Westeros and Undercurrents

"There are the enemies on our borders, Lord Tywin."

"Enemies? I don't see any enemies... I only see walking corpses that are still living..."

- Famous dialogue from the times of Robert's Rebellion between Lord Tywin Lannister and General Reban Greiss

***

Codex: The Holy Knights of Golden Lion of Corrin

The Holy Knights of the Golden Lion of Corrin is a militaristic religious Knight Order that was created in the Westerlands of the Seven Kingdoms of the Westeros, in the capital city of Westerlands, Corrin.

The history of the Holy Knights of the Golden Lion of Corrin is very short, but they managed to gather countless military achievements, mainly against the Orks, Heretics, followers of Faith of Seven, Danger Beasts or enemies of the Westerlands.

The Knight Order was created in the worship of the Pantheon of the Great Ones by a man known only as Shaddam. All members of the Holy Knights of the Golden Lion of Corrin are the Runes Knights and are empowered by the Divine Grace of the Great Ones.

***

Around the same time, Westeros, Westerlands, Lannisport.

Tywin Lannister was spending probably his last months as the Hand of the King for King Aerys II., due to many reasons. As the old lion expected, the diplomatic ties with the foreign nation beyond the Sunset Sea indeed created even a greater rift between the King and the Hand.

Now the Mad King was looking at him as a traitor and it was sure that sooner or later he would be either stripped of his position as Hand or he would give up the position on his own, that remained to be seen.

On the positive matter, this allowed him to spend most of his time within the Westerlands, personally overseeing the developments there. With the addition of the Silver Knights, he was begging to build the standing military; it was swiftly proceeding.

Another reason why Aerys was looking at him like a traitor, no one of the Seven Kingdoms had a standing military aside from the Household Guards of the various lords.

Though one positive thing about the messy and problematic state of the Seven Kingdoms was that every King couldn't intervene in how the Lord Paramount ran his Kingdom.

So, when Tywin Lannister decided to strip his bannerman of the right to raise the banner and establish the standing military, nobody dared to protest against his decision.

Either from the fear they had for him and the swarming Arcadians were also making anyone think twice before doing anything. This made all other Lords Paramounts look at Tywin Lannister with a great deal of wariness because the Westerlands were growing too fast...

Surprisingly, the Lord Paramount and Warden of the North, Lord Rickard Stark copied this and started creating his own standing military. Contrary to the Westerlands, nobody really cared about the Northmen and mostly ignored it.

'Foolish idiots... when the Starks establish ties with the Stark an Russ, they would become much more powerful and only second to the House Lannister that had the support of the Imperial House and the Healing Church which would play a crucial role...'

Tywin thought as he was striding through the halls of the Casterly Rock as he had scheduled a meeting with the Lion Council that was established by the model of the Holy Arcadia Empire.

Though today, there would be a new addition to the Council, who was Reban Greiss, someone whom he recruited from the Empire to act as the future General of the Westerlandese Armies.

Reban Greiss was a graduate of the Schola Progenium, and after graduating, he served in the Imperial Army for several decades before he established his own Mercanry Company and then fought for another twenty years until he was recruited by Tywin Lannister through the Imperial House.

***

Casterly Rock

"Everyone present?"

The Lord of the Casterly Rock looked around as he sat with several people; among them most notable were his brothers Kevan Lannister and Gerion Lannister, his sister Genna Lannister, and a few of the most important vassals of the House Lannister.

"We can then start... how is the army training faring?"

The old lion asked as he looked at General Reban Greiss.

Normally, Tywin would never give someone such an important position like this without any care, but he signed Geass with the man, which was facilitated by the Wizards and also, the man took an Oath in front of the Great Ones.

"It's going slowly but steadily... With the Red Guards combined with the mercenaries from the company, consisting of the core, we have managed to bring together 15,000 Soldiers stylized after the structure of the Imperial Legions."

It could have been better, but unfortunately, Westeros didn't have a tradition of standing militaries and armies. Not even battle strategies were common when waging wars, as most of their methods of waging war consisted mainly of charging towards the enemy.

"And the officers?"

Tywin Lannister already invested a lot of gold into the recruitment of officers from the Schola Progenium, Diesdorf Military Academy and Aquila Academy to become officers within the fledgling Lannister Army.

