The Dothraki are fond of saying "Everyone knows," and when they say this, they don't mean that everyone present knows something, but rather they are expressing a conventional tradition.
In fact, the horse lords' "Everyone knows" is very much based on survival wisdom. For example, now, Daenerys' handmaidens and bloodriders, fearing demons, are advising her to avoid the city of the dead that could save her life.
Is there any truth to Jiqi's saying that "Once the gods leave, demons will go out hunting at night"?This makes perfect sense to nomads who chase after grasslands and rivers.
Why does a city die?
In this era and this world, there are usually only two reasons: first, plague; second, war.
Plague goes without saying, of course it must be avoided. And the massacres caused by war leave behind cities full of corpses, and the accumulated corpses can also trigger plagues.
Horsemen are not afraid of war, but when faced with the almost irresistible germs that cause plague, they are what the horsemen call "evil spirits."The savage Dothraki, through millennia of bloody lessons learned by their ancestors, have developed a set of survival rules adapted to this land.
"I have dragons, any evil spirit will avoid dragons," Daenerys could only comfort the horselords this way.
She didn't need to be reminded about the "fresh" dead cities, "everyone knows," Daenerys herself would be vigilant and avoid them, but that ruin had been abandoned for who knows how many years. Whatever caused its destruction back then could no longer harm them today.Without delay, Daenerys immediately ordered: recall the knights searching for water ahead, have the KLS change direction, and send the first 20 warriors to White City to find food and water, departing immediately.
To appease the worried Dothraki, Daenerys also sent the black dragon to accompany them along the way.
Well, she would enter a dragon dream state, directing the little dragon's actions.
Things progressed more smoothly than she had anticipated. An hour later, the black dragon arrived at White City with the vanguard.That was a white city, as bright as the moon and as beautiful as a maiden, with white walls and white towers, shimmering in the hazy afternoon air, so beautiful it seemed like a mirage.
Arriving at the outskirts of the White City, at Dany's request, the black dragon struggled out of the bamboo basket on Ago's back and flew into the sky.
With just one glance, Dany saw a patch of green in the city through the eyes of the great black dragon.
As they got closer, Dany was so pleasantly surprised that she excitedly broke free from her dragon spirit state.
"There are orchards, figs, grapes, and I even saw peach trees."She stood up and grasped Doria's hand, her joy overflowing, "Our team is saved! We can settle there and farm until the little dragon grows into a giant dragon, hahaha."
In the afternoon, with the sun still hanging at a forty-five-degree angle in the sky, Danny impatiently urged Karl to break camp and set off.
"This time, don't spare your strength, it's only a two or three-hour journey. Argo and the others have prepared fresh fruit and sweet well water. Everyone, put in a little more effort, hope is just around the corner." Danny couldn't wait to gallop ahead.When they were 5 kilometers away from the White City, the big black one flew over and landed on her shoulder. The sky was bathed in the tawny hues of the setting sun. Finally, Daenerys and her Khalasar arrived at the foot of the white walls.
"I never imagined that in the desolate Red Waste, we would find such a magnificent structure," Ser Jorah said to Daenerys in an incredulous tone. "Even in Westeros, cities like this are rare."
That's your Westeros, this is my White City.
Daenerys' violet eyes crinkled into crescent moons as she smiled. "I declare this city mine!"Seeing Daenerys so happy, Jorah jokingly said with relief, "Then please, Princess, name your city."
She tilted her head, thought for a moment, giggled, and said the words "White Cloud City," then rode her little silver horse quickly through the city gate.
From a distance, it was an exquisitely beautiful city of pure white stone, its ten-foot-high walls blocking out all that was vile. But upon entering, one discovered a scene of broken walls and ruins, devilgrass growing between the paving stones, and vines spreading through the collapsed houses.Daenerys even saw a jujube tree as thick as a thigh growing in what should have been the center of the street, with sparse, green, shriveled jujubes hanging from it.
Perhaps it came from a jujube pit decades ago?
"How long do you think this city has been abandoned?" she asked those around her.
"Judging by how well-preserved it is, probably twenty or thirty years," Jorah said uncertainly.
Daenerys shook her head. "Definitely longer than that."
She turned back and called out to the old man who was holding onto a branch and picking jujubes from his saddle, "Afanti, come here."
"Yes, Khaleesi, I'm coming.""Clip-clop, clip-clop," the horse's hooves made crisp sounds on the gray stone floor, and in a moment it was in front of Dany.
"How old are you? Have you heard any news about this city in recent years?"
"Khaleesi, have some dates." Afanti obsequiously held out seven or eight green dates, each the size of a little finger's pad, to Dany.
"You eat them." Dany shook her head.Only then did Afanti treasure the dates and put them in the saddlebag on his horse, pondering as he said, "Khaleesi, I don't even know how long I've lived. On the Great Grass Sea, there are often years of the same season, and I'm confused and can't tell them apart. I only remember seeing winter snow about eight or nine times."
