Game of Thrones: Paladin of Old Gods

Chapter 72: ' A Magical Fairy Tale... '

POV: Duncan;

In an abandoned temple less than two miles from Riverrun.

About a minute after a boy managed to convince a powerful Lord to host a Mighty Sorcerer in his manor...

"So, Lord Duncan... Shall we finally talk about this famous 'Sworn Enemy' of the First Men?" Ned asked with a tone of annoyance and deep weariness.

"Yes, my Lord... But before you do, let me show you something.

In the arcane tower of Carcosa, it is called the ' Mana Stone', the most valuable trading currency of gold beyond the Bone Mountains." I placed a piece of black stone engraved with red symbols.

"I would like to tell you a story, Lord Stark... A story in which Magic is the protagonist. As much as this story will seem like a bedtime story to tell your children, I would like you to listen to it until the end. Know that this story has no well-founded basis or documented evidence.

It begins long before people learned to communicate, read or write.

However, this story certainly has a basis of truth. No one in this day and age will be able to tell you what is true or what is not." I predicted.

"If it's a story you think will help me better understand [The Greatest Threat in the North], go ahead." Ned.

"So... This story, will be primarily about five people. They are the ones that most concern us: The Children of the Forest, the Children of Ice, the Children of Fire, and the Children of Light and Shadow. I will start by telling you legends about the origins of the world, up to the landing of Aegon I, the Conqueror... From there on, I'll tell you about the second greatest force in the world.

Originally, long before the Age of Dawn, it is said that the world was created by three powerful and magical Gods. The World Tree, The Dragon God, and The Phoenix.

World Tree had dominion over the magic of Earth, Water, and Air.

The Dragon God, dominion over the magic of Fire and Ice.

The Phoenix, dominion over the magic of Light and Darkness.

The three deities created the world on which we now rest our feet.

Countless years later, the Three Gods abandoned the earth they created, leaving it in the care of their children.

The Children of life, the Children of ice, the Children of fire, and the Children of light and shadow.

All the Sons divided the earth equally, living in total peace and harmony with each other.

They were industrious, peaceful, and helped each other.

The Sons of Life created the life of countless lesser species. The children of Fire and Ice maintained the balance between heat and cold, and children of light and shadow gave night and day...

Countless generations later, an event occurred that upset that harmony. The Children of the Phoenix who created love had a contrast between them.

A son of the night, who loved his twin sister, the daughter of light, immensely. He did not want his beloved to share her love with any other creature than him. Therefore, he moved as far away as possible from the lands of the children of life, the creators of such beings.

Three creatures, madly in love with the daughter of life, followed the couple. They, according to the legend, were similar to what we would call today: Monkey, Horse, and Bird...

The Three creatures, uniting in love with the Daughter of Light, generated three creatures, one son or daughter each.

These 'impure' children, were a human, a six-legged quadrupedal equine creature, and a harpy...

When the Son of Night discovered this. Feeling deprived of that love, he decided to deprive those beings of something respectively. He cursed the children of his beloved saying:

[You ' Stallion ', from now on you will never again be able to appreciate the beauty!

You 'Harpy', from now on you will never again feel Love!

And you 'Human', from now on you can never use Magic again!]

Soon after, The Stallion, unable to appreciate the gifts of the world and its creations, became much more ''wild and furious''. He ran impetuously destroying everything he came across, destroying what other creatures thought was beautiful.

The Harpy, no longer able to feel Love for other living creatures, plundered and imprisoned other creatures.

Man, no longer able to create with Magic, decided to try to do it with his own hands. He did not let himself be defeated by what he could no longer do but worked to find other ways to create.

He could still feel beauty and love for other creatures and creations. He was able to regain his harmony by living in peace with other creatures.

Thousands of years later...

Man united in love and union with all magical creatures on earth.

Uniting with the Children of Life, he begat what we now call the Children of the Forest, Children of the Water, Children of Air, and Children of the Earth.

Many believe that the Rhoynar, who were once the experts in water magic, descend directly from these Sons of Water.

Others that the Giants descended from the Children of Earth.

The First Men, from the Children of Ice. Some think that the name of the First Men was not because they were the first to set a foot in the lands of Westeros, but rather because the first true love of the [Man] of an [Ice Daughter]...

And the Valyrians, from the Sons of Fire...

Primarily, we'll focus on five main peoples, four magical and one non-magical...

Rhoynar, First Men, Valyrians, Magicians, and... Andals.

The Magicians, Lord Stark, is a collection of multiple peoples mixed, and currently live primarily in the lands of Asshai, Yi Ti, Plains of the Jogos Nhai, Mossovy, and Jade Sea Islands... The Magicians, or also called [ Descendants of the Children of the Phoenix ], are all under the rule and authority of Carcosa.

The Andals, Lord Starks, or far to the east of here, also called [Non-Magicians], are a people that tens of thousands of years ago formed because all the other magical children united by man, drove out the [Non-Magic Bearers]...

Those peoples thought that the more they united with the descendants of the sons of man, the less their children or grandchildren would be able to use magic later on.

