High summer reigned across most of the Seven Kingdoms, yet even before the royal procession had passed through Moat Cailin—that ancient gateway to the North—King Robert and his considerable party were already feeling the chill of the lands beyond the Neck.
Though neither vegetation nor water had frozen beneath winter's touch, a single breath of the night air was enough to jolt one to full wakefulness, its cold fingers reaching deep into mind and soul alike.
The King cursed loudly, his breath forming pale clouds in the chill air.
"Seven hells!" he bellowed, face flushing deeper than the wine could account for. "Damn it all to the deepest pit! Those thrice-damned Pentoshi merchants deserve deaths more lingering than I have patience to devise. Why haven't the gods struck down those dragonspawn yet?!"
Lord Varys had delivered news of the Targaryen exiles with what he termed "utmost haste."
The Magister of Pentos, Illyrio Mopatis, had shown the audacity to harbor the remaining dragons behind high walls, assigning a contingent of spike-helmeted Unsullied to guard the silver-haired siblings beyond Robert's reach.
Across the vast expanse of the Narrow Sea, King Robert's legendary fury proved inadequate to slay two living Targaryens—a fact that only stoked his rage to greater heights.
Joffrey found himself distinctly uninterested in this stale news.
His concerns centered on his squire, Alyn, and the boy's activities in Pentos.
If all proceeded according to design, Alyn should be formulating plans to conclude his sojourn in the Free City around this time.
But for now, Joffrey could only practice the virtue of patience—a quality that had never come naturally to those of Baratheon blood.
Awoooooo...
Rain, the massive lion, released a sound of unmistakable discontent.
Joffrey reached down to stroke its great head soothingly, understanding all too well the beast's present frustration.
Their journey had brought them to trudge with difficulty through the muddy and gloomy expanse of the Neck, where progress came at a grudging pace.
Though they traveled the Kingsroad, their carriages and mounts protected from direct contact with the foul-smelling pools of mud, they remained distant from the poisonous snakes and lizard-lions that lurked within the quicksand-like bogs.
Yet the damp, cloying scent permeating the air proved inescapable. Fungal growths clung to trees lining the causeway, hanging in dense curtains over travelers' heads. The surrounding landscape stretched monotonous, bleak, and dark in all directions, offering little to hold the eye or lift the spirit.
Gazing upon the seemingly endless winding causeway ahead, Joffrey chose to transfer his mounting irritation to a more receptive target—the collection of musicians who rode nearby.
"Continue!" he commanded sharply. "Dullards, practice now! Practice until I find your efforts worthy of my ears!"
The gathered musicians and bards dared not display negligence in the face of royal displeasure.
Even as exhaustion weighed upon their limbs and resentment simmered in their hearts, they could only bow their heads and murmur, "As Your Highness commands."
From the Riverlands to the Neck, Joffrey had compelled—through varying combinations of threats and promises—all the "musical practitioners" encountered along their journey to join the royal procession. Their number now approached one hundred souls.
These unfortunate artists had been tasked with a single duty: to master a new composition according to the Crown Prince's exacting specifications.
Within Joffrey's mind resided a complete and crystalline conception of "King's Landing," yet he lacked formal musical training. He could listen and judge, but not play or notate.
Thus, his solution proved brutally simple.
He had gathered these musicians to attempt and fail repeatedly, using his discriminating ear to first determine the most appropriate timbres for each instrument, then to correct rhythm, melody, and subtle details until the piece matched his internal vision.
After more than a sennight of constant rehearsal, "King's Landing" had begun to sound remarkably impressive. Even the musicians, despite their suffering, recognized that they helped craft a composition worthy of preservation through the ages.
Yet Joffrey would accept nothing short of perfection, demanding they continue refining their performance until the most sublime state was achieved.
As incentive—or perhaps compensation for their torment—he had promised each performer an additional gold dragon upon the work's completion.
The musicians thus found themselves caught between pain and anticipation.
Dozens of string instruments sounded in unison, the opening measures of "King's Landing" soaring above the dreary landscape of the Neck, transforming the dismal scene with unexpected majesty...
