors.

She would look after the baby until he was placed with a suitable family over in Braavos. I hoped that neither of the women got too attached as I had no desire to start collecting children.

I did consider taking the tyke and just leaving, but that wouldn't really make a difference and it might even lead to the Walkers killing all of Craster's family if some sort of deal was broken.

Besides, the needs of the many, outweigh the needs of the few or the one.

"The little guy is having a nap" Ciri reported when she returned "Let's go kill his dad".

We headed for Craster's Keep and the man made no move to stop me as I entered his home. He wasn't stupid enough to try taking on a fully armoured warrior with armed women at his side.

"You're no crow," he said "And none of the Free Folk has armour like that".

My dragon bone armour might look primitive since it was made of parts from a dead creature, but it was actually the product of advanced craftsmanship and the use of materials that were magical in nature.

Ciri didn't give the man a chance to talk further on that or any other matter, she killed him before I could talk and I looked at her. Even with my helm on she knew I was giving her a questioning look.

"He sacrificed his own sons," she pointed out, "Which made him a monster and I kill monsters".

I couldn't argue with that and I had more important things to do than to comment about how she was hogging all the kills. It was a good thing we didn't need XP to advance our skills.

"Ladies," I said to the scared Wildling women "You've got three choices. You can stay here, go off on your own, or let us take you south of the Wall".

As bad as it could get in Westeros south of the Wall, at least no one there wanted to add to their growing army of the undead and the world was a big place. It would be easy for them to hide out somewhere remote.

I could have taken them to Braavos, but while it was easy enough to find homes for a few children, resettling this many women would be a different matter.

Braavos might as well be on another planet given how

different it was to the society of the Free Folk. They'd suffer from culture shock and their skills wouldn't be useful in a city that revolved mostly around trade.

I'd considered returning the boy to them, but I'd worried that these women might just end up putting him back in the woods.

They might think that the lad would grow up to be like this father and want to do away with him. I'd been willing to risk the child's life, but I'd taken responsibility for the boy when making him part of my plans and had to do my best for him.

One of the older women stepped forward. She was the only person in the group brave enough to speak and to be fair I did look rather intimidating.

"We'll make our own way, milord," she said "Just leave us be".

Their fates were their own and I was content to let them live their own lives. Moments later I was gone, with Ciri and the immortal warriors, appearing within our manse over in Braavos.

I was soon taking off my armour. Knowing that it was important to clean and maintain my equipment.

"Oh good, you're back," said Hermione when she found me in the armoury of the manse "You've got a few appointments this morning that we need to go over".

Braavos was hours ahead of where I had been in terms of time zones, as such it was morning here rather than very late at night.

"You need to meet with a few of the Magisters about you joining their ranks" I was reminded "You need to start making more allies in the city".

Yes, that was important. I wouldn't be able to get much done in Braavos without their approval, and by approval, I meant bribes and promises of future favours.

My patent office threatened the Magister's power and could undermine the guilds that helped run this city-state.

The Magisters controlled the movement of goods, but without the guilds, they'd have little to export. There was a pottery guild, a blacksmith guild, a seamstress guild and so on.

My plan to butter up the leaders of the guilds was to offer them free designs for new products. This would get them interested in the patent office and reassure them that I wasn't going to drive them out of business.

The Magisters could be won over with exotic goods and promises of a share of the profits later. It was the guild leaders who worried me. If they felt their lively hoods were threatened they'd make trouble for me.

As Hermione worked to organise everything I went to get dressed. She followed me and kept going over her plans as I changed.

"I've got everything ready for the dinner party tonight" she let me know "Every Magister is coming with his wife or mistress. I guess they are curious about the new guy".

Curiosity wouldn't be the only factor. The Iron Bank wouldn't be giving out my personal details but people talked and by now rumours of my wealth would have gotten around.

"Is Danny okay with her role?" I asked.

Daenerys Targaryen was now Daenys Dovahkiin as Daenerys and Daenys are similar enough for a five-year-old to remember and there was no hiding her Valyrian heritage even with her hair being dyed.

We had the same colour eyes so it just made sense to pass her off as my daughter and pretend to be a family of Valyrian descent.

Plenty of people knew that the last Targaryens had lived in this house and few would know of Danny's true linage, but with Viserys gone, he'd be exiled, people would put the Targaryens out of mind and Danny would be seen simply as my daughter if anyone ever thought about her at.

Given the history of Braavos, it might seem unwise to act as Valyrian descendants, but I'd not felt any hostility towards me when people saw my eyes. The Freehold was gone, and the dragons too, they had no reason to fear the dragonlords.

"She'll be fine" Hermione assured me "She's happier being Daenys Dovahkiin than she was as Daenerys Targaryen".

Safer as well as Daenerys Targaryen is a threat to anyone holding the Iron Throne whereas Daenys Dovahkinn is just the daughter of a wealthy man living in Braavos.

"And your own backstory is important," Hermione said "You're of Valyrian descent and a sellsword who joined a treasure-hunting expedition to an outpost of the Freehold. It explains your wealth and any advancements you try to bring about can be credited to what you found in Valyria".

That should work, and people won't care much where the money comes from once I started spreading it about. For today, I would have to be as charming as possible.

ASOIAF 11

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.

ASOIAF 12

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.

Spoiler

[img: https/awoiaf./images/2/25/Franz_Miklis_thedragonpit_closeup.jpg]

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.

ASOIAF 13

Team Builder

Part 43

Oldtown. The Reach.

Spoiler [img: https/i./WKbpM24.jpeg]

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 given how much she loathed how the Citadel was run.

ASOIAF 14

Woot one hundred thousand words and still going.

Enjoying the story? Then why not give me a /gothicjedi666

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.

ASOIAF 15

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.

Spoiler

[img: https/awoiaf./images/8/81/Bellonara_Otherys.png]

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.

ASOIAF 16

Enjoying the story? Then why not give me a /gothicjedi666

Team Builder

Part 46

Qarth. Esso.

Far beyond the range of any portkey and weeks, perhaps months of travel by sea, many hundreds of miles away from Braavos was the city called Qarth. Known to some as the greatest city that ever was, will be or could be.

Although anyone thinking that had clearly never been to my world. As impressive as Qarth looked from a distance it couldn't compare to cities back in my world, not in size, population or architecture.

I wondered how Yara, Ciri and Danny would react if ever they saw sights such as the skyscrapers in cities like New York. Perhaps one day I'd find out.

Since Ciri hadn't brought us directly into the city I was standing in a barren wasteland, some desert that looked as if would leech the life out of me in a matter of hours if I dared to stay here.

Already my mouth was feeling dry, and I would be glad to get out of the sun.

"So this is Qarth," said Yara "I've seen it on a few maps and I've heard stories from sailors who claim to have come here".

Given the distances involved, I doubted that many ships from Westeros had ever come here. However, the city was heavily involved in trade so it is possible for someone to have visited Qarth while serving on a ship and eventually made their way back to Westeros.

As I got closer to the city I saw that while there were guards here the big gate had been left wide open and yet given the high walls it seemed as if the locals must have good reasons to keep themselves secure.

Perhaps they feared the Dothraki. No, we were too far from their territory. We were close to Yi Ti, this world's version of China. Perhaps the rulers of this city feared invasion from the east and only closed the gate when armies were spotted.

The Red Waste, the desert, would form a natural barrier between this city and the Dothraki hordes. There was no water out here or grass for their horses to graze upon.

Given the sheer heat here I was glad that Hermione had cast Cooling Charms on our armour before we'd left. My guards might be immortal, but even they could pass out due to heat and be rendered useless.

"Can we look around the markets, Marek?" requested Ciri "They might have something interesting".

I saw no reason not to other than it was unlikely that anyone would be able to understand us. I doubted that the common tongue was spoken this far from Braavos.

"If you can barter with any of the merchants you're welcome to do some shopping" I answered.

Thinking on it I really should work with Hermione, who was currently busy doing some research and looking after the manse, to make some sort of translation spell or magical item that would allow us all to be understood no matter where we went.

I hoped that the issue of language wouldn't prevent me from carrying out my goal of making a deal with the Warlocks of this city, who were a powerful faction within Qarth even if they were virtually unknown elsewhere.

Thanks to my scrying and the use of my special map I knew that they had a dragon horn, also known as a dragonbinder, in their House of the Undying, and one way or the other I intended to claim it so I could earn another point.

I desired a win right now as my plan to have a galleon built had gone nowhere as no one in Braavos wanted to help fund the creation of such a large seagoing vessel with the design having been presented by someone so new to the city.

There were other designs for smaller vessels that I could fund the building of by myself, and if nothing else it meant that Yara would be getting a ship to captain sooner than expected.

If the ship was funded by me alone then I didn't need to worry about anyone else's opinions when it came to choosing the crew.

Since Yara could keep a crew made up of Ironborn raiders in line then she'd have little trouble with a crew from Braavos and there were enchantments that could be placed on the ship to help keep it safe.

That was a concern for later. For now, I needed to keep my focus on the warlocks.

Since the entrance into the city was virtually undefended, and the few guards around didn't pay us any attention, we let ourselves in, and while we must look odd the guards didn't even bother to question us.

This was a major trading port so they must get visitors from all over. Still, given my dragonbone armour, I must seem like an odd sight and the visitors would arrive by ship not by coming in from the desert.

Once inside I soon saw that this city was surrounded by three thick walls, each acting as layers of defence. The smallest walls were about thirty feet in height, and these walls were engraved with portraits of animals, war, and some erotic imagery, I rather liked them.

Some of the sights I saw while looking around included a bronze arch which had been fashioned to look like two snakes mating. I also made note of thin towers that stood very tall. They looked well made.

I spent some time admiring the elaborate fountains which filled every square, a display of wealth and power given the desert outside.

There were also statues of gryphons, dragons and manticores around. Which may or not be real creatures somewhere in this world given that dragons certainly are.

The markets we walked through were colourful. I saw spices of many kinds for sale, stalls that sold materials for the making of clothes and fruits of many kinds, some of which I'd never seen before.

Given the spice trade, the colourful fabrics and the appearance of the locals I wondered if this land was the local equivalent of India.

I could smell curry when we passed some sort of restaurant and it reminded me of the few times I'd eaten Indian food.

Since I'd never been a big fan of spicy food, I was more of a pizza, burgers and chips, kind of guy, I had no desire to eat here, but the smell was enjoyable.

Yara wasn't much for shopping, but Ciri did inspect a few trinkets, and the locals seemed happy to take our Braavosi currency. That's an advantage of using gold coins, when everyone uses gold coins, at least when in a city that does so much trading with outsiders.

It turned out to be rather simple to find our way when we found a merchant who did speak the Common Tounge, more than was required for simple bartering, due to him doing business with people in far-off lands if his merchandise was anything to go by.

He must deal with local artists as well those in other cities so as to sell their artwork among items gathered from other parts of the world, and since part of my plan was to become known as a dealer in exotic objects I decided to buy some local art.

We got directions and moved through the city. The tower we were heading for was one of the larger ones so we were able to keep it in sight as we moved through the city. Without that landmark, we would have quickly gotten lost.

When we got closer I felt sure that this was the House of the Undying, the headquarters of the Warlocks of Qarth.

Spoiler

[img: https/4.bp./-5UU9WUy_uIQ/VNWB8YhSJFI/AAAAAAAALtM_dD7jmVBffI/s1600/House_of_the_Undying.png]

It was a large tower without any visible openings and it had trees surrounding it, but other than that it didn't look like anything special. Of course, my other senses, those more mystical, were telling me something else. It had protective enchantments.

My memory of this time in the show/books wasn't that great, but I could recall an event known as The Killing of the Thirteen.

This was when a powerful merchant, who'd taken a liking to the Mother of Dragons and wished to become king, engineered a coup in the city with the help of the Warlocks.

The mages assassinated the other members of the Thirteen, the Magisters who ruled this city and the warlocks took Daenerys Targaryen's dragons for their own purposes, imprisoning them in the House of the Undying.

In the show Daenerys later rescues her dragons, having them burn the head warlock with dragon's fire, before sealing the power-hungry magister in his own vault, which turned out to be empty, in revenge for his part in trying to imprison Daenerys Targaryen in other ways.

The warlocks gave mages like me and Hermione a bad name, no wonder so many people wanted to burn witches at the stake.

I walked around the tower and soon realised that indeed there was no entrance.

"Either the door is very well hidden or they get in using some underground passage" mused Ciri.

We went around the tower while I held out the skeleton key which should defeat any tricky. We still found no door so Ciri's theory about a hidden underground passage seemed right.

"Stay here" I ordered my companions and guards "If there is a door, I'll open it from the inside, and if I get into trouble I'll make a hole for you to use".

Since I'd come here in the hopes of trading it wouldn't do to blast my way in, and if the warlocks did prove to be hostile I felt sure that I could handle them. Mind tricks don't work on me.

"FEIM ZII GRON!"

After Shouting the Dov words for Fade, Spirit, and Bind I became like a ghost. Once in my incorporeal state I simply stepped through the wall, and soon came across one of the local magic users, who was rather shocked to see me.

"Where is your master?" I demanded of a Warlock, as he attempted to edge away from me "I've come to bargain".

Alas, he did not make things easy for me and he acted as if I was an invader rather than a visitor.

"I-I am not afraid to die. I will not tell you anything. Valar Morghulis!" he shouted

It was time for what Anakin Skywalker would call aggressive negotiations, and in place of a lightsaber, something I might one day acquire from the CYOA, I called upon Stormbreaker.

The slow warlock took out a knife, but by the time he was ready to attack, I was ready to break his skull with my awesome godly axe.

Similarly to the Alchemists' Guild of the Seven Kingdoms, the warlocks' magical prowess and prestige have waned over the years. Their powers might be growing again now, but they were no match for me.

The warlocks must depend on illusions and tricks to display power, and I was protected against such things being used against my mind. They might be able to hide a door, assuming that there even was one, but fooling me with visions was beyond their power.

Despite their lack of any real power they were fanatic in defence of their tower. Men with no hair, pale skin and blue lips came at me, only to lose their lives as Stormbreaker ended them.

They came at me with swords, daggers, and blades of strange shapes, but none of that mattered as I simply demolished them and some of the tower. This building wasn't as sturdy as it looked.

"You must be the leader," I said when I entered some sort of main room.

"I am Pyat Pree" he replied.

He wasn't attacking so I took this as a good sign.

"Pyat Pree, I've come to bargain" I stated.

My pop culture reference was wasted here.

"You killed my brothers," said the warlock.

That didn't bother me. Perhaps if they had a door for me to knock on or if the warlocks I'd met had bothered to listen to me they'd be alive right now.

"If you want I can kill you too" I suggested "Or we could be civilized and talk about why I am here".

Rather than reply verbally the warlock lifted a gemstone and nothing happened.

"Your tricks don't work on me," I said.

Pyat Pree went for his dagger and Stormbreaker went flying across the room with enough force to crush the warlock's chest in one blow.

"Bunch of nutters" I commented.

None of them even had the sense to run away.

I moved through the tower and soon found the dragon horn which if blown was supposed to control dragons. I would never know if that was true or not as the dragonbinder as it was known vanished when I touched it as the other collectables.

Moving through the tower I looked for anything of value, but whatever wealth and magical items these people ever had were either gone or hidden even from my sight.

All I found other than basic supplies and robes, were bottles of the Shade of Evening they drink which turns their lips blue, a collection of crumbling scrolls, and a few coins I didn't bother to take.

When I found the altar that had a recently killed child upon it I decided that I'd done the right thing by killing the warlocks. I even went through the place again with a Detect Life spell active in case I misses a warlock or captives. If any of the magic users were left they'd fled by now.

At this point, I decided that I wanted to take nothing from this place even if I had been able to find its treasury.

I went outside and told Ciri to meet me at the spot where we'd arrived as I wasn't done with the tower. I waited until she was gone before I used my cloak to make myself invisible and took myself up into the air.

Once up there I Shouted up a storm and focused all of the lightning in one blast that struck the tower. It hadn't been maintained properly and it was no Pyke so the tower collapsed.

With that done I flew out of the city to regroup so that Ciri could take us all home. I ignored the panic in the city and I didn't worry about anyone in the west learning about this event and connecting it to what had happened in the Iron Islands due to the sheer distances involved.

"What did you just do?" asked Ciri.

She hadn't been able to see exactly what happened from outside the city.

"I destroyed the tower," I told her.

Ciri seemed concerned by this news and that made sense since she didn't know what had motivated me to perform that act.

"Why?" was her next question.

I had my reasons and they were good ones.

"They were sacrificing children," I told her "I don't know why they were doing it and it doesn't matter. Killing kids is beyond my tolerance for other cultures".

If you want to spend your time taking drugs and trying to cast spells that's fine with me, but I draw the line when you start gutting kids. Tolerance has to have limits or people will start thinking they can get away with anything they want as warlocks clearly had thought.

"I hope they weren't trying to summon something," remarked Ciri "I've heard stories from witchers about rituals involving shedding innocent blood".

Well, I hadn't seen any demons so I wasn't worried. Shadowbabies aside I didn't think it was possible to bring something demonic to this world.

"Fucking hell," said Yara "And they call the Ironborn savages, at least we don't sacrifice people to the Drowned God".

No one wanted to discuss it further so I instructed Ciri to take us all home.

ASOIAF 17

Thank you for the generous tips I got on Ko-fi from two of my readers. It really makes me feel appreciated.

Team Builder

Part 47

Barge. Braavos.

I was on my way to meet with the daughter of the Black Pearl. I disliked being summoned, but coming to her was part of the arrangement I'd made with the Black Pearl and that woman was not someone I wished to make an enemy of if I was going to prosper here in Braavos.

While it was still light here in the city there were plenty of Braavosi on the streets looking for a duel, yet none bothered me as I had armed guards escorting me and I was not carrying a weapon.

Not that I was defenceless I could summon Stormbreaker to my hand or conjure a bound weapon if I didn't have time to reach into my expanded bag.

I could even make use of my magic if I really needed to do some damage. Although I'd rather avoid being outed as a mage, as while magic is somewhat accepted in Essos people still fear it.

Some of the elite were known to be carried in a litter, although this was rare as in other cities litters were carried by slaves and anything to do with slavery was frowned upon here.

I had legs that worked very well and no need to show off my wealth in such a way so I walked.

Once I arrived at her barge I saw that Bellegere Otherys was young and quite lovely, with black hair, light brown skin and a noticeable set of breasts that were only partly hidden by her dress.

Spoiler

[img: https/awoiaf./images/a/ad/Bellegere_Otherys_by_Lady_Rae.jpg]

As soon as I noticed her boobs, I couldn't help wondering if she was supporting them with a bra, the design for which I'd gifted to the Seamstress Guild to help smooth my road to power in this city.

I knew that I wouldn't get anywhere without the support of the right people and I could afford to be generous since I had so many designs to gift to people.

Like every Braavosi courtesan, Bellegere has her own barge and servants to pole her to the next of her trysts as her barge travelled the canals. Hers was decorated with flowers that looked to have been thrown at the little craft by admirers.

Her barge reminded me a bit of the canal boats back in my homeland, they were narrow and long. They also had a cramped yet comfortable internal space that was filled with cushions and other means of making a person feel relaxed.

Thinking of canal boats made me wonder if I should patent a design for them, but that could wait as I was here for an important reason and there were other things I could offer this world.

"Mister Dovahkiin," said Bellegere Otherys as she gave me a curtsey as if I was some lord from Westeros "Thank you for coming".

People in Braavos didn't bow or curtsey as a rule. Like her mother, Bellegere seemed to be under the impression that I was some sort of Westerosi noble, or at least had decided to treat me like one.

To be fair I looked to be of Western European stock and while I was a foreigner I was also wealthy so treating me like a lord from another land made some sense.

Perhaps I should become an actual lord. I didn't wish to enter the service of some Lord Paramount, but perhaps I could purchase a little land and let a steward handle it for me.

"Lady Otherys," I replied "Thank you for inviting me".

Of course, I'd brought her a nice gift. One that I'd made myself. It was a fancy wine jug made from a silver/mithril alloy. Mithril's strange properties meant that it worked well with other metals and the magical element didn't tarnish.

"I've never seen a carafe like this" Lady Otherys mentioned.

I'd forgotten that the item had a particular name I'd based the design on a dwarven ale pitcher and just made it a bit fancier using elven methods.

"When I crafted it I based the design on a Valyrian artefact" I lied.

It wasn't as if I could tell her it could have come from a table of a noble living in Middle Earth.

"I have heard stories of your inventiveness" mentioned Bellegere Otherys "But I had no idea you were such a craftsman".

My talents were many thanks to the CYOA and my own hard work.

"I studied under a master jewelsmith between my travels" I explained "As well as a few talented blacksmiths".

Lady Otherys invited me to sit with her on the deck of her barge as my guards kept watch. We would be seen by the public and that was really the point of this meeting.

Bellegere was ready to become a proper courtesan and so she needed to be seen spending time with an important man, or at least one who was considered suitable company for an unproven courtesan.

A servant took my gift below deck as we sat and then we began to talk.

"My mother told me that you are not one for any needless talk," said Bellegere.

This was the case.

"In my homeland businessmen have a saying: Time is money" I informed the courtesan "Time should not be wasted with needless talk when we have important business to discuss".

Bellegere seemed amused by that.

"How uncouth," she commented.

I'd know that my lack of respect for the Game of Thrones as it was played here in Braavos would make things harder for me. But it wasn't making me enemies because of my sheer wealth and power.

In my experience the richer you are the more eccentric you can get away with acting.

A serving girl poured us some wine and I sipped at it.

"I'll be blunt then" offered Bellegere Otherys "I'm sure my mother has already somewhat explained what I require from you".

She had given me a few details.

"You need to be seen with me at a few public events," I said "I'm a trial run of sorts before you take up the mantle of Black Pearl. Someone for you to perfect your skills with".

I wasn't offended by this as being seen with Bellegere Otherys would also lead to me becoming more accepted here in Braavos. It was a win-win situation for both of us.

"Correct," said the courtesan "But do not think of yourself as a wooden training sword for a boy who wished to be a knight. This is serious and I intended to play my role to the full".

This meant we could end up having sex as that part of being a courtesan even if it was only a small part of the job.

"We'll attend a play together soon," said Bellegere "And then you will escort me to some gathering. After that you should host a party for me to be seen at".

I'd not enjoyed my dinner with the magisters, it had been a chore that needed to be done not a pleasure, and this party would be the same.

Maybe I should have a name-day celebration for Danny. Her name-day, which was the closest thing they had to a birthday in this world was unknown, but since Danny was born sometime in 284 AC and it was currently early in 290 AC, then perhaps it was time for her to turn six years old.

A children's party would not only allow me to dote on Danny as a good father sometimes did, but it would also be an excuse to invite other important families with young children for networking.

We could keep the children's entertainment separate from the adult gathering and talk business while the kids were kept busy.

"I can arrange a party," I assured the important woman.

The details were easy enough to work out between us and there was always some play being shown. Braavos, much like Italy during the renaissance period, had playhouses and productions. More lowbrow stuff for the commoners and highbrow (ie boring) plays for the elite.

If I'd had a collection of Shakespeare's work I could have altered them for the local culture and published them as my own.

My book of all human knowledge did contain summaries of all his plays and brief breakdowns of characters, so it wouldn't be much work to outline a story and then get an actual playwright to do the work for me.

Perhaps I needed someone to serve as many co-writer, a known playwright who needed ideas? It was something more to think about when I got home.

After making our plans I made an excuse to leave so that I could head over to the House of Black and White. The temple to the many-faced god of death as I had business with the Faceless Men.

Spoiler

[img: https/images6./image/photos/38400000/5x02-The-House-of-Black-and-White-game-of-thrones-38404786-4928-3280.jpg]

When I knocked on the massive set of double doors, one white and one black, I was invited in after making the right greeting.

"Valar Morghulis" I said

That was High Valyrian for 'All men must die'.

"Valar Dohaeris," the robed man said.

This was the traditional response it meant 'All men must serve'.

"I need to speak to someone in authority," I said.

One of the things I was supposed to collect was an iron coin that acted as a special token. Sadly you couldn't simply buy them so I needed to come to the source to get one.

But first I needed to spread the gift of death to a few people that I simply didn't wish to go after myself due to the many demands on my time.

"We do not have a high priest," said the man I was speaking to "Not as a man understands".

While I'd not known that I did know that for a price, the guild will agree to kill anyone in the known world, considering this contract to be a sacrament of their god. The act of assassination was holy for them.

The price is always high, but it should be within the means of the person if they are willing to make the sacrifice. The cost of their services also depends on the prominence and security of the target.

"I have a list of people who I wish to receive the Gift of Men," I said.

That was mortal death was known in Middle Earth. Elves were bound to Arda while humans got to move on and experience free will while alive. Where they went after death no one knew, perhaps they got to go to some sort of heaven.

"Death is the gift of the many-faced god," said the robed man.

I didn't disagree.

"In a land, I visited the Gift of Man is given by Ilúvatar to his children" I explained, "He gave them both life and death, for one can not exist without the other".

The robed man nodded.

"A man is wise," he said "Life means nothing without death".

That was why one door was white and one was black, at least in view, death is black, life is white, and the two are part of the whole. Although I suspected the symbolism meant different things for different people. There's no official dogma for this faith.

The Faceless Men had an interesting history dating back to the mines of the Valyrian Freehold when the first Faceless Men would end the suffering of the slaves not by killing the master, but by killing the slaves who were ill, they brought death to those who suffered, for those whom life was no longer bearable.

"These are the names I wish to receive the gift" I explained.

Carefully I handed over a list of names.

"I don't expect you to accept every name," I said "And none were chosen lightly".

Thanks to my research and knowledge from the show/books I knew that The Faceless Men use a variety of methods to kill their targets.

The assassination technique of a Faceless Man is refined and they will take their time so as to make sure only their target dies. They are a precise tool of death.

Their fees for such services are higher for more important targets because their protection makes it harder for the assassins to make a clean kill.

This is why no one has paid to have Tywin Lannister killed despite how many people loathe and fear him. I doubted that anyone other than himself could afford to have him murdered by the Faceless Men.

"The price for many of these names will be too high for a man to pay," informed the robed man.

