Late 109 AC – Elamaerys
Admiral Bryce Arenter POV
"Admiral!" The shout, accompanied with a harsh knock on the door, jolted him out sleep. "Cook's about to finish up the stew!" Bryce recognised the voice, realising it belonged to Jorvan, one of the younger boys serving on the ship.
"Alright boy!" Byrce shouted out a little groggily and a little hostile too.
Gods, he hated mornings, he thought as he removed the lion skin bedding from himself and with a tired sigh he sat upon his bed before he cleared the sleep dust from his eyes with a weary hand, the sound of the pattering rain against the hull of the ship falling into a faint and distant echo.
He'd barely gotten a decent night sleep for the past four or so moons since he'd been here. When he reopened his eyes, he turned towards the window of his cabin and saw that it was barely dawn. He shook his head and finally decided to get about his day, the planks beneath his feet creaking as he moved.
A little while later, after he'd dressed himself, he'd made it out of his cabin towards the great cabin that functioned as a mess hall where the crew and officers congregated in the morning, the smell of fresh bread baking a heaven send as he walked down the steps.
He arrived at the great cabin and saw the food being served up by the cooks.
"Admiral" the sailors acknowledged whilst some of the younger ones saluted and Bryce gave them a sharp nod before he sat down next to his second officer, Seldan, a boy of four and twenty with the hair and looks of Old Valyria but with mossy green eyes, who had sat alone and away from the rest of the crew, as was the standard of the Prince's Navy.
"Sir." Seldan said before he pushed a bowl of stew towards him and Bryce nodded to the young man who he'd gotten to know well over the past eight or so moons after they'd sail from Corinth.
He had a good shoulder on his head and he was loyal and dutiful too, and Bryce mused that he'd done well in picking the boy as his second officer. His previous second officer had been promoted to take possession of one of the new built Galleon, just as Fisherman, Locke's second officer was promoted to Captain.
If the boy continued to do well over the next few years, he'd be promoted to captain a Galleon in due time. 'Mayhaps not even take a few years' he mused.
From what the Prince was telling him, they'd managed to improve the shipbuilding yard to be able to build three Galleons a month and now they boasted a fleet of some twenty Galleons, half of which should be arriving in Elamaerys with another few thousand men.
Though Bryce suspected that the shipbuilding rate was to drop off the coming moons since it wasn't cheap at all build that many galleons, nor was it easy on the men.
He ate largely in silence, preferring to listen with half an ear to the chatter of the crew. Conversations were less cheerful, the novelty of setting foot on new lands that no man has ever been on before had long ago vanished.
It tended to be so when you were needed to put in hard labour like the rest of the 'pioneers' as the Prince had chosen to call them.
Whilst the lands west the Silver Mountains – mountains that crested the horizon south and east of their present location – were largely flatland, there were still many forests and plant life they needed to clear to make way for farmland.
The reddish-brown trees had soon become the bane of many a men with their tough bark and wide girths, and the task of cutting the logs was no easy feat either though he supposed they were lucky enough that they brought enough horses to help pull the stumps out of the ground and level the land with iron land levellers.
He glanced at his crew that sat at the tables before him.
None of them had complained, at least not in such a manner that it reached his ears, that they were tasked to help out the farmers, the men-at-arms and the builders in getting the lands prepared for farming and settlement.
Still…whilst the men were less cheerful, they were still committed to difficult task at hand. They'd been chosen exactly because of this hardworking nature of theirs.
Their food stores could last them for over a year along with the abundant deer-like animals that roamed these lands whilst the strange predators of these lands were slowly being rooted away for leagues around them by the men-at-arms. They had shelter on the ship and if they had to stay by the clearing sites, there was enough tents to go around.
Truthfully, the concerns they had was neither food or shelter or safety but rather the damn biting pests that seemed to come alive when the rains fell. There had been nary a man who hadn't had marks of red pin bites on their body, even him.
