Chapter 20
Wolfsport, Mid-Sixth Moon, 283 A.C., An hour later…
We watch the sailors disembark the Warg King; the galley Wyman commanded as Lord Captain for the convoy. There were several smallfolk families nearby having tearful reunions with husbands, fathers and sons gone at sea for nearly a year at sea, if you include the trip to my wedding in Lannisport. I glance to my left to see the other ships of the convoy docked at the western or commercial docks, similar scenes with the sailors and their families mixed in with Northern highborn disembarking. Then to my right I see the Riverland and Westerland ships anchored at the docks, highborn leaving the ships. In the distance, I see a pale, blonde haired man in a red and gold tunic arm-in-arm with a woman in a short blue and gold dress, her ebony black dreadlocked hair and teak brown skin sharply contrasting with his.
I'm pulled out of my observations by my family growing excited and calling out to Wyman, who I see has a colorful parrot on his shoulder, mostly red with yellow and blue tipped wings. He makes his way towards us with a coffee-brown skinned young man wearing golden silks with a large feathered cape made from scarlet and emerald-colored feathers from some unknown bird. His head was completely shaven, dark eyes looking around Wolfsport with idle curiosity and when his head turns to look at Gerion Lannister and his wife, I see a golden hoop earring on his right ear. I scrape up what little I remember about the exiled price from the Red Flower Vale, which wasn't much; mainly that he was a regular in King Robert's court in the books and that he would periodically petition the king for aid in retaking his birthright, only to never be given a firm "no" but a vague "Next Year" or "Mayhaps later".
"Wyman!" "Brother!" "Cousin!" my family calls out to Wyman and he greets us back as his wife Elsa darts out and embraces him, causing the parrot to squaw, ignored as the two sharing a deep kiss. Former Prince Jalabhar Xho continues walking and I notice he has a longbow made of the famous goldenheart trees of Jhala and Omboru strapped over his right shoulder. In his arms, he carries a wooden chest that I presume is filled with his belongings and I see a sheathed short sword on his belt. His eyes meet mine and he straightens his back, as if sensing that I am the lord of these lands from either my clothing or my demeanor, before giving me a polite bow despite his hands being full.
"One thousand greetings! Me is Prince Jalabhar of the Xho Clan! You is Wyman's cousin-lord?" He smiles and greets in somewhat broken and heavily accented Common Tongue. I return his smile and nod.
"Aye. I am Lord Hugo Seastark of Sea Dragon Point. Welcome to Wolfsport…er, former Prince Jalabhar." I greet back, not quite knowing how to address him. His smile falters but gestures to the chest in his arms and leans in.
"Lord Seastark. Me and Wyman make deal. Me stay in the Castle of Wargs, and me give you maps!" He whispers and my eyes widen at his words but Wyman's sudden hug prevents me from responding. When I get a closer look at the bird on his shoulder, I realize it looks exactly like a scarlet macaw from Earth. I note that neither its wings are not clipped or broken, it seems it just doesn't want to fly away. My cousin looks at me with a wide smile.
"Cousin! You had twins!? This morning, no less!?" He asks ecstatically.
"Aye! Myrra gave birth a few hours ago and is currently resting with mother." I state proudly. Your daughter is with them in the castle."
"I still can't believe I'm a father and an uncle. Feels like we left for your wedding yesterday!" My cousin says, still processing the news of his daughter, niece, and nephew's birth.
"Well, you'll get to meet them soon! Now if you'll excuse me cousin, I must greet the other lords." I say and move to greet the River and Westerlords, starting with Lord Gerion and his new Summer Islander wife, Princess Keeori of Lotus Port, along with his nephews Ser Jaime and Tyrion. Princess Keeori's sharp, chocolate brown eyes met mine and then moved up and down to get a sense of me.
"Lord Seastark, so you're the mastermind behind the trade fleet, the one they call the Seawolf!" She greets me in fluent, but accented Common Tongue with a smile and her husband chuckles.
"Ha! That's true! If it weren't for you, I wouldn't have met my beautiful lotus blossom!" Lord Gerion says, mentioning the Zoko Clan of Lotus Port's sigil of a pink lotus flower on a blue and gold striped field.
"Well Lord Director, it may have been my idea, but I couldn't have done it alone. How was your success? My cousin wouldn't say how much but writes that it was quite successful." I say, not mentioning the maps the exiled prince had brought with him.
