Chapter 21: Mother Rhoyne
...Pov: Gared...
The ships sailed with a steady pace upriver, the crew was silent, only the sound of the oars hitting the water and the wind picking up on the sails, the new sailors on their first voyage, were scrubbing the decks, while the other's older ones on the ship keep watch on the water with their crossbows or taking care of the sails.
"So what do you think we are doing here?" asked Fir beside me while he scrubbed the deck.
"How should I know Fir? go ask the captain or lord Palestars and let me focus on my work."
"Are you crazy? If I go question them I might never be able to sail another warship in my life."
"Well, then shut up and scrub."
...
On our fifth day of sailing on the river, I find myself writing a letter, ha, I writing, just the thought of it is still fun for me, but Lord Palestars said that the letters we write would be delivered to our loved ones, and I was dammed if I don't believe him.
"Dorea my love, it has been at least 3 moons since we saw each other since I left the moat, my heart aches with your absence from my side, but all men must serve, I learned that phrase in Lys.
I saw a lot more of the world than I expect I would ever see, and even so, I know I barely saw anything.
The river we are sailing right now is called Mother Rhoyne, and is where the Dornish come from, is the biggest river I ever saw in my life, I can't see the shore on either side,6 miles in width is what I heard Lord Palestars say to the captain.
We sail upriver, to find sunken treasures or that is what our lord told us, I cannot lie to you, my courage fails me every time I think we're approaching the Sorrows, is where the stone men live, where the greyscale first started, a dangerous place, but it matters not, no freezing cold or scorching sun will stop me from going back to your arms.
With all the love in the world
Gared."
I finish writing my letter, then I go and knock on the cabin of Lord Palestars.
"Enter please" I hear his voice from inside, I gently open the door and enter the cabin, inside is Lord Palestars, his accompanying Maester, and the woman he brought from Lys they are looking at a board on the table, the woman is writing on it.
"This one is wrong, the sentence when written like that, will sound like this," he speaks in the Lyseni tongue, and the woman frow and say.
"I see"
"Well, now you're saying I see instead of I look, so that's progress on your speech" The woman blushes lightly, Lord Palestars looking in my direction says.
"Ah, a letter, come give it here." I take off my hat and approach and give him the letter.
"and to whom is this to?" he asks
"It's to my sweetheart back at the Moat my lord, Dorea is her name, she lives by the first golden grove, there is a bakery butcher beside our house," I explain where she can be found.
"I need to start putting numbers on the houses," he said while folding the parchment.
"Well, my good man, don't worry for a minute, this letter will find your wife." he smiles at me.
"I thank my lord, but she is not yet my wife, I will ask her as soon as we return from this voyage," I say to him, his smile fades and he says.
"Well, shit," he answers.
...
on the eighth day of travel, we saw some ruins of smaller towns, and some fisher villagers the people seem curious about the ships, but they kept their distance.
on the ninth day, I was fishing by the railing with some other sailors, when I see one of the men in the crow's nest come down and run to the captain and then to the cabin of lord Palestars, soon after both come out and go to the aftercastle to talk with the captain, they all look to behind the ship.
"They saw something behind our ship," I say to my fellow sailors and we all look over the railing to see what is behind our ship, and there wasn't much besides water and a small island some distance behind.
"Well they need their eyes checked, maybe that's why the captain called lord Palestars."one of the sailors says and he gets slapped in the head by another man.
"We didn't pass through an island though," Fir said.
Silence reigns in our small group, I look again, it's following us! we were all fishing in the railing we would have seen that island, if we passed by it.
"TO YOUR POSTS YOU SEA RATS, WE HAVE A PROBLEM COMMING ON OUR REAR!" the captain screams from the helm, we immediately drop everything we were doing and start arming ourselves, I was responsible for one of the syphons, so I got up to the weapon and lighted up the pilot flame.
I see the Dauntless by our right side break our formation and go further away to the right, Burning sea by our left does the same, why is that? Are they leaving us? I start to panic.
"Pay attention to the syphon and nothing else boy." I heard the voice of the sailor manning the other syphon, Arthur, the first-mate, he was one of the sailors that were on the first voyage of the Relentless.
"T-they are leaving us."
"They leave because they have to, look behind us." I look behind and the many olwguard start to fill the deck and I see on the helm, Captain Morgan and Lord Palestars, they look as calm as they can be.
"See them, you are only allowed to be afraid when they are."
I look to the front and take a deep breath, I hold the trigger of the syphon and wait for a command of my captain or my lord.
