Mid to Late 112 AC – Elamaerys
Castorys POV
Shouts of 'heave' and 'pull' and 'push' and 'last blocks' rang around him in the quarry, his eyes surveying all around him.
Compared to the stone, granite quarries, this marble quarry was largely untouched in comparison as he eyed the less than a moon old scaffoldings before he turned to eye the huge iron wedge like tool that was half as tall as a man, a tool the builders and scholars had come up with.
Many of the quarries were as 'virgin as the Maid', and so they needed to cut into the ground and make very large holes and valley-like areas so that it is was easier to work around.
With dragons around, one of these scholars had the bright idea to use the dragons carry the iron wedge to the site at the end of a very thick and strong rope and men would hammer the iron wedge into place before unhooking the rope and then hammering it into the ground and chipping large blocks of stone or granite or marble, speeding up the quarries in producing.
He and brothers did this a few times a week, more if there was time – and the dragons were not tired – though he did more than his brother did. Only really because Gaelithox preferred this than carrying stone blocks to the riverboats, which they did to double or triple the amount of stone that was being transported to the city ground.
Plus, creating a kind of road towards the river was rather important and creating a channel that directly led to the river was what they trying to do at the same time.
There was even a larger wedge that only Liāzmariña was strong enough to carry and place, so mother sometimes also helped with the chipping off larger blocks.
To be truthful, if mother wasn't so busy with managing the colony and caring for his younger siblings, he could her helping out a lot more. Their dragons helped save a lot of time and it increased the rate of building of their home.
He eyed the scaffoldings, of which there were six now. The miners had only been here a moon, and with their dragons, they'd already created a small valley like area. It was a good thing that marble was a softer type of rock than granite.
It was a good thing that marble was a lot softer than granite or the stone quarries
He heard a soft growl and he turned his head towards the noise and he saw Shrykos who was fifty feet from him and Gaelithox, his thick black and grey hedgehog like horned head raised slightly, growling at one of the men who got too close to the tempestuous dragon as he tested the strength of the line that connected the net.
Valarr patted the scales of his dragon in almost a scolding way and he smiled wryly when he saw Shrykos huff before he laid down his draconic head onto the ground, though, his eyes followed the fearful man who'd backtracked a lot and was scuffed across the head by one of the quarry overseers
He didn't need to hear what the overseer was saying the man. It was well known that Shrykos was not a 'friendly' dragon like his mother's dragon Liāzmariña which can stand to be around people with no real problems.
Though it mostly because the bond between mother and Liāzmariña was very strong and the dragon was not young any more like his and his siblings' dragons were.
His eyes veered towards the net nearby Shrykos which was being loaded up with an large wooden crate filled with blocks of marble stones.
The crate was heavy, very heavy, about four times the weight of a strong man, and it was about the limit that their dragons could controllably and comfortably carry towards the river which was about a fifth of a league westward.
And the dragons couldn't do it more than two or three dozen times a day nor could they do it two days in a row. Well excepting Tyraxes who could carry a crate thrice the weight of a man. The dragons grew tired and hungry and irritated by the labour so they had to make sure they had a new easy flight and hunt every other day.
None of the brothers really minded that at all. It was great. They got to see so much of Elamaerys, from the jungles over the mountains in the east, to the teal coasts by the white sand beaches on the eastern northern side of the land.
Hopefully he could get to fly to Draconys and to the 'Seven Ladies' soon when Admiral Bryce was going to take some of the silk weavers to scout the islands ideal locations to have another silk worm colony going there.
"My Prince" Castorys heard and he turned towards the call and he saw the tired silver-haired man named Corlin in cloths caked in powdery stone.
"Yes Corlin?" Castorys asked curiously.
He was a man that used to have a shop in Corinth that cut and shaped gemstones and diamond into jewellery. For now, he was overseeing and working in the marble quarry until the city had finished its second phase in two years' time.
A lot of people were having to do new kinds of jobs, a lot of being dirty and hard work. But, it was working quite well, especially since everyone had a role to play in getting their city built.
It also helped that everyone knew what their payment would be once the jobs were done, on top of earning good wages for their current jobs.
Those who made and wanted to make a living in the city would have their shops built along with their homes along with one-off payment of coin whilst those who wanted to farm would have two hundred acres with the promise they could increase their lands provided they worked for it by labouring to build the city for a longer period.
Those who wished to remain in the city and their business, also had this option to extend their labouring period but for them, the exchange would be a larger one-off payment of coin.
The farmers, the ones who already had been given their allotment and were producing food, were also granted a choice, to increase their allotment in exchange for labour or a longer duration of selling their crops at a reduced pricing.