As expected. I just wanted to take some names off my list of targets

"I understand," I said, "I will pay a fair price for the names you deem suitable to receive the gift from the Faceless Men".

This seemed acceptable.

"A man knows this Petyr Balish, he will receive the gift," said the robed man "Once the gift is given we can select another".

I wasn't hiring hitmen, they wouldn't just go and whack some people for me. The price for Littlefinger wasn't high since he was a rather minor lord in an unimportant position.

"Then I'll return when you inform me that the gift is given" I stated.

It would take some time to work down the list, but that was okay I wasn't in any rush and there were plenty of people out there I wanted to deal with personally.

When I enquired about acquiring an iron coin I was surprised to hear that it would be possible for me to obtain the collectable.

"A coin is favour" the robed man explained "If a man wishes our favour he must provide a service for the Many-Faced God"

It wasn't hard to guess what they wanted me to do.

"Give me the name," I said.

It was someone on my list and I would have done it for free.

"A man has failed to give the gift to the Mountain that Rides" admitted the robed priest "This does not please the Many-Faced God".

The false knight Gregor Clegane would soon die.

"It could get messy," I told the worshipper of death "I never leard to be No One".

Perhaps I should spend some of my points on getting an assassin companion?

"You are not Faceless," said the robed man "A man is a warrior and must act as one. We only ask that you shed no more blood than is required.

They wanted The Mountain dead and didn't much care how it got done as long as collateral damage was kept limited. As such an assault on the knight's keep wouldn't work. I would need to get him out in the open. I doubted that the baby murderer was the time to sit at home so it shouldn't be too much work.

For a moment I wondered how this priest knew I was a warrior, and then I realised that he must have gotten my backstory of being a sellsword/treasure hunter from someone. The Faceless Men would be total fools if they didn't get track of the major players in this city.

Plus anyone with decent observation skills could see that I was a fighter. It could be seen in my movements and I was clearly no useless inbred noble.

"It will be done soon" I promised.

With that, I left to go do some scrying. I had a mountain to break and thankfully just the axe to do it with.

ASOIAF 18

I decided against adding a new character for now as while the MC could do with an assassin companion I can't make up my mind who to pick because good arguments have been made both for and against the many choices that have been presented to me.

Plus I realised that adding a new character would subtract from the story at this point. I'm trying to give the harem more screen time, as it were, to flesh them out as people and to improve my writing. A new character would make that harder to achieve.

Team Builder

Part 48

Manse. Braavos.

While Asha Greyjoy, or rather simply Yara as she was known now, did not enjoy this sort of party, there wasn't enough drinking for starters, she was in a good mood and had been for a good long time.

Sure most of her family were dead, but she'd never liked any of them anyway, aside from her mother's brother, who had not even been at Pyke when the others had been killed.

She hadn't even really liked her Theon, her youngest brother as he'd always been a whiny git, but she'd have been sad if the brat had been harmed. Having him adopted into a family to start a new life was an unexpected kindness from her master that she was grateful for.

Her life here in Braavos was so far proving to be much more enjoyable than it had been back when she'd lived in the Iron Islands which were really just a bunch of rocks populated by a load of bastards when you thought about it.

She didn't have an angry father to worry about anymore or a crazy uncle to fear, nor did she need to worry about her gender as here in Braavos being a woman didn't stop you from being successful in your own right. Not if you were really driven.

Even the daughter of the Iron Island's Lord Paramount didn't have much in the way of luxury when compared to living in a Magister's household in the city-state of Braavos.

While this party was meant to celebrate the sixth birthday of Daenys Dovahkiin, who Yara knew to have once been Daenerys Targaryen, it had become an event to also celebrate Marek's rise to what passed for nobility in this city.

That had come as a surprise and a pleasant one for the whole group since it would help in their mission to uplift her world. Something important to Marek more than anyone else.

Not that Yara fully understood everything involved in an uplift, but she knew enough to know that it would be a lot of work and she would play her small part as best she could.

It was the Black Pearl, that fancy whore who had made it possible for Marek to become the newest Magister of Braavos. She'd considered aiding Marek in his rise to power as returning a favour.

Yara couldn't help being impressed by a woman who had that sort of power. Elevating Marek shouldn't be so easy even if he was wealthy and had already made a few important allies.

That Marek partly owned his new position to the popularity of the vodka drink seemed to amuse the Dragonborn even if it made a lot of sense to Yara.

The spirit had become popular very quickly and not just due to the novelty. People like to mix vodka with other drinks and the snobs at this party were consuming vodka mixed with chilled fruit juices.

Demand had already far outstripped supply even with Hermione using her witchcraft to increase the supplies. Marek had explained as best he could about how that worked, but Yara hadn't grasped it.

What mattered was that the spirit was a source of income and that the increasing demand meant that the business was expanding. Being a Magister allowed Marek to control the produce and sale of Vodka so soon more coin would be filling their coffers.

As she sipped her own goblet, Marek came over having excused himself from a group of young women made up of the single daughters and young unmarried sisters of the other Magisters. It wasn't hard to guess what they were interested in.

None of them was good enough to be Marek's wife, a man like him deserved as many as consorts as he desired and could claim. He'd paid the iron price and taken Yara for himself as a man should.

Being dragged off to serve as a sort of saltwife to a man who lived in a Free City hadn't been Yara's dream, but she respected Marek for having the strength to claim her.

"I made the arrangements," said the Dragonborn.

Yara knew what he was referring to without her master (something she knew not to call him out loud, having to say anything further even if he did feel the need to discuss it.

"The shipwrights have agreed to build us a new kind of ship," he said.

Marek had been interested in building a seagoing vessel called a galleon, and the design had impressed Yara, but she hadn't considered the logicists of the project as the cost should not have been a concern for them.

The shipwrights had simply been unwilling to take the risks involved in building such a ship, even with the promise of generous payments, not without the backing of the Iron Bank and some of the Magisters.

Shipwrights in this city had a lot of obligations and many investors to keep happy. They couldn't simply abandon centuries-old practices and change their methods. Not with proper support.

That Braavos had to import all of its wood didn't help with pushing forward designs for much larger seagoing vessels either.

Now that Marek was a Magister himself, and not just because the Black Pearl wanted him to be, the shipwrights of this city were more willing to try something new.

"Which design did they approve?" Yara asked.

She would get to captain this new ship once it was built as long as she served as an officer on another trading vessel for a time to prove herself.

"The Flute or the Fluyt to use its proper name," Marek told her "Although I imagine they'll change the name".

That ship was designed to be a trading vessel. It was not built to be a warship, just to carry cargo and sail with a small crew to keep costs low. Although it could be armed and carry more crew if it needed to at cost of giving up cargo space.

"Building the first flute is going to take a while" informed Marek "It will be a few months before they start, but once they get going the Arsenal won't stop until the ship is ready to sail".

Yara knew that the Arsenal houses the defence fleet of Braavos and that it was the centre of shipbuilding for the city-state. It was home to many quays, docks, and a shipyard for war galleys.

The Arsenal's war galleys are all constructed with the same design, allowing shipbuilders to work on separate parts at the same time and thereby create a galley in a single day or so they claimed.

Because of this building, a ship with a new design greatly slowed things down, but it would get done and Marek could throw enough money at the Arsenal to make sure they kept at it.

"So I guess I'll be busy for a while" Yara reasoned.

Trips between Braavos and Gulltown weren't long or dangerous, at least not when compared to other voyages, but she'd need to cram in as many as she could before her own was ready so she wouldn't see Marek for a while.

Not only did she need to be known as a skilled sailor, but she also needed to spend time with sailors from Braavos so that she better understood them. That would help when she had to keep a crew of them in line when she was a captain.

"You will" the Dragonborn confirmed "So I'll see you in my room later for a proper goodbye".

This night now promised to be much more fun for the young pirate.

Manse. Braavos.

Hermione Granger was not the most sociable of people so she'd decided to excuse herself from the party for a while so as to retreat to her own study/workshop.

Her study/workshop was not as large or cluttered as Marek's nor did she have a forge outside, as she did not craft magical objects, however, it was still a well-used space within the manse.

She spent her time here researching the culture, history and magic of this world so as to better understand it. So far she hadn't liked much of what she'd found out about.

This space also sometimes served as a classroom for little Danny who was a wonderful student. Hermione predicted that Daenerys Targaryen, or rather Daenys Dovahkinn, could go on to do great things.

She was far smarter than her brother, his rash actions proved that, and even without Hermione's guidance she could have gone far. With the proper education and advice, she'd do much better than her book/show counterpart that Marek had told her about.

Hermione also used this room as her own personal library and this made her happy. She had a wide collection of books here from a few different worlds.

A few were from her own world, some came from Middle Earth or parts of this planet. She even had books that Marek had acquired from some sort of demonic merchant that came from a universe she'd never been to that the Dragonborn called the Elder Scrolls verse.

Thanks to the strange way the CYOA worked she could read all of these books, as well as the ones she kept hidden, and while she was grateful for this it would be nice if she could read every book she encountered.

She was working on a translation spell, but it was slow going because she often found herself distracted by her other studies or by what was going on around her.

At other times this room became a potions lab. This world didn't have much in the way of magical plants or animals from which potion ingredients could be obtained, but there were some and likely more than she hadn't discovered yet.

Hermione reminded herself again to send Ciri out to fill a jar with leaves from a Weirwood tree. The Witcher wasn't that busy of a person and could apparate herself and others much further than Hermione was able to.

She looked over the jars she did have filled. The elves of Rivendell had been helpful in securing potion ingredients for Hermione to study thanks to their great knowledge of herblore.

The witch had been cataloguing the magical properties of various plants for a while now as once she understood those properties fully she'd no how to use them in a potion.

It was not easy, as you couldn't always predict how different potion ingredients would react to each other when you weren't following a tried and tested recipe. Nevertheless, she would carry on as it could end up being a very rewarding endeavour.

The few ingredients she had from the Elder Scrolls verse were especially potent and had strange properties that Hermione Granger hoped would lead to some interesting new potions even if her supplies would never allow her to produce many of those concoctions.

Perhaps she'd find a treatment for lycanthropy that would do more than simply suppress the mind of the beast. She might also discover potions that could counter the damage done to the body by dark magic that could not be dealt with by known healing magics of her world.

These projects took up her time, yet they weren't her main concern. Marek worried her the most. He was different than he used to be. He'd never exactly been the heroic type despite his actions, and now he seemed darker than before.

Consuming the soul of that dragon had changed him, and coming to this world didn't help, Planetos, as Marek called it, was not a good place for anyone to be. Some of the things people did her would shock even the Death Eaters.

Things had been simpler in Middle Earth back when it had just been the two of them, they'd spent their time studying under the wise elves and helping people, or maybe she'd simply been more naive.

Not she blamed Ciri as while she was more eager to perform violence than Hermione she was a good person. She blamed if that was the right word, this universe more than anything else as it seemed more like a hell than a world.

All Hermione could do was try to advise the Dragonborn so that he didn't go too far when it came to carrying out his plans.

At least he hadn't started laying waste to everything he saw as wicked, and if he did start doing that Hermione wasn't sure how much she'd protest given how downright evil the people running this world could be.

She reminded herself that some of Marek's plans would do a little good. He was planning on setting up a hospital here in the city. Also, he had ideas for a new orphanage as the current one was over capacity and in need of improvements.

Okay so maybe they could do more than a little good in this world and Hermione would help as best she could as really it was all she could do aside from focusing on her studies.

She knew that her real work would begin when they ventured into her world, and once there she'd be very busy, so she would make an effort to enjoy her time in this world if only because she had a chance to focus on her studies and try to be a teacher for Danny.

ASOIAF 19

I just realised that I'm now coming up on fifty thousand likes and I didn't even notice. I remember how pleased I was when I got ten thousand likes. How times change.

Team Builder

Part 49

House. Personal Pocket Dimension.

Spoiler

[img: https/images./im-559936]

"It's a lot fancier than I was expecting," I admitted to Ciri and Hermione.

Danny would have heard that comment as well if she hadn't rushed off into the garden just for the sake of being able to run around. She displayed the enthusiasm for such things that comes naturally to a six-year-old girl.

Feeding her a Sweetroll, the recipe for which I'd gotten from a book obtained from the Daedra Merchant, might not have been a good idea as she was going to take some time to burn off the sugar.

Of course, I'd needed to test the recipe before I sold it to the Baker's Guild in Braavos for a share of the profits from selling the treats and since it was aimed at children she'd been a suitable taste tester.

As for the pocket dimension, I'd finally collected enough of the objects the ROB wanted me to go after to be able to afford to buy my own pocket dimension as I'd planned to do for a while since I wanted somewhere out of sight to raise the dragons.

"Value for money I guess," said Ciri.

Cost: 7

A dimensional key to a safe pocket space, about a mile and a half across in size, with land, a small forest, a hill and a little lake. There is already a comfortable house there, which comes with a stockpile of supplies and basic facilities but can be expanded in size by your own home improvements. Purchasing the option again increases the available space by the size of the original space.

I read over the entry again, it only mentioned that the house would be comfortable, stocked with supplies and have basic facilities.

As promised there was a hill, a lot of trees, and a lake, assuming that the house was in the centre of the little universe then a person should be able to walk for a mile and a half in any direction before coming to the edge of this reality.

I should check that and ensure that there was a barrier at the edge before I leave, just in case Danny ever goes off exploring and falls off the edge into an abyss or something like that.

That sounded like the sort of thing that would cause me to fail my CYOA mission of being a good parent to my adopted daughter. Besides Danny was rather cute, it would be a shame if I lost her.

Why the house was so large become apparent to the three of us, Yara was off on a sea voyage, once we got inside the property. There were a few servants here, a maid, a cook, and a gardener.

As well as a person who I assumed to be either the butler or some sort of steward who would take charge of looking after the property, and they were all women who were pleasing to look at.

"Welcome Master Marek, Mistress Hermione, Mistress Cirilia" they greeted.

This explained the size of the place. These people needed a place to sleep and their own facilities. The back of the house was most likely made up of some small apartments since the house was quite modern in style.

"Just call me Ciri" the witcher insisted.

She wasn't one for titles. I got the sense that didn't like them because she hadn't earned any of them. Although she had certainly earned the right to be referred to as a witcher as far I was concerned.

"Yes, Mistress Ciri," they said.

Before she could try to encourage them to drop the Mistress part, the head servant stepped forward.

"The governess has gone to find Mistress Daenys" I was informed.

I was really getting value for my money with this place, or rather value for points.

"Good, that means we can leave Danny here if things get dangerous," said Hermione.

The Manse in Braavos was protected by a magical idol, but its protection wasn't absolute, it didn't prevent thievery and if Viserys came back he might be able to leave with his sister if he didn't intend any harm when he came for her.

I wouldn't put it past the Beggar King to try to take his sister so as to use her as part of some insane scheme. He was only a little better than his father and might have been worse if he'd ever claimed the throne.

Plus the protection only spread out over a certain area and as Danny got older she'd be more tempted to go off into the city to explore on her own or to go find ways of rebelling against the authority figures in her life by hanging out with untrustworthy people.

She might be six now, but she'd be a teenager before long as children in this world grew up fast.

Best to keep here her when we were all busy elsewhere and I wanted her to spend time with the dragons as they responded to her from the start. She was after all a Targaryen even if she couldn't use that name.

As we looked around the house, Ciri going off on her own, Hermione and I discussed our plans for hatching the dragons. The house was well-furnished and modern even if it was rather basic in some respects.

It could be improved upon easily enough and I had another study/workshop here for when I wanted to work on projects that would be best kept out of sight.

When I took a seat inside that study my witch handed me some papers that were filled with notes from her research into the dragons of this world. She'd worked for many hours to gather these findings. She'd again proven her worth to be with her hard work and attention to detail.

We'd collected some different sources of information, locally written books, and I had memories from the book/show that had been able to help refine the plan to hatch the eggs.

"Are you certain about this?" I had to ask.

One couldn't take chances when it came to hatching dragons.

"Yes, Marek," said Hermione "I have gone through everything that we've been able to find out about the dragons of this world, I've compared the information to what I know about the dragons of my world. I learned a lot about them during my 1st and 4th years at Hogwarts".

I assumed that had to do with the dragon that the Gamekeeper known as Hagrid managed to acquire when Hermione went to Hogwarts during her first year and during her fourth year Harry Potter faced off against a dragon as the first task of the Trizward Tournament so she would have found out all she could about them so as to help Harry prepare.

"Ciri told me about the dragons of her world as well, and after I put everything together I'm almost totally certain that this will work," Hermione told me.

After the extinction of their dragons back in 153 AC, the Targaryens made numerous attempts to hatch the dragon eggs left behind. King Aegon III Targaryen, known as the Dragonsbane, sent away for nine mages from Essos at the suggestion of his Hand. However, the attempt to use their magic to kindle a clutch of eggs was a failure.

King Baelor I Targaryen prayed over his eggs, while other Targaryens sought to hatch theirs with sorcery, and others had maesters study them.

The Tragedy of Summerhall has been blamed on King Aegon V Targaryen's attempt to hatch dragons. During his reign, King Aerys II Targaryen tried to hatch dragons from the eggs that had been found in the depths of Dragonstone, some of which had turned to stone because of their great age, but his attempts yielded nothing.

Due to the disaster at Summerhall, my consort had come up with an idea about hatching only one dragon at a time so as to reduce the danger.

We would be sharing them between three people. Myself, Dany and Ciri, Hermione didn't enjoy flying and Yara was a woman of the sea so dragons would be suitable for them.

Hermione's logic for having Dany, Ciri and I hatch the eggs made sense in a number of ways, to start with there was that old saying, something about the dragon needing three heads.

Also, she mentioned Aegon the Conquerer and how he'd conquered the Seven Kingdoms with three great dragons, Balerion, Vhagar and Meraxes. One ridden by him the other by his two sister-wives.

Ciri, who was a real-life warrior princess, had the sword Dark Sister (which was more suited to a woman's hand than Nightfall) as Danny couldn't yet use it and Ciri would return it to its rightful owner when she was older.

Visenya Targaryen, one of Aegon's sister-wives had wielded Dark Sister, been a warrior and she'd ridden a dragon into battle. Ciri was my Visenya.

Rhaenys Targaryen, who had been the youngest sister of King Aegon I Targaryen, hadn't been a warrior like Visenya, or at least not as much of a fighter as her siblings. Although she too had been a dragon rider.

She'd been more into music, dancing, and poetry. Things that Danny had a taste for so she'd be my Rhaenys although a daughter rather than a sister.

This sort of thing mattered to magic when it came to such powerful rituals. History could also repeat in certain patterns.

If my witch had worked things out correctly using advanced Arithmancy, stuff beyond my understanding, it should be possible for a non-Targaryen to hatch and ride a dragon.

Which wasn't as insane as it might sound because dragons and dragon riders had both been around long before House Targaryen or any Valyrian noble house.

The idea was that since the first dragon-riders would have been Valyrian shepherds rather than powerful magic users they must have been able to tame the dragons without using spells.

Perhaps in the way that Dany had in the show, by stepping into the fire that birthed them along with offerings of flesh and blood. How they survived such a thing I could only guess.

I wondered if the Valyrias just stood around a pyre and let the dragons crawl out of the fire, then bound with a human who could later ride them.

Dany in the show had sacrificed three people, but not three lives since her child had been stillborn. So perhaps only fire and blood were needed. If so then Fire And Blood being the words of House Targaryen now made much more sense.

My witch theorised that the dragons could have imprinted on Danny simply because she was the first living they saw after they were hatched and really did think that she was their mother rather than because of her bloodline.

Although the bloodline did matter since Jon Snow was able to ride a dragon as well. Perhaps the creatures were able to sense that Danny and Jon were related and accepted him as part of the pack in some sense.

What mattered was that dragons were tamed before there were any Valyrian bloodlines so anyone should be able to hatch a dragon's egg and tame a dragon if they knew what they were doing.

Being magical mattered as well. According to Hermione, the dragons of her world were somewhat controllable by wizards not just because the wizards could contain them but because dragons respond to magic in some way.

The tricky part would be the fire as you would need to be there when the egg hatched to be totally sure the dragon bonded to you.

Thankfully there was a potion that made a witch or wizard able to withstand fire for a time, this was the same potion Harry Potter used when he went to stop Quirrilmort from taking the Philosopher's Stone. Dany wouldn't need it in theory, but Ciri and I both would.

How the first dragon-riders managed to figure out all of this we had no clue. Perhaps they'd had some help from a higher power or they'd taken the knowledge from some people already living with the dragons who had been peaceful. It could have even been trial and error.

"So I was thinking of you taking an animal, making it drink the Draught of Living Death and then making that creature the offering" Hermione was now saying to me "You should take the egg that contains Drogo, or whatever you want to call him, and after taking the right potion you can step into the fire and wait for him to hatch. Hopefully, the dragon will imprint on you".

The Draught of Living Death is an extremely powerful Sleeping Draught, which went taken will send the drinker into a deathlike slumber. Its effects are similar to suspended animation, and it would be the most humane way to offer up an animal sacrifice since while under the effects of the potion the beasts would feel nothing, and we could animals that would be slaughtered as livestock for the sacrifice.

Khal Drogo had been mindless when he burned, Danny's son had been dead, and that woman she burned had certainly been alive and she'd no blood connection to Danny, so there didn't seem a particular kind of sacrifice required as long as flesh and blood were offered.

I didn't think a human sacrifice would be needed since wild dragons would have needed to hatch their own eggs before the Valyrians tamed them and there wouldn't have always been any humans around for them to grab.

They would have been been able to bring animals to their lairs and then burn them along with the eggs so as to hatch their offspring. That seemed like something even an animal could figure out.

"It might also help to mark your egg with your blood at the start of the ritual" my consort advised, "Blood is very potent in such rituals, but I wouldn't normally advise using blood with magic"

Blood magic was not something I approved of people using outside of extreme circumstances as it was considered to be one of the dark arts for good reasons. it could be a slippery slope leading to other dark things. But Hermione wouldn't suggest its use if it wasn't worth it.

Since I could summon a dragon then hatching a few might not seem important, however, flying on the back of a dragon that wasn't going to vanish when a summoning spell ran its course, was just too tempting a prospect to pass up.

"I think we should perform the ritual in a desert," I said "And do so at dawn as you advise in your notes".

Having the dragons be born during the dawn would add to the symbolism of the ritual as far as I understood these things. Deserts were connected to fire in mystical terms as was the sun.

"I'll go steal the eggs" I decided.

They were Danny's by right and since Targaryens were known to place dragon eggs in a baby's cradle I felt sure she could handle a baby dragon as long as she was supervised.

ASOIAF 20

I got this done sooner than expected.

Team Builder

Part 50

Manse. Braavos.

"Not so long ago you were the one going around giving out gifts and designs to people, and now they are coming here to beg for favours from you" commented Ciri.

This was both amusing and satisfying for me I had to admit. Now that I had obtained the rank of Magister I was the elite and people sought me out.

Due to my power as well as my wealth, influence and riches, I had people coming to me to ask for favours or to offer tribute to me. As they should.

Ciri wasn't very interested in business affairs so I imagined that she'd leave before they were over to go find something else to do, such as drum up some more support for her Gwent tournament now that the game had gained some following here in Braavos.

I imagined that the local artists were kept quite busy making the cards.

As a Magister, I was equal to a lord in Westeros, answerable only to the Sealord, my peers, and keyholders of the bank who could be considered lords as well.

This meant I could do things like pass judgment on crimes, settle minor disputes that weren't worth taking to the Sealord, and make more important business deals.

"This is to be expected for a new Magister," said Tycho Nestoris.

The banker had served as both an account manager as well as a liaison between myself and the Iron Bank. Now that I was someone of greater importance the bank was taking even more of an interest in me.

This made sense as the Iron Bank was at the centre of all finical transactions in this city that involved more money than you could fit in a pocket.

They stored wealth, offered loans, sent thugs to collect on debts, gave out advice, and ensured that the Sealord got what was due to him. They also acted as middlemen between parties involved in important trade deals. Nestoris was here to represent the bank's interest and to offer advice.

As a Magister, I was now responsible for more than just selling my own products and buying what I needed to run my businesses.

I not only had control over the entire vodka trade within the city, but I was also expanding overseas since I now had greater means of production, thanks to the new stills, more of which needed to be set up.

Also, I was partly responsible for the soothe running businesses here within the city as the Magisters of Braavos oversaw nearly all trade and had great influence over what was imported and exported.

The guilds ran the actual businesses, and they paid up to me even though the authority of the Magisters over the guilds was limited.

It was a more complex system than in Westeros where the Paramounts answered to the king, the lesser lords to the Paramount and the knights served different lords and kept the smallfolk in line.

I answered directly to the Sealord, but he needed my support to stay in power, and I should only need to get directly involved in the overall trade network if there was a problem in bringing into the city certain resources or troubles in exporting products.

Braavos hadn't suffered from riots or serious shortages for a while now and I knew that we had a long summer ahead so there shouldn't be too much for me to do once I'd dealt with any issues that were presented to me today. I hoped that this wouldn't drag on and the banker picked up on that.

"Once you've finished with the petitioners you'll be free to focus on your own business interests" Tycho Nestoris assured me.

I planned to head to Westeros soon as King Robert was hosting a massive tourney that would welcome even foreigners to Kingslanding, not that I intended to say in the city, but I did intend to fight and win the melee so that I would gain some respect in the Seven Kingdoms.

Since I wasn't a knight I couldn't joust even if I knew how to as only knights are allowed to. That would have gotten me more attention, but winning the melee should be enough since I didn't want to upset some of the high lords by knocking their knights off horses.

That combined with acquiring some land so that I could claim a lordship should make doing business with those savages much easier and would have to get some of them on my side in order to start advancing those savages.

I assumed that Robert wanted a massive tourney so that it would distract from the fact that he's lost the Iron Throne, in the most literal sense, and to help people forget that he didn't end the rebellion, I'd ended it, and he would want to distract people from talk of dragons as well as sea monsters.

Hopefully, things wouldn't drag on here as I wanted to try hatching the dragons tonight, or rather tomorrow morning as it would be morning in the Red Wastes where the ritual would be performed. I had to make sure that our ritual closely followed Danny's from the book/show so it made sense to go to that desert.

"Who is first?" I asked.

