Sancre Tor:
The Vale:
Jaime Lannister alongside Barristan Selmy and Blade Knight Fortis road their horses up an old mountain pass. Barristan and Jaime were following Fortis as he knew the way to get to the location where they were going.
Jaime looked at Fortis "So, is there anything you can tell us about what we are doing?" he asked
Fortis looked at him "We are going to retrieve the armour of Tiber Septim like Captain Steffen stated." He replied "The armour was used before to defeat the Mythic Dawn and Grandmaster Delphine has a feeling that it may be needed again."
"How was it used?" Barristan asked
Fortis looked at him "According to the records we kept at Cloud Ruler, the Armour was used in some kind of a ritual to help find the Mythic Dawn's headquarters which needed 4 key components. One of these was Blood of the Divines; Tiber Septim was stated to have risen to become the Divine known as Talos so a drop of his blood was needed for the ritual. If we end up having to perform that Ritual again then we will need the armour."
"What else was in this Ritual?" Jaime asked, he didn't normally believe in magic but after seeing the Dark Anchor, he changed his beliefs on magic.
"Our records show that Blood of the Daedra was used" Fortis stated "The others components were a Great Sigil Stone and a Great Welkynd stone. Right now I have no idea how we will get those but Esbern might have a few ideas."
Jaime and Barristan nodded and they carried on riding up the road until they saw the crumbled remains of a fallen wall. "This must be it" Jaime stated "We must be getting close."
"We are" Fortis replied and pointed towards the top of the hill where a ruined tower stood "That tower up there is the gateway to Sancre Tor, just beyond it is the ruined city itself. We just have to find the Great Keep."
Essos: Near Volantis:
The Golden Company had set up their own camp not far from the city. Commander Strickland had accepted another contract which was to escort a small convoy which was heading towards Slaver's Bay and the city of Astapor. However, things were not well with the company as many members had found out what type of convoy they were escorting. It turned out to be a convoy of slaves that were travelling from Volantis to the Slaver Cities. Normally Volantis would send slaves by ship but there had been a number of incidents as a man known as Travis Thresh had been raiding the Slave Ships so Volantis had decided to send them by land instead. But many members of the company weren't too happy, the Golden Company may have been a sellsword company but many members were exiles from Westeros or descended from one and many of them hated Slavery.
Inside the Commander's tent, Commander Strickland sat on his chair with his feet on a small stood while a man knelt and started rubbing his feet.
"Watkyn, rub my feet some more, those blisters are getting sore again." Strickland ordered and the man known as Watkyn began rubbing Strickland's feet some more.
Also in the tent were Jon Connington, Lysono Maar and Black Balaq. There was also a cadaverous looking man with a pointy black beard and blood red hair that tumbles about his shoulders in oiled ringlets. This was Gorys Edoryen, the company's paymaster.
"Why are we doing this contract?" Balaq demanded "Are we a bunch of Slavers now."
"When the Golden Company accepts a contract, we always carry it out" Strickland stated
"Then why did you accept it?" Balaq demanded "You know how I feel about Slavers; those bastards raid my homeland and take my people as slaves. Assisting in wars is what we do, not transport a load of Slaves across the land. How will that look to our men."
"Balaq has a point?" Lysono stated "Many of our members are former Westerosi, they may not have been there but they still believe that Slavery is wrong. They won't take kindly to this."
"They will keep to our contract otherwise they can find a new company to serve!" Strickland hissed "If there is nothing else, then leave me be."
Everyone nodded and they left and Connington and Balaq left together with Balaq seething in anger "These Slavers are taking control of this company. Strickland isn't even doing anything to stop them."
Connington knew that some members were turning against Strickland and he had an idea on how to use this to his advantage "Balaq, meet me with my son later at my tent. I have something I want to tell you."
Balaq nodded and he decided to let his fury out on some archery targets.
King's Landing: Red Keep:
King Martin along with Grandmaster Delphine had travelled into the lower parts of the Red Keep. They had not gone down to the dungeons but they had gone into parts of the Red Keep where people didn't go often. The two of them entered a room and found themselves inside a room which looked like some kind of a laboratory. After Martin had taken control of the city and had become King, he had ordered the bodies of the creatures from the Daedric creatures to be studied in hopes of finding a weak spot. Martin could see the remains of some of the creatures on tables and they had been cut apart to be studied. The massive Daedric Titan had been too big to move and had been cut to several pieces.
Martin had been able to find a man who could study these creatures. After the defeat of the Brave Companions, the former Maester Qyburn had offered his services to Martin and had agreed to study these creatures in order to find a weakness. Grandmaester Ebrose had been against this as he knew of the reason why Qyburn had been expelled from the Citadel, he had been studying on live people but Martin needed Qyburn at the moment but he would be keeping a close eye on him.
Qyburn looked up from his desk where he had been writing down some notes when he heard the door open "Your Grace." He greeted "I guess you're here to see what I have discovered."
"I am?" Martin stated "Have you discovered anything about these creatures."
"I have" Qyburn stated "This study is fascinating to me, I may be the first person to study creatures like this in years. It is harder for some of these creatures due to my resources being limited but I was able to find out a few things."
"Like what?" Delphine asked
Qyburn pulled out a bowl of what looked like blue powder "This was extracted from the Frost Creature. This powder is prepared right has good properties to protect people from extreme cold. I know that's not really useful to us but I was still able to find out more about the creature, it seems that these creatures have a weakness to fire. It won't melt like normal ice but fire is still very effective against them. Not every one of these creatures is really that useful, those little red creatures had nothing useful on them but I was able to find out that alone they are quite weak. A single sword swing would be enough to kill them which are why they attack in packs." Then he moved over to a body of one of the armoured Dremora's "But these creatures are the most unique, in fact they're almost like us, they can walk and fight like us. They are also skilled fighters and their armour is very strong. With a bit more research into their armour, I may be able to find out how to craft it and teach blacksmiths how to create it as well. But it's their hearts that are the most unique." He pulled out a bowl which was filled with blood due to one of the Dremora's hearts being in the bowl "This heart was extracted from one of these Dremora's, their blood can actually help heal a person, it can help heal wounds and replace blood loss but too much would be toxic as their blood is different so I would not recommend using these hearts too much."