"They are acclimatizing well and working on cultivating their own Junior Officers, but we need time. The most problematic thing, as usual, is teaching the common soldiers battle tactics, and then getting them into the shape is only a secondary problem."

Due to the illiteracy level of the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros, they were experiencing some problems when teaching the common soldiers battle tactics.

In the Holy Arcadia Empire, this wasn't much of a problem because even commoners could read and write, thus making it much easier for them to undergo specialized military training which also consisted of basics of military strategy and battle tactics.

"How long till we have a coherent fighting force that could even remotely be called a professional army?"

The Lord of the Casterly Rock questions the newly inaugurated General of the Westerland Army.

"At least a few months, due to problems with literacy... without basic strategies or tactics, we cannot proceed to more advanced training."

As much as disheartening it was, it was still rather good results; teaching uneducated peasants required a lot of manpower and time. He wanted to train his army to be at least on a similar level to the of the Imperial Legions, but that required time.

"Then continue with it... on the other note, has the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Holy Arcadia Empire arrived?"

He asked as he looked at his brother Kevan Lannister, who nodded his head.

"Arrange meetings as soon as possible... has the other thing been taken care of?"

Looking at the hooded man who nodded to his question, Tywin revealed a very satisfied grin.

"Splendid... he was just a waste of space and a grave mistake of our late father... Marrying Lannister to a worm like a Frey, foolish idiot."

One of the greatest mistakes and remains of the rule of the Tytos Lannister the Laughing Lion was the marriage between Genna Lannister and Emmon Frey.

Something that had been addressed already because Tywin Lannister hated the fact that such an insignificant and pathetic house of cowardly weasels was allowed to marry the daughter of House Lannister.

At least the sole good thing is that no children came from their marriage as of yet, so he could now marry his sister to someone of better standing, which would actually bring more benefits fo to the Westerlands.

"My spies have told me that King has grown increasingly paranoid after the Arcadians landed on the shores of the Westerlands... and now he sees enemies right and left; nobody is no longer safe from his anger; I think it should be most appropriate to remain here My Lord."

Tywin contemplated about the words of his spymaster, he new that Aerys was looking at him like he was a traitor, but at the same time, it wasn't easy to just give up the position because, if handled incorrectly, it would create even bigger problems with the Crown.

Nevertheless, if it came to the worst, he had plants just to close off the Westerlands and ask the Empire for intervention. Due to the Westerlands being encompassed by a huge mountain range, it gave the region a very good defensive position and could be easily defended.

Even though the Imperials wouldn't be thrilled at the idea, he knew he could essentially bribe them to get it with Lacrimas and magical ores that were right now being mined in the mines of the Westerlands.

"I have already decided to do so... but it needs to be done in a way that it doesn't create suspicions. Now tell more about the situation in the North; what exactly is happening there?"

This was the most interesting question for the day because the North was the most reclusive part of the Seven Kingdom, generally ignoring everything that was happening in the south of the Neck.

And yet, despite all of this, even the Northmen were sensing the changes that were coming up to them. But it made sense; the Starks didn't rule the North for ten thousand years for nothing and were not Kings of Winter without a reason.

Tywin guessed that their Bloodline was the strongest and most potent in the entirety of Westeros; it was strong enough to have risen to the position of one of the Elector Counts of the Holy Arcadia Empire.

"After the representative of the Empire met with Lord Stark, they had a very, very, very lengthy conversation and after that, Lord Stark ordered the borders be closed and started doing the same things as your Lordship within the Westerlands."

After the Arcadians landed at Westeros, Imperator sent a messenger to the House Stark with several letters and even communication with Lacrima; it seemed that everything was done on their end as well.

"Right now, they are in the process of training an army, repairing old forts and castles and even the Moat Cailin is being repaired by the Imperials that arrived from the Empire several days ago; we can conclude that they got into touch with their brethren from the Lordran."

That would be certainly concerning, considering that the North held immense military potential and they had one certain thing that all other regions lacked. Internal unity, though, aside from the House Bolton, but may meet its end sooner than anyone could think of.

In the North, aside from the rebellions done by the House Bolton two times or so during the past ten thousand years, the entire Kingdom was extremely stable, with everyone doing their part.