I'd set up the ballroom as an audience chamber for today's meetings and I'd gotten myself a fancy chair to help make me look more important. Tycho Nestoris was set up some distance away at a desk that he had brought here.

He was partly hidden by stacks of parchments, books of accounts, scrolls and a few things that looked to be some variation on the abacus. I should look into devices that were an improvement upon those if such a thing existed outside of an electronic calculator.

It pleased me that he was using one of the few pens I'd provided to the bank. I'd sold the patent for the design to a guild that specialised in supplying quills, ink and parchment for free so as to butter them up, but I could still make my own pens as long as I didn't sell them.

Hermione had her setup as well. She wanted to ensure that we kept all of our records. I'd also spent my last point on a team that would make managing my business interests much easier. They would keep more records and keep track of deals made.

Secretaries

Cost: 1

A team of secretaries to handle all your number-crunching, pencil-pushing, and bureaucratic needs.

Even once I collected the rest of the items that ROB wanted me to go after I wouldn't have many points left so I would have to be very careful about what I spent my points on.

The secretaries were not a waste as they could handle the day-to-day affairs for me and even if they were anything like the maids and the highlander band their numbers would grow as required.

"A number of gentlemen wish to discuss the pipeweed trade" informed Hermione.

Since I now had a pocket dimension with plenty of open space I could grow pipeweed. Growing non-magical plants quickly was easy when you had magical potions made by Hermione to promote growth and a great deal of elvish herblore.

I was growing pipeweed fast enough and in large enough amounts to start selling it to the elite of Braavos. Oddly no one questioned how it got into the city, but to be fair there was a lot of trade going on here.

The Iron Bank doesn't ask me where my money comes from as long as I'm storing plenty of it in their vaults and I pay my taxes/bribes so no one can complain. But that is what makes it such a successful Free City there's very little you can't trade in around here.

The visitors were invited in and I could tell by their clothes that they were middle-class types. A couple looked like craftsmen, but not young ones, nor were they labourers used to moving heavy goods if I was any judge. Woodworkers perhaps?

Given their interest in pipeweed, it made sense that they'd be interested in making pipes as well as handling the tobacco. That would require men who knew how to carve wood.

"Magister Marek Dovahkiin" one of the men greeted.

I did so like that title.

"As I understand you want to discuss the pipewood trade," I said.

Such as it was. I was trying to generate interest as I gathered and stored enough seed so as to make it worth growing in large amounts and that would require purchasing farmland as well as labour or hiring farmers to grow it for me.

Just using the land in my pocket dimension would keep supplies low even with me being able to rapidly grow the flowers. Not ideal as I wanted the trade to carry on after I left this world.

"Yes, Magister," said their spokesperson "We are looking to open our own guild".

That was surprising. Even in Braavos, such change wasn't easy to bring about and people were more adaptable than elsewhere, at least in my view.

"Only the Sealord can authorise the creation of a new guild" stated Tycho Nestoris.

And he wouldn't dare do that without the approval of a few powerful Magisters and the Iron Bank. Hence why these gentlemen had come to me as a new group. If I liked their idea and would support it then others would approve.

"There would be little point asking his permission if the guild has nothin' to produce" pointed out the spokesperson.

The banker nodded signalling his approval of their logic.

"So you want to set up a guild that controls the processing and selling of pipeweed here in Braavos," I said "Is that correct Mr..".

That sounded reasonable to me as while it would diminish my profits it would reduce my workload by quite a lot and ensure that the trade could carry on without me.

"I am Jaereo Aenen," he said "And we'd like to handle the exporting as well, Magister Dovahkinn. We have contacts in the farms outside of the city that will grow the pipeweed for us if we can invest, but it would be better if had more than one source".

Braavos isn't just a city, within the lands the city-state controls there are mines, lumber camps, small fishing villages and lots of farms. It is risky to invest in them because the Free Cities are in competition with each other so they will war over lands with sellsword armies and bandits are always a problem.

Because of this a lot of raw materials are imported from Westeros, processed here, turned into some sort of product and then sold back to Westeros.

I'd been considering having some lord in the Reach grow the pipeweed for me. The new guild would need me to set up such a deal for them since I could bribe a lord easily to do growing for us using his land and smallfolk.

"Aside from this costing you a considerable amount as an investment you'd lose control of the trade," warned Tycho Nestoris.

But I didn't want to control the trade, my purpose was to advance this world. Creating a new guild meant new jobs, new people coming up with ideas and more trade.

"It could be worth it in the long run," I said to the banker "And the existing guilds aren't really suited for managing the pipeweed trade. A new guild is required if pipeweed is to become a successful commodity".

The spokesperson of the group seemed to like what he was hearing.

"There is the matter of the Sourleaf Guild" stated Tycho Nestoris "It's not a powerful guild, but they could appeal to the Sealord and be awarded control of the pipeweed trade within the city".

I knew sourleaf to be a foul-tasting plant that's leaves are chewed in a similar fashion to chewing tobacco. Chewing the stuff causes a pinkish froth to form on your lips and it involved a lot of spitting.

Chewing sourleaf stains one's mouth and turns the teeth blood red, causing people who chew sourleaf to have unpleasant smiles.

"That guild has never been profitable," said one of my visitors "Few people around here like the stuff".

I soon had an idea.

"Mr Nestories would it be possible for me to buy the Sourleaf Guild and combine it with this new Pipeweed Guild?" I asked, "I could hand over control of it to these gentlemen in exchange for a greater percentage of the profits in the future".

The banker gave it some thought.

"Expanding an existing guild is a much simpler

process than setting up a new one," he said, "Fewer fees to start with. The Sealord would need to approve, but with your support Magister Dovahkinn, and that of the Iron Bank, such a thing is mere formality".

Setting up a new guild would be a better legacy, but my business empire was growing nicely and the uplift was more important than making me money.

"So you'll fund the new guild?" the spokesperson asked.

It seemed like a good idea. Risky, but acquiring more wealth wasn't much trouble for me.

"Yes," I said.

Tycho Nestoris instructed them to go to the Iron Bank tomorrow so a contract could be set up. I wouldn't be the only person interested in this new guild and the Bank might want to invest as well.

More visitors soon came. The Bakers Guild, one of the most powerful factions in the city, promised me a reduction in the prices that I paid for their goods, and

I gifted them the recipe for different kinds of pizza as it would appeal to the rich who wanted something new to try and it didn't cost me anything to send them another little tidbit.

The Blacksmith Guild dropped off a nice rapier like those used by the duellists in this city. The others just offered some money or fancy goods. I got a nice vase from the Potters Guild. Another discount game from the Seamstress Guild.

My fellow Magisters sent lavish gifts of silks, salt, spices, cheese, wine and fruits. All of which were taken away by the maids. As Hermione had mentioned earlier it wasn't so long ago that I'd been the one sending them bits of treasure so as to curry favour. How times change.

Ciri took some wine and went off to her room.

"Next we have an emissary from Illyrio Mopatis" I was told.

Mopastis is an established merchant-prince and a Magister of the Free City of Pentos. I was a new merchant-lord so that meant Illyrio had much more

influence and wealth than myself, or at least influence.

I knew of him because he hosts the Targaryens at the start of the books/movies.

"Magister Marek Dovahkinn," said the emissary from Pentos "My Master, Illyrio Mopatis, the Merchant-Prince of Pentos has sent me to pay tribute to his newest peer".

The chest was the size of a footlocker, it was made of high-quality wood and it had been packed with coins, gems, necklaces, goblets, silver candlesticks, and so on, but it was the stone object in the chest that got my attention.

"Is that a dragon's egg?" asked Hermione.

I'd seen a few. Not just the three I'd stolen from the Sealord, I'd taken one from a minor lord in the Crownlands so as to get a point needed for purchasing the pocket dimension. There were a few left in the world to be found without venturing to Valyria or Asshai, and both of those places were not exactly holiday resorts.

"Time has turned it into stone," said the emissary "But it is still a great treasure".

You can not buy dragon eggs at any price I know because I'd tried to buy one.

"My Master asks for a gift in return, to be allowed to sell vodka in his home city and to his trading partners" I was told.

I looked over at the banker.

"Magister Illyrio does most of his business with the other Free Cities, as well as Slavers Bay" I was told, "He even has ships venturing as far as Qarth. If he agrees to sell vodka eastwards only it would not affect your business".

Aside from selling within the city-state, I was aiming to sell mostly to Westeros. I'd not thought much about shipping the stuff eastwards due to my distaste for slavers and the increased risk of pirate attacks.

However, for the uplift, something did need to be set up to get new goods and ideas moving eastwards.

"My Master anticipated this and will agree if he can sell to the Stepstones," said my guest.

I gave this some thought because if the merchant prince could sell to that island chain then people in the Stepstones could sell the vodka to people in Westeros without violating our agreement. However, moving goods through the Stepstones would raise the prices and result in lost goods as they were havens for pirates as well as smugglers.

To protect my interests I would need to ensure that only my vodka got sold in Kingslanding, Gulltown and White Habour. I might lose the market in Dorne if Illyrio had made arrangements for shipments to get there unmolested via the Stepstones, but that wouldn't be an issue since I had connections to Dorne.

I wondered if the Magister was planning to seek my aid in the plan to put fake Aegon on the throne. He must know I had Danny if he was keeping track of them, or had that plan not begun yet?

Either way, I would need to be careful and keep making sure that Danny was protected. I didn't plan for us to be around by the time she was old enough to be married, but I should still be wary of the Magister.

For now, I would go along with what the wanted as making him an enemy would be most unwise as he could hinder the uplift.

"I agree to these terms," I said.

If that was a real dragon's egg and I was certain it was then it was well worth letting Illyrio Mopatis control the vodka trade in most of Essos and the Stepstones. If something went wrong with the planned ritual then we would still have three eggs, and if it went right then someone who join my team later could be given a dragon.

Even if he got the egg cheaply or stole it then it wasn't a trade that benefited Illyrio Mopatis. No, Danny aside, he wanted more of my ideas and to be able to control the trade of them eastward and I was willing to bet that he'd only send lavish gifts to win me over that he would earn back in trade soon before somehow furthering his fortune.

He thought me easy to impress and I wanted to keep up that illusion since while Illyrio Mopatis would profit more in the long term by controlling so much trade it actually benefited my uplift plan to have someone take care of the trade eastwards and far south while I focused on Braavos and Westeros.

"Come to the bank tomorrow for a contract," said Tycho to my guest.

The rest of my visitors weren't so interesting, but they needed to be dealt with before I made my plans to expand my influence westwards.

ASOIAF 21

Team Builder

Part 51

House. Pocket Dimension.

"Everything is almost ready for your trip," said Natalia Alianovna Romanoff aka The Black Widow "The Grey Wind will be ready for its voyage within the week. You'll be in Kingslanding a few days before the tourney begins".

For a while, I'd been considering adding to my team by forking over points for an assassin so that I didn't have to spend my time going around killing some of the worst assholes in Westeros and in Essos.

The Faceless Men were not the most speedy of assassins even if they were very precise in their work, and the other assassin groups are not trustworthy, they are nothing more than hired thugs, and I had no desire to lower myself to hiring such people.

However, I wasn't able to decide on which of the companions on the list I would choose to be my hidden blade. They all had their strengths and weaknesses, and others I simply didn't know well enough to be sure they'd do a proper job for me.

I'd decided not to pay for an assassin, only to recently change my mind as the situation changed, I ended up choosing the Black Widow from the MCU, only she wasn't going off to kill people for me. No, I had a better use for her skills.

I'd decided to handle the killing myself with Ciri providing transport so that I take out my targets quickly while people thought I was elsewhere. That left no one to look after my business interests, even if I had a gang of secretaries these days.

So I decided to bring in Natalia Alianovna Romanoff, someone who could look after my business interests and take on other roles as needed. Someone used to taking on different roles and could still kick ass.

Sure she had some issues, and this version of her had no desire to talk about her past, at least not yet, but she was a fierce fighter and if she could handle Tony Stark then she could handle me.

I needed someone with her kind of experience who would be willing to tell me off when I was doing something foolish and perhaps even saves me from my own mistakes when brute force or throwing money at someone wasn't an option.

Hermione could have managed this if she'd been able to devote herself to the task, she was smart enough and knew spells that could help her, but she was better suited to research as she wasn't the most

sociable person in my group.

Besides, she spent a lot of her time looking after Danny, brewing potions and collecting information that was important to my plans.

Black Widow was more than just an assassin or spy, she'd taken on a number of roles when going undercover and while I was rather powerful I wasn't so arrogant to assume that I wouldn't benefit from an assistant who could also be my bodyguard at times.

Natalia Romanoff had thrown herself into the role of my assistant and already had a better grasp of business than I did. She advised me to back off for a while and let Braavos settle since I stirred the pot quite a bit since arriving here.

I felt sure that the Iron Bank would have done something if I was damaging the city-state finances, but they didn't know the full scope of my plans and how I planned to change so much.

Natalia did and she'd advised me to slow down, to focus on other matters for a time, and then push the uplift agenda. I still had lots of things I could introduce outside of Braavos.

This allowed me to spend some time doing my own research and hatch our dragons. We now had three of them along with an unhatched egg that I kept secure in the vault that was under this house.

They seemed to respond to magic users better than anyone else so if I got another witch on my team I'd try to bond her to the unhatched dragon.

Ciri had named her green and bronze dragon (this timelines version of Viserion) after the Witcher known as Vesemir who had been someone akin to a grandfather or a beloved Uncle to the young warrior woman. I well recalled her reaction to his death so I knew she'd loved that old witcher.

I had named my dragon, the biggest of the three who was black in colour and already growing larger than his siblings, Shenron, despite his lack of wish granting, and the little dragon seemed to like that name the most out of the ones I'd read from a list.

He was clearly Drogon in the main timeline judging by his size and colouring. I suspected that in a matter of years, he'd be big enough to lay waste to cities. Not that I wanted to destroy any cities.

Danny had alternated between Snuggles and Cuddles for her dragon, not that I judged as I'd given serious thought to naming my familiar Puff after a cartoon dragon, and to be fair her dragon did enjoy its hugs.

After talking with Hermione to get some ideas for names she went with Mushu, a dragon from some kid's movie that my witch remembered fondly. The little dragon was adorable and Danny held it as if the creature were a kitten rather than it being something that would grow up to be a magical flying WMD.

Traditionally, Targaryen princes and princesses received a dragon's egg that was placed in their cradle, allowing them to bond with the dragons as soon as the eggs hatched.

This tradition supposedly started during the reign of King Aegon I Targaryen, when Princess Rhaena Targaryen placed a dragon egg in the cradles of her younger siblings, Jaehaerys and Alysanne shortly after their births. From these two eggs, the dragons Vermithor and Silverwing hatched.

In case this was important I'd gotten Danny to sleep with her dragon's egg before she'd gone into the fire to hatch hers. She'd been just as fireproof at six as she would be in the books/show.

The three eggs had been marked with a little of our blood before we went into the fire to hatch them, this symbolically marked them as ours.

I'd read all the information gathered by Hermione so I knew that newly hatched dragons are about the size of a small cat, but they grow very rapidly, reaching the size of a small dog in about one year, and the size of a small pony in only three or four years. I didn't think ours would need that much time.

The rate at which specific dragons can grow varies from one to the next, but in some recorded cases, dragons can grow big enough to ride after only a few years.

I suspect it has something to do with the bond between dragon and rider. Danny had been bonded more with Drogon than the other two and he'd grown the fastest.

It is unknown at what age dragons reach reproductive maturity and it could be some time before we get a supply of eggs, and oddly there's no record of dragons ever mating in the books we have and dragons reported to be male have laid eggs. To me, it seemed best to let nature take its course when it came time.

Dragons never stop growing as long as they live, and they can live for centuries, though many died in combat before reaching such an age. A fate I hoped our dragons avoided.

The largest Targaryen dragon, Balerion the Black Dread, lived for nearly two centuries and had a skull the size of a carriage. I knew this to be factually true because I had the skull on display in the main room of this house. It was the only room large enough.

"Sorry did you say something?" I asked Black Widow.

Shenron was distracting I'd not paid proper attention to what was being spoken about. The little dragon liked to be near me and he was a baby so that made sense, but he made it hard to get stuff done when he wanted to be fussed over.

"I just wanted you to know that the ship will be ready soon," Widow told me.

That was good news. It was time to head to Westeros to take care of some people and to start making contacts. My trade empire needed to be expanded into the Seven Kingdoms if it was to flourish and that network of trade would allow me to introduce new things into the Sunset Kingdoms.

"It should be the shortest boat trip from Braavos to Kingslanding in history," I said, "At least by cargo ship".

Yara's Grey Wind was faster than other trading vessels and better suited to moving cargo. I hoped that this new class of seagoing vessel would become a common sight over the next few years now that Yars was proving my design to be superior to others.

"Speaking of cargo we'll be carrying a large supply of vodka and pipeweed to sell to the local merchants. The guild you are sponsoring has some interest from a few merchants in Kingslanding who deal in luxury goods" I was informed.

The Guild of Sourleaf and Pipeweed was funded by me for now, and it was really just a larger version of the small guild that had handled Sourleaf. I'd not gotten rid of anyone from the old guild, instead, the whole operation had simply been expanded.

"Good and I'll find someone to start growing the pipeweed while I'm in Westeros," I said.

Natalia was encouraging me to spend more of my time making contacts and focusing on the big picture while she handled the details. So once I had found some lord with farmland she'd make sure a contract was drawn up that was backed by the Iron Bank.

Thanks to portkeys she'd be able to come with me to Kingslanding and still be able to run things here. I didn't intend to stay in the city, it would be best to set up some distance away and let people come to me.

"He sure seems to like it out here," commented the Avenger as we went outside to my forge.

Shenron didn't seem to care for gold, I'd taken him down into the vault and he showed no interest in my treasure, but he liked the forge.

I figured it was because of the fire or the magic I performed here. I'd been out a lot recently collecting all the Valyrian steel could I find so as to forge new swords.

Another reason why Shenron liked this place was that Dragons only eat cooked meat, mutton seemed to be the favourite, and older dragons use their extremely hot dragonflame which they breathe to cook their meat before eating it.

Our dragons didn't have enough fire for that yet so I barbecued meat for them out here. I too enjoyed barbecued meats so it was no chore.

I placed Shenron down and let him take a nap as I began to sort through my crafting materials.

"You've made another sword" commented Natalia.

Yes, I'd been working on something special.

"That's Lightbringer" I explained "I made it to slay the Night King".

I felt certain that Stormbreaker could do the job, but to make sure I was positioning myself to be the next Azor Ahai, a legendary hero who wielded a burning sword called Lightbringer.

According to tales from Asshai and followers of R'hllor recorded in one of the many books Hermione had collected. Azor Ahai is somewhat connected with the Westerosi legend of the last hero, who lived during the Long Night and helped to defeat the Others.

Just being the Dragonborn made me a hero of legend and I intended to slay the Night King with Lightbringer so as to become Azor Ahai, that should be a nice legacy and help me to complete one of my missions if being this world's Leonardo da Vinci wasn't enough.

Since such things seemed to matter when it came to magic I'd gone into the fire that hatched Shenron naked and I'd taken some salt with me.

Because the Prince That Was Promised was born in smoke and salt, and it could be considered a rebirth of some kind since the whole ritual was about creating new life.

Lightbringer wasn't the only sword I had on display out here. I'd recovered Brightroar and remade the weapon in the style of Oathkeeper so that I could sell it to Tywin Lannister. I wanted him to pay a fortune for what was basically his own property.

Spoiler

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I would leave the sword at the Iron Bank and let them handle the transaction. I'd made a third sword that I would sell to some wealthy family in Westeros.

Learning to reforge Valyarian steel had been easy enough thanks to the Three-Eyed Raven who had shown me smiths performing their work to reforge swords and knives while in Westeros.

I'd put part of myself into Lightbringer, spiritually speaking, to ensure that it would be a powerful sword. A ruby decorated the mithril crossguard and the pommel was the same Dragonborn symbol found tattooed on the backs of my companions.

"Anything else we need to go over?" I asked.

Black Widow seemed to have it all in hand. Which was the whole point of her being here.

"I've got it covered" she promised "You focus on making contacts in Westeros and sorting out the Seven Kingdoms".

This was good as it meant I focus on making the armour I intended to wear while in Kingslanding. I needed to dress like an important lord and to be seen as a warrior because in Westeros the ability to govern is only bestowed upon people who can swing a sword around.

Acting as a warrior rather than as a greedy merchant would make it easier for the lords in the west to see me as someone like them rather than as an outsider.

Arriving in Westeros on Yara's ship would be the first time I officially visited the Seven Kingdoms, and I'd already begun paving the way by sending gifts to a few important people. I would need to have more gifts prepared in order to be seen as a generous ally to the high lords of Westeros. So it was good that I had some free time for that.

ASOIAF 22

Team Builder

Part 52

The Grey Wind. Blackwater Bay.

At least coming to this city via a ship meant that the smell wasn't too bad. Although that would change once we got closer, as such, I was very glad for a clever magical item I'd come up with that decreased rather than enhanced an attribute, ability or skill.

I'd enchanted some amulets to greatly lessen a person's ability to smell, and it also deadened your sense of taste, it was actually a cursed item in some sense, but the effect only lasted for as long as you wore the amulet.

Another pleasing factor was the Grey Wind, which had grey sails rather than purple ones, unlike most vessels from Braavos at Yara's request, had made the trip in less time than was expected.

That combined with the ship's small crew and ample cargo room meant that as hoped, trading trips made by this class of vessel would be cheaper than was normal.

"Nice castle" commented Romanoff.

Yes, the Red Keep did look rather impressive from the bay, and Kingslanding could have been one of the most impressive cities in the world had it been managed correctly.

If the Targaryens spent more time looking after the kingdom and fought each other less then this city could rival Oldtown in the Reach or Braavos. A pity that it was such a dump.

"The Red Keep is the centre of power here in the Seven Kingdoms," I said.

Spoiler

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As much as I disliked Kingslanding I had to spend some time here so as to carry out my plans. Aside from needing to forge useful contacts with people who would be here for the tourney, there were people in this part of the world, who needed to be removed from power so as make an uplift possible.

I wouldn't be able to get away with as much here as I had in Braavos, but there were a few advances I could offer to some of the more reasonable lords that could help things progress.

Better water and windmills would be a good start. Perhaps I could convince some of the smiths to try some superior methods of forging with steel.

Those were concerns for later as I could tell that Natalia, or Natasha as she didn't mind being called, had something on her mind, and so we went to my cabin to discuss the matter.

"So what's on your mind?" I asked as we headed below deck, "You've been distracted by something since before we got on this ship".

Given that she was an uncover agent a lot of her time I couldn't be sure that I was reading her right or if she wasn't putting on an act for some reason.

Not that she had any reason I knew of to hide things from me. I was her boss and the Black Window had always been loyal to Nick Fury and her teammates.

"I had my period just before we left," Natasha told me.

For some reason, I didn't think she'd shared that tidbit of information with me on a whim. I just didn't get why it was so important.

"And this a big deal?" I asked.

The red-headed woman took a seat and poured herself a drink before speaking. Despite being Russian she didn't drink the vodka I produced she preferred watered-down wine, she wanted to keep a clear head I assumed as there was nothing wrong with my vodka.

"Because I don't have periods," she told me "When I was being trained in a place called the Red Room, among other things my uterus was removed. I'm sure you know a little about that since you chose me out of a wide selection and already knew about my skills".

Neither Hermione nor Ciri wanted to talk much about how I knew them so well. Black Widow was the same way, and I didn't blame any of them for ignoring the fact they were all fictional to people from my universe.

I knew she couldn't have children because she mentioned this fact in the Ultron movie, but I'd not known she'd had so much taken from her.

That was horrible to think about, being infertile is one thing, but to have the part of you that makes you a woman cut out of you is monstrous.

"So when I got my period I went to ask your other women if they had any tampons since I don't carry any" she mentioned "And I got talking to Hermione and she cast a few spells on me and she's not a doctor, but if she's right it looks like my baby-making equipment has all grown back somehow".

My witch had packed books on medical magic when going on her Horcrux hunt since she and her friends couldn't simply go to the Hospital Wing at school or Saint Mungos if they got injured, so if anyone could suss that out it would be her.

"The CYOA must have fixed you up" I reasoned.

No doubt Hermione had come to the same conclusion.

"I don't care why it happened or how," said Black Widow "What I care about is that I can have children, and I want a few. I want you to be the father and get me pregnant as soon as possible, in case something else takes away my choice".

While I was trying to digest all of that Nastasa stood up and let her dress fall to the door. Her visible clothing might have simple clothing, worn by many in Braavos, but what was under that was clearly not a local fashion.

"I want you to get me pregnant" Nastasa let me know "I'll do whatever it takes to convince you".

There were issues to consider. Childbirth could be dangerous even with our potions and magic. On the other hand, a woman who looked like Scarlett Johansson's hotter sister, because she looked even better than the actress, was going to beg me for sex given how things were going.

Besides, I didn't need to look after the kid, that was what the maids were for, I was rich and the wealthy didn't need to do much in the way of parenting. Danny still liked me even if I didn't spend much time with her. Would a baby be a bother?

"What about your work?" I asked.

Being a Mum could get in the way of keeping things organised for me. That was her purpose for being her after all.

"I won't be giving birth for nine months even if I get pregnant right away" she pointed "That gives me plenty of time to train up your people so they can do more. I'll make sure that things keep running".

She would know what she was doing. I was sure of that. She'd been an Avenger, she could handle being a working mother.

"I'm on a potion that stops me from knocking women up" I mentioned.

They were easy to brew and it just made sense for me to take care of that so none of my women got knocked up.

"I took care of that" admitted Nastasha "You forgot to take your last potion because you were working on your armour and you haven't fucked any of us for days. I packed some fertility potions. I've been assured they work".

That the wizarding world had such potions didn't surprise me. Look at the Weasley family. Magical humans tend to have fewer children than muggles as a rule.

She was right I had forgotten to take my potion. Although to be fair it was Hermione who often reminded me as she kept things organised and made me the potions that we easy to brew using simple ingredients.

It struck me then that they use a type of tea here to prevent unwanted pregnancies. I should look into that as a birth control tea could sell well in other worlds if it did have unpleasant side effects.

Rather than ask the spy to make a note of that I took the offered potion she'd gotten from her own expanded bag, and as I drank it I could feel my penis getting very warm. Not an unpleasant feeling.