Not to mention the horse people who haven't invented a calendar at all, even the nobles of Westeros can't figure out the seasons and years, relying entirely on the maesters of the Citadel to send out ravens every year as a reminder.The world of ice and fire does not have fixed seasonal changes. For example, Daenerys only remembers seeing snow when she was very, very young. Like many teenagers of this generation, she is a child of summer.
"When was the last winter? What season is it now?" she asked the most learned knight.
Uh, a bit awkward, under Daenerys, the Bear Island brute had become the intellectual.
Jorah Mormont scratched his sunburned scalp, pondered for a moment, and said, "When I was still the Lord of Bear Island, I seem to remember the maester saying that this summer was particularly long. That was...""About six years ago, I reckon. It should still be summer now, and has been for ten years."
He looked at the sweltering, dark red sky, unable to deny that it was still summer.
"You need a maester," he sighed, suggesting it reluctantly.
"If a maester were to come to me, it wouldn't be long before every Westerosi lord had a detailed report on me and my dragons on his desk," Daenerys said softly, noncommittally.
"It's not that bad, maesters swear allegiance to those they serve..." Jorah mumbled, without much conviction.He suddenly thought of himself.
Noticing Daenerys' questioning gaze, Avatar paused for a moment before saying, "In my memory, the Red Waste has always been an untouchable forbidden land."
"Khaleesi, look!" As they spoke, the group walked towards the palace in the city center. Passing a six-way intersection, Aggo suddenly exclaimed, pointing to an empty marble pedestal, and said, "The god of the White City has been taken away by the Dothraki. A Khal must have been here, most likely a Khal looted this city."""Huh," Old Avanti rode forward, circling the marble base in the center of the street twice, and also said with surprise and doubt, "A horse-person really came here, when did that happen?"
"How do you know?" Daenerys asked, puzzled.
"Khaleesi, have you noticed?" Avanti pointed his riding whip around the surrounding blocks, "This is the intersection of six streets, so it can be considered the city center, therefore, the god worshipped by the White City should be placed on the marble base."
Daenerys agreed with this statement, and she nodded, "And then?"
"Have you forgotten?""Only the Dothraki have a habit of plundering the idols of other peoples," Jorah interjected.
Prompted by his reminder, a memory suddenly surfaced in Daenerys's mind: after destroying cities, the Dothraki liked to steal their gods or statues of heroes.
The Dothraki's sacred ground, starting from the Horse Gate, had a main road running through Vaes Dothrak—the Godsway.
Countless statues lined both sides of that road, some of stone, some of bronze, some of cast iron, some of wood, and even some of Valyrian steel.There were statues of gods, statues of kings and heroes, even statues of the evil gods and devils of the Shadow Lands.
"It seems the history here is older than we thought, at least a century. The great Dothraki horde must have been able to reach this place because the river hadn't dried up yet. A few hundred mounted warriors alone could never have taken this fortified city."
As she spoke, Dany and her Khalasar had crossed the district and arrived at the palace ruins in the center of the city.
The Dothraki were unwilling to live in stone houses haunted by ghosts, so Dany, with no other choice, had them pitch their tents against the walls of the towering palace.Walled off, it can block the sun.
After everything was settled, Karls and his people gathered in the square in front of the palace. The warriors sent ahead had collected a lot of fruit, including figs, grapes, peaches, and apples.
Although the fruit was generally underdeveloped, small in size, and poor in taste, her people greedily reached out to grab it, pushing and shoving each other, stuffing the fruit into their mouths, and making satisfied chewing sounds."The walls are white, the towers are white, the buildings on the streets are also white, the palace is still a monotonous white, and there are white skeletons on the streets. Everywhere you look, it's a ghastly white. It should be called the City of Bones." Jorah rubbed his furry arms and said in a strange tone.
In reality, there are traces of burning everywhere in the city, but the blackness of the city consumed by fire has also become mottled with time.
In the night, under the crimson glow of the red comet, only the wailing wind echoed in the city's alleys, which was indeed a bit eerie.Daenerys' two Dothraki handmaidens, already a little uneasy, trembled with fear after hearing the knight's words.
Jhiqui, with a tearful voice, said, "Khaleesi, we can't stay here, this is the land of demons, listen, they are cursing us in the corners!"
"What Bone City? Nonsense!" Daenerys glared at Ser Jorah, her tone firm. "This is White Cloud City, I am the Lady of White Cloud City, this is my territory."
"Hiss!" Drogon, receiving her message, opened its mouth at the right moment and spewed out a foot-long, thumb-thick jet of bright red dragonfire.The dragon's flames were mixed with bursts of black smoke, making it a truly terrifying sight.
The two maids fell silent.
...
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(End Chapter)