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[NSFW] - The Reign of Aerys II 'the Strange' Targaryen (SI/R34 Team Builder)

(Aerys' Journal)
Goddammit, my life was smooth sailing up until now!
Why in the world did this happen? Wasn't it supposed to be the norm that a self-insert was supposed to enjoy the perfect riajuu life, enjoys absolute power, and spend every day enjoying sexy time with hot girls?!
I mean, yeah, I knew this place was fucking Westeros. Why the hell did you think I spend a long time grinding my Gamer stats to level 40 with standard shounen training, spars, and the occasional errand quests? Still though, isn't this a bit too much?!
Was it karma or something? I did mind-control people, so it's understandable if an almighty God and/or whatever Will of the World is functioning in Westeros frowned upon my violation of free will and decided to give me a kick in the shin, but give a break here! I'm still somewhat of a decent guy! I didn't do any of the crazy fucked up shit other people would have done with my powers!
Yes, I did brainwash all the Targaryens and the people entering Red Keep to see me as the ideal good prince. But I didn't do anything more than that! Hell, I didn't even use my power to take over the kingdom, steal any of the crown's money, or do any other fuckery that any evil protagonist would do once they get power. Just because I am only acting the part of a good prince, that doesn't mean I'm an evil, terrible one! My alignment is True Neutral, and I will stick to it to the end of time!
Yes, I did make Rhaella fall in love with me. But let's be honest here. Before I got isekai'd, Rhaella was a miserable girl who has the impossible dream to explore the world and felt trapped by her role as a princess. With that attitude, her life is destined to be a tragedy. Binding her was a way for me to save her life!
Yes, I sometimes erased people's memories whenever they caught Rhaella, Sarya, and me in a scandalous pose. That's not a crime. That's the proper use for mind control powers! Besides, I haven't even used my powers to have sex with any other women aside from Rhaella and Sarya. Mostly because some of the women here are the uninspiring and plain sort that's completely off my type.
Except for Jenny of Oldstones and my mother, I guess. They're really hot. But I don't do NTR as a principle and I don't want the insult motherfucker to be validated upon my person.
That sort of morality in my partner selection still counts as good karma, right?
…Goddammit. What am I doing with writing these rants?
This entire thing is dumb. Plots and schemes are stupid, and writing about it is a waste of time. Conspiracies have far too many complicated plots and it's only popular when politics got really fucked up so everyone poke their noses at it and invented a bunch of stuff to make it more exciting. I should have just spent my time doing more rounds of sex with Rhaella and Sarya. Everyone likes sex and lewd stuff. Hey, imaginary forum pods people, spend more time reading and writing sex and lewds.
…
(Several Pages Later)
Alright, I'm calm.
I'll start writing more details on the current situation. This entire thing was already filled with way too much nonsense, weird soliloquy, and incomprehensible rants. At the very least, I gotta make this whole writing somewhat more readable.
To start, the smallfolk called that mess The Green Inferno.
A tad dramatic, I think. Then again, the people in Westeros always prefer the more dramatic names.
Two out of three people living in King's Landing were dead, the most notable of which was Lord Symon Darklyn, who was visiting the city to discuss the matter of Duskendale's taxations, and the Kingsguard Ser Gwayne Gaunt, who was slain by a nearby explosion when he was inspecting the situation. Half of King's Landing was torched to the ground, and the land from Flea Bottom to River Row was now nothing but rubble. All in all, it was one hell of a fucked up mess.
Luckily, it's not my mess to deal with. It was my grandfather's, who would have suffered a stroke if not from my Stress Defense protecting his vigor. I was but a mere prince who had nothing to do with this entire thing.
In fact, you could say I profited the most from the Green Inferno. None of my close associates and 'close associates' were killed or injured in the event. The massive deaths of the inhabitants of King's Landing meant a vacuum of opportunities, starting from the economic consequence of being in the perfect spot to start monopolizing property rights to influencing some of the architects to make the city far more bearable. The Throne's coffers would also take a massive hit to rebuild the city, and some of my contracted merchants and other hidden enterprises could use the chance to offer a loan at a favorable rate. I would need to do a great amount of work for damage control and reconstruction, but it was plain logistics and administration, and with my stats and skills, I was far, far better at them than anyone in this world.