"Well I guess I won't be needing these," I said as I began to remove my own clothes.

Mine weren't fancy either. I didn't see the need to wear expensive clothing. Not when I had sets of armour to show off.

I had a very sexy woman in front of me so I didn't think much about my armour. Not only did Natasha have a gorgeous face, but her body was comic book levels of fitnesses.

Her breasts were well-hidden most of the time, and when I saw them uncovered they were big, firm and the nipples were perfectly sized nubs. They needed to be put into my mouth.

"Mhmm yes," Natasha cooed, as her hand reached down to stroke my already hard cock "I can't wait to breastfeed our baby".

That made it a little awkward for me to keep going, only that hardly mattered as Natasha wanted to move on to the main event as soon as possible.

"You ready for me to fill your little pussy up," I asked.

She pulled down her underwear and playfully tossed them out at me.

"I bet that pussy is already wet for me," I said.

If her moans of pleasure as I sucked on her nipples were anything to go by I would have no trouble slipping my cock inside her.

She clearly had some sort of impregnation fetish going on. I'd have to ask her about that and see if I could use it to make sex better for her.

"I'm soaked," she admitted.

As soon as I got onto what passed for a bed on this ship I was pinned down as she straddled my waist. I normally was the dom and wished to control the action, but I was willing to see where this would go.

"Mhmm… oh," Natasha moaned as she pushed before down on my cock "Feels so good".

Right away I could tell that the spy had very good control of her body and that she knew exactly what she was doing. The way she moved her body, slowly pushing herself up and down as she got used to having me inside her, would draw things out.

As she rode my cock Natasha made sure that things didn't get boring. She clearly wasn't only interested in her own pleasure, she would speed up, slow down, slam down on my lap, and then move more carefully.

While she did all the work I paid attention to her breasts, her ass and her hips. Grabbing parts of her and enjoying the feel of her body. It was mine to do as I wished with, or so I thought.

Without warning, she grabbed my arms and pinned them down to my surprise. I could have stopped her easily, but she was riding me very well.

"Who's your mommy?" Natasha asked suddenly as she sped up again "I want to hear you say it".

I had trouble speaking and not just because of what she'd just asked me to say.

"W-What?" I said.

Natasha stopped her movements just as I was about to start shooting my cum into her waiting womb.

"I want you to call me Mommy," she said "I'll make it worth your while".

While I could just order her to keep going I could tell that this meant a lot to her. It seemed strange to me because while I wasn't overly bulky, I was a big man, over six feet tall and well-muscled, I could kill with my voice and I was a skilled warrior, not exactly the type to be mothered.

"Who's… your… mommy?" Natasha asked slowly as if she was talking to a baby.

I struggled against my male pride.

"Come on, answer me," said Romanoff.

She moved her hips in a very nice way. She knew exactly how to get what she wanted from a man.

"You are. You're my mummy" I told her.

She began to speed up again. She was clearly happy to have heard those words.

"Good boy" she praised.

She milked my cock with her wet warm pussy, and soon got me shooting upside her. Once she was done riding me she gave me an amused smile.

"Don't pretend you don't want me doing all the work, and I do take care of things for you," she said.

I could at least indulge her a little in bed given that she did so much for me and every other woman who spread her legs for me was happy letting me control the action. They were only a portkey away if I wanted something different.

"We should be docking soon" I realised.

I would need to get dressed and introduce myself to the people running the port. Plus I needed to make sure that our cargo was handed over to the right people. If this first trade went bad it would do damage to my business interests.

Then I would need to sign up for the melee, possibly with some bribing to make sure I'd have a place,

and then I'd set up outside of the city.

ASOIAF 23

Team Builder

Part 53

Tourney Grounds. Outside Kingslanding.

I'd set up my pavilion, it was far too fancy to be called a tent, soon after arriving and I'd placed it as far from the city as I could without actually leaving the area the tourney would happen in so that I couldn't smell much, and yet I still needed my special amulet to stop me from smelling the city.

While mine was the largest pavilion around there were others for my guards as I wasn't going to have my loyal warriors sleeping on the ground or what passed for beds in this kingdom.

Having this much free space meant that I had room to set up my forging equipment and practice my archery. It had been some time since I'd tested my skill with the bow, but the last time I'd done so I was under the tutorage of an elf from Rivendell.

My ability to fire arrows at a target hadn't diminished much and I felt sure that I'd have a good chance of winning the archery contest tomorrow, more so once Ciri arrived, having teleported here directly rather than take a ship, and began practising with me.

"How did you get so good?" she asked.

Ciri was annoyed that even with a bribe she couldn't enter any of the contests due to having been born a girl, but rather than be all bitter, or disguise herself as a man, she'd decided to first go out drinking last night, and then come back very early in the morning along with a special guest.

Now she was helping me to prepare for the contests that would start tomorrow.

"I learned the finer points of archery from some elves that have had centuries to perfect their fighting skills," I told her "If we ever do go back to Middle Earth I'll find you a teacher".

Returning to Middle Earth to end what I'd started when I chose to screw up Sauron's plans was one of my long-term plans.

I had the desire to go back to that world to help deal with the Balrog who would be the next dark, but it wasn't something I thought about much as there were many others worlds I'd like to spend time in.

We fired off a few more arrows and Ciri scowled as I beat her. Granted my bow was better than hers because it was an elven bow I'd been gifted by the elves of Rivendell, but skill still mattered.

"Here," said the witcher.

She tossed me a gold coin and I inspected it. The coin had a dragon on one side and what I assumed to be an image of King Robert on the other.

"Money here is so weird" I commented.

I still got shipments of money and supplies thanks to a feature of the CYOA, even though I had more than enough resources to support myself, and the latest shipment arrived just this morning so it contained Westerosi currency.

I had now had a good supply of gold dragons, silver stags, silver moons, copper stars, copper groats, half-groats, pennies and half pennies.

The difference in value between a gold dragon and a copper coin was insane even if some of the other differences in value made sense. You got 30 silver moons to a gold dragon, which was fine, but then you got 11760 copper pennies equalling one gold dragon.

You could eat for pennies a day here in Kingslanding if you were stupid enough to eat the food they served here, so a man could live off a single gold dragon for a few years if he was very careful.

Yet the CYOA had provided me with a fistful of gold dragons and they were supposed to make me moderately wealthy by local standards.

Petyr Baelish, during the Hand's tourney, says that he could buy twelve barrels of expensive Dornish wine with a hundred golden dragons, and so I had to wonder how much difference there was in wealth between myself and the very elite of Westeros if they can afford to gamble with that kind of money.

Also, is that wine liquid gold or something because it seemed way overpriced?

In Braavos they had square iron coins the value of which was backed mostly by the Iron Bank, although you could use other currency from most places since the city was a major trading port.

The fact that Braavos had a currency backed by gold in possession of the bank and supported by the government, the Iron Bank was the government to some extent, showed me just how backwards Westeros was when compared to at least one of the Free Cities.

"Marek!" Natasha called out "He's awake".

On the way into my pavilion, I passed by my guards and the armour I'd put together for this tourney that was bound to get me some attention.

Spoiler

[img: https/staticdelivery./mods/110/images/32072-2-1362773267.jpg]

It was steel plate done in a style of such armour from Skyrim only I'd added mithril to the steel to lighten it in both terms of colour and weight. The chainmail that was under was dark in colour due to my adding some ebony to the steel.

My temporary home, although I wasn't actually sleeping here, was comfortable enough and a display of my great wealth.

Spoiler

[img: https/i./originals/5b/6b/35/5b6b3562ed23777768d6f651c86812bf.jpg]

As for who was in the tent, while tied to a chair, that would be Ser Amory Lorch, a knight of House Lorch and bannerman of House Lannister.

He was more a swine than a man in my opinion, he had a piggy face, a pair of pig's eyes, and a high, thin voice that irritated my ears as he begged for his life.

I wondered if Natasa had castrated him when getting information out of the man or if he was just this much of a whinging git.

Looking at him I didn't think she'd done more than rough him up a bit. Natalia hadn't come off as a sadist to me even if she had volunteered to get information out of him.

Due to the charms placed on this pavilion, it was soundproof so I wouldn't have heard him even if he screamed like a little bitch.

The bastard wasn't even trying to be dignified at this end. What a pisspoor excuse for a knight. I silenced him with magic just so I didn't have to listen to him whine.

"Did he confess?" I asked.

I could have made him tell me everything with a single Shout, but the Black Widow had asked to be able to handle him for me and I saw no reason to refuse her if she wanted to prove herself to me.

"Yes he broke quickly," she said "I didn't have to do much and he signed his confession".

Back in 283 AC, Amory was responsible for the murder of 3-year-old Rhaenys Targaryen, Danny's niece, during the Sack of King's Landing.

Per the orders of Tywin Lannister, he and Gregor Clegane scaled the walls of Maegor's Holdfast so as to access the royal apartments. He then dragged the screaming toddler from under a bed and stabbed her dozens of times.

I'd known about that, what I hadn't known was that during the Reyne-Tarbeck rebellion in 261 AC, Ser Amory threw the last Lord Tarbeck, a three-year-old boy, down a well in Tarbeck Hall.

What was the deal with drowning people in wells? Why would anyone do that to their supply of drinking water? Some people did need to be removed from the gene pool.

"You seem to have a thing for killing small children," I said to the knight.

I let Ciri read the confession.

"I'd have killed him already if I knew about this," she told me.

The female witcher had known that I wanted to speak with this knight and even kill him because of his crimes.

He was also a threat to Danny because if Tywin Lannister wanted the job of wiping out the Targaryens finished he'd send this man along with a few others and the Mountain, who I intended to deal with soon.

"How did you end up finding him?" I asked.

I hadn't enquired about that as I'd known I would find out once the knight was broken.

"Oh, I got taking to him last night" Ciri let me know "I was at one of the nicer taverns, and he has a Gwent deck for the Westerlands, looks like it was made locally, and not by a very good artist".

I'd hoped the game would spread far and wide if only so the Lady of Space and Time didn't keep pestering me to play.

"He actually won, somehow" the ashen-haired woman admitted "I offered to let him plough me in the backroom as payment, pretending I was running low on money, and soon as we were alone I knocked him out and brought him here".

I gave her a look upon hearing that.

"He didn't lay a hand on me" she promised.

Good, only I was allowed to plough her.

"What are you going to do with the confession?" asked Natasha "I get the feeling that the king won't care even if you showed it to him".

If we were in Braavos then I would have the right to sentence him for his crimes since I was a Magister. I couldn't do that here even if I had been willing to openly challenge Tywin Lannister at this time. Such action could easily derail my plans for a proper trade empire.

"The confession is for the Princes of Dorne" I explained "Depending on how things work out I might need to destroy House Lannister and makes allies with other noble houses. Having Lorch ready to hand over to them with a signed confession, could win me some major brownie points with House Martell".

For that, I would need to stash him somewhere. That would be made easier with the Draft of Living Death which put people into a suspended animation of sorts that looked a lot like death. Lorch could then be safely stored until I needed him.

"I'd rather kill him," said Ciri.

It was tempting, but he was worth more alive, for now.

"Nothing we do to him will match what the Princes of Dorne would do if given the chance," I told her

"Besides there are people even worse than him we can go after".

One of my guards, who were an odd sight in Westeros since they were all women, entered the tent.

"Magister, Lord Varys is here to see you," she said.

The Spider wanted to talk to me? Whatever for?

"Tell him I'll be with him in a moment" I commanded.

Quickly we forced the potion that Hermione had made to humanly sedate the animals we'd sacrificed to birth dragons into the false knight's mouth, and then I had Ciri teleport him to my Manse in Braavos so he could be secured.

I was glad that I kept Danny in my pocket dimension these days as even while he was in a death-like state I didn't want her going anywhere near that man.

Once we were ready I invited the Master of Whispers into my pavilion and I took a seat at the large wooden table that took up quite a lot of space inside the big fancy tent.

"Magister Dovahkiin," he said with a slight bow, "I came to welcome you to Kingslanding. It's not often we are graced with the presence of a merchant lord from Braavos".

Given how little respect the merchant class got in the Seven Kingdoms I could see why few of my peers would ever want to visit.

"Thank you, Lord Varys" I replied "Would you care for some refreshment?".

He took a seat before answering.

"Wine if you please," he said "I find that your vodka leaves me lightheaded".

One of the maids I'd brought with me poured the man a cup of some fancy wine. It all tasted the same to me, but I'd been assured that it was good stuff. Given the price it better be.

"Cursties aside, what brings you so far from the Red Keep?" I asked.

Men like him don't stray far from the centre of power without a good reason.

"Aside from offering my aid with your endeavours, I wished to enquire about the well-being of your daughter" the bald man answered "I do worry about that poor girl. If King Robert…".

That was far as he got. I didn't even use a spell or a weapon to kill him. I felt my Ring of Power grow hot on my finger as I reached out and snapped his neck with magic.

"Bloody hell" swore Ciri "What did you do that for".

She was used to violence, but even for her that had been brutal. At this rate, I would need to invest in that therapy that you could buy from the CYOA or we were all going to end up needing to stay in padded rooms.

"He was going to threaten Danny, to force me to do stuff for him even if he wouldn't state it that way," I explained, "If I'd gone against his wishes he might have let slip that I'm looking after her to the king. Robert has a hatred for Targaryens that clouds even his poor judgement, he would have come after us and I won't tolerate someone threatening her".

I sighed. I hadn't realised how defensive I was over my adopted daughter. Children have a way of sneaking into your heart.

"Can you dump his body in the Red Wastes near Qarth?" I requested "It should be night there so no one will see you".

Ciri didn't like it, but she did as I wished. I wasn't worried about Varys having told anyone he was meeting with me today, he was too secretive and there would be no corpse to find. But his disappearance could cause problems later as he was a member of the Small Council even if no one cared much about him.

If Magister Illyrio found out that I had anything to do with the Spider's death then he could make life very difficult for me. I wanted Illyrio alive and allied with me so that he could ship goods eastwards for me. It would be mutually profitable for us both if handled right.

"I hope you don't get many more guests" commented Natasha.

She didn't sound as if she approved or disproved of my actions, she was just concerned about security.

"I wasn't expecting to make contact with more than a few minor lords who have some desire for increased trade," I said to her "Lorch practically fell into my lap".

At least my time here in Kingslanding wasn't going to be boring.

I just hoped that someone came to visit to make alliances rather than to tie up in one of their webs as Varys had tried to do. I needed to spin more of my own webs not just destroy other people's.

ASOIAF 24

Team Builder

Part 54

The Dreadfort. The North.

Spoiler

[img: https/vignette1.wikia./gameofthrones/images/7/71/Dreadfort-opening-sequence.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20140407082327]

Thankfully after my murder of Varys the Spider, The Master of Whispers, and it had been murder even if I could justify it to members of my own group, no one else had come to bother me and no guards had come to attempt to drag me away to the black cells so that I could pay for my crime.

Not that their puny cells would have held me and there was little chance of anyone being able to capture me unless they sent an army, and even then Ciri could have simply used her powers to transport me away, still, it would have hindered my plans for this world had I been connected to the sudden and unexpected disappearance of Lord Varys.

The fact that no one even seemed to have noticed that the man had gone missing made sense as everyone in the Red Keep was rather busy with the tourney and Varys was a spymaster, as such it made also sense that he might disappear for a short time and then pop up again later. I didn't think anyone would notice his absence for a few days.

Varys would almost certainly have something in place to screw over his enemies should he die and while it was highly unlikely that this could somehow lead to my downfall, since I was new on the scene, it could really stir things up here in Kingslanding if Varys let certain secrets be spilt.

Such as the fact that the heir to the throne was not the son of the king.

If that happened I could see Robert killing his wife and even Joffery, before declaring war on the Lannisters.

I figured that he would go after them with all the passion he'd once dedicated to ending the Targaryen dynasty, and that was just one of the secrets that could use to destabilise the Seven Kingdoms.

Exposing such truths would result in a major shake-up in the power structure of Westeros, and that was something I could take advantage of, should someone find themselves in need of a wealthy backer.

With my group's skills, we could easily help direct a conflict between noble houses towards an ending that would give me influence over all of the Seven Kingdoms.

Since I could remove certain people from power easily enough I could claim to have agents working for me so as to explain how enemies just seemed to vanish.

I might even let slip to the right person that I was the one with the power to summon up a dragon that could lay waste to their enemies if it got me into a position of power here in the Seven Kingdoms.

With such a position I could much more easily start uplifting this world and I could easily deal with those lords who were foolish enough to get in my way once I began

That hadn't been my original plan as I didn't wish to stay in Kingslanding, but I needed to be adaptable if I was going to accomplish my long-term goals.

As to why I was here. Well, I wasn't worried about Roose Bolton getting in my way even if the North got dragged into a civil war due to Varys, because while he was a powerful lord here in the North, he wasn't a major player on the scale of the Seven Kingdoms, nor was he a lord I needed as an ally.

Sure I might need the aid of House Stark at some point, and I did need an agreement with House Manderly of White Habor so as to set up a proper trading relationship that would allow my goods could be sold here in the North, but the Boltons were not part of those plans.

Then while thinking about the future, I realised that if Roose Bolton used the chaos that I expected was ahead, to make a move against the Starks it could cause me problems with trading with the North, and that was something I couldn't allow.

Since Roose Bolton was an evil man who had been on my list of people to get rid of I'd decided to deal with him tonight. If nothing else it would save me the cost of paying the Faceless Men to handle him.

I'd not practised much the art of entering another's mind, but I had been trained in a method of doing so by Lord Elrond and I'd studied what little information Hermione had on the magical skill known as Legilimency, the act of magically navigating through the many layers of a person's mind and correctly interpreting one's findings.

Since my skill at this magical art was so crude it was good that Roose Bolton was not resisting at all due to being drugged by a potion. It was also good that Lord Bolton was paralysed by a spell, unable to call for help, and that no guards would dare to enter his chamber without permission being given as killing them would be a distraction from my work.

Natasa would have preferred to get information for me the old-fashioned way, however, I did need the practice and I didn't think Roose would have broken as easily as the child murderer called Amory Lorch.

Not that I wanted to enter this man's mind this was simply an opportunity to be exploited and in the future, I wouldn't always be sure of a person's guilt or innocence.

As tempting as it was to simply end this man I had to be totally sure he'd actually done stuff to be worth executing for and would if left alive go on to do harm to others. The truth was inside Roose Bolton's mind.

If I had somehow come to a version of this reality where Roose Bolton is somehow a decent lord, at least by local standards, then I would have Ciri bring Hermione here for a bit of memory wiping. Already I didn't think that it would be necessary to involve her.

From his memories, I saw that Roose Bolton practices the mostly abolished tradition of the first night. The custom states that when smallfolk marry, their lord or king has the privilege of bedding the bride on the first night. Bolton does it despite knowing that it is not legal here in the North.

He gets away with it because he is discreet with his activities and he hides his other amusements in order to avoid the wrath of Eddard Stark who would at least exile Roose Bolton if he found half of what his bannerman had been getting up to.

"So do I need to dump another corpse in the Red Wastes?" asked Ciri.

There would be no need for the to do that this time and I didn't wish for my witcher to start thinking that her only real value to me was getting rid of dead bodies and transporting me places so that I could murder people after we arrived.

"Not this time," I said.

Once I was done confirming what I found in the man's putrid mind, I decided to share my findings with her.

"This man has done some horrible things," I told my companion "Some years ago he raped a young miller's wife and hanged the miller for not gaining his approval for their marriage. When the woman later presented a baby to Roose, he only spared the bastard boy's life because he had the same eyes as his father".

He would have killed his own son if the lad had his mother's eyes.

"Bolton granted the mill to the woman, sent her annual supplies and funds, and then had the tongue of the miller's brother cut out to prevent Lord Rickard Stark, the father of the current Lord Paramount, from learning what had happened".

Ciri cursed, saying something that I didn't understand the meaning of even if I did get the sentiment behind it.

"That was just one of his crimes" I went on to say "He's had people killed simply for speaking out against him, and he's raped a few women on their wedding nights, none of them ever presented him with a child".

Ciri didn't lash out and kill the man, something I was grateful for since I had a method of death selected for this man. I put him back into his bed and then used magic to drain the life out of him. It should look as if he'd suddenly died from some illness, and given how unpopular the man was I didn't think anyone would question it.

Even if they did there was nothing to connect me to Roose Bolton, and even if there had been I was known to be in Kingslanding at this time, and the Dreadfort was hundreds of miles away from the city. I would not be connected to this.

"Come on we have a library to check out," I said.

I used the Detect Life spell to make sure there weren't any guards about and then we made our way to the Dreadfort's small library.

I'd seen this place from the outside when scrying so I knew that the Dreadfort was a tough fortress, with high walls and strong battlements. It has thick stone walls and massive towers.

The Dreadfort is ill-omened according to books that mentioned the place, for it is said the Boltons keep torture chambers and a special room where they hang the flayed skins of their enemies, including several long-dead Kings in the North.

With the Boltons all being buried beneath the Dreadfort and the ghastliness of the castle, I could see why the locals thought it cursed in some sense and while my own sense of style could be dark, even I found this place to be creepy.

When we got to the library I saw that there wasn't much here, some records on taxes, farm yields, that sort of thing, and a few books on noble houses that were of no interest to me.

"Not going to loot the treasury, Marek?" Ciri asked me.

There was little point in doing so.

"House Bolton isn't wealthy" I answered "They have some coins in their treasury, but I can get money from plenty of places and they don't have any heirlooms worth taking".

I'd considered laying waste to this castle and taking what money the Bolton's had, it was just that it wouldn't aid my plans if the Seven Kingdoms became too unstable.

After all, I wanted the noble lords to buy my good and maybe accept a few ideas to advance their technology. I didn't want them all fighting wars over who got to rule what bit of land. Not when I had better uses for their money.

This was why I'd allowed Bolton to die peacefully. It would be better if Lord Stark appointed some regent to look after these lands until Roose's heir, a legitimate son called Domeric Bolton, could take his father's place.

According to his father's, memories, Domeric was a peaceful young man who like to read history books, play the harp, and was an excellent horseman.

What mattered most is that Roose knew that Domeric hadn't inherited the sadistic streak that Ramasy had. It was as if Roose's evil had been taken by one son and any good in him had been manifested in the other.

His sons weren't my concern. Ramasy was too young for me to kill and without his father's protection, I suspected he'd be hanged by a lynch mob if he started taking after his sire.

I grabbed a couple of books on the history and culture of the North, the kind of stuff that Hermione liked being able to add to our growing collection of books and then I requested that Ciri take me back to my Manse in Braavos.

My intent was to get some sleep in my own bedroom before the tourney started. I would need some rest if I was going to win all that prize money and start again a reputation here in the Seven Kingdoms.

ASOIAF 25

My weekend was dull so I decided to do some more writing.

Team Builder

Part 55

Tourney Grounds. Outside of Kingslanding.

"These are strange days," said Tyrion Lannister "Sea monsters, strange storms, the loss of dragonstone, the Iron Throne just vanishes, and now even odder things are popping up out of the woodwork".

The half-man as he was known looked like a young Peter Dinklede, Dinklage, or whatever the actor's name was, rather than the malformed monster he's described as in the books, and he wasn't the only one who looked like his show counterpart.

I had to admit to myself that I was enjoying being here and getting to talk to one of my favourite characters. I'd liked being in Middle Earth, but I'd never gotten into that setting the way I had with ASOIAF and I reminded myself to savour these experiences. How many fans ever get to drink with the half-man?

Tywin Lannister was also here and he looked like Charles Dance, only bald and with big mutton chops. I couldn't help thinking that Tywin looked like someone who would throw orphans into the street without delay if it served his needs. I would avoid talking to him if possible.

I hadn't seen the Kingslayer, the queen or their children, at least not yet, so I couldn't speak for the rest of the family. I had seen Roose Bolton last night when I'd removed him as a potential problem, and while he'd somewhat looked like the actor who played him in the show, that was only a superficial resemblance.

"What do you mean, my lord?" I asked the half-man.

Since I was no lord or knight I was required to fight in some qualifying matches in one on one combat using blunted blades. It was boring and beneath a warrior of my skill, and my bribe should have allowed me to avoid it, but I was a foreigner in this land as such it would be an uphill struggle to earn any respect from the locals.

While preparing for a match against some sellsword who was no doubt trying to make a name for himself or to draw the attention of some lord who would pay well for his services, I'd gotten talking to the smallest Lannister.

Tyrion Lannister had sought me out earlier in the day, on behalf of his father who was nearby, perhaps looking for some fresh talent since he'd recently lost of his butchers who dared call himself a knight.

The half-man had been sent to me by his father, as Tywin Lannister wouldn't lower himself to dealing with a merchant if he could send a member of his family to handle it, however, given that I was holding a new Brigthroar it seemed odd that the Lannister Lord would send his dwarf son.

Didn't Tywin worry that I'd be insulted? Maybe he just thought the Lannister name and promise of gold would be enough to win me over, and for any other merchant lord, it would be.

Not that he really needed to talk to me so as to acquire the new Brightroar as I'd entrusted the Iron Bank to get me a good price on the sword, and to handle the negotiations for me, but Tywin wanted to secure both of the magical swords that I was offering to sell.

He was one of the few people in this sword who could afford them as even if the gold mines were starting to run dry the lions of Casterly rock had been granted a long time to build up a massive stockpile of gold.

It wasn't hard to guess what the Lion of Casterly Rock wanted with two Valyrian steel swords. He could gift one to a potential ally to win them over or be the only noble house with two such swords.

He would want his eldest son Jaime Lannister to have one, and he might even offer the other to King Robert in exchange for Jaime Lannister being honourable discharged from the Kingslanding. Tywin cared more for securing his legacy than he would for any amount of gold.

I was loath to sell both of the swords to one noble family as I might be able to get a better price from the Tyrells whose wealth could eclipse that of the Lannisters since their source of income came from selling food rather than gold mines that could be running dry.

As for the Imp, he was more interested in arranging a supply of vodka to go with the chilled fruit drinks that we were both enjoying. I suspected that he would become one of my biggest customers before long.

I might even offer him the chance to make his own as long as he didn't sell to any of the kingdoms I hoped to start buying my vodka.