As it was at the moment, their family was 'paying' the farmers for their produce, paying for the food their people had at no cost to them.
Although, for now, the majority of the wages were being 'deferred' until the city had finished phase two, when the sewage system, bathhouses, latrines, twelve to fourteen thousand homes, the city hall and so on, were completed.
The incentives that father, mother and the council came up with was working very well, where even knights were more than happy to do a labourer's work knowing that they were going to receive more lands and coin than they'd ever expected if they were still in Westeros, at least that was what the few older knights had said.
He supposed that it also helped, a lot, that Elamaerys was seen as a special place, the promised lands that they were guided to by the Father of All, The-One-Who-Brought-The-Seven, with mother and father seen as the shepherds of their people.
Though, he wondered how much their family would have left from their vault, which contained all of the wealth of Corinth excepting what father had taken with him to war. There were millions gold and silver coins stored in their home.
Later, when phase two was finished, they'd increase in getting more of the roads, lighthouses and even a few villages, a bit further downstream closer to the mouth of the river, built, and they'd have to get offer more incentives, or larger pay, to get it all done.
He knew that father knew that they would be burning through a lot of coin in getting the colony up and running and he expected it was part of the reason, a small part, of why he was fighting in Slaver's Bay.
He wasn't worried though. Mother and Edwyn were keeping a close eye to the ledgers and it wasn't as if they couldn't make up for it by just selling land since all of Elamaerys belonged to their family anyway.
"The last cuts of the blocks are taking a little longer than expected." Corlin said, drawing Castorys out of his thoughts and he looked towards the sun and saw that the sun was going to set in no more than two hours from now.
Getting the crate to the riverboat wouldn't be an issue for the journey was not more than a sixth of an hour nor would the flight back to the city ground take long but for these people, the journey back would take several hours on riverboat.
He turned back towards the man. "I can take whatever is available now." Castorys said to the tired man, not wanting the men to journey in the dark.
"As long as the blocks can fit in the crates, it'll be fine. They'll find a use for the odd-shaped blocks, I'm sure." Castorys said with a sure nod.
He'd seen the design of the Sept. There'd be a lot of shaping of stone to be done to get those arches and those carvings made.
Corvin smiled and bowed his head towards Castorys. "Thank you, Good Prince."
Not long after the man began to order the men to get the stones loaded into the crates, Valarr and Shrykos took flight, grey wings storming up a small white dust cloud in the process, claws firmly gripping onto the hook-like ends of the net, and he could see the dragon being more forceful in the use of its wing muscles.
He eyed the dragon and his brother until and after they disappeared beyond his sight. Their dragons had gotten stronger over the past six or seven moons.
Before, they could only do a dozen trips and with lighter crates. Now, though it wasn't quite twice the weight, it was near enough one and a half times that weight, and twice or thrice the amount of trips they could do compared to the beginning.
It was amazing to see, how strong they were getting. And, if Polaerys and the dragonkeepers were right, their dragons were also growing faster than they had been before. And he could believe it. After all, he thought Gaelithox was growing quicker but initially, he thought mayhaps it was because his dragon was maturing.
Mayhaps it was a combination of both.
Truthfully, this whole thing was proving to be a boon beyond his expectations. From wanting to be important and useful to the building of their lands and their people, only to find that his efforts were being rewarded by Gaelithox growing faster and stronger than before.
It was like the Gods were pleased and were thusly rewarding them for it.
It was great and mayhaps, in a year's time, they'd even double or triple the weights of the crates they were carrying, increasing the building of Elamaerys further.
Polaerys was keeping an eye on all of the dragons' growth rate in his journal, and he smiled a little wryly at the thought of Polaerys' journal…and that of his own and that of Valarr's.
Father's journal writing and journal keeping had inspired them to keep their own journals too although Valarr's journal was more of a picturebook full of maps and scribblings in comparison to his or Polaerys' more precise writings.
A little while later, Gaelithox's serpentine neck craned towards the men, some of his neck scales looked like polished gold as some of them gleamed when the sun hit those scales at a certain angle, traces of impatience and annoyance creeping through their bond.
"Calm." Castorys murmured as he patted his dragon's scales. Gaelithox was not as tempestuous as Shyrkos but he too had his limits and when his dragon was really irritated or angered, he could be difficult to calm.
Gaelithox craned his serpentine neck more and met Castory's gaze with his slitted rose-coloured eye, a colour that matched his belly and his wings. "Won't be long before we're back home. Last lift today." Castorys said to his dragon and his dragon huffed, small embers of gold exiting his nose, before he craned his neck away and wearily watched the men put the crate into the net, and Castorys snorted lightly at the act.
