The Eminence in GOT-Chapter 21: Notes of the Captain of the Beast King, Part 5 - The End of the Wanderings
Chapter 21 - Notes of the Captain of the Beast King, Part 5 - The End of the Wanderings
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14.01.276
Westlands, Lannisport
The visit of the lion family went just fine. The future "golden trio" left almost fifteen thousand gold in my coffers, and Tiggett Lannister agreed to escort a small caravan to my home for one interesting piece of news, that Giscar sailors who had accidentally sailed too close to the shores of Valyria and miraculously survived saw the remains of a long-rotten fleet with a golden lion on its sides. Five thousand gold dragons, spices, silks, weapons, rare foals from Essos, and a bunch of other goods, along with a letter enclosed, were a gift and an apology to my parents, brother, and sisters for my long absence.
But I couldn't go there personally, because of one stupid promise I'd made to myself. Until I became a lord and had my own land, I would not show my face to my family. Thank the Gods, it won't be long now. Two more years of wandering and careful preparation and I'll have what I want.
Soon we sail from Lannisport, leaving my brothers Rick and Dick, my assignment for them, and head north. Bear Island and the Dold Coast were waiting for us.
25.01.276
Stylyy Bereg, Ledyanaya River
If I had once thought the wildlings lived primitively, I took that back. The walrus men lived up to their name-their houses, more like tents, were made of walrus tusks and deer skins, and they themselves didn't even know iron.
But what to take from them we quickly found. The walrus hunters themselves mainly hunt walruses and breed sled deer and dogs the size of ponies. And while the former are more profitable to buy on Skagos or from the Ambers, the latter...
The giant stags lived up to their name, exceeding in size even those handsome beasts that live in the forests of the Stormlands and are the symbol of House Baratheon. Their hides and antlers, highly prized by artisans, would sell for a good sum in King's Landing and any other city in Westeros. It would be useless to take them to Essos - they simply don't know the value of these goods, and would probably consider them cheap trinkets.
And about the dogs was a separate conversation. With their size, reaching up to my chest, stiff gray hair, which even an arrow could not always penetrate, and gigantic fangs they scared the shit out of all the crew members.
Donnel, a former wildling who had migrated to Bear Island and settled there with his family, and who had agreed to be our guide and interpreter, said that because of these dogs the locals didn't even have their own warriors. The ogres, their main enemies to the north, are being mauled by these dogs.
They're no use now - if I sell them to any part of Westeros or Essos, they'll be bred and sold very quickly. And I don't want that at all. They'll be much more useful in the future.
So, having loaded the ships to the top with antlers and hides, walrus tusks, meat and skin, and even a few dozen small deer (the cutest sight), which will be gladly bought for experiments by maesters in the Citadel and spacious ladies as pets.
18.02.276
Old Town
The prediction came true - all the goods flew off the shelves in a matter of moments. The scarcity of everything I had brought to the markets and my reputation as a successful merchant was starting to take hold.
There was even a small scandal over the deer, when several Archmaesters from the Citadel, as former "senior colleagues and teachers", demanded to give them away for free. But they were sent to places so far away, where the sun doesn't even shine. And the little beauties, along with advice on how to care for them and what to feed them, were sold to little Lynessa Hightower, who was absolutely delighted with them.
After this, having purchased Hightower ironware, Bisbury honey, and Mullendore grain, we went on to the Summer Isles.
01.03.276
Summer Isles, Ebony Head
Oberyn's example is contagious after all. Otherwise, I can't explain why the hell I soberly went with him to the Temple of the Mother Earth. Of course it was interesting to see the local sights, especially the three-meter high all-gold statue of the local priestess, and the local temple prostitutes were wildly good (I couldn't help it - hormones in my blood are still raging), but running across the city with a bare ass (although we were not even paid much attention to - most of the locals, no matter what gender, because of the heat wear only a small loincloth) from the evil temple guards was not too pleasant.
Thank the Gods it happened after selling all the goods, buying new ones and replenishing supplies, and the crew, hearing our cries (mostly motherfuckers) for immediate departure from the other end of the city, quickly set sail to leave the harbor. The summer sea lived up to its name, and a little naked swimming had no effect on our health, unlike our pursuers, who had been shot in the legs by the woodsmen.