Martin nodded "Carry on your work Qyburn" he stated "We need to find out as much as we can from these creatures."
"I will Your Grace" Qyburn replied and he got back to work as Martin and Delphine left.
White Harbour, the North:
The city of White Harbour is the largest settlement in the North. The city a large port city located at the mouth of the White Knife River which allowed trade to spread further inland. The city was also unique for the north as due to the city being very close to the south; it had more contact with the rest of Westeros and had more followers of the Faith of the Seven than the rest of the North combined. This was because the rulers of the city, House Manderly, were exiles from the Reach and so worshipped the Seven instead of the Old Gods or the Nine Divines. The city was rich due to the trade that was sent from the city due to it being the North's main port but the city also had good fishing grounds and also a few silver mines which meant the city was home to many silver smiths.
House Manderly ruled the city from the New Castle. This castle was newer than the original castle which was the Wolf Den which now served as the city's prison. House Manderly was an ancient line from the Reach which claimed be the namesake of the Mander River in the reach and ruled from the castle of Dustonbury and had a fierce rivalry with House Peake which resulted in a civil war in the Reach after the death of King Garth X Gardener when both houses claimed the throne since they both married a daughter of Garth. Eventually, House Manderly became too powerful and were exiled but the date is unknown and they fled North where House Stark gave them the Wolf Den. But they still worshipped the Seven and were one of the few Houses in the North to practice Knighthood.
House Manderly was ruled by Lord Wyman Manderly who had fought alongside Eddard Stark in Robert's Rebellion. Lord Wyman's days of fighter were long over and he was now so overweight that he cannot ride a horse anymore. He had two sons, Wylis and Wendel who had fought alongside Robb in Martin's Rebellion. Wylis was also already married with two daughters, Wynadryd and Wylla Manderly. Now that the war was over, House Manderly was back to peaceful trading again.
Jon Snow along with his group of companions which would go with him to the island of Solstheim to seek out the Skaal people had sailed into White Harbour on one of the Night's Watch's ship that they had at Eastmarch which was known as the Storm Crow, this ship was the fastest ship that the Night's Watch had and had been able to get Jon to White Harbour in just a week. Maester Aemon had also sent a raven to White Harbour to inform them of the arrivals as every ship that docked would be inspected.
The Storm Crow soon docked at the docks and Jon along with his companions who consisted of Serena, Grenn and the Wildlings Tormund and Ygritte. Jenassa had chosen to stay behind as she would draw too much attention to herself. When they arrived, they found a small group of guards waiting for them who were led by a tall man with a grey beard and eyes. He wore silver coloured armour with House Manderley's Sigil of a merman wielding a trident on the breastplate.
"Greetings" he greeted "I am Ser Marlon Manderly, captain of the guards here in White Harbour. I have been asked to escort you to meet with lord Wyman. We got your raven."
"Thanks Ser Marlon" Jon replied "I just need to speak with my companions" he turned to Ygritte and Tormund "Listen, the people here have never seen the Free Folk before and they believe them to be savages so try not to react to anyone. We don't want to draw too much attention to us; we have an important mission to do."
"Understood" Tormund stated "Ygritte and I will remain at the back while you speak with this Wyman."
Jon nodded and he followed Ser Marlon ahead into the New Castle along with Serena and Grenn. Soon they arrived in the Great Hall of New Castle where Lord Wyman Manderly was sitting on his chair and it was amazing how he could even walk around since he was so overweight.
"The Night's Watch has served this realm for many years" Wyman stated "A member of their order or a friend of the Night's Watch is always welcome here in White Harbour. And a member of House Stark will always be welcome here as well even if he has the name Snow."
"Thank you my lord" Jon stated
"Since you were coming here, it must be important business and I don't think it's looking for recruits" Wyman stated "I've already sent many recruits to the Wall as I could have done." After the reanimated Wight had been shown around the North, many houses were sending additional aid to the wall in order to help the Night's Watch and Dawnguard prepare for the upcoming crisis.
Jon Snow nodded "White Harbour is not our real destination." He stated "Our real destination is the island of Solstheim. Our allies believe there may be a weapon there that came help us."
"Which means you've come here to catch the Northern Maiden" Wyman stated "Well you're lucky, that ship is currently in dock and can take you to Solstheim's main town of Raven Rock, but it will cost you. Ser Marlon can take you to the ship."
"Thank you Lord Wyman" Jon replied and then he and his group followed Marlon as he went to take them to the Northern Maiden ship.
King's Landing:
Prince Oberyn Martell was very famous for one thing. He loved to sleep with different girls which were why people nicknamed him the man who's fucked half of Westeros. Now Prince Oberyn was with his paramour Ellaria Sand inside Chataya's Brothel. This brothel was one of the best in King's Landing and this had once been the home of Barra, one of King Robert's bastards before the Priests of the Nine managed to smuggle her away along with her mother. This brothel had been one that had been owned by Petyr Baelish before his crimes were exposed. It had been seized by the crown and then auctioned off where it was bought by a woman named Chataya.
Chataya was a tall black woman from the Summer Islands. She had a smooth voice and sandalwood eyes. Her daughter Alayaya helped run her brothel and Oberyn had become one of her clients. Now she was inside a large room with a bed as she showed off some of her girls to Oberyn and Ellaria.
"This is Dancy" Chataya introduced her first girl who had a pug nose, freckles and long thick red hair "Her hair makes everyone swoon, then we have Marei" the next girl had green eyes, porcelain skin and straight long blond hair. "She has the softest skin, and finally we have Jayde" the final girl had dark black hair and painted black lips and nails "She's always fond of the colour black."
