9 Gold in Peace

74 AC

Nestled between two mountain ranges with fertile farmlands and a river from the mountains leading to the town. Sapphire Port is a flourishing town with a population of 15,000 people after the last census. Not 4 years ago the town was just a ruin with farming villages on the outskirts, after Galladon was given the lands it transformed into a flourishing center of trade and a manufacturing hub for goods and services generating trade from Essos and Westeros.

Many merchants who sold their wares in the town became permanent residents. So did people practicing various trades. The town grew wealthier because local people specialized in making specific types of goods. To better regulate and oversee the merchants and craft people. The Lord saw fit to create merchant and craft guilds.

All types of craftspeople had their own guilds, from cloth makers to cobblers (who made shoes, belts, and other leather goods), to the new paper and soap makers' inventions made by the Sapphire College.

Guilds provided help and protection for the people doing a certain kind of work, and they maintained high standards. Guilds controlled the hours of work and set prices. They also dealt with complaints from the public. If, for example, a coal merchant cheated a customer, all coal merchants might look bad. The guilds therefore punished members who cheated.

with all the guilds being owned and regulated by lord Galladon. If the disputes can not be settled by the lower courts or the guilds then they can make an appeal to get it settled by the higher court which is the lord.

The town was carefully planned with a huge ring-shaped artificial military harbor built on a small isle in the middle of the river that runs through the town it holds the war fleet and shipyards, and most of the new ships are built there to keep the construction process of the town secret, and only people with permission and specially made credentials are allowed to go into the harbor.

Then there was the harbor for mercantile trade which was in front of the military port. With huge warehouses situated on both side of the river allowing merchants to unload their goods and take them to the market nearby.

The town is divided into districts as a way to better manage the town's administrative duties and to control, and regulate the future growth and development of the town as it grows into a city. This is generally managed by officials who are hand-picked by the lord and report any problems that may arise to the city lord, the city watch, and the administrative officials are overseen by the commission. This is a board of people who keep an eye out for any corruption of those with power.

The town also has aqueducts coming from the mountains to supply fresh, clean water for baths, fountains, drinking water, and flushing sewers.

The town has very advanced plumbing with designed places to dispose of organic waste. The town also has courtyards with baths that were filled and emptied using terra-cotta pipes. This piping system is used for flushing toilets, with wooden seats and an overhead reservoir. There are four large separate drainage systems that are emptied into large sewers built of stone. Throwing waste onto the street is illegal and can lead to paying fines or even prison time for repeat offenders.

Galladon pov

Adarys is an aging scholar from Tyrosh who dresses in robes and carries many pouches. He has a beard covering the extension of his jaw and chin and a receding hairline of the same dyed blue color. The man is well versed in many matters, as he spent most of his years traveling and studying matters such as medicine, economics, languages, history, alchemy, and the unknown. He was someone who came into town to see the works of Sapphire College, and after seeing his brilliance, I asked him to come work for me, at first he was skeptical of staying in one place but after showing him some modern chemistry he was all in and started working for me as an advisor.

"Young Lord Galladon," he says, the smell of herbs and smoke filling your nostrils as you approach him. "Today will be your first day as the lord of the greatest fleet in the whole world, he says.

I raised my eyebrow and asked"So it's done then"

He nodded and started laughing like a madman and I quickened my pace as we made our way into the ring port.

After reaching the port and taking out one of our new ships the Galleon which was a multi-decked sailing ship developed by Sapphire College to be used as a fast-armed cargo carrier.

We have the new invention which we bestowed the name fire drake(Greek fire) on both sides of the ship and in the front and back. I looked at the crews and the equipment and asked "How are we going to keep the use and make of the fire Drake secret"

"Well, I used almost the same system as we do to build the ships which is to divide the work.

"The fire Drake is best understood as a complete weapon system of many components, all of which were needed to operate together to render it effective. This comprised not only the formula of its composition, but also the specialized ships that carried it into battle, the device used to prepare the substance by heating and pressurizing it, the siphōn projecting it, and the special training of the crew who used it. So the operators and technicians would only know one component of the whole process. So even if we have a traitor or the enemy captured one of our ships they would only have one component of the weapon, they would not know what to do with it. " Said the Adarys while looking over his notes.

I nodded and told him to continue with the test.

An old longboat came in front of the warship and after a few seconds was bathed in the fire which not even the sea could extinguish. I clapped and looked on in awe at our new weapon. The technicians are proud of their work as well knowing they will be getting a raise after this.

"Well done everyone, well done we shall hold a feast in your honor tomorrow night for this momentous occasion." The crowd cheered and went back to their work while I headed back to my unfinished castle lost in my thoughts.

I wanted to speak with Garth right away so we could start training of some grenadiers units which can throw volleys at the enemy demoralizing and disrupting their formation before charging in.

I knew I would find him in the training yard.

The training grounds of my castle are composed of a large, open courtyard with many wooden targets for practicing. There is a huge stone structure that provides protection for the rainy days and also serves as an armory for the weapons and equipment of my men.

Garth is instructing the soldiers, but he respectfully stops as he notices you approaching, waiting to see what your intentions are in coming here today. I motioned him over and he approached and bowed and said.

"Greetings, my lord."

Garth became a bulky and robust figure wearing the Colors and sigil of house Tarth with the double-headed eagle addition of my house on top in his military uniform, waits respectfully for your orders.

"At ease Garth I just came to speak to you about recruiting some more people for the army and training a new unit with the new weapon the college created."