"Without going into too much detail. We've invested over twenty thousand gold into the expedition and it made thrice that in coin and goods!" He boasts and my jaw drops.
"Sixty-thousand!? Truly!?" I ask, making sure I heard correctly as I see more Southron highborn walk up, including Ser Gareth and his wife, Lady Jeyne. She was sporting a small baby bump with their second child and talking with Lady Sybelle Westering, who was next to her husband Ser Gawen.
"Aye. We'll talk more at the Directors' Meeting." I smile and nod, gesturing with my right hand for a servant to begin bringing unmanned horses from the castle stables for the highborn to ride. I continue to graciously greet the members of the expedition as the Northern lords and highborn began walking up. I see my future goodcousin Leobald Tallhart with holding bits of jewelry, my Slate and Fisher cousins holding small chests of spices, and the Wolfswood clansmen with multiple colorful parrots, ringtail lemurs, and walking two dog-sized, rodent-like beasts by rope that to my utter bafflement were capybaras. I look over to see Mikken Wull and the western hill clans unloading multiple boxes filled with spices and gemstones, those houses benefiting greatly from the new ice trade.
Soon enough, all the highborn are mounted and ready to go. We set off down Wolf's Street towards the Wolf Gate, the graycloak city watch keeping the smallfolk at out of our way. The smallfolk watch us ride with great curiosity, not use to seeing this many lords at once and paying particular attention towards the two Summer Islanders among us. I notice the smallfolk point and comment on their dark skin, with some even looking frightened by their appearance. The reaction made sense to me because for many of these people, it's their first time seeing a Summer Islander.
Once we're out of the city and riding on the recently paved road to Castle Warg, my tired, sleep-deprived mind is suddenly bombarded by questions and comments from Wyman and the Northern lords about the road.
"Cousin! You got all this paved in seven moons!? I thought you'd only get the one league between the castle and city by the time I got back!" Wyman comments on the five miles of road for the castle and connecting roads and the six miles or two leagues done that could be seen in the distance. I hear the other Northerners start comment on the roads and Wyman's words.
"What!? This much done in seven moons!?" "Impossible!?" "What magic did he use!?"
I note the Southroners looking at the quickstone road with interest and I answer their inquiries on the road, telling them about the quickstone I invented while being careful not to divulge any details on how to produce it. When I mentioned hoping to pave the Wolfswood trail all the way to Winterfell, I see the Wolfswood clan heirs of the Ferns, Branches, and Woods, all clans that had their holdfasts on the trail, looking between the road and myself keenly, muttering between themselves. When we ride pass by the walled complex with the kilns still producing concrete non-stop, I overhear Ser Gareth comment to his goodbrother Ser Sebaston Farman about how useful a road like this would be between Clifton Keep and Faircastle.
When we reach the gates of Castle Warg and the large group of riders is swiftly let in and begin dismounting our horses in the courtyard. My mother with little Arsa is waiting for us, to Wyman's joy. As he stands with Elsa, holding his daughter while beaming with pride, I quietly speak with my mother.
"How's Myrra and the twins?" I whisper. "They are well, currently resting in the inner keep. Ser Maynard is keeping an eye on them." She whispers back and I give a short nod. I formally welcome the guests to my home and lead them to the grand hall, where bread and salt were already prepared by servants. I perform the sacred ritual of guest rights before standing to address my guests.
"My lords and ladies, servants will take you and your belongings to your guestrooms. From there, you are welcome to explore the castle grounds. Tonight, there will be a feast. Not only to celebrate the expedition's success, but to celebrate the births of my twin children, Myranda and Torrhen Seastark!" I announce to loud cheers and hearty congratulations from the crowd. The servants come to lead the lords and ladies to their guest quarters, with the Lannisters, Mallisters, Glovers, Slates and Fishers staying in special rooms not in the guest keep but the inner keep. I leave with my family towards the inner keep and turn to Wyman, ignoring the squawking macaw on his shoulder as we walk.
"So, Wyman, tell us about the expedition." I say, dying to learn about his voyage.
"Well, we stopped in Oldtown just when the Hightowers and Redwynes were having a wedding, got invited and Lord Hightower even purchased some ice for the event…" He would go on to describe the extravagant wedding between Desmond Redwyne and Denyse Hightower and how the ice bought by Lord Hightower made a big splash with the Reachlords, leading to many of them putting in orders for ice. Our perfumes got some interest but they turned their nose at the amber, and then there was Lord Hightower and Lord Redwyne's request.
