Chapter 126 – Water Magic Reappears in the World
"My loyalty will be as mellow as summer red. By Mother Rhoyne, I swear fealty to the prince and your cause; every orphan of the Greenblood will be your friend." Gaelin handed Rhaegar a cup of summer red, then knelt beside him.
The vintage was decades old, heady enough to intoxicate—a fine Dornish red, sweet and bursting with fruit. One of Dorne's few flagship wares.
Rhaegar drank, hoping Gaelin's loyalty and talent would not disappoint.
Beyond the surprising Water Magic, Rhaegar recalled Daemon Blackfyre's Rebellion—a bastard war that scorched half the realm save the North. In truth it had been a vendetta by second-tier lords against the great houses. The Black Dragon had almost no support from the great houses; instead the second-rank houses poured in coin.
Some staked everything, like House Peake and House Bracken. Others hedged their bets—House Hightower, House Butterwell, House Oakheart, House Tarbeck. Some even changed sides midway.
After the First Blackfyre Rebellion, King Daeron II Targaryen proved harsh. Lords and knights who supported the Black Dragon lost lands, privileges, and castles. Daeron had loved his bastard brothers equally, yet they repaid him with betrayal.
"Yet I wonder: House Yronwood fought three times beneath the Black Dragon and suffered no punishment—how?" Rhaegar asked.
"You're young, prince, and may not recall the mood of the time. I am tied to House Yronwood, so I know a little of the matter.
For the great houses—Tyrell, Lannister, Martell—their wealth and power were already secure. They had no need to gamble on a Black Dragon. After all, the heir to the Iron Throne carried Martell blood.
But for the middling and lesser houses, the Black Dragon was their chance.
Outwardly they scorned the throne, but in truth they scorned the ruling great houses.
So the red lions of the Westerlands, the Peakes of the Reach, the Sunderlands of the Three Sisters, the Brackens of the Riverlands, and our own Yronwoods all joined Blackfyre.
House Bracken followed Aegor Rivers—Bittersteel.
House Yronwood, meanwhile, possessed great lands and simply wished to topple House Martell."
Rhaegar had not expected to hear old familiar names here. History truly did twist upon itself.
The Reynes of Castamere had survived the purge after the rebellion, only to perish utterly during the later destruction of their house. The Peakes, once lords of three castles, had been reduced to one—the most unfortunate of them all.
Gaelin continued.
"House Yronwood remained a steadfast supporter of the Black Dragon. They were no mere opportunists. Why were they not punished more harshly?
Because Dorne is harsh land with sparse population. Any war would cripple us as much as our enemies.
Prince Martell pleaded for mercy before the Iron Throne—though it gained little. In the end the king demanded only hostages.
Though the Blackfyres are gone, their old allies and the Golden Company remain deeply intertwined."
Rhaegar listened quietly.
Once, Yronwood had been among the staunchest supporters of the Black Dragon, alongside Bracken and Peake, marching three times with Bittersteel.
Yet aside from House Peake, none had lost castles or privileges. It was outrageous.
Now House Yronwood had become Dorne's greatest internal threat—always ready to challenge House Martell again.
"Watch them closely," Rhaegar said.
"The Black Dragon may be dead, but the Golden Company endures."
He did not say this out of fear for House Martell—their schemes remained sharp—but out of concern for the Golden Company, and more urgently for any news of the legendary sword Blackfyre.
The Golden Company held many bastards bearing surnames like Flowers, Rivers, Hill, and Stone, along with exiled nobles such as Strong, Peake, and Rosby.
A brotherhood of the defeated and the exiled.
Yet even so, they remained an army ten thousand strong.
After a century across the Narrow Sea, they still gazed westward, dreaming of the Seven Kingdoms.
"As you command, Prince Rhaegar," Gaelin said with a bow.
Rhaegar guided Silver Emperor low across the sea near the mouth of the Greenblood.
Two other dragons followed.
From Gaelin he took every rune-inscribed hull fragment, along with several casks of fine summer red, before departing Planky Town.
Now he carried the final traces of Rhoynar Water Magic.
The discovery thrilled him.
Even along the Rhoyne, such relics were rare.
The once-great city of Chroyane had become the Sorrows, shrouded in mist where Stone Men afflicted with greyscale wandered the ruins.
Many claimed the mysterious Shrouded Lord ruled there still.
Rhaegar turned one fragment of hull in his hand.
The runes upon it were blurred and cryptic.
These fragments were mismatched salvage at best. Ideally such runes would be carved upon turtle shells, but turtles were sacred among the Rhoynar, making that impossible.
Long ago the Rhoynar worshipped Mother Rhoyne, along with lesser gods such as the Crab King and the Old Man of the River, a colossal turtle.
They had possessed great Water Magic.
The century-long war between the Rhoynar and Valyria had begun when a Valyrian vassal slew one of those sacred turtles.
Yet despite their magic, the Rhoynar water-wizards were utterly outmatched.