Best of all, I got some brownie points for my noble street rep when I jumped into the fray, despite the dangers to my royal person, planning the relief aid, shifting through the rubbles for survivors and helping with the firebreaks.
I mean, I have some magical defenses that protected me from heat, and with a bit of telekinesis, I could push away any wildfire or force any wildfire that touched me to fade away. So you couldn't say I was in danger at any point.
All in all, the Green Inferno, despite the surprise and loss of life, had proven to be a massive boon for me.
So why, you imaginary readers might ask, was I complaining in a rant about it?
Well, first off, there's the problem with Sarya's Wildfire Elemental experiment.
It got me into a mess, true. But I did get a significant experience from it and Sarya's intervention and control over the Elemental also meant that I was never in any danger. The thing was still creepy and terrifying as fuck though, and made it really hard to maintain the masquerade that magical bullshit doesn't exist.
The other, much bigger problem, was Bonifer Hasty.
Good god, Bonifer Hasty. What a thing that Sarya managed to spring on me.
[hr][/hr]
(Ser Willem Hatch)
"The Muddy Way is lost," Ser Duncan the Tall concluded grimly, "We need to move the perimeter surrounding Sept of Baelor and the Fishmonger's Square."
"Dammit," Prince Aerys sighed, "We've turned dozens of houses into rubble, and it still wasn't enough."
"Oh, the firebreak was effective. The wildfire has been contained, and we only need to wait for it to die down. Unfortunately, wildfire's not the only threat," Ser Duncan said, "The smoke kills much more than the flames. And the Muddy Way was drowned with smog."
"Aye, I've seen more corpses choked out of their lungs than burned to death," Prince Duncan Targaryen added, "I tell you, nephew, that's not the right way to die."
"There's no right way to die, my prince. Once you're dead, you're dead." Lord Ambrose Cox said, in a maudlin mood, "What happens after is up to the Gods."
"Any word on the search for the pyromancers?" Prince Duncan asked Ser Duncan the Kingsguard. Gods, their names are confusing.
"None, Prince Duncan," The Kingsguard answered, "No trace of any pyromancers' present in the city, aside from the corpses found by Captain Jon Rivers. It's as if they disappeared out of thin air."
"They'll pay for this," Prince Aerys muttered darkly.
"In due time, Aerys." Prince Duncan calmly assured his nephew.
"Message, milord!"
A runner came into our temporary command center, which was nothing but a square on the upper level of the Hook. It had some stone for seating and a table was brought with maps of King's Landing, denoting areas of wildfire spreading from Flea Bottom. All the four people responsible for coordinating the emergency outbreak of wild fire were here, with five other knights and sworn swords as guards — including me — along with the occasional scribes, sergeants, and other aides who passed on their orders.
Ser Duncan the Tall had been dispatched by King Aegon to lead the relief effort, along with Prince Duncan as a representative of the Crown, Ambrose Cox who was strangely fascinated with architecture for a lord, and Prince Aerys who volunteered to help despite the protests of everyone in the royal family.
All four of them were also clearly exhausted and slumped into their seats. Hours before, all of us had been caught by surprise by the second explosions and had gone into the scene of the disaster directly. Everyone of us, highborn or not, began pulling up rubbles and dragging the survivors and wounded to safety. It was inspiring in some ways. If only it was not accompanied by the wails, tears, and screams of the dead and dying.
The runner bowed and gave a missive to Ser Duncan the Tall. The Kingsguard checked the missive for safety then passed it to Prince Duncan, who frowned heavily as he read the content.
"Another complaint from the landowners," He clicked his tongue, passing the letter to Prince Aerys, "Put it with the others. I'm done dealing with these idiots."
"Which landowners, my prince?" Lord Cox asked.
"Cobbler's Square," Prince Duncan answered, "I'm beginning to think that using the sword might have been the better solution here, nephew."
The idea of turning buildings to rubble to halt the spread of fire was an old one, but nobles and landowners were always leery of destroying their property. When news of wildfire from Flea Bottom first began, even Prince Duncan encountered some problem as belligerent landowners were outraged because they were forced to, as one of them had colorfully put it, 'sacrifice their home and hearth for the pigs in the slums who probably mistaken wildfire for a luxury drink'.'
Everyone of the escorts were really itching to draw our swords right then and there.