"Lord Redwyne showed a lot of interest in the wayfinders and backstaffs while Lord Hightower asked me, that since you're good friends with Prince Stannis, if you could convince him to open a Wayfinders Guild in Oldtown." Wyman explains as we enter the inner keep and I wince.
"I don't think the prince likes me that much!" I say, remembering Stannis' general dislike and distrust of Reachlords since the Siege of Storm's End.
Wyman merely shrugs. "We sailed for Dorne the day after…" He continues telling us about his adventures, describing the floating trading settlement of Planky Town at the mouth of the Greenblood and the massive threefold sandstone walls of Sunspear. How the Martells hosted them despite their feelings on the Lannisters and showed great interest in the ice and amber but less so on the perfumes. After hiring translators, they sailed east from the capital of Dorne in open water before turning south to the Summer Islands, using my wayfinders and backstaffs for navigation. He describes the tense and anxious atmosphere as they sailed the open sea, praying they made their calculations correctly and that they weren't going to keep sailing until they run out of supplies. When Stone Head, the northernmost island in the Summer Islands was spotted, Wyman describes their jubilation and glee at reaching their destination.
"The prince of Stone Head, upon seeing our fleet, thought we were invaders. He closed the port and gathered his warriors but we sent out Lord Gerion with a translator. He convinced them we were there to trade and let us dock in the port." Wyman says as we ascend the large stairs to the second story.
"Did the Summer Islanders often mistake you for a pirate fleet?" Yara asks him.
"Sometimes, mainly the smaller islands like Stone Head. The larger islands and settlements were initially cautious of us at first sight but didn't assume we were pirates." He answers and she nods.
"Anyway, turns out there was a wedding going on…" Wyman goes back to telling us of his adventures. They make a decent profit on Stone Head, despite it being one of the poorer islands due to constant pirate raids, the biggest sellers being metals like iron and our ice blocks. They sailed to Last Lament, a city about the size of White Harbor on the northern main island of Walano. It's main attraction was the hundred-foot-tall red sandstone wall that surrounded the city, built over a thousand years ago to defend against pirates. They noticed a large amount of Essosi merchants, especially from the Three Daughters of Myr, Tyrosh, and Lys. The local prince, with his Myrish wife, received them cordially but kept them at arm's length. While they did sell some goods, they noticed the Free Cities' merchants had a firm grip over trade in the city, so they sailed for Lotus Port, largest city in the Summer Islands and the seat of the Zoko Clan. The massive port city was around the size of Oldtown, with many sandstone temples large and small dotting the city and traders all corners of the known world. Wyman described seeing merchants from the Free Cities, Slaver's Bay, Yi-Ti, Ibben, even claiming to have seen a shadowbinder from Asshai from a distance amongst the colorful locals, skin tones ranging from a darker tan to polished jet. They met with one of the most powerful princes in the islands, Prince Dalazhar, who while very interested in the ice and sticky-stone, wouldn't allow the construction of a trading post without a marriage alliance. As it just so happens, he was looking for a suitable bachelor for his third daughter when Gerion Lannister managed to win her heart against stiff competition…
A few hours later…
"So, Princess Keeori, what made you choose the Lannister over the Tyroshi highborn and three princes of the Summer Islands?" I ask the Summer Islander Princess with curiosity while taking a sip of Lannisport spiced honey wine while cutting my breaded chicken filet fried in peanut oil. We are currently having a lavish dinner in the grand hall, sitting at the head table with my family, Gerion and his nephews, the Lord Captains, my cousins Galbert Glover and Owen Fisher, and the Summer Islander princess and exiled prince. I see Ser Jaime and Tyrion chatting with Wyman and I's younger siblings, my mother talking with Ser Jason Mallister and the rest of the table listens in anticipation to Princess Keeori's answer. She turns to me, the gold beads woven into her thin dreadlocks shimmering in the candlelight with small seashells and colorful feathers from some type of parrot adding to her exoticness.