Oberyn smiled at Ellaria "What do you think dear, which one is the prettiest."
Ellaria sneered "They're all pretty in their own sort of way, but I feel like the skin is the best one." She stated as she looked at Marei.
Chataya nodded and took Dancy and Jayde away leaving Marei with Oberyn and the girl climbed onto the bed and slowly took her dress off "What do you think my Prince?" she asked "Is my skin perfect."
Oberyn laughed as he lay back on the bed and pulled Marei on top of him so her breasts were squashed against his chest "I've laid with so many girls that I can no longer tell much difference any more. One girl is never enough for me, that's why I never married."
"But you still have children" Marei stated "Three of them are right here in this Brothel enjoying themselves."
Oberyn smirked "None of their mothers are here with them though. And I have eight children which I think is enough for me. But that won't stop me enjoying myself."
Ellaria laughed and drank a cup of wine that was on the table but then she started hearing crashing nearby which also disturbed Oberyn and Marei. "What's going on out there?" she demanded.
He got his answer when the door was forced open and three men stormed in wielding large clubs. One grabbed hold of Marei's hair and dragged her off Oberyn screaming which another smacked Ellaria in the face which knocked her to the ground. "What is the meaning of this?" he ordered only for the men to drag him off the bed and on to the ground as Marei ran out of the room.
The leader of the men stared at Oberyn "Prince Oberyn Martell." He hissed "you have broken the laws of the gods."
Oberyn glared at him "Who do you think you are?" he snapped "You have no right to just barge in here and commits deeds like this."
"I am justice" the man stated "And you are a sinner, and you shall be punished."
"No, you will be the ones punished!" a voice shouted and then one of the men gasped as a spear was plunged through his back and out of his stomach. Oberyn smiled when he saw Obara sneering as she pulled the spear out which made the man collapse to the floor. Then Nymeria used her whip to disarm the man right in front of Oberyn while Tyene quickly dodged an attack by the final man and shoved her dagger into his neck. The three Sand Snakes pointed their weapons at the man who had threatened Oberyn "Is this really worth dying for?" Obara sneered.
The man glared at them "His holiness the High Sparrow will see justice spread to all sinners!" he hissed
Nymeria smirked "Not today he won't" she sneered "Go back to your High Sparrow and you better remember what the King might do if you carry on these actions." The man glared but knew he wouldn't be able to fight and then ran off.
Shortly later, Chataya returned and sighed "I'm really sorry about this Prince Oberyn, those men just barged in here thinking that they could do whatever they want."
"They're the Sparrows!" Obara spat "They take justice into their own hands. If they're not careful, they're going to risk bringing the King's wrath on them, he hates these fanatics."
"We should go and speak to him about this" Tyene added "An attack on a council member is an attack on the King. He will need to know about this."
"Agreed" Oberyn stated and handed Chataya a small bag of gold "That's for the mess" he stated pointing to the two dead sparrows on the floor and then he looked at his daughters "Now let's go and get a meeting with the King."
Essos: Near Volantis:
Young Aegon was inside his adoptive father's tent. He was waiting for Connington to arrive with a few others as Connington had wanted to tell them all something. Right now, Aegon was waiting on a chair alongside a black haired sellsword. This woman wore finely crafted steel armour and had long black hair which went down to her shoulders "So Lydia," Aegon asked "What do you think Connington wants to say to these people?"
Lydia looked at him "I have no idea Aegon. But I think it might have something to do with you. You know that I will always follow your orders when you have need of me. You may be young but I can see that you'll become a great leader one day."
Aegon smiled and then watched as Jon Connington entered the tent alongside Black Balaq and a few other sellswords. Aegon recognised them as Rolly Duckfield, Franklyn Flowers, Marq Mandrake and the exiled members of House Peake, Laswell, Pykewood and Torman.
"I guess you're wondering why I asked to meet you all here?" Connington asked and all of the men nodded "Well first of all, I want to hear your opinions of our latest contract?"
There were shouts of anger "Why are we helping Slavers?" Balaq hissed "We're meant to be a well trained army, not a bunch of thugs who help slavers."
Marq also shouted "I was a slave myself once, I hate that I have to help the people who made my early life a living hell."
"And do you all know why we are doing this contract?" Connington added
Franklyn Flowers stood up from his seat "Because Strickland is too much of a weakling to refuse and now everyone is taking advantage of that. But what can we do about it, he's our leader."
"He may be our leader but he won't always be" Connington stated "Do you know why the Golden Company was first founded?"
The gathered men looked at each other and then Laswell Peake stood up "It was founded by Bittersteel as a private army to invade Westeros and put a Blackfyre on the throne. My family fought for them several times but they always failed. But that mission doesn't exist anymore, the Blackfyre line has died out. There is no one to put on the Iron Throne anymore."
"But there is." Connington stated "You remember that the Targaryens were killed or exiled nearly 20 years ago. But there are a few who remain and we always swore we would fight for the dragons."
Laswell didn't look impressed "My family lost two of our great castles because of the Targaryens. And others lost land and their ancestors were exiled because of the Targaryens, why should we fight for them now."
"Because then we would have a cause worth fighting for" Connington spoke up and took young Aegon's hand "Most of you know this lad as Young Griff, he was raised as my son but he is not. He is really the son of Prince Rhaegar Targaryen, Prince Aegon Targaryen. And his two sisters are really known as Rhaenys and Visenya Targaryen. If we fight for him, we have a cause worth fighting for."
Laswell was still unsure but he had been fighting alongside Connington for several years and just like him and his brothers, young Aegon had been raised alongside the Golden Company and so he stood up "If young Aegon here can prove himself then I will fight for him."
"As will I" Balaq stated "My archers will serve him as well."
Others soon joined but Marq was still worried "Aren't you forgetting that we can do this as long as Strickland is in charge." He stated
Connington smiled "We'll take care of that soon. When you play the Game of Thrones, you win or you die, and Strickland doesn't suspect a thing, so now all we have to do is play the first move and strike."
