Chapter 50: Dragonstone
Under Tyrion's guidance, Egger found an old master miner in the city who had once managed gold mines for House Lannister. Since retiring, the man had moved to King's Landing with his children to enjoy his waning years. After a flurry of flattery and smooth talking, Egger persuaded the old man to accompany him to Dragonstone to act as a consultant for the dragonglass mining.
With everything prepared, near noon on their third day in King's Landing, Egger boarded a pre-rented ship amidst the salty tang of the sea breeze. Accompanied by the old miner and his youngest son, he set off for Dragonstone—the ancestral seat where the Targaryens had first risen to power.
...
Dragonstone sat at the mouth of Blackwater Bay. Departing from King's Landing meant sailing downstream, but because the daytime sea breeze blew toward the land, the ship's progress remained sluggish. It wasn't until the sun began to dip and the wind direction reversed, granting them a following wind, that the situation improved.
The distance between the start and end points was over a hundred li. By nightfall, they had covered less than a third of the journey, making an overnight stay on the ship inevitable. Fortunately, the ship's speed after dark far exceeded its daytime pace, and the owner had assigned sailors to night shifts to pilot the vessel, so there was no worry of wasting too much time. The following morning, Egger was jolted awake by a combination of rocking, bright light, and the shouting of the crew. The ship had already entered the harbor of Dragonstone and was maneuvering to dock.
One only needed to glance at Dragonstone Port from the deck to understand why Stannis Baratheon was so resentful toward his elder brother for granting him this fief. Rather than a port, it resembled a small fishing village. Compared to the bustling harbor of King's Landing, it looked utterly desolate; Egger's sailboat was the only moving object in the harbor at that moment.
Egger often called the Wall a godforsaken place, but that assessment was largely subjective. Now that he had left and come south, he couldn't keep grumbling like a resentful wife. The Gift owned by the Night's Watch was, truth be told, fertile and rich in resources; it was merely remote, dangerous, and a bit cold, which was why few were willing to farm there. But Dragonstone—a place formed by volcanic eruptions, consisting of nothing but stone upon stone—truly deserved the title of a ghostly place.
The tiny fishing village held perhaps a hundred people at most. As far as Egger knew, aside from this village and the castle where the lord resided, the only other feature on Dragonstone was the military port where the Royal Fleet was stationed. This meant that the population under Stannis's direct rule consisted of nothing more than this single, small village.
In such a wretched place, relying solely on fishing would struggle to support a single knight, let alone a Lord.
Of course, the Lord of Dragonstone theoretically commanded the Lords of the Narrow Sea. The problem was that these so-called Lords of the Narrow Sea were merely masters of numerous tiny islands; the total population under them didn't exceed a hundred thousand. How could that possibly provide a Lord with an adequate army, revenue, or prestige?
It was said that after losing Lyanna Stark, Robert Baratheon had become disheartened, intending to never marry and to pass the throne to his brother Stannis. If the rumors were true, then following Targaryen tradition by naming his heir the Prince of Dragonstone made sense. However, the reality was that Robert later married under Jon Arryn's arrangement and produced heirs with higher priority—Joffrey and Tommen Baratheon.
Who would covet a Lordship of Dragonstone that conferred no claim to the throne? Since the birth of Robert's 'sons', Stannis had more than once demanded his rights to Storm's End from his brother. From an outsider's perspective, this was a perfectly reasonable and just request... but whether Robert was simply too lazy to deal with it or had other motives, the matter remained unresolved to the end.
Renly Baratheon, who was a mere child during the Usurper's War and contributed nothing, had inherited Storm's End and the ancestral lands of the Storm Kingdom. Meanwhile, Stannis—who had held Storm's End for a year against the massive Reach army, a feat of contribution to the victory no less than that of Eddard Stark—was sent away to this place where birds don't even land to defecate. No matter how magnanimous a man might be, such a slight would be unbearable.
Actually, to say birds don't defecate on Dragonstone is an injustice; they do. As Egger stepped off the boat onto the soil of Dragonstone, he saw countless seabirds flying in and out of nests on the coastal cliffs. There were likely more winged creatures in his field of vision than there were people on the entire island. Dragonstone, more accurately, was a ghostly place where only birds defecated.
...
As the ship docked, a scattering of village residents gathered to ask if they needed lodging or food. Dragonstone's position at the mouth of the Blackwater was geographically excellent, but because it was so close to King's Landing, countless ships passed by daily without stopping. It was rare for anyone to disembark here, so they received a fair amount of attention.
Not wishing to waste time, Egger rented three horses and a guide, heading straight for the castle without delay. The fortress was built on the highest point of the island and was massive in scale; from afar, it looked majestic and awe-inspiring, but up close, it was covered in moss and clearly lacked long-term maintenance. Only two listless guards watched the gate, one of whom only stood up from his corner when he saw visitors approaching. This state of decay only deepened Egger's sympathy for Stannis.
A guard went inside to report their arrival, but Stannis was not like Eddard Stark; he was unwilling to personally receive a lowly man of the Night's Watch. Ten minutes later, a young man rode out from the castle, claiming he had been sent to guide the visitors. Egger hadn't intended to see the Lord of Dragonstone anyway, so he was happy to be left to his own devices. After some small talk, they left the castle gates and began their survey to select a site for dragonglass mining.
"Ancient abandoned tunnels?" The guide listened to Egger's description, recalling for a moment while sitting atop his horse before speaking. "I believe there are such places. I've even been inside, but aside from some graffiti on the stone walls, there's nothing there."
Graffiti on the stone walls? Egger felt a surge of joy. Wasn't this exactly what he was looking for? Although Stannis was putting on airs and hadn't even invited him inside the castle, the guide he sent was competent. He felt another small boost of goodwill toward Robert's meticulous younger brother.
"Where is it? Take us to see it."
"It's at the southernmost point of the island. It's a bit far; I don't know if we can make it back before dark..." The guide hesitated.
"It's no trouble. Let's head out now, and I'll treat you to a grand meal when we return." Egger had some coin in his pocket, so he spoke with confidence. How high could the cost of living be on this wretched island?
"It's not the effort..." Seeing Egger's attitude, the young man became a bit shy and nodded. "Let's go then, and try to get back early. But we'd best get some torches from the village first."
...
After being windswept for several hours, Egger stood at the entrance of the ancient cave—the one that, in the original story, doesn't appear until the very end when Jon Snow takes his aunt to visit. Without a local guide, this place truly would have been hard to find.
Lighting the torches, the guide led Egger and the father-son mining team inside.
The pitch-black interior contained absolutely nothing of substance. There were indeed murals left on the walls, but for Egger—who had watched the birth of the Night King from a god's-eye view on a computer screen and had personally killed a White Walker—he likely wouldn't gain any new valuable information from them.
Things were going smoother than imagined. This was the place!
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