"Well, Lord Seastark, there are two reasons. The first is that I've always been a bit of a mai fatalwa." She says the last word in Summer Tongue with a sultry grin, left hand caressing her husband's cheek. Jalabhar starts laughing uproariously, Wyman chuckles, and Gerion blushes fiercely. My family and I look around in confusion before my newest courtier answered our unasked question.
"In Sunset Tongue, it means… chaser of ghosts?" Jalabhar says his translation with uncertainty, glancing over to Wyman.
"Ghost chaser, but close enough. It's a Summer Islander who has a… preference for fararen fata, or 'white skins'." My cousin says, throwing in some Summer Tongue he picked up on the voyage. It's my turn to laugh heavily as I find their term for reverse jungle fever hilarious.
"And the second reason?" I return the topic of the conversation back to the Lannister-Zoko romance back in Lotus Port.
"Simple. He was the only one to make me laugh. Our people believe that laughter is an important part of bonding, whether it be between friends or lovers". The princess responds, looking at Gerion lovingly.
"There are truth in those words. My husband's humor is partly to blame for me falling for him so quickly." I hear Myrra say. I glance over to my wife and our eyes meet.
"Well, I'm not the only humorous one between us. You've made me laugh plenty of times." I respond, sharing a smile with her.
"So, what happened after you chose Lord Gerion?" My mother asks politely, with my goodsister Elsa looking curious.
"We wed in the grand temple to the love god and goddess, Vatuu and Vanuu, in the light of the sun, and consolidated our union under the light of the moon. They are the two head deities of our pantheon, symbolizing love, beauty, and fertility with the sun and moon being their symbols." Princess Keeori explained.
"Aye. In a temple the size of the Great Sept of Baelor, carved of rich red laterite and adorned with thousands of glittering gemstones." Gerion adds, smiling at the memory. A sketch of one that Wyman showed me flashes before my mind, vaguely reminiscent of the Ankor Wat.
"The wedding feast was one to remember thanks to the ice. The guests in attendance loved having their wine and rum chilled, and I saw your cousin swarmed by princes and princesses trying to purchase some for their own celebrations." Princess Keeori says.
"Had almost two dozen different clans making trade deals with a good third including marriage betrothals and a trading post on the island of Moluu, west of Jhala. Almost sold out of the ice and barely had any for Port Malthar." Wyman says and Ser Jason laughs.
"Aye, and then Prince Makathar bought what little you had left and made a trading post in Wolfsport a requirement for one in his city. Simply because he wanted more, especially after he heard about the wedding in Lotus Port." Ser Jason says causing Jalabhar to chuckle and Princess Keeori's smile to become strained. I raise an eyebrow and she answers my unspoken question.
"The Zoko and Xaq clans have been rivals for thousands of years in both ritualized warfare and trade. Even before the first arrival of the Ghiscari, when our people thought our lands were surrounded by a world-encompassing ocean, our clans competed for power, wealth, and influence, both being among the largest and strongest clans. It will be no surprise if our clans start competing again over the new ice trade brought to our shores" The princess says, looking at me with a critical eye.
"I, nor the company, intend to take sides in any dispute between your clans." I say diplomatically and she seems to accept my answer.
The Lord Captains continue to regale with tales of their voyage. Of the giant waterfalls on the Isle of Birds, shoreside stones that make eerie noises when the tide washes in on the Singing Stone islands, large exotic black and yellow jungle cats on Moluu, the fractured and constantly competing clans of the rugged central island of Omboru, the black stone architecture of the city of Ebonhead in the Sweet Lotus Vale and the sprawling rice fields of the Red Flower Vale. In the city of Blue Orhid, about the size of Gulltown, the expedition arrived to the funeral of the ruling princess, a celebration of rum and lovemaking in the Summer Island tradition of answering death with life. The day after, the then Prince Jalabhar challenged his elder sister for the throne.
"Me know she poisoned mother. She and her Lysene consort wanted to rule, but grew tired of wait. I challenged her in sacred rules of war and the elders consulted sacred saplings of the Talking Trees. Decided next day, five warriors against five, but me only have four, many friends abandon me. But Wyman…" Jalabhar tells us his side of the story, pausing to look at my cousin with respect and admiration. "…Chose to fight with me. When many leave me, he fought by my side. He is now my blood brother." The exiled prince declares boldly and gives Wyman a nod of respect, my family and I looking at the two in surprise.
"Your sister herself fought in this battle?" My goodsister Elsa asks the former prince.