"There are rumours from the Iron Islands of fishing villages being emptied of people and ships going missing" I was told, "I suppose the Ironborn might have seized the ships and sailed off to the Stepstones so that they can keep being raiders, but that doesn't feel right. They seemed rather attached to the rocks they call home".

That was odd, and I should look into it as I knew that there was at least one monster in those waters and there could be more. Those Ironborn might have been dragged down into the ocean by a Kraken.

I'd read the legends of the Deep Ones. They were supposed to be the ones who made the Seastone Chair that I'd stolen for the ROB. I didn't think it was a mere chance that the sea monster had turned up just after the Seastone chair was taken away.

"Then there are the riders in black I've been hearing about," said the young Tyroin.

I did not like the sound of that. I'd heard the Nazgul being referred to as riders in black, but they would have faded away when the One Ring was destroyed and Sauron's spirit was sent into the void.

They had been spirits bound to Sauron via their Rings of Power and all of the magic rings in that world aside from those made by me had become nothing more than trinkets once the Dark Lord vanished.

Sauron hadn't been called the Lord of the Rings because he had a successful wrestling career.

"What have you heard about these riders?" I questioned.

Tyrion seemed amused by my question.

"Next you'll be asking me about grumkins and snarks" he joked "The Smallfolk always have stories about such creatures. Sure people talk more about them these days, but they are simply stories".

Just because some people are uneducated and poor that doesn't mean that they are all stupid. Westeros is a big place and sparsely inhabited given its vast size.

Besides, the Children of the Forest do still exist in small numbers as do the giants, so who knew what else was out there, I might have woken some things up when I forged my Ring of Power, and if that hadn't been enough I'd hatched a few dragons, who knew how they could affect things.

I was reminded of how Talion in the Shadow of Mordor games forges a Ring of Power that causes one of the Balrogs to return to Middle Earth or at least to stop sleeping deep underground.

"I'm sure there are people who will swear that dragons are nothing more than creatures in tall tales," I said "In my experience, there is always something real behind such stories even if the truth is rather mundane".

The young Lannister lord considered my words.

"You have a point there, Magister," he said, sipping the cocktail I'd made for him "Very well, the riders in black are a story that comes from reports of large men in black armour on horseback who are attacking travellers and small villages all over the Seven Kingdoms".

Random attacks are the style of the Nazgul they are generals and agents of the dark lord, not Wildlings or orcs.

"The few things that the different stories agree on is that the riders wear ghastly black armour, have fine horses, and they don't always will kill people, sometimes they will take them somewhere, but no one has been able to track them back to a camp".

I suddenly felt cold in a way that had nothing to do with the weather as it was actually pleasantly warm here.

"They sometimes have a few strange-looking hounds with them, but always in small numbers," said Tyrion Lannister "Oh and they aren't men, they look like men, but have pointed ears".

I almost choked on my drink.

"Did you say pointy ears?" I asked.

That was what I'd heard.

"Yes, Magister, one story I heard says that a man hiding in the woods when his village was attacked saw one of the riders take off his helm. The rider had potioned ears. My father thinks they are sellswords running amok and scaring the smallfolk. No more than a dozen riders, enough to terrorise a village, but not enough to threaten a town or even a small holdfast".

While that could be the case I doubted it. They sounded like the Wild Hunt, but that organisation didn't exist any more. Their king was dead, and hadn't the Witcher made a deal with the elves or at least a high-ranking one? I'd have to talk to Ciri about it and do some scrying just to be sure.

I wouldn't rule out the possibility of some stragglers riding about looking for Ciri so as to get payback, and the elf with who the Witcher made a deal might now have plans of his own.

Given the CYOA it seemed odd that the elves could track her. Ciri should be shielded from them. Was this something like the black candles in the Citadel? Could they tell she was here in this world, but not where exactly?

Why would the ROB allow them to come to this world when Ciri should be hidden from them? Was this some sort of entertainment? Some sort of challenge for me to overcome?

Heck for all I knew this was one of the worlds the Wild Hunt raided for centuries and it was just that with magic getting stirred up they were raiding more. From their perspective, they might not even know about Ciri yet. Who knew if time followed at the same rate across the multiverse?

"Anyway we should discuss my father's offer," said the Imp "He wants both swords and he's not a man to take no for an answer".

I would look into the monsters after the tourney, and maybe do something about them if I saw a reason. Although if villages were being attacked because of me perhaps I should do something about it.

Given that the balance of power in the Seven Kingdoms might soon shift I didn't wish to sell the second sword to the Lannisters. I figured it was best to delay and distract until I saw how things worked out.

"I'd rather let the Iron Bank handle the sale," I said to Tyrion Lannister "But if your lord father wishes to do business, I have designs for new ships that he might be interested in. If he's rebuilding the Lannister fleet why not take this chance to build the best fleet in Westeros".

Tywin Lannister might go for purchasing designs for superior ships because he was always looking for ways to advance the position of his noble house and he was going to have to spend a fortune anyway to rebuild the fleet.

"I'll mention it to my father," promised Tyrion Lannister "And that you want the Iron Bank to handle the sale. He won't like it, but I can see him being interested in new ship designs if it gives him an advantage over the other high lords. You might even find yourself with a holdfast in the Westerlands".

Becoming a Lannister bannerman wasn't at all tempting to me.

"The Westerlands are too far from Braavos," I said "If I was going to accept a lordship it would have to be one in the Vale or the Crowlands, or even somewhere near White Habor".

Before we could discuss that further I was called into the fighting ring. I was to go up against some youth who looked as if he barely knew how to hold a sword.

"This won't take long," I said.

Natasha and Cir were over in the stands with some of my guards as you needed to have a penis to actually hang around the fighting rings. I waved at them before the match began, and they being my loyal supporters cheer me on. They were certain of my victory, and why shouldn't they be?

The youth charged at me, and I moved to the side while sticking my leg out so that the kid tripped over. I then poked him with the tip of my blunted sword once I had bothered to withdraw the blunted blade from its sheath.

"Come back when your balls have dropped, kid" I advised.

He didn't give up easily and when he got up he screamed before charging at me. I just punched him in the face. Given his armour and sword, I guessed him the bastard or third son of a somewhat wealthy lord who was trying to prove himself. Against any of the others here, he might have stood a chance.

"Wear a helmet" was my next bit of advice "You aren't a main character, your not even a supporting character".

Tyrion Lannister gave me an odd look when I left the ring.

"Main character?" he asked "Supporting character? Were those mean to be insults of some kind".

I changed the subject as I had no easy way to explain that comment.

"I'd like to offer you the chance to go into business with me," I said "How do you feel about producing and selling vodka in the Westerlands, maybe the Reach and the Riverlands as well".

That would leave me able to focus more on the North, the Vale and the Crownlands. I wasn't sure about the Stormlands as I didn't know much about the trade going on in that kingdom.

If he died in the coming troubles, I could always make the offer to someone else. There were noble houses that needed to increase their incomes.

"I'm much better at spending money than making it," said the half-man.

He was underestimating himself.

"Your father won't be around forever and he doesn't want you to inherit Casterly Rock, going into business yourself might be the best way to secure your own future," I told the half-man.

The Imp finished his drink.

"I'll give it some thought," he said as he left.

Hopefully, I would find some rich lord who was willing to take a risk and start making whiskey while I was here.

This uplift was proving to be a lot of work.

ASOIAF 26

Even with the derp feature Tywin Lannister is a clever man, at least when compared to the other lords.

Team Builder

Part 56

Tourney Grounds. Outside of Kingslanding.

Tywin Lannister did not really care for tourneys, they were expensive and resources spent on them could be put to work better elsewhere, but he understood their importance and so he put up them even funding a few if he felt the need.

Such distractions amused the smallfolk, giving them a break from their labours, and helping to keep them productive. Smallfolk who were productive were busy and less likely to go against their betters.

These events also gave the knights a chance to show their skills and to practice them somewhat even if it didn't compare to actual fighting, and for Tywin it was good to be able to scout out talent. He needed men who were talented with their swords and lances.

The Lion of Casterly Rock was often in need of skilled killers, men he could unleash upon his enemies or send out to punish a bannerman who wasn't showing proper respect. Buring a village or two on some lords' lands could be enough to keep the rest in line.

He was annoyed by the recent disappearance of Ser Amory Lorch, the fool was most likely dead in some ditch after drinking too much and angering someone who was not intimidated by a knight, even one in service of House Lannister.

Lorch was supposed to be fighting in the melee as Clegane would be, and they both had their uses. On the other hand, perhaps it wasn't a great loss. If he found some skilled young warriors here at another one of Robert's many entertainments then perhaps Lorch lands could be placed in the custody of someone who had at least some brains to go with their brawn.

That was why he was out here, watching the qualifying rounds, the men winning matches here were not well-known knights or the sons of powerful lords, and as such, they wouldn't already be in service to someone important or wealthy. It was best to get such people into his service before they were noticed.

Given recent events, it seemed more important than ever to make sure he had plenty of knights and other skilled warriors in his service. The Ironborn Rebellion had cost the Lannisters their fleet and many warriors. The House's forces needed to be rebuilt.

Tywin felt in his guts that there would be troubles ahead. He'd seen the dragon and while he'd forbidden his family to ever speak of it, following King Robert's command, by now stories of a dragon and sea monster doing battle would have spread across the entirety of Westeros.

As would tales of the storm god who had ended the Greyjoy family, although few even among the smallfolk would ever believe the stories as no one trusted the words of an Ironborn. Even if that sudden and focused storm had been rather odd.

The Lion of Lannister didn't believe in Grumpkins and Snarks, these new riders in black, or any of the other fantastical things he was hearing, but he knew that trouble was ahead. The smallfolk were scared, the kind of scared that can turn into anger and could lead to uprisings.

Besides if dragons had returned to the world, assuming that they had truly ever left, then who knew what else might be out there that should be confined to children's stories. It would be best to be cautious and to prepare for danger.

That was why he'd ordered the creation of scorpion bolt launchers for the defence of Casterly Rock. The Dornish had one used them to kill a dragon and if those savages could do it then so could the men of the Westerlands.

Spoiler

[img: https/vignette.wikia./gameofthrones/images/3/3f/Scorpion-the-spoils-of-war.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20171109233030]

He'd also come here because not only did it get him out of the city, and away from two of his idiot children for a time, it gave him to chance to observe a certain Magister of Braavos who had for unknown reasons decided to enter the melee.

This was odd as Braavos was a sea power. They had fine sailors, and their water dancers could be as deadly as any lord's men at arms, but they were not the type of people to fight even in pretend wars. The Braavosi made use of sellsword companies when they needed an army they didn't train knights as they did in most of the Seven Kingdoms.

Marek Dovahkiin was odd for a Magister, he was young and influential, from what little Tywin knew of the merchant lord he was shaking up the status quo over in Braavos and he was believed to be incredibly wealthy. So rich that he'd brought an entire guild and he was rumoured to give out lavish gifts to gain support.

A while back he'd sent Tywin Lannister and the other Lord Paramounts as it turned out, a set of cards meant to be used in a game that was becoming popular with some of the knights under his command and even a few lesser lords. Tywin had given his deck, something he hadn't thought of much at the time, to one of his brother's sons to play with.

Now he was wondering if he should have kept the cards and had copies made as the game seemed to be growing quite popular. Playing such games could be useful as even the Warden of the West needed to unwind sometimes and you could learn about a person when engaging in such activities with them.

What surprised Tywin most was the man had female guards. Was the Magister mocking the warriors of Westeros by saying his women were equal to the guards of the lords? Or was he confident in being able to protect himself?

Tywin would admit if only to himself, that they were pleasant to look at, and he knew that women could be quite dangerous to men who underestimated them. You don't need much physical strength to stab someone with a dagger. But they would be quickly overwhelmed by real fighting men in a straight-up fight, or so he thought.

Since he was a Lord Paramount and Magister Dovahkiin was a mere merchant, granted an important and wealthy one, that meant Tywin would not go to him, but sending a second son to talk with a Magister was socially acceptable.

On the subject of his youngest son, the dwarf was even now waddling his way over to his father who was sheltering in the stands in the section that had been reserved for the lords who wished to view this part of the tourney.

Tywin hoped that the Imp had been somewhat useful in getting some information on the Magister who had offered to sell House Lannister a new Brightroar.

"Good day, Father" greeted Imp.

Tywin did not wish to exchange pleasantries with the dwarf.

"Well?" asked the older man.

He badly wanted a new Brightroar and the Warden of the West would get both of the swords that were for sale no matter the cost, he just wished to be able to lower that cost as he had a fleet to rebuild.

"Magister Dovahkiin is content to let the Iron Bank handle the sale of the swords," said his stunted son "Despite my urgings, he believes he can get a better deal by letting the bankers sell the second sword to whoever bids the highest".

Twyin was disappointed, but not surprised, you didn't become the newest Magister of Braavos by being a fool. You achieved this by being a shrewd investor and by seizing any opportunity you could get your hands on.

Nor had the Iron Bank become one of the most powerful organisations in the world by letting themselves be easily swayed. The keyholders would be collecting a fee from the sale and therefore they would wish to profit as much as possible from the swords.

"He has no interest in lands or tiles in the Westerlands due to having him home in Braavos," the son told his father "He pointed out that the distances involved make it undesirable, and I don't think he cares about marriage, although I will enquire about it when next I talk to him".

The Iron Bank wouldn't want the hand in marriage of a Lannister woman or a lordship, or a castle. Tywin had been hoping to tempt the Magister with such things.

"Did you find out anything of use?" asked the Lord Paramount.

The Imp surprised him by having some interesting news.

"As it turns out the Magister would like to do some business with House Lannister" the dwarf answered "He has some designs for new kinds of ships that you might want to take a look at if you are set on rebuilding the Lannister fleet".

That was something Tywin needed to deal with and one of his agents had mentioned that the Magister arrived on his own ship which seemed to be different that the ones that normally came to Kingslanding from Braavos.

"He offered to go into the vodka business with me" his youngest son was now saying "He wants to focus his trade with Kingslanding, Gulltown, and White Habor, so he suggests that I should make and sell vodka to the Westerlands, the Riverlands, and The Reach. He thinks going into business for myself would help to secure my future".

Tywin was about to dismiss such an idea. Even his deformed son was still a Lannister of Casterly Rock and such business dealings with best handled by the Lannisters of Lannisport. Then Tywin realised that there might still be a way to get a reduction in price for the swords he desired.

"Tyrion I want you to go to Braavos with Magister Dovahkiin" he stated.

The Imp was rather surprised by this instruction.

"Father?" he said.

At least the stunted fool was only seeking clarification rather than refusing to do his duty to his noble house.

"I want those swords, so I'll send a group to Braavos, someone who can verify that the swords are real and I have someone who can negotiate terms with the Iron Bank" explained Tywin "Your task will be to befriend the Magister, try to get him to lower his price. Ask to stay with him. Find out about these ship designs, and what products he wishes to sell here in Westeros".

The older Lannister had more to say.

"Prove yourself in this assignment I will fund you as you go into business for yourself" promised the Warden of the West.

His son had not been expecting this.

"I would have thought mere business to beneath a lion of the Rock," said the Imp.

Normally it would be, but Tywin wanted to find some use for his youngest child. Besides, the trade of vodka in a few of the kingdoms could be profitable and it might be another way of ensuring the Lannisters' prosperity.

"You have some wits about you" admitted the older man "And running a business even for a short time will be a good test of your intelligence and your ability to manage people".

He never would have given such responsibility to the twins, but second sons often had to fulfil different obligations than their older siblings.

"If it works out and I find you suitable for duties more suited for a Lannister," said Tywin "then the running of the vodka trade can be given over to another. If it is successful you will have a source of income all your own and a powerful Magister as a business partner who might be useful to us in the future".

Tyrion did like the idea of being able to prove himself. Plus, he had a desire to travel, to see more of this world

"I'll ensure that you have more than enough coin to purchase these designs you mentioned" Tywin was now saying "Have them sent to me so the shipwrights can look over them, and find out what else he has that might be of use to our house".

Tyrion couldn't believe his luck. He would get to visit one of the Free Cities and spend time with one of the few people who seemed to have something between his ears. Marek Dovahkiin had not made a single joke about Tyrion or even commented on his size. He'd seemed happy to meet the Imp.

"I will do as you command and make my way to Braavos," said the dwarf "You'll be glad to have me gone for a while. I am sure".

Tywin wondered why Jaime couldn't be this easy to direct. Perhaps he could be when he had a Valyrian steel sword to play with and another to give to Robert in exchange for Jaime's release from the Kingsguard. Only time would tell.

ASOIAF 27

Link to a sample chapter for a story I am tinkering with. You don't need to be a supporter to read it. /post/Interstellar-Odyssey--Sample-1-V7V8IC6Q2

Team Builder

Part 57

Tourney Grounds. Outside of Kingslanding.

"That was boring" complained Ciri as I returned from the qualifying rounds of the archery contest, "When does the fun stuff start?".

The smallfolk seemed to enjoy watching people shoot arrows at targets, but it wasn't as if they had much else in the way of entertainment, and there are people who enjoy displays of such skills even in my world.

"It should be more entertaining tomorrow" I assured Ciri "There's been a delay in the proper contests because the king wants two melees, one on one combat, and a free for all, so this has pushed everything back while the people organising this find fighters for a free for all".

I should be part of both of those contests since I'd done well enough in the qualifying rounds for the melee so far. I might have to bribe some other greedy fool, but the money they wanted was pocket change for me.

"A lot of lords went to see the qualifying rounds" commented Natasa as I took a seat outside of my fancy tent "Do you think they were looking for talented fighters?".

I did since I'd been informed as much.

"Tyrion Lannister told me as much," I said to the former S.H.I.E.L.D. agent "Tywin Lannister at least is looking for some skilled fighters and so likely some of the other lords are as well. Recent events have made them a bit nervous".

Which they couldn't be blamed for. As the half-man had mentioned, these were strange times.

"So Marek, do you think you'll win the archery contest?" enquired Ciri as she helped herself to a horn of ale.

Given the lavish prize money offered by King Robert, it would be worth coming here if I only won that one contest. The generousness of the prizes was a reflection of the status of the host so Robert was spending a fortune and I suspected that the prizes would be more ridiculous if Jon Arryn wasn't Hand of the King.

"I should do," I said "Two thousand gold dragons could help a lot with the uplift".

As I spoke I saw that Natasa was working out some figures in a book.

"You know if you win the archery contest and the melee you're going to have a lot of gold you don't really need" she commented.

I planned to use that money to encourage lords to invest some time and labour in a few projects. That was why I needed to win some contests as the lords would be far more likely to listen to me if I was seen as a warrior.

Better roads, aqueducts, sewage systems, better farming methods, there were plenty of things I could introduce to improve things here in Westeros.

"Have you considered building an army and conquering one of the Free Cities or the Stepstones?" the Black Widow asked me "With your wealth and the promise of lordships you could attract a lot of minor nobles to your side if you chose to conquer somewhere".

I had thought about becoming a conqueror I'd decided against it because I was trying to uplift the known world and while war can advance technology that's not how things work here.

"For a while, I did consider trying to conquer Slavers Bay and to uplift it by force, but it wouldn't be very practical," I said, "It just made more sense to become a Magister of Braavos and try to use trade to advance this world".

To some degree, it was working. New goods were being traded, more jobs were being created, and I felt sure that Braavos would begin building new kinds of ships once they saw how profitable the Greywind was for me.

"I even considered going north of the Wall and trying to civilize it by force so I could build my own kingdom," I told Natasha "But the land and the natives are very hostile. Braavos is more advanced than the rest of this world and its people aren't as stuck in their ways as they are elsewhere".

The Black Widow made some notes in her books.

"The problem I see in trying to uplift the Seven Kingdoms or the Free Cities is that a lot of powerful people are invested in the status quo," she said, stating something I was well aware of "They don't want things to change. Braavos is more accepting of change sure, but there are limits to how far you can push your agenda, and you're going to struggle against those limits".

I had already considered this and it was why I was so focused on becoming rich and influential outside of Braavos., and then using my wealth to bring about some changes in Westeros. But there was a limit to how many problems could be solved by throwing money at them.

"If you were to conquer even one of the Stepstones then you could build the kind of society you want," Natasha said to me "You wouldn't need to worry about lords getting in your way because anyone with a position of authority there would owe their position to you".

It was worth thinking about. Even if the whole thing collapsed once I was gone from this world my mission would still have been completed and that was what mattered. However, there were some issues with outright conquering those islands.

"I don't think the Free Cites would like it if I took over the Stepstones" I pointed out "And Dorne might feel threatened".

The Free Cities could afford to hire a sellsword army of their own and the lords in Dorne had fighting men of their own.

"Just summon a dragon if they get any ideas" suggested Ciri.

Unlike the Targaryen dragons, the dragons I summoned from Skyrim didn't stick around after the fight so they couldn't be poisoned and no mob would be able to find them. But such use of brute force wouldn't win me many allies.

"Aegon the Conqueror took over most of Westeros with three dragons and a small army" Natasha, who had clearly been reading up on local history, pointed out "One of the Targaryens conquered the Stepstones with a single dragon, even if it didn't last".

In 106 AC, Daemon Targaryen and Lord Corlys Velaryon, known as Lord of the Tides, allied together to conquer the Stepstones, due to Prince Daemon desiring his own kingdom and Corlys wanting to rid the Stepstones of its rule by the Triarchy, which was an alliance of three of the Free Cities that had long since collapsed.

While Corlys provided the Velaryon fleet, Daemon flew on his dragon, Caraxes, he led an army of adventurers, hedge knights, youngest sons of lords and other fighters.

After conquering all but two of the islands, Daemon declared himself King of the Stepstones and the Narrow Sea in 109 AC, being crowned by Corlys Velaryon.

The Triarchy launched a massive fleet under Racallio Ryndoon to retake the isles, and Dorne joined the alliance against Daemon. If I did become a conquerer I would need to make sure that there was no alliance strong enough to threaten me.

These days what passed for civilization in the Stepstones were pirates, smuggling gangs, slavers, and other groups that would only look after themselves. They would not be able to work together.

If I got together enough hedge knights, sons of lords who were looking to make their own way in the world, adventures and other fighters, then I could have an army.

Westeros was in no state to go to war to stop me because they'd just finished a war, and the lords here were busy playing the game of thrones with each other.

"The Free Cities could become a problem" I mused "A new power rising up the in Stepstones could be seen as a threat to them".

Natasha must have spent quite some time thinking things over. Even I didn't have detailed plans like hers when it came to conquest. I'd been focused on becoming a Magister of Braavos and then using that position to spread a web of influence over the known world.

Now that I was a Magister and my webs of influence were being spun. It was time to consider making bolder moves.

"You'll need to win some of the Merchant-Princes over" advised the Black Widow "Bribe them, offer their ships safe passage through the Stepstones with toils, and if you need to then you should kill a few of them. I'd consider finding some way to destabilise Slavers Bay if only to give the Free Cities something else to worry about".

I already had some ideas on that. I could do to the slave masters in Slavers Bay what I did to the Greyjoys. I could get Ciri to teleport me into their pyramids and then simply kill the masters. If I had enough time I could loot their treasuries.

New masters would raise up in time, but it wouldn't happen overnight, and it would prevent Slavers Bay from interfering with my conquest of the Stepstones. Perhaps if I fucked up the Dothraki I could screw with the slave trade enough to keep the Free Cities that used slaves from being able to interfere with my conquest.

"We'll need ships, a lot of supplies and support," said the Black Widow "Even with your wealth it would take between six months and a year to prepare. Actually getting any army together won't be that hard if you make the right promises and can supply pay. It's the logistics of feeding, arming, and transporting them, that's going to take time to set up".

I wondered how much work that would be for me. Even with my minions and Natasha, I might need to seek more help.

"It sounds like for now I should just keep doing what I have been doing" I reasoned "Build up a reputation, make some allies, find ways to increase my income and take out people who could get in my way".

In the short term agreeing to this plan wouldn't change much for me.

"I think so," said Natasha "I'll have to look more into how that Targaryen Prince managed it, we'll need ships so try to make connections with people who could lend us some ships for a reasonable price".

Given King Robert's spending, the crown should soon start building up a lot of debt. Perhaps when the time came I could offer to help with the debt in exchange for support from the royal navy.

I was giving the idea some more thought and starting work on carving the pieces for a new chessboard (meant to be a gift to someone I might want support from later) when a knight came over to my little camp.

"Magister Dovahkiin," said the man in armour "Lord Rosby wishes to speak with you".

The arrogance of the local nobility was impressive. They thought they could just send for me like I was some mere trader.

"I'm free for a few hours," I said.

It was easy to tell that the knight was annoyed that I wasn't going to go running to his lord.

"He wishes to speak with you now," the native insisted.

One day the lords of these lands would kneel before me and beg for my favours. People in Braavos paid tribute to me when not so long ago I had chased after their attention. It would be the same here.

"Very well," I said, "If your lord insists".

The knight led me, Ciri and a couple of my guards to another fancy tent that contained a lord who right away I knew to be an old and wealthy man. He had a lot of red silk about and other trappings that let me know that he had more money than sense.

"Magister Dovahkiin," said the important man "I am Gyles Rosby".

Spoiler

[img: https/vignette.wikia./gameofthronesfanon/images/e/e5/Ser_Gyles_Redgrave.gif/revision/latest?cb=20161127044714]

I took a seat when offered one, and sipped at the wine he offered that had been served in a golden goblet. I wasn't worried about him having slipped something into my drink as I knew a spell to counter such things.

"How are you enjoying Kingslanding?" I was asked.

Hopefully, he'd skip the small talk when he realised that I wasn't interested in pleasantries.

"It stinks," I said.

To my surprise, the old man laughed.

"Yes, it does" he agreed "I prefer Rosby, but my lands supply much of the food to Kinglanding's lords and ladies, so I have to often visit to ensure that the Red Keep is well supplied".

I recalled that the majority of the supply of food for King's Landing comes from Rosby and Stokeworth. Well that and the Reach, but that is what feeds the smallfolk. The nobility gets their food directly from the Crownlands so it's fresher.

That was why it wasn't the people in the Red Keep going hungry during the War of the Five Kings. Food was cut off from the Reach and the Riverlands were a totally mess so you couldn't buy goods from there either.