Prince Duncan's appeal to their common sense — such as the fact that the wildfire would surely spread unless extreme measures were taken — had proven less than effective. Prince Aerys' written promise of generous compensation by the Iron Throne was far better accepted. I noticed that the people who protested and who eventually took Prince Aerys' offer were mostly merchants and burghers. What a bunch of copper counting leech. These bastards know very little of honor.
I couldn't help but feel that it might have been preferable to just draw the sword and force them into compliance. Lord Ambrose Cox voiced my complaint. Yet Prince Aerys, kind-hearted soul that he is, insisted that angering the burghers would cause even further damage to the city.
Then the second series of explosions began and we'd found out that further damage to the city was always inevitable.
"With respect, Prince Duncan," Ser Duncan the Tall said to the prince who had been given his name, "Using swords to settle a dispute in the middle of a disaster of epic proportions would greatly anger His Grace."
"No, my uncle has a point, Ser Duncan," Prince Aerys replied almost absent-mindedly, "I am perfectly aware that I've set a precedent I could not turn away from. The coffer will take a massive dent, one it could not afford in the middle of this disaster, and I would be the one responsible for it."
"Responsibility, huh," Prince Duncan gloomily smiled, "Be careful with how you use the word, Aerys"
"Don't worry, nuncle. I'll try not to start a war with the Baratheons, or all the other kingdoms," Aerys answered.
I winced. Prince Duncan the Small was infamous for his marriage with Jenny of Oldstones and his subsequent abdication of all his rights to the Iron Throne. Unfortunately, Prince Duncan was once betrothed to Melessa Baratheon, and the breaking of that bond was seen as a betrayal by her father Lord Lyonel Baratheon, who waged war to avenge her honor.
My liege lord's statement was a harsh one, and judging by how Lord Cox tried his best to pretend he doesn't exist and how Ser Duncan the Kingsguard's face quickly turned stoic, the two of them obviously thought the same. Did the two princes have a terrible relationship with each other? But then Prince Duncan cheerily laughed.
"Only you, nephew," Duncan the Small smiled, "You'd never let that one go, would you?"
"Never," Prince Aerys wolfishly grinned, "How are we supposed to learn if no one points out our mistakes?"
"Hah. Too true. Now which book did you quote that from?"
"Not one you'd ever know," Prince Aerys shrugged, "You never read a book in your life, nuncle."
"And if I never see another letter again, it'd be a life well spent," Prince Duncan replied.
Prince Aerys looked at his uncle as if he just declared himself a worshipper of the Lord of the Seven Hells.
"All the japes aside. I've learned my mistakes well, my favorite nephew," Prince Duncan turned serious, "And one of the things I've learned is when others made mistakes just as terrible as mine."
"Such as the time some pricks in the Alchemists Guild set off a bunch of wildfire caches in the middle of King's Landing?" Aerys sarcastically asked.
"No," Prince Duncan denied, "I've a feeling this is worse than the war with the Stormlands and we're only at the precipice of the coming crisis." He sighed, "What in the world were those pyromancers thinking?"
"Eh, fire worshippers were rarely known for their sanity," Prince Aerys shrugged.
Prince Duncan made to reply. But then a runner was allowed in, cutting off his words.
"Message milords!" The messenger yelled.
Ser Duncan the Tall retrieved the missive and checked it. He frowned, "For you, Prince Aerys. From the King."
That was strange. A message to Prince Aerys? Not Prince Duncan?
Prince Aerys blinked, "Alright, hand it over, Ser Duncan."
It was a very long missive, such that it consisted of several pages. It took the prince several minutes to read in its entirety and his look alternated between surprise, anger, befuddlement, and finally resignation. Needless to say, everyone in the command center was greatly curious about what was written.
Finally, Prince Aerys stopped reading. He sighed deeply as if he just aged several years at the moment.
"So, nephew," Prince Duncan started slowly, "What did father write in that letter?"
"Not him. It's Sarya," Prince Aerys said absentmindedly.
"What?" Lord Cox asked, breaking his silence.
The prince blinked, then he looked around at our incredulous look and groaned, "Son of a bitch, me and my big mouth."
"Nephew, what-..."
Prince Aerys waved his hand and everything blurred.
—- —-- —-- —-- —-
"So, nephew," Prince Duncan started slowly, "What did father write in that letter?"