There was no escaping them if you were by the river or the lakes several leagues northwest and the men, those who could not find board on one of the two ships anchored in the river, had taken to tent out in the forest where they were not so inclined to go, at least until the cabins were good enough to keep the pests away.
The Prince had oddly been concerned about the nature of these pests, more so than the burning ants or the yellow tailed scorpion to whom they'd lost a man to, but after a few weeks, when none of them had fallen ill, the Prince had relaxed.
Over time, they learnt that the pests were most active during dusk and dawn so a strict schedule had been issued out to the men working in areas where the pests were likely to ravage and they were more than happy enough to work to it though, of course, they were less so happy to work during the night when it was their turn.
Bryce hummed silently. Whilst their concerns were few, all things considered, and the promise of land, well-earned gold and well-built homes like the kind the builders had shown them plans for was a powerful motivator, there was no denying that, despite their willingness to work for the future of their people, that there was a deep need amongst the men.
Most of the men were married, another powerful motivator to ensure they succeeded, but they were missing their families and quite obviously, they were missing the comforts of a woman.
Eight moons without one was a long time, and most of these men were not the hardened sailors like his old crew was.
He was going to raise the issue with the Prince today.
After he was done eating, he and most of his men disembarked from the ship and they made their way down on the muddy and trodden ground towards the settlement where the builders and the men-at-arms would be at the time of day.
Some of the crew separated away and made their way to the fields to which they were assigned to whilst others followed him to the settlement where they would carry out their assigned work.
Long before he set eyes on the settlement, he could hear the sounds of axe hitting wood and the sounds of hammer hitting nail and wood, and when he arrived at the settlement, he saw the several hundreds of men working on the felled trees.
Already they'd built several dozen cabins, each that could house four to six men, and he expected in the next fortnight, they'd build another dozen of them, allowing the majority of the men on the ground a roof over their heads instead of living in tents.
Whilst there was little concern any more of the demon birds or the strange lion like animals, both of them having been hunted to death in their area in the first few weeks of their arrival, having the comforts of good solid walls against nature and its dangers would do the men good.
He spoke briefly with Maros, the knight in charge of overseeing this site, about their needs and their food stores, before he left him and his men to their devices and made his way with young Tobin and two armed men to the cartographers and the builders that should have returned to their main camp, a camp that was past the main farming fields which laid several leagues to the West of the settlement, and they did so with the warm sun beating on their backs.
If there was one thing he loved most about these lands, it was the pleasant weather that was much like that of Corinth. Even when it was raining hard and fast, which rarely happened in Corinth, it rarely got cold, even during the coldest night it was but a pleasant cold like autumn on Dragonstone or Kings Landing.
He'd been to the Reach a number of times in his long life, and, as he glanced around at the rugged but mostly flat green land, he could imagine that these lands would be as productive and heavenly as Corinth or the Reach had been.
Though he doubted he'd live to see it become like the Reach and its never-ending golden fields. For all that these lands were fertile with plentiful local source of water, he knew that flattening these lands and preparing them for crops and building the irrigation channels would take many, many years.
Preparing the fields on this side of the river, which had been largely forest and shrubbery free, would very much take considerable time, more than it took to prepare the lands of Corinth which had been blessed with lands that had long ago been flattened even if they had been abandoned for centuries at least.
They continued to walk for several hours at a steady pace, his sea-legs having been strengthened by practice over the past few moons causing him to no longer need his walking stick, and by the time they arrived, they were greeted with the sight of black earth amidst largely seas of bumpy greenery against a backdrop of distant forest at the far side, the sun approached that of the noon-sun.
With the naked eye, the amount of land that was levelled and turned seemed much but he knew that they'd only prepared something like a quarter of a thousand acres thus far at this site, which was the main farming field, and only several dozens of acres prepared at other sites which included the flood grasslands.
This particular site, whilst not as flat as other parts of this land, was much closer to a tributary of the main river which ran on a downward slow to this area. These lands would allow a lot less time to build the irrigation system to feed the crops than other lands despite their easier conversion into farmland.
