AN :
if we hit 300 power stones, I will release another chapter.
In the Game of Stones, you either win or you wait. The more Power Stones you offer, the faster the chapters come.
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( Acolyte Hallyne POV )
The Pyromancer glanced towards the walls of Lannisport, red with the granite of the Westerland's coast, they looked like toys in the distance compared to the towering bulk of Casterly Rock around the side of the bay.
The mountain was certainly an imposing sight, covered in windows, battlements, and bastions, it was far larger than any fortress Hallyne had ever seen. The Towering stone edifice utterly dwarfed the Red Keep, the Hightower… he doubted even Harrenhall could possibly compare to the sheer scale of the mountain-made fortress.
And here he was making a delivery to one of its masters.
It had been some time now since the second son of Lord Tywin Lannister had visited the pyromancer's guild of King's Landing. The boy had been mostly Hallyne's responsibility to track while he had perused the Order's library, gravitating towards treatises on the physical properties of the substance, and on the methods of magic and sorcery now long lost to their order.
Hallyne had caught no small amount of flak from the Wisdoms for allowing an uninitiated noble such access, but they had calmed when he informed them of just how much of the substance the little Lion intended to buy.
No such large purchases of the substance had been made since the unfortunate death of King Aegon the Unlikely at Summerhall two decades ago. That didn't stop the Wisdoms from being annoyed at him, but it had spared him any immediate consequences in favor of being put -personally- in charge of all matters relating to the Lannister brat.
They approved his 'associate membership' to the extent of letting him read from the guild library, after a careful review to keep the means of creating the substance a secret, and then promptly washed their hands of the affair, leaving the logistics of transporting 100 pots of the substance across the width of the continent to Hallyne.
It was an arduous task, he had soon discovered. No ship was willing to carry the substance so far as Lannisport without a truly enormous cost, well more than Hallyne could spare.
Likewise, no overland caravan company could possibly be trusted not to accidentally ignite the substance and kill themselves in a ball of green fire. Instead, Hallyne had been forced to organize the entire venture entirely on his own. Hiring independent teamsters and purchasing well-built wagons, he had filled each wagon's base with sand dredged up from the beaches of the blackwater, which made a very heavy load, needing additional horses.
Then he had placed every gallon pot of the substance, particularly the older ones where the liquid had bled into the clay of their containers, into larger open-topped pots filled with wet sand, which were then covered with thick clay lids. Just safely stowing it all had taken nearly a month of very careful work.
Then, there was the long, long drive up the Gold Road from King's Landing overland to Lannisport. Moving carefully, and only by night, they had crossed the great expanse south of the Blackwater between the Crownslands, Stormlands, Riverlands, and Reach.
Over vast rolling plains and past the northern edge of the Kingswood, they had traveled and bribed two groups of bandits on the way (who wanted little to do with the substance at any rate), then into the northern reach and finally up past Deep-Den into the Westerlands.
The Mountains then had been the worst of the journey, up and down and up and down, always cautious to avoid bumping the carts, sometimes Hallyne had even needed to go out with the men and level the path, flatten stones, or dislodge them from the road such that the wagons could cross smoothly without too much jostling. Often Hallyne had feared for his life when they had descended down steep slopes where no such precautions could be managed, but their luck had held true, and he had not been yet added to the long list of alchemists who had died in their own fires.
Finally, after what felt like an eternity, but was really only about one hundred and twenty miles of mountain road, the Gold Road broke away from the mountains south of the range the Westermen called the "upper spine". The view from the edge of the mountains was breathtaking as it looked out over endless golden wheat fields, dotted with villages and small towns that stretched across from horizon to horizon and mountain range to mountain range.
This great valley leading to the coast was apparently Lannister Lands, and as vast as any farmland that Hallyne had ever seen in the Reach. A million men must have lived within the bounds of the valley, and at its northern tip, where the Upper Spine broke before the ocean, there sat Lannisport and the Rock.
Now, finally, at the end of this exhaustive journey, Hallyne could only smile, as the wagons trundled through the gate of Lannisport, and set out towards the massive gate of the monstrous castle mountain that looked over it.