According to tradition, Oberyn was again beaten and tied to the mast, with orders to keep him away from the broads for one month. To all his cries and indignation that I had also taken part in the party, there was one simple answer: the captain could not punish the captain.
Though even without punishment the Dornish man would not see the company of women for a very long time. The next destination was the kingdom of Omber.
12.03.276
A narrow sea, somewhere in the Steps archipelago
Fucking pirates. They surrounded us and wanted to hunt us down like game. But once again, the presence of wargs saved us. Finding the weakest point of the ambush and easily breaking through it, my ships broke out of the encirclement.
In the process, one of the sailors from the pirate ships, who turned out to be the XO, was captured and, after a brief vivisection consisting of slowly removing his scalp, told us that among the new sailors hired on the Summer Isles was a rat who had surrendered my ships to one of the local "lords".
The traitor was found and thrown out to sea with his head shoved up his own ass, and I had to change course - the Pentos-based Shadow Peak is not the same as the Faceless of Braavos or the Quarter Pityers, nor are they as well known, but for a good price they'd not only kill this pirate lord, but rape him beforehand.
09.04.276
Kingdom of Omber, capital Omashu
The peaceful and prosperous kingdom of Omber lay in northern Essos, northeast of the now-destroyed kingdom of Sarnor and west of the kingdom of Ifekevron, better known as Ibben. While the great Sarnor, home of the tall men, fell to the hordes of the Dothraki Khalsa Mengo and Moro, the kingdom of Omber preferred to pay off with grain, gems, and young maidens, which were plentiful in these lands.
In general, there are no cities in Omber as such. Even their capital Omashu is a giant village with its own port and docks, stretching for dozens of kilometers. The only fortresses here are the towers of feudal lords - some analog of the castles of the Seven Kingdoms, represented in the form of one high tower and a small extension to it. The maximum that they are capable of is defense against small bands of brigands and peasants who rebelled.
And against this background the main attraction and monument of the country looked wild.
The Sea Guardians of Ombera.
Giant statues of warriors armed with spears and shields were located all along the coast of this country. And when I said giant, I wasn't exaggerating - the average height of each "guardian" was thirty meters, towering over the local fields and plains like real mountains.
According to the legends and lore of the Omberians, they had been standing here since the Great Naval War a hundred and fifty years ago. If you translate that into a more comprehensible chronology, that's six thousand years.
I was shocked when I found out those numbers. 6000 years... when I asked how these statues had not fallen apart under the influence of corrosion and sea wind, the locals just twisted their fingers and looked at me like an idiot. According to their words, no one, except the priests responsible individually for each statue, could approach the guards, let alone touch them.
The only conclusion, my dear diary, is magic. Damn Martin's magic, which allows to exist two hundred meters of ice walls, a real branch of hell on earth, indestructible thousand-year-old statues that look as if they were built a few years ago, and giant swamps, which are inhabited by something that not every sick on the head pervert can dream of.
Being in annoyance from a slightly cracked picture of the world, I didn't even bother to ask what this Great Naval War was, because of which the locals fear the sea like fire and look at any sailors as lunatics.
As a result, we sailed from Omber with holds full of gems and jewelry made by Omberian craftsmen, ambergris, whalebone and leather, and rare incense. I was even on the plus side - in this kingdom there was always a skew towards the female half of the population and soft green wine, colorful feathers and beautiful pearl jewelry were bought very willingly.
27.04.276
Braavos
Hello Braavos, I've never seen you before.
Whenever I arrived in this city, I had a strong feeling that it would not be a good idea to stay long.
To repair and clean my ships, replenish my provisions, and once again visit the Iron Bank, whose representatives already welcome me like family. It is not surprising - every time I bring there such sums, which they receive in a few weeks from other deposits.
I have even been asked unobtrusively (not really), several times already, to sell my ships and lines of trade routes, and then to go into the service of one of the trading houses, in the rank of chief accountant or head of branch. And they did not even hint (who am I lying to - such hints were in one word) that in case of refusal I could be quietly slaughtered in an alleyway, and all the ships seized as an "unexpected" debt. But the stamped paper with trade patronage from Braavos, Volantis, Meereen, Qarth, King's Landing, Staromest, Lannisport, and Yin cooled the heads of even the most obtuse.
As long as I'm making a profit for the merchant guilds of these cities, I'm as protected as most aristocrats - the merchants would tear anyone apart for depriving them of their golden egg-laying hen.