"Stokeworth mostly supplies meat and grain" Lord Rosby "I deal more in fruit, vegetables, that sort of thing, and most importantly I ensure that the royal family is supplied with the best wine and ale".

I think I knew where this was going. I'd heard that my vodka was popular with the elite and enjoyed with chilled fruit juices as it was in Braavos. I was going to need to use a portkey to bring more here just to keep Tyrion supplied.

"So I wish to ensure that the royal family keep being well supplied," said the lord "To that end, I desire to purchase regular shipments of vodka from you".

That was possible, but not the best outcome for my mission.

"I can supply you," I told the Crownlands noble "But why not make your own? That way you wouldn't be dependent on me to make regular shipments and you could sell vodka to everyone in the Crownlands".

It was clear to me he hadn't even considered that option. I would allow it because I could only produce so much, I'd be able to easily meet demand much better if only exported vodka to Gulltowen and White Habor.

"I'd be willing to sell you means to produce your own vodka in exchange for a small portion of your profits".

That would be less work for me and it would force this lord to build new stills, thus trying something new.

"The Iron Bank can draw up a contract between us" I suggested "And while there are others with an interest in producing vodka they don't have connections here in the Crownlands. You could even export into the Stormlands if you wished".

Rosby gave the matter some thought. I imagined that he might want to buy from me directly in case vodka became unfashionable in the Red Keep and the demanded dried up. If that happened hen he could just stop importing it. However, if he invested in the infrastructure to make his own and sales dropped it could cause problems for him.

It amused me how the lords of Westeros looked down on trade when they were dependent upon it to stay in power. I would prove that you could be both a merchant lord and a warrior.

"I'll call for you when I've made up my mind" stated the lord.

He wasn't someone I wished to spend time with anyway and as much as it prickled my pride to be dismissed like I was a mere servant, I needed to put up with people like this to advance my plans. I soothed the irritant by reminding myself that I was advancing my position.

ASOIAF 28

Team Builder

Part 58

Tourney Grounds. Outside of Kingslanding.

The watching smallfolk cheered loudly as I brought up my steel shield, made lighter by mixing in some mithril with the iron, just in time to block the blow of the mace that would have struck my shoulder, or even my head if I hadn't reacted so quickly.

Such a blow could have cost me this match if it connected, unlikely as that was, as while my armour was vastly superior to anything the locals could make its protection wasn't absolute. A good blow to my head would be unwelcome.

The shield would not be broken or dented by the blows that had rained down upon it as the hedge knight I was going up against was putting on a show as much as he was trying to win. No doubt he wished to catch the eye of some lord or perhaps to impress somebody's daughter.

Right now my concern was focused on the giant of man, he was tall even by my standards, and he was trying to beat me down with mace. It was a blunt instrument in more than one sense of the word, however, it was still heavy and the man swinging it about, who was a poor knight judging by the quality of his armour, could put a lot of strength behind each blow.

The crowd were loving every second of this, despite the fact that this knight might seem to them to be trying to smash me into a sticky paste or at least leave me a bruised mess. I didn't think they'd mind much if I got my skull broken as long as I put on a mood show.

My superior reflexes and strength were keeping me safe, and already the man's blows were slowing down, they were becoming weaker as well. Hardly unexpected given the sheer weight of his weapon as well as the armour he wore. He lacked my superhuman strength and stamina.

I blocked blow after blow, knowing that if my shield did somehow break or if I missed a strike I would be in trouble, but I kept myself safe and wore the hedge knight down, letting the combat drag on while remaining far more in control of the situation than it would appear.

Defeating the hedge knight would have been simple enough, even without Shouts, magic or one of my special weapons, yet I had let things drag on so the smallfolk would cheer for me and their betters would be amused. After all, they came here for the spectacle, to be entertained, this wasn't only about proving my superiority as a warrior.

When I could hear the hedge knights panting over the cheering of the crowd I knew it was time to go on the offensive. I wanted to hide my true skill as a fighter, but I couldn't come off as weak either.

This time I didn't just block the blow, I used my shield to force the mace aside and swung my sword around. The knight brought up his shield to block, and from that moment on he lost his momentum. Unlike me he wasn't allowing his shield to be struck, he'd lost all control.

Most serious duels were over rather quickly with the stronger, and often more skilled warrior overpowering his foe's defences before going in for the kill. In a tournament, both knights held back so as not to kill or seriously injure each other, and they fought to entertain as much as to show off their skills.

Now I was working to end the match rather than to make the crowd happy, or to hide my true skill. Using my shield, which would already need repainting after this, I bashed into the large warrior with such force that he soon began to topple backwards onto the dirt.

For a moment it looked as if he might regain his balance, however, I didn't allow this, and once more I used my shield to unbalance the enemy knight, who fell to the ground. He couldn't simply get back up, since he was tired and he was in full armour.

Before he could even attempt to roll out of the way I had my sword pointing at his heart. It wouldn't penetrate the armour, it was a blunted blade, and his chest was well protected, but the move made it clear that I considered him to be defeated.

"I yield," said the hedge knight.

Perhaps I could have let the man get up and carry on fighting, I didn't due to his breathing, he'd not last long even if he could get back up and the knight knew it. He let go of his shield and mace, and I did the same before helping the man to his feet.

Despite having looked as if I was going to get pulverised mere moments ago as far as the crowd were concerned I'd turned the tables against what looked to be a superior foe, and as I helped the man I'd just defeated to get off the field the crowd cheered all the more loudly.

Before long I headed back into the fancy tent that was waiting for me just a few moments after my match against Ser whatever his name was, had ended, and I sat down on a chair designed to take the weight of a man in full armour.

I'd won, and I could have beaten the man sooner, but I'd needed to make it look good so I'd let the match drag on longer than it needed to. Of course, the crowd had loved it, and the people had not only accepted my victory, but they'd also cheered me as Ser, who cares what his name was, fell to the ground and yielded to me.

Despite how tiring that had been I had to admit, to myself at least, that it had been fun to play at fighting like that. It had been far too long since I'd traded blows with anyone outside of a bit of training back at the Manse. I spent far too much time making deals, doing research and finding ways to spread my influence.

"Looks like you won over the crowd," said Natasha.

This was important as while impressing the lords matter being liked by the smallfolk could also have a positive impact on my plans to spread my influence over the Seven Kingdoms.

"It's more work than it looks," I told the assassin.

Although it wasn't actually that dangerous, as we used weapons meant for practising rather than killing, and our armour was of high quality, relatively speaking, however when fighting in the duel, ring it can feel very deadly. The crowds certainly cheered as if it was all real.

"You have another bout this afternoon" Natasha needlessly reminded me "I'll have one of the maids prepare you a light lunch, you don't want a heavy meal before a duel, and you there's formal meal tonight so you'll have plenty to eat then. I recommend a good night's sleep after that".

It was sweet how much she already cared for me. She was certainly showing her maternal side.

"Sounds like a plan," I said.

While the main feast was still a few days away, the winners of today's matches would dine with the king tonight and tomorrow if they kept winning, this would give everyone the chance to get to know each other.

Many of the knights were from quite some distance away, and the royal family would be formally introduced to the visiting warriors before sitting down to dine. I supposed that this could be considered an honour.

I didn't care much for the formal meet and greet, but I might get the chance to introduce myself to a few VIPs this evening. I needed to make connections that would be useful for my future plans.

"You should rest" Natasha urged.

I would do just that and then prepare next match, which again I would have to allow to drag on. At least the crowd would enjoy that, and I was impressing some of the noble ladies judging by some looks I'd gotten.

The maids I'd brought with me certainly seemed impressed as they began to remove my armour and I was glad that the supplies sent to me by the CYOA included hygiene products or I'd smell rather bad by now.

"There's no need to wash me," I told the maids who were as eager to serve as ever "Just get my lunch and I'll check my armour once you've cleaned it".

It was important to properly maintain your equipment and while a blunted sword could be easily replaced my armour was the product of a lot of work. I'd transmuted a small fortune of iron ore to get the amount of ebony and mithril that I'd used to make steel with special properties.

"Lord Rosby just sent a note," Natasha told me.

Ciri was off watching the other matches and she had no love of deal-making and politics anyway so it was for the best she went off to find her amusements.

"He agreed to my terms," I said after reading the note.

The old man had thought over my offer and waited for me to start winning before agreeing to the deal I suggested. Not surprising given the 'might makes right' attitude of these savages.

"When we return to Braavos I'll inform the Iron Bank and arrange the contract," said the Black Widow "You should write a thank you note".

I'd let the bank sort out the details and make sure that I got a small share of the profits from the sales. The Iron Bank would take its share as well, and it was worth it because even the lords in Westeros would think twice before failing to give the Iron Bank its due.

Since I didn't need to do anything about that business once the note was done and sent off via a maid, I finished eating and decided to lie down for an hour. I wanted to be fresh for my match later, although the feast tonight would be more tiring since I'd have to deal with the smug cunts that passed for nobility in the Seven Kingdoms.

This made me glad that the Black Widow was willing to handle so many of the details for me. She was enjoying her role as far as I could tell and she was good at it.

I was roused from my nap by one of the maids who let me know that Ser Rork Waters was here, it took me a moment to recall who that was. The hedge knight I'd just defeated was a bastard from the Riverlands and he'd come here to pay his ransom.

An old tradition in these sorts of events was that if you lost a match you had to hand over your armour to the winner or pay its value to the winner. I couldn't help wondering if that rule had been suddenly implemented because some important knight wanted to win my fancy-looking armour.

I recalled from the Dunk and Egg series that it was possible for a knight to lose his armour, sword and horse as ransom. Since the melee was being fought with blunted tourney swords and on foot, only our armour was at stake during the matches.

"Invite him in" I instructed as I took a seat at my big table.

I poured some watered-down wine into two goblets. The man was a bastard hedge knight, but I wouldn't hold that against him, and since he had a bastard's name he might have an important father, so no sense in being rude.

Natasha must be busy with some tasks as she wasn't here to make the introductions or see the man in.

"Ser Rork," I said, "I am Magister Marek Dovahkiin of Braavos".

The young man took the offered seat and the wine. He was now wearing a simple tunic so it seemed safe to assume that he has armour ready to hand over.

"I can't afford to pay the ransom, Magister" he admitted.

Since I had no need for his armour, I could make better stuff with one hand tied behind my back, and he wouldn't have enough coin to be worth taking, I decided to make him an offer.

"Keep your armour," I told him "I want a favour for your ransom".

I could see the glint of hope in the man's eyes.

"One day I might call upon you for a service" I explained "Nothing that would dishonour you or violate your oaths I promise".

Rork agreed and then left, a smile on his face, I wondered if he would spread the word of my kindness to others. That would be worth more to me than a poor knight's set of armour.

ASOIAF 29

Want to fuel my writing? /gothicjedi666

Team Builder

Part 59

The Red Keep. Kingslanding.

This Great Hall, the very place where the king would hold court, listen to concerns, render judgment and give out honours, had been converted into a suitable location for a large feast.

Despite the entertainment, such as the jugglers, bards and fools, and the sheer amount of food on offer, this feast was just one of many that I might attend should I keep winning during the tourney and I certainly intended to keep winning.

The Great Hall was packed with people from the very elite such as the King, the Queen, the Hand of the King, Tywin Lannister and other lords who were important enough that Robert had to pretend to be friendly with them.

While the ruling monarch wasn't a fan of the Dornish or the Tyrell family they were granted seats at the table that faced towards the door, meaning that the rest of us could check out who was honoured by being placed near the king.

Further down the hall were the guests such as myself who were too important to ignore, but not worthy enough to sit near the important people. I sat here with some minor lords, other important merchants, knights of some reputation and Tyrion Lannister who'd taken a seat next to me even though he could have gotten a place at a better table.

While the nobility sat at the 'high table' and the important visitors were close by, the more important commoners sat at lower trestle tables. Hedge knights, lesser merchants, squires and a few bastards as well I'd guess.

Salt was placed in the centre of the high table and only those of a certain rank had access to it. Those less favoured on the lower tables were below (or beneath) the salt.

The middle tables had access only to small amounts of salt. Not this was a concern for me as I had brought my own. The CYOA supplied me with food and this included salt, so I ended up refilling the salt bowl at my table. This might not seem like a big deal, but it was a display of my wealth to share salt this so freely.

I'd considered going into the salt business for a time as I knew methods of obtaining it much more cheaply than the locals, but the salt trade was well established and it would have caused problems if I'd tried to muscle in on it. The same would have been true if I'd tried to make my fortune in wine, silks, or other goods.

Since the Iron Throne was gone, I'd stolen it, the king had a new fancy chair. One made from wood I guessed, I couldn't be sure as it was covered in furs and decorated with antlers. It was certainly not a Targaryen throne that was sure.

It suited Robert much more than the Iron Throne and since it wasn't fancy I had no desire to steal this one. Maybe one of the Lord Paramount had a fancy throne worth taking? The Seastone chair had been cool looking.

By far the oddest sight here, at least in my view, was Ciri as she wore a fancy dress or at least fancy by Braavosi standards. I'd not even known she owned a dress or that she knew how to wear one. It was laced up at the back so I couldn't see how she'd put it on alone. She must have gotten help from the maids, and that alone would have been a sight worth seeing.

Spoiler

[img: https/i./originals/e2/06/4c/e2064c5094ac610a6d34c1c679f34a10.jpg]

She'd even done her hair and she wore earrings. It was easy to forget that she was a princess by birth. That just made it all the more satisfying that she liked me to fuck like she was a tavern wench.

"Thank you for bringing more of your vodka to this feast," said Tyrion "It makes spending time with my family far more bearable".

The king liked it so a lot of the other nobles were at least pretending to judge the stuff, which should increase sales.

"What are friends for?" I asked.

The half-man smirked.

"Are we friends?" he questioned.

Having a Lannister as an ally could be helpful in many scenarios.

"I assume your father ordered you to befriend me," I said "I see no reason to disappoint him".

The Imp didn't bother to lie to or spin the truth.

"He did" the small man confirmed, "I told him about you and sees some advantage in sending me to stay with you, other than simply having me gone from his sight".

Tywin Lannister was one of the few men in Westeros who wouldn't allow tradition or the opinions of others to stop him from using one of my inventions if it benefitted his position and could aid his family. So it made sense he'd send his youngest son to try to find some advantage.

I didn't mind gifting some of my knowledge to the Lannisters as it would only benefit my mission.

"You're welcome at the manse, my lord," I said.

The derp feature made it hard to find intelligent people to talk to. Some of my fellow Magisters weren't so dullwitted, they were just so boring that I found it hard to sustain any sort of conversation with them.

If the son of Tywin Lannister was going to stay at my manse I'd need to portkey back to Braavos and have Hermione take anything magical out of our home, and move it to the pocket dimension. Best to keep Danny there as well since Tyrion is smart enough to figure out who she really is.

"Dear Magister, if we are to be friends then just call me Tyrion," the half-man insisted.

I smiled.

"Then please call me Marek" I requested.

I didn't wish to eat the local food, but this was the Red Keep so if there was any food that wouldn't make me sick in the entire of the Seven Kingdoms it would be served in this castle. I picked at my meal and drank enough to get another man totally plastered.

Being the Dragonborn came with many benefits, including some resistance to poison it seemed, as it took a lot to get me drunk.

"Where is that lovely red-headed assistant of yours?" wondered Tyrion.

Natasha was off dealing with some matter that involved the Mountain. I had wanted to kill him in combat, but the Black Widow had insisted on dealing with the false knight herself and given that the rapist wasn't here she might have done her work already.

She was a professional assassin after all. No need to question her methods or prevent her from making use of her skills. Besides the Mountain was a murderer of women and children, even Hermione wouldn't argue about me having him murdered.

"She isn't nobility," I said "Ciri is a more suitable guest for such an event".

Tyrion leaned back so that he could look at the witcher.

"So my lady, you're a lady?" he asked.

More than that.

"I am Princess Cirilla Fiona Elen Riannon, the daughter of Emhyr var Emreis, Emperor of the Nilfgaard and daughter of Pavetta Fiona Elen the Princess of Cintra," she told my new friend "I am still the Heiress to the throne of Cintra I simply don't wish to rule so I left my homeland for adventures in far off land, and to avoid my father who wishes me to be his heir. Your father is a lot like mine from what I hear".

The half-man was surprised as was I since I knew Ciri didn't like her fancy name or titles. But she was smart to know that her noble origins could be used in some way to advance my goals. That would explain the dress and her acting as a lady this evening.

For some reason, I got the feeling that later tonight she was going to ask me for some sort of favour that I wouldn't want to grant.

"I've never heard of Nifgaard or Cintra," he said.

We couldn't exactly tell him why he'd never heard of them so I just did my best not to lie. I didn't think Tyrion thought Ciri was fibbing, and I could understand why he would question her origins even if she wasn't the only royal in exile here. There was a prince from the Summer Isle hanging about the Red Keep if I recall correctly.

"You won't find them on any map even if you went to the Citadel" I informed the Lannister Lord, "I met Ciri in Braavos when she was travelling and she agreed to become my consort for lack of a better word. I have never regretted bringing her into my life".

Tyrion was amused.

"So Marek, you are a Braavosi Magister, one who can fight as well as any knight, you're well-travelled, richer than man has the right to be if the rumours are true, and you have a princess from a far-off land as a consort" the half-man stated, "I think my time with you will be very interesting even if only half of what I know about you turns out to be true".

I wondered if it would be worth the risk to tell Tyrion the truth about myself, to show him our dragons, and my magic. I'd have to get him to make some sort of magical vow, but it could be worth it if meant I could have an actual guy friend who might be able to help with the uplift since he was part of a rich and very important family.

We ate and talked some more about things that didn't matter until I noticed some people who were going up to the high table so that they could present gifts to the royal family.

"My sister is enjoying the attention" Tyrion commented.

I couldn't tell if he was envious or just annoyed by the display of sycophancy.

"Alas, it is something I have to do to promote my interests," I said as I took out two boxes from my expanding pouch "Wish me luck in impressing your sister".

Both of the boxes were too big to have been on my person yet Tyrion didn't enquire about that for some reason. Perhaps he thought I'd been hiding them under the table. I figured that the pouch would serve as proof that I had access to magic when the time came.

I headed over to the high table and waited until the royals were free to pay some attention to me. The queen was for all her internal ugliness a striking woman on the outside and Robert still had some of his youthful vigour left at this point in his life.

"Your Grace, and Your Grace," I said as the king and queen bothered to pay me some attention "I am Magister Marek Dovahkiin of Braavos".

King Robert recognised my name despite his drunken state.

"You're the fellow who sent me that fancy warhammer" he recalled.

Not the most original of gifts, but it had served its purpose.

"Yes, Your Grace" I confirmed, "I trained under a master smith during my travels, and I come baring more treasures from far-off lands".

I placed the two boxes in front of the king and queen, making sure that each of them got the right present. The king opened his first and found an impressive-looking fang within the box.

"Take from a sabercat" I explained "Those creatures come from a land beyond Essos".

The king liked his hunting trophies and it was certainly impressive. The Daedra Merchant I'd gotten from had demanded a high price for both of the items I gifted to the king and queen. I hoped that the expense was worth it.

"I've never seen anything like this" Cersei remarked

She held in her hands a Welkynd Stone. After the fall of the Ayleids, the ways of production and proper use of Ayleid stones were gradually lost. The remaining stones could be still found inside the remains of their cities even hundreds of years after, at least up to the end of the Third Era.

Although they could be still used for restoring magicka, they would just crumble to dust after usage due to improper use. I doubted there were many left so how the Daedra Merchant had gotten his claws on one I could only imagine.

"That, Your Grace, is a treasure from the ruins of a long-lost civilization," I told the queen "I doubt that there is another of those in all of Westeros or even Braavos".

Unless some ROB sent one of their playthings here it was a guarantee that it would be the only one in this entire world. It was highly unlikely that the merchant would ever be able to sell me another.

I went back to my seat and got there just in time to see the Mountain stagger into the Great Hall, and then collapse onto the floor, when he did I saw that he'd somehow gotten a dagger in the back.

Due to his sheer size and prowess in battle, I found it hard to imagine the false knight dying from something as simple as a dagger in the back, yet it had happened and everyone here had seen it.

"Well that's a show stopper," remarked the half-man.

Now I knew that Natasha had been busying herself with. I didn't know if the big guy had managed to stagger here after being stabbed or if he'd been close by, and I also wondered if The Black Widow had wanted to cause a scene. I'd find out later.

ASOIAF 30

I just wanted to say thanks again to my generous supporters on and ko-fi. It's good to know that people enjoy my writing enough to tip it and it helps me keep going knowing that I have such nice readers.

Team Builder

Part 60

Tourney Grounds. Outside of Kingslanding.

King Robert allowed for no further delays to his Grand Tourney so the next morning I was in another ring trading blows with another Westerosi fighter, only I knew this man and while he was little better than the people on my list of corpses that needed to be made, I actually had no desire to kill to him.

This might seem odd given what he might have already done and would do if allowed to live, however, I couldn't help feeling sorry for the burned man called, Sandor Clagane, the younger brother of the Mountain so I would not end his life or send the Black Widow after him. Even if it might be better to wipe out the entire family of mad dogs.

Knowing about his lift as I did I couldn't help thinking that not killing him was the crueller thing to do. If I'd been a kinder man I'd have offered to heal his burns.

As for sparing his life, if nothing else Tywin Lannister might start to suspect that my presence here in Kingslanding had something to do with why his killers kept disappearing if he lost yet another of them in so short of a time.

The Hound, a name he might not have been given yet, didn't bother with a shield, he fought with a blunted two-handed sword. I hadn't gotten a good look at the weapon so far, but it looked like the Scottish variant of the late medieval two-handed sword known as a claymore.

I'd never bothered with such large swords myself as I preferred the longsword that could be held with one hand if I wanted to cast a spell or make use of a shield. Besides when you have blades from magical weapons their size doesn't matter much.

Sandor had no real style he just swung his massive sword at me. He was not yet the fearsome fighter he was known to be in the books/movies, that and his brother's sudden death had thrown him off his game, or perhaps he was just drunk despite it not even being lunchtime.

I moved to the side as the big man made a move that could have split my skull if I'd allowed it to land. I was not that foolish even if I had faith in my well-crafted helmet as the Hound like his brother could put a lot of power into his blows.

"Stand still you coward" the Hound demanded.

I didn't allow his petty insult to goad me into action.

"Letting yourself be struck isn't brave it's idiotic" I stated.

I really was doing the people of this world a favour by removing certain people from their gene pool.

Sandor didn't like me implying that he was an idiot and charged at me. Again I just moved out of the way, an impressive feat given that I was fearing plate armour and I wasn't exactly a small person.

I could tell that while my attempts to let the Hound wear himself out while dragging on the match had amused the smallfolk until now, the mood of the crowd had shifted, they wanted to see something different.

To amuse the audience, which now included King Robert and many important lords, I let Clegane attack again, he went past me as he did more sluggishly than before I hit him in the back.

"About time!" the monarch called out.

The Hound got his second wind and ignoring any pain caused by my blow, he attacked again and this time I blocked the blow with my shield. Then I began pushing with more strength than I should have and certainly more than Sandor was expecting.

He began struggling against me and while his muscles were tired I was still fresh, and in a moment of what I could only think of as desperation he took his dominant hand off the hilt of his sword so that he could punch my helm.

This was a mistake as the iron/mithril alloy of my helm was far stronger than normal steel and I'd forged the armour to fit me as well as it could without me being able to use modern tools, so all the Hound did was break a few of his fingers against my quality workmanship.

Had I been anyone other than the Dragonborn the blow might have still distracted me enough for him to take control of the fight, alas for Sandor I wasn't a mortal man. Something I proved when I headbutted him.

The Hound has his own helmet, that of a snarling dog, and it made a lovely clanging noise when our heads met and for a moment I smelt wine, the fighter had been drinking just before the match started.

Spoiler

[img: https/i1.//wp-content/uploads/2014/09/the-hound-helmet.jpg?ssl=1]

Even for me that had been painful, but at least I'd been expecting it so when Sandor staggered back, I swung my sword into his shoulder, with the intent of not harming him, rather I just wanted him to become unbalanced.

"Fuck" the killer swore.

Despite his pauldrons, the blow caused him to fall over as he was already unsteady on his feet, and he fell onto the hard ground.

"Alright I'm done," he said "Fuck all of this".

I didn't care to hear his cursing and so I quickly made my way back to my fancy tent and found a bath waiting for me. The maids began to undress me and take care of my armour as Natasha decided that she was going to fuss over me.

As I bathed, she scrubbed my back and brushed my hair, making me wonder if she was going to stop fussing over me like this once she got pregnant or if she'd worse, either way, I'd tolerate her actions as she was doing good work for me.

"So what happened with the Mountain exactly?" I asked.

While the bells had been run last night and the guards had searched the castle for an assassin, I'd been allowed to leave in short order as the other guests. Even Tywin Lannister doesn't accuse other nobles of murder without some evidence.

I'd been seen mere moments before giving gifts to the king and queen, so there was no reason for anyone to suspect my involvement directly and little reason to think I'd been involved indirectly. What reason would a foreign Magister have to send someone to kill a Westerlands knight in any case?

Black Widow had not returned to my fancy tent until late into the knight and I'd known that she would have her reasons for sneaking about.

"I want to find out what Varys had planned in case of his death," said the agent as I got out of the bath and began to dry myself "The Keep is full of tunnels and the Spider has an office. I needed to see if he had papers as if nothing else it might give us material to blackmail some of the lords with".

Made sense as Varys had been part of the Small Council and would have chambers in the Red Keep and therefore an office.

"So you killed the Mountain as a distraction?" I asked.

Natasha nodded and I couldn't help noticing that she was looking at my cock rather than my face.

"Go bend over the table" I ordered "Then you can answer my question".

She did as she was told and as I lifted up her dress, and found that she wore a very modern black thong under her dull Braavosi clothing, I instructed her to tell me more about what she'd been up to as I removed her thong and threw it across the tent.

"I stabbed that bastard in the back with his own dagger," said Nastaha as I rubbed her pussy "I stabbed him in just the right spot so he'd bleed out slow enough for him to stumble his drunken ass in the main hall".

She'd done it effectively. No one had missed the last moments of the older Clegane.

