As the first human force to engage the Gifted Army in open battle, the Golden Company’s performance was commendable—perhaps even exceptional. But it mattered little, for they were not facing the shielded infantry they had imagined. Instead, they had run headfirst into Westeros’ first-ever grenadier corps.
Cannons had already been introduced to the battlefield, but high-explosive shells were still beyond their grasp. And so, Aegor relied once more on the explosive bombs that had p...
Aside from two younger war elephants nearly losing their footing as they stepped onto the dry riverbed, everything proceeded according to plan. Ten hundred-man units surged out from their staging area, converging from multiple angles on the Gifted Army’s small beachhead.
Their formation might have seemed chaotic from the ground, but there was a method beneath the madness. If one were to observe from above, they would see that the first wave of Golden Company soldiers, grouped tightly...
For most of the year, the swift currents of the Blackwater made it impossible to build pontoon bridges. But in the depths of winter, with the upper tributaries frozen over, the river’s water level and speed had dropped significantly, making an otherwise infeasible operation entirely possible.
Three medium-sized vessels first stretched thick ropes across the Blackwater, forming the foundation of the structure. From there, numerous hastily assembled boats, rafts with inflated bladders ...
Putting down the finely crafted, undoubtedly expensive Myrish lens, Harry Strickland—leader of the Golden Company, known as "Homeless Harry"—let out a sigh. The breath turned to mist in the frigid air.
That sigh carried two emotions.
The first was admiration.
Admiration for the black-clad army assembling on the far shore—for their discipline, their readiness, and the sheer presence they exuded. But more than that, admiration for the man leading them.
Strickla...
War is like a game of chess. Until the final battle’s last engagement is fought, a commander’s orders remain crucial in shaping its outcome.
Though the war itself was between Aegon Targaryen and Daenerys Targaryen, today’s battle was a match between Aegor West, the Night’s Watch Lord Commander, the White Walker Slayer, the Savior of Humanity, and Jon Connington, Count of Griffin’s Roost, head of House Connington, former Hand of the King to Daenerys’s father.
By fame ...
Spring thunder?
That was the first thought of the quickest-witted among them.
Every year, at the brief turning of the seasons before summer, the warming, humid air clashed with the lingering cold currents, creating violent vertical convection that birthed towering storm clouds and unleashed rolling thunder.
The lords of the Reach might not understand the precise meteorological principles behind it, but they had learned from experience: thunder meant summer was approaching...
Seven save me, what kind of foolish woman lets her mind wander during her own wedding?
Margaery cursed herself inwardly, relieved that her father’s timely call had prevented her from making a spectacle of herself. Most guests hadn’t noticed her momentary lapse. This wasn’t her first wedding—after a quick curtsy of apology, her body’s muscle memory kicked in, guiding her through the ritual.
She turned, facing Aegon, and under the gaze of thousands, allowed her father to...
From miles away, the plumes of smoke rising from King Aegon’s campfires could be seen. They were countless, in the hundreds or thousands, stretching skyward before tilting slightly under the wind’s influence, like a sprawling, slanted white forest growing along the banks of the Blackwater River. The entire southern sky over King’s Landing was draped beneath this vast, pale “canopy.”
Laughter, music, the sounds of drums and flutes—all these carried across the frozen river an...
Make a decision?
Princess Arianne feigned a thoughtful expression, but in truth, her mind was blank, and she was panicking inside.
She had come north expecting to dip her toes into the game—only to have the entire pot of stew handed to her outright. She was completely overwhelmed.
Sunspear and Highgarden had been bitter rivals for centuries, the bloodshed between them carving a deep, irreparable rift. To Dorne, the Reach was not just a neighboring power—it was an aggr...
The Free Folk think the Gift and the North are the South, while the Dornish believe the Stormlands and King’s Landing are too far north. Is this not a perfect example of cultural and perceptual diversity?
Aegor chuckled and turned swiftly on his heel. “Of course, allow Blackwall Keep to extend its hospitality to you.”
The Queen needed the support of the Dornish army, while Arianne Martell sought Daenerys and Aegor’s endorsement of her inheritance. Both sides had their ow...
