If Braavos manipulated Westeros like a puppet master pulling strings from the shadows, then House Rogare had taken a far more direct approach—seizing the marionette’s hand and guiding its every move.
Between these two methods, the former was clearly more sustainable in the long run. It did not provoke immediate resentment or unrest among the populace, and it could endure changes in dynasty, succession struggles, and internal Targaryen power shifts. As long as the Iron Bank’s netw...
Westeros remained the domain of House Targaryen, but the great beast, now emaciated, had become easier to lead by the nose than before the Dance of the Dragons. Braavos, though largely a spectator throughout the civil war, quietly reaped the rewards—reweaving its vast web of influence and, at the decisive moment, backing the victorious side. In the end, it emerged not only as a peripheral victor but also as a mediator, a supporter of post-war reconstruction, and—most crucially—as a powe...
2025-01-29 18:23:23 +0000 UTC View PostNot stupid, then wicked?
That was quite the accusation—coming from a venerable elder, it carried an almost lethal weight. The war faction in the room immediately seized the momentum, while the peace faction found themselves momentarily silenced. It took a long pause before one of the doves managed to collect himself and counterattack, his neck stiff with defiance.
"Messages across the Narrow Sea take weeks to travel back and forth, but the Queen and the Night’s Watch advance...
"The problem with that statement," the old man said, his voice carrying through the chamber, "is that it assumes—without logic—that a city’s wealth is determined solely by the total revenue of its various industries. But the truth is quite the opposite. The Iron Bank is the reason—what’s that word, that new one from Westeros? The one that means gold circulation?"
The peace faction could sense that the elder was siding against them, yet they couldn’t quite grasp his reasonin...
The underground vaults of the Iron Bank had long since been reinforced and remodeled, no longer controlled by those famed twenty-three keys. The title of "Keyholder" had, with the passage of time, faded from an official position into legend.
Today, if you were to walk through the streets of Braavos and meet a man in dull gray-brown robes claiming to be a Keyholder, there were only two possibilities—either he was a fraud, eager to sell you an "ancestral key" of dubious authenticity, o...
Boom!
The walls trembled. The doors and windows shook. And the hearts of the Reach lords quivered along with them.
At last, they understood why Loras had warned them to brace themselves—had he not, half the room would have already leapt to their feet, screaming "The Night’s Watch is attacking!" and scrambling for the exits like frightened hens.
Even with the warning, the deafening blast struck like a hammer to the skull, dragging countless lords back to that day at Bl...
Boom!
The walls trembled. The doors and windows shook. And the hearts of the Reach lords quivered along with them.
At last, they understood why Loras had warned them to brace themselves—had he not, half the room would have already leapt to their feet, screaming "The Night’s Watch is attacking!" and scrambling for the exits like frightened hens.
Even with the warning, the deafening blast struck like a hammer to the skull, dragging countless lords back to that day at Bl...
"Lords and ladies!"
A sharp, commanding voice rang out from the front of the hall.
Aegon Targaryen, the young king, had caught his queen’s subtle cue. He turned his head slightly toward Margaery, acknowledging her unspoken signal with a brief nod. Then, without hesitation, he rose to his feet.
Dressed in his formal black-and-red attire, his tall and lean figure immediately stood out among the seated nobles.
He paused for a moment, allowing the echo of his call to...
She was born clever, raised under the direct tutelage of the "Queen of Thorns," molded and trained from childhood in the image of a queen. Such an upbringing was bound to yield its intended results: by the time she reached her teenage years, Margaery had already surpassed most—men and women alike—in wisdom, decisiveness, and inner strength.
But now, faced with a task that would decide the fate of the Reach, one that required prestige, rank, intellect, patience, adaptability, and in...
She was born clever, raised under the direct tutelage of the "Queen of Thorns," molded and trained from childhood in the image of a queen. Such an upbringing was bound to yield its intended results: by the time she reached her teenage years, Margaery had already surpassed most—men and women alike—in wisdom, decisiveness, and inner strength.
But now, faced with a task that would decide the fate of the Reach, one that required prestige, rank, intellect, patience, adaptability, and in...