Gaelithox was not a dragon that liked to be overly active, not like Shrykos although it seemed like Valarr's dragon was more the exception than the rule, given that Tyraxes was as mellow as Gaelithox was, and he knew that if it wasn't the bond that they shared, Gaelithox would be a lot more difficult to get to do things.
Soon enough, the crate was secured in the net and he guided Gaelithox, through the bond and through his hands on his scales, to the net. Gaelithox knew what to do and he huddled over the net as he walked on his claws and hind legs before the claws on his hind legs found purchase on the hook-like ends of the net.
Gaelithox growled lowly before he extended out his wings, a wingspan of more than forty feet wide, and began to beat his wings, gusts of wind were wrought and dusts were sent away as Gaelithox beat and beat his wings, until they were airborne.
When they were dozens of feet above the ground, the number of beats lessened to a more stable rhythmic amount, and he felt Gaelithox more at ease as they continued at a pace and strength that he liked.
The climb was always the most tiring part of a dragon's flight. Once they were airborne, they were as comfortable as they were as if they were roosting on land.
As they flew towards the river, he turned his gaze towards his left, towards the south of Elamaerys. These parts of the lands were mountainous though, not far in the distance, in the valleys that one could just about see this far high, you could see thousands of acres of trees that stretched far into the horizon.
He and his brothers had flown around there, noticing those trees were more alike to the red trees found further north but when one went beyond the small range of mountains to their immediate south, towards the stretch, the lands turned wetter and were like the jungles on the western coast of Elamaerys on the other side of the mountains.
That was the farthest they'd been, though, he knew the scouts and the cartographers had gone further than that, who explained that the jungles got very dense some five and hundred leagues southwards, some five leagues further southwest from the ends of the river.
There was another mountain range beyond that dense jungle too, a mountain range said to wall off Eastern Elamaerys from the rest of the continent.
Much of Elamaerys was mountainous, very mountainous, but it seemed their city and the western side of the lands were likely going to be lands that were going to be settled the most in the centuries to come, and it wouldn't surprise him if the islands, particularly Draconys, would have more people than there would be in the interior of the lands.
To be truthful, he thought it would take a long time before the southern lands were explored properly. Elamaerys was a big land. It took many weeks for Admiral to complete a whole journey around the lands. From what the men were saying, they believed Elamaerys be five or six times as large as Jhala, maybe more than that.
Soon enough, he was at the camp at the banks of the river where there were four riverboats waiting, one already filled and another to be loaded with the two waiting on the men to return from the quarry, Shykos not far away from the men.
He guided Gaelithox to land not far from the bankand the crate made a thump as Gaelithox carefully placed it down whilst he was still beating his wings and moments later, his dragon touched down onto the ground fully, and he guided Gaelithox towards where Shrykos was resting some hundred feet away from the men.
His brother was on the ground too, likely having been stretching out his legs and after Gaelithox furled into himself not far from Shrykos, he climbed down from his dragon's back and walked towards Valarr.
He eyed Shrykos curiously before he looked towards his younger brother. "How long does he need to rest?" he asked Valarr. They each made thirty-one trips like this today and each time, the dragons needed a little longer to get their strength back before they travelled the longer distance back to the city ground.
"I think Gaelithox could do with a bit of rest as well." He added as he glanced at his dragon who had snaked around itself, his eyes closed. He could feel his dragon being tired but not overly so. Usually when he'd tired out his dragon too much, he could feel it. Now, even as he looked asleep, he was far from feeling like that.
Valarr turned to look at Shrykos, a considering look on his almost twelve nameday old face. His brother was growing taller each day, catching up on him and Polaerys. There was only ten moons difference in age between them.
"Mayhaps half an hour." Valarr considered before he turned to look towards the sun. "We should still make it up before night." Valarr said before he eyed Gaelithox "Though mayhaps we need more time with the way Gaelithox is at rest."
"He's fine." Castorys said wryly. "You know how he can be." Gaelithox wasn't a lazy dragon but he was definitely preferred to take it easy, unlike Shrykos.
Valarr laughed before he grinned. "Yeah, I know." Valarr said before he dropped down to the ground and leaned back on his arms. "We might as well also rest."
"I'll go speak with the men first." Castorys answered as he began to walk away. "At least to them know that they can go as soon as the crate is loaded." No riverboat went alone, if they could help it, especially around these parts where the river was a bit more dangerous compared to the river by the city ground.