For a few moments, he took in the site, enjoying the way the sun hit blades of green and embers of black, and for a moment, he imagined seeing it all turned into golden fields and rows upon rows of plants of all kinds of shades of green, and a faint smile came across his face before he shook it away and carried on.
He briefly spoke with the man in charge of this work site, a farmer called Deran Sawler over bread, rabbit meat and a side of dried fruits before he continued on his journey towards the builder's camp beyond the forest.
The builders and the cartographers had found several locations for future stone quarries on this side of the river, closer than the stone quarries on the other side of the river but still some four leagues away from the settlement.
Presently, some of the builders were planning out how to mine for the stone when it would be needed though it wasn't their only purpose.
The builders he was going to see, led by a man named Lazyros Anerohr of Braavosi origin, one of the few men who had spoken with the Prince through the dragonglass candle, had been tasked by the Prince to look further for marble and other coveted stones such as granite.
The Prince wanted them to be certain that there were nothing of such value for two dozen leagues around them. The cartographers that had gone with the builders were tasked to map these places. In a way, these men had become their scouts in this direction.
Before his once in a moon call with the Prince, he wanted to know if any progress that he could tell the Prince. He'd told Anerohr to meet with him on this day back at the camp. The journey through the forest took several hours, in which time they'd encountered a few more of this land's native animals, taking particular care to look out for any yellow tailed scorpions which seemed to dwell amidst the fallen leaves, though fortunately not the hairy bear-like creature which were twice as bad as the demon birds.
By the time they made it to the clearing, he was honestly exhausted and reminded himself to remain insistent when he came to face Anerohr who'd refused him last time to come back to the settlement on the eight and twentieth day of every moon.
He came to see eight men at the camp who looked a little surprised at the sight of Bryce, Tobin and the two other men before one of them made their way towards them. "Admiral" the man he thought was called Bander, said with a respectful nod.
"Bander is it?" Bryce asked and after he got a nod from the man, Bryce continued "Where is Anerohr?" he asked after a glance at the men who decidedly did not have Anerohr amongst them.
The man, looking to be in his mid or late twenties, grimaced slightly, almost sheepishly as he answered "Admiral sir…he won't be back yet I don't think until probably tomorrow."
Bryce frowned heavily "Why? He knew that I would be coming." The damn uptight bastard even insisted that Bryce come to him. He also knew why he was here too.
Bander nodded "He didn't forget, sir." Bander seemed to hesitate a bit before he continued "It might be best to just show you why he's not back yet." Bander said before he turned around, leaving Bryce to follow the man with a heavy frown.
Bander spoke with a few of the men before one of them went towards one of the tents and brought out a bag. "This better be a damn polished marble stone." Bryce said a little harshly.
"If only, sir." One of the men said in a nervous laugh that seemed a little off and he could see why when the man carrying the bag brought out a skull…of something.
The skull, grey verging on black in colour, was in the shape of a human skull but…that was where the similarities all ended. The temples bore small but hook like bone that curled strangely curled inward whilst there were two fang-like bones the size of a little finger in its jaw, much like where the incisors in his mouth were but in this creature…they were part of the skull.
"We found several cave entrances three leagues from here. We thought mayhaps we could find gemstones like the caves in Corinth but instead, we found this amongst other bones by the water inside of the cave." Bander explained.
Bryce extended out his hand and the man holding the skull dropped it in his palm.
He rolled it in his hand before he picked it up and looked at it even closer. He'd seen a fair few skulls in his life and this had many more differences than simply the two sets of strange bones. For one, the back of the skull was rounder and shorter, and the cheekbones were thicker than that of a person.
What the seven hells was this damn thing? He knew of rumours of strange fish people in the north of Essos, and he'd also heard of the accounts of the men who went with the Prince to Toad Island about the frog like people and their worship of a demon god, so strange man-like creatures existing was not so strange to him.
But find such an existence here?