A light drizzle passed through, leaving the land glistening in its wake. The sun broke through the clouds, scattering golden rays across the earth, swiftly dissipating the mist clinging to the distant horizon. A gentle breeze rustled the budding leaves of the trees, and the birds resumed their cheerful song.
A young woman approached the window but did not pause to admire the flourishing spring beyond. Instead, she lifted her arms and, with two crisp movements, shut the windowpanes firm...
Tyrion had never seen Myrcella so fierce, so unrelenting. His brow arched as he realized the past few years had left a deeper mark on the girl than he had anticipated.
Aegor had no doubt Tyrion would fulfill his duty, but he also knew that the little lion’s enthusiasm for the task was now thoroughly drained.
Myrcella’s actions were not merely out of gratitude or excitement. No, she had just spent every ounce of courage and resolve she had accumulated in her fifteen years of ...
The two Lannisters—one big, one small—locked eyes. In the span of a few heartbeats, both realized they couldn’t acknowledge each other in the open courtyard, so they feigned indifference. One pretended to survey the surroundings, while the other rushed to Aegor’s side, dutifully reporting on the newly revised schedule. They walked into the house, still speaking in hushed tones. Only when Aegor dismissed the attendants, ensuring no prying ears, did Tyrion seize Myrcella’s hand, his v...
2025-01-29 18:20:08 +0000 UTC View Post“Since I’ve entrusted this matter to you, it means I trust your judgment and ability. I’ll inform you truthfully of the general direction, the possible timeline for the western campaign, and my future plans—but as for how to coordinate and respond in the East, that’s up to you and the Queen to decide. Adapt as needed.”
----
This was nothing more than a temporary stalling tactic—if the final phase of Seven Kingdoms unification didn’t go smoothly, it could leave th...
Moments later, the emergency Small Council meeting—called to deal with the sudden, bloody incident—came to a close.
A preliminary action plan was established:Aegor, as Hand of the Queen, would take charge of managing the domestic and international fallout from Illyrio’s death.Grey Worm would return to the River Gate, investigate the guards involved, and gather witness statements from the locals.Daenerys would await further reports and decide if she needed to personally intervene....
Tyrion, not wanting his friend to flounder in an awkward silence, boldly took the lead in keeping the conversation going. In doing so, he had a vague idea of how Aegor intended to spin this story.
A fortune of this scale would undoubtedly invite envy, suspicion, and greed, but Aegor had already accounted for that. The current tax rate was only a starting point—one that could be gradually increased: first to half, then two-thirds, then three-quarters—until, eventually, the Night’s...
Disaster had come knocking while Aegor sat comfortably at home.
As he worked silently from the shadows, weaving an intricate web and enjoying the satisfaction of toying with an opponent far more experienced than himself—using the advantages of timing, terrain, and a well-laid plan—everything suddenly derailed.
It was a disaster.
Put simply, his opponent had rage-quit.
Beaten down game after game, Illyrio had finally slammed the controller, smashed the console, ...
As a man who had spent over a decade hiding his fangs, Illyrio Mopatis refused to let his curtain call be a simple, pathetic surrender. He was still the Magistrate of Pentos, the envoy of one of the Nine Free Cities—a position that might not save him from this predicament, but it could certainly be used to make his enemies suffer one last time.
Beyond the city gates lay the docks. Beyond the docks, the Blackwater Rush, Dragonstone, and the inner and outer naval patrol lines of the Qu...
The northern wind had fallen silent. As the snow melted into thick mud, green shoots pushed their way through the soil, and insect eggs stirred to life. With the coming of spring, it was not just nature that awakened, but also the people of King’s Landing—both soldiers and civilians alike.
The invasion of the Reach had been finalized and set on the agenda. For over half a month, preparations for war—stockpiling grain, forging weapons—had been in full swing. Just as the city hel...
Buckwell, ever the dependable officer, finally brought good news.
The Queen had tasked Aegor with investigating the poisoning case, and no matter what, he had to produce something to show for it. Only a handful of people knew the real culprit, and those working the case were bound to carry out their duties with the same diligence they had when they rooted out half the kitchen staff back in Winterfell.
But out of respect for Murphy’s Law, Aegor had to consider every possibility...
