As I led the grand procession out through the Lion's Mouth, everyone who was anyone just had to attend the royal wedding after all, I thought back on my month as acting lord of Casterly Rock. All in all I was relatively pleased with how things had gone, even if little visible progress had been made.
The simple truth was that doing most anything impressive took time, something that was only more true in a place and time where muscle power was dominant and the eyeball was the measuring tool of choice. The first was relatively less of a problem in the Rock itself, piped water gravity fed from vast cisterns near the top of the Rock - themselves filled with pumps powered by tidal action - allowed the replacement of muscle power with water power for the vast majority of processes. It was actually one of the main reasons that the Rock dominated the steel and weapons trades, between the iron and coal mined out in the search for gold, the staggering amount of secured space free for use, and water powered forge tools the Rock had a pretty solid competitive advantage when compared to most anywhere else.
As for the measurement issue, I had solved that one using the oldest of all possible methods lordly fiat. I simply judged a centimeter as the width of my pinky tip and had a tiny little block that wide made. Using the Rock's many gold smiths I had an even hundred identical blocks within a day. Lining them up got me the official meter made out of gold and a hundred copies done up in steel with the centimeter markings etched in. Figuring out the kilogram was done by making a mold for a cube fifty cubic centimeters in size and using it to produce a gold cube. I knew that was roughly a kilogram, at least close enough that the various scientific and engineering formulas that I remembered from my other life should be accurate, and it provided an official weight. The gram was decreed as 1/1000th of that kilogram and the needed weights were produced in steel.
Once I had "accurate" measuring devices I just mandated that they were to be used in all official matters were a measurement was needed and by all of the rocks artisans. In time my standards would spread, but for now it was enough that at least those directly responsible for implementing my ideas and providing me information would be using standardized values.
Establishing standard measures was about the only project that I had completed though, even if it was a critical first step. With that in mind I thought back to a meeting in my Solar that had occurred on my fourth day at the Rock.
I had been sitting at my desk, Tyrion lounging in one of the sitting area's chairs and reading one of the Targaryen books I had looted as had been his practice ever since I kept sending servants to fetch him whenever I had a question I wanted answered, when I decided that I wasn't going to be able to figure out an entire semaphore system on my own.
I depressed the level attached to the underside of my desk, which pulled a wire run under the floor, up the wall, and ended connected to a bell in the hallway over the Solar's door. A moment later one of the two red cloaks stationed there open the door and came through, his hand on his swords pommel and eyes rapidly flitting about. "My lord?" he questioned.
"Send a servant to fetch the Maester and one of the Wisdom's, Leo." I ordered even as Tyrion looked up from his book and glanced over at me.
Once Leo had said "At once, my lord.", saluted, and departed Tyrion had said "Care to share whatever's on your mind brother?"
I leaned back in my chair, 'need to remember to talk to the artisans about a swivel chair, maybe on rails so that it can slide forward and back as well. and get a foot rest installed under my desk. yeah, it would be amusing to see Tywin's response if he came home to find I had done that to his Solar but pointlessly pissing him off is just stupid', and turned my head to look over at him. I said "I've had a thought about how to transport messages faster than ravens can but I need some help to make it a reality." even as I waved a hand for him to come over and take a seat before my desk.
He hopped up 'need to talk to the carpenter about getting a special chair made for him to' and said "Oh? And you want the Maseter to help with an idea that will undercut his orders power if it works?"
I shrugged slightly "Father owns the Grand Maester and Tyto may have been a Lannister bastard but grandfather still had him raised here at the rock before sending him off to the Citadel, he knows where his loyalties lie."
"All true, but to really replace ravens across even the Westerlands - much less the whole of Westeros - would mean that the rest of the Order is bound to find out long before you have made much headway on whatever your idea is, and the Citadel will bend their not inconsiderable political weight to opposing you." he counseled.
"I'm aware", my tone making clear that I was both undeterred and didn't much care what the opinion of the Maester's would be.
He gave a nod, clearly considering his duty as counselor to make sure I was aware of problems with my ideas done for the moment, and said "So what is this Raven replacing idea of yours then?"
"At it's most simple, to build a network of tall towers that cover the land but where each is close enough to see flags or the like from the others. If you had a flag for each different letter of the alphabet then you could spell out words one letter at a time for the next tower to copy down and then repeat on down the chain until the message reaches its goal." I explained, grossly simplifying a semaphore system so that I could be sure he understood the basic idea.
Tyrion thought for a moment before saying "If that's all then this idea is doomed. It would take far too long to spell out the messages, the weather would have to cooperate, it couldn't function at night, and you would need thousands of these towers. All for something that would probably take longer than ravens to pass on most messages."
I shook my head slightly in negation "That was just the most basic idea, to make sure you understood what I was talking about. And I've already come up with solutions to some of those problems. Here,", I pushed a piece of paper across the desk to him, "look at this."