Did the boat and the arrowhead belong to one of these creatures?
Gods, he hoped not. He looked at the skull closer. It was old…very old. It could have been only a few years since this thing had died since caves were not kind to bones, but he had the impression it was much longer than a simple few years.
"Tell Anehohr I want him back at the settlement in the next day." Bryce finally said after he peeled his eyes away from the skull and turned to look at Bander and then the other men. "You were not meant to look for gemstones or bones of long dead creatures." Bryce said harshly before continuing after taking a deep breath.
"Do you have anything worth telling me?" Bryce asked with a harsh look.
It was harsh to say that this skull was not worth anything. Far from it. But concerning themselves about things that were long gone from this world was not what they should be doing.
"Eh…yes sir. We have discovered a source of slate." Bander explained, a little subdued. After giving the man a look, the man continued "It's used mostly for roofing, sir. It's desirable in places like Qohor and Norvos because it's a good stone to prevent leaks coming in which you get in rainy places like those Free Cities."
"That's good." Bryce said after taking the bag from one of the men and throwing the skull in. So far, it seemed it rained heavily for a few days each moon though he was not sure if it was because it was Summer.
They showed Bryce a few of the rocks which didn't look like much in truth. Given what he'd seen in the plans, he wasn't sure the Prince would like this stone to cover the roofs of the buildings and homes of the city.
"No signs yet of granite or marble?" Bryce asked the men as his eyes flittered across the faces of the men when he looked away from the stone.
They shook their heads "No sir. The boss, eh, I mean Anehohr" Bander quickly corrected after seeing the frown on Bryce's face at the description of calling the irritating man 'boss' "and the cartographers think that we may have to look in the valleys further upstream of the settlement nearer to the mountains there."
"Very well." Bryce said after a few moments and he paused before he shook his head "If that is all, I will take my leave." Damn Anehohr for making him walk all this way for nothing…well…almost nothing, he thought with a sigh as he glanced at the bag he held. "I will take this with me" he said when he saw their looks after looking back at them. "And if hear a single word about this creature, I will string you up by the balls myself and hang you to die, is that understood?" Bryce said with a heavy note in his voice with his eyes promising that he meant every word of it.
He didn't like ordering people even if he was given the authority to do so by the Prince…or threatening them as he was doing now. In any case, each of the men in charge of this colony knew their roles and responsibilities and he had not needed to use his authority to get them to comply to do their damn jobs.
But in this instance, he knew that spreading word of monster-people possibly living in their lands was not something they could have.
Bander and the other men looked at him with great surprise on their faces. "I said…is that understood?" Bryce said in a half-growl.
"Yes sir!" all of the men said and Bryce didn't nod but the slight lessening of his facial muscles was enough to assuage the men.
"And Anehohr must return to the settlement within the day. Make sure he understands that is an order, is that clear?" Byrce said with a no-nonsense tone.
"We'll make him understand sir." Bander and the other men said and after that, after quick meal with the builders, he left them and began the long damn journey back to the Discovery.
"Speak your seven damned mind, Tobin." Byrce said with an irritated voice as they journeyed through the forest after having seen one too many glances at the bag.
His words seemed to make the boy jump up a little but he quickly recovered from the sharp demand "Do you think there any like that still alive?" the boy asked a little tentatively.
He could see the curious looks from the two other men too.
"No." Byrce said curtly before adding "I do not think so. Otherwise we would have seen them" His voice was resolute though inwardly…
He hoped none of these beasts still lived which was far from what he wanted to know…or what the other men should be allowed to know, at least at this stage.
"Do not concern yourself over legends such as this, boy." Bryce said to the boy who looked a little contemplative, a look that was strange to see on the normally thick-headed but charming boy "Such creatures are long since dead much like the Children of the Old Gods." Bryce said before glancing at the men who nodded to him, silently giving him their word that they would not speak of this either.
He'd speak with the knights in charge anyway to make sure that they would act as they were nee