There was a natural selection of magicians and non-magicians. The magical ones joined quietly with each other, but the non-magical ones could only join with the non-magical ones.

Only the descendants of the Sons of the Harpy and the Sons of the Great Stallion welcomed the Sons of Man...

A people was created, very ancient and forgotten, which was called [Cursed Triad]...

Blood mingled, time passed... Three different cultures were born:

The descendants of the Sons of the Harpy, who formed The Ancient Ghiscararian people.

The descendants of the Sons of the Stallion, who formed The Ancient Dothraki people.

And the descendants of the sons of the man... that today we call, Andals.

All peoples who had acquired flaws and imperfections from the Three Great Founders...

Both the Dothraki and the Ghiscarians inevitably lost their magical abilities but learned even a small amount about loving and building.

The Andals, although they valued beauty, creation, and love more than the other two peoples, also learned to destroy and master all that they learned to 'Not Love'... Magic.

Now let's move on to more well-known periods, my Lord...

I don't know if you've noticed but rarely do history texts mention magic. It's only told that it was once a great force in the world and then that's it...

All texts concerning magic, are mainly kept in two places. Carcosa and Oldtown.

Now, believe it or not, Lord Stark, from here on out I have texts written that deal with what I am about to tell you. Texts that my master Zick managed to obtain for me from lands far away.

Before the Long Night. When the First Men had just established a truce with the Children of the Forest and the Giants, there were mainly five human peoples who ruled the world through magic.

In Westeros, the First Men and Sons of the Forest.

In Essos, the Rhoynar, the Valyrians, and The Magicians.

Three major magical societies prevailed over all peoples.

The Druids: Composed mainly of Children of the Forest and First Men. Skilled in Life magic and the ability to attune with all living things.

The Forgermasters: Mainly Valyrians skilled in the creation of magical artifacts.

And the Knowers of the Arcane, known as Mages: Those who lived the furthest east of all and had the lowest concentration of Human Blood. Many peoples such as the Jogos Nhai, have unique traits that some maesters mistakenly call ' Deformities'.

All three societies cooperated.

Do you know what the main weapons of the children of the forest were made of, Lord Stark?" I asked, interrupting myself for a moment.

"... Obsidian." Ned.

"Correct. Do you know why there are no natural Obsidian mines here in Westeros?" Me.

"No...that information escapes me." Ned.

"Because Obsidian, or... 'Dragon Glass', is not produced by the earth, my Lord. But rather produced by a magical process.

Dragons...

Dragons are creatures that many believe to be the legendary first children of the Dragon God. The only beings that carry magic.

In truth, this is not exactly correct...

Magic comes from the Blood of the First Gods.

Even the blood of the Children of Life is just as magical as Dragon's blood...

The Children of Life, the direct descendants of The World Tree, are those whom we now worship as [Old Gods], Lord Stark...

As for the Children of the Phoenix, only very ancient noble lineages claim to have the blood of the Phoenix God in their veins.

The King in The Yellow, the one you'll be hosting Lord Stark in a couple of months, is one of them.

Zick suggested that I tell you, constantly make appreciations of his lineage when you meet The King in The Yellow.... " Me.

"... I'll keep that in mind." Ned.

"Anyway, getting back on track...

It was the Valyrians who supplied the Children of the Forest with Obsidian.

The First Men, thanks to their Ancient Ice magics, helped the Valyrians transform Dragon Fire. An 'essence of magical power itself, into [Frozen Fire]...

And the Children of the Forest, in return, helped the Descendants of the Children of Valyria control the Dragons.

The Descendants of the Children of the Phoenix, the [ Mages], learned the language of magic. They taught the Valyrians and the Druids part of a secret magical language, called [Draconic].

The Rhoynar contributed water magic. Helping in the formations of underwater mines that could contain the crystals and prevent the Dragon Fire from melting the Rock. The Rhoynar even helped the people to fertilize the desert fields and supply them with extensive water supplies.

It was a magical time, Lord Stark.

What you see before you, my Lord is proof of that collaboration. This Obsidian stone, engraved with Draconic runes, was the material most often used to perform magic.

Even magics of which others were not experts.

Currently, only Carcosa holds the secrets of the Runes... But it lacks Obsidian. Oldtown, on the other hand, has large stocks of Obsidian well guarded but lacks the means to turn them into Mana Stones...

The stone in front of you, my Lord, currently has a market value of about 300 golden dragons. " Me.

"... Almost as much as a precious gemstone." Said Lord Stark with a surprised tone scrutinizing for a moment the black stone that was slightly less than the size of a shell.

"That's right, my lord.

However...

The Andals have always hated one particular people...

The descendants of the children of the Phoenix. In particular, the wizards and sorcerers who favored the magic of Shadows and Blood.

Those who were descended from the Children of the Night. It is no coincidence that the 'Stranger', the deity of the sects most feared and despised by the creed, is rather dark, gloomy and the bearer of outcast loneliness.

The Andals were very familiar with craftsmanship.

Their greatest weapon was wrought iron. The sons of the warrior marched against the wizards and fought for millennia against the children of the night.