We slowly but surely start to change our course, once we were going straight upriver but now we are sideways, in this position we can only use one of the syphons, but Lord Palestars said it would be enough, the creature is getting closer, and from my view, I can see our two other ships coming back by the sides of the creature.
This thing is enormous probably bigger than our ship and now is close enough to through spears at it, the last of the crew goes below deck, and only the owlguard fills the upper deck now, dark grey clouds form on the skies above our ship, and the clap of thunder can be heard, what the fuck is going on.
Sudley a gigantic head flies out of the water and falls on the deck, the demon finally stroked, its giant mouth had no teeth but it crushed completely the four owlguards that were caught in the bite, the ship start to tip to the side because of the weight of the creature.
"FIRE" I hear my captain order.
HSSSSSS
The hissing sound of the tongue of flame fills the air as the liquid fire hits the monster on the face, it roars in pain as it burns part of its face.
The owl guard on the deck starts to hit it with their spears, and the creature starts to rear back and out of our now tipping ship when I hear the rapid sound of drums approaching it gets louder and louder, and while that happens the creature snaps another two owl guards and crunch them.
The Burning Sea at full speed hits the creature and impales it by its side with its ram, the water once a sapphire blue turns into a livid crimson, and the Burning Sea living up to its name starts to spit fire on it.
The creature now screams in pain as the sounds of more drums approach as a second ship hit the creature on the other side and it cries in pain.
the creature trash around but to no use, there are now two ships impaling it by the sides, snapping its maw and shaking its paws trying to escape the rams and leave the deck of our ship, the humble of the thunder sound once again in the clouds and a bolt of lightning come out of the dark skies and hit the creature killing it.
the crew start to leave the lower deck a, I'm still digesting all that happened when I hear lord Palestars command.
"Rope it up, we will bring it to the shore and see the damage to the ships."
it took the three ships carrying the damn thing to make sure it didn't sink in the water an hour later and we were ashore with the giant creature, we disembark and we start to chop some trees to fix the upper deck of the Relentless, after lord Palestars fixed the damage of the ships he used the leftover of the wood and made tables for us, later that day we ate a meal that was perhaps the best meal I ate and will ever eat, the meat of the creature.
"By all the gods that are, how can food taste so good?" Fir asked me while he stuffed his face with the meat, I have been eating a lot more meat since lord Palestars took command of the moat, especially rabbit meat, some pork and beef, but this meat is just far superior, is the kind of meat a king should eat, it melts in the mouth and is so juicy, is divine.
"In my homeland, we had a similar animal, a lot smaller called the Galapagos giant tortoise, I unfortunately never tasted one but is supposed to be the most delicious meat there was, if tasted anything like this, well I believe the stories that it was eaten to extinction" I hear Lord Palestars down the table say to the Maester.
"It is a common theory that the first war between the freehold of Valyrian and the Rhoynar was fought because they killed one of these turtles, that's why is called the first turtle war, maybe they killed it to eat it." the maester said.
"Wars started for less, Good thing the Rhoynar are not here anymore."
...Pov:Antares Palestars...
"My lord, we approach Chroyane," Marwyn said by my side, I see in the distance the mist covering the ruins of the city, big towers in spirals and domes half hidden between the thick mist, the city is fucking big, bigger than Lys and White Harbor together.
"Where should we start? any Suggestions Marwyn?"
"Maybe the Palace of Sorrow would be a good start, half of it is underwater, but it was the Palace of Garin the Great. many artefacts may still hide under the waters away from the reach of scavengers."
"A good suggestion, A small host will accompany us, 10 owlguards, the rest will shore the warships and fortify their positions, and do their best to not disturb the locals."
"Wise course of action my lord, it would be best to be discreet on this cursed land."
...
We slowly sail through the mist, with nothing much to see, unfortunately, the mist is too thick and the sun is covered by it as well given the silent city and eery and dark feeling, of solitude and Sorrow.
The moisture in the air and the heat make for a very uncomfortable experience, Haella locked herself in the cabin and refused to leave, she even covered the windows with cloth, maybe I should let her in Lys and only take her on the way back, well it is done now.
We sail through the marble houses and sleek high spiral towers, covered in dark vines and grey moss, the architecture here has a light semblance of the dornish, but the dornish is a cheap copy when compared to this, the deeper we sail in the city less inundated are the streets, soon it won't be possible for our ship to sail further.
I hear a man say from the railing by the right of the ship.
"Look at that building, on the left!" I turn my eyes to the building that the man pointed to and see a silhouette flee from my vision, great, we have been noticed already, I expected it to happen, we do have two torches lit up on the aftercastle of the ship so the Dauntless and the Burning Sea can follow us through the thick mist.