Aegon looked at Connington in fear, he was worried about what was expected of him and he had heard the stories from Westeros, even he wasn't too sure if an invasion of Westeros would succeed.
Castle Black: The Wall:
Agmaer walked into Castle Black's courtyard where he saw the Dawnguard's second in command Celann was standing next to a pillar while a load of Night's Watchmen were gathered in the main hall. Ever since the reveal of the undead beyond the wall, more people had been joining the Factions, criminals joined the Night's Watch along with those who wanted to serve for life. Others joined the Dawnguard if they were only doing this temporary while others were just allies. Allies were people like the Brotherhood without Banners, a while after the war ended, Beric Dondarrion and his followers arrived to help the Night's Watch against the Wights saying that the Lord of Light had told them about Cold Winds rising in the North.
Agmaer could hear Mormont saying something to the Night's Watch. "It has been a year since we discovered what's really going on beyond the Wall but right now, we have no idea on where our enemy is or what they're planning. As a result, I have decided to lead another Expedition beyond the Wall in order to track our enemy. This Ranging will not be as large as the previous one as we are only tracking the White Walkers. While I'm gone, First Ranger Alliser Thorne will be in command of the Night's Watch and it will be his job to keep the peace. I don't want to hear news of fights with the Wildlings when I get back with my force. Some of you have been assigned to this and you have until the tomorrow to pack your supplies and be ready. We march tomorrow morning."
Agmaer looked at Celann "So how many Dawnguard will be going with him on this Ranging?" he asked
"Isran and I have to stay behind and handle some new recruits we have with help from Sorine and Gunmar. Florentius will be going as they'll need a healer and you and Ollrod will be going as you're experts. Also, Tilde will be going as well, but make sure she's safe and don't let any of the Night's Watchmen get any ideas."
Agmaer knew what they Celann was talking about and nodded "I'll go and get ready." He said and then he walked away to prepare for this Ranging.
Essos: Slaver's Bay:
Travis Thresh and his army had managed to smuggle themselves to a place where they could plot their move. Mario was back at New Ghis ruling but Commander Jaqio had come with him to help prepare. The place they had chosen was the ruined city of Bhorash which was located south of the Painted Mountains and northeast of the Black Cliffs. Not much is known about this city, if it was founded by the Valyrian Freehold or by the Ancient Ghiscari. It is also unknown how the city was abandoned but it was too far away from Valyria itself to have been ruined by the doom. The city was also located halfway between the three major Slaver cities and the smaller cities that Travis was targeting.
Travis and Jaqio were in a ruined house in the city talking with a few scouts who had been investigating the city of Tolos. "What do you to report?" Travis asked the scouts
"Tolos seems to fear an incoming attack from us" the lead scout reported "It seems that our actions haven't gone unnoticed and that we have begun to put fear into the city. Tolos is a small city but they are worried that we can attack them. If we did attack the city then we could take the city if we use the hulls of our boats to protect us from the lead balls that they'll fire at us."
"What about the people of the city?" Jaqio asked "What's their opinion."
"I was in one of the taverns" a scout reported "Many people are fine with the trade they get but there are still a number of people who are tired of the Slavers deciding how they should live. But the Slaves fear torture from the lead balls so creating an uprising would be hard. But we have one more problem, the Golden Company is on their way to the city escorting a convoy, they will take a contract with the city to defend it if we do attack."
Instead of looking annoyed, Travis smirked instead "The Golden Company is good for us. I have a few friends in the company and they won't be happy about helping a group of Slavers. We will attack Tolos but we must wait for my friends in the Golden Company to strike." Jaqio looked at Travis unsure of his plan but Travis had never let him down yet and he wouldn't now. So he nodded and decided to go and speak with his men.
Sancre Tor:
Blade Knight Fortis was leading Barristan and Jaime through the ruined tunnels of Sancre Tor. The three of them had arrived at the old ruin and Jaime thought that it looked more like a ruined city due to how large it was. The front door of the main keep was sealed tight but Fortis had pulled a key that Delphine had given him and had been able to open the door. The tunnels were well built and had been built to last but Jaime was a bit nervous about the strange green mist sweeping over the floor.
"What's the history of this place?" Jaime asked "These ruins seem thousands of years old?"
"This city wasn't built by human hands" Fortis stated "Thousands of years ago, there was a race known as the Aylied who once ruled all of the lands south of the neck as well as a few settlements in what is now Sothoryos. They enslaved humanity and this place was one of their cities. Then St Alessia the Slave Queen led a huge uprising alongside her champion, Pelinal Whitestrake who slew the King here. After the Aylieds had been defeated, the Alessian Empire was born and this place was the capital. St Alessia herself is said to have been buried here. Later Reman Cyrodiil created the Second Empire and was buried here alongside his descendents. This was where the Great Tiber Septim discovered the amulet of Kings when he became Emperor of the Known World and his armour was buried here as a shrine to the Blades until the Underking, an undead mage cursed the tomb and the great Blades of Tiber Septim were also buried here. The armour was recovered during the Oblivion Crisis by the Hero of Kvatch and had been more by Martin Septim during the war. After the crisis ended, the armour was reburied here."
Jaime was interested in this story but there was one thing that didn't add up "But this whole tale doesn't match up with the tales of the Children of the Forest and the First men."
Fortis sighed "I've heard of that before. But the real truth is that once all of the lands were nearly connected until a great disaster a few years after the Oblivion crisis nearly destroyed the world the lands of Westeros and as a result, many were forced to flee but some never forgot about their true beliefs to the Nine Divines. As for this disaster, we are unsure of what it was, the records have been lost."
