Old dog, Old town

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300 power stones extra chapter

If we get to THIRTY reviews, extra chapter following multiples of five (double reviews do not count and I will delete them)

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I wrote, as Helmuth tells the story of lothar's fall into madness/fury while talking to Tarly, I don't know if you would like a filler chapter with that.

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-Third person

''This is outrageous, the Hightower has been our family's home for thousands of years, you can't expect us to simply abandon it'' Leyton Hightower said angrily.

''Thank you for the history lesson, lord Leyton, but I don't remember asking you, and yes, you will have to abandon it because it will be the new home of the leader of the aristocratic republic of oldtown and the headquarters of the city guards'' said Helmuth without giving Leyton much importance as he looked out of one of the windows of the high tower

''Then where will we live, here are all our belongings and servants'' said Leyton getting angrier and angrier.

''In the dwellings where you used to host your guests, that will be your new home'' said Helmuth as he began to uncork one of his sweet wines.

''My family is too big for just one of those residences'' said Leyton.

''Well take two, the decision has already been made Lord Leyton, no matter how much you try to complain the tower is no longer your property and as for the servants that were so loyal to you don't worry, they were distributed among all the Prussian governors to prevent you from trying to contact them again'' said Helmuth filling his glass.

''Besides, it is not me you should be talking to, I am only the head of the city guard and in charge of customs, I have no power over this... so if you will excuse me, I have work to do'' said Helmuth looking at his glass in contrasting sunlight.

Lord Leyton leaves Helmuth's room, uttering all kinds of curses against the Prussian nobleman.

''Ha, ha, ha, ha, work... this is my well-deserved retirement after so many years of service... ah, but what a fine wine'' said Helmuth as he drank from his glass and continued to watch the ships from the height of the tower.

Helmuth enjoyed for hours the many bottles of wine he had reserved for a special occasion while enjoying the views of the city, observing from his privileged viewpoint all that was happening in the city, watching the cobblestone streets or as hundreds of ships arriving in the harbor

Although for Helmuth, the Westerosi architecture did not appeal to him, the warm sunshine of the area made it seem many times more beautiful than the familiar snow-filled German architecture he was used to.

As dusk began to set in someone knocked on Helmuth's door.

"Come in," said Helmuth as he removed the cork from the eighth bottle of wine.

Randyll Tarly entered with his typical unfriendly face.

''Where are you supposed to be Helmuth?, we were expecting you at the first city council meeting'' Lord Tarly said looking at Helmuth.

''Eehhhhh.... keeping watch.... yes, keeping watch, that's what I was doing'' replied Helmuth

''I see... I see how you keep an eye on those bottles of wine Helmuth apparently none escaped alive'' said Randyll Tarly

''I am very effective when I put my mind to it and well how was your first day being the leader of those snakes, it must have been hard'' said Helmuth filled a glass, of wine and offered it to lord Tarly

''Difficult, especially since you weren't there, you were supposed to be present to veto any measure that could affect the city or the interests of your king'' said Tarly

''I have three days to perform my veto, but what is it that worries you so much that my presence was necessary'' said Helmuth

''Nothing, I just thought you would be there to shut them up, my head still hurts, from watching them fight so much, they argued about everything, there was nothing that didn't bother them, they fought over the number of guards each one could have, the houses they got, when each one got their allowance, what privileges they had'' said Tarly sitting on a chair and receiving Helmuth's cup.

''That's why I didn't want to go, ha, ha, ha, so get used to it, I'm not going to participate much in politics, first because I hate it and second this is my reward for years of service, and I'm going to enjoy it, only when the king orders me I'll go back to acting as expected of me'' said Helmuth sitting in front of Lord Tarly.

''Ha, ha, do you consider it a reward to be here, surrounded by strangers, when you least expect it you will be stabbed in the back?'' asked Randyll.

''Yes, I consider it a prize, where I come from almost all year round its snow, mud, snowstorms, rain that can last for days, when the snow melts the swamps would form and become the worst area to fight or move around full of mosquitoes and diseases.... that's why I lost this''said Helmuth then pointing to his missing eye

''While here, I have few responsibilities, the weather, while the heat is sweltering at times and annoying, is much better than the damn snowstorms when I was supposed to be on campaign''said Helmuth sipping from his cup

You seem to be describing the north.... heck, this is pretty good where you got it from''said Randyll also drinking wine.

''Vintage 1545, one of the best, almost 100 years of aging, yes, my land has a terrible climate, the reach has a warm climate which is much better than the freezing, when the snowstorms came in campaign you couldn't even pull down your pants to defecate, as you would freeze to death before you finished you were forced to have to cut a hole in your pants, so your gift could come out and as you understand many times that did not happen the first time unless the hole was big'' said Helmuth laughing.

