On the Naen River, Lynd lay leisurely on the boat, his psychokinesis propelling the small boat swiftly across the water. Archmaester Marwyn was sprawled by the side of the boat, excitedly watching the water rapidly receding beneath them, occasionally dipping his hand into the water like a child to feel the impact of the current on his palm.
After spending this time together, Lynd gradually came to understand Marwyn's personality. Simply put, he was a true scholar, possessing intense curiosity for things he liked, yet maintaining basic principles in his conduct, unlike Qyburn who would do unscrupulous things to satisfy his curiosity.
However, he was not without flaws; his curiosity was simply too strong, and he loved to get to the bottom of things. Along the way, he had asked Lynd at least hundreds of questions, which even made the usually quiet Lynd somewhat annoyed, thinking of finding a suitable place to drop him off and let him go to Summerhall by himself.
Fortunately, he was somewhat discerning and noticed Lynd's change in mood, promptly reining in his curiosity, which saved him from being abandoned by Lynd midway.
Driven by psychokinesis, the small boat traveled very quickly, and since it was going downstream, a journey that would take over ten days by land was completed in just two days.
On the morning of the third day after leaving Norvos, Lynd's small boat entered the ruins of Na Sa Star.
If Ge Dohe was the pearl of the Lorne River, then Na Sa Star was the most prominent gem on the crown.
This city was a city-state ruled by Warrior Queen Nameria. Before it was destroyed by the Valyrian Freehold, it was the center of all Loisne city-states. This made the area of Na Sa Star very large, more than ten times that of Ge Dohe. Among the current Free Trade City States, only Volantis could barely compare to it.
Such a massive city was centered on the alluvial plain where the Lorne River and Naen River converged, expanding outwards to form a huge city spanning both the Lorne River and Naen River. Several stone arch bridges connected the various districts, and massive docks were built along the riverbanks, capable of easily accommodating hundreds of ships. These were not small fishing boats, but flat-bottomed multidecked ships used for river warfare.
In the deep water bay where the docks were located, one could clearly see over a dozen flat-bottomed warships submerged, with only their bows or sterns protruding from the water. It appeared to be the Norvos navy; they must have been suddenly attacked while docking their ships, unable even to sail out of the harbor before being sunk.
"The Old Man of the River faith has existed in the Lorne River basin for over a thousand years. It rarely actively attacks fishing boats on the river. In the beliefs associated with it, it is written that it has the right to rule over underwater inhabitants, so it is not interested in what happens on the surface of the water."
Marwyn sat at the bow, watching Lynd slowly bring the boat alongside the broken dock. As he stood up and jumped onto the dock, he continued to explain, "According to my research, the Old Man of the River does not refer to a specific deity, but rather to a species, a species of horned giant turtles. In the records concerning the Loisne migration, the earliest conflict between the Loisne and Valyrians was because the Valyrians hunted a horned giant turtle. Afterwards, during the wars between the Loisne and Valyrians, giant turtles appeared several times, assisting the Loisne in attacking Valyrian invaders, and also suffering many casualties. This shows that the Loisne at that time had mastered a way to communicate with the Old Man of the River and commanded it in battle."
"Is it the Green Seer's ability?" Lynd, having jumped ashore, tied the boat rope to a large rock, then asked.
"It shouldn't be the Green Seer's ability." Marwyn shook his head and said, "Green Seers do possess the ability to command animals, but the animals they command are not very large. Being able to command an animal as large as a bear is already the limit for a Green Seer. Giant turtles like the Old Man of the River, which are larger than flat-bottomed warships, clearly exceed the Green Seer's ability limit."
After listening to Marwyn's narration, Lynd nodded, then told Marwyn to stay on the riverbank while he jumped into the water and dove to the riverbed to check the condition of the sunken ships.
The flat-bottomed warships exposed on the river surface were only a portion of the sunken ships at the bottom of the river. There were many more sunken ships on the riverbed, and these were not only Norvos navy warships but also many merchant ships. All the sunken ships, without exception, had a large hole in their bottom and eventually sank due to water ingress.
Lynd also found some clues from the damage to these ships: the sinking of these ships was not caused by a single horned giant turtle, because the damage varied in size and was inconsistent, feeling as if a dozen giant turtles of different sizes were besieging these ships.
Additionally, among these sunken ships, there were many bodies rotted by river water. Lynd judged from the state of decomposition of the bodies and the water damage to goods on some merchant ships that these sunken ships must have sunk in the past few months.
After checking several times to ensure nothing was missed, Lynd returned to the surface and recounted what he had observed to Marwyn.
Marwyn thought for a moment and said, "A few months ago, there were indeed rumors of ships getting into trouble in this area, but the number of affected ships was very small, hardly impacting the Naen River's navigation. From the news from Norvos, it seems that only in the last half-month did the incidents of the Old Man of the River attacking ships sharply increase, ultimately completely cutting off navigation on the Naen River. Something must have happened during this time that caused the Old Man of the River's temperament to become irritable and aggressive."
Lynd listened to Marwyn's analysis, pondered for a moment, and speculated, "Could it be that the Old Man of the River has entered its egg-laying and hatching period? Animals become very irritable and aggressive during their egg-laying and hatching periods; let alone wild ones, even domesticated ones will attack their owners."
"That's certainly possible." Marwyn also nodded in agreement, then asked, "What now? Should we look for the Old Man of the River's lair?"
Lynd shook his head and said, "No, there's no need to look for it. Let it come out on its own."
As he spoke, he reached his hand into the water, using the Nameless King's rune power to activate the Ice Dragon Rune on the Lost Knights Greatsword, injecting the resulting extreme cold magic into the water.
Then, ice pillars were seen rising from the riverbed, pushing one sunken ship after another out of the water, making them float on the surface. Soon, the entire deep water bay was filled, looking from a distance like a massive fleet docked at the pier.
Although he had seen Lynd display his god-like magical power more than once, Marwyn still showed a shocked and excited expression as if it were the first time he had witnessed it.
After setting the bait, Lynd did not stay there waiting for the Old Man of the River to appear. He and Marwyn, like travelers, walked through this massive ruin, experiencing the city's past prosperity.
Perhaps because Nameria's name originated from the city's former ruler, Warrior Queen Nameria, Lynd felt a special fondness for this ruined city. Especially when he arrived at the Warrior Queen's former palace, he couldn't help but walk in to take a look.
Although the palace had been abandoned here for hundreds of years, these marble-built structures still stood firm. However, the damp environment had corroded all the exquisite bas-reliefs on the buildings' surfaces, and moss and vines had climbed over them, covering these ugly scars, as if preserving some dignity for this once-glorious city.
"Although the entire palace is abandoned, some ancient items still remain." Marwyn followed behind Lynd, looking at the ancient buildings around them, and said, "In this palace, there is a statue of Nameria that remains perfectly preserved even after so many years. It is said that this is because Mother Rhoyne is protecting it, which is very miraculous."
"A statue?" Lynd was stunned by the words, then motioned for Marwyn to lead the way.
The two passed through a ruined garden overgrown with weeds and shrubs, arriving at the palace backyard. After rounding a broken corridor, they saw the statue Marwyn had mentioned.
As Marwyn said, even in such a harsh environment, the statue had no moss growing on it, no vines clinging to it, and its surface was even free of dust. It looked unnaturally new, as if it had been carved just yesterday.
However, none of these miraculous phenomena attracted Lynd's gaze, because Lynd had already been captivated by the statue's face.
"Nameria?" Lynd looked at the statue's face and couldn't help but say.
Marwyn beside him clearly heard Lynd's murmur, but he thought Lynd was referring to Nameria, the Warrior Queen of the Loisne, when in fact the Nameria in Lynd's mouth was his wife, Nameria.
The reason he involuntarily uttered Nameria's name was because the Warrior Queen's statue, both in physique and appearance, was completely identical to Nameria. The only difference was that Nameria used a two-handed great axe, while the statue in front of him held a spear.
Marwyn stood by and narrated, "Some say this statue was sculpted in a one-to-two scale based on Queen Nameria, but if that were the case, Queen Nameria's height would be too great, and her physique would also exceed that of ordinary people too much. So I think the scale could be one-to-two point five or even one-to-three."
"No, it's a one-to-two scale." Lynd refuted Marwyn's statement, saying, "My wife is named Nameria, and her height and physique are exactly one-half of this statue."
Marwyn smiled upon hearing Lynd's words. He thought Lynd had mistakenly associated his wife with Warrior Queen Nameria from a thousand years ago, leading to an interesting connection.
But then, he suddenly realized something and turned to look at Lynd's focused expression while gazing at the statue, confirming, "Earl, is this statue of Warrior Queen Nameria identical in appearance to the Earl of Tengshi Town?"
"Hmm." Lynd nodded and said, "Nameria has House Martell blood from Dorne, which means she also possesses the Warrior Queen's lineage."
"This is truly amazing!" Marwyn couldn't help but exclaim, "This might be an atavism!"
Lynd circled the statue once and did not feel any magical power from it, but by strengthening his special vision with the Nameless King's rune power, he still saw some power of faith entwined around the statue. This, he thought, must be the reason why the statue remained so clean, undamaged, and free from plant entanglement.
Lynd couldn't help but ask curiously, "This statue clearly looks extraordinary. Why has no one moved it away all these years?"
"I do know some reasons for that." Marwyn explained, "It's because of a curse. Anyone who tries to move the statue will be cursed and contract greyscale. Legend says this was a curse uttered by Prince Garin, the Loisne hero, on his deathbed against Queen Nameria, whom he resented for withdrawing her people early from his army of conquest, leading to the Loisne's disastrous defeat at Volantis. However, Queen Nameria was protected by Mother Rhoyne, so the curse meant for her transferred to this stone statue."
"An interesting story." Lynd shook his head, rather disdainfully, saying, "Although Prince Garin had an army of over two hundred thousand back then, Valyria had over a hundred dragons. Even if Queen Nameria had joined his forces and garrisoned Chayon at that time, the final outcome would not have changed. The Loisne's ultimate defeat, without any chance of recovery, was due to his arrogance. What right did he have to curse others?"
Marwyn smiled and said, "You might be able to tell those words directly to Prince Garin. Legend says the Shrouded Lord, who now roams the ruins of Chayon and rules the stone men, is Prince Garin, who was hanged in Volantis back then."
"The Shrouded Lord?" Lynd looked at Marwyn in confusion.
Then, Marwyn told Lynd about the Shrouded Lord, and Lynd's face showed a thoughtful expression after hearing it.
He himself didn't quite believe the statement that the Shrouded Lord was Prince Garin, resurrected as a zombie due to lingering resentment. Instead, he thought the Shrouded Lord was a title passed down through generations. The original Shrouded Lord might have been disguised Loisne who didn't leave with Nameria, simply to rally more Loisne to resist Valyria.
However, in this world where Others and wights exist, it was not impossible for Prince Garin to resurrect after death and become a zombie. After all, in the face of magic, the common sense from his previous life didn't quite apply to this world.
Lynd gazed at the statue for a long while, then suddenly, without warning, he rose into the air, flying high above to overlook the entire Na Sa Star ruins.
As he descended back to the ground, Lynd suddenly asked Marwyn, "Archmaester Marwyn, what do you think of me reorganizing and rebuilding this place and making it my territory?"
Marwyn was stunned after hearing this. Looking at Lynd's serious expression, he pondered for a moment and said, "Putting aside the cost of rebuilding here, if you want to complete the reconstruction and control this place, you will also need the tacit approval of three city-states."
"Three city-states? Are you referring to Volantis, Norvos, and Kohor?" Lynd said thoughtfully.
Marwyn shook his head and said, "It's Pentos, Norvos, and Kohor. As long as you get the tacit approval of these three cities, with your strength, rebuilding and occupying this place will not be difficult."
Lynd nodded slightly after hearing this, not continuing the topic, seemingly treating his earlier suggestion as just a casual thought.
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