If one of the riverboats sank, there'd be another one to pick up the men. The riverboats were not exactly the best built ships – and they were more used to building wider and much larger ships – mostly only to be able to bear a load and carry men and goods, so they were being cautious for now.
He spoke the men for a little while and watched as two of the riverboats left to back to the city ground whilst the two others remained. He wondered if they'd come across the last river boats of the day from the stone quarries that were much nearer to the city ground.
Polaerys was at the Lyndos quarry, one of the most productive quarries, even without the aid of Tyraxes, which was only three leagues from the city ground and close to the river too.
Usually they worked together at a mine but with things progressing very well and very quickly, they wanted to start begin gathering the materials for the Sept of Elamaerys and other important buildings.
He returned to his brother and their dragons and saw Valarr staring up at the sky as he laid on his back. He had a strange thinking look on his face, the same one that he knew his brother had when he was bothered by something.
"What's bothering you?" Castorys asked as he sat down beside his brother.
"Not bothering." Valarr said with a shake of the head. "Just…thinking." He said with a glance towards Castorys from the corner of his eyes.
Castorys hummed as he eyed his brother curiously. He didn't push and instead, he leaned back on his arms, his eyes turning towards the sunset.
It was beautiful here. Quiet too. To be honest, much of Elamaerys is quiet. Only really when one went towards the coasts where lizardlion-like creatures and large skinny birds with colourful feathers and strange large furless beavers dwelled was there much animal life.
It didn't use to be like that, from what Admiral Bryce and the first settlers had said. During the night and sunset, the forests and the land seemed to come alive with noises from animals and the like.
Birds bigger than men. Strange lions and strange bears. Nothing like that was heard nowadays at the city ground, or even in the farms at the edges of civilisation. Though he figured that was mostly because of the rangers and the hunters who still managed to bring back every day new pelts and meat.
He wondered what kinds of beasts and mysteries existed beyond the areas they claimed and made their own. To be truthful, it was something that excited him.
Valarr might be the most adventurous amongst them, although he couldn't be sure that status would remain given that Solonys and Breannei were growing up to be little troublemakers themselves, but there was a streak of adventure in Castorys too.
He wanted to learn everything there was to learn about Elamaerys. Why it's so quiet. Why the Gods had found it fit to leave it untouched for their people to find it.
He looked away from the sunset and towards the river. When father was back, he'd ask if he could spend some time away to explore Elamaerys with his brothers.
They remained quiet for some time as they sat by each other, quietness that was broken after Valarr spoke up. "I was just thinking…" he trailed off and Castorys turned to look at his brother, who now bore a frown on his face.
"Do you think I'll be the one to marry Valaena?"
The question surprised Castorys. It would be many years before they had to think about that. "I don't know." Castorys admitted. They knew that one of him, Polaerys or Valarr were going to marry Valaena though the girl was only eight namedays at the moment, younger as she was by four and five namedays.
"Why are you thinking about that?" Castorys questioned curiously.
Valarr turned his head towards Castorys. "I was just thinking about the future and you know…the thought passed through my mind." Valarr said with a shrug.
He continued "And well…I realised that you definitely won't marry Valaena." Valarr said with a heavy frown. "You're the heir, the future Archon and Head of our House." Father had explained his plans for Elamaerys and their family to the brothers, and the rest of their people knew of it too.
He knew that people were disappointed that father wasn't going to be King although most people still thought of him like that, and mother the Queen too, but he also knew that once things were established, people would get used to it. His brothers were already used to the idea, of being part of a kind of dragonlord council that was only of their family, with people like Edwyn and Ser Cedrick helping their family rule like they were now.
Valarr continued "Your marriage will be important to Elamaerys and I think father has something in mind for you."
Castorys had thought about it. Who he'd marry. It was part of their duty, to marry as their parents wished. He knew that Breannei was someone he could be made to marry. He furrowed his nose slightly at the thought. Whilst she was not their sister, they all saw her as their sister, and not their cousin.
It would be strange, to marry her, and stranger still, to marry Rhaena. He couldn't imagine it. Though father never spoke of it, he knew that their family has strange ways where they married siblings to each other. Their whole family line, his grandparents on one side being the siblings of his mother and then the other side being the parents of the other side and his mother, was…confusing.
"Father wouldn't want me to marry someone from Westeros. Not unless it was one of our cousins." Castorys said finally. Valarr hummed and nodded after a moment.
"Father doesn't like the nobles there." Valarr agreed. "But I think father does want a connection beyond Elamaerys so it wouldn't surprise me if he considered that as a reason to marry you to some lord's daughter." Valarr added.
