"Where do I go from here? What could compare to what I have already done?"
Having seen what, precisely, our honored forefather Vaegon Targaryen had done prior to the Great Liberation, it should be easy to see why he is such a controversial figure in Westeros. While his rule in Essos was wise, decisive, and successful, his experience in the land in which he was borne is marred by mistakes, oversights, and poor fortune. His lengthy time as regent was mediocre, inoffensive in actual policy. While it did little actual harm, it did nothing to aid his reputation.
Some of my students have gone so far as to describe it as practice for his 'true' reign as Dragonlord. In one instance, a particularly wayward pupil of mine suggested it was intentionally mediocre. How else, they claimed, would there be such a marked improvement over the course of a few months?
But that is a topic I have covered in previous volumes and need not be discussed at length in these pages. Instead, let us return to the end my blessed ancestor's time as regent. After six years of rule, during which he had built up a private army, forged closer ties with the Ironborn, and had never missed a chance to personally sit upon the Iron Throne when holding court, the fortunes of the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros had continued as they had under his father.
And once Rhaenys of House Targaryen, then merely Princess of Dragonstone, had reached her majority, Vaegon had wasted no time handing over power. As though he had become regent out of obligation instead of ambition.
In a public ceremony, our beloved ancestor had officially transferred the duties and responsibilities of regent unto his niece, and bestowed upon her two gifts: scrolls, sealed tightly, not opened for generations, and since lost to time. Given that we of New Andalos returned to Westeros in friendship twice, once in the first Dragonlord's lifetime to guarantee his niece's inheritance and once again during the Fall of the Wall, speculation about the content of those scrolls remains moot and a waste of scholarly efforts.
What we do know is what happened next: Vaegon Targaryen, his wife, and his eldest children mounted their dragons and crossed the Narrow See. His youngest children joined the ten thousand men of his army and followed in a fleet. This army was a chaotic amalgam, a far cry from the carefully balanced cohorts of our Army of New Andalos, with an uneven blend of heavy knights, light free riders, Ironborn reavers, men at arms, and hand-trained volunteers from King's Landing.
Some of my cousins in our modern Army of New Andalos will insist that this was a direct predecessor to the modern cohorts, but that is their area of expertise, not mine. We are not, however, here to discuss the minutiae of military matters. That is a matter I will gladly leave to those of my colleagues who specialize in military matters. I much prefer to keep a broader perspective.
Within a week of stepping down as regent, Vaegon Targaryen's forces landed outside the walls of Pentos. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the magisters of the city did not stay and fight. At least, not all of them did. Some of them loved their city enough to stay, though the vast majority chose to flee with as much of their wealth as they could fit into a wagon.
Then-Prince Vaegon Targaryen gave them three months to return to Pentos and have their wealth and status as magisters confirmed. A merciful approach, all agreed. Too merciful, some of his companions argued. Similar sentiments evaporated as quickly as morning dew in the summer sun in three months' time, as all errant magisters had their property confiscated by the crown.
But we are getting ahead of ourselves.
Immediately after seizing the House of Magisters, my ancestor temporarily took direct control of the Free City of Pentos. He allowed the magisters to choose a Prince of Pentos from among their own number, to speak for the body as a whole, well aware of how often the bearers of that title were executed for failure. Instead, he styled himself Protector of Pentos and made arrangements with the council of Septons of old Andalos for a coronation in half a year's time. Until then, he forged the city into a worthy pearl in his new realm. New banks were opened, public works were begun, and law enforcement was restructured and expanded. The latter in particular would hold that little details as point of pride.
Slaves were declared free throughout his domain, with compensation for the ruling magisters. The official explanation given by the royal house to this day is that it was to reward them for their successes. More cynical students of history have gone on record to say that this cemented the loyalty of the former rulers of Pentos and convinced some of those who fled to return. The establishment of a class of servants shortly after the Great Liberation, indentured and free, is frequently used as evidence by these scholars. It must be noted, however, that servants enjoy far greater protection under the law than slaves ever did. These acts satisfied all but the merchants wealthy enough to own many slaves but not wealthy enough to meet the requirements to be named magisters. Requirements which the Bright Prince refused to loosen.
Foreign policy, too, enjoyed swift action. Envoys were dispatched to each of the Free Cities. Men of high birth all, accompanied by knights of good character, each bearing offers of peace and friendship and sufficient piles of coin. Some were rebuffed, as was famously the case with Qohor and Norvos. In Volantis and Braavos, meanwhile, relations were opened with far greater warmth that would endure for quite some time. While ultimately fruitful, these talks would not conclude in time for the first true challenge to the reign of Vaegon the Liberator.
The craven magisters who had fled Pentos, who still accounted for nearly half of their number prior to my ancestor's arrival even after some chose to return, had not been idle in their brief and self-imposed exile. They had toured the Free Cities and the cities of Slaver's Bay, gathering coin from the men and women of wealth who had every reason to fear the rise of yet another abolitionist city in Essos.
Atop a veritable mountain of gold, these now-former magisters assembled as great an army of sellswords as Essos had ever seen. Nearly every available crossbowman, archer, and slinger in Essos was hired, often at costs far above the market rate. Horsemen, too, flocked to this army. Light and agile, they might not have been the match of proper knights on an open field, but they would prove vital to the magisters' strategy.
And from Slaver's Bay came a legion of Unsullied, the eunuch slave-soldiers who fought like the warriors of Old Ghis. This echo of past glories marched out of Astapor to uphold slavery in Essos, who would meet the heralds of future triumph.
The forces of the yoke of bondage would meet just north of Volantis, by the town of Volon Therys. From there, they began their march north, towards Pentos, cleaving to great Rhoyne and its floodplains.
This strategy, all agree, makes perfect sense. Moving along the Rhoyne granted access to fresh water and supplies, while any settlements could be looted.
Should battle be given, the perpetually damp ground meant that dragon fire would be unable to start any great fires. This was not, after all, the first time the men of Essos had faced dragons.
Unfortunately for these agents of slavery, my ancestor was flexible in his thinking.