"Yes. In Summer Islands, woman can learn to fight. Many attacks from pirates in Stepstones and Basilisk Islands make it… what the word?" Jalabhar answers but struggles to find the right translation for the last word.
"Necessary?" Elsa guesses and Jalabhar confirms with a grateful nod.
"Yes! Necessary! There be many times when women of the islands fight with men against slavers and pirates. Wyman tell me you have something like that in North? Shield-virgin?" He asks the last part to our amusement.
"The correct word is shieldmaiden." Wyman corrects him with a smile. "Long story short, we lost the fight, he got exiled form the Red Flower Vale, and I offered him a place in Castle Warg." He summarizes, purposely leaving out the maps of the trade winds in the Jade Sea and Shivering Sea that Jalabhar provided as housewarming gifts.
They continue talking about the expedition, with the only noteworthy experience after the Red Flower Vale being sailing upriver on Walano to Tall Trees Town, the holiest city in the islands and becomes seat of whichever king or queen unites them. A city the size of Lannisport, all under the shade of the massive Talking Trees, sacred trees where priests and priestesses carved their history into their bark, each tree as wide as the inner keep of Castle Warg and at least as tall as the Hightower in Oldtown. But Tall Trees Town's importance to the Summer Islands isn't just religious, it's the home of the Great Council of Elders, who rule the city. They are a council of over three hundred elders from every clan in the islands, they stay neutral in all affairs and are the ones who vote for a new king or queen when a prince or princess amasses enough land, money, and influence to make a play for the Talking Tree Throne. The current biggest contenders, as explained by Jalabhar, are the Zoko of Lotus Port, the Xaq of Port Malthar, the Xho of Blue Orhid, the M'Balla of Ebonhead, and the Wakanda of Birnin Zana.
The last one nearly causes me to spit-take and when I ask about them, Jalabhar explains they are one of the strongest clans on Omboru due to being one of the few parts of the Summer Islands to have metal ores both in its mountains, and from a falling star that landed thousands of years ago. Then he mentions their sigil is a black panther and that the current prince's name is T'Challa, and I fight to keep a straight face as I realize there's a Planetos version of Wakanda and the Black Panther.
"How did the meeting with Council of Elders go?" I ask the Lord Captains.
"Well enough." Ser Jason answers. "Though we didn't meet the whole council, since they apparently never assemble to meet foreigners unless they're royalty, but a small group of five elders that sit on the council met with us. They refused a trading post but agreed to a trade deal because they wanted some of the magical ice from the Sunset Lands." He says the last part with amusement.
"It's not magic, it's just normal ice." I grumble before taking a bite of the Wolfsport famous lamprey pie.
It's both hilarious and tiring to constantly have your inventions be called magic, especially since the smallfolk farmers around Wolfsport have been muttering about my magical plows and harnesses after seeing them being worked in my fields. I've already had to send a man to the Wall for attempting to steal a plow, so I announced to the smallfolk last moon that if they volunteered a member of the family to work on road construction, they would receive a plow. Six moons of work gets a plow, an additional three gets the harness and six more after that gets them the new seed drill I've designed based of the Jethro Tull seed drill. I did this to gain workers for road construction while spreading my new agricultural tools out for the smallfolk to use to improve crop yields. It's worked almost too well as we've had smallfolk farmers practically throwing their second and third sons at me to get those tools. This has created a huge workload on my castellan to record which families sent which son to work and how long, both to prevent fraud and to conduct a census of the smallfolk in the area. The hundreds of extra workers have been vital in keeping the brisk pace of construction, with the extra hands being used to prep the trail such as using my Wolfsport road drag to smooth out the dirt road ahead, setting up logistical camps, or even cutting down trees in the Wolfswood to widen the trail.
"You managed to transport ice, mostly intact and still frozen, over thousands of miles of sea to lands as hot as ours, in the middle of summer. That might as well be sorcery in our eyes!" The princess laughs with her husband joining her.
We continue enjoying the food and the conversation, I cut and eat a slice of delicious grilled salmon, ignoring the squawk of Wyman's macaw flying between the rafters of the grand hall…
The next day…
"Right, we've gotten the voyage report done, and we couldn't come to an agreement on standardizing weights and measurements between houses in the Company, leaving it for the Seaguard meeting. So, what are the company's plans now that we've made a fortune in the Summer Islands?" Ser Jason asks, looking between Gerion and myself in the grand hall, being used to house the lords from the Riverlands, Westerlands, and the North for the Director's Meeting. Ser Jaime was there to represent House Lannister, looking bored out of his mind in sharp contrast to his brother Tyrion, who watched the meeting with clear fascination.
