Watching Illyrio’s corpulent figure disappear beyond the door, Daenerys turned her head toward the last remaining member of her inner circle.
“Aegor, what do you think?”
“To get straight to the point, the esteemed governor’s words are logical and mostly truthful. However… there’s a trap.” The one being questioned an...
Daenerys felt the naked threat behind the phrase "The Second War Against the Dragon Queen." Her violet eyes narrowed slightly as she suppressed her anger.
Aegor pressed his lips together. In an instant, he had already mapped out Illyrio’s line of persuasion, sketched out his counterarguments, and the muscles in his cheeks barely conceal...
The courtyard’s size and layout were entirely unworthy of a "ruler of Westeros," yet the layers of security wrapped around it were meticulous. Passing through identity verification and a thorough search under the watchful eyes of Unsullied guards, Illyrio Mopatis was finally permitted to enter. He strode through a courtyard smaller than the ga...
2025-01-29 18:06:28 +0000 UTC View PostLike a dream.
Swaying gently with each step of the bearers carrying his luxurious palanquin, Illyrio Mopatis found himself caught between astonishment and fear.
He had not crossed the Narrow Sea just to see Daenerys Targaryen.
Or rather, not only to see her.
A month ago, in the grand halls of a Magister’s estate in ...
Myrcella quickly moved back to the other side of the table, poured herself a cup of water, and pulled her chair a little closer. She studied Aegor’s expression for a moment, licked her lips, and organized her thoughts before continuing.
"My lord, the Gift has been operating under a wartime administration. During the war against the wild...
Conquering a kingdom was easy.
Ruling it was the hard part.
The issuance of Targaryen War Bonds and the oversight of the weapons factories consumed most of Aegor’s time. But those were far from the only matters demanding the attention of the Queen’s Hand.
The day they took King’s Landing, Daenerys had been cut by the I...
To defeat a ruthless man, you must be even more ruthless.
Had Tywin Lannister remained holed up in Casterly Rock, clutching his gold within its unyielding stone walls, he might have been untouchable. Dragonfire could not melt rock, and large-scale artillery had yet to be developed. In such a scenario, even Daenerys might have been forced ...
Bathed in the warm glow of the midday sun, Aegor rode up a small rise, overlooking the army beneath him. The men under his command stood proud and resolute, their formations tighter, their movements quicker than usual. For the first time, he truly understood what it meant to be at the height of one’s fortune.
His mood was lifted not onl...
By the time Daenerys descended upon the western courtyard of the Red Keep atop Drogon, Aegor was already there.
He did not rush forward to claim credit. Instead, he slowed his steps, using the shifting sea of soldiers and the chaos stirred by the black dragon’s landing to conceal himself. He kept his head down, ensuring he did not draw ...
(A monstrous, jagged thing.)
Standing at the grand, towering entrance of the throne room, Daenerys’ first thought was one of awe, followed swiftly by a sense of unreality—like she was caught in a dream.
Victory had come too quickly, too easily. It felt almost unreal.
Just half an hour ago, she had still been atop Drogon,...
(A monstrous, jagged thing.)
Standing at the grand, towering entrance of the throne room, Daenerys’ first thought was one of awe, followed swiftly by a sense of unreality—like she was caught in a dream.
Victory had come too quickly, too easily. It felt almost unreal.
Just half an hour ago, she had still been atop Drogon,...
(A monstrous, jagged thing.)
Standing at the grand, towering entrance of the throne room, Daenerys’ first thought was one of awe, followed swiftly by a sense of unreality—like she was caught in a dream.
Victory had come too quickly, too easily. It felt almost unreal.
Just half an hour ago, she had still been atop Drogon,...
(A monstrous, jagged thing.)
Standing at the grand, towering entrance of the throne room, Daenerys’ first thought was one of awe, followed swiftly by a sense of unreality—like she was caught in a dream.
Victory had come too quickly, too easily. It felt almost unreal.
Just half an hour ago, she had still been atop Drogon,...
"A tragic yet utterly meaningless finale."
Seated atop his horse, watching his soldiers tend to the wounded, gather the dead, and round up prisoners, Aegor delivered his verdict on the battle.
Stannis had had a chance to retreat.
He could have left his men to cover his escape, crossed to the south bank of the Blackwater, and...
Compared to the two earth-shattering battles that had unfolded over the past two weeks—one on land, one at sea—the siege of King’s Landing felt almost underwhelming.
The capital’s layout was no secret. Its defenses had been scrutinized over the course of the prolonged siege, every weak point meticulously identified. The attackers ...
Stannis scanned the battlefield, his face dark with fury. “Where is Ser Justin Massey?”