When Old Valyria sent its might, three hundred dragons filled the skies and annihilated Prince Garin the Great's army.
"Will the magic of water return to the world?"
Rhaegar studied the turtle shell fragments.
It seemed worth attempting.
He possessed not only Targaryen blood, but also a distant strain inherited from Nymeria's Rhoynar.
Among his ancestors, King Maekar I Targaryen—grandfather of Jaehaerys II—had married Dyanna Dayne.
Earlier still, King Daeron II Targaryen, great-grandfather of Jaehaerys II, had wed Princess Myriah Martell of Dorne.
Thus Rhoynar blood flowed faintly within the Targaryen line.
Rhaegar carefully examined the hull fragments, tracing their runes.
He allowed a drop of his blood to fall into the blue flame resting in his palm.
The Fountain of Youth was a gentle fire, born from sacred Rhoynar springs.
Since he carried Rhoynar blood, he possessed at least some claim to their magic.
Gathering the fragments together, he placed them into the flame.
They began to shimmer faintly.
Within the fire he saw a vision.
A river so vast that every river in Westeros seemed small beside it.
A sailor upon it could not see either shore.
Its tributaries alone could rival the Mander.
Along its banks the Rhoynar gathered, offering prayers and worship.
The most gifted among them drew power from the river.
Mother Rhoyne blessed them.
They became Water Wizards, raising towering waves, summoning waterspouts, and shaping the river itself.
Across leagues of distance that ancient river now seemed close.
A faint bond formed between it and Rhaegar.
Though wounded by time, Mother Rhoyne still offered him her blessing.
[Explorer: Congratulations. You have uncovered vestiges of the ancient Rhoynar Water Magic. Though only fragments remain, they are priceless remnants of a lost art.]
[Blood of Water Awakens: All life springs from fire, yet all life is nourished by water. Sweet water sustains countless beings. You carry the blood of Mother Rhoyne, and she grants you her favor. Gentle water may nurture life; merciless water may drown it.]
[Blood of Water — Low Rank: You gain affinity with water, increased resistance to water, and enhanced control. Water resistance may protect against certain earthly diseases and grant brief endurance beneath the waves. You may summon water upon great rivers or seas. Near the Rhoyne, your power will be strongest.]
Cool droplets slid across Rhaegar's skin.
They soaked him completely, sharpening every sense until his body reached perfect balance.
He felt exhilarated.
Brief endurance underwater would grant him overwhelming advantage in naval combat.
Never before had fire and water magic joined together.
The Valyrian Dragonlords, seated atop their pyramids, had always scorned the Rhoynar's modest water-craft.
After all, three hundred dragons could destroy anything.
But times had changed.
None had foreseen a union of water and flame.
Rhaegar raised his hand.
Blue fire danced in his palm.
Below, the sea gathered into a slender spiral.
A waterspout, perhaps three or four meters tall, rose from the waves.
Rhaegar exhaled in relief.
Water magic did not reject him.
He had feared that the Blood of the Dragon and the blood of the Rhoynar might clash.
Instead they seemed to strengthen one another.
The dragon saw the waterspout and shrieked with delight.
It blasted the column with flame until the water hissed into clouds of steam.
"Wasteful creature," Rhaegar muttered, though he could not help smiling.
The magics of the world took many forms.
Blood Magic—practiced by the bloodmages of Asshai and the Shadow Lands—was considered the darkest and perhaps the most powerful.
The Valyrian Dragonlords believed magic sprang from blood and fire.
Through binding spells they mastered dragons, carved stone with flame, and gazed across distances using obsidian candles.
There was elemental magic.
Valyria commanded fire.
The Rhoynar commanded water.
There was prophecy and divination.
The dragon dreams of House Targaryen belonged to this branch.
There was skinchanging—the power to enter the minds of animals.
This gift was strongest among the First Men, especially House Stark, the wildlings beyond the Wall, the Blackwoods, and perhaps even the Ironborn.
There was resurrection.
The Red Priests of R'hllor could restore the dead to life, though those revived often lost parts of themselves.
There was glamour, the weaving of light and shadow to change one's appearance.
Yet even these lists were incomplete.
Many arts vanished with the Greenseers and the fall of Old Valyria.
Water Magic itself had nearly been erased by the Dragonlords.
So far Rhaegar had grasped three branches of sorcery.
Of Blood Magic, he knew only fragments.
His dragon dreams came rarely and unpredictably.
Only his command of fire and water had become reliable.
Though limited by terrain, Water Magic became extraordinarily powerful in naval or river battles.
Near the Rhoyne, its strength would multiply.
Overjoyed, Rhaegar began raising small water walls from the sea.
He spun slender waterspouts while the young dragons gleefully blasted them into mist.
Man and dragons alike reveled in the play.
If you'd like, I can also fix Chapter 128 next, and I'll keep the same rule: full chapter, no shrinking, only correcting names/titles.
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