Chapter 259
Leaving a "Soul coordinate" in Jaqen's palm, Dany quietly returned to Quill and Tankard's bedroom, lit the glass candle, entered the book cellar again, and flipped through Citadel's collection of books.
In addition to "Magic Power Network" and "Sorcerer's Lens Manual", Septon Barth's "Dragons, Wyrms, and Wyverns: Their Unnatural History" shocked Dany the most.
"Unnatural History" is not the first time Dany has heard of it, Barristan mentioned it to her a long time ago when Dany was discussing the origin of dragons with the horsemen maid and strongly suggested that she get it Take a look.
Well, the book White Cloak saw at Illyrio's private library was incomplete, missing several volumes.
The author of Unnatural History is not Maester, but Septon, Hand of the King Septon Barth of "Old King".
Old King Jaehaerys is almost equivalent to the "Kangxi Great Emperor" of the Targaryen Dynasty (analogous to the Qin Emperor and Han Wu who exalted him too much), he is the grandson of Aegon the Conqueror, and the most wise and wise among the kings of all dynasties , The longest reign is also the longest, a full fifty-five years!
Of course, Jaehaerys the Old King's life can't be considered too Legendary compared to Barth, who has been prime minister for forty years.
Barth was originally Smith's son. When he was young, his family was poor. He was given to Church by his father as a Septon (probably owes Church money, and uses his son to pay off the debt).
It's like Wei Xiaobao met Kangxi, little Septon Barth worked in King's library, met Old King, a young man who loves to read books, the two hit it off at first sight, goodbye love...cough cough, in short, They became friends.
Prime Minister Barth's innate talent in academics and magic is as talented as Wei Xiaobao's talent in stalking horses and steering at the wind.
I don't know if it's because of the Imperial Family library, or if Barth has other sources of information, he wrote a book that chronicles the knowledge of dragons in detail - "Dragons, Wyrms, and Wyverns: Their Unnatural History" ".
The reason why this book shocked Dany is that it describes the origin of the Valyria dragon from both the natural evolution of biology and the transformation of Blood Magic species.
Barth believes that the dragons of Valyria are different from dragons that appeared in other regions and other historical periods: the dragons of Valyria are biological weapons purposefully transformed through Blood Sorcery!
"Unnatural History" puts forward two viewpoints, first, Wyvern in Sothoryos jungle and swamp land, Wyrm and dragon in Fourteen Flames have the same ancestor, dragon is the most perfect evolution, Wyvern has the body of the dragon, but not the power of the dragon to control the Magic - unable to breathe fire.
And Wyrm has Magic powers, but no dragon's body - can't fly.
Second, the Valyrian dragon was made by Bloodmage using Wyvern. Use Blood Magic to help Wyvern evolve into a dragon, so the Valyrian is born to be able to control dragons.
Well, Wyrm and Wyvern have to be explained here.
The world of Song of Ice and Fire has three continents, Westeros in extreme western lands (equivalent to the British Isles), Essos continent (Eurasian continent), and Sothoryos continent in the southern hemisphere (connected to Africa and South America). Together).
Sothoryos has hardly been developed, and people in civilized countries dare not go there to explore. The environment is so bad that it is almost a paradise for epidemics.
For example, Yezzan, who is also known as the Yunkai double star with Grazdan, was originally brave and handsome, but after walking around Sothoryos opposite Summer Sea, he contracted the disease and paralyzed his lower body.
Wyvern is not uncommon in that wild continent.
Wyrm...
Dany didn't know Wyrm at first, until he saw the description and drawings of Wyrm in "Unnatural History", and was shocked to find that it was the last time he was in Wyrm. Firewyrm encountered by Oros.
After the Balerion descended on Jaen, vomited mucus, there were countless Wyrm larvae, and even his body seemed to be made of Wyrm.
According to the description in Unnatural History, there are Wyrms in the Fourteen Flames, their larvae are about the size of a child's arm, and the adult Wyrm is almost the size of a wingless dragon.
——If you swallow a mammoth "fire-spitting worm" in one bite, you will be asked if you are afraid.
"Unnatural History" is not just a guess, Septon Barth also has a detailed and in-depth reasoning about the witchcraft of Valyria Bloodmage as a Magic researcher.
A very wise book, but met the Top Grade of Saint Baelor, listed it as a banned book, and ordered the burning of all "Unnatural History" nationwide.
Suddenly, Dany looked startled, put down the book, and a silhouette suddenly appeared in the second floor lounge.
"Archmaester Perestan." Barristan whispered.
They had an agreement that if Dany was reading in the cellar and someone unexpectedly visited, Barristan would quickly move around the room.
mental protection comes from White Cloak. When his position changes, the mental body can feel it.
Of course, if Dany didn't even put out the mental body, Barristan wouldn't be able to remind her, then he would just tell the visitor: Lord Rhaella is out.
"Archmaester, what's the matter so late?" Dany and White Cloak came to the door.
"I want to tell the two of you that Citadel has formulated a strategy to reduce the trade deficit," the red-nosed old man walked to the table, opened a folder, pushed Dany down, and explained, "As a world A world-class country, integrity must not be lost, we cannot renege on a debt, and we can't blatantly be pirates."
A world-class country, except Westeros oneself, who doesn't think you are a savage country and a barbarian civil?
Dany carefully looked at the other party's strategy, three guidelines: first, to convene the Great Council to persuade King and Seven Kingdoms nobles to be diligent and thrifty; second, to discuss on the Great Council what she mentioned before. Industrial chain plan to create oneself's fist products; third, conquer Stepstones and impose tariffs on passing merchant ships.
Between Westeros and Essos continent, there is a Narrow Sea 500 kilometers wide and 2,500 kilometers long, and Stepstones is at the entrance of Narrow Sea.