He took the paper where I had written out my version of Morse code and had barely glanced at it before raising an eyebrow as he looked back up at me and said "A code of some type? I assume the dot and dash are just being used to represent two separate flags? That should at least cut down on how long it takes for the people raising and lowering the flags to find the right one but it would still be slowed, you are talking about multiple flags for each letter as opposed to just one."
"I was actually thinking about using a code book as well. Have a separate flag that signals that the rest are referencing the code book as opposed to representing an individual letter and then have much shorter letter combinations that represent whole words. I mean, most words aren't actually going to be used all that often." I countered.
Before he could respond though a knock occurred on the door and Tyrion's mouth shut. "Enter." I called out, raising my voice quite far to be heard through the door 'need a second signal to tell people to enter so I don't have to shout.'
Leo opened the door for Master Tyto and Wisdom Rosclin before taking his position by the door. A hand gesture had the two learned men approach the desk.
After giving them the same brief summary I had just given Tyrion I continued "One of the main problems I see with my idea is that flags are just too slow to raise and lower, not to mention that they can't be seen at night. I was actually thinking about using fire instead."
I focused fully on the Wisdom then, "Rosclin, would the Alchemists Guild be able to make me some substances that would glow brightly red or brightly green? If not those two colors, at least two distinct colors."
"I assume you don't mean powders to change the color of a flame or the like, but instead you want something like a rock that gives off colored light?" he queried.
"Yes, ideally without also giving off too much heat and with a long lifespan. Something that won't need to be replaced every day or two." I supplied in answer to his question.
"We could, green and red would actually be the easiest to produce." he said shortly, clearly hesitant to expand on his explanation with a Maester in the room.
I shook my head slightly "I need more details than that Rosclin. How safe these creations of yours are and what their lifespan is, at minimum."
He sighed "Once we have produced the appropriate powders they can be stored safely in ceramic jars without any risk. We tend to use them by filling a glass container, one that can be sealed water tight, with water and then adding the needed powders. After sealing the jar, you just shake it to ensure the powders are thoroughly mixed with one another and the water and the jar will give off light for approximately a month. The mixed substance is flammable if exposed to an open flame and air but is otherwise quite safe."
I gave a broad smile and nodded "Good, very good. Are these powders difficult, time consuming, or expensive for your order to produce?"
He shook his head in the negative "It's one of the tasks we have apprentices do, and while the needed materials aren't cheap they also aren't anything exotic or truly expensive.", he shrugged, "But until I know more about how much you would want made I won't be able to give you a price. Since I assume you want to use these in place of flags for your towers, the amount is going to be far more than we can produce easily. We will probably need to produce specialized tools to meet your likely demands, and that is likely to cost quite a number of dragons."
"Understood, once we are done here though I want you to have the needed powders for the green and red light sources gathered." I said before turning to the Tyrion.
"Tyrion, what I would like you to do is work with the Rock's various artisans to produce a signaling device to control those lights. I'm thinking something like two bulls-eye lanterns, one each with a red and green light, right next to each other and five of those pairs in a line. With a sixth pair above the rest. Once we have that we will need to see how far away a man can make out the lights, both with his eye and with a Myrish eye. We will probably need a number of light sources inside a mirrored box that reflects the light up and through a single opening, I doubt that a lone lantern source will be bright enough to be seen easily.
"Actually, focus on the mirrored boxes and reflecting the light from those up and through five separate openings. That should make refilling the light source easier, just refill the two boxes instead of having to go and replace individual lanterns. Use lens covers that can be lifted to show the red or green light from the opening pairs." I ordered, receiving a nod from my brother.
"Tytos, what I want you to do is mathematically work out what the idea height for these towers would be and use the most detailed maps of the Westerlands that we have to plot out where they should be located to provide full coverage across the Westerlands. Figure out where these towers should be built if I want to link every castle and town. I'll also want these buildings to act as watchtowers and guard posts, so factor that in as well. I want the entire shore of the Sunset Sea under observation, at least the bit that is under my fathers rule. Figure each tower will have ten men permanently stationed in it, but build for a twenty man presence.
"Figure that the towers would be built of mortared brick and provide me with a detailed breakdown of the needed materials for the whole network and estimated time to build both individual towers and the entire network. I also want you to look through all of the raven messages that the Rock has stored away and figure out what words are most commonly used in them, I'll want a list of those words ranked by usage." I explained/asked/ordered.
Tytos gave me a nod even as he sighed, clearly not the most thrilled either with my idea or the work I wanted him to do, and said "Understood Ser Jaime."
Once Tyrion and I were alone again I said to him "I forgot to ask you, what did the Alchemists say about dragonsbone and wildfire?"
Tyrion started a bit at the abrupt change in subject, blinked, and said "That it doesn't burn, the only way they know of to melt dragonsbone is with dragon fire. Dragonglass will burn just fine though."
I gave a nod "Good to know, pity that dragonbone can only be worked with Valyrian steel."
He snorted "Yes, pity. Says that man who just happened to walk out of the Red Keep with a dozen daggers made of exactly that substance."