Jaime and Barristan didn't say anything and listened to the stories that Fortis told them, stories which are said to have begun before the migration of the First Men to Westeros and the stories of the Children of the Forest. Then they came across a large room where they saw a skeleton lying on the floor, this body had been here for a long time. But then all of a sudden, the skeleton rose up from the grave and drew an old Blade's Katana from his hip. Jaime and Barristan quickly drew their own and were able to block the strike which came. This skeleton was very quick and very skilled and even Fortis was struggling against him. But as a skeleton, he was still weaker and Barristan soon cleaved off the skeleton's arm and then Fortis pushed him hard against a wall and the skeleton crumbled into a pile of bones.
"The stories of this place being cursed really are true" Jaime gasped when the fight was over.
Fortis knelt and found an amulet on the skeleton "I know this amulet; this is the Amulet of the Ansei." He stated "This is one of the Blade's artifacts that we were told about, the magic in this amulet allows someone to block better. This skeleton must have been the remains of Blade Knight Rielus, he was the owner of this amulet when this place was sealed."
The all of a sudden, there was a gush of wind and then a ghostly form of a man appeared in front of the three Blades "At long last" he said in a quiet voice "you have freed me, now I can finally complete my lord's last request."
"Who are you?" Jaime asked
"I was Rielus, loyal Blade of Emperor Tiber Septim." The ghost replied "I do not know how long I have been dead but it feels like an eternity since I was last free. Someone like yourself came here for the armour of Tiber Septim and freed me and my brothers. But after the armour was returned, this place was once again cursed and me and my fallen brothers were once again cursed to wander this place. But now you have freed me. You seek the armour as well but it is protected by a magical barrier. To obtain it, you must free my three remaining brothers as well."
"We can do that" Fortis stated
"I will be waiting at the shrine itself" the ghost stated and then he walked off.
"It's not every day I get to see a ghost" Jaime joked
Fortis didn't laugh "Now is not the time to be joking" he stated "We have to find the other undead blades to find the armour, come on, we have to move." He then took Jaime and Barristan further into the ruins of Sancre Tor.
Red Keep: Small Council Chambers:
King Martin had gathered all the members of the Small Council as the Master of Law Prince Oberyn had wanted to tell them all something. When he told them of what had happened in the city, Martin was not happy at all.
"Are you being serious right now?" Martin demanded
"I am not" Oberyn stated "Those Sparrow attacked me and would have done worse if my daughters hadn't fought them off."
"To these people, you were breaking their law." Ebrose stated
"There is not written law that forbids people going to brothels." Martin hissed "Prince Oberyn isn't even married. The Sparrows have once again decided to take the law into their own hands and I've warned them countless times that this will not be torrelated."
Tyrion sighed and spoke up "Your Grace, the Sparrows are playing a dangerous game, they might want you to crack down on them, it will make them seem like the Heroes and make you the villain."
Martin sighed "I won't play their game, but I will put pressure on them." He looked at Delphine "Order Commander Camarlo to increase patrols around the markets and where the brothels are. They seem to be the areas where the Sparrows target. And also order that the Temple of the Nine Divines is to be guarded at all times by trusted men. I'm taking no chances, no Sparrow is allowed anywhere near it and if they try something with that temple then there will be huge consequences."
"Your Grace" Master of War Lord Tarly spoke up "The City Watch is strong but if these Sparrows keep gaining numbers then they may be overwhelmed."
Martin looked at Ebrose "Which is why I'm sending a raven to Anvil." He stated which made the Small council look at him "I'm ordering Legate Skulnar to prepare the Ninth Legion, I want them to be within a day's march of the city so that if the Sparrows get any bright ideas then we deal with them quickly."
"I understand your Grace." Ebrose stated "I'll write the raven right away."
Oberyn then spoke up again "Your Grace, I have a suggestion." He stated and Martin nodded to tell him to let him hear it "We don't know the full scale of the Sparrow Movement, it might be best to have someone to investigate."
"And who could do that?" Delphine asked "All of my Blades Agents are away on missions scouting for the Mythic Dawn and the Worm Cult."
"My daughter Tyene could do it." Oberyn suggested "Her mother was a Septa and she knows how the Septas work."
Martin sighed "I can't ask you to put your child at risk." He stated "And what if she gets recognised, she was seen at the Brothel."
"She can disguise herself very well." Oberyn stated
Martin sighed "Alright, but I'm not forcing her to do this. And tell her to be careful because if she gets discovered then I don't know what we can do to get her out."
"I'll talk to her then" Oberyn stated and then he left the room along with the other Small Council members.
Red Keep, Undercroft:
While the Small council were meeting, in another part of the Red Keep down in the cellars, two hooded figures were waiting. "How long are we going to be waiting for her Hans?" One figure who was a woman demanded "If you're away for long, they'll get suspicious."
"Calm down Jearl" the man known as Hans stated "She'll be here soon." This was Hans Black-nail, he was the new Master of Arms for the Red Keep but he was also a Sleeper Agent for the Mythic Dawn, he had been the one who had been watching the sentencing of the Sparrows before and had informed the Mythic Dawn of what was going on. The woman known as Jearl was another sleeper agent and had been watching the Sparrows for a while. Now they were meeting with Runa to tell her the information.
Then a nodded figure approached and smirked "Hans, Jearl" she spoke "Tell me of these Sparrows?"
"They're fanatics" Jearl stated "They seem to care for the people better than most of the Septons but this High Sparrow is one of those who believes that other religions are false and must be dealt with. He is also one who takes the writings of the Seven seriously and deals with everyone who breaks them."
"Good" Runa stated "We can use them to our advantage and cause more chaos."
"But how?" Hans asked "Martin is getting fed up with them and soon their whole movement could be forced to leave."
Runa smirked and pulled out a bottle of poison from her bag "We can't poison the King, we won't get to him, but we can give this High Sparrow a position of authority." Hans and Jearl smirked as Runa looked at them with a sneer on her face, soon they could be in position to make life difficult for Martin and allow the Mythic Dawn to strike. "And it's not just here, we have other allies who will make things difficult for Martin."