"What you might have expected," Prince Aerys answered absentmindedly, "A royal command asking for our status report, priority to save as many lives as we can and to prevent any murder and looting, telling me I am welcome to return to Red Keep if I wanted to, and some secret missives meant only for my eyes."
"The secret missive was the only thing that surprised me about my father."
"It's probably something made under the suggestion of the Hand of the King, that man was always the pragmatic type," My liege lord went silent and thought to himself for a moment, then he sighed and spoke to himself. "Fuck it. Let's just go all the way. Monetary compensations for unforeseen disasters would be a tough sell to the lords and the small council. Might need to cut my morning practice a bit."
I did not know what led to that decision, or what Prince Aerys had seemingly decided by himself, but I couldn't care less as I let out a small cheer deep inside my heart and celebrated the small silver linings of the situation.
"Monetary compensations, eh?" Prince Duncan said, "Something to do with the crown's coffers and your ideas? Father always said you had a talent for sums, Aerys. "
"Something like that," Prince Aerys replied ambiguously, "Lord Cox, you've held a Maester link in architecture, correct?"
"Indeed. The lead chain link is the very reason I am in this council, my prince. Well, that, and Grand Maester Merion's sickness," Lord Cox bowed, "How may I serve King Aegon?"
"You have the dubious honor to perform a grim task, Lord Cox. Preliminary damage report," Prince Aerys answered, no, ordered, "Please calculate the loss of life and the value of infrastructure loss from this incident. The crown needs to know how much coins it needs to spend to recover from this disaster."
Lord Ambrose Cox sighed, "A grim task, yet necessary nonetheless. I'll borrow some scribes and get to it, my prince."
"Please," Prince Aerys nodded, "While you do that, I'll have to form a search party to find someone. Uncle Duncan, Kingsguard Duncan, I'll leave the relief effort to your capable hands."
"Of course, Prince Aerys," Ser Duncan the Tall gave a knightly salute.
"Might I ask who you're searching for, nephew?" Prince Duncan the small asked.
"A knight by the name of Ser Bonifer Hasty," Prince Aerys said, "Just like Captain Jon Rivers, he was one of the first witnesses who visited the pyromancer's warehouse. Someone said he was caught in an explosion but managed to survive and ran. I think he has information vital to our search for the pyromancers."
…Bonifer? Wasn't that..?
Ah, fuck.
[hr][/hr]
A/N: I didn't expect the backlash about Simurgh's precog being nerfed. Which was a fair complaint, in hindsight. I mentioned that the Simurgh still had her old powers and might be even stronger now because she also dipped into magical soul bullshit. I can see why it didn't make sense for her to miss out on the pyromancers' plot.
To be fair, I only added the part about Sarya not seeing the pyromancers' plot coming because I thought it'd be a fun enough prep for a punchline joke that was supposed to be added to this chapter. Specifically, how a quantum supercomputer calculating for a thousand years could not even approach the number of stupid that passes through a man's head. There goes that idea, I guess. Shame. I wanna cribbed more jokes from Kirito!Abridged.
After that, I'd thought about doing an asspull editing at first, because I'm a consummate graduate in the field of politics and backtracking on terrible decisions is the main focus of my study. But then again, the backlash also gave me another breed of plot bunny about Sarya and her relationship with Strange!Aerys. After all, you can't expect to have a superpower killing machine transformed into a human and not expect any consequences. And it's written in the TeamBuilder that Absolute Control was a perk that could be difficult to use, so I have perfect justifications! Hurray for constructive criticism!
No, it's still not an asspull. It's adaptation. Creativity. Inspiration. Learning from the reader's feedback. You know, all those fancy things. Certainly not an asspull.
Anyway, it took a while to edit up some of my notes to account for the new asspu-...I mean plot bunny, which is why the chapter was pretty late and the part about Bonifer vs Wildfire Elemental got pushed back. I probably need to read up some of Alivaril's stuff in SV as well. They had some great stories with adorable Shard!Human QA.
Oh, and just for punctuation, I'm gonna bold out this part; Following the tradition of ASOIAF, all points of view are considered personal and unreliable. The Simurgh/Sarya is no exception.
Kinda like a disclaimer so I can point at my mistakes and say, "I'm not wrong! That's just a creative reinterpretation!"View This ThreadUnread Watched Threads
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