The suspected informant soon arrived, trembling before Aegor. But Aegor didn’t immediately speak. He simply crossed his arms and stared at the man with a frown, letting the silence stretch. Under the weight of that gaze, the man’s breathing grew labored, and his legs began to shake. Only then did Aegor break the stalemate.
"Stand up straight!" he barked—before the man could follow his sister’s example and drop to his knees in supplication.
Then, his voice turned cold. "S...
"Where's the letter?" Aegor chuckled softly, shaking his head as he extended a hand.
His enemies, it seemed, had chosen the most laughable of tactics—without knowing the exact formula, they had blindly sent an anonymous letter in an attempt to scare him.
Was there a better phrase for this than beating the grass to startle the snake?
And yet… how many days had even passed since the Golden Company had been blasted apart?
The speaker was careless, but the listener...
Good heavens!
The gathered lords slowly came to a realization—no wonder the Hand had opened the meeting by thoroughly explaining the difficulties of invading the Reach. He had been playing the "strike first" game all along: by voicing every argument the anti-war faction might raise, he left them with nothing to say. If he dragged all their talking points into the light and publicly dismantled them before they could even speak, he could effectively silence opposition.
Yet, whil...
The first meeting between the newly appointed Master of Coin and the Queen was uneventful—no pleasantries, no warmth, no memorable exchanges. The reason was simple: in this timeline, the two had never interacted before, and without prior dealings, there was neither trust nor familiarity between them.
From Daenerys’ perspective, all she knew was that Tyrion had a close relationship with Aegor. That alone was enough for her to view him as “one of Aegor’s men”—a piece placed o...
The first meeting between the newly appointed Master of Coin and the Queen was uneventful—no pleasantries, no warmth, no memorable exchanges. The reason was simple: in this timeline, the two had never interacted before, and without prior dealings, there was neither trust nor familiarity between them.
From Daenerys’ perspective, all she knew was that Tyrion had a close relationship with Aegor. That alone was enough for her to view him as “one of Aegor’s men”—a piece placed o...
Nearly a month after Duke Tywin Lannister had "voluntarily" donned the black and departed for the Wall, his chosen successor as Lord of House Lannister and Warden of the West—Tyrion Lannister, the Imp—rode a carriage along the Gold Road, approaching the Lion’s Gate of King’s Landing. After years of exile, he was returning to the capital of the Seven Kingdoms.
Waiting for him at the city gate was none other than his closest friend and patron, the Hand of the Queen himself.
No matter how much security the Queen invested in, she might be able to keep herself and her Hand under an impenetrable guard, but the industrial complex was a different story. Carriages and workers moved in and out constantly, and of the many hands involved in building these new weapons, there had to be at least a thousand—if not more. Illyrio did not believe that all of them could be placed under the highest level of scrutiny. If he could breach the defenses of this war factory, whether b...
2025-01-29 18:10:38 +0000 UTC View PostNo matter how much security the Queen invested in, she might be able to keep herself and her Hand under an impenetrable guard, but the industrial complex was a different story. Carriages and workers moved in and out constantly, and of the many hands involved in building these new weapons, there had to be at least a thousand—if not more. Illyrio did not believe that all of them could be placed under the highest level of scrutiny. If he could breach the defenses of this war factory, whether b...
2025-01-29 18:10:19 +0000 UTC View PostA few days after receiving the merchant-governor from Pentos, Aegor welcomed the second delegation from across the Narrow Sea—this time not emissaries from the Free Cities’ rulers, but a delegation from the Great Temple of R’hllor.
The group was vast, with numerous attendants and guards in tow, but the real figures of importance were three red-robed high priests.
At the forefront stood a tall, gaunt, bald old man with sharp features, his loose white skin covered in intrica...
Watching Illyrio’s corpulent figure disappear beyond the door, Daenerys turned her head toward the last remaining member of her inner circle.
“Aegor, what do you think?”
“To get straight to the point, the esteemed governor’s words are logical and mostly truthful. However… there’s a trap.” The one being questioned answered unhurriedly. “He has presented you with two choices—either abandon the Grand Dominion plan or compromise on your stance against slavery, or...