"Mayhaps." Castorys remarked as he thought about it. "Or he could marry me to a daughter from a Essosi wealthy family. A family who can give us something we might need." 'Like people' he mused to himself. Elamaerys was very big and as much progress as they were making, they definitely more people to come.
"Mayhaps." Valarr conceded "But anyway" Valarr waved it away "So that means it's either me or Polaerys and I think it's probably wise marrying Breannei to Polaerys."
"You say that because you don't think you have the patience to deal with Breannei." Castorys said wryly and Valarr.
Breannei was like a fiery storm, active and demanding and very sure of herself, which was funny to see a seven nameday old little girl to be but yes, he could see that being difficult if she was a woman.
"Aye." Valarr said seriously before he eyed Castorys. "I think Polaerys definitely has the patience for Breannei if she gets worse than she already is." Valarr paused for a moment "And I think I wouldn't really love her. If we were forced to marry."
"How would you know that?" Castorys asked with raised eyebrows "Mother always says that love is something that grows." Castorys looked away from his brother and looked towards the sleeping Gaelithox. "If you're against it now, you'll just salt the earth before anything ever grows in it."
Valarr made a noise of frustration and then he clicked his tongue before he sighed.
"Mayhaps." Valarr conceded and they went quiet for a long little while.
"And you think you would be better suited to Valaena?" Castorys asked, ending the silence.
"Mayhaps." Valarr said with a shrug. "I do think it would be better. If I was forced to choose." Valarr remarked.
Castorys shook his head and he looked towards the sun one more time before he spoke up. "Anyway" he said as he got up and he extended out his hand to his brother. "Time to go." Valarr made a face before he took the hand and got to his feet.
"Besides, you shouldn't think about this now. We're only two and ten and three and ten namedays old and the girls are younger still. It will be many years before we have to marry anyone." Castorys told his brother and Valarr nodded, seemingly a little at ease.
He paused for a moment as he eyed his brother. "You said you were thinking about the future…before you started thinking about marriage." Castorys stated. His brother blinked for a moment before he answered.
"Oh." Valarr looked a little sheepish. "I…uh…I was thinking about the ports."
Castorys was surprised and his eyebrows raised. "The ports?" he asked confused.
"Well…you know how Elamaerys, the city, sits in a pretty bad place for ports? Well, I was thinking about how much effort it might take to just…you know…break the land a bit further in some areas and kind of" Valarr shrug his shoulder a little uncomfortably before he continued "move the ports further inland once the cleared land is drowned by the river. Like this." He said before he took out his Valyrian steel dagger and began to draw onto the hard ground.
It was moments later that he saw Valarr drawing out the city as they knew it from the sketches and the models, and he saw what Valarr meant with the edges of the river banks on the far side of the city at an area outside of the city boundaries moved much, much further inland.
"Looks like a weird bowl." Castorys commented as he stared.
"Yes!" Valarr commented "And some outside sections will be used for loading and unloading whilst other sections inside of the bowl will have shipyards inside to build sections of the galleons or carracks or whatever." Valarr paused for a moment before he continued.
"In one of father's journals, the one about shipbuilding, there was a section about something called assembly line, where different portions of an object are made separately before being put together, which father remarked was a principle that could be applied to shipbuilding." Valarr said brightly as he stood back up.
"I was thinking about this being something I could try, you know?" Valarr said with a shrug before he turned a little quiet "What do you think?"
Castorys eyed his brother. "I didn't know you had interests in things like this." He was surprised by this side of his brother. He was far more carefree than all of them so to see this side of him was…surprising. He never mentioned having interests in shipbuilding or other things like it, only his dreams of wanting to explore the seas and the skies.
Valarr smiled a little. "I didn't know either." Valarr said with a small laugh "I've been thinking a lot about what I want to do…you know once we're older." Valarr looked away slightly from Castorys' gaze. "I don't think it's right if I just do everything I want when I know you and Polaerys will help mother and father with everything."
Castorys smiled and he brought his arm around Valarr's shoulder "You should have said all this later when Polaerys was amongst us. You would have broken him."
The brothers laughed together at that and after they stopped Castorys continued "You know you don't have to give up your dream…you know." Castorys said a little gently and Valarr looked to him. He continued "We know very little about the waters we're surrounded by." That had been the initial idea that Valarr shared with them…that he'd map out the world around them.
"I know" Valarr said with a nod "And I will…I just think that I can't always do that. Creating and building something like this would probably be something I would like to do for a while."
Castorys smiled. He was happy for his brother. He knew that Valarr wasn't too keen on ruling as Castorys and Polaerys were so him having a goal like this…
"I think it could work." Castorys said finally "It probably needs a bit of work but between us and, mayhaps, with father and the builders, we could make it work."