13.05.276
Peace
Like the last time, my visit to Mir was not too memorable - sell the goods bought in Omber, buy grain and all sorts of iron things like knives, hammers, nails, and set off on a journey to the far northwest.
29.05.276
Konunga House, Skagos
The more I live, the more I realize that most people learn nothing.
We were again met with stone arrows and wooden clubs. Though this time among the attackers, two of them had two nice swords. As it turned out later, they were the same ones I had traded the unicorns for.
The rest of the story was exactly the same: the Skagossians got a supply of grain and iron stuff to survive the winter, my holds were replenished with leather, furs, amber, whalebone, and eight unicorns, and Oberyn again broke into the local chief's house and had an orgy.
Maganar didn't even resent it when I apologized by giving him a nice chainmail. It's true what they say, everything has its price.
And I thought I saw someone with too dark skin among the children hiding in the houses. Next time we come back, I'll have to check.
11.06.276
Isthmus, shore of Jaws Bay
The northern swamps and their inhabitants greeted us in their own friendly way - only one Giskar sailor who did not believe the stories about the swamp and decided to go off the path, where he was chewed up, and five sick summer sailors who were too susceptible to the local contagion ended up in the lion lizard's stomach.
Compared to the last time I, Joen, and Robin had had to treat and nurse a quarter of the crew, this was indeed a stroke of luck.
The lakemen were happy to trade grain and other foodstuffs for poisons and various extracts that would fetch a fabulous price in Lys. They didn't forget about the lion lizards, who had some difficulties - as soon as they smelled the unicorns, they went crazy and started raging and beating against the walls. They had to keep them separate, staying a few days to rearrange the cages.
27.06.276
Fox
Fox, a city of debauchery and vice, fully deserved its reputation. Famous for its fine cuisine, expensive incense, and the most beautiful and accessible prostitutes in the world, this city had the best climate in the entire western oikumene and was originally envisioned as a vacation spot for Valyrians who didn't like to deny themselves anything.
Oberyn gave me a lecture on the local priestesses of love and pleasure, unashamed of the presence of Obara and the other children (for which he received a slap on the neck from me). According to him, thousands of "pillow houses" and pleasure gardens have been built all over Lyssinia, and thousands of travelers from all over Westeros and Essos come here for them. Love in Lys is considered an art, and skillful concubines are highly valued here. And this is helped by the fact that Lysenians are a very beautiful people, with light skin, almost white "flaxen" hair and blue eyes. Plus there are quite a few people with Valyrian appearance, like the royal dynasty or the inhabitants of the Black Walls. They say that's why there are so many clients from the nobility of the Seven Kingdoms and rich Volantian merchants - many of them want to sleep with girls with the appearance of queens and unapproachable aristocrats.
But I was interested in other people. Liss is notorious for its poisoners and alchemists - it is here that they make such sinister poisons as strangler and Liss tears, from which there is no escape except for a rare antidote. They're the ones who bought all the herbs and poisons from the Isthmus for huge sums, even giving them a list of what to bring back next time. Cheeky buggers.
In the city itself we were delayed for almost a week - it took me too long to find all my crew in the city's brothels and too long to get Oberyn out of the most expensive one, who had barricaded himself in there and refused to leave. In the end, I paid one of the prostitutes to put an interesting tincture in the prince's wine, and the pale as death Dornean was back on the ship in no time.
I will only say that he stopped being impotent after a week and resented me twice as long, trying to secretly poison me with the same compound. To no avail.
I didn't go to brothels in Lys myself - there was too much work, and the letter of that beautiful prostitute from Volantis somehow discouraged all desires. I liked her. Next time I'm in Alcaro's brothel, I'll buy her back. She's not a good wife, but she's a good friend and a good lover.
19.07.276
Quart
I love this town. Purely as a merchant. I don't like its people, mired in vices and passions. I don't like the rulers who don't want to develop their fiefdoms and get bogged down in their petty intrigues. I don't like artisans, for whom the great purpose of creating and creating has long since fallen away, replaced by a long pedigree and the purpose of piecing together the most expensive things and selling them.
But as a merchant, I adored this city. Some of the merchandise I planned to sell here was sold out. I even had to organize a kind of auction, where pure-blooded, wealthy citizens and members of trade guilds competed for lion lizards and fur seals.
