Chapter 7

Valerin

Late 49 AC

ARTHUR

Being the Butler of Valerin had been a dull affair. Condemned to life in a small keep without a lord had been a harsh sentence. He had always dreamed of a life in a greater castle, perhaps even an old House of the Kingdom. Becoming Butler had been his attempt to explore and see more of the world and yet almost a dozen years after his assignment, he had seen nothing.

For many years, he had served the previous Castellan. A miserly and miserable old man, who cared nought for the plight of the smallfolk. One who spent most of his days in Harestead hoping to curry enough favour with the Wysten, perhaps in hope he may be appointed as Lord of Valerin. In his absence, he would see to the administration of the lands, but due to the miserly nature of the Castellan, there was nought that he could do to see the lives of the smallfolk improved.

As an Acolyte in Dudgall, he had never been the most stellar of students. He had never been interested as others were in the higher mysteries or in the arts of healing, as many butlers chased the title of "Polymath" in increase their reputation. He even barely forged himself his silver link. His interests had always laid in numbers, herblore and the material sciences. In hindsight, that had been the reason why he had been effectively exiled to this remote keep in the Stormlands. Most Lords wished for the Butlers to be skilled in healing, history, warcraft and even the higher mysteries, more so since dragons had ruled greater part of Headens.

And it was thus that he had found himself consigned to the lordless keep of Valerin, serving the miserable old Castellan.

That had all changed when Aerys was made lord. At first, he thought that the young lordling was touched in the head. Oh, his mind was not dull, twas as sharp as any knight's blade, but he was a visionary, prone to flights of fancy and visionaries never fulfilled their dreams. Most ended up dead. With his nonsensical words and sayings and ideas so outlandish they seemed more akin to children's tales, young Aerys was most definitely not a normal child.

Initially, the Butler had struggled greatly in attempting to guide the young Lord. He had hoped that in his young age, the Lord would seek him for guidance more often than not and he had hoped that he would be able to mould young Aerys into a good Lord and patron. One that did not exploit his household and smallfolk and cared for and tended to his lands. His efforts were all for nought. Not because Aerys was a terrible Lord, nor because it seemed Aerys already had in spades what Arthur was attempting to teach him. Instead, it was because the boy was determined to break the mould with his lofty ambitions and nigh on impossible projects. There was an order to the world, a way things had been and would always be.

Until there was not.

Aerys, in his short tenure as lord, had both frustrated and astounded him. Defying all that he had known his whole life, he rose from being the bastard grandson of a rapist reviled across the kingdom, to a merchant lord with growing wealth and prestige. Arthur often wondered where his ideas came from, whether he experienced the dreams of the priests or not. Regardless he was a remarkable young man, and despite not always seeing eye to eye with him, he had grown to like and respect him.

He had proved himself more than capable of ruling, and certainly capable of running a business. Even one growing as fast as Valerin Whisky and Soap.

Arthur thanked the Gods that even with his ideas, Aerys still allowed him to advise him and did not march furiously towards his own failures. He had argued against his implementation of what he called 'four-field crop rotation', and managed to get Aerys to allow him to manage it on test lands rather than across the entire scope of his farms.

He had expected complete failure and instead had been rather surprised that, after some experimentation, it was a resounding success. He soon realised that it was merely a step in Aerys' plans though, as with productivity per acre increased, fewer people were required on his farms and they made their way into Valerin or the other towns looking for work.

Such was often the case with Aerys. Individually his ideas seemed folly, but taking a step back you could observe patterns and understand fully the scope of his plans. Everything was connected, he just did not know for what purpose. As time had passed though he had begun to see that Aerys rarely initiated any action without thinking it through and more often than not his judgement turned out to be sound.

As a Butler, it was his task to advise and guide his Lord. And he had done so. And he would continue serving him as his vows dictated. It was rare to see a Lord actually care for his smallfolk. But Aerys genuinely did. All of his actions were directed towards improving his lands and the lives of its people. Perhaps it was because just a few years ago, Aerys had himself been one of the said people. The young Lord rarely spoke of his life prior to his arrival at Valerin. But it could not have been easy.

Arthur himself had fought tooth and nail to secure his acceptance in the Citadel. He had hoped that as a Butler he would be able to gain power and prestige and perhaps even affect some change. With Aerys he would be able to do that.

* * *

Southwood

Late 49AC

CHAPMAN

Chapman grunted as he stood. As he aged he found the longer he spent sitting, the slower he was to rise, though he supposed it might have something to do with his weight too.