The reason for that?

Like in the Holy Arcadia Empire...

There were bigger problems to solve than to focus on power plays between nobles and petty squabbles.

"Send a representative to the Winterfell to establish ties; both of us have connections to the Lordran, meaning the power balance would soon shift towards House Lannister and House Stark. Those upstarts in Riverrun and Highgarden would be for sure scheming something."

He held great disdain for the opportunistic Houses of Tully and Tyrell, but if everything that he heard about the return of Magic to Westeros, he knew that sooner or later, they would fall.

In the Lordran, it was a rather common occurrence of Noble Houses falling into obscurity, even from the ruling positions, if they were not maritally and magically strong enough. And certainly, the Trouts of Riverlands or Roses of the Reach were not strong enough for what was to come.

Among their vassals that were many houses with much older lineages and more potent Magical Blood that the investigations of the Wizards showed, and once they got power into their hands...

Then, the result would be questionable at best.

"Brother, we are right now finishing the additional fortifications of the Casterly Rock and adding Anti-Air elements into the Castle. According to the Wizards and Engineers from the Empire, it should not be enough to take down True Dragons, but it would be enough to take down Valyrian Wyrms with a few shots."

Kevan Lannister was in charge of the Casterly Rock and one of the things that Tywin ordered as the first ones to do was fortify the Casterly Rock as much as possible, according to the standards of the Empire.

They even hired some of the Imperial Engineers that helped them to pinpoint weak points in the Casterly Rock that were already addressed, and many defenses were installed on the Rock, with other places being remade into more sturdier and stronger versions.

"Excellent. Is there anything more to report?"

The Lord of the Casterly Rock asked before one person stepped forward with a message to be read.

"There is a message from the Castellan Atreides that the Silver Knights under his command have encountered something that seems to be... Greenskins."

While some people in the room were confused about what it meant, some were pale beyond reason because the Greenskins were spotted on the Westeros.

This was terrible news, but it wasn't something that was that shocking, as they had been warned by the Wizards that the Magic Resurgence wouldn't be just through the pink garden.

"And? Have they been rooted?"

The Greenskins were a menace even to a mighty nation like the Holy Arcadia Empire; even they couldn't entirely deal with the green scourge that existed since immemorial times within the Lordran.

And here in Westeros?

It would be beyond terrible because they were much weaker than the Lordran.

"Yes, they were surprisingly weak... mostly consisting of Gretchen, Goblins and ordinary Ork Boyz... they have probably managed to arrive only due to the resurgence of Magic and it would get only worse."

The Greenskins in the Westeros presented a grave threat and yet, at the same time, if they were this weak, they also presented an opportunity.

"Immediately start hunting them down alongside the Silver Knights; we will have to temper for the soldiers with blood and iron. Inform all Lords within the Westerlands about the situation and we will use it to strengthen our grip on the Kingdom and to ensure there is no opposition to the incoming reforms."

While the Greenskins presented a grave danger, they were also an opportunity to achieve greater control over his vassals, to have a common threat against what everyone could unite and also as a means to train his future army.

Bandits and brigands were rare within the Westerlands because even before this, Tywin Lannister would often order his Household Guard to search and kill all bandits and brigands to ensure that his lands were safe and to have real training for his Guards.

"It shall be done..."

Now the last thing at the meeting was the restoration of the Castamere.

Castamere was a ruined castle located south of the Crag and west of Ashemark in the northwestern Westerlands; also nearby is Tarbeck Hall. The former seat of House Reyne, Castamere contains gold and silver mines.

Named after a nearby pool of blue water, Castamere began as a mine like Casterly Rock.

After building curtain walls to guard the entrance with two stout towers, the Reynes constructed keeps and halls. As the gold and silver dried up, the mine below was widened and converted into halls, galleries, bedchambers, and a vast underground ballroom.

While the surface fortifications resembled those of a minor lord or landed knight, nine-tenths of the castle was subterranean. The fortress of Castamere was still a formidable fort that could be used as headquarters for the future standing military.

For that reason, he ordered the Castemere to be repaired and also scouted for potential usage as mine once again. Now that the Magic has started returning to the world, it also means new veins of ores were appearing in the ground...

