Chapter 50: Dragonstone
With Tyrion's guidance, Aeg found an old miner in the city who had managed gold mines for House Lannister and, after retiring, moved to King's Landing with his children to enjoy his twilight years. After a string of flattering words, Aeg convinced him to accompany him to Dragonstone to provide advice on obsidian mining.
With everything ready, on the third day after arriving in King's Landing, close to noon and in the slightly salty sea breeze, Aeg, along with the old miner and his youngest son, boarded the ship they had rented the day before and set off on their journey to Dragonstone, the ancestral seat of the Targaryen dynasty.
Dragonstone was located at the mouth of Blackwater Bay, and the journey from King's Landing was downstream. However, during the day, the sea breeze blew towards the land, slowing the ship's speed. It wasn't until the sun began to set and the wind shifted, allowing the ship to sail with the wind and the current, that the situation improved.
The distance between the starting point and the destination was over a hundred miles, and by nightfall, they had only traveled less than a third of the way. They would inevitably spend the night on the ship. Fortunately, the ship's speed at night far exceeded that during the day, and the shipowner had arranged for sailors to take night shifts to control the ship, so there was no worry about wasting too much time on the journey. The next morning, when Aeg was awakened by the rocking, the light, and the shouts of the crew, the ship had already entered Dragonstone's port and was trying to dock.
***
A glance at "Dragonstone Harbor" from the deck was enough to understand why Stannis Baratheon harbored so much resentment towards his brother for granting him this fief. it was more like a small fishing village than a harbor. Compared to the bustling port of King's Landing, this place seemed desolate: Aeg's sailing ship was the only moving object in the harbor at the moment.
Aeg often called the Wall a ghostly place, but that assessment was largely subjective. Now that he had left there for the south, he couldn't complain like a disgruntled housewife anymore: the Gift lands held by the Night's Watch were actually fertile and abundant in resources, just remote, dangerous, and a bit too cold, which was why few people were willing to farm there. Dragonstone, on the other hand, formed by volcanic eruptions and consisting of nothing but stone, truly deserved the label "ghostly."
The tiny fishing village could barely support a hundred people, and as far as Aeg knew, besides this village and the castle where the lord resided, there was only the military port where the Dragonstone fleet was moored. meaning Stannis's direct subjects were just the inhabitants of this small fishing village.
Such a desolate place, where even fishing couldn't support a knight, let alone a duke?
Of course, the Lord of Dragonstone theoretically also ruled over the lords of the Narrow Sea, but these so-called "lords of the Narrow Sea" were actually just many small island lords, with a total population of less than a hundred thousand. how could this possibly provide a duke with an appropriate army, expenses, and grandeur?
It was said that Robert Baratheon, after losing Lyanna Stark, had become disillusioned and planned to remain unmarried and pass the throne to his brother Stannis. If the rumors were true, then following Targaryen tradition by granting his heir the title of Duke of Dragonstone would have been unproblematic. But the fact was, Robert not only married, arranged by Jon Arryn, but also had a higher-priority heir. Joffrey Baratheon and Tommen Baratheon.
A Duke of Dragonstone with no chance of inheriting the throne. who would covet such a title? After Robert's "sons" were born, Stannis repeatedly demanded his rights to Storm's End from his brother, a request that, from an outsider's perspective, was both reasonable and justified. But whether Robert was too lazy to deal with it or had other intentions, the matter remained unresolved until the end.
During the War of the Usurper, Renly Baratheon, who was just a child with no merit, eventually inherited Storm's End and ruled the ancestral lands of House Baratheon, the Stormlands. In contrast, Stannis, who had held the city and delayed the main force of the loyalist army, the Tyrells of Highgarden, for a year during the war, contributing no less than Eddard Stark to the victory, was sent to this godforsaken place. No matter how broad-minded a person was, it would be unbearable.
Well, saying Dragonstone was a place where not even birds would shit was an exaggeration. In fact, there were birds. As Aeg stepped off the ship onto the land of Dragonstone, he saw countless seabirds flying in and out of their nests on the cliffs by the shore. Just the birds in his field of vision probably outnumbered all the people on the island. Dragonstone, to be precise, was a ghostly place where only birds shit.
As the ship docked, a few scattered residents from the fishing village gathered around, asking if they needed accommodation or food. Dragonstone's location at the mouth of the Blackwater Rush was excellent, but because it was too close to King's Landing, countless ships passed by every day without stopping. It was rare for someone to disembark there, so they naturally received special attention.
Aeg didn't want to waste time. He rented three horses and found a guide, not stopping but heading straight for the castle. The castle was built on the highest point of the island, impressive in size and majestic from a distance. However, up close, it was overgrown with moss, clearly neglected for a long time. There were only two listless guards at the gate, one of whom stood up from a corner upon seeing visitors. This dilapidated and desolate appearance made Aeg's sympathy for Stannis even stronger.
A guard entered to announce Aeg and his party's visit, but Stannis was not as willing as Eddard Stark to personally receive a mere member of the Night's Watch. After about ten minutes, a young man rode out from the castle, claiming he had been sent to guide the visitors. Aeg hadn't planned to meet the lord of Dragonstone anyway, so he was content. After some small talk, they left the castle gate and began their inspection and selection of the obsidian mining site.
***
"Ancient mines left behind?" The guide listened to Aeg's description, sat on his horse for a moment of recollection, and then spoke: "There seems to be one, and I've been inside, but there's nothing there except for some graffiti on the walls."
Graffiti on the walls? Aeg was delighted. Wasn't this exactly what he was looking for? Although Stannis had put on airs and hadn't even invited him into the castle, the guide he sent was competent, and Aeg's favorability towards Robert's meticulous brother increased a bit.
"Where is it? Take us there to have a look."
"It's at the southernmost part of the island, quite a distance away. I'm not sure if we can return before dark." The guide hesitated.
"It's no trouble. Let's set off now, and I'll treat you to a feast when we get back." Aeg still had some money on him, so he spoke with confidence. How high could the cost of living be on this rundown island?
"It's not the trouble. It's just that the roads on the island are difficult to navigate after dark." Hearing Aeg's words, the young man became somewhat shy and nodded: "Then let's go. We'll try to return early, but we'd better get some torches from the village first."
After being buffeted by the sea breeze for hours, Aeg stood at the entrance of the ancient mine that, in the original plot, didn't appear until the very end, when Jon Snow took his aunt to visit. Without a local guide, this place would have been hard to find.
Lighting torches, the guide led Aeg and the old miner and his son into the mine.
Inside the pitch-black cave, there was truly nothing. There were indeed some wall paintings left on the walls, but for Aeg, who had seen the birth of the Night King from a god's perspective on a computer screen and had personally killed White Walkers, there was likely little valuable information to be gained from them.
Everything was going smoother than expected. This was the place!
*****
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