Pyke: Iron Islands:
Balon Greyjoy scowled as his brother Victorian read his report on what the Ironborn had gained from their recent raid "We managed to defeat a small pirate Fleet and take their supplies. But we lost a large number of sailors in the fight." Victorian stated
"What is dead may never die" Balon stated
"What is dead may never die" Victorian scoffed as he put the scroll down "Many of the sailors we lost didn't even die in battle, they died of sickness."
Balon turned around and glared at his brother "You were the one who suggest we attack these places."
"Yes I did" Victorian hissed "In order to keep this Martin off of us. He's an experienced leader if we rise up he will strike at us and that will be the end of the Ironborn culture. We can defeat anyone at sea but taking lands and holding it? That will not happen anymore, those days are over."
"We are the Ironborn, our way is the old way" Balon snarled
"The last time we did the old way and provoked them too far, you lost two of your sons." Victorian hissed "I watched from my ship as our fleet was smashed apart by Stannis Baratheon at Fair Island. Now your last son had chosen to stay with the Greenlanders and your daughter is still held prisoner by them. She's a hostage to keep us loyal."
"When you rule these islands you can make all the peace you want!" Balon snapped "But right now, I am the King here so shut your mouth or I will find another heir."
"Who will that be?" Victorian scoffed "Aeron chose the religious path. And Euron? You exiled him on pain of death and his mad ways will lead us all to ruin."
Balon scoffed "At least he never lost his Ironborn ways after being away for so long." He hissed and then he marched out of the room leaving a scowling Victorian behind.
Later that night, Balon was heading over from the Great Keep over to his bedroom located in the Sea tower, the furthest tower from the Great Keep. Once all of the towers were connected by land but the cliffs had collapsed over the years due to the sea current leaving the towers standing on the sea stacks. Each of the towers was connected by rope bridges which often swayed in the wind. This night, there was a massive storm which made the bridge sway even more. Balon slowly made his way over the bridge as there was a worry that the bridge could break in this storm, sometimes the Rope Bridge had been broken due to a storm and Balon would not end up dying from falling from a bridge. When he made it a third of the way across, a strong gust of wind caused the bridge to shake and throw Balon to the side but he was able to keep his balance and not fall over.
When Balon looked up, he saw a hooded figure standing in the doorway of the Sea Tower who was blocking his way. "Let me past!" he demanded but the figure didn't move or even respond "You fool, move aside for your King."
"Haven't I always brother?" the figure stated and removed his hood to reveal a pale handsome face with black hair and a dark beard, he also wore a patch over his left eye.
Balon recognised who this was, "Euron!" he snarled, this was his brother Euron Greyjoy, better known as the Crow's Eye. "I thought you would be rotting under some foreign sea by now!"
Euron smirked "What is dead may never die" he stated but Balon didn't reply back like he would normally do "Have the customs changed while I've been away brother? Aren't you suppose to repeat those words."
Balon glared at him "You can mock our God without my help Euron!" he snarled
"I don't mock the drowned god" Euron smirked "I am the Drowned God. I am the Great Stallion, the many faced god, the stranger and the Storm God. From Oldtown to Asshai, when men see my sails, they prey. Another large gust of wind nearly made Balon loose his balance but Euron stood there not moving at all and smiling.
Balon glared at him "I remember telling you that you would die if you ever laid foot on these islands again after what you did."
Euron laughed "You are getting old brother, I have no intention of dying, and I've found a new ally for me who will help me achieve my dreams. You on the other hand are now past your prime. It's time you let another one rule."
Balon glared at him "I heard that you lost your mind in a storm in the Jade Sea. What kind of Ironborn loses his mind during a storm? I heard that your crew tied you to the mast of your ship to stop you jumping overboard and when that Storm pasted, you cut out their tongues."
Euron smirked "I needed silence" he stated "And I am the storm, the first storm and the last." He got close to his brother "And you are in my way."
Balon widened his eyes as he now realised what Euron was about to do, so he quickly drew his dagger intending to thrust it into Euron's neck but then Euron suddenly vanished and appeared behind him where he grabbed hold of Balon's neck.
Euron leaned closed and whispered in Balon's ear "I changed my ways to follow the Lord of Domination, he can help me with my plans, you are weak brother, you always were, and now you can follow the drowned god in his halls." Then without warning, he threw Balon over the side of the bridge where Balon screamed as he fell into the ocean with a big splash and from the height, there was no way he could have survived and even if he did, he wouldn't make it out because of the storm and there was no area nearby where he could climb out to safety. Euron just smiled as he watched his brother fall "Goodbye brother." He stated and then he walked back into the Sea tower before looking at the rope bridge. In order to cover his tracks for a while, he slashed the ropes of the bridge and watched as the bridge collapsed. This would trap him in the Sea Tower but Euron had ways of getting out. He simply muttered a spell under his breath and then he vanished from sight. No one had any idea that he had even been here.
White Harbour:
Ser Marlon Manderly escorted Jon and his group after they picked up Ygritte and Tormund where they then went towards another part of the harbour. They soon arrived at the dock that they were looking for, the ship known as the Northern Maiden. The ship wasn't massive but it could still hold a decent amount of supplies.
The ship's captain was busy ordering a few deck hands to bring supplies on board the ship. He looked like a northern man as he had thick blond hair and a thick beard and he had muscles from his day of carrying heavy supplies onto his ship. His name was Gjalund Salt-Sage as he had spent nearly all his days on the sea.
Gjalund saw Marlon approaching and greeted him "Ser Marlon" he greeted "Is everything alright?"
"Everything is find Gjalund" Marlon replied "It's just I have a small group here that want to speak to you."
Jon snow stepped forward "Is this the ship that travels to the island of Solstheim?" he asked
"Yes it is" Gjalund replied "The Northern Maiden brings supplies and passangers from White Harbour to Solstheim's main town of Raven Rock. Though I mostly send supplies now, not many people travel there anymore. Can't say that I blame them, Solstheim's had hard times ever since Red Mountain erupted, makes life there difficult."