"As you ordered we sent the request to the Dwarves because they would be the most suitable to repair the Castamere, and there are a few Dwarven Clans that have answered and are interested in restoration... though..."

He decided to hire Dwarves for the reconstruction of the Castamere because the Atreides Heir told him that none would do it better like the Dwarves and for what is to come, there was no time to be reserved.

"What do they want?"

Agamemnon Atreides already warned him that Dwarves were problematic to negotiate because they were too proud and strong-headed about their creations.

"The Longbeard Clan has agreed already to the request, but they want access to some Adamantite..."

His brows twitched a bit hearing that, but he found the conditions of the Longbeard more doable as he looked a them over the conditions put on by the rest of the Dwarven Clans; others wanted far more things than some metals and ores.

"Why do the Longbeards want so little compared to the rest of the Clans that we addressed?"

Tywin Lannister knew that there was something much more behind this; from what he heard about Dwarves and Gnomes, he knew that they were greedy and masterful merchants. So if they were not making a profit in this, Tywin knew that they were making it in some other way.

"Because soon enough from what we were told, the Conclave of Forge would be assembled to vote on the new Council of Three Hammers and thus new Elector Count. Longbeards are vying for a position on the Council right now, and they want to gather achievement. Castamere would be another achievement for them that they could present at the elections."

Now it made sense why they were so eager...

"Then we need to use maximum of it, they will probably make the Castamere to the fortress on the same level as Harrenhall if possible, which would greatly benefit the Westerlands, but for that, we need more gold."

Money was key to everything and everywhere.

"We are already discussing the possible cooperation with CHOAM, House Gausser and surprisingly even your daughter has written to us about her intent of creating a Chamber of Commerce that would be selling perfumes, soaps and things in Westeros and Essos so that this aspect would be covered very swiftly."

This was a good solution, but it would need more time and while the House Lannister was rich, in truth what was known only to Tywin was that, before the Great Resurgence of Magic, several of their mines were showing signs of depletion.

Now it was being solved with abundant magic, reforming the environment, but that would take time,e so he has been thinking about borrowing money.

"That would take a long time; we need to borrow some substantial sum."

This would be the fastest way to get their hands on the amount of gold they needed for construction projects, like the reparations of castles and forts, manning the army, building fortifications around the Westerlands or building proper roads.

"Should we ask the Iron Bank of Braavos?"

His brother Kevan asked, as most had the same thought, but within Westeros, the number of Banks was zero, and in the Essos, there were a few. Naturally, there was the most famous bank, the Iron Bank of Braavos, followed by Rogare Bank in Volantis.

And in the Golden Empire of Yi Ti, there was the Celestial Bank, which mainly dealt with the Eastern Essos and the area of the Jade Sea.

"No... they would once again rip us off like they are doing it constantly due to lack of competition; we shall ask for a loan from the Black Monolith Bank. My future good son told me we would get the first loan interest-free; for sure he wants us to propagate the Imperial interests, but the gold is gold."

That is not true entirely, as the Golden Reichscorwns were much purer than the Westerosi Gold Dragons and had three times higher purity, so one Golden Reichscrown was equal to three Westerosi Gold Dragons.

"For how much?"

Black Monolith Bank was another entity on the level of CHOAM within the Holy Arcadia Empire and was directly controlled by the Imperial House solely as it was established by the Holy Imperator himself.

"How much do we actually need to finish everything up?"

The final sum should be in several million, and truthfully, it wasn't that terrible for the House Lannister, which was obscenely rich.

"At least 1 million of Gold Dragons and another million and half of Golden Reichscrowns for the Dwarves, Weapons, Armors and other things that we are ordering from the forges of Khaz-Modan. In Westerosi currency, it should be 5,5 million Gold Dragons altogether."

That was indeed an extremely high number of Gold, but Tywin Lannister knew that it was necessary. For centuries, maybe even for millennia, nobody made some structural changes to the Westerlands and invested a lot of money into the Kingdom.

Not like the situation was different in other Kingdoms of the Seven Kingdoms, and now the time has come to finally do it all in on go; that was the reason why it was hurting so much.

"Then do it... we can get the gold back at a later date, but the investments must be done at all costs. We will pay half directly from out coffers right now and borrow the 1 million Golden Reichscrowns from the Black Monolith Bank."