They passed through the Gold gate in a group, where massive statues of two Lannister Kings sat looking over the road. Castle Lannister, which sat on a forested hill just inside the walls, looked like a Child's toy set against the shadow of the Rock, despite being quite large itself. Passing it by, they trundled along through a market square, and then through another set of gates through the old city walls.
It was slow going at times, with the crush of thousands of men and wagons, horses, and other livestock all around them, but Hallyne was comfortable enough in this element, and his teamsters all hailed from King's Landing. In comparison, Lannisport was much more open and less cramped, and like Oldtown, it didn't stink half as badly. Together, his caravan passed before the Gold Star Sept, which was much smaller than the Great Sept of Baelor but had a shining dome covered in gold that reflected the light of the sun.
At its foot was the main plaza of the entire city, an enormous granite plinth that stretched southwest from the hill that the Gold Star Sept sat on all the way to the Sunset Sea. Each side of the Great Plaza was planted with rows of Oak Trees, and all the major roads of the city fed out onto it. Cutting across it, they left the Gold Road behind and found the route that would take them to the doors of Casterly Rock itself.
One final gate, this time out of the city walls of Lannisport proper, saw them enter a bailey of Sorts for the Rock, a walled area before the gates of the Lion's Mouth that seemed to have a bustling new town springing up inside of it.
Large furnaces at one side spewed smoke up into the air, and men ran back and forth carrying huge stacks of paper or containers of ink on small hand wagons. A few other businesses were present, all with clean buildings and freshly painted signs. Hallyne would guess they were no older than a year at most. There was a glassworker's shop and a potter, and a large smithy still under construction.
There was the sound of hammering from the shipyards, and everywhere shouting and lively rushing back and forth as if everyone here had something to do. Of course, Hallyne too had something to do, and he greeted the guards as he approached the Lion's Mouth.
"Good Day Ser" he waved to the knight in Lannister Colors who seemed to be overseeing the wagons moving in and out of the Mountain's gate. Most of them were full of… paper it seemed, paper with writing on it. Odd. "I'm here with a delivery for the young Lord Callum Lannister."
The knight snorted in a distinctly piggish manner, which saw his nostrils flare up. "You and everyone else in the Seven Kingdoms." the man grumbled, glancing at Hallyne up and down. "You another banished Maester or something?" his voice was nasally and thin, despite his stout appearance.
"Ah, no, not at all, my name is Hallyne, Acolyte Hallyne, I'm here to deliver the young Lord's purchase from the alchemist Guild in King's Landing."
The knight blinked, then glanced at the wagons behind Hallyne and paled. "Er… is all of that…" he paused. "I uh… I'll need to inform Ser Kevan before I can allow Wildfire into the Rock," he said, before turning to one of the Halberdiers at his side. "You there man, run up and find Ser Kevan- and probably young lord Callum too, bring both of them down here at once."
He turned back to Hallyne with a glare- "And you-get those carts down off the bridge this instant! I don't know why you thou-"
"That won't be necessary Ser Lorch." Hallyne perked up as he heard a familiar voice, walking up behind his wagons was the frightening little Lannister boy he had met around a year previous. "I did indeed order some hundred jugs of wildfire from the Alchemist's guild. I've had one of the caverns near the inner port prepared for them for some time." he turned to Hallyne, his hair wasn't quite as long as it was before, but he was still immediately recognizable, especially for the gleam in his emerald eyes. "It's good to see you again Acolyte Hallyne, I'm surprised you were the one charged with making the delivery."
"Yes… well…" Hallyne winced, trying to come up with a convincing lie. "The Guild thought someone of appropriate stature should oversee it, given the scale of the transaction."
"Hmm, well let's keep a move on then, the substance is more of a danger sitting out here than it will be in the shelves I've prepared for it." he turned back to the piggish knight. "Step aside, Ser Lorch."