"My lord to our front to the left, Looks like a dock of some kind, we could anchor our ships there and put to use the place, fortify the entrances." the captain said as we arrive at an intersection, in front of us is a thick tributary of the Mother Rhoyne or a built canal, on the other side on the less sunk portion of the city is the dock he mentioned by its side a massive statue is sunk in the river, we were probably sailing on a street that ended on the river but now is all under water.
"How far we are from the palace Marwyn?" I ask
"Can't really say, my lord, not too far, maybe less than two hours of rowing."
"I see, captain we will be going with your Idea, signal the other ships."
I send Starchaser to check and It's a decent size dock on a small island, and it could hold four ships, there is a 3m wall surrounding the place with a gatehouse on the front, it's far from a perfect state but we can patch the holes, there were some warehouses that could also accommodate my men.
"Bring us in, sailors prepare to pull the ship into dry land, owlguards be ready to make a perimeter around the ships"
...Pov: Gared...
The owlguard jump off the ship onto the shallow water, shield and spear in hand, they form a semi-circle around the ship, I hear someone say "Go" and I jump out of the ship in the cold dark water, they throw a rope out of the ship and we started pulling, it takes some time but all three ships are now docked.
Man that was tiring, I sit on a crate while the others bring the supplies out of the ship, I hope some of that is still left some turtle meat.
A Lowgbow is dropped on my lap I look up and see Arthur.
"You have been to the halls of knowledge, right? You know how to use one of those, come we will search the rest of the islet."
"S-search for what?"
"Any bridges that come here, any supplies and any enemy close by."
"Just us?" I ask anxious.
"What, no, the owlguard will come with us." He points at the 3 owlguard standing guard close by.
"Lord Palestars told me at the search's parties will have a portion of what is left of turtle meat." I was on my feet before I realised.
Arthur laughs loudly at that "Let us go the sooner we finish this the sooner we eat."
...
Besides the wall of the dock, many destroyed houses filled the rest of the islet, which is a really creepy sight, especially with the fog so dense we walked for some time and found a bridge it was destroyed though, on our way back we saw something.
"Look over there!"Arthur whispers and points with his crossbow to the end of the street, there was a hunched figure on the main road, a low whine comes from him, he is wearing rags and trembling.
"Stone man," Arthur says, fuck.
"W-what we're going to do?"
"Stupid question, kill him, he probably lost his mind to greyscale, it's better to not have him so close to our ships."
"And if he didn't! He could still have his mind."
"Pfff, Then consider this a mercy to let him die with his mind still sane." he loads his crossbow and starts to approach, the owlguard advance and stay between us and the man, I cringe at the loud sound of their boots in this quiet place.
The man's head snapped in our direction, he was a valyrian descendant, with purple eyes and white hair, half of his face covered in greyscale, he started to wail and then scream, then he started to run in our direction with fury.
Arthur fires his crossbow and the bolt hits the charging man in the shoulder, he staggered but didn't stop, I knock an arrow, just like in the moat, aim small miss small, I release, the arrow leaves the bow flies through the air and hit the man in the cheek, it gets stuck there between the greyscale hardened skin, it doesn't stop him.
He reaches us and jumps on the shields of the Owlguard, might as well have jumped face-first on a wall, he is pushed back by the owlguard and falls to the ground, then he is impaled by three spears two in the torso one in the head.
This is crazy and I thought the turtle was scary, to think that a touch of this madman would turn me into one of them.
Arthur is keeping watch around us for me to gather my thoughts, passed a moment he says.
"Lets us go we have to finish our job."
"Yes."
...
As we arrive back at the dock we see many small teams of sailors fix the wall to the better of their ability under the guard of owlguards, and I can see them all even the ones further away, Where is the mist? I look behind me the end of the street is filled with that heavy fog that permeates the city but here there is none.
We enter the dock compound and see a white tree with golden leaves proud and tall, defying the mist and darkness, I approach the tree and everything that worries me goes away, even in this cursed place I feel safe, under the protection of our gods.
... Antares Palestars...
Yup, I turned the old gods into a drug, I look at the sailors gathering around the weirwood tree, the content faces and smiles of relief, also it has some kind of protection against magic, it seems that Garin's curse was real after all, the mist is probably part of it, or maybe the mist is the influence of mother Rhoyne and my tree keeps it at bay, not a large area of effect, maybe more trees, well for now better than nothing.
I look around the walled dock now properly defended, I used Move Earth to dig a trench along the wall and
"What are they doing? They are praying to a tree you grew?" Haella who I managed to leave the cabin ask.
"The old gods of the forest inhabit those trees, that's why they are praying to it."