"Then I went to the chambers the Spider kept in the Keep," she let me know.

The Black Widow was very good at ignoring distractions, even as she started to get wet, as I explored her pussy with my fingers, she kept talking.

"The man didn't have much in his office" Natasha let me know.

Well, he wouldn't have been a good spymaster if he just left important information lying around.

"But I did find a few interesting documents" Widow was now saying "Reports on expenses, taxes and information on expected crop yields.

Varys was keeping an eye on a lot of little things".

I didn't see why any of that could be considered interesting even if had been important, but to be fair I was more focused on getting Natasha wet enough for my cock.

"Did he have something like a safe?" I asked.

I slid my dick into the assassin and she did her best to not let it distract her.

"Not that I could find," she answered as I began to fuck her at a slow pace to start with, "He can't have memorised everything, he must have a stash somewhere. I want to go looking for it tonight".

The information she was hunting for could be useful to my plans so I would allow her to go out, but I'd tell her that later as right now I was more interested in slapping her firm ass.

"Time to knock you up" I stated.

Her ass looked really good when she was bent over and she accepted my slapping her backside without any complaint or signs of discomfort.

"Thank you," she said "I want you to put a baby in me".

That was the plan.

It still made me smile because I got to fuck Natasha Romanoff's tight cunt, I was fucking her and I would get to do it again. There were people out there who would kill to be able to do this just once, but none of them was ever going to get to fuck the Black Widow, to her moan like a slut as I pushed my dick deeper inside her eager pussy.

"Please don't stop" she called out "I'll do anything you want!".

Of course, she'd normally do whatever I wanted, but it was nice to hear and to have her bent over like this.

She normally did all the work and controlled the action, even if she focused on my pleasure and not hers, but there was nothing more satisfying to me than to have a powerful woman who I could just use for sex. I much prefer having this kind of power than ruling over strangers I'll never meet.

I grabbed hold of her hips and began to thrust into Natasha harder than ever before. She held onto the table and pushed her hips into mine, trying to get me as deep inside her as possible.

"Do you want my cum?" I asked.

She was eager for it.

"Please" she begged, "Cum inside me".

I almost teased her by saying something about cumming on her ass, but I couldn't be that cruel to her. Instead, I focused on pleasing myself and got myself to climax as soon as I could. There was no sense trying to please Widow when all she cared about was getting her cunt filled with my seed.

Once I was done I left the assassin to recover and went for a drink. As I did a maid entered the tent and let me know that the Hound wanted a word. It must be about the ransom.

"Give him some wine and tell him I'll be there in a few moments," I ordered.

By the time I got outside, I found the wine cup was empty and that the Hound had just left his helm behind. I was supposed to get all of his armour, but I was fine with just the helm, I would have accepted a few coins, and I figured that this prize would look in my trophy room.

I didn't yet have a trophy room, but the house with the pocket dimension would provide me with a suitable room I was sure. If it didn't I could build a museum within the pocket dimension.

"He didn't want to wait" one of my immortal warriors let me know, "He said 'fuck this city' and left".

The Hound was not my concern I had a lot of other things to focus on, including more matches.

ASOIAF 31

Team Builder

Part 61

Tourney Grounds. Outside of Kingslanding.

I knew Ser Jorah Mormont as an exiled knight, the former head of House Mormont and the Lord of Bear Island, at least by the time of the show/books as he'd fled Westeros to escape execution for trading in slaves.

Those poor souls had been poachers he'd caught while they were in his lands and he'd sold to fund his wife's expensive habits. Since slavery was illegal in Westeros he'd earned a death sentence for selling them.

Given the location of Bear Island, I couldn't help wondering how he'd run into any slavers if he'd been at home catching poachers as slavers tended to operate much further south and east than his home. Perhaps he'd sold them to the Ironborn who had forced those poachers to work in their mines.

Once he'd arrived in Essos he took up work as a mercenary in the Free Cities, eventually entering the service of the last Targaryens. He becomes one of the most trusted companions of Daenerys Targaryen, but only after he'd agreed to spy on her, although he managed to rewin her trust later.

None of that had happened yet, and couldn't since I had no intention of letting Danny go anywhere near this man. Not merely because I disliked Ser Jorah but because she was mine and I didn't want him to develop an interest in her. The chances of them meeting in this timeline were remote so it wasn't something I'd worry about.

From what I'd found about the man, I did some research when I found out that I'd be facing him in the melee, Ser Jorah showed his courage during Greyjoy's Rebellion, being one of the first men through the breach during the siege of Pyke. He received a knighthood from King Robert Baratheon in recognition of his actions.

Since was a northerner he was somewhat of an oddity as a knight as that is Andal tradition, but there are some knights in the North, and my actions in this timeline had prevented him from being knighted.

This version of Ser Jorah was a bear of a man. He was big and hairy, and he used a longsword rather well. Had he been going up against anyone else he might have won this match. Alas for Ser Jorah the bear is no match for the dragon.

Our swords batted against each other's shields as we traded blows, each seeking some way to land a good strike, or for the other to begin to tire and make a mistake. I would not be the one to make such a blunder.

Instead, I forced Ser Jorah, who was of a similar build to Sandor Clagane, to go on the defensive, to react to my attacks, I was losing interest in these matches as they were coming to an end, and so far I'd not faced anyone with any real skill, as even the Hound hadn't put much into the fight.

I then knocked Ser Jorah's shield out of his hand and he tried to parry my next strike only he didn't get the timing quite right so he ended up losing his sword as well. Rather than try to recover it the knight raised his hand up to show that he yielded.

The crowd seemed to like this so I figured that my moves must have looked impressive to those with no knowledge of how to fight with the sword.

This time I didn't go back to my tent, instead, I went to the stands so as to join Ciri who was still watching the matches, but I could tell that she too was losing interest and that she was hoping for more interesting diversions.

"So we'll be dining in the Keep tonight," she said.

That wasn't a certainty yet as I still had another match to fight.

"The steward running the matches wants to wrap up this part of the tourney this afternoon," I said "This part of the tourney has already dragged on too long, and the people want to see the real knights fight".

Not many fighters had wanted to take part in the one-to-one matches as they were risking their armour, not something many fighters could afford to replace or pay a ransom for. Those knights from wealthy houses who didn't need to worry about such things wouldn't lower themselves to fighting sellswords and foreigners.

Even Ser Jorah would likely try to barter and have me accept a few coins because Bear Island was a poor place. Not because its people were lazy or anything like that, but because Bear Island was often raided by Wildlings and the Ironborn.

Although House Mormount did have a Valyrian steel sword called Longclaw so their fortunes may have been greater at one time. Assuming that some member of House Mormount hadn't simply killed the person who had actually paid for the sword, during some battle long ago.

The Mountain and Lorch had both originally meant to fight in the one-on-one matches, and then one had vanished while the other had been murdered in the Red Keep during a feast, so it wasn't surprising that some of the lesser knights had backed out and even left the city.

A servant came along with a message that Ciri overheard.

"Whose Thoros of Myr?" she asked.

He was the man I was going to face in the final one-on-one match. But there was some issue as the priest didn't actually own any armour, although he was favoured by the king so that little issue could be waved away by the monarch if he wanted to watch Thoros fight me.

"He's a sort of warrior-priest from one of the Free Cities," I answered

"Apparently, he's the man to beat if I want to win these matches".

I didn't really know much about the man other than he seems to have the power to bring people back from the dead, or at least the Lord of Light can do that through him, and he might have some tricks up his sleeve. I knew he could set this sword on fire because I'd seen him do it in one of the few matches I'd bothered to watch.

"Thoros is supposed to be a bit of a wizard" I informed Ciri "but he's mostly known as a bad priest and a drunk".

I hoped he wasn't the kind of priest who likes to traumatise the choir boys.

"Magister Dovahkiin," said another servant.

This one had a written note from Ser Jorah Mormount who was offering me a rather low sum of money for his armour. I wondered if he expected me to barter since I was a merchant and so had started insulting low on purpose. Since I didn't need that kind of money, I simply took the offer.

"Tell Ser Jorah to have the coin delivered to my pavilion," I said.

I had to stay here and wait for Thoros of Myr to turn up. He soon did and I could tell he was drunk.

"By the Seven" I heard someone mutter.

This was very disrespectful, not only to me but to all the important people here, the smallfolk were simply amused by the scene.

"If I was in this for the money I'd quit," I told Ciri.

At least the free for all melee would be over quickly and while the jousting was going on I should be able to get some deal-making done.

"Just go and get it over with" advised Ciri.

After putting my helm back on I headed over to the fighting ring and once I got inside I saw Thoros ignite his sword. Something that the smallfolk liked to see. Judging by the chemical smell and the green-coloured flames he'd covered the blade in the substance that creates wildfire.

"That's really bad for the steel," I commented.

Potentially not good for him either as he was wearing robes and didn't have a shield. He was more likely to burn himself than me.

"The Lord of Light guide my blade," whispered the Myrish man.

A warrior-priest of a fire god with a flaming sword sounds rather cool, but in reality, the bloke was a drunken fool, and I could have simply knocked him out. However, this wasn't about just winning some fights, I needed to impress the smallfolk and entertain the lords, so I cast aside my own shield aside and took off my helm, letting them drop to the ground. I wanted to give the appearance that this was something of a fair fight.

"Let's get this done," I said.

I used a stance known as a high guard so that when Thoros tried to attack I could sweep my sword down at him in a diagonal strike. He blocked the blow and I swung again, this time using a horizontal swipe meant to be easy to see coming. Thoros saw the attack and moved back so that my blade only cut through the air.

Thoros turned out to be more skilled than expected, he thrusted his flaming sword forward, intending to jab me. Since I was wearing a set of steel plate armour, this wouldn't harm me, rather he expected me to try to stop the tip of his blunted blade from touching me. I did so by batting his weapon aside.

A few more times he jabbed, perhaps thinking that the green flames would unnerve me, but I'd faced the Dark Lord Sauron, Smaug the dragon, orcs, wights and White Walkers, a little fire wasn't going to make me nervous.

I brought my sword down for another strike and the priest's sword bent, it didn't shatter or break, but it wasn't going to do him any good.

"Bloody cheap steel" Thoros complained.

I didn't see exactly how it happened, but I did notice right away that part of the man's robes were now on fire, and since this was wildfire it spread fast. Lucky for the drunk I was able to use some ice magic while acting as if I was trying to put out the flames.

The man in red robes dropped to the ground as I put out the fire and then when everyone expected him to start burning he was fine. Had anyone been close they might have seen my hands glow a little as I channelled magic, but Thoros was drunk and everyone else was too far away.

"You saved me," said the priest "Lord of Light bless you. I yield the match".

I rather hoped that his god didn't even notice me, but gods aside, the crowd loved it. Thoros must be a crowd favourite.

"Marek Dovahkiin of Braavos!" called out the ruling monarch "Come forward".

Odd to hear Bobby B actually sound like a king and I did as he wished. Thinking that he wanted to offer me his congratulations, only that wasn't exactly what happened.

"Kneel" he commanded.

I did not expect to be knighted. Any knight can make a knight. However, kings can make knights as well, even if they were never knighted themselves. Yet knighthood is partially a religious matter, which was why I'd not sought the honour, it is usually open only to followers of the Faith of the Seven, but it's not limited to people raised in that faith.

There are several variations of ceremonies. I knew one when it was customary to stand vigil in a Sept the night before one receives a knighthood, but that wasn't always possible since someone might be knighted just before a battle. I doubted that the sellsword called Bronn spent the night in a Sept and got anointed by sacred oils when he was granted a knighthood.

"You acted with honour," said King Robert "Marek Dovahkin, do you swear before the eyes of gods and men to defend those who cannot defend themselves, to protect all women and children?".

He'd missed out on the bit about obeying lords and your king since Braavos has no king or real lords, at least by Westerosi standards.

"I swear" I replied.

The monarch used a sword he'd gotten from somewhere to tap me on each shoulder.

"Do you swear to fight bravely when needed and do such other tasks as are laid upon you, however hard or humble or dangerous they may be?" he asked.

Like I would say to no a knighthood even one offered by a drunken king, and he was drunk as I could smell the wine.

"I swear," I said again.

The sword stopped touching me.

"Then rise as Ser Marek," the king finished by saying.

The crowd was loving this. I must have built up something of a following when fighting, and I could only assume that Robert liked Thoros since it seemed unlikely that this king would knight me and expect some sought of favour in return. I figured he'd done it in part because of the mood of the crowd.

Not that it mattered to me, in my view I'd certainly earned a knighthood as I'd done more for the people of this world than many who got called Ser. Still, I'd go and donate some of my winnings to the local orphanage as that seemed like a knightly thing to do.

ASOIAF 32

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Team Builder

Part 62

The Red Keep. Kingslanding.

Alesander Staedmon, called the Pennylover, was the Lord of Broad Arch and the head of House Staedmon, and since I'd never heard of that house or Board Arch I assumed that he was a minor lord with a rather important job.

One of his titles was that of Master of Coin and judging by the yelling I'd heard before entering the man's office Lord Staedmon did not enjoy his work. Given his nickname, I suspected that he was either greedy by nature or possibly just a frugal man.

He might be embezzling from the treasury or perhaps King Robert gave him that nickname because the current Master of Coin kept trying to limit the monarchs spending. Robert's dislike for matters of money, which he was known to call 'counting coppers' was already well-known to those who did care about things such as taxes, trade, and tariffs.

As to why I was hanging around outside of the man's office, that was because I'd won the matches that made up the one-on-one melee part of the tourney and I'd been informed that I should make arrangements with the Master of Coin in order to receive my prize money.

Thankfully the member of the Small Council hadn't kept me waiting for too long and that was good because if he had I might have come up with some inventive way of punishing the glorified accountant.

I'd made the appointment only an hour ago so Staedmon must understand that having annoyed a Braavosi Magister around wasn't a good idea and he'd only kept me waiting outside of his office for a quarter of an hour after our appointment was supposed to have started.

Compared to some people I'd had to deal with in this world Staedmon was so far proving to be efficient.

"Magister Dovahkiin," said a servant "Lord Staedmon will see you now".

I ordered my guards to stay out in the hallway as I made my way into the office of the Master of Coin. Staedmon, who must be Littlefinger's predecessor in the original timeline, kept a simple office, even if it was a large space.

There were no lavish decorations around, and he kept many books around him. His desk was covered in papers and the man himself looked overworked.

"My lord," I said, "I was informed that I would need to seek you out in order to claim my prize".

A shame they had no coffee in this world the Master of Coin certainly looked as if he could use a few cups.

"Ah yes Magister Dovahkiin, or is it Ser Marek now?" he asked.

Technically both as King Robert had decided to knight me.

"Either is fine with me, my lord," I replied.

The Master of Coin didn't say anything for a moment. I assumed he was expecting me to make some small talk or that he'd been expecting that I would demand the use of my titles and was surprised by my lack of concern for social protocol. I didn't care what he called me as long as I got my money.

"Yes, well" the lord was now saying "We need to discuss your prize for having won the first part of the tourney. I think given that King Robert knighted you that in turn, you owe the crown a debt and that this debt should be subtracted from the sum of the promised prize".

I'd made no arrangments to purchase a knighthood and I felt certain that Bobby B would not be happy to find out that someone he'd chosen to honour was being charged for that honour without his knowledge.

Not getting the full amount of money would be very annoying because I'd already sent Ciri off with some of my guards to donate two hundred gold dragons, a tenth of the prize money, to Kingslanding only orphanage, the one I knew about. That kind of money would put a lot of food in a lot of bellies.

While I could be generous with my wealth because I had quite a lot of it and many ways to make more, my act of charity was not selfless, it was meant to make me look good in the eyes of the smallfolk and anyone important who bothered to take notice of such things.

Ciri should be on her way back by now with time left to prepare for tonight's feast as I had a place there since I'd won today's matches and she would be my date for the evening. I was hungry enough for a large meal and Tyrion would likely join me. He was pleasant to chat with.

"A knighthood is hardly worth two thousand gold dragons," I said "But if you are looking to save the crown a few coins there are a few things I want".

I had a chance here to make some money in the long term if I played my cards right.

"If you're looking for a lordship you can't simply buy one" warned the Master of Coin.

No, I would need to do something impressive to earn the title and lands of a lord. Although a bribe could certainly grease the wheels and make it easier to obtain that title.

"I'm more interested in a reduction of tariffs on any goods I sell or buy here in Westeros" I informed the lord.

Staedmon gave the matter some thought. He understood the importance of such taxes as by making foreign products expensive to import you encourage people to purchase domestically made goods and you protect local businesses, but you don't want to set tariffs too high as that discourages trade and reduces the income made by such taxes.

"I can offer you a reduction of one-fifth on any tariffs to goods brought and sold here in the Crownlands," said the Master of Coin "The other ports aren't under the direct control of the crown so I have limited influence".

Unfortunate, but not unexpected given that the lords of Westeros had a lot of autonomy from the crown due to the sheer size of the Seven Kingdoms and because of tradition.

A 20% reduction in tariffs could save me quite a bit of coin over the coming years. I had many business ideas and some of which would involve exporting and importing here in Kingslanding.

"Acceptable" I stated "I also need to lease some farmland either from the crown or a lord who has land near a major port that trades with Braavos. I have a crop that needs growing and if the crown were to facilitate this deal that could be quite valuable to me".

The Master of Coin seemed a little confused at first, but then he smiled as he realised how much money he could save the treasury.

"I can make these arrangements for you" he promised "The crown does have land of its own that is not currently in use. Setting up new farms and hiring workers will be an expensive undertaking".

If the farms were under the direct oversight of the crown then that would reduce the chance of anyone messing about with the pipeweed crop as doing so would be an offence against the royal family, even if none of them ever knew about it.

"That could be a profitable arrangement," I said.

The local lord and I spent some time bartering and I walked away with only a quarter of the prize money which was now being carried by my guards. Five hundred gold dragons aren't exactly easy or safe to lug around. So it was a good thing that the coins would soon be safely stored in my pocket dimension.

I made my way out of the city, grateful for the carriage and my guards who were able to quickly clear the streets. The smallfolk knew better than to block the way of a noble as he moved through the city and so we good time despite the crowds.

Once I got back to my fancy tent outside of the city I began to get ready for tonight's feast when Natasha return from doing whatever it was she'd been doing while I was busy in the Red Keep.

I told her what had happened during the meeting.

"Have you considered becoming Master of Coin?" she asked.

Her question took me by surprise.

"I thought you wanted me to conquer the Stepstones?" I questioned.

Being able to do both seemed unlikely. Although if I did want to be a member of the small council, becoming the Master of Coin would be the most likely way I'd do it since I was a Magister of Braavos and know to have vast wealth.

"You wouldn't have to keep the job for more than a couple of years as you can train a successor who can control," she said "And with such a position you can gain the kind of allies you need to support your conquest. Aside from that uplifting Westeros will become a lot easier if you have a seat on the Small Council".

That was true. Littlefinger was able to get up to all sorts of sneaky stuff as Master of Coin and so it should be possible for me to advance the Seven Kingdoms from such a position. I'd have to do something about King Robert's spending and then find lords who were willing to go into business.

Getting someone to take care of my interests in Braavos wouldn't be much trouble as I already have some staff and if needs be once I had the last of collectables I could spend a point on another companion. Someone like the Black Widow. It was food for thought.

"How would we get me into that position?" I asked, "Only the Hand of the King or Bobby B himself can offer someone such an important job".

Getting rid of the current Master of Coin would be simple enough. I knew the man didn't want the job and if simply convincing him to leave didn't work then he could be removed from the position in the most permanent of ways.

"Things are different now, Ser Marek" she reminded, using my title to help get her point across "The king seems to like you, and you are a knight, a respected warrior, more so if you win tomorrow's melee".

She had more to say on the subject.

"The King drinks a lot, which means his will is weak" Natasha pointed out "You have mind control magic".

I did, but directly controlling minds can go very wrong, influencing them is a different story. I would need to get the king alone and drunk, the latter wouldn't be hard, and Bobby B seemed to like me.

"Looks like I'll need to break out the brandy," I mused.

I did have some booze from the Elder Scrolls world brought at great expense. I took a bottle out of a large chest.

Spoiler

[img: https/gamepedia./skyrim_gamepedia/5/57/CyrodilicBrandy.png]

"Cost me quite a bit to get this off that daedra merchant" I mentioned.

It would be worth it if gifting the bottle made Robert more friendly to me.

"You're very good at this sort of thing" I praised.

The former agent didn't seem pleased by my words, nor did she seem offended.

"Infiltrating an existing power structure is a speciality of mine," she said "We need to use any skills we have to complete our mission".

Overall it was our missions that mattered to the team. I intended to make this world a better place than how I found it and I would only be able to do that if I had a position of real authority.

I could go about killing pirates, slavers and other scum, something I fully intended to spend some time doing, but unless this civilization as whole changes, then once I left new bands of scum would take the place of those I'd destroyed.

"I'll try to work my charms on the king" I promised Natasha.

If I could get him alone I could drop a few hints about how good I was with money. Magically influencing his mind in more subtle ways was in Hermione's skillset, not mine. So I might need to slip the king a lesser ring of power that would give me some influence over him. Maybe I should forge one for the queen as well.

Ciri entered my fancy tent and she'd acquired a new dress from somewhere.

"Ready for dinner?" I asked.

She didn't look eager.

"I'll be ready for the performance" she promised "But you owe me some fun for this. I hate playing the role of a noble lady".

Despite her scars, she was a great beauty and many men would envy me for having her as a consort.

"I know you'd much prefer to be fighting or off exploring, or helping people," I said to Ciri "Once I'm done with tomorrow's melee I have an idea of something more fun we can do".

There were plenty of monsters in this world and many treasures to claim.

ASOIAF 33

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Team Builder

Part 63

Tourney Grounds. Outside of Kingslanding.

For me, the days leading up to the main part of these contests, even the bits of it that the noble lords and ladies had actually bothered to come and see, had overall been dull. Having to compete in the qualifying rounds had been rather insulting given my talents as a warrior.

When I wasn't fighting in qualifying rounds there was not much for me to do, other than to meet with people and make plans with my companions, as while the entertainments on offer amused the smallfolk I was used to more sophisticated distractions. Jugglers and singers simply failed to hold my attention.

At least I'd had something to distract myself with last night. After gifting him a bottle of extremely expensive brandy. The king had invited me and some other fighters to drink with him in a more private part of the Red Keep.

For the most part, it hadn't been an interesting evening, despite the food, drink and whores on offer, but I had gotten to meet some of the current favourites of the king, and making contact with such people was part of why I'd come to this stinking city.

While there had been a lot of drinking, hangovers aren't an issue for me due to my great skill with Restoration magic, so while others were blurry-eyed, sluggish and tired I was more than prepared for the melee that would soon start. If I'd needed the advantage I would have been grateful for it.

I'd defeated the less talented warriors during the qualifying rounds so I found myself in the proper melee along with some of the best fighters in the Seven Kingdoms. Despite all the qualifying rounds and the people who had dropped out of the tourney, there were still plenty of fighters here that would have to fall if I was to earn the grand prize.

During the rounds that I'd watched and competed in, I'd learned some of the names and seen some of the matches fought by other fighters here, such as Ser Danwell Frey, Ser Emmon Frey, Ser Hosteen Frey, Ser Jared Frey, Ser Perwyn Frey, Ser Theo Frey, Lord Patrek Mallister, Ser Hobber Redwyne, Martyn Rivers, who a bastard son of Lord Frey, and Lord Yohn Royce.

Given the lineup, I was starting to wonder if the Freys were planning to win the game of thrones by breeding to the point that everyone would either be a Frey, born with the name or not, be married to Frey, had Frey knights in their services, or had a Maester who used to be called Frey.

My main concerns in the coming contest were The Hound who was a fearsome fighter and had for some reason returned to the city, perhaps because Tywin Lannister had ordered him to compete, and Thoros of Myr, a red priest who kept giving me funny looks and would coat his blade with wildfire, as I'd seen before.

When the melee began I was charged right away by several Freys, the warriors of that family were not known for their skill in battle, however, given that they would have all been well-trained and had decent equipment because the family was wealthy, they'd gotten through the qualifying rounds without much trouble.

Since they knew that they weren't the best fighters here and because they had seen me in action they'd decided to gang up to take me out earlier on. Not very honourable, but I could admire the low cunning in this plan. Hermione would not doubt think it every Slytherin.

Not that this helped them as I was no mere mortal. I kept my shield up and battered my way through the line of Frey's knocking two of them down in short order before turning around to take on those still standing.

I couldn't match any names to faces given all the chaos around me, but the Freys, even the bastard one, had the blue bridges on their shields, which made it easy enough to keep track of them.

While my sword was blunted it was still a good bit of steel and the arm swinging it had a lot of power. So I struck out at the Freys, who like me didn't wear heavy plate armour, they depended on their shields to protect them, but to me, those were just targets.

I moved around one Frey using my superior speed and agility to get past his shield so that I could strike at his side enough to drive him to the ground. I knocked him down, but I couldn't force him to yield because I had members of his family to deal with.

To be taken out of the fight you either had to be knocked out and hopefully not get tramped on while everyone else kept fighting, yield or move out of the fighting ring, either because you wanted to or because you were made to by someone who was eager to win.

Another of the Freys, this one young and reckless, screamed what I guessed to be the words of his noble House 'we stand together' and charged at me.

His movements were so sloppy and obvious, that I couldn't resist tripping the lad so that he fell face-first into the mud. They had after all ganged up on me as such I didn't see any reason to let them keep even their dignity. Besides, he must have been about fourteen. Little boys shouldn't play with swords.

An older and more experienced Frey came at me, trying to bash my head in with his sword, which met my shield as I held my ground. Soon he attempted to overwhelm me with sheer force, however, I had vastly superior endurance and my shield had been crafted by me as such he wasn't going to do any real damage to it

As such I just waited until he tired himself out before whacking him on the head hard enough to drive the Frey to the ground. This was what he had planned to do to me.

The rest of the Freys had either gone down by now, had quit the field, or they'd gotten into other fights due to the chaos of the melee. Something I had to put up with when I suddenly found myself fighting against The Hound.

Again he used a two-handed sword, devoting his all the attack, and he swung the large weapon at me. I was forced to either dodge or block his blows as he wasn't giving me time to do anything else.