"You'll help?" Valarr asked curiously.
"Why not? I'm also curious about this assembly line that father mentions. He hasn't mentioned in the journals I've read." He paused for a moment. "Mayhaps they are in the others." There were three more journals he'd yet to read. 'Economics and Trade', 'Diplomacy' and 'Patience and Endurance'. He was only half way through 'Leadership' too...
He guessed it may be in the Economics and Trade journal rather than the others, if it was there at all…
"You can read the shipbuilding one if you want." Valarr said with a shrug.
"Thanks. Probably later though." Castorys said with a smile as they separated. They often shared their journals, especially Polaerys' journals about magic.
"Alright, let's go…we've been here long enough, I think." Castorys said as he eyed the sun. It wouldn't be long before the men from the quarry were back at the ships as well. Valarr agreed and soon enough, they were both in the air on their dragons.
The journey took a little while, their dragons flying slower and less tiringly, though they still arrived well before sunset. He gazed upon the city ground.
The easterly side of the river was largely untouched whilst the westerly side, for near enough a league, was also largely untouched save for a few small buildings, like the temporary Alchemist Guild's building where most of the Alchemists were, and the long trenches that ran through the ground, some of which was already lain in with concrete and stone to make it waterproof, trenches that would become the sewage system.
They were making good progress with the sewage system. Already they'd lain in several leagues worth of sewage ways into the city ground.
There were several more leagues worth of trenches still needing to be lain in with concrete and stone however it took a lot of effort and preciseness to ensure that the sewage channel floorings were at an strong but not too strong of an incline so that water and piss and other filth easily flowed towards the ends of the sewage and out into the river.
It was only when you looked farther away, that you could see buildings…homes.
At the outskirts, still leagues away from the river, you could see the houses. They'd achieved their target of two thousand additional homes in phase one already even though there were still four moons to go until the end of the year, something that greatly pleased everyone.
One of the homes also functioned as a school whilst the school was being built, which was happening in the countryside too. Soon enough, the gierūli district, 'the first gathering', would also host a 'constabulary' building, a kind of city-guard but one that would be more spread out in the city, and a proper healer-house.
Beyond this first district, another league away, there was a much larger settlement, all living in cabins or in concrete homes, and in between that settlement and the gierūli district was their manse. Most of their people still lived there now but slowly…that slowly was changing, especially with the home sharing.
The homes alongside farming families taking other families into their already built homes was reducing the number of people in the cabin settlement.
And he'd see to it that this time next year, it would be all gone.
He could see Liāzmariña clearly, along with Tyraxes, at their walled manse. There wasn't much of a stable for the dragons. Not for his, Valarr's, Polaerys' or mother's dragon. Only the younger dragons, Tyria, Stormfyre and Lysia had were located in a concrete square bare building that was large enough to fit them.
They were young and at night, it could get quite cold so they needed to be kept warm with pits of fires.
The older dragons were more or less fine and he never felt discomfort from Gaelithox even when it got really cold at night. And fortunately, the weather during the day was very warm anyway, only a little colder than that of the Summer Isles, so they had little concern about it all long term.
Especially when they build their fortress on the mountain that overlooked the city ground.
It was somewhat funny, the way it all was. Their dragons were more like members of the family than they were, well, dragons. Yes they were outside but they lived so close to their homes, inside of the manse' walls, so much so that you could hear them sleep from within the manse if you listened carefully enough.
He smiled a little amusedly at the memory of Solonys saying that it sounded like they were snoring.
Yes…he mused to himself as their dragons landed a little ungracefully, his eyes falling onto Liāzmariña and Tyraxes who were both looking at them, the dragons were really part of their family.
The dragonkeepers, some of whom, along with their families, stayed in the other small building attached to the manse along with a few of the guards, arrived as he and Valarr climbed off of the backs of their dragons.
"My Princes. Your lady mother awaits you at the dining room." The elderly dragonkeeper said with a bow of the head and soon enough the dragonkeeper guided the dragons towards the farthest side where the dragons would have a little more space to rest.
During the time father had been here, they'd begun to build the exterior walls around the manse for the dragons so that no 'accidents' could happen, the building having finished less than a moon after father had left. People could be stupid in their curiosity or well, just in general, after all.
They walked inside, passing by two of their house-guards who stood at the entrance way, and made for the dining room. It was very small, this manse, in comparison to that their old home in Corinth.
As they walked into the dining room, he was greeted with the sight of his siblings and Lady Daemera, Ser Aethan Celtigar's wife, along with Vaera and Valaena, and of course their mother.