"Oh, that's why they look so happy."
"Is one of the reasons, yes, the other is...come with me" I bring her by the hand, down from the ship and closer to the tree.
"What are you doin... Oh, oh that feels nice, what is this?
"The old gods, lifting your burdens off you," I say
"It's incredible." She says with a blissful expression.
"Maybe we could..."
"MY LORD COME QUICK!" I hear some yell from the gatehouse.
"Go to the ship," I say to Haella she nods and runs there.
I walk to the gatehouse where many men are grouped with their weapons, I go up to the second floor Marwyn and the captains are there.
"Look."
I look out of our compound and see far away a figure in the mist, tall and slender, a black hooded long cloak covering everything from sight, the mist seems to circle and embrace him.
"The shrouded lord," Marwyn says
" Who?" I ask
"A mysterious figure that some say is the leader of the stone men, some say it is Garin the Great himself, raised from the grave, seems we attracted more attention than we thought, he might be a problem."
"Nonsense, we have the most powerful sorcerer in the world by our side, and I didn't find anything that Greek fire didn't burn." Said, Bradburn, oh you flatterer you, the sailors cheered to that.
The figure is enveloped by the mist and disappears like it wasn't there in the first place, mist starts to thicken and spread more but it seems to hit an invisible wall when it tries to cross the area of influence of my tree.
"All men shall stay inside the walls at all times, going into the mist without me is strictly forbidden." A series of ayes were said, better not lose men out there.
...
I used fabricate on some stones I found to make a 3m long sleet of rock, which is smooth and plain and very easy to draw on it, I put the sleet on the last floor of the Relentless where only the owlguard stay, there I draw a teleportation circle on the stone, and when it lights up, I knew I discovered a way to cheese the teleportation circle, no more month-long voyages, now all I have is to send the ship where I want and when they arrive I teleport to the ship.
"Marwyn I will take Haella to a safe place, tomorrow we will start our exploration, if my presence is necessary use your glass candle."
"Understood my lord."
I took Haella to our cabin and waited for her to fall asleep, I will keep the circle teleportation a secret, just to make sure she does not let slip on accident.
...
Ah finally home, the moat already feels like home, it has been a year already, more or less.
I put Haella in my bed, then I warn some servants that are still awake about her status, I also give them the letters of the sailors so they may deliver them for me.
and I gonna take what is left of the night to deal with some of the Paperwork and mail I have, yes paperwork, it is inevitable, be from my own people or other nobles everybody wants something, marriage contracts, asking for paintings, health problems, supplies for the school, space for buildings, more enchanted groves on the city, more ships, its a lot, but time is something I currently have.
Sometime later the glass candle grow bright on the table, I immediately run to the teleportation circle and teleported to the ship, while I move up I can hear screams and running, up on the deck chaos, I leave the lower deck and see the sailors on the railing pulling other people up and the ship is adrift, I grab a sailor and ask, he is soaking wet.
"What in all the hells is happening?"
"o-oh! My lord, a-it was a wave, it came out of nowhere it took down the wall, and flooded the place, the captain is hurt." I nod and move to the railing.
The dock is in fact flooded, the water is running from the other side of the island, and the wall was felled by the water, my weirwood tree is still strong and now holds at least 10 guys on its branches, Marwyn in there as well, the other two ships are further away in the river.
"BACK TO YOUR POSTS SAILORS NOW, OWLGUARD TO THE OARS APPROACH THE SHIP TO THE TREE, AND SOMEONE BRING ME TO THE CAPTAIN," I say using Thaumartugy to augment my voice, which snapped them back into shape and they started to move like the well-oiled machine they were trained to be.
"My lord follow me, I will take you to the wounded." a man said and followed him to the captain's cabin, there were many wounds, from half-drowned to splinters on diverse parts of the body to straight impalement, concussions and many other, 13 men are here.
Its go time, First I have to take care of the more critical one so I use Telekinesis to remove anything obstructing the healing, like the wood stake on the guy's guts, it had to be a fast cast, so I yank the wood parts and cast mass Cure Wounds.
The effect is instant as soon as the wood flies out the wound start to close, I see the flesh expanding and filling the space, I can see the guy's stomach grow back inside him through the hole, how crazy is that?
I check the other guys and is mostly superficial, so I go back outside, the crew and the owlguard have already brought the ship close enough to the tree for the people to jump down on the deck.
"MY LORD LOOK! ON THE RIVER!" for fuck sake what is it now, I look to Mother Rhoyne and this time in the middle of the river, between the heavy fog the same cloaked figure,The shrouded lord, he spread his arms and the fog engulfs him again.
"fucker"
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