Nobles from all over continued to arrive, but first, they all made their way to the castle to greet Robert and make connections, before hanging up their banners with their House crests in the castle hall.
Wright noticed Stannis busy with preparations and casually remarked, "There are more people than expected. We could expand the jousting stands to make a bit more money."
Stannis paused, thought for a moment, and without turning his head, replied, "I'll go take a look," and walked away.
Wright often found himself suggesting ideas for the tournament based on his past experiences, though he wasn't sure if Stannis would take any of it seriously. After all, he was still very young, and with Stannis personality, directly offering advice would probably result in a scowl of annoyance: "What does a three-year-old know?"
Renly had disappeared somewhere, and Wright returned to his room. He cast a Light spell to drain his magical energy, and after a few days of practice, his skill with alteration magic was gradually improving. There was a knock at the door, and a servant came to inform him that his uncle's family had arrived.
Heading to the hall, he found Robert, Stannis, and Renly already there. His mother was from House Estermont, one of their vassals, and their domain was Greenstone Keep on Estermont Island. Since it was an island, the family controlled many ships, both warships and merchant vessels.
Arriving by boat were his Uncle Eldon Estermont, the Head of the House, along with his second uncle, Sir Lomas Estermont, and his cousins, Aemon Estermont and Andrew Estermont. Their family banner had already been hung—green with a large green turtle on it, which was somewhat difficult to describe.
After exchanging a few words with his uncles, Wright started chatting with his cousins when a guard outside came to announce, "The Lord of Oldtown, Leyton Hightower, the Lord of Horn Hill, Randyl Tarly, and the Lord of Seaguard, Jason Mallister have arrived."
Robert quickly apologized to his uncles and asked Stannis to escort them to their rooms while he continued to greet the guests.
Hearing a familiar name, Wright couldn't help but be curious when he heard the name of Randyl Tarly. It was the future father of the first man to kill a White Walker in eight thousand years, Samwell Tarly. Wright turned toward the hall doors. A group of people entered, with the three Lords at the front, followed by their families and attendants.
He didn't recognize them right away but, after hearing Robert greet them, he knew who was who.
Randyl Tarly had a stern expression, a small beard, and his hairline was starting to recede. As the group approached, Wright felt a stronger magical aura.
As Robert invited them to sit and they began exchanging pleasantries, Wright, feeling bold because of his youth, moved closer. The magical aura was emanating from Randyl's attendant, who was holding a massive two-handed sword—Valyrian steel, the legendary Heartsbane.
It was Wright's first time seeing a magical artifact, and to make matters even more enticing, it was a Valyrian steel weapon, one of the most legendary materials in Westeros. Unable to resist, he awkwardly asked, "Lord Tarly, may I touch your sword?"
Randyl turned around to respond, but before he could say anything, Robert shouted at Wright, "Don't be rude! That's Lord Randyl's family heirloom."
He then turned to Randyl and said, "This is my youngest brother, Wright Baratheon, not yet three years old. He's been practicing swordsmanship with us recently. We've spoken about the legendary swords of our time, and this little fellow can certainly tell the quality of a sword. He immediately recognized that your sword, Lord Randyl, is something special."
With this remark, Robert not only reprimanded his brother for his rudeness but also emphasized his identity, praised his diligent training and intelligence, and subtly flattered Randyl's legendary sword, expertly gauging Randyl's personality.
Randyl, though not particularly skilled in combat, was known for his martial spirit, bravery in battle, and honorable character. In the original story, he was the one who dealt Robert his only defeat during the rebellion at the Battle of the Ashfore. Loyal beyond measure, Randyl had remained steadfast in his allegiance to House Tyrell, despite his radical views on child-rearing—believing that sons should only become warriors.
Randyl looked at Wright and asked, "This is a two-handed greatsword. Can you lift it?"
Wright, sensing an opportunity, quickly responded, "I can lift Dawn."
Upon hearing this, Randyl signaled for one of his guards to bring the sword. The guard carefully handed the massive blade to Wright, gripping the hilt and presenting it to him.
The hilt and crossguard of Heartsbanr were adorned with intricate patterns. As Wright grasped the hilt and slowly pulled the sword free from its scabbard, the blade revealed a faint dark hue, rippling with a smoky-like aura. Through his knowledge of smithing and enchantment, Wright recognized that the blade was forged with a folding technique similar to Damascus steel. Holding it in both hands and swinging it a few times, he felt that it was much lighter than Dawn, and the surrounding onlookers couldn't help but murmur in admiration.
"If Randyl is going to teach Samwell Tarly a lesson one day, I might just end up being the son he refers to,"
Wright thought with a smile as he returned the sword to its scabbard. As he lightly ran his other hand along the blade, he instantly sensed the materials used: Skyforge Steel +4/6, flawless grinding craftsmanship, and a purification enchantment (which returned undead to their original world).
