Chapter 60: Chapter 60
Kings Landing.
Once the bustling capital city of the Seven Kingdoms, now a shell of its former self. Since Cyrus had decided to wipe out the shit smelling city and announced its destruction, many had left the capital city, some for good while others planned to return to see what magical city the King planned to create.
However not everything was going smoothly, the High Septon as well as those under him were adamant that the city must not be destroyed. It was their seat of power since Aegon the Conqueror took power.
They had seen a drop in their power and influence ever since the first attack of the dead, especially with how fierce the creature looked and with how easily it had dispatched not only small folk but seasoned knights in its first assault. Then to top it all off the battle between Lord Marrowgar and the now King Cyrus was like a final nail in the coffin for the Faith of the Seven.
A Northern Lord who worshipped the Old Gods had not only dispatched the creature, not just thru his own strength but the display of magical power he welded could only be described as Holy. They had tried to discredit him as a barbarian and heretic but this only drove many away, especially ones who were there or were closely related to ones who were.
The divine abilities shown by not only King Cyrus but also those around him were unmistakable. Even the healing that was done by them after the creature had been defeated was like none recorded before.
The only saving grace for the Faith of the Seven was they were still being backed by the Citadel, Maester Pycelle and many of the Maester's had tried to discredit magic. They had tried to claim it was blood magic and that the Northerners had allowed the creature to attack first in order for blood to be spilt for them to use their magic.
The Citadel as a whole was in worse shape than all others. For years they had fought to eradicate magic from the realm of the Seven Kingdoms, they had plotted against the Targaryen bloodline by poisoning the pregnancies of any woman carrying the blood of the dragon. They felt magic had no part in their world all due to the fact they themselves couldn't use it.
Within the empty Red Keep a meeting of multiple Maesters was being held to try to salvage the situation they found themselves in.
Maester Pycelle led the meeting, "As I am sure you all have surmised things have gone from bad to worse. Not only have we lost all contact with the North after they removed the Maester's from their stations as advisers to the Lords and replaced them with Red Priests and so called mages, now we are beginning to see many southern Lords beginning to do the same." Pycelle began as he looked at the six other Maesters that sat around the table.
"Aye, this can't continue. But what else is there we can do? We have already tried using the High Sparrow to drive a wedge between the new King and the people but this isn't catching on as we had hoped. Had that battle not happened in full view of thousands then it wouldn't have been an issue. A Stark King isn't good for any of us, they reject the Seven adamantly and even turned down the ceremony to crown him by the Seven." One Maester spoke up with annoyance clearly in his voice.
"I had thought at first it was for the best that they refused since it could bring about much doubt into the peoples hearts since all other kings were crowned by the Seven. However it would seem the people have no doubt of his Kingship and abide by his decrees. Seeing this city as it is now is clear proof of this." Another spoke out his thoughts.
"The only way to fix this would be to back another for the throne. But the issue is who. Stannis conceded and Tommen is currently sided with the Starks as well. Daenerys too has joined with the Starks so asking her to take the throne back would be futile, besides that would just be putting the dragon back on the throne making all our previous efforts in vain." Another spoke out about his take on the matter.
Seeing this meeting not going anywhere Pycelle banged on the table to get their attention back onto him, "Enough! All we are doing is focusing on the issues at hand, we need solutions, not to voice out the problems we face. We know what obstacles are before us, we need solutions my brother's, that is what we are here to discuss. Now, I do have it on good authority that the Iron Bank would be willing to loan the Citadel a large force of mercenaries to us, however as we know this is merely to keep us at odds with one another but I feel a small group should suffice if we use them correctly." Pycelle stated as he scanned the others responses.
"Aye, that could work. A large force would be easily seen and could be defended against, but why would they offer to help? Besides keeping the strength of the Seven Kingdoms from growing too rampant wouldn't they still want to assist in getting rid of those foul creatures? Do they honestly think that they will just remain here in Westeros after they have killed us all?" One of the Maesters asked while shaking his head in disbelief.
Pycelle nodded his head and answered, "You speak correctly. Many of them across the sea do believe that the threat won't cross the Narrow Sea, after all the Wall had stopped them for years and not once have they crossed the waters to get south of the wall. But the main reason they have offered to back us is under the condition that whomever we place back on the throne will repay the debt that the previous king had accrued against them. The Starks apparently made a few million gold in payments to the Iron Bank and informed them that they will not pay the rest, if they desire the rest they should look for Lord Petyr Baelish since he was the one who requested the loans. They stated he didn't have the backing of the crown to request those additional loans at such high interest. So of course the Iron Bank wants to back a king who will pay."
"Preposterous, I can't believe I'm saying this, but I agree with the Starks on this matter. The man cheated all of the Lords and Ladies he delt with and purposely put every kingdom in the red." Another spoke out, his family had suffered greatly due to its dealing with Littlefinger and had lost quite a few businesses to him.