Finally, the Andals were pushed back further west... They asked the Valyrians for help. They revealed to the Valyrians the secret of Steel in exchange for their contribution against the wizards of the East.

The Valyrians did not keep those deals... And not only that, thanks to the secrets of the Andals' hard work, they created a better Steel. The Steel of Valyria...

Feeling betrayed, the Andals swore revenge against the Valyrians and managed to convince the Rhoynar and Ghiscarians to join them against the Valyrian Empire, promising the lands and riches of that empire to their allies.

Before that happened, a historical event came to the world...

The Long Night.

It wasn't just, the First Men, the Giants, and the Children of the Forest, who repelled The Others, Lord Stark.

The Valyrians provided their allies, obsidian weapons, and Valyrian Steel, though they could not focus their efforts too much on those lands. The Ghis Empire was constantly at war with Valyria, and the Andals, allying themselves with the Dothraki people, still put pressure on the Magicians.

Those two weapons, my Lords, Obsidian and Steel of Valyria were the only ones able to kill The Others.

Carcosa herself helped the Druids with troops of Magicians.

And the hero who led the allied forces to victory was a man who many believed had Valyrian ancestry and had grown up in the distant lands of Asshai... Azor Ahai.

The Valyrians, strong with their dragons and their new Steel, defeated their enemies in the field.

Even there, the Rhoynar, who had good relations with the Valyrians in the past, surrendered first to the descendants of the Sons of Fire.

The Andals were betrayed for the second time, swearing revenge on the descendants of a certain dynasty. An ancient dynasty whose name is still passed down from House Martell today.

The Nymeros...

Anyway.

The Andals fled and chose to set their sights on other lands. Westeros... The lands of Druids, First Men, and Giants.

As you well know, almost all the kingdoms of Westeros surrendered to the Andals, converting to the Faith of the Seven.

Only the North and most of Dorne managed to resist.

Also in that period, half of the Rhoynar people, who were tired of wars and massacres, sailed with 10,000 ships to new lands. The legendary Princess Nymeria joined House Martell. One of the houses where the blood of the First Men was still strong in their blood.

It is said that Dorne was subdued in blood, Lord Stark... This is not entirely true. Many Kings of Dorne bowed to the Nymeros Martell for other reasons. This was erased from the history books...

Many Rhoynars, connoisseurs of water magic, made fertile the lands of Dorne, plagued by a deep drought. The river that is now the lifeblood of Dorne, was increased and lengthened by spells...

The Rhoynars didn't want more wars. They just wanted peace and prosperity. And it was because of that prosperity that two kings out of six, surrendered without a fight...

The invasion of the Andals was fierce and almost lightning fast. The First Men, still strong in their magic, could have held out much longer if a certain City...

A city originally founded millennia earlier, thanks also to the help of the Valyrians, the Magicians, and one First Man in particular... Brandon the Builder.

Oldtown was at the time a key point of defense. Built and surrounded by high walls. Walls that many scholars admit have many Valyrian similarities...

Walls protected by strong spells created by a once allied city... Carcosa.

A small lineage of First Man kings, lovers of knowledge and learning, invited scholars, healers, musicians, wizards, druids, and scholars from all over the known world and founded what we now call Citadel...

Carcosa and other cities of the magical peoples thought it wise that all cultural, scientific, exchanges between all peoples be archived in a protected place. A place that would not forget history.

That city, Lord Stark, could have been a key point of defense for the people of Westeros. The rulers of that city, however, chose to surrender to the Andals without a fight.

The Andals, frightened by that powerful enemy, proposed a deal to that knowledge-loving family.

A very advantageous agreement.

If that royal family, had opened the gates of the City without resistance, not only would have been spared, but they would have made him a gift of all the knowledge that the people Andalus had collected in those thousands of years...

Including Andalus military and magical knowledge known only to Carcosa.

Light magic that the Andals could not use, but still retained over time. The Andals, my Lords, are convinced that they are children of Man and descendants of the Maiden of Light. Their holiest mother, she who opposes the Son of Night. Every relic or knowledge of the Daughter of Light was preserved by the Andalus people. Knowledge was even unknown to the Arcane Tower of Carcosa...

If that household had bent the knee, and betrayed the Sons of Life, and revealed their weaknesses, they would have remained the masters of that city.

Moreover, they would have remained the only family in the future that would be able to study arcane knowledge... as well as maintain magical bloodlines.

Only Blood and Shadow magic would be forbidden.

That family agreed...

They revealed every secret of the powers of the Druids and the Children of Ice and how to counter them...

The Andals began by cutting down every Heart-Tree they could find...

Then the rest is history. One by one, the kingdoms of the First Men fell under the sharp steel of the Andals.

Do you know who those First Men were who first betrayed their people?....

Descendants of a House that ruled over Oldtown, First Men, strong in a powerful magical bloodline as well as powerful Sorcerers...

The Hightower family..." I paused, clenching my fists for a moment...

Then, regaining my composure, I concluded:

"A House that changed its motto on the same day it opened the magical gates of Oldtown...

They welcomed the Andals by uttering these first words:

{ We Light the Way } "