The stout man frowned, but then nodded without a further word, stepping back out of the way. "I still say it's bad business milord, Wildfire has a mind of its own they say, it's killed more kings than any blade." he rubbed his plate-covered arm worriedly as Hallyne got the carts moving again.
"That may be, but properly handled it has use to House Lannister yet." Callum nodded. "I've prepared a great deal for its arrival, once it's stored safely in place, there will be no particular danger to the Rock."
The knight nodded grimly, and Hallyne heard no more from him as Callum went with them deeper into the massive stone castle. The interior tunnels on the base level, used to move raw materials, huge amounts of food for the Rock's larders, and gold drawn up from the mines below were easily wide enough to accommodate all the wagons and the animals pulling them, and they gradually made their way at a walking pace through the dimly lit channels. Halyne could soon hear the sound of the ocean echoing through the tunnels, and they arrived in a huge dank cave, lit only by a couple of windows that must have looked out on the outer surface of the mountain, each covered by heavy iron bars. The ground was wet and everything smelled of the sea.
"We're near the inner port here, and the seawater pushes up through cracks in the wall there up to about knee height when the tide comes in." Callum gestured towards one of the walls in the dim light. "It's cool at all times of year, and this cavern will keep the air good and wet." The shadow of the mountain will also keep direct sunlight from coming in through the windows, it ought to be as safe a place as any to store the substance."
Hallyne nodded. "It's well chosen," he mumbled, though, from the manacles hanging on the walls, this chamber had once been used for a much grimmer purpose. "I'll have the men start loading the pots onto the shelves. Each of the actual pots of the substance is stored within a larger pot of sand, for safety reasons, but they should be easy enough to access, should you need them. I've also prepared a number of vintages, from freshly made substance to some potted more than 60 years past." he stroked the thin brown hair at his chin. "Do you already have the payment prepared?"
"Hmm, yes I have the coinage of course, but I may need a bit longer to arrange a ship back to King's Landing for you unless you intend to return by land."
"Ah, that would be most appreciated, Milord." Hallyne nodded, and the nine-year-old smirked back.
"Well, I'll have that arranged then, and for your wagons also." he chuckled, "Though, Acolyte Hallyne, tell me, you are a pyromancer yes, but is your only interest in fire from the substance, or do you have wider horizons?"
Hallyne blinked, not sure what the boy was getting at. After a moment of thought, he answered "I suppose that I'd be interested in other forms of flame beyond the conventional, but I've no interest in kitchen fires or the like."
Callum Lannister wore an eerie smile as he replied, looking like a cat who'd found a mouse. "Well then Acolyte, I'd like to invite you up to the yard of Casterly Rock." his voice was bright with eagerness. "I've got a bit of a demonstration scheduled for this evening."
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Chronicle of the Targaryen Dynasty in the Seven Kingdoms
Maester Willem
277 AC - Tenth day of Sixth Moon
Prince Rhaegar Targaryen and Lord Steffon Baratheon finally make their return from their harrowing journey across the Narrow Sea with a new bride for Prince Rhaegar of Ancient Valyrian Stock, lady Valia Baleia-Aurios. The Lady is tall and slender, with blond hair, her eyes are like those described by her ancestor Aurion Bormophis, with golden irises and lilac sclera.
She brings with her a series of gifts for House Targaryen which she has brought from Volantis, including one hundred elephants, one hundred tigers, a great golden dromond twice the size of the Dromonds in Prince Rhaegar's fleet, and most prominently the Valyrian Steel Sword Blackfyre, which was apparently purchased from the Golden Company some decades ago.
King Aerys greeted his son and future daughter at the docks and is said to have welcomed both of them with open arms. The Marriage is scheduled to take place in the Great Sept of Baelor next month.
Also returning with the fleet is a Tyroshi information broker named Varys, whom Prince Rhaegar relied upon to find him proper marriage candidates. For his services, King Aerys promotes him to master of Whispers. Rumors swirl as well that King Aerys is considering promoting Lord Steffon Baratheon to replace Lord Tywin Lannister as Hand of the King, for his own part in the Prince's betrothal.
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