The voyage report is basically a summary of the profits and how they'll be split. Just over sixty thousand gold in coin and trade goods was made in total for forty thousand in straight profit. House Seastark has a three-and-ten percent stake in the company, meaning we made two-and-fifty hundred gold in profit, not counting the thousand gold of profits from our sales in Westeros from Seaguard to Sunspear. It was a lot of money…and unfortunately all going to the New Gift. It'll pay for not only the restoration of the Queenscrown tower and the rebuilding of the village, but for two of the five years that I must pay for settlers to move to the New Gift. With the first two years already dealt with, having paid for last year and squeezing this year's payment into the budget, that means I only need to worry about only more year of payments, freeing up money for my other projects.
The debate on standardization was a two-hour long slog that I almost regret bringing up in the first place. While all Westerosi could agree on things like three miles in a league or how long an hour was, but when it came to things like pounds and stones or pints and gallons, there were differences. For example, in Wolfsport, it's four-and-ten pounds in a stone compared to Bear Island, where it's five-and-ten pounds in a stone and that's just in the same kingdom! I pushed for a unified standard to be used not just by the company by for our houses as well to facilitate trade. To my surprise, the idea of a common standard for the company, based on a mixture of the Wolfsport, Seaguard, and Lannisport standards, was generally accepted amongst the lords. One of the main issues was the precise details were still being debated such as how many ounces in a pint or pounds in a stone. The other was while the lords wanted a common standard for the company, they didn't want to replace their local standards with it. When I announced that Sea Dragon Point would switch to the new common standard when completed, it drew a lot of surprise from the directors. My show of commitment to a unified standard of weights and measurements causing some lords, mainly Northern, to reconsider switching their local ones in the future.
"I'd like to continue building our trade presence in the Summer Islands for the long-term. Three trading posts is a fantastic start but we can expand on that. Has there been any reaction from the Free Cities?" I ask to murmurs of agreement from the directors.
"Don't know about the Free Cities themselves but their merchants in the Summer Islands weren't happy to see us. The Braavosi and Volantenes seemed the least bothered by our presence, but the Three Daughters and Pentosi were the most unhappy. They used their influence to get some local princes and princesses in places like Blue Ohrid and Last Lament to limit their deals with us. They see us as unwanted competition in their trade with the Summer Islands, especially after they heard about the Xaq Clan setting up a trade post in Wolfsport." Gerion explains and I nod.
"That doesn't surprise me, we're basically cutting them out as the middle men in trade between us and the Summer Islands. Did you face any pirates in the Stepstones on the way back? I'd imagine the Three Daughters would use the pirates in the Stepstones to let us know of their displeasure." I respond.
"A small fleet of pirate ships from Torturer's Deep shadowed us but didn't find an opening and was too small a fleet to attack us full on. Didn't see The Seahorse or any of the Rouge Seahorse's fleet." Wyman answers my question, mentioning the dromon captained by Lucerys Velaryon and his new nickname.
"Something to be wary of in the future." I say to their nods. "But I assume you were asking about when next trade fleet will be and its destination, Ser Jason?" He nods his head and I feel the curious stares of the lords, wondering what I my answer would be.
"Well then, either a northern voyage in the Shivering Sea to Ibben or even Mossovy, or a southern voyage to Great Moraq, Yi-Ti, and Leng. I think we can organize an expedition for next year." I give them my thoughts only for the grand hall to become a storm of whispers and murmurs between the directors.
"Either of those voyages would take at least twice as long as one to the Summer Islands!" Ser Jason exclaims, causing the comments to become louder.
"Aye. Seven to nine moons from Wolfsport by galley, I reckon." I say before looking to Wyman, who was grinning like a cat that got the canary.
"It may be far, but I think the riches of Yi-Ti will be worth it. It is, after all, where Corlys The Sea Snake Velaryon made his fortune, so we know it can be done!" Gerion exclaims and I see some lords nod and agree while others continued looking skeptical of such a long and no doubt perilous voyage.