The man clears his throat. Before saying

"We can recruit more people into the army, but that will have its costs, and not only in gold. Morale can be affected, as well as public dissatisfaction in general, if we keep conscripting people. And, of course, any troops recently recruited must later go through training to become anything other than peasants with spears."

I nodded and told him we only need people who volunteer from now on since we have enough men to patrol our lands.

Garth tells you that he shall have a report on the recruitment in a few days.

Before I left I decided to spar with some of the soldiers.

A young and inexperienced soldier approaches you, bows, and starts the fight.

He goes down with a single blow, too quick for him to block or avoid. Some of the others laugh at him,

"Keep practicing. We shall spar again some other time." And the ones who have been laughing shall clean the latrines for the following week."

Now it is the other soldiers who are laughing.

I smiled and left the yard to go back to my office and do some more work.

As soon as I sat down on my chair a maid named Nancy brought me a letter coming from my grandfather in Evenfall Hall. I frowned wondering what the old man wanted from me.

I opened the letter and started to read it.

Sir Galladon Tarth, of Sapphire Port,

I send you my congratulations grandson on all the hard work you have done to make the town, a prosperous seat worthy of a member of House Tarth. As you well know there has been an increase in pirate activities near our shores.

Now more than ever, it is required of you to perform your duties of vassalage. I hereby request that you send at least a thousand gold dragons, both as a sign of loyalty and as a necessary reinforcement to the security of the realm.

With hopes of further interactions and the promise of friendship,

Lord Endrew Tarth, lord of Tarth

After reading and re-reading the letter I received from my grandfather in Evenfall Hall. I lean back in my seat my mind racing thinking how my grandfather has lost his goddamned mind, I decided to speak with all my advisors to get their input on the matter.

A few minutes later we met in one of the the meeting rooms of the castle

Adarys, the scholar and my most educated advisor.

"It seems very troublesome, my lord. He says as he takes a puff from his pipe. A request—or rather, a demand shrouded as such—of this kind is not unheard of, but it implies the expectation of trouble, either from you or from someone else. And while it is certainly your duty of vassalage to answer the pleas of your liege house, you must also make sure that the interests and safety of Morne are preserved," Adarys says.

Garth, knight, and military advisor.

It is hard to say anything about your lord grandfather's request, my lord. We do not have a clear understanding of the situation in Evenfall Hall, but we cannot afford to appear weak or unwilling in the face of a request from your liege lord."

Gerald, the treasurer, and economic advisor.

Gerald, the man responsible for the economic and financial matters of your court, bows to you. He has brown hair and dresses himself almost like a noble.

"Your grandfather makes such an unexpected request, and on the grounds of what? A 'show of loyalty'? The very foundation of the vassal system stands on the common laws that specify some good portion of the taxes we collect to be sent to them, and now he wants us to send even more gold, without even providing any sort of reasonable explanation except for an increase in pirate activities?" "we are near the stepstones there have always been pirate activities."

Gerald takes a deep breath, trying to get ahold of himself.

"What happens if we don't pay?" I asked

"All sorts of bad things, from displeasing your liege lord to having to face judgment from the lord paramount or even being labeled as a traitor and have your titles revoked. But who knows? It might be some sort of test we are not meant to pass. So that he can get a hold of the town you built and all its wealth. I sincerely cannot understand such a request."

I nodded still thinking of the possibilities then asked "Is there anything that can be done to avoid this?"

"Immediately, no. But I will be sending, with your authorization, a formal complaint to Kingslanding, stating that we do not have the resources to comply with such requests, or we risk putting Morne in financial jeopardy. I doubt that the money will ever be returned, but it might discourage your grandfather from asking again in the future, or at least give us some legitimacy if we choose to deny him."

Jenneth, my spymaster and advisor on external affairs

Jenneth bows before you. She is a slender woman who dresses herself in dark colors and has short black hair. Her brown eyes are sharp and confident.

She walks to the window of the meeting room overlooking the town and speaks as if to herself, but in a clear tone.

"Either he wants an assurance of your loyalty, or this is related to the pirate activities to the southeast of the island. There are rumors that the three free cities of Myr, Tyrosh, and Lys are having talks of an alliance and the other free cities are trying to prevent this union by having sell sails raid their ships with one of the other cities' banners to keep them fighting each other. They might also have them raid other places so as not to make it obvious that those cities are being targeted. But it is just rumors as those three cities still have, many disagreements over land and trade, and other internal conflicts seem to have been erupting lately, especially in Myr.

"I also believe someone in Westeros could be prompting these sell sail to act so, otherwise they would not simply go against the power of House Targaryen by attacking his vassal's lands and property. But who would be backing them, and for what purpose?"

"Maybe it's the dronish, the new lord of Dorne Morion has always hated how his father did not enter the vulture's war in the Red Mountain against House Targaryen so he may be setting this up to start a war." I provided my input on the matter.

I always knew that there was no point in having a full treasury if you did not have enough men to guard it. So I made sure that Morne's military was always up to the task of protecting it no matter the cost.

But right now I don't have the strength nor the influence to go against the old men yet even though I am richer than him and most lords of the Stormlands, I can't fight against him yet without losing my prestige in the eyes lords of Westeros for usurping my grandfather or being an ungrateful grandson.

So I decided to comply with the request and send him the one thousand gold dragons he requested but as a show of force, I sent 100 of my heavy winged calvary as a guard to protect the gold. Just to let him know that I am stronger than him and if I wanted to rebel it could have ended badly for him.