Seeing many of the Maesters nod in agreement Pycelle couldn't help but release a long sigh and responded, "Aye, however we are getting off topic again. We need a response to the Stark issue, the debt to the Iron Bank can be handled after we have secured a resolution to our more pressing matter. Magic is returning and it's resurgence is from the North. There is talk of a place within Winterfell that people are brought which grants them abilities, this should be our focus. If we can at least destroy this place we can at least stop the spread of magic. I say we hire a small group of highly seasoned mercenaries and send them to Winterfell under the pretense that they wish to go thru the ceremony, we can even allow them to do so if they wish but they need to destroy whatever is granting this power afterwards."
All but two Maesters nodded their heads in agreement. One of them that didn't spoke up against it saying, "Is that a wise choice? I agree it should be destroyed in the end but what about those undead? From what I've gathered it does grant the ability to fight them, wouldn't us destroying it before the war with the dead is won just dropping a boulder onto our own foot?"
The other who didn't agree spoke up right after, "He speaks truth, also why not we go do the same and gain whatever power we can for ourselves. If this could grant us magical abilities why not just use it, then after the war we can destroy it."
Hearing the two the other Maesters began to ponder on their suggestion wholeheartedly. Many of them had sought a means to study and weild magic but was unsuccessful, this was why they began to shun magic and try to eradicate it. If they couldn't use it they felt no one should.
As the meeting continued day gave way to night and they contined to discuss what the best solution would be. Little did they know a medium sized fleet carrying a thousand pirates and Littlefinger himself had discreetly infiltrated the port at Kings Landing.
Due to the lack of guards and many of the common people gone, the ships were able to enter the bay and port without being detected. They disembarked their ships meeting not one bit of resistance, any who they stumbled upon were quickly dispatched whether they were armed or not.
They were able to make it half way to the Great Sept of Baelor before they had been found out, the Sept had their own guards that weren't part of the City Watch and were paid by the Sept itself rather than the crown. So even though by this time the City Watch had evacuated along with the last batch of people that willingly left the city, they had for the most part stayed.
Many did leave along with their families but most remained, but now faceing such a large invasion of pirates with no prior notice or warning caused many to meet an untimely end. Shouts rang out in the silent night, the warning bell finally began to ring out across the city informing those within of the attack.
As the pirates poured into the city they began to plunder all they could, breaking down doors and taking anything of value they could find.
Any found within these homes or businesses were either slaughtered where they stood or captured and raped, to be sold as slaves to Slavers Bay after they had their fun. None were spared, children and elderly alike, the pirates became more ruthless as they poured into the city due to the fact that not many people or valuables were left behind.
A large group attacked the Red Keep and when they came upon the Maesters they gave no quarter, Pycelle hurriedly was able to make an escape since he knew of the secret passages that were littered through out the keep. But those other Maesters weren't so lucky, half were killed instantly while trying to run while the others were captured to be ransomed back to the Citadel or be sold as slaves. Educated slaves were worth far more than ones who weren't.
Fire's began to spring up throughout Kings Landing as blood began to stain the streets red. Screams of women and children could be heard accompanied by booming laughter.
Within an hour Kings Landing was taken, Petyr Baelish began walking thru the streets, unconcerned for the plight of the people. He didn't even stop to watch anything going on, he was focused on his mission. Finding his stashes of gold he had stolen from the crown.
His steps were hurried but stable, with ease he stepped over and around bloody bodies that litered the streets. His mind racing with questions, he had already been to a couple of his hidden stashes to find them empty of everything except for a strange device that made a ticking sound which laid in the middle of the room.
It held multiple cylindrical tubes all wrapped together and looked common. Not worth anything. He was now on his way to the next stash location, panic building with each step he took.
Upon arriving and finding the same as the others, he stood there in silence taking deep breaths trying to calm his mind. The sound of the ticking seemed to help him think. He began to study the device again, thinking he may just take it since the sound was actually pleasant now that he stopped to think. Before he thought it an annoyance due to his gold being gone, but he found the sound relaxing and steady giving him something to help him calm down.
Taking a seat he began to think of what else he could do, he felt that the other places had also been found so continuing on would be futile. Little did he know that the two weeks Cyrus had given the residents to leave were about up.
As Petyr sat to think of his options enjoying the calming ticking that dominated his hearing, a massive explosion rocked the city causing Petyr to jump out of his chair in fright. Just as he wondered what caused such a sound another went off, this one seemed louder than the last. Dust from the shelves hung in the air from the rattling of the walls, just as Petyr was about to leave to see what was going on outside the ticking sound stopped and was replaced by a buzzing sound.
Walking over to the device with a questioning look, before he could arrive to investigate the change, it too exploded. Petyr Baelish didn't even know what happened as he was engulfed in the explosion killing him instantly.
Weekly Power Status
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Ranking 
-- Power
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