The Ironborn still held an overwhelming advantage—yet they had abandoned the field in a panicked rout, leaving his royal fleet to be butchered by the remnants of the Targaryen navy and two rampaging dragons.
He nearly coughed up blood.
...
Rise and Fall.
That was the phrase “Ironhand” Jastelyn Bywater used to sum up the trajectory of his life.
Born into the cadet branch of a dwindling noble house, his youth had been marked by hardship. Though noble in name, his family’s fortunes had long since withered, leaving him so destitute that he could not even afford a p...
Are you serious?
Aegor nearly blurted it out.
Asha had confessed this ambition to him months ago, but at the time, he’d assumed it was just another one of her sweet lies—a convenient excuse to get him to let her go. Who would’ve thought… she actually meant it?
It took him half a second to digest his surprise, and by ...
"The thing that dragged Euron to the depths was an iron weight tied to a thick rope. That thick rope was connected to a fifty-foot-long thin cord, and at the end of that cord were two flotation bladders. It was thanks to them that I didn’t sink before I could even get close to him. And once the bladders reached the surface…"
A floatin...
A teamfight can be lost—but Euron must die.
That was Aegor’s core strategy for the Battle of Blackwater Bay, the plan he presented to Daenerys.
The sudden arrival of the Iron Fleet had completely disrupted the queen’s attack on King’s Landing. Even with all his meticulous calculations, Aegor had never expected a band of pir...
The shockwave from the explosion rippled across the water, and the smoke rising over the bay slowly began to dissipate. The pain in men’s eardrums, split open by the deafening blast, faded bit by bit. Soon, it was as if nothing had happened—aside from the Invincible Ironborn turning into the Invincible Powder Keg and vanishing from existence...
2025-01-29 18:00:44 +0000 UTC View PostThe King of the Iron Islands plunged into the sea with a resounding splash, disappearing beneath the waves as inertia dragged him under. Cold, salty water seeped through every gap in his armor, soaking his clothes and biting into his skin like a thousand tiny needles. The shock of it stole his breath, but Euron Greyjoy felt the urge to laugh.
All the Ironborn ships Euron had sent to Meereen were locked in a desperate struggle with the royal fleet on the western front—except for one. Among the captured warships from Volantis, a single longship, the Invincible Ironborn, sailed alone toward the Iron Fleet.
If Crow’s Eye had been more cautious, this lone vessel would have rais...
There were many who still fought for House Baratheon, each for their own reasons, but none were as unwaveringly loyal as Davos Seaworth.
It was not just Stannis’s unyielding sense of justice that bound him. Everything he had now—his knighthood, his lands, his position as Hand of the King—had been granted by Stannis. Once a smuggler,...
There were many who still fought for House Baratheon, each for their own reasons, but none were as unwaveringly loyal as Davos Seaworth.
It was not just Stannis’s unyielding sense of justice that bound him. Everything he had now—his knighthood, his lands, his position as Hand of the King—had been granted by Stannis. Once a smuggler,...
The Iron Fleet had anchored at the mouth of Blackwater Bay for several days. On the first night, they launched a single, calculated strike, ambushing one of Daenerys' patrol ships—a simple but unmistakable declaration of their presence.
From that moment on, they lingered south of Dragonstone, patrolling the "Gullet"—the narrow channel...
The sea breeze stirred endless waves, the sunlight cast its golden touch upon the waters.
Beneath a rare, cloudless sky, Blackwater Bay shimmered like a vast sheet of deep blue silk, flecked with countless sparkling glimmers. The ocean stretched to infinity, its surface smooth, pure, and serene.
The sails billowed perfectly, taut a...
Daenerys, prone to impulsive decisions, was in dire need of cool-headed advisors. Fortunately, Missandei’s timely suggestion brought her back to reason, and she agreed to delay making a decision.
With the meeting adjourned, the nobles moved on to the victory feast.
The war was far from over, so the "celebration" was more restrain...
"Your Grace, the fleet at Dragonstone consists of: over thirty ships that Victarion Greyjoy brought from the Iron Islands to Meereen, the one hundred and five warships captured from the defeated Volantene fleet, and several dozen repurposed merchant vessels from Meereen that are barely combat-worthy. Since the Volantene ships are mostly large ve...
2025-01-29 17:58:22 +0000 UTC View PostHigh-explosive shells were essentially explosive bombs designed to be fired from cannons. The concept of both impact and time-delay fuses was not particularly complex—the real challenge lay in ensuring these shells remained stable and reliable even after enduring the extreme heat and pressure of being fired. That required rigorous testing and ...
2025-01-29 17:58:05 +0000 UTC View Post