Amid the passionate music, Joffrey's mood gradually stabilized.
His thoughts turned to cataloguing the runic knowledge he had acquired during recent days.
With the addition of the blood rune from Harrenhal and six new runes obtained from the glass candle, his repertoire now encompassed thirteen distinct runes.
Recovery Rune:Restores material structure, heals injuries.
Mirror Rune:Creates a mirror image of other runes, granting the main body control over each replica.
Fire Rune:Generates heat, shields against fire damage.
Solid Rune:Maintains material structure, enhances physical defense.
Growth Rune:Transcends the normal limitations of biological development and lifespan.
Contract Rune:Establishes binding agreements between creatures.
Blood Rune:Absorbs blood to release or redirect misfortune and curses (properties not fully understood).
Mental Rune:Guides and protects the user's mental power from dangerous overflow. Facilitates obtaining information beyond normal visual range, and permits influence, attack, or invasion of other creatures' minds.
Positioning Rune:Acquires location information for a specific place, object, or person through an appropriate medium.
Information Rune:Transmits specific information to a known place, object, or person according to the user's will (manifesting as meditation, thoughts, dreams, etc.).Note: The rune's possessor can directly transmit and receive various information without requiring a medium.
Reconnaissance Rune:Upon receiving location information, provides detailed intelligence about nearby surroundings.
Light Rune:Creates specific light and shadow effects according to input information.
Sound Rune:Generates specific sounds according to input information.
The runic energy required for birthing these patterns varied considerably. The general principle seemed to be that simpler, more fundamental runes demanded greater runic energy, while those with more specialized functions consumed less.
Joffrey had finally discerned the operating principles behind the glass candles of Old Valyria.
The Valyrian sorcerers had achieved communication through these artifacts by employing the positioning rune to obtain each other's location after exchanging appropriate mediums. The information rune then transmitted or received messages, and finally, the light and sound runes displayed this intelligence in perceivable form.
Their ability to enter others' dreams and create illusions stemmed from using the mental rune to weaken mental defenses, allowing the information rune to successfully implant desired content.
The mechanism for viewing distant scenes followed similar principles: finding a suitable medium to establish location, employing the reconnaissance rune to gather information, and ultimately using light and sound runes to manifest these visions.
This represented an undeniably sophisticated system of runic cooperation.
More impressive still, the Valyrians had achieved these magical capabilities merely by inscribing runes upon external tools.
Joffrey's runes, by contrast, existed within his very being.
Without requiring light and sound runes as intermediaries, he could more directly and accurately receive mysterious and distant information.
By adapting these methods and leveraging the power of the mirror rune, he could establish an extensive communication network and create a more unified and powerful system of control.
For present purposes, however, he envisioned another form of cooperation among his thirteen existing runes.
The contract, mental, positioning, reconnaissance, and information runes would serve for control and communication, while the solid, fire, growth, and recovery runes would enhance physical might.
From this combination, a powerful and obedient magical beast could be born.
And the King will die because of it, he thought with cold certainty.
Joffrey's gaze swept across the desolate landscape. The Neck presented itself as predominantly gray and black, seemingly devoid of life. Yet his enhanced perception "saw" what others could not—a lizard-lion half-submerged in murky water.
The creature resembled a crocodile to his eyes, its body seemingly fused with the rotting black swamp, appearing almost like an animated piece of driftwood possessing only eyes and teeth to distinguish it from the surrounding decay.
Ancient songs told that the legendary Marsh King had ridden upon a lizard-lion as his chosen mount.
These beasts enjoyed modest fame throughout Westeros.
Yet they lacked the truly awe-inspiring qualities Joffrey sought. Not large enough to swallow a man whole; not sufficiently insidious, as they should lurk completely underwater when hunting; not mysterious enough, being too numerous and having accomplished no truly shocking deeds worthy of legend.
Joffrey resolved to elevate their status, to make them more renowned and more mythical in the annals of the Seven Kingdoms.
He decided, in that moment, to create another magical beast drawing upon their form.
Lizard-lion, he mused, watching the creature slip beneath the dark waters, will the glory of killing the King belong to you, or to my new creation?
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