The Valyrian steel sword reminded him of the crafting and enchantment system in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. Could it be that he would be able to forge Valyrian steel weapons in the future?
Furthermore, as Martin had mentioned, Valyrian steel wasn't mined but was crafted by repeatedly folding and refining iron to remove impurities, infused with magic.
After thanking Lord Randyl for his generosity, Wright returned to his room, thinking about how he could improve his own smithing skills.
He recalled a blacksmith in the castle named Donal Noye, who had crafted Robert's warhammer and Stannis's first sword. Later, during the War of the Usurper, Donal had been wounded in his arm. After an untreated infection led to the amputation of his left hand, he had joined the Night's Watch and continued his work as a blacksmith, eventually becoming acquainted with Jon Snow.
Robert's warhammer had been powerful enough to crush Prince Rhaegar, fully clad in expertly crafted armor, without breaking from the recoil. Donal's skills seemed promising, and Wright figured he could learn a thing or two from him.
Without further delay, Wright made his way to the blacksmith's forge. With only a few days left until the tournament, the blacksmith's shop was busy, as many weapons and armor had been damaged during training. As the castle's vassal blacksmith, Donal did his work without charge, receiving a fixed monthly stipend from the lord. Outside blacksmiths charged by the piece, but their work lacked guaranteed quality.
Guided by a guard, Wright found Donal.
"Master Donal Noy, I'd like to ask you to forge two swords for me—one one-handed and one two-handed."
Donal thought for a moment and, seeing that the swords wouldn't require much material for a child, took a long dagger and a measuring stick from the shelf.
He measured Wright's height and arm length, using the dagger as a mock one-handed sword. After testing the weight, it seemed fairly appropriate. However, Donal quickly put the dagger back, seemingly reconsidering.
"But I can't give it to you just yet. It needs Lord Robert's approval first."
"Big brother will definitely agree."
There was no issue with the blacksmith, so Wright went to Robert to discuss the matter. Robert was surprised that a child not yet three years old wanted to use a steel sword to practice. Most three-year-olds were still playing in the mud.
"Wright, I'll ask you two questions: Will you hurt yourself?"
Robert wasn't foolish. At least in his youth, he was diligent, had a wide range of friends, and was brave—traits that helped him lead armies to win the throne. He simply didn't like managing the politics of his lands. Once he became king, indulgence took over, and he lost all restraint, eventually becoming a corpulent man with debts in the millions of gold dragons.
"My toy sword has never hurt me," Wright replied confidently.
Upon hearing the response, Robert asked his second question, "Will your sword hurt someone else?" He had heard from the maids that Wright had been using a wooden toy sword to beat up Garlan, causing him to cry. Robert worried that if Wright had a real sword, he might not be able to control it and could injure Garlan or others.
Wright understood what Robert was concerned about and answered, "A toy is a toy, and a steel sword is a weapon. A steel sword protects my family and friends. It only harms the enemies."
After hearing this, Robert didn't want to say more. His young, precocious brother, now under three years old, had already started learning how to write common tongue characters. Despite his intelligence, Robert knew there were limits, and he was clLordy satisfied with this answer.
"I agree. But if you hurt someone, you'll have to go back to using a wooden sword, and you'll have to report it to Stannis."
Wright was content. He went to his second brother and the blacksmith and received two iron weapons. In fact, Robert had overthought it. The weapons Wright received were, apart from the sword-like hilt, essentially just rectangular iron plates! There was no edge or point to them, just the proper weight.
From that day on, everyone at the training grounds would laugh as Wright wielded his iron plates like they were toys. He followed various people, learning their martial skills. Though Prince Rhaegar was skilled, during every practice session with Arthur, Rhaegar was always the one to call for a stop. Arthur, too, could easily handle Ned. Oberyn's spear didn't particularly appeal to Wright. Robert's warhammer focused more on strength training, so Wright mostly worked on building his stamina.
As more banners were raised in the castle, the number of visiting families increased.
The Houses Dondarrion, Caron, and Swann, guarding the Stormlands and Dorne borders, had many soldiers and strongholds in difficult-to-attack locations.
The Houses Cafferen, Wensington, and Bolling, with deer on their banners, were Houses that had been granted lands by House Baratheon generations ago for their service.
Other Houses with large cities and lands included the Selmy, Tarth, Penrose, Grandison, Buckler, Morrigen, Wylde, Fell, Errol, Peasebury, and Mertyns.
The Houses Hasty, Herston, Horpe, Kellington, Lonmouth, Musgood, Rogers, Staedmon, Whitehead, Tudbury, Wagstaff, and Connington were knightly houses with strongholds or properties.
Together with Wright's uncles, all the vassal houses of the Stormlands had arrived, waiting for the tournament to begin.