With both Daenerys and Aegor arriving outside King’s Landing and meeting separately with Young Aegon and Margaery, the long-standing three-way stalemate across the Blackwater was finally broken and reshaped.
The day after the Night’s Watch had angered the "Little Rose" into storming back to the Reach’s camp in a fury, Aegon Targaryen publicly declared himself king. The Reach immediately recognized his claim, offering their full support and announcing a marriage pact between the t...
Ironborn?
But wasn’t Blackwater Bay under blockade by Daenerys’s fleet stationed at Dragonstone? How did they get in?
The same doubt flashed through the minds of both Stannis and Davos, but neither voiced it. The reason was simple: their very acquaintance stemmed from Davos’s daring feat during the darkest days of the Siege of Storm’s End. Under the cover of night, Davos had navigated a small, black-sailed boat laden with onions and salted fish past the Redwyne fleet’s...
Night fell, and the entire city of King’s Landing plunged into a deathly darkness and silence.
To prevent fires, deter theft, and guard against infiltration or sabotage by spies, enforcing a curfew during times of siege was a standard practice that required no further explanation. However, Stannis had an additional concern: the possibility of Daenerys launching a night raid on her dragon, using the city’s lights to pinpoint military arrangements and the exact location of the Red Ke...
This is bad!
Margaery’s heart sank, realizing she had made a grave mistake.
Why did she have to bring up Aegon’s proposal?
She wanted to slap herself. She had already sensed things were going awry and knew she should have left earlier. But instead of retreating, she had let her pride get the better of her, blurting out something utterly foolish just before leaving.
Even earlier, mentioning that the Reach could muster over a hundred thousand troops had been a mi...
Myrcella, seated nearby, approached promptly. She carefully set down her ever-present clipboard, flipped through a few pages with practiced ease, and drew out a stack of documents—not too thick, not too thin—which she placed in front of Margaery.
Margaery’s eyes widened as she took the documents. She instinctively pinched her thigh to make sure she wasn’t dreaming.
The material was immediately recognizable. Both the Night’s Watch and House Tyrell had dabbled in produci...
Margaery Tyrell’s visit to Aegor was not about siding with the Queen—it was quite the opposite.
Aegon Targaryen had already sent envoys to propose a marriage alliance with the Tyrells. Their respective camps were just a few miles apart, making negotiations swift and convenient. After a brief discussion, Mace Tyrell had eagerly accepted the proposal and was now reveling in his new status as the soon-to-be father-in-law of a king, even going so far as to cancel the Tyrell delegation...
Margaery Tyrell was in a good mood—so good that even being ignored by Aegor didn’t bother her.
Because she could feel it: the Tyrells’ three centuries of humiliation were finally coming to an end.
In Westeros, there was an unspoken truth that everyone knew but few dared to discuss openly. The current rulers of the Reach, the Tyrells, were not noble heirs to the Gardeners, the ancient Kings of the Reach who were incinerated by Aegon the Conqueror’s dragons. No, the Tyrell...
"Margaery Tyrell?" Aegor raised an eyebrow, letting out a small chuckle. "Not now. Once I’m finished with my work and have the time, perhaps."
Was the Little Rose a friend?
Judging by her involvement with the Night’s Watch industrial ventures after he’d left King’s Landing for the Wall—her frequent dealings, the significant exchange of funds—one could argue she was. But for the current Lord Commander of the Night’s Watch, now pledged to Queen Daenerys’s cause, sh...
“She met with him?!” Aegor jolted, his expression changing sharply.
There are advantages to being the subordinate: someone else takes the lead, bears the banner, and absorbs all the political heat. You can avoid being the focal point of scrutiny or accusations.
But the disadvantage is equally clear: the subordinate is, at the end of the day, still a subordinate.
Daenerys was the leader, the decision-maker of their faction. Aegor? At best, he was her chief advisor and ...
If you stop to throw a stone at every barking dog, you’ll never reach your destination.
Aegor had allowed Asha to attempt Euron’s assassination. From a certain perspective, it wasn’t entirely unfair for the Ironborn to assume she had acted under his orders. Being countered so thoroughly by an opponent he had never even met—turned against with his own gambit—was a bitter pill to swallow. But he didn’t let it cloud his judgment.
Back in Winterfell, he had personally ur...