''I see, so because of the weather you lost your eye?'', asked Randyll.

''It was in the spring, several years ago, it was the typical military campaign to weaken the Russians, who preferred to attack in the fall to try to steal our crops, the snow had melted and left behind a sea of mud that was knee-deep at worst, Something must have gotten into my eye because soon after it started to swell up, the doctors who treated me couldn't save it, they didn't know what had happened to me and if the infection in my eye continued it could kill me so they decided to remove it'' said Helmuth touching his eye patch.

''Did it hurt?'' asked Randyll again.

''Like hell itself, we had nothing for the pain, I drank an incredible amount of alcohol to avoid being too conscious, but I felt every damn cut they made on my eye, sometimes the pain still haunts me, like it's still there'' said Helmuth smiling

''I just hope something like that never happens to me... by the way, in the first session today we discussed the annual city budget, I need you to go through it and veto what you deem necessary'' said Randyll taking out some sheets with information from the first city council session

''let's see, give me that... budget for the guards, okay.... repair and maintenance of the walls, ok, maintenance of the streets, ok, servants, ok, hiring of guards... you consider it necessary my men should be enough to protect the city from any minor problem in the city, in case of something big we will get help from the state''said Helmuth reviewing the budgets.

''Your two thousand men are fine Helmuth, but we need more to be able to protect all the important places in the city and to be honest, there was a lot of trouble in this because all the noble families wanted their knights to join the guard, but I managed to get the privilege to be yours because you are the leader of the city guard'' said lord Tarly.

''Oh, then we have a problem, there is a shortage of Prussians available for the position, so I guess our hands are tied on this and we will have to hire locals... although maybe that crybaby Leyton has a lot of influence on them what about your men Tarly, I heard they helped the Teutons a lot in the fight against the Dornish''said Helmuth while thinking of options

''They were just guides, the Teutons don't like to fight without knowledge of the terrain, very smart of their commanders, but if... the king is willing to release them it might be a suitable option, as I don't think the nobles would like Prussians guarding their homes or their property considering the fact that you were the ones who took everything from them'' said Randyll as he poured himself more wine

''Take the bottle Tarly, I have plenty of that...yes it is a good choice, we avoid further conflict with you guys, and I can concentrate my men on guarding the port, which is what matters most to us, so good idea Tarly, you gain quite a bit of influence among the guards, smart'' Helmuth said smiling

''Although you don't like politics you can read between the lines'' smiled Lord Tarly.

''Don't mistake my dislike for ignorance, just remember who you serve, if someday you want your castle back, you must always act in our interests, but yes, Tarly you did well... I would just like to reduce some budgets that I find unacceptable, four hundred thousand golden dragons for the citadel, are they blackmailing us to receive so much money for the services of those old chained men'' said Helmuth pointing to some budgets on sheets of paper.

''The maesters are important, they are the main pillar among the lords with their knowledge, they help in the construction and they are the ones who treat wounds and infections, they only serve the kingdom and in return, we always send a payment to the citadel to keep funding the study of talented boys for the future''said Randyll

''Tarly for that amount of gold I could bring you an army of Prussian doctors and engineers, if only we were in Prussia, it's too much, reduce it to ten percent, it seems ridiculous to me that so much gold would go to an institution that monopolizes knowledge'' said Helmuth frowning.

''That's not going to be popular with the maesters... and they always have their ear close to their lord, it might affect us'' said Randyll looking at Helmuth

''Well, if they complain it's my fault, anyway we don't use the maesters, our doctors consider their techniques old-fashioned and the engineers their knowledge as basic, though we did get a lot of attention about magic'' said Helmuth showing a book about the Valyrians

''I understand I will advise every one of your decision, Duke Helmuth'' Lord Tarly replied.

''The donations to the faith, take them out of the budget, two hundred thousand dragons between the maester and the septon a third of the budget, what a way to waste money, if they want to donate it let them do it out of their pocketsin fact, I would not have refused them to put that money in their personal allowances'' Helmuth said as he wiped his hand over his face

''I understand something else?'', said Randyll crossing out the expenses Helmuth pointed out.

''That gold will be used to hire workers, so we can slowly start building with Prussian architecture, if it is necessary to expand the walls to build it will be done, I will send a letter to the king to obtain the necessary permits to give us control over the surrounding lands'' Helmuth said handing back the papers

''I will indicate your remarks to the others at the next session, will you be present?'', Lord Tarly asked.

''No, except by express order of the king, I will not leave here, until they have me under siege,'' said Helmuth looking out the window at the sunset.

''I understand,'' said Randyll putting the papers away.