They'd already started eating, it looked like, and after getting a distracted greeting from the children, his mother spoke up. "Sit." She said with a smile, gesturing them to their seats.
"Ah, you've started without us." Valarr remarked as he sat down though he quieted down when he was served a plate full of spiced chicken and vegetables. Castorys sat next to their mother, and was served a plate too.
He missed some of the Summer Islander dishes. A lot of the food nowadays was very boring. He hoped they'd soon begin to grow spices instead of only nutritious foods though he was disappointedly expecting that it would still be a while.
"Return home on time then." Rhaena said with a stink-eye before she stuck her forkful of food in her mouth.
"Rhaena." Mother warned and Rhaena wisely kept herself quiet.
"I'm sorry little sister." Valarr said with a mischievously sly smile "I was a little busy fighting a monstrously large terror bird that had feathers of all kinds of colours." Valarr sighed excessively before he eyed the still stink-eyed looking Rhaena though there was a glimmer of curiosity. "I was going to give you a few that I won from the terrible bird but now…I don't think so."
"You lie." Breannei piped up "The terror bird feathers are always dirty white!"
"How do you know?" Polaerys interjected, and from the look on his twin's face, he could tell he was wanting to pile up on teasing their younger siblings. He must have suffered them a bit too long then, Castorys thought wryly.
His siblings bickered, or rather were being teased by Polaerys and Valarr and he heard his mother asked, quietly, "Any problems at the quarry?" and he turned to look towards his mother and he smiled gently at her before he shook his head.
"No problems…we met our quotas." Castorys told his mother before he asked "Anything interesting happen?" he asked with a wry smile on his face.
His mother laughed before she looked at him amused. "Much of the same." She told him and he understood what she meant.
Mother ruled in father's name so everything that happened on Elamaerys was for mother to know…and decide.
Fortunately, a lot of the work, the planning, the schedules, the people who were responsible for individual projects and building and so on, were all working as intended, allowing mother not to be overwhelmed with the colony.
Edwyn and Ser Cedrick helped mother a lot, as did the civil and administrative servants who, despite being trained for more 'bureaucratic' and 'administrative' roles, were very able in aiding that everyone had what they needed for their tasks, which, for now, mostly about ensuring things were made or arrived on time.
He spent a little more time speaking with mother, about a bit of everything, including secret hints about father's call in a days' time, though that conversation petered out by the end of dinner. His younger siblings and the Celtigar girls were taken away by the servants, readied for sleep, and soon he left mother alone with Lady Daemera, and went on to his room.
Mother and Lady Daemera had become better friends, he mused to himself, since father and Ser Aethan had left. Lady Daemera even helped mother with some tasks as well, that was mostly related to the keeping of the ledgers and the books.
He wasn't sure what to make of her though. He could tell that this was not easy on her, to come here and live so differently than what she was used to in Westeros.
After all, she was half-Sunglass and half-Darklyn, her father being the Lord of Duskendale, a town that was only third to Driftmark and Kings Landing in the Crownlands.
From Duskendale to Claw Isle to Corinth and now this middle-of-nowhere?
Early on, he thought he could see the look of regret on her face. He'd wondered if she'd regretted the matches? Even though no one told him, he could tell that marrying someone from their family was seen as something beyond important. So much so that they would agree to move to a virgin land in the middle-of-nowhere.
Still…he hadn't seen such a look on her face recently. He hoped it was because she was getting used to it…
He'd washed his face and parts of his body with a washcloth before he settled himself on his bed, a journal in hand and the candlelight flickering beside his bed.
He'd read most of the journals father had made for him. Books about philosophy and strategy, one's own perception and the perception of others, how to speak with people, how to get people to agree with you, court intrigue…there was a lot.
He stared at the journal. He'd not spoken with father since he'd left for Slaver's Bay. None of his siblings had. Only mother spoke with father once every few days.
Though his younger siblings were told that father's glass candle was 'too far away' for it to work. For himself, Polaerys and Valarr, they were told the truth.
That father couldn't be distracted whilst he was at war. Mother had told him so and he'd seen the look on her face as she'd said so. It was saddened. Not for them…but for father.
He'd known that war was an ugly thing but only then, did he realise that father was going to kill a lot of people to help the slaves in Slaver's Bay.
He clenched his fists slightly. 'Be well father and come back as you promised.' Castorys thought to himself. He knew that father was fighting for the prosperity of Elamaerys, both long term and short term. Fighting to gain wealth for their family and Elamaerys and also fighting to make sure they had allies in Essos. Real allies.
Father had written on the necessity of Elamaerys having long term strategic relationships with other peoples, even if they did not need it militarily, explaining that absolute isolationism is unhealthy for a people.