And soon, after the end of the auction, after bribing the chief customs officer of the Jade Gate with a piece of beautiful amber with a butterfly embedded inside, we were allowed into the Jade Sea. The I-T Empire was waiting.
29.07.276
Yi-Ti, Yin
As in previous times, our stay in the Golden Empire did not last long. Sell goods, buy local curiosities, and set sail.
The only joy in this routine was a visit to the auction house, where they did fulfill my order. According to them, there had recently been a battle between the Sorcerer King and the 16th Azure Emperor Bu Jian in the Dawn Mountains. During the battle, the ancient but small Fey clan was completely exterminated and all of their possessions were plundered. And a small portion ended up in the hands of the auction.
I was very pleased, though I had to give almost forty thousand gold dragons for it, but the future prospects covered all the costs.
And now, instead of Norvos, my ships set course for Quokhor. It will be a long voyage, but it will be well worth it.
22.08.276
Volantis
This time we stopped in the city for a long time. We had to sell some of the I-thian goods, buy local ones, learn the peculiarities of traveling along the rivers, and finally, hire guides who knew how to pass through Kroyane and Dagger Lake without losses.
Alcaro, in whose brothel I had to linger not only for that courtesan, but also for the negotiations, was a great help with all of this. Belroy had his own business in Quochor and asked me to bring some of his men there secretly. One word from him and I would never be able to enter the port of Volantis again.
03.09.276
Ruins of Ar Noah
It was a rough voyage. Near the Woes, we nearly lost some of our crews when monsters that had once been human began falling from the Bridge of Dreams, the largest stone bridge I'd seen in all my life.
Stone men.
Howling like ghosts, covered in skin like dried clay, they were frightening to behold. All were saved only by my paranoia and common sense, which told even the most recent jungleman to put on armor and wrap himself in rags so that only his eyes were visible. That's what saved us.
But on Dagger Lake we were expected to be ambushed. Dozens of small craft appeared on the horizon in a matter of minutes. But I wouldn't be me if I hadn't prepared. Thanks to Sigrid and Volkan, we knew in advance where the pirates would come from and spilled specially prepared barrels of oil and oil. The robbers flared up like torches. But then we had to wait until the fire on the water subsided and we could pass on.
And now we found ourselves in the ruins of the beautiful Rhinarian city of Ar Noah, built entirely of green marble and destroyed during the wars with Valyria. The ruins were now controlled by the Quokhor fleet, protecting the waters of the Koina from the pirates of Dagger Lake and serving as a customs house of sorts.
After looking at the papers, making sure we weren't pirates, and checking the ships for unwanted guests and goods (Belroy's men were hidden in a small gap between the keel and the lower deck), we were allowed further north.
The mysterious and dark Quokhor awaited us.
07.09.276
Quahor
For the first time in this world, I was visited by disappointment at what I had seen. Many in Westeros and Essos described Quokhor as a city of sorcerers, not much inferior to Asshai, over which it rains constantly and in the streets there are crowds of fanatics sacrificing everyone left and right to the Black Goat.
But the reality was far from expectations. Quokhor, even after detailed study, was not much different from other Free Cities except for its size (it was not much smaller than Volantis) and the Unsullied patrolling the city, traditionally serving as guards.
So I stayed in the city only long enough to buy up the goods from I-Ti (the locals almost stole my ships for souvenirs when they found out where the goods came from) and Volantis, and to buy local goods: tapestries of incredibly fine workmanship, not inferior to Myrian ones, but given for a much lower price, and weapons and armor, branded by the city's blacksmiths, incredibly valuable in other cities.
And at the same time, one of the founding blacksmith families fulfilled my order for a much lower price than I had expected - only four thousand gold pieces. I guess the opportunity to work in their specialty was more important to them than money.
So, after a week and a half, we left Quokhor, leaving a few men there to do my errands.
29.09.276
Volantis
This time the visit to the city was unremarkable - the crews replenished their supplies, Oberyn and I stayed at Taragos's manor for a short time, watched little Nymeria and not too little Obara fight, I personally gave the latter a smack for hurting the little ones, and rested a bit in that brothel.
The courtesan refused to tell me her name. She said the time had not yet come. I didn't get the hint, but my life experience (dash intuition) suggested the universal solution - to score. Women have never been understood by any man, and trying to be the first of them is a ruinous endeavor. Human nerves take too long to recover.