While everyone had their hearts bleeding, they were also aware that change was needed and they needed a lot of money to cover the costs of all projects that were in active state.

***

Lordran, Holy Arcadia Empire, Anor Londo, Imperial Place - Imperator's Chambers

"Yes! Yes! Harder! Hardeeeerrr!!!"

In the Imperator's chambers, Lady Maria Vileblood in all of her naked glory was screaming into the pillow as her lover was drilling his enormous meatpole, stretching her folds apart and bringing her to ecstasy with each thrust as her asscheeks jiggled.

"Com... ing..."

With one swift powerful thrust, he released his hot seed directly to her deepest parts as they were having sex for several hours straight already.

"Pause?"

He asked then, as Maria barely had any energy to reply to him, from the intense lovemaking that they both were practicing right now.

For the past few days, they have been fucking like rabbits because the Imperator was rather pent up from the trip and Maria was also equally horny, maybe even more than him.

"Yes..."

She muttered quietly as he hugged her closely and they just laid on the enormous king-sized bed and stared at the ceiling of the room.

"Why didn't fucked her yet? She has been seducing you every day that little minx... so young and already behaving like a whore for her fianceé."

In fact, Maria was rather fond of Cersei, so she was curious why the young girl wasn't here together with them.

"You know why... and at the same time, I think some time will do her only good; she is too used to getting everything she wants."

Karl answered, but at the same time, he too was eager to tame the young lioness in bed and turn her into a blabbering mess in their bed that she wouldn't even know her name.

"I want to know if her tongue is as skilled at other things aside from sarcastic remarks..."

Indeed it was very tempting for him... such a haughty lion squirming underneath him and sucking him off eagerly... Just thinking about it was making him go hard once more and ready for action.

"Are you prepared for the Great Convention Council?"

Lady Maria asked her finaceé / lover as she turned over in bed.

"Yes, everyone is already aware of their roles. The Healing Church won't be a problem because as the Chosen One of the Great Ones my authority with the Religion is much higher than even that of the Grand Theogonist within the Church..."

Everything was prepared, everything was long ago decided and even the Great Ones supported the choice through the Tattoo on my back that was signifying the status of the ultimate leader of the Holy Arcadia Empire.

The creation of the Stormcast Eternals would be more problematic because several of the Grand Provinces would, technically speaking, lose their elite units. Chief among them were the Brettonians with their Grail Knights and the Healing Church lost their Holy Knight Executioners.

"Caladan wouldn't be thrilled to lose their fabled Sardaukar to the Stormcast Eternals..."

Maria muttered several of the Grand Provinces would be losing their signature units to fuse all of their specialized aspects into one superior greater warrior.

"No, I predict that even Brettonians would raise a fuss about that, but they will have no real choice in this just to accept the reality. The situation is fucked up and right now, we don't have enough manpower to compete with the Daemons at full force and that is not even speaking with the other threats."

Karl Franz knew that Brettonia, Caladan, Healing Church and Byrgenwerth would be bitching around that they lost their elite military units.

"Naturally, Cainhurst has no problems with the creation of Stormcast Eternals."

The Holy Imperator nodded his head hearing that because he knew that Cainhurstians didn't care about politics, the only thing they cared about was the creation of a perfect warrior, a perfect Knight that was the embodiment of the Cainhurst.

Even the fabled Aquila Academy was training and educating young knights was located at Cainhurst. The Holy City of Silver was famous and fabled for their generations of knights for whole millennia...

"I know..."

The creation of the Stormcast Eternals would greatly change the military capabilities of the Holy Arcadia Empire in this new age. It would allow the Empire to combat against the Daemons and Ruinious Powers far more effectively and not depend on other factors to achieve victory.

One Level 4 Stormcast Eternal, clad in the best armor that Empire could produce, bearing the best weapons the Empire could give them, engraved with the most powerful Runes the Empire had in their disposition and learning all ways of wars and combat they had developed.

In times of turmoil, they would be the frontline against the forces of Chaos and no longer the tragedy of the Stormcown Gate be repeated if they had something like Stormcast Eternals in their arsenal.

"Troubled times are coming for the Lordran and the latest reports from the Westeros are also not very good."

