Chapter 50
2021-01-06
Chapter 50 DragonstoneUnder Tyrion's guidance, Igor found a man in the city who had worked for House Lannister manages the gold mine. After "retiring", he moved to King's Landing with his children to enjoy the old mine in his old age. After saying a lot of good things, he asked him to move him and let him follow oneself to Dragonstone - to provide advice on the mining of Dragonglass.
Everything was ready, the third day of arriving at King's Landing was close to noon, in the slightly salty sea breeze, Igor took the old mine and his young son to board the boat rented the day before. Set off on a journey to Dragonstone, the former ruler House Targaryen land of the rising dragon.
……
Dragonstone is located at the mouth of Blackwater Bay. From King's Landing, it is just downstream, but the speed of the boat has been slow due to the sea wind blowing to the land during the day. It didn't get better until Sun slanted westward and the wind reversed and the boat was sailing smoothly.
The distance between the starting point and the ending point is hundreds of miles. They only walked less than one third before it got dark. This night must be spent on the boat. Fortunately, the speed of the boat after dark is much faster than that of the day. The owner of the boat also arranged for a sailor to be on night shift to control the boat, so he was not worried about wasting too much time on the road. Early the next morning, when Igor was awakened by a combination of shaking, lights and shouts from the crew, the ship had entered Dragonstone's port and was trying to dock.
***
Just walk up to the deck and take a look at "Dragonstone Harbor" to see why Stannis Baratheon resents his brother for sealing oneself here - not so much It is more like a small fishing village. Compared with the prosperity of King's Landing port, it looks so desolate: the sailboat that Igor is riding on is actually the only moving object in the harbor at this moment.
Igor often says The Wall is a hell of a place, but in fact this evaluation is very subjective, and now that he has left there and came to the south, naturally he can no longer complain like a grumpy woman: owned by Night's Watch Granted land... To be honest, the land is fertile and rich in products, but it is remote and dangerous, and the temperature is a little lower, so not many people are willing to cultivate there. And Dragonstone, which was formed by a volcanic eruption, except for the place where the stone is still a stone, can really be called a "ghost".
It is a small fishing village with a maximum of a hundred people, and as far as Igor knows, apart from this village and the castle where the lord lives, there is only a naval port where the Dragonstone fleet is moored - this means At the same time, the only people in the direct territory owned by Stannis is this small fishing village.
In such a shabby place, fishing alone is enough to feed a Knight, let alone a Duke?
Of course, the Dragonstone lords also rule over the Narrow Sea Lords in theory. The problem is that the so-called "Narrow Sea Lords" are actually many small Island Lords, with a total population of no more than 100,000. How could it be possible to provide a Duke with the same amount of troops, expense and pomp?
It is said that Robert Baratheon was disheartened when he lost Lyanna Stark, and planned to never marry and pass the throne to younger brother Stannis. If the rumors are true, he would have no problem naming the heir Duke of Dragonstone in accordance with House Targaryen's tradition, but the truth is that not only did Robert marry under Jon Arryn's arrangement, but he also had a higher priority heir—— Joffrey Baratheon and Tommen Baratheon.
A Duke of Dragonstone who cannot inherit the throne, who would care? After the birth of Robert's "son", Stannis asked the big brother for oneself's power over Stormlands more than once. From an outsider's point of view, it can be said to be a reasonable and reasonable request... But I don't know if Robert is too lazy to toss or something else. Thinking about it, until the end, there is no saying about it.
Renly Baratheon, who was still a brat during the Battle of the Snatchers, finally inherited Storm's End, Commander House Baratheon's family heritage, the Storm King Kingdom; Stannis, who lived in the Highgarden army, the main force of the Royalists for a year, and contributed as much to the victory of the war as Eddard Stark, could not bear it, no matter how broad-minded he was, to be sent to this place where he didn't shit.
Well, you'd be wrong to say the Dragonstone doesn't poop, but it does. When Igor stepped off the boat and set foot on the land of Dragonstone, he saw countless seabirds flying in and out of their nests on the cliffs along the coast. There were probably more birds in sight than all the people on the island. Dragonstone, to be precise, is a hell of a place where only birds poop.
…
As the boat docked, residents of the fishing village soon gathered around and asked if they needed accommodation and meals. Dragonstone itself has an excellent location for the Blackwater Rush estuary, but because it is too close to King's Landing, every day all there are countless ships passing by far away without stopping, and it is rare for people to disembark here, so it is naturally treated with attention.
Igor didn't want to waste time, rented three horses and found a guide, and went straight to the castle without stopping. The castle is built on the highest point on the island, and its scale is not small. It is grand and magnificent from a distance, but it is covered with moss when seen from a distance. It is obvious that it has not been taken care of for a long time. There are only two listless guards watching the city gate. One of them is even I got up from the corner when I saw someone coming. This dilapidated appearance made Igor feel even more sympathetic to Stannis...
A guard entered the door to announce the visit of Igor and the others, but Stannis was not as willing to personally meet a little boy as Eddard Stark was. Night's Watch is up. Ten minutes later, a youngster came out of the castle on horseback, claiming that oneself was sent to lead the way for the visitors... Igor didn't intend to meet the lord of Dragonstone, but he was happy, so after some chat, they left again At the gate of the castle, the survey and selection of the Dragonglass mining site began.
***
"A mine cave left over from ancient times?" The guide listened to Igor's description, sat down and recalled for a while, and said, "It seems that there really is, I I went in and saw it, but there was nothing except some graffiti on the stone wall."
The graffiti on the stone wall? Igor was overjoyed, isn't this the place oneself is looking for? Although Stannis put on the air and didn't even invite oneself to enter the castle, the guide he sent was competent, and he couldn't help but feel good about Robert, the meticulous younger brother. Added a little more.
"Where is it, take us to see it."
"It's in the far south of the island, it's a bit far, I don't know if I can come back before it gets dark..." Some people led the way. hesitate.
"Thank you for your hard work. Let's go now. When I come back, I will treat you to a big meal." Igor still has some money in his pocket, so he is very confident to say this. On this broken island, the consumption level can be how tall?
"It's not really hard...it's just that the road on the island is not easy to walk after it gets dark." Hearing Igor say this, youngster became a little shy, nodded: "Then let's go, fight for Come back early, but we'd better go to the village and get some torches first."
...
After being blown by the sea breeze for a few hours, Igor stood in the original scene until The entrance to the ancient mine that Jon Snow took his aunt to visit was the last to appear. If there is no local guide as a guide, this place is really hard to find.
Going around the torch, the leader took Igor and the old mine father and son into it.
In the dark hole, there is really nothing. There are indeed some murals left on the wall, but for those who have seen the birth of the Night King from the perspective of God from the computer screen, and then personally As far as Igor, who killed Others, most likely won't get any valuable information from it.
Things are going better than expected, and that's it!
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(end of this chapter)