15.10.276
King's Landing
This time, my visit to the capital of the Seven Kingdoms was pleasing in only two ways. First, my small fleet was joined by three more shebeks, ordered at the shipyards of Staromest almost ten months ago. In addition to the King of Beasts, the Purple Rhino, the Black Panther, and the White Tiger, it now includes the Crimson Lion, the Turquoise Dolphin, and the Pink Flamingo. Seven ships in total. Oberyn of course laughed at the last name, but was quickly punched and shut up. My ships are what I want to call them.
Later, when the question of choosing captains came up, I couldn't help myself and appointed Oberyn captain of the last one, putting old Grog - an old sea wolf - as his XO, who actually ran the ship instead of the Dornish prince, who had no teeth in seafaring. But his face was worth it. How I laughed when I saw that expression of universal incomprehension and resentment on the face of a man who had wanted to be captain of a ship with a formidable and intimidating name for a year and a half, and who had ended up as captain of the Pink Flamingo.
Foll𝑜w current novℯls on ƒrēewebnoѵёl.cσm.
That nickname stuck with him for a long time.
The second news was about our Dornish Casanova again. He had become a father for the third time. Teena Send, an airy little ball of happiness, with a mop of blonde hair and innocent blue eyes, was born to the very sept Oberyn had seduced on our last visit to the city.
I told him at once that a six-month-old infant, no matter how well cared for, would not survive on the ship and something had to be done with her. As a result, Tiena, torn from her mother, who had almost immediately left for the Pacific Isle to atone for her sins, was sent with her nurse and a hired squad of guards to the Sunspear, to Doran Martell. His wife, according to Oberyn, had given birth to a daughter a year ago. She'll be able to look after Teena.
After the capital, we loaded the holds and headed North, on another visit to the lands beyond the Wall.
***
I spent the next year trading and traveling. I made two more trips to the outlands, trading food, iron, and other trinkets with wildlings for hides, bones (I even got a giant's skeleton once), amber, the tusks of various beasts, and live direwolves, ghost cats, polar bears, and furry mammoths. All this was sold in Meereen, Quart, Faros and Azabad for their weight in gold.
And from these cities, local goods like silks, incense, mirrors, spices, oils and paints, unique even to the Free Cities, were transported to the west, where they were turned into gold, which was deposited in my coffers.
In essence, I invented the local Golden Triangle. First, iron, food, and other bijouterie necessary for life in the harsh lands were taken to Skagos, Isthmus, or Outlands, where they were exchanged for unique beasts and goods. All of this was then shipped east to the wealthy trading cities where it was exchanged for luxury goods.
Although, when I talked about the Golden Triangle, I exaggerated a little (to whom I lie - very much). This route worked only thanks to three factors - exclusive and rare curiosities, gradually ceasing to be because of the saturation of the market, my prudence, which consisted in buying only males, making it impossible to breed animals and most importantly - in wargs. It was only thanks to Volkan, Sigrid and one other lad picked up in the backwater on my third visit there that my ships escaped dozens of pirate ambushes and chases, hundreds of violent storms and gales and thousands of other situations that threatened us with total destruction. For example, many of my sailors boasted in taverns that they had rounded Valyria eighteen times and had not lost a single ship, while other sailors only laughed at them as if they were the most ridiculous jesters, or twisted their fingers around their temples, looking at them as if they were the last idiots.
But all things come to an end - in four years of endless sailing I have visited all the countries of the existing oikumene, with the exception of island Ibben and Leng, underground N'gai, wild Mossovia, and mysterious Asshai. And that was more than enough. I'm tired.
So was Oberyn, who was also tired of adventure. According to him, he has fulfilled his main goal - to see the world and sleep with all the women (and men) of the existing nations, and now he wants to go home. To his native Dorne, to his older brother and sister, to his young daughter and niece, whom he wants to see so badly.
And I agreed with him. All the preparations were complete and the last step was to talk to Doran's prince, Doran Martell.
So after stopping by Volantis and picking up three-year-old Nymeria (and not seeing that courtesan who Alcaro said couldn't come out to me because of her health), my squadron, laden with the most expensive goods from all over the Magical East, set off for the Sun Spear.
***
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