"I agree Lord Gerion, but who says we can't make it there faster?" I say to the directors confusion. "What if we used faster ships to get there?"
"We might be able to use carracks instead, but that would at best take a moon off the voyage, unless you want to ask the Summer Islands to use their swan ships?" Gerion responds matter-of-factly and I hear some of the lords snicker. I simply smile and nod to Wyman, who gets up from his seat and heads towards the doors of the great hall.
"My lords, if you'll follow me outside. I will show you the future of sailing in the Seven Kingdoms." I say dramatically, drawing the lords' collective curiosity if not confusion. I got out of my seat to follow Wyman and they hesitantly got out of their chairs and followed. Soon enough, we were standing a good dozen feet from the edge of the cliff next to Castle Warg, Lord Gerion and Ser Jason looking through their Myrish far-eyes, or what this world called spy-glasses. Several other lords were looking through theirs or sharing between themselves at a narrow ship, roughly the length of a galley but without oars, blazing into Sea Dragon Bay with unmatched speed.
"Look at that ship!" "I've never seen one like that!" "It's going at least three-and-ten knots!" Were some of the comments I heard from the lords. I waited a few more moments before speaking.
"My lords, I have constructed a new type of ship, called a clipper. The first of which, the Swiftwind, is the one you are watching sail into Wolfsport. It's recently returned from a trip to Ice Harbor, a roundtrip that would normally take eight to a dozen days by galley, in rough seas, done in four." I explain to the gathered lords only for them to explode as they talk amongst themselves of the speed of the clipper.
"Imagine my lords. What we can do with ships that could sail from Wolfsport to Lannisport in a week, Lannisport to King's Landing in less than a moon, and King's Landing to the Yi-Ti capital of Yin in two, mayhaps three moons!" I exclaim to the directors. They looked at either the Swiftwind in the distance or me with faces filled with wonder and awe, struggling to wrap their minds around ships that essentially cut travel times by at least half. For a moment the lords were silent, still watching to clipper sailing south into the distance, until Lord Gerion broke the silence.
"A ship that fast will be revolutionary, Lord Seastark! Able to move people and goods that quickly will… wait, where will it go?" He starts off as excited as a child being given a nameday gift only to stop and ask the second part in curiosity when I mention it will be leaving again soon. The lords that were still watching the ship turned to look at me, faces all asking the same question. I grin.
"After moons of sea trials around Sea Dragon Point and the Bay of Ice, the Swiftwind is finally off on her first long distance test. Destination? The mouth of the Sacred River on Walano, where its cargo will be offloaded and transported upriver to Tall Trees Town. If all goes well, in two moons, the Council of Elders will be sipping on wine chilled by my magical ice!"
Early ninth moon, 283 A.C., Two and a half moons later…
I was sitting in my solar writing a response to a raven from Prince Stannis, congratulating him on the success of the Royal Trade Fleet in making over twenty thousand gold in profits. In his most recent letter, he asked about "lighting fast ship traveling down the Sunset Sea" and made inquiries about my quickstone. The clipper had sped down the Sunset Sea and southern coast of Dorne, with one brief stop in Oldtown, to the shock of House Hightower and the Reach. It was seen by lords from the Stony Shore to Sunspear, company and House Seastark banners flying proudly in the wind. Not surprisingly, word has reached the capital and according to both the prince and Dagwell, news of the blazing fast ship was initially met with skepticism and derision only to morph into shock and disbelief as more sightings in the Westerlands and Reach trickled in. Now my name and the name of the ship was on the lips of everyone in King's Landing from highborn to smallfolk, the eyes of the capital drawn to Wolfsport and according to my princely quill pal, the I had full attention of the royal family and small council.
Word of my quickstone spread slower but I already had houses in the company asking to purchase some and for advice on how to use it, including to build roads. The Northern houses showed much more interest in both the quickstone and the road I was paving, with the three Wolfswood clans with holdfasts on or near the trail already coming to me about my plans for a paved road to Winterfell. I came to an agreement with them, with them being much poorer houses that would struggle to pay for even my cheaper paved roads, we agreed that I would pay for most of the construction in their lands but that they would have to provide most of the labor. Now they were prepping the trail in their lands by smoothing out the roads with Wolfsport road drags sold to them, removing large rocks, setting up logistics camps, and chopping down trees. All these things will make constructing the Wolfswood Road easier in the long run even if they won't get much, if any road done before winter.