Having Liberty Bay as an ally, or at least friendly cities, would ensure that Elamaerys, long term, wouldn't be closed off to new ideas and economically, and importantly wouldn't be closed off to 'the happenings' of the Known World.
'The happenings' was a term that father used a lot in his journals, when he spoke about the prospect of Elamaerys being isolated and it seemed to be the main thing that father was worried about when he spoke about isolated…
He shook his head and he let off a sigh as he opened the journal, forcing himself to stop thinking about anything else but the journal. He'd laxed in his readings over the past moons, focusing more on his training and his other duties…
"Guiding Progress…" he murmured as he read the title of the chapter and he continued "Progress. A simple word that, to me, holds entire worlds in meaning…" and so Castorys fell into his reading.
'Progress.
A simple word that, to me, holds entire worlds in meaning.
It means the fruition of ideas, the fruition of hard work and togetherness…
The fruition of a people.
Thoughts that are expressed into ideas, that express human aims, that are realised through human will and hard work and collaboration…
All of this culminates into the possibility of changing the very world.
We have seen such examples, my son, in history.
One such example is when the Summer Islanders first discovered the presence of 'others' through contact with the Ghiscari, they began to have imagine.
They began to have ideas.
They began to bring those ideas into realisation.
And so, they began to explore the world in ways that very few peoples have accomplished. Then and since.
Such is the way of progress, and history is rife with such examples.
However, for most peoples, progress is not taken to mean, or actioned, in such grand scales.
For most people, it is by far simpler and smaller.
For most, the idea of progress is having the means of providing security for loved ones and to oneself, namely food, coin and safe dwelling.
For knights, progress, can be taken to mean to earn oneself glory, land and a son to build on what he achieved.
For lords, progress, is to rise above your current station. Through fortune made or by the misfortune of the nobility around you. Often times, it is very same thing.
For every walk in life, progress is the definition of walking towards a better future. For themselves. For their family.
And, what I want you to ask yourself is this…
Why are people wishing for the exact same progress as people, supposedly, thousands of years ago had also wished for themselves?
The same families farm. The same families butcher meat. The same lords rule.
The same ships, unchanged for thousands of years, are built.
Ideas and knowledge remains the same as it has been for thousands of years.
So why has progress stopped? Why does it stop?
Repeatedly throughout history?
Why do people and societies and civilisations simply…stagnate?
The Summer Islanders, once again, are a perfect example to use. Many, many years later, mayhaps as much as six thousand years or more if history records are to be trusted, the Summer Islanders are no different now than they were back then.
The First Men too remained the same for thousands of years, with bronze swords and bronze arrows, never once learning of the iron and ways of steel that was all around them, not until it was shoved into their chests and cut off their heads.
The Andals did not do much to progress either, taking what the First Men had and adding to what they already had.
Valyria was no different, to a certain degree.
At a certain point, progress is halted and stagnation takes root.
This is repeated throughout history and all peoples.
Nothing has changed fundamentally for over a thousand years as I write this today.
So…my son. My descendants.
Why?
There are no simple answers.
Mayhaps there has just been a general lack of luck.
Or mayhaps the lack of opportunities and circumstances could be to blame.
Or mayhaps malicious interference is in play.
Mayhaps it is all three.
What can be said, however, is that Elamaerys can be the spark that changes everything, should it continue on the legacy of myself, my wife and my children.
Elamaerys can be the pillar of progress this world needs to escape this nightmarish stagnation.
That is my greatest dream, my son. To see Elamaerys lead a new age. To the moon and the stars, a long lost dream that one day our descendants will see happen.
I am sure you have gathered from my writings in this chapter that I cherish progress.
My love for progress is strange and unknowable to most people, I understand, but the easiest way to understand it is that progress, to me, is a benchmark for how well I and my family have guided my, our, people.
It will be our legacy, my son. My descendants.
If I see the son of a butcher become a merchant of acclaim, I find myself satisfied.
If I see the son of a knight choose to become a discoverer, I find myself satisfied.
If I see the son of a farmer choose to be a scholar, seeking to find new scientific truths about Gods' world, I find myself satisfied.
It means that the cracks in the wheel of this nightmarish stagnation are beginning to form and that is far more important than you, or I, can understand, I suspect.
In any case, I will end this foreword to the rest of this 'Guiding Progress' chapter on this note.
We have the capacity to imagine and dream and think wondrous things. We must only allow ourselves the opportunity to make those imaginations and dreams and thoughts into reality.
And that will start by making knowledge and opportunity available to all of our people.