"My group need to book passage on your ship to Solstheim." Jon stated "We are on business for the Night's Watch and Dawnguard."
Gjalund looked at him "I don't know what your orders want on Solstheim but it's not my business to ask questions. But I can't take anymore there for free. But I can ask you a decent prince. I can take your entire group to Raven Rock for 15 gold dragons." Thankfully Jon had that kind of money thanks to the Dawnguard and his father Eddard who had given him the money to help him if he ever needed it.
"I'll pay" Jon stated and pulled out 15 gold Dragons from his pouch and handed them over to Gjalund.
Gjalund looked at the coins, then at Jon and nodded "You've got yourself a ship. We'll cast off as soon as we get the rest of these supplies loaded. Raven Rock has need of them." Jon nodded and he told the others to go below deck and rest until they were ready to set sail.
Golden Company Camp: Essos:
Aegon Targaryen had returned to his tent with Lydia where he saw his sisters Rhaenys and Visenya. "So what did Connington want with you?" Visenya asked
Aegon sighed "He's still hoping that I would be the man who would lead the Golden Company west and launch a new invasion of Westeros." He stated "But I don't see how we can achieve it, the lands of Westeros are not at war and they are fully united under this King Martin who is rumoured to have Dragons. All we have is about 10,000 soldiers in the Golden Company, I don't see how we can win a fight against Westeros."
"But it's our home" Rhaenys countered "I was born there along with you and Visenya, and what about our mother, she was murdered and we would have been too if Varys and Connington hadn't gotten us out."
"At least you knew your mother for a while" Visenya groaned "Mine died giving birth to me and my father was dead before I was even born. Anyway, I'm glad I wasn't raised in Westeros, if I was I would be forced to be a lady and I like fighting, just like my namesake."
"Lydia here fights as well" Aegon commented
"But I'm a lowborn" Lydia stated "I had no family to look after and no duty, so I did what I like to do and came here to fight. You're a good lad Aegon, that's why I signed on to be your sworn shield."
"There is only one reason why I would want to travel West." Visenya added "I know I have another brother who was born after I was taken away. Connington told me that he lives in the North. I've always wanted to meet him but I wonder if he even knows that he has a sister."
"I've heard he was raised by his uncle." Lydia stated "They said he had a bastard son called Jon Snow but I suspect that that lad is in fact your brother. Lord Eddard Stark was an honourable man who would never have a bastard child."
"Still, I would rather be here in Essos fighting as a Sellsword." Visenya stated "It's what I am and I don't want to settle down and have a family, I'm a warrior woman, not a princess."
Rhaenys sighed knowing that she couldn't argue with her siblings. While she was the oldest of the Targaryen siblings, she was never able to convince Aegon as he was closer with Visenya. Maybe it was because Aegon and Visenya looked more like Targaryens with their white hair, pale skin and amethyst eyes. Rhaenys looked more like a Martell as she had olive skin and black hair though she did have Amethyst eyes like her siblings. She was pretty but many people were drawn more to Visenya due to her fiery personality. "So what are we going to do?" she asked
Aegon sighed "To be honest, I don't see what we can do. Connington is still the man in charge of me. He plans to take over the Golden Company once we finish this contract to escort this slave convoy to Tolos."
Visenya scowled "Slavery!" she growled "That is the one thing I hate about this land. Selling human beings as though they are cattle is not right. That is a crime against nature, no one should be made to serve people like they're animals."
Rhaenys looked at her "Our ancestors did Slavery remember." She stated "The Dragonlords of Valyria enslaved the people of the Ghiscari Empire after they were defeated and then they enslaved the Rhoynar people."
"Who we are also descended from" Aegon scowled "Our mother was a descendent of those very people who fled. Anyway, those days are long gone, we never committed Slavery when our family ruled Westeros. Visenya is right, Slavery is just wrong and I will be glad when we stop helping these Slavers."
Then Rhaenys had an idea "Hey, we're going to the land around Slaver's Bay right?" she questioned and Aegon nodded. Slaver's Bay was the area where Slavery was build. Slaves were captured by Slavers from the cities around Slaver's Bay and then they were then sold to the people from the Free Cities. "Then maybe we can liberate the Slaves. We have a large army and there's talk about a private Admiral who's liberating Slaves as well. If we can't retake Westeros, then maybe we should build our own Kingdom."
Aegon and Visenya looked at their sister. Maybe she was right about this, it sounded like a good idea and a more likely idea than trying to invade a united land that could raise an even bigger army than them.
Sancre Tor:
Jaime, Fortis and Barristan had finally made it to the area where the shrine of Tiber Septim was. Like the ghost of Rielus had stated, there was a magical barrier that was protecting the Shrine. Throughout their journey through Sancre Tor, they had come across the other Undead Blades that they had been warned about but they had been able to defeat them and also recover some valuable Blade's artefacts. The Blade known as Casnar had Mishaxhi's Cleaver, a large Dai-katana which was a large two handed Katana. This sword had been wielded by Commander Mishaxhi, an ancient Commander of the Blades during the Septim Empire which made the blade even more important to the Blades as it was one of the oldest Katanas of the Blades.
The next Blade after that was the Blade known as Alain, he was just as skilled as the others but his Katana had a frost enchantment so he would also inflict cold damage to his opponents. But just like Rielus and Casnar, he was also been defeated and his Katana known as Northwind, another Ancient Katana was recovered. And the final Blade was Valdemar who carried his own personal shield which made striking him nearly impossible and it dealt damage to Jaime when he dealt a massive hit to Jaime. But soon Valdemar had been overwhelmed and was also defeated. With all the undead Blades defeated, the three made their way back to the Shrine which they had passed before but were unable to get through. The Ghosts of the undead Blades were kneeling in front of the barrier. The ghosts glowed blue and a beam of blue light was sent from them and hit the barrier and Jaime watched in shock as the Barrier faded.
