Stone Castle
A/N: Please leave reviews and comments people. I've already reached 30k words but there are like 3 reviews. It feels kinda sad. If there is more engagement, I will be motivated to write more.
So, I will post 10 bonus chapters if we reach 20 unique reviews by next Friday. By unique reviews, I mean reviews by different accounts. I know this seems desperate but I need to increase the engagement somehow right?
Anyway, enjoy!
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Although Bran had traveled around in recent years, it was only around the northern territories. The north was cold and frigid with very little land to grow food. This also meant that the place was very poor and development was slow.
But as he traveled down south, he started to see how much better the lives of the southerners were when compared to the north.
When he had traveled to Storm's End, he had also seen how it was better than the north but due to the constant storms, it wasn't too far ahead of the north. At least from what he saw personally. They had tough lives in the Storm King's territory as well.
But moving southwards, the farmlands, the amount of food, the warmth, everything made Bran feel uncomfortable. His people were starving and fighting the animals for a full stomach while in the south, people had more than they could ever hope to eat.
And they hunted for sport and entertainment! What kind of concept is that? Hunting for entertainment. In the north, hunting was only for survival. If not to feed themselves, why would they endanger their lives to fight beasts just because they were bored?
Reaching the territory ruled by Garth Greenhand and his children, the shock just intensified until Bran became numb to the sight of lush greenery and vast farmlands.
There were large towns where people lived and traded things. There were villages where farmers tended to their fields. It was a very lively place. Bran guessed that even a commoner lived a better life in the south than a noble of the north.
Traveling further, Bran reached Oldtown. It was really an old town. Bran moved through the town while taking in the sight and observing the people and their culture. This was something he had learned from Raven.
Learning the local customs and culture would help you get along with the people much faster. You can quickly build a connection on common grounds and make the other party feel comfortable.
When he finally reached the port at Oldtown, Bran was stunned for a moment. This wasn't the first time he had seen the sea. But the view he had right now was something he had never seen.
Calm blue waters stretched out into the horizon with small waves rolling in and crashing at the coast. A cool and salty breeze hit his face while he admired the glistening sea under the sunlight.
This was an incomparably beautiful sight. The sea he had seen at Storm's End was like a large angry beast that wanted to swallow him. But the sea here felt like it was welcoming him with a warm embrace.
"Beautiful isn't it?" a voice appeared from behind Bran.
Looking at the man with a noble appearance, fancy clothing, and guards behind him, Bran was cautious. He revealed a calm smile and nodded.
"Yes, it is. It is my first time seeing something like this and I will never forget it. By the way, I am Bran Stark. How should I address this lord?" Bran asked while being prepared for any sudden attacks.
The middle-aged man with a bushy beard smiled, "No need to be so vigilant Master Bran. I am the person who commissioned you to build the tower. I am Ulthor Hightower, Lord of House Hightower. Welcome to Oldtown."
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Getting a tour from the ruler of the land themselves in person was a novel experience for Bran. But after having met the Storm King with Raven, Bran was already somewhat immune to the presence of a ruler. He himself had ambitions to rule so he couldn't be too servile.
For Ulthor, a young commoner acting like an equal to him was a disgusting feeling even if said commoner is a master builder. But he had done his due diligence and knew that even the temperamental Storm King was respectful of Bran. And so he remained respectful as well.
"That over there is the Battle Isle. That's where we want to build the tower. We will take a boat there." Ulthor pointed at an island a distance away from the coast and led Bran to the boat.
Upon reaching the Battle Isle, Bran had a weird feeling as he looked at the black stone structure.
He asked, "Is this construction of black stone something that your family did, Lord Hightower?"
Ulthor was amazed that Bran could tell that there was construction done within the black stone right after getting on the Battle Isle. It seems this young man has some measure of talent.
"The earliest records of our house show that there was already this strange black stone structure in this place and there were some constructions made directly on it. Our family has expanded on it somewhat but it should have existed from before." Ulthor answered. It wasn't a secret anyway.
Bran nodded. "I would like to study this place if it is okay with you?" This was a fascinating place so Bran wanted to know more.
"By all means. We just hope you can provide us with the designs as soon as possible." Ulthor didn't care much for the stone structure, He wanted his magnificent seat of power as soon as possible.
"Sure, let us discuss how you want the tower to be like and we can go from there." Bran opened the discussions while they walked to the area where the tower was to be built.
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"Is this a castle of some sort?" Bran's eyes were practically twinkling while he looked on at the strange fused stone structure in front of him.
"It seems so. But due to its dark and creepy nature, no one lives there. We wish for you to build the tower on top of this castle." Ulthor replied impassively. He had already said what he needed to say, so he wanted to get back to his work.
"Okay. I will stay and study the place for a while. I will provide you with a satisfactory design within the month." Bran replied. He had noticed that Ulthor didn't want to be here.
After Ulthor and his guards went back, Bran started searching for a way to enter this strange castle. Moving closer and walking around it, Bran was surprised that he couldn't find any seams, cracks, or connections. It was as if the whole castle was made out of a single stone.
What was even more surprising was that there were no marks to suggest that someone had chiseled the black stone anywhere. It was more like the castle was molded out of this hard black stone.
Bran guessed that it might have something to do with magic and tried using magic to change the stone walls but strangely, the black stone seemed to only absorb his magic like an endless black hole. No matter how much magic he pumped, there was no reaction.
Finally, after giving up and still not being able to figure out who created this place, he finally found the entrance. He cautiously went inside to explore more of the place.
Inside the castle, it was pitch dark. While there were some sporadic windows, they seemed more for airflow than light. And any light that came in from outside seemed to be sucked in by the walls of the castle.
Bran made a light ball with magic and started walking inside the dark hallways. He already had his weapons ready as he moved between the oily, glistening black walls.
The atmosphere was too creepy but the ancient feeling that the walls gave off motivated Bran to continue exploring further. But no matter where Bran went, the castle was empty with nothing but stone walls.
After a few hours, at some point, Bran suddenly had an idea. He followed the air currents inside the castle. The first few tries led him to the very few windows inside the castle but finally, he found a place that was interesting.
It was an inconspicuous space between two walls. Walking inside, Bran found an opening that could fit two men of his size at once. Walking in, Bran felt a sudden chill on his back. It was suddenly too cold in this place.
Walking further down, he deduced that he was probably underground in the battle isles. What he found there was a large maze of passages crisscrossing everywhere.
After an hour or so of almost getting lost while exploring the mazes, he decided to go back up and explore more at a later date. But while walking back, he saw some strange carvings on one of the walls.
The carvings were of strange monsters falling from the sky and many gods uniting together to repel the monsters. It was almost like he was transported to that scene. He also saw a human figure in the middle of this battle, he seemed to be the focus in the carving.
Bran felt a familiar feeling from that figure but before he could think more, he suddenly had a strange urge to find and kill that human figure. This foreign thought that was invading his mind suddenly woke Bran up.
He was terrified. Just looking at some carvings had almost made him lose his mind. What kind of carvings were they? They were so lifelike despite being made of pitch-black stone.
When Bran looked at the carvings once again after preparing his mind, he only saw that the smooth stone wall had some irregular bumps and nothing else. 'This, what is this? What did I witness?' Bran was scared to his core and he ran as quickly as he could to get back up to the surface.
The dark passages with the oily stone walls started to feel like a strange monster's insides. Bran tried to keep his calm while navigating the maze and getting back up. After he got back up to the castle, he didn't even try to find a door and directly jumped out of the first window he could find.
Only when he felt the open air and the cool sea breeze did Bran's mind slowly start to calm down. This experience was too strange and scary.