In legend, the Stepstones were part of the Arm of Dorne, connecting the Westeros and Essos continents. When the First Men invaded Westeros from the continent bridge, the Greenseers unleashed Forbidden Spell Magic, shattering the Arm of Dorne, forming the Stepstones - a chain of islands.
Simply put, Narrow Sea = an extended version of the English Channel, Stepstones are the gateway to the Channel, think about the impact of full control of the English Channel on the European continent...
"I'm afraid it will be difficult," old Knight shook his head and sighed, "everyone knows that to control the Stepstones is to control the maritime trade of the entire Narrow Sea.
Two hundred years ago, Lys, Tyrosh, Myr three The city-states formed the 'Kingdom of the Three Daughters' (Valyria's three daughters) with the intention of taking control of the Stepstones. But as you can see, after several decades, the Three Daughters disintegrated."
" It's better for the Seven Kingdoms to conquer the Stepstones than the Seven Kingdoms fleet to go there and be pirates," said the old red-nosed Archmaester.
"Not necessarily," Dany shook his head. "Being a pirate, you can move forward and retreat freely, and your policies are flexible. You won't be angered, and you won't have to bear the responsibility of defending the soil."
Archmaester Perestan said with a bitter smile: "You have to think about it for the nobles, the pirates have a bad reputation, they are captured by the enemy, they can't be hanged immediately, lose their honor, and lose their lives.
If it is in the name of Seven Kingdoms Conquering the Stepstones, nobles who are captured will not only receive preferential treatment from high-level prisoners of war, but they will also be able to redeem them with money. And fighting for the country, it is not a shame to lose, and the reputation will not be damaged.”
"Uh..." Dany froze.
"It's so late, do you want something to eat?" The old Archmaester stood up, opened the door, rang the bell, and called the apprentice to deliver the meal for them.
Old Archmaester was swift and decisive, and he didn't give anyone a chance to refuse at all. When he finished ordering his meal, Dany said calmly, "Actually, I'm not hungry. Eating too much at night will make me gain weight."
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“Drink some soup to warm your stomach.” The old Archmaester laughed.
Then, he began to ask about the development of the industrial chain.
“We also tried to breed silkworms in Westeros, but the weather in Seven Kingdoms is too extreme, Summer is deadly hot, and winter is deadly cold, I wonder what Miss Rhaella thinks?”
Dany Eyeball Ziyi turned and said, "You can go to Children of the Forest, they understand Magic, and they may be able to breed localized mulberry trees and silkworm babies."
"Hehe, Miss Rhaella, you are really joking, Children. of the Forest is just a fictional character in the legend, it is not certain whether they exist in history! Even if they did exist, they would have been extinct for thousands of years." The old red-nosed Archmaester shook his head with a smile.
"Others are showing up, why isn't Children of the Forest real?" Dany smiled coldly.
"Others? Who did you hear that? It's ridiculous."
"Lord Commander of the Night's Watch, with Maester Aemon writing about it, don't they? Are you lying?"
"Archmaester, Miss Rhaella, your supper is here." The apprentice's voice came from outside the door.
White Cloak quickly got up and opened the door.
Wine, Butter Beetroot, Freshly Baked White Bread, Grilled Barracuda and Pork Ribs, Egg and Lime Soup, Barley Brisket Soup.
To be honest, seeing such a sumptuous food, the old Knight was drooling at that time, and he could catch a glimpse of the middle-aged apprentice Zoan who was laughed setting the plate, and the tiny cumin powder on his lips... ...
"Ai, the old man is too old to eat too much at night," Barristan said.
He was drooling, but he didn't want to eat other people's saliva.
"Have some soup, Miss Rhaella will try it too." Old Archmaester picked up a spoon and a small porcelain bowl, and served soup to the two of them attentively.
Dany didn't move the porcelain bowl, just continued the previous topic, solemnly asked: "If the news of Others is false, everyone will be falsely alarmed at most, but if it is true, the Seven Kingdoms nobles will not be interested in Night's. Watch's letter for help is indifferent, and it will cost people's lives."
"What else? , who has the spare energy to help them? At most, a group of Wildlings climbed over the Wall and caused a small disturbance in the North."
Archmaester Perestan looked disapproving, but turned the bowl to Dany's side. Pushing it, he said enthusiastically: "Try it, it tastes good."
Just when White Cloak couldn't stand the enthusiasm of the host and scooped a spoonful of thick soup into his mouth, Dany's face suddenly changed. Ning, stopped his movements, looked straight at the old Archmaester, said with a sneer: "Archmaester, why don't you give oneself a bowl?"
Perestan was stunned for a moment, then said with a smile: "I Just ate."
"It looks like you've guessed my true identity," Dany sighed then said, looking complicated, "Archmaester, do you know what you're doing?"
"What's your identity?" The apprentice who placed the dinner plate found that the atmosphere was not right and wondered.
"Oops!" When Dany stopped him, the old Knight alertly picked up the iron helmet on the table and put it on oneself. Now he saw Zoan, who didn't know what to do, and immediately Said: "Archmaester, quickly take the antidote—"
"Uh—" The middle-aged apprentice grabbed oneself's throat suddenly, blushed, and said in a small voice as light as a feather: "I ，cough cough cough Or in his annoyed eyes, his face became more and more red, and he fell to the ground, scratching oneself's throat with his hands like crazy.
If he was given a dagger, Zoan wouldn't hesitate to slit oneself's throat just for another breath of fresh air.
"Hohohoho..." It's a pity that even if he grabbed his throat drenched with blood, the deep throat could only make a frightening, fearful hissing sound, just like a human being I want to drink up a Yangtze River with a straw.
But only half a minute later, the last whistle disappeared, leaving the room with a terrifying silence.