While The Hound would be unlikely to kill in the melee he could knock me down and force a surrender, or he might try to beat me bloody to avenge his past defeat at my hands.

Thankfully I'd planned for this fight. I'd considered using fire in some way like Thoros as The Hound feared the flames, but that was exactly the sort of thing that would draw unwanted attention to me, so instead, I backed up, surrendering ground to the larger man.

I could have easily beaten him down or hurt him with my magic, but that really would be cheating, so I waited until I reached the edge of the field and let The Hound get his sword stuck in the barrier, despite it being a blunt weapon. I had not been certain that would happen, but given Clengenes's reckless attacks, it had seemed likely.

Once he'd lost his sword, at least until he'd pulled it free, I moved and hit him in the arm so hard that it broke. A broken arm would stop him from competing further without me having to kill the man.

To his credit, the Hound barely yelled out in pain as I broke his arm, and he soon made his way out of the melee. I'd expected him to try lashing out at me, only he just growled and walked off.

I wondered if he would actually leave the city this time, or if he'd just get drunk and forget why he'd wanted to get the hell out of this dump.

Looking around I saw soon someone coming towards me, an older man in strange armour. This had to be Lord Yohn Royce, a man who took part in the tourney at Harrenhal where he was defeated by Prince Rhaegar Targaryen in the Joust.

According to a rumour that I'd picked up during the practice rounds, Lord Yohn Royce won the melee during that infamous tournament. His armour was made of bronze and covered in runes that were supposed to protect the wearer, but if this was true or not I had no idea.

Spoiler

[img: https/static./pmwiki/pub/images/yohn_royce_asoiaf_1_1189.jpg]

The man swung a bronze mace at me, but he waited until I was prepared to fight him before striking, this meant I easily blocked the bow. Clearly, he wanted to win as an honourable fighter or not at all.

Something I understood even if I would have not been so knightly if our position had been reversed. Although to be fair I could have beaten all of the fighters here on the field with my magical powers had I been so inclined, or just a single well-timed Shout.

They were lucky that this was only a game to me and that while the cash prize did interest me I wasn't willing to kill anyone for it. Because of this, I stuck with just using my sword and limbs to take down anyone foolish enough to try to take me down.

Yohn Royce didn't make the mistake of wearing himself out like one of the Freys had done. Instead of trying to batter down my defences and fail he backed off after a couple of swings and began looking for an opening.

He would move and then pull back out of range. I knew this could go on for a while so I rugby-tackled the older man, ignoring the blow he landed on my back. I got up first despite my plate armour and pressed the dulled tip of the sword into his chest causing him to yield and retreat.

You'd think things would be more organised as fighters quit the melee, yet it was actually getting harder to find someone to hit because the other fighters were all busy with each other.

When it got to the point there were only a few fighters left I found myself going up against the red priest once again, whose flaming sword was still going and this wasn't the bad news that it might seem to be as I knew that this would have weakened the metal.

Since Thoros either hadn't brought a shield into the melee or if he then he'd lost it, so when I lashed out he had to use his sword to block the blow, and given the sheer power of the blow this was a mistake.

Being able to enchant my armour was a cheat sure, but I planned to make another donation to the poor, rather than spend all the money on drink an whores, which made it okay in my view to use enchanted armour.

The priest's sword didn't shatter, it just broke and my blunted blade hit the fire worshipper in the shoulder so hard that he staggered and was soon driven to the ground. At least this time he'd found some armour to wear so I didn't think I'd done much damage to the man.

Suddenly I was the last man standing, or at least the only man standing who wasn't walking off the field. I'd won, as I knew that I would, and the crowd loved me for it.

Since I'd decided not to bother entering the archery contest after all, it might look odd if I won that too, then my part in the tourney was over. I might be a knight now, however, I still hadn't learned how to joust.

I wondered how the Master of Coin would get out of paying the full prize this time. That was something to consider later as the king would want to congratulate me once the smallfolk finally stopped screaming 'Ser Marek', not that I really minded hearing them.

This must be how rock stars feel.

ASOIAF 34

Team Builder

Part 64

Temple of the Lord of Light. Volantis.

Spoiler

[img: http/img4.wikia._cb20150427111331/gameofthrones/images/8/8d/Volantis_5x03_(1).jpg]

Ciri and I had teleported the Free City so that we could attack a place known by some as the Red Temple, a place of worship here in Volantis. This massive temple was dedicated to the god R'hllor, the Lord of Light. I'd promised the Witcher that we could go after some monsters, and this place of worship was filled with monsters even if they looked like people.

Spoiler

[img: https/static.wikia./gameofthrones/images/a/ac/Red_Temple.png]

The temple was protected by a private army of slave soldiers known as the Fiery Hand. The Fiery Hand contains a thousand soldiers, never more and never any less. Each of these soldiers is a slave of R'hllor. They wore ornate armour over their orange robes, and wield spears with points shaped like writhing flames.

As per the custom here in Volantis, these slaves have flames tattooed across their cheeks. Should a slave be a fisherman they would have a fish tattooed, this was done so that an important person didn't need to speak to a slave in order to know their purpose.

To me, it mattered little that this massive temple was supposed to be a holy place, or that it was defended by a thousand warriors. I simply started up a storm and then unleashed lightning upon anyone who got in my way. Stormbreaker gave me godly power I intended to use it.

I moved up the massive steps into the temple, dressed in my dragonbone armour and helmet so as to hide my features, and when the enslaved warrior came at me they died, which was one to free them from their bindings.

Bolts of lightning came out of Stormbringer and blasted each fool who got in my way. Crude shields shattered under blows I made with my awesome axe and no speartip met my flesh.

Despite this, they could have overwhelmed me with their sheer numbers and would have if most of them hadn't run away. Their faith was lacking, and compared to their masters the easily broken slave soldiers were just the warm-up act.

As I got to the top of the massive stone steps a man in red robes stood before me and spoke to me in a language I didn't understand before unleashing a stream of fire at me using some sort of magic.

I was able to bring up a ward in time, and the magical barrier stopped the fire before the flames could touch me. All the priest managed to do was make me sweat a little.

"My turn," I said.

With my free hand, I formed a spike made of ice and threw it at the holy man who was impaled through the shoulder. I didn't need to finish him off as Ciri cut him down as she appeared nearby.

"Bastards!" she shouted.

She had every right to be upset as while scrying we'd both seen the sick things the priests got up to as worshipped their god. I'd watched in horror as the high priest, a man I looked forward to killing, threw a newborn baby in a massive fire while calling out for the favour of his god.

I'd thought the Ironborn were a bunch of assholes, the followers of the Lord of Light were even worse, they needed to be punished, and I intended to stop them from making any more sacrifices. Who knew what they were really worshipping and what kind of power they were feeding it?

"A lot of them are getting away" commented the warrior babe.

This was of no concern.

"They are just slaves or servants," I said "We want the priest and priestess".

I fully intended to destroy this temple and its leaders before I left.

"You're right" Ciri agreed "Just let me gut the high priest, the one who kills babies".

Even Hermione, who could be an idealist and overly concerned with doing the right thing, would not protest if the witcher decided to beat the baby murderer to death.

"He's yours to deal with," I said.

While I wanted to kill him, there were plenty of other priests around as this was the main centre of worship for the Lord of Light. If the sheer size was anything to go buy this was their Vatican City.

The men and women in red robes had some power over fire, and they tried to use it against me. Only I kept up a ward with one hand and channelled lightning with Stormbreaker so as to kill them. Their fancy robes offered no protection against my power.

Since they were fanatics they threw themselves at me with blades when their fire magic didn't work. No doubt they believed that their faith would protect them and give them to power to defeat me. They were all wrong, and they all died screaming, just as their victims had done.

All but one that is. A single priestess threw herself at my feet. I knew her, she was Melisandre, a Red Priestess of R'hllor, the shadow binder, who in the show serves as an advisor to Stannis Baratheon and Jon Snow, and she was now begging for her life.

"It's you, the Prince Who Was Promised!" she declared "You are the one who will deliver us from darkness".

Given that I'd just slaughtered many of her peers I didn't know how she'd come to that conclusion. Sure I had the power of a fabled hero, and I certainly would defeat the Night King once he exposed himself, but I was hardly a follower of the Lord of Light. I despised everything R'hllor stood for.

"You are the darkness" I claimed "Slavery, human sacrifice, you are evil".

The woman was actually crying as she took hold of my leg.

"Please, my prince" she begged, "I have strayed. Please teach me the correct ways".

I recalled then that I was supposed to have taken Melisandre's ruby pendant as one of the collectables. At first, I could not believe that I'd forgotten about that, but to be fair I'd had a lot on my mind, and many plans to carry out.

"Let me serve" you pleaded "I will learn everything you have to teach and share it with others".

Rather than just kill her and take the ruby I stopped to consider her words, which I could do as Ciri was already cleaning her sword having dealt with the rest of the scum.

I had intended to totally wreak this temple, and in time tear down all the other temples, even to slaughter its preachers, but would that alone solve the problem of this faith being so vile?

Perhaps I could use Melisandre to change the religion so that it became something better. Perhaps I could use it as a way to spread new ideas. I needed to spread knowledge to uplift this world and religion could be a way to help do that.

If it didn't work out I could always kill her later, or just let her lose and slaughter all the other priests.

With that in mind, I branded Melisandre with my mark.

Stamp

Cost: 1

This stamp or branding tool places a magic tattoo on your new recruit. The tattoo will grow over time, slowly influencing her mind. A complete tattoo indicates she is fully loyal to you.

It would take a few days to fully kick in, but that was fine, once its work was done as she was mine, she wouldn't need any glamours or tricks, as she should be in her prime once the mark had its done its work. Then I could show her real power.

"If you really want to serve your prince then you will travel to Braavos, to the house of Magister Marek Dovahkiin and present yourself" I ordered "Now flee, this temple is about to be destroyed".

The woman in red did just that as I turned to face my companion.

"You might want to wait for me outside of the city," I told her "This could get messy".

Ciri saw no reason to argue with what I said, and I intended to explain my new plan later. Not that she would be upset about me sparing an unarmed woman who had surrendered.

For now, I had a temple to topple, but before I could make a proper start on that the massive firepit in the centre of the temple lit up by itself and the ashes that were all that was left of the human sacrifices began to move.

They began to take a roughly human form and soon became a creature of still-hot ashes.

"This looks interesting" I commented.

I threw Stormbreaker and the ash creature exploded, only to reform again. I was actually pleased by this as I had wanted the fight to end too soon. As for defeating the creature, it was made of hot ashes so some ice magic should deal with it, or better yet a god Shout should sort it out.

"Gaan Lan Haas!"

With this Shout, I was able to drain all of the energy animating the ash creature and it collapsed. I waited a little while to see if it would reform and when nothing happened I got to work demolishing this temple as best I could.

The Greywind. Blackwater Bay.

After teleporting back to Kingslanding I'd endured the rest of the tourney and decided that it was time to return to Braavos. My recent dreams told me that getting out would be a good idea.

Spoiler

[img: https/vignette.wikia./iron-throne-roleplay5113/images/6/64/KL.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20180106053152]

"Can't say I'm sorry to leave this place behind," commented Natasha as she joined me on the deck of Yara's ship "I won't miss the smell".

Our poor abused noses would need plenty of time to recover.

"It was time to leave," I said as I looked out over the bay at the city that we were sailing away from "I just got the feeling that we needed to go".

My dreams last night had been disturbed. I'd had visions of war, death and suffering. I figured that the people of Westeros would soon be enduring some hard times.

I'd suspected for a while that my killing of Varys would lead to troubles, and if I could go back I'd have done things differently. I could have the man's memory messed with, but I'd killed him in a moment of anger. Now other people might end up paying for my rash action.

All I could do was try to limit the damage and maybe deal with some other threats to the common people. I couldn't let myself be consumed with guilt because I wasn't forcing anyone to do anything, nor had I trusted Varys with an important position.

Guilt can be useful to help you recognise mistakes, but it can also cripple you emotionally. I could not afford to doubt myself, I needed to complete my missions, and save this world.

"Not like you had much reason to say given how you were ripped off" stated the Black Widow.

The ruling family of Westeros could not afford to pay its debts, and I'd had to accept the promise of future payments since the Master of Coin didn't have the funds to pay the prize for winning the melee.

He'd promised that it would be sent to the Iron Bank in parts until the whole sum was paid, but I didn't believe it, and I didn't think the current Master of Coin would be in office for much longer. As such his intentions were rather moot.

I was sure that the Iron Bank would like to know about that as they had a vested interest in Westeros. Natasha had collected quite a lot of information about the crown's affairs that I use to advance my relationship with the Iron Bank.

At least I'd managed to set up some deals. Lord Rosby had agreed to purchase the knowledge required to make vodka on his own and I also had an arrangement that allowed me to rent some farmland for the growing of pipeweed.

Assuming that the existing social order didn't collapse then this trip had been worthwhile and I had been able to enhance my reputation in Westeros by willing so many matches.

If anyone important wanted to talk to me in person they'd have to come to Braavos and there was plenty of business to be done there as well as in the other Free Cities.

The former spy moved away from me as another person came over to talk with me.

"I can't wait to see your home, Marek," said Tyrion Lannister.

As planned the youngest son of Tywin Lannister was going to be staying with us for a time. No doubt he'd be reporting back to his father, but that was fine as he'd see nothing I didn't wish him to.

"Braavos is a wonderful city," I told the half-man.

I wondered for a few moments how long it would take Melisandre to get to Braavos. I planned to make her my spiritual advisor as an excuse to keep her around while trying to slowly reform her faith. That was just one of my many plans for this world. Assuming she was killed during the journey.

"How are the whores?" asked the little lord.

I wouldn't know.

"Never tried any of them" I answered "Never needed to with so many wonderful women in my life".

I'm fairly certain that the time I'd got drunk with the king did involve whores, but I didn't think I'd fucked any of them as paying for it was a bit of a turn-off for me.

"Braavos has many fine brothels," I mentioned "I'm sure you'll find one suitable for your needs. Just keep them out of the manse".

The last thing I wanted was prostitutes hanging around my home.

"What about books?" asked the Imp "Or a wine cellar?".

Well, I had plenty of books at least.

"I have a library and I'm sure there's a wine cellar, if there isn't I'll make sure you have a good supply" I promised.

Tyrion would be good company and I could do with having a male friend, but I would need time to work on my projects so he'd need to find ways to entertain himself.

"Glad to hear it," said young lord "And I'm looking forward to seeing more of your creations".

Assuming that the Lannisters don't go the way of the Targaryens then Tyrion could be very useful to me as I try to uplift the known world.

Perhaps we would have discussed my inventions further only the bells started to ring. Even some distance away from the city as we left with the tide we could hear them. I knew that the shit had just hit the fan.

"Sounds as if we left just in time" commented Tyrion.

Widow came back over to us.

"Lord Tyrion, are you going to need to go back?" she asked.

The dwarf looked aghast at the suggestion and that was good since we couldn't just turn around even if we'd wanted to. She was just enquiring out of politeness.

"Good grief no," he said "Let my father, my brother, and my sister deal with the mess. I want to see Braavos".

Yes, it would be good to stay out of Westeros for a time and return to my Manse.

ASOIAF 35

Team Builder.

Part 65

Manse. Braavos.

Tycho Nestoris was not a man who allowed his feelings to get in the way of his good judgement, or at least he attempted to be the kind of person who let facts and figures decide on his course of action.

Nor did he care for what titles men gave themselves in an attempt to make themselves feel important. This was Braavos, and his ancestors had been escaped slaves, not lords and ladies, so when he used the title of lord or lady, meeting with those who did care for such things, he did so out of politeness.

The title of Magister did matter to Nestoris as it was not a title one inherited, although it could be if you were lucky enough to be born into a wealthy family and had the skill to keep your business running smoothly, and wealthy or not, it was a title you had to earn.

Yet, when he referred to Magister Marek Dovahkiin as Ser Marek he did not do so in jest or merely to show that he had manners, he did so because he thought he understood why Marek Dovakiin had gone to the trouble to earn the title.

"Welcome back to Braavos, Ser Marek," the banker greeted as he entered the Magister's study "I've heard that you had a productive trip".

Nestoris felt certain that Dovahkiin had obtained the title at least in part to make doing business with the Westerosi easier. This made sense as the more primitive people of the Sunset Kingdoms felt that only those with fancy titles were worth dealing with.

"Mr Nestoris" replied the Magister.

Dovahkiin had once converted the ballroom of his manse into a sort of audience chamber when he'd obtained the rank of Magister. This had been a little odd as in Braavos only the Sealord would sit on a throne, but Tycho had understood that the new merchant-lord had been making a statement of sorts, being the newest Magister he'd needed to reinforce the fact that he was a powerful man to those who'd sought out his favour.

Tycho much preferred Ser Marek's cluttered study as a place to meet. Nestoris was a neat man and while he didn't much care for the mess, he rather liked this study because it showed that Magister Dovahkiin was a man of ideas and that he was not above getting his hands dirty with some work.

The man's dedication had already paid off, he was opening new markets and bringing more coin into Braavos and the bank.

"I wanted to ask if you're aware of what is now happening in Westeros," said Nestoris "Given that you just left Kingslanding, I thought that you might have some insight into recent events".

Marek put down the pen he'd been writing with. Marvellous little inventions those pens, that was Tycho's opinion. Dovahkiin had shared the knowledge to make them with one of the guilds to help obtain his position and now everyone who could write wanted one.

"I did find out the royal family is more or less broke" the Magister shared "They weren't able to pay more than a small fraction of the prize money I won".

The Iron Bank was well aware that the rulers of Westeros had almost emptied the royal treasury. The war with the Iron Islands had cost the Seven Kingdoms much in the way of blood and gold, and the Ironborn had no great treasuries for the king to claim as the spoils of war.

While the Ironborn might claim that they were pirates and raiders due to their faith, in reality, they took from others because they couldn't provide for themselves even with their iron mines and fish-filled waters. Morons the lot of them.

"We are aware of the Iron Throne's mismanagement of their funds," stated Nestoris.

Although there was no Iron Throne anymore since the throne itself had gone missing, the royal family was still referred to as such.

"I came here to discuss the political disaster that started the day you left Kingslanding" the banker clarified.

The Magister might know more than he would let on. He'd be an idiot to share everything.

"We heard the bells ringing as we were making our way out of Blackwater Bay," Marek told Tycho "I don't know why they rang, just that it signalled something bad".

Nestoris saw no harm in sharing some information in return as it would become common knowledge soon enough.

"From what we know King Robert received a report of some kind that convinced him that his heir Prince Joffrey was not his son and that the queen has been unfaithful. Her own twin brother is in fact the father of both the crown prince and the queen's unborn child".

The Magister didn't seem at all surprised by this revelation. Perhaps he was just good at hiding his feelings.

"It is difficult to sort the truth from the stories we've been hearing" Tycho was now saying "But we are fairly certain that King Robert killed his wife by crushing her skull, then Jamie Lannister killed the king, and he, in turn, was slain by Barristan Selmy".

Now the Magister did seem interested.

"Robert's younger brother has now taken the crown" Tycho reported "He has declared himself Prince Joffrey's regent, he either doesn't believe that the now dead queen was unfaithful or perhaps he simply wants some sort of evidence before he disinherits his nephew. With the queen and her brother both dead there is no one who knows the truth".

The banker gave the Magister a moment to absorb this information.

"Jon Arryn is supporting the regency, but Tywin Lannister will not simply accept the loss of his children" Tycho informed the merchant lord.

Tywin Lannister had wiped out entire noble families for far lesser offences so the lion going after the stag would be no surprise.

"We suspect that Lord Tywin Lannister will gather his forces and march upon Kingslanding with the intent of claiming the regency for himself so that he can groom his grandson," Nestoris then added, "The Lannisters aren't well-liked, as such we also suspect that some of the other kingdoms will stand with Regent Stannis if only because they don't want the Lannisters to rule the entirety of the Seven Kingdoms".

The Magister nodded in agreement.

"Tywin Lannister cares only about his legacy," said Ser Marek "With his son and daughter dead he'll try to secure his hold over his grandson. The Vale, the North and the Riverlands have ties of marriage, and they supported Robert's claim to the throne, they should do the same for Stannis. Dorne might even get involved as the princes have a good reason to hate the Lannisters"

There was more to be discussed

"If the Iron Throne is about to start falling into debt then we can't risk financing Lord Stannis. We may have to support the Lannisters even if they are outnumbered" Tycho told Marek "It depends on who the Crownlands support and if the Reach sides with the Lannisters or not. The new Regent is no friend of the Tyrells due to Mace Tyrell's siege of Storm's Ends during the rebellion".

Dovahkinn gave the matter some thought.

"If Tywin Lannister offers to set up an engagement between Joffrey and Margery Tyrell once he is regent that could win over the Reach" the Magister reasoned "Then they would have the numbers to take Kingslanding and to hold it".

The only thing they knew for certain was that Westeros was about to become an even more unstable place.

"A civil war will be bad for your business" warned Tycho "It is good that your coffers are so full and you happen to have Tywin Lannister's only living child here in your manse".

Nestoris couldn't help wondering how the Magister had managed to arrange that.

"If his father is going to become regent then he could be quite a valuable friend" commented the banker "However, to some, his presence here in Braavos could make it look as if we are intending to support the Lannisters".

Marek now looked concerned.

"He's supposed to be here to set up business ties between myself and the Westerlands," assured the knight "He's not here to get support for his father".

Tycho was glad that the Magisters and the Sealord were unlikely to insist that the young lord leave the city. If Tywin Lannister failed and should fall in battle then Marek's guest would be due to inherit lordship of Casterly Rock and command over the Westerlands.

"You should know, Magister Dovahkiin, that's not what the keyholders and your peers think" the banker warned "There's talk of making you a keyholder with the bank so as to tie you closer to Braavos".

The Keyholders are descendants of the twenty-three founders of the Iron Bank: sixteen men and seven women, each of whom possessed keys to the bank's great subterranean vaults. Their descendants now exceed more than a thousand in number and are part of important families, and they proudly display ceremonial keys on formal occasions. Those who have lost their wealth still keep their keys and associated honours.

Besides the keyholders, other wealthy and powerful Braavosi own shares in the bank and can obtain a set on its board of directors. They also have a vote when it is time to decide who will run the bank.

Keyholders and magisters participate in the election of new Sealords, and it is quite possible for some to have both of those positions at the same time, giving a person more of a voice in votes that decide the future of Braavos.

"That's quite an honour," said Dovahkiin.

It was, but there was more to it.

"The Magisters and the keyholders know a raising star when they see one" informed Tycho "Becoming a part of the bank will bring you more wealth and power, but this will also give the bank more of a say in your business interests. The other Magisters want to be able to share in your success. That will mean you'll need to appease them further".

Marek didn't seem concerned by this, and Nestoris knew that he didn't

need to be. The Magisters didn't hold on to their titles and wealth by being stupid. They knew that would be more profit in searing the sheep for years to come rather than killing it for its meat.

Magister Marek Dovahkiin would far better serve their interests by being one of them rather than an enemy.

"Your position as keyholder can be secured if you give the Iron Bank a greater share of the sale of the two Valyrian steel swords" reasoned Tycho "Sharing out that kind of gold will win you many friends".

The banker could see himself profiting from this arrangement as well.

"While the position of Keyholder is mostly honorific outside of a few votes, if you were to appoint me as your representative, it would improve my own position within the bank, and I could ensure that we both increase our wealth" he offered.

Marek wisely asked for some time to think this over. Tycho would not be foolish enough to betray such a useful and dangerous man, but others might be that stupid, and the Magister was aware of this, as such he would ponder his choices carefully.

Still, Tycho left the manse feeling sure that his position would improve, and that their fortunes would grow.

Manse. Braavos.

Tyrion Lannister sat in the comfortable room that Magister Dovahkiin had kindly provided and thought about the news that his friend had just shared with him after calling his guest into the study not long after lunch.

The young lord had so far enjoyed his time here in Braavos. It was much more pleasant than Kingslanding, in terms of smell alone, and Dovahkiin had a very impressive home, one much more comfortable than could be found in the Seven Kingdoms, with some impressive plumbing and most importantly a very full wine cellar.

Right now he was enjoying, at least as much as he could, a rather nice spiced wine from some far-off land he'd never heard anything about. He hoped that his host would share more of it.

Ser Marek's home was a relaxed place compared to the keeps and castles that the young lord had stayed in. The maids knew their place, but they didn't fear their lord, they just got on with their work without fearing any punishment. The Magister's consorts were friendly enough, Natasha made sure that his needs were seen met, and Ciri played a mean game of Gwent.

Once he'd heard the news Tyrion had begun to write a letter to his father. Uncompleted versions and a great deal of wasted parchment littered the desk. He wasn't sure what to write as he didn't even know if the Magister's news was true.

He needed to know, to find out the truth, if war was coming and his siblings were dead, then he was safer here, but his family might have need of him, and as such, he began to write again.

'To my lord father'

That sounded formal enough.

'I have received news of the passing of my sister and brother'

He couldn't bring himself to feel anything about his sister's death as she'd always been a bitch to him, but Jaime was different, he'd always treated Tyrion decently and at times he'd even show his little brother some true affection.

No, he would not mourn for Jaime, not until he received news from his father, if anyone could survive Robert's wraith it would be Jaime Lannister.

There was more Tyrion wanted to write about, he wished to tell his father of Braavos and the manse of Ser Marek, to tell the old lion about the Magister's workshop, and all the things there that could be used to advance the position of the family, but none of that mattered right now.

'I wish to know if the rumours are true, and if we are soon to be at war'

That was the heart of the matter. If war was coming then Tyrion should stay out of it. He would be far safer here than anywhere in Westeros.

'If so do you wish me to return?'

How Tyrion could help he had no idea, but it would be expected of him to at least offer to help. He was no warrior or commander, all he had was his wits and his words. Perhaps he could try to rally support, but who would listen to a dwarf?

He just needed to know the truth, and with that in mind he quickly finished his letter. He asked after the health of the rest of his family, his uncles, his cousins and his aunts, mostly his Aunt Genna who like Jaime had always been decent to him. Then he signed the letter.

Like him it was short and it addressed what it needed to. The young lord could only hope that he didn't have wait too long for a reply. Until he found out more all he could do was drink and worry about Jaime.