With the Barrier faded, the Blade Knight Rielus stood up and approached them "It is done." He stated "The Barrier is down, and now the Armour of Tiber Septim will fall into the hands of those who deserve it. And now we can finally rest in peace."
"It's been a honour to meet you" Fortis stated
"Farewell mortals, and good luck in your mission." Rielus stated and then he and the other ghosts faded and they passed into the afterlife.
With the barrier gone, Fortis led Barristan and Jaime into the room that looked like some kind of a tomb "What is this place?" Barristan asked
"This is the tomb of the Reman Emperors." Fortis stated "Way back in the Age of Heroes, a man known as Remain Cyrodiil conquered large parts of the south just like Aegon the Conqueror did. Reman's empire was before the Andal Invasion and before some houses like Lannister appeared but Reman ruled large parts of what is now the Riverlands, the Vale, The Westerlands, the Crownlands and the Reach. His rule and his family brought peace to the regions for many years as during the time, there were many petty Kings that fought each other. Reman's rule and that of his family brought peace to much of the south. But after the rule of Emperor Reman III who died in battle trying to conquer more land, the line was dead and the Empire collapsed and went back to petty kingdoms. The Blades actually served these Emperors during their rule."
"How long have the Blades been in Westeros?" Jaime asked
"The Blades have been around for thousands of years." Fortis stated "Esbern could tell you more but I know that we served the Septim Emperors before the Great Disaster which caused many in Westeros to flee and allow the Children of the Forest to emerge. But we served the Reman Emperors for a time as well and were a private order in Westeros but we were forced to leave after the Andal Invasion. We outright refused to convert to the Seven and the Faith led a number of holy wars against us, but each time we were victorious but it soon became clear that we could not stay so we left for Essos. We actually helped the Valyrians against the Ghiscari but after Valyria started to enslave people, we cut all ties with them and became a sellsword order which we stayed until we swore ourselves to Martin. But you will have to ask Esbern for more information. Now we should do what we came here to do."
Jaime nodded and he found a large basin in the middle of the tomb where he saw a large golden breastplate laid on top. "Is this the armour we're looking for?" he asked
Fortis looked at it. The breastplate was very old as it was covered in dust but it was also finely made and made patterns engraved in so the armour was expensive. "Yes, this has to be it. This basin was where the legendary Amulet of Kings was found by Tiber and it's where his armour was placed after he died. Now we're taking this back with us to Cloud Ruler Temple. And then it will be time for you two to take your oath. You've past you tests but you won't be official members of the Blades until you finish the Oath."
Jaime and Barristan looked at each other and then back at Fortis. Then Fortis lead the two of them from the tomb and they began their journey back to Cloud Ruler Temple.
King's Landing: Old Sept:
A small thin haired man wearing a plain shaggy brown robe was standing in front of a young woman who was kneeling down in front of him. They were inside a small Sept that was build under the city. This Sept had been here for many years and was older than the city itself. It had been abandoned for many years but now it had a use for the Faith again.
"In the light of the Seven, I bless you, may the mother grant you child life, may the Warrior grant your child strength, may the crone grant your child wisdom" the old man said as he patted the head of a young pregnant woman."
"Thank you holiness." The woman smiled
The man laughed "in the eyes of the seven, we are their children." He said "Now you should go home and make sure your child lives on." The woman left the room leaving the Old man alone. It was then that two new people entered, one was a young man with short hair and wearing a brown robe, it was the same man who attacked Oberyn in the Brothel. The other was a middle aged woman who wore a Septa's robe.
"Brother Lancel, Septa Unella" the man greeted them "How did your missions go?"
"Not so well" Lancel spoke, this was once Lancel Lannister. But ever since the Battle of Blackwater after he had been badly injured, he had gotten mixed with very religious people and had dropped his family name and was just known as Brother Lancel. "I confronted the Sinners but they fought back, they escaped. But your holiness, I'm up for helping bring Sinners for justice, we really are staring to annoy the people here. We don't have the people on our side, many of them don't really care for us anymore."
"They will burn in the Seven Hells!" Unella spat "Like all sinners will."
Lancel looked at Unella "Don't be so sure on that. If we anger the wrong people, we may bring a whole army down on us and we won't be strong enough to beat them. And you should be more careful Septa Unella, you know how dangerous it is for you to be here in the city. If King Martin finds out you're here, you will be executed as you were exiled from here many years ago." Septa Unella had been the Septa that Martin had thrown from a window and then exiled from the city.
"Even so, we must work hard to bring the people of the city back into the hands of the Seven and away from those false Divines." The High Sparrow spoke.
"And I've found a way we can help with that." Unella smirked "I met someone who said she can help."
She nodded to several Sparrows who opened the doors and let a woman enter. She wore a brown cloak and she looked at the High Sparrow and gave a small bow "You're Holiness, my name is Runa. And I want to help this city turn back to its true faith. And I have a way, the fools in the Great Sept have lost their faith but it's time for the true faith to return to that place." Unella, Lancel and the High Sparrow stared at the woman but they all missed a hidden smirk on Runa's face as she prepared to put her plan into action.
Chapter End:
Notes: Well another chapter has been completed. This chapter is not as long as it was originally planned as I decided to delete a few scenes from this chapter as I felt better that they would fit in better in later chapters. There was suppose to be a scene of Daenerys but then she would be absent for a few chapters time so I decided to use that scene for the next chapter. I also brought in Septa Unella as the Septa who was exiled by Martin in the flashback chapter.
I also just want to clear a few things as I'm worried my readers may get a bit confused. Some events such as the Aylied and Septim Empire were in a time before the Long Night but to make it fit with the Game of Thrones Timeline, I made a large disaster which will be explained later in the story force most people to leave Westeros. Then during the Age of Heroes, we have the Reman Empire and I know that in the Elder Scrolls timeline, this Empire was before the Septim Empire but I had this Empire during the Age of Heroes instead. I hope you enjoy this chapter and I will start working on my other Fanfictions now.