Prince Stannis informed me of goings on in the capital, how his brother and the queen were ready to try for another child after her stillbirth and that he was doing his duty in trying for a son with his wife. Princess Shireen Baratheon was born black hair and blue-eyed, just as I suspected she would, considering Cersei didn't have access to her brother until well into her pregnancy. Still wondered how she was going to succeed considering what Myrra told me of her visit to Maggy the Frog. "Married to a Stag Prince… will have four children, three black of hair and one golden." Is what the woods-witch said to the future princess. It's still wild for me to know that Myrra helped Cersei drown Melara Heatherspoon. She admitted to me in guilt for her actions, claiming that Cersei forced her to do it or the same thing would happen to her. What really surprised me was that she already knew about the twincest because she was at Casterly Rock when the twin were first caught exploring each other. To be perfectly honest, I had no idea what to do about this prophecy. I obviously wanted to tell Prince Stannis but knew doing so was going to create a political shitstorm, plus I had no idea if the prophecy will come true despite Maggy's accuracy in the books. My swirling thoughts are disturbed by the door opening, Maester Armond walking in.
"My lord, a raven from Winterfell!" He says with urgency. I thank him and unfurl the raven's scroll. My eyebrows shoot up reading its contents.
"Lord Stark and his wife are coming to Castle Warg to discuss my quickstone and the Wolfswood Trail. They'll be here in a moon, how's work on the road?" I ask the maester.
"We've completed nearly two more leagues and will have another mile and a half done by the time the Starks come." My maester informs me and I nod. Completing this much this quickly was no small feat. The smallfolk farmers were providing a good amount of labor to get their hands on my farming inventions but I knew that'll drop off once autumn arrives and they'll be focused on the harvest. I'll have to use more labor from the city to compensate as I intend to complete as much of the road as possible before winter, knowing that no construction will be done during the years long cold.
The maester glances at my desk and sees a large pile of raven scrolls, all unfurled and read in a box marked To Do next to box with a few scrolls labeled Done.
"I see you are going through all the ravens we've been getting. I swear you're working me death in the rookery, we've been receiving letters from half of the Seven Kingdoms!" My maester japes and I chuckle.
"I know, there are so many lords asking for marriage betrothals, fosterings, and offers to purchase clippers like this one…" I pick up one of the raven scrolls on top and hand it to the maester, who starts to read it. "…Is Lord Hightower offering to slash the price of grain shipments by a full third and fostering his youngest son Humfrey while this one…" I grab another scroll and hold it up. "…Is Lord Lannister offering me enough gold dragons to pay for at least twenty galleys, both just for one clipper." I say and my maester starts sputtering at the sheer amount of coin being offered.
"My lord, both offers are incredible! The Hightowers lowering the price of grain shipments that the North always purchases before winter would be help immensely with preparations, not to mention fostering a son, even a fourth-born, of a house of that much wealth and prestige. And enough gold to pay for twenty galleys! Lord Lannister would essentially be paying for your planned expansion of the Sunset Fleet! Are you going to take those offers?"
"I'm seriously considering it." I mutter putting Tywin's scroll back in the pile. "Is there a limit to how many wards a lord can foster at a time?" I ask the maester due to all the offers of lords to foster their sons in Castle Warg and he thinks for a moment.
"Hmm. Usually, it's one or two wards at a time but there have been a few cases of more, with the most being five if I recall. But more than two at a time is rare." The maester answers and I nod, considering my options for how many to foster here and when.
"How are the farmers handling the plows, harnesses and seed drills?" I ask, deciding to change the subject after a moment.
"They are prized amongst the farmers for needing half the horses and half the time to plow, till, and seed. We expect crop yields to increase by…" I half listen to the maester give his report on my agricultural inventions benefiting the smallfolk, my eyes flickering to the large pile of scrolls still needing to be answered to. So many decisions to make before the Starks arrive…
Longest chapter yet, which is why this one's a bit late! Wanted to add my worldbuilding to what little were given in the books on the Summer Islands. Imagine tropical jungle and savanna islands with the flora and fauna of Africa and South America with a cultural mix of West African and Southeast Asian. Hugo unveils the clipper to the world and it's going to have a big impact on sailing in Westeros with lords already making big offers. The North however, is a bit more interested in the quickstone… Enjoy the chapter!