Karl Franz muttered as he hugged his lover close to him, with Maria laying down her head on his chest, listening to his heartbeat.

"But where is a risk, there is also an opportunity..."

He subconsciously nodded when he heard Maria say that...

"Yes... an opportunity to either go to annals of history or raise to the greater heights."

***

Headquarters of the Imperial Intelligence, unspecified location with the Holy Arcadia Empire

The Headquarters of the Imperial Intelligence was located deep under the ground in a location that was known only to the Holy Imperator and a few selected people. Even the members of the Imperial Intelligence didn't know where their headquarters was located.

When the Agents were called to the Headquarters of Imperial Intelligence a special magical portal was opened for them through specialized crafted Lacrima Crystal for one-use only.

In a certain room of the Headquarters a tall man who looked to be in his late twenties or perhaps in his early thirties was sitting on a simple leather chair and surrounded by the paperwork.

Despite his youngish appearance, he was much older, and his real age was around three hundred years or so already.

His most distinguishing features are his long, vibrant red hair and a Phantom of the Opera-esque mask on the right side of his face. He had a goatee and eyes the same shade of red as his hair and wore wire-framed glasses.

"Is the information confirmed?"

He asked as a report landed on his table, and after reading it, he was unsure if it was good news or bad news, probably The Imperator himself would decide on what to do with it and what stance they should take.

"Yes, only right now the news of what has happened in the Yi Ti has reached the Western Essos and crossed the Bone Mountains and to verify the information we even sent several agents there through teleportation. It is truth; they indeed descended down from the Celestial Mountain and a new hegemon has risen to the East."

The Eastern Essos was in as much mess as the Western counterpart, but at the same time,e the concept of unified nations was more prevalent within the Eastern Essos than the Western Essos.

One of the biggest nations that even maintained contact with the Western Essos and Westeros was the Golden Empire of Yi Ti, but it seemed that the Golden Empire of Yi Ti was no more as they were speaking.

The Golden Empire of Yi Ti is a realm located in the eponymous region of the Further East of Essos.

It is the supposed successor to the mythic Great Empire of the Dawn, which, according to legend, fell during the Long Night. It is ruled by a God-Emperor, who is worshiped as divine, though in the present day, the God-Emperor has little actual power beyond the limits of the capital city.

The Golden Empire of Yi Ti was weak...

Emperor Bu Gai was a weakling with no real power, which was stealthily usurped by his Minister, Grand Nobles, Generals that were still loyal to him or Imperial Eunuchs who were playing their own game.

Approximately a year ago, a man and woman appeared within the Yi Ti, the Dragon Emperor Xen Yan and Moon Empress Quai Yin, a pair of Immortal Cathayan Dragons and they essentially overthrew what was known as the Golden Empire of Yi Ti.

The result was...

Golden Empire of Yi Ti is no more, with an entire former Imperial Line, all Nobles, Eunuchs, Imperial Ministers and others have been executed and all of their families have been purged to the last descendant.

The Celestial Empire of Grand Cathay was born in its place led by the Celestial Dragon Emperor Xen Yan and his wife Moon Empress Quai Yin.

"With ongoing Magic Resurgence and the power they have at their disposal, with a decade or two, they should be able to get together considerable fighting force and unify the entire region... this could influence our interests within the Sothoryos and Ulthos, perhaps even more surely the Shadow Lands."

Cross Marian was Elector Count of the Duchy of Stormwind, even though he left the position to his wife Klad Marian and assumed the mantle as Director of the Imperial Military Intelligence.

"Good work... increase the monitoring of the Eastern Essos and monitor further progress. Now the only things that are standing in their way are Jogod N'hai and cannibals of the Thousand Islands, should they unify that..."

That would be territory on par with the entire Grand Province... but that wasn't really important; the important was that their population was even right now bigger than that of the Holy Arcadia Empire as a whole.

That was the reason why the Imperial Intelligence was taking them so seriously; even though most of the nations of the Westeros and Essos were not big, but they had a much bigger population and as the Magic was returning to the Azyr, they would gain power.

'If the Grand Cathay could be made into an ally, we would get a powerful ally against the forces of Chaos.'

The Director of the Imperial Military Intelligence then passed the report further, as it needed to be delivered to the Holy Imperator as soon as possible.