14 Declaration Of War
"You dare... abandon us!? Die!!" Sallello Pahren charged him, along with dozens of the other pirates at the front.
Aerion coldly laughed before launching a greater fireball, burning away a great number of the pirates who charged him. This number included Sallello Pahren, of course.
"Assist the undead in killing the outlaws."
Aerion walked past his men, who had made space for him to enter the city. They then blocked the entrance and proceeded to slaughter the pirates. His three Kingsguard followed him into the city along with a few of the Dornishmen.
"I must say, that was an excellent chain of moves," Jaime remarked. "You avoided plundering the city and giving a great portion of it to the pirates, killed off the pirates so that they would return to being disorganised and weak... and you also gained yourself a greater number of undead soldiers as well."
Aerion nodded. "And now I shall rule which, for some, is more difficult than the conquest itself."
"The Usurper would certainly agree to that statement," Oswell stated. "He is a demon on the battlefield but a poor ruler nonetheless."
"I would say that he's a decent king," Aerion replied. "Certainly not the best but not the worst either."
"The Seven Kingdoms have seen worse kings before." Arthur agreed.
Aerion made his way to the walls and watched the pirates being crushed from both sides by the undead and his own army. Then he turned away and looked towards the sea.
The other Free Cities will follow as I walk the path of conquest... as Aegon did before me but only on a far greater scale.
...I will not be just a King. I will become the Emperor of the Known World.
~
Aerion had the corpses of the dead pirates gathered and stored in an underground dungeon. Every day, he would walk down and resurrect another ten or so undead skeletons for his cause until the number of corpses ran dry. With every five undead skeletons, Aerion resurrected a greater undead warrior to lead them.
Ruling a city was slightly more difficult than Aerion had thought it would be. Although he studied how to rule closely and knew quite a lot already, doing it himself was a different story. However, as time went on, his experience grew and so did his capacity to rule. There were very few competent nobles who could truly assist him so he mainly ruled on his own. It was relatively stressful at first but he eased into the role rather swiftly.
The nobles had lost most of their power to Aerion, who ruled with supreme and absolute authority. They had very little say and no way of questioning his authority as he held the entire army. Eventually, they got used to it and accepted his rule. Aerion did take a greater amount of their gold for resisting his conquest earlier and he used this gold to make Tyrosh even greater. The greedy nobles found this offensive but they did not have the power to do anything about it. He uncovered those that would pose a threat to him and got rid of them one way or another while those that he found more trustworthy were given greater power than the rest.
The treasury began to flow with gold as Aerion completely secured the Stepstones and slaughtered the pirates out of existence. This meant that the trade routes between the Free Cities and Westeros would rarely ever be intercepted, leading to an overall greater income. Aerion invested his gold into Tyrosh to further his financial influence over the free city and help it grow even greater. Due to the loyalty of his men, Aerion did not have to pay them a great deal (if not anything) which helped him find gold to place into other areas.
Due to his fire-wielding abilities and necromancy, the followers of the R'hllor viewed him as something truly special. Some even believed him to be the second coming of Azor Ahai and the Prince That Was Promised as he could give life through his flame. Aerion was not the most religious person in the world but he saw the advantage that would come to being seen as the 'Warrior of Light' and 'Son of Fire'. Faith was, after all, a powerful weapon that could bring forth many supporters to his cause and strengthen his right to rule further.
Around three-fourths of Tyrosh's people were slaves which was an absurd number considering the fact that the Seven kingdoms had none. Well, it should have none as the law forbids it. In Tyrosh, on the other hand, there were three slaves for every freeborn resident! After giving it more thought, Aerion did not know how to tackle this situation. Whether to leave it how it is, slowly bring change or break every slave's shackles immediately. The Valyrian Freehold flourished under its thousands of slaves and Aerion had intended to rebuild it. Freeing the slaves greatly opposed that thought and heavily leaned towards the Seven Kingdoms' policies.
However, Aerion decided that he was not going to rebuild the Valyrian Freehold. He was going to forge an empire of his own that would follow his policies. And so, the rest of the decision making became so much more simple. Slaves certainly had their use so he went for a balance of the two, granting slaves greater freedoms and a better quality of life while also keeping their functionality. Aerion found it quite surprising that some slaves already lived better than the smallfolk from King's Landing. He had only gone to the slums in King's Landing once and that was enough for it to remain in his mind forever.
The nobles, although slightly displeased once more, found his terms agreeable... not that they had a choice in the matter anyway. Aerion would oversee that his policies were being followed correctly through his greater undead and was most pleased as the months passed. These 'slaves' were no lesser than the smallfolk from the Seven Kingdoms except for the fact that they were owned by someone else. With this act, he gained great favour with the slaves of Tyrosh while also keeping his relations with the nobles intact.
~
"Welcome, it is time to present and go over your progression once more."
The system stated rather bluntly.
"What has changed from before?" Aerion replied.