I smiled at that, thinking about those blades. It was obvious to my eye what made Valyrian Steel weapons so very sharp, the fucking things were mono-molecular blades. The smiths who forged those weapons had to have used magic, there was no way to produce something so thin that from the side it was literally invisible, using the technology available on Planetos. The material had to be magical as well, that was the only way to explain how it could retain its form without bending, breaking, or being damaged in any way regardless of how much force was applied. I had tested one of the knives and found that it could cut through a foot of solid granite like it was butter, all in a weapon whose blade massed so little that it was effectively weightless.
"True, but we don't have a smith who knows how to reforge Valyrian Steel and you can only produce so many shapes using a knife. Besides, having those reforged into tools for a smith or artisan would mean that I couldn't have them reforged into a longsword. I doubt there is enough of the steel for both. Still, good to know.
"Now returning to the semaphore, I'm putting you in charge of the whole project. Use whatever gold you need to get a test tower or two built as soon as feasible." I said.
Tyrion gave a nod of acceptance, but then said "You're not going to talk with father before doing this?"
"No, it's a good idea that will improve the security of the Westerlands and increase our ability to exercise control over our territory. Father might be somewhat annoyed with me for acting without consulting him but he is also the man who wiped out two of our houses bannermen without consulting grandfather. If I came to him for approval of every little idea I had or decision I made then he would probably just be disgusted, he certainly wouldn't think me a worthy heir for his house.
"Besides, it's really not like I'm committing us to some massive expenditure. The test towers will only cost us a thousand or so dragons at worst, even your monthly allowance is more than enough to cover that. If he really bitches I will just pay for it out of my own funds instead of using the House's funds." I said, explaining my take on Tywin and quietly still amazed with just how absurdly wealthy House Lannister was.
For Original Jaime, without the view point provided by another set of very different memories and life experiences, it had never even really occurred to him to think about money. He wouldn't even bend over to pick up a gold dragon that he saw on the ground. To be blunt, nothing less than a fortune large enough to hire a decently sized army was worthy of notice as far as he had been concerned. I had gone down to see the vaults with my new and improved eyes and had been stupefied at the staggering amount of gold stacked up in those deep, played out, mines. The closest comparison I could make to my other memories was probably the vault under the New York branch of the Federal Reserve, but even that was a flawed comparison given that the Rock's vaults easily dwarfed that vault.
Whether or not the mines under Casterly Rock were set to run dry in the near future, that they were still producing today was something I knew but whether they would still be producing in ten or twenty years was another matter, was almost immaterial given that the previous Lords Lannister had recognized the dangers of inflation to their wealth and so only ever released a small fraction of what was mined. Tywin's current policy would be considered generous given that it put one whole bar in twenty into circulation, looking through the previous lords journals it had tended to average closer to one in thirty in the past.
I shook my head and refocused my thoughts as a hawk dove down off to my right and made off with a small rodent. Besides the semaphore I had sketched out the crudest of drawings of a galleon, written up a brief description of what I wanted, and given that over to a working group made up of shipwrights, carpenters, and smiths with Tyto providing an oversight role. Hopefully they would have something designed within the next year or so, but even if they didn't manage to hit my deadline I was still going to be ready whenever they did, given that I had ordered two of the rocks three dry docks almost quadrupled in size. Mining those out was going to take a while but the Rock had the most capable miners in the known world on staff and they told me it would take ten months, so I figured it would be done in about ten months.
The only other thing of real interest had been my correspondence with Tywin. Ravens were flying back and forth between us on a daily basis, me providing reports on what was occurring in the Westerlands and him filling me in on what occurred at court. Unfortunately the combined factors of unsecured communications, for some reason it had never occurred to Tywin to develop a cipher (at least he had never shared one with me) and so the Maester's could read our mail, and the necessity of very terse messages meant that details were sparse. On the plus side, he had agreed with my suggestion to get Kevan positioned on the Small Council as Master of Laws.
While we weren't getting any real bride price for Cersei, a crown being considered sufficient, the wedding had provided enough political capital (at least when combined with our houses power) to get us a small council seat if we pushed. Objectively speaking it made more sense for a Lannister to be Master of Coin but Jon Arryn was almost certain to oppose that, as would many of the other lords, given that the last time a Lannister had been enforcing tax policy (my father as Hand under Aerys) it had resulted in the throne collecting record amounts at the same time Casterly Rock's tax bill had gone from the highest of the Seven Kingdoms to the second smallest (even Tywin's magic couldn't produce a tax bill smaller than what the North paid). While Tywin was still inclined to push for a Lannister in the position, my future knowledge made me quite happy that blame for Robert's profligate spending wouldn't fall on our house. Besides, Master of Laws tended to be seen as having more prestige than Master of Coin.
All in all it hadn't been too hard to persuade Tywin around to my view point, if nothing else he was almost as leery as I was of leaving Cersei alone in King's Landing to represent Lannister interests at court.
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