Aegor hadn't expected Asha to suddenly snap and attack him.
But that didn’t mean he panicked.
From the moment he stepped beyond the bounds of the Night’s Watch and onto the treacherous stage of politics, he had known the path he walked was fraught with danger. He had prepared himself to offend powerful figures, to become the target of endless accusations, threats, and assassination attempts—some rational, some utterly absurd.
For that reason, he was always ready.
Explosions reach their full potential only in confined spaces, and such perfect conditions are rare on the battlefield. Aegor was, in truth, cheating—by carefully preparing the blast in advance, he had amplified the already terrifying power of gunpowder to achieve maximum intimidation.
The same amount of powder, if used in cannon fire, might not have shattered that boulder so completely. But Tyrion didn’t know that. In this moment, his abnormally large head—so mismatched to his s...
“Aegor, you’re making this incredibly difficult for me.” Tyrion sighed, exasperated. “Father agreed to let me negotiate with you because of our close relationship. He thought I had the best chance of striking a deal that both sides could accept. But now, with the Queen’s demands being so harsh, aren’t you forcing the Westerlands to seek another path?
“There are three thousand troops garrisoned in Golden Tooth. Lannisport has already mustered over ten thousand elite soldie...
This was a trap.
An obvious one.
The demand was excessive, yes—but considering that Tywin Lannister had indirectly orchestrated the deaths of countless Targaryens, it was at least understandable.
Tywin had spent decades breaking the Westerlands to his will, consolidating its wealth, and rebuilding its war-torn lands into the richest domain in the Seven Kingdoms. And now, after all that effort, this dragon queen wanted to swoop in and reap the rewards? To erase his life...
"Seven save me, you run faster than a hound catching the scent of fresh meat!"
Had anyone else shouted that in public, Aegor might have taken offense. But coming from him…
"I only ran so fast because I missed you," Aegor shot back with a wry smile, accepting the less-than-flattering comparison. "And I see your talent for insults is as sharp as ever. That’s a relief." He let out a small chuckle before adding, "At least now there are fewer people left who'd dare hold a grudge ...
Aegor had no intention of making martyrs of those who had lost kin fighting the White Walkers, but someone had to pay for their previous insolence—and for the gunpowder wasted by the Gifted Lands Army. After a round of negotiations, the final judgment was passed:
The former lord, Jason Mallister, was to abdicate in favor of his son, Patrick Mallister. Under Stark escort, Jason would don the black and serve at the Wall, atoning for his defiance by aiding in the development of lands be...
By the banks of the Green Fork, beside a simple windbreak tent set up near a forest of swords, spears, and banners, Aegor stood with his hands behind his back, gazing calmly at the looming walls of the Twin Rivers Castle in the near distance. The stronghold, rising high in the open plains, stood as an imposing sentinel over the frozen river crossing.
The queen had flown south on dragonback, and Bolton had already led three thousand men down the Kingsroad. For the first time, Aegor now ...
Unable to lose face, the gathered lords had no choice but to begrudgingly raise their contributions, not to outshine or crush the others, but at least to avoid looking too miserly in comparison. This house added a bit more, that one followed suit... and as the saying went, many hands made light work. Before long, Daenerys had secured far more provisions than she initially required. With everything in place, the southern campaign was finally set into motion, rumbling forward like a great storm...
2025-01-29 17:41:40 +0000 UTC View PostNot only would he have to empty his coffers to provide grain and military supplies, but he’d also be thrown to the front lines as cannon fodder?
This was...
This was outright bullying!
Roose Bolton nearly slammed the table in fury. The pale, expressionless face that rarely betrayed emotion now showed a faint flush—he was livid. Had his weapons not been confiscated by the Queen’s Guard before entering the hall, and had his iron discipline not repeatedly reminded him ...
"Don't rush—this is only the first step in breaking the stalemate. Next, Lord Bolton, you'll need to guard against the Starks and the other Northern families," Aegor said, glancing toward the lively gathering of Northern lords. Some of them were already casting curious looks in his direction, noting his private conversation with Roose Bolton. "They're displeased and resentful over your decision to pledge loyalty to the queen ahead of them. And the Stark family remains your liege lord in nam...
2025-01-29 17:40:54 +0000 UTC View Post