"Well, due to your constant use of necromancy over these months, it has ascended to a new realm of power. As a balanced master of necromancy, basic necromancy skills are now more affordable than before. You have unlocked two abilities as well, both of which are related to each other. These two are the abilities to 'Soul Steal' and 'Soul Summon'. You can steal a person's soul right after they die and store it within yourself by using one of your magic vitality. Then you may summon this soul through the second ability. Soul summoning costs ten vitality at first and this number increases with every additional soul you summon. They do not last long, however... especially in the sun. Once they are summoned, these souls are vulnerable to physical attacks but not so much as a living person and they possess the physical attributes of their physical peak. After death, they return to you. Once you become a Grandmaster, you will achieve an even greater method of soul-stealing and summoning."
"I see." Aerion smiled. "Another weapon of magic added to my arsenal... will that be all?"
"Yes, it is. Your progress in Aeromancy and Pyromancy is still approaching the Master level but they will ascend if you focus on either one of them for a while."
"I will try to do that."
"Here is your updated status, Dragon Prince."
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[Status]
Prince Aerion Targaryen
Born: 280 AC, the fall of the second moon.
Age: 15
Titles: The Rightful King
Traits: Handsome, Genius, Strong, Tall, Patient, Diligent, Proud, Ambitious, Ruthless, Brave, Confident.
Manpower: 1500: 800 undead, 200 greater undead, 500 professional warriors
Navy: 40 ships
Gold: A lot
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[Physical Attributes]
Strength: 82
Endurance: 93
Dexterity: 88
Charisma: 95
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Magic vitality: 25
[Magic grades and skills]
Pyromancy: Balanced Adept Pyromancer ☆☆
-Skills: Fire Control (0+), Fireblast (1), Greater Fireblast (5)
Hydromancy: Efficient Adept Hydromancer ☆☆
-Skills: Water Control (0+), Water (0.5), Tidal Wave (10)
Aeromancy: Powerful Adept Aeromancer ☆☆
-Skills: Air Control (0+), Wind gust (1), Mighty Roar (4)
Necromancy: Balanced Master Necromancer ☆☆☆
-Skills: Control undead (0), Revive Dead (0.75), Soul Steal (0.75), Greater Revive Dead (5), Soul Summon (10 + 0.75 with every additional soul)
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[Overall skill grades]
Magic: Master Mage ☆☆☆
Duelling skill: Knight ☆☆☆
Martial (Battle): Skilled Tactician ☆☆☆
Diplomacy (Negotiation): Charismatic Negotiator ☆☆☆
Stewardship (Managing money and administration): Fortune Builder ☆☆☆
Intrigue (Plotting): Intricate Webweaver ☆☆☆
Learning (Religion and knowledge): Dutiful Clerk ☆☆
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~
The fourth moon of 295 AC, Tyrosh.
Aerion watched his more capable men teaching the soldiers of his army by going through drills, formations and the such. His Kingsguard and some of the Dornishmen usually did this task in his name, though he would sometimes do it himself. Last night was when he had seen his status and gained new abilities.
Soul stealing...
Aerion gave it some thought on whether or not he should use this ability. Stealing one's soul was worse than taking their corpse, after all.
I will use it when the right opportunity arises.
"My dragon prince!" A noble ran up to him, breathless. He was one of Aerion's closer nobles and served as a source of information. If Aerion had a Small Council, this noble would probably have the position of the Master of Whispers.
Aerion noticed the letter in his hand. "What is it?"
"The Usurper... he has declared war on you! The other Free Cities lay silent while the Usurper has begun to gather his royal navy. My prince, this is not the best situation to be in. I estimate that the Usurper will reach Tyrosh within two moons or three at the very most. This includes the time it would take to assemble the navy."
"What about the letter... is it the declaration?"
"Yes, it is."
"Give it to me."
The noble, who goes by the name Noronos Nahiris, gave the letter without hesitation. Aerion read through it swiftly and burned the letter with his flames after a mere twenty seconds.
"Trash... since he can't kill me with his shadows, he intends to strike me directly." Aerion laughed. "Foolish Usurper, his dim-witted act has only awoken the Dragon's fury! Now I will have no choice but to send him packing back to the Seven Kingdoms like the breathless dog he is."
"Noronos, I will be leaving Tyrosh in your hands while I sail the navy for Myr."
"Myr, my prince?"
"I will briefly occupy the city and return to Tyrosh with a greater force to prepare for this old stag." Aerion smiled. "This greater force should be enough to earn me another decisive victory. One over the so-called Demon of the Trident, no less."
"The spirits of his supporters will finally waver and the Targaryen loyalists will see that the future is as bright as the sun."
"Will this mean that you will be striking King's Landing after?" Noronos inquired.
"No, I will let him keep the Iron Throne warm for me until the time is right," Aerion replied. "There are still eight free cities to conquer, after all. But... he will not be leaving my sight before I shatter his pride completely."
"I see..."
Noronos smiled nervously as he noticed the ruthless... focused glint in Aerion's violet eyes.
So, Robert... you're coming to me? Very well, I shall welcome you with the most open arms!