The stained oak table in his solar held a pack of documents. There had been many changes since the new Lord's visit the previous year, one of which was a requirement for all records to be kept in an orderly fashion and sent to Valerin for review. Initially, he had been sceptical of the young Lord, but upon meeting him had found him to possess unusual intelligence and maturity for his age. The impact of young Aerys' reforms and projects were being felt keenly even here in Southwood. The demand for lumber had never been higher, with Lord Aerys himself purchasing hundreds of oak barrels every turn of the moon.

The papers the Mayor currently had his eyes on were documenting the progression of what Lord Aerys had called a 'kiln', specifically the oven used for cooking river rock and wood for the production of charcoal.

The order for him to bake rocks collected from the banks of the stream near Valerin had been confusing at first. Seemingly a nonsensical request that had Chapman questioning the young lord's sanity, until it made all the sense in the world.

The first batch of cooked lime had been sent back to Valerin and soon after more lime was turning up with orders to be cooked. He had done as asked even without knowing why and soon was told that a new road was beginning construction to join the two settlements together. Chapman was merely told that the substance he had been making was an ingredient in something called concrete which served well as a road building material.

The production of this concrete took place almost exclusively in Southwood and new kilns had been constructed to facilitate that production. While the original kilns used to produce charcoal also served well enough in baking the limestone, one of the workers had discovered that a few modifications made to the original structure, made the process of baking the river rock far more efficient. Since then, new kilns had been made solely for the process of baking the 'limestone' as the young Lord called it, while the older ones were reserved for charcoal. Overseeing quotas took up most of his time as Mayor now, the age old lumber trade requiring relatively little work to maintain.

Soon after the message about road building arrived, workers had begun turning up mapping out the route and digging and whilst construction was still underway.

Chapman had to admit it would be a fast and impressive road once built. He had even heard that there was the possibility of expanding the network to reach Duneon's Valley to the West and the coastal settlement to the East, truly wondrous, yet risky at the same time.

Roads were not an uncommon idea in the Harelands. Vast and wide dirt tracks covered the entirety of the Harelands. However, no Lord had ever successfully built a paved road network the likes of which Aerys was envisioning as such endeavours took years and were inevitably washed away or damaged beyond repair before completion when the Autumn storms struck with their unholy fury. Many times even fully constructed paved roads were battered beyond repair during severe storms. Either Aerys was a young fool with flights of fancy or he truly believed that with this new 'concrete' he would be able to build roads faster and sturdier than before. Either way, the truth would be known soon enough. He just hoped that if this endeavour failed, Aerys would not bankrupt his fief and in turn the people of Southwood in his attempt to finance the road network.

The 'concrete' was now being mixed in Southwood itself and Chapman had to agree that doing so made sense. With the limestone already being baked in Southwood, it was logical to also have it mixed in Southwood itself as opposed to needlessly transporting it to Valerin. The labourers had initially struggled with the new material but were now progressing at a steady pace. Thus far, the new material showed promise, but only time would tell if it would survive the fury of the storms that gave these lands their name.

Chapman couldn't help but wonder where the money for such an operation was coming from, though far be it from his place to question his Lord's finances. Roads were a notoriously expensive endeavour, no doubt made more so by the workers' inexperience with such projects.

Groaning, he stretched with his arms above his head and sat down, the chair creaking its protest as he did so. He pulled out the report he'd compiled on the charcoal production, checking once again that all was as it should be before submitting it for review. Charcoal was a valuable export and one Aerys had been very keen to see expanded in Southwood.

When the young Lord had provided the idea for building the kilns during his Progress a little over a year ago, he had almost immediately seen the potential in the idea. He had given the order for such a structure to be built and tested. The first test had been a disaster as the kiln had exploded and nearly killed one of the labourers. For a brief moment, he had considered that Aerys Valerin may actually be touched in the head as opposed to being the reincarnated Whisperer Of The Night, one who hears whispers if he gods, as a few smallfolk whispered.

But one of the men pointed out that the kiln may have exploded because they had not allowed for the smoke to escape in the designs. On their second attempt, they had poked small holes in the structure that would allow the smoke to escape while at the same time containing the heat. It was a resounding success.

Soon, with new kilns being built, Southwood was producing more charcoal in a single moon than it previously did in six. Lord Aerys would have the charcoal transported to Valerin from where it would be sent onwards to Destrier Hall amongst others. The charcoal production had proved to be very lucrative and Southwood had never been more prosperous.

Humming to himself, he gathered the documents and put them into the folder. Turning to the side, he held it out and the rider who had been waiting patiently for the