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298 AC
Dreadfort
"Most unfortunate about the security breach in karmine Wisdom hogarth"Domeric Bolton said calmly, his back turned as he stared into the hearth. The fire crackled low and steady, orange tentacles licking at blackened logs,
"After so many set backs . So many delays. And now this."
The young lord did not raise his voice. He did not need to. His words alone relayed the seriousness and weight of the matter.
Behind him, Wisdom Hogarth stood nervously rigid, hands hanging to the sides of his ashen black robes.
"We've heard rumors circulating through the city of Acanon," Domeric continued, finally turning with slow, deliberate grace. His dark eyes settled upon the old scientist with unnerving focus. "Apparently, you've lost a rather… talkative apprentice or handy man whichever you wanted to call him."
Hogarth swallowed hard and nervously.
"My lord Bolton," the man began quickly, his voice shaky, "my men are already looking for his capture. Yours as well, I understand your… blacklegs are digging far and wide. When we find him and we will, Armin will be of little to no concern to us. Especially with the weapon so close to completion."
The words spilled out in a rush, rather desperately.
When?" Domeric asked quietly.
The single word cut like a blade on butter.
"When," Domeric repeated as he circled Hogarth as he were prey, "has become now, Wisdom Hogarth. I will tolerate no further delays, no more farces or incompetence."
The old man's throat bobbed again.
"I have given you the foundational knowledge needed to complete this great work," Domeric said, his voice still assured yet stern. "I have given you resources beyond measure…coin, labor, protection. Karmine itself lay upon the borders of barren and lifeless land when I found it. Hills stripped bare, mines closed and forgotten."
He stopped before Hogarth, close enough that the man could smell the faint scent of smoke and leather upon him.
"I built an institution there for you," Domeric continued. "A place hidden from prying eyes, guarded day and night. A sanctuary for forbidden knowledge. And with all my faith, I am rewarded with excuses and incomplete works."
He resumed his slow circle.
"Every time I ask for progress, I am told about obstacles. Every time I ask for certainty, I am given promises." His tone sharpened, just slightly. "So tell me plainly, Hogarth. When will the powder be complete? When will my fire cannons be ready?"
Silence filled the room.
Hogarth licked his lips. "The black powder itself is… is being refined more and more each day my lord these things they take time."
"And how much time could you take so…?" Domeric fires back making him flinch.
"And the other substance?" he asked. "The one you named the White flame."
Hogarth hesitated.
"The… refined incendiary compound," he said at last. "Less volatile than wildfire making it easier for transport and controlled fired. It was perhaps better to wildfire in some sorts. I had been experimenting on this for years and now with the resources and knowledge you provided we have hit a breakthrough"
'This was good news. Better news. Domeric thought.'
A year ago, Domeric Bolton had secretly brought Wisdom Hogarth north from King's Landing, along with his most promising apprentices. The man had once been tolerated by the Alchemists' Guild for yeas and had been deemed as one of their black sheep's, as he was quietly cast aside for doing what the mad men already thought crazier and utterly dangerous. The Irony of it all.
Yet Domeric had welcomed his curiosity.
Karmine became their new home.
Built near sealed mines in the hills, the facility was disguised as little more than a reinforced mining outpost. In truth, it was an experimental workshop, wood and stone walls thick enough to withstand accidents, deep cellars lined with iron, ventilation shafts carved through rock. A place where ideas too dangerous for court or citadel could be explored freely and too secretive for the regular masses, much-less the high lords could find out about.
Here, Domeric gathered minds from across the Seven Kingdoms and beyond….failed maesters, discredited alchemists, engineers whose work frightened their patrons.
He set them to work together for the progression of science.
And their greatest achievement or atleast his and Hogarth's was black powder.
Black powder, refined again and again, no longer a crude mixture he first had concocted before with rigmond where he had almost gotten another free transmigration.
This black powered would be a new smokeless more refined one, easier to handle and better for weapons. Hence why Hogarth was taking so long.
Large armies would mean nothing when ranks could be torn apart by iron shot and thunder. Castles symbols of noble defiance for centuries would crumble beneath cannon fire. Stone walls would become meaningless relics.
No shield wall would stand against arquebuses.No keep would endure sustained bombardment.
The old fears would return.
Dragonfire had once ruled Westeros through terror and awe.
Domeric intended to surpass it. Steel flames, disciplined and relentless. Fear not bound to bloodlines or dying beasts, but manufactured, replicated, perfected weapons of destruction.
'They will kneel,'he thought to himself coldly
'Or they will burn.'
"My lord," Hogarth ventured, trembling slightly, "if I may—Armin's knowledge is incomplete. He knows fragments, formulas without proper context or understanding. Even if captured…"
"If," Domeric interrupted sharply, "is not a word I find comforting."
He leaned in, his voice bordering a growl.
"Find him. Quietly. I do not care if his body is returned whole. Just find him!"
Hogarth nodded frantically. "Of course, my lord. Of course."
"And understand this," Domeric continued.
"If there are even rumors of these works or its entire endeavors being released then you would have proven yourself a liability. If you can't control your underlings, perhaps Maester Carn would get his long lost wish of taking your position he has been providing me with medical results afterall."
A farce domeric thought, Hogarth was too important for him to kill or ever sideline. But he couldn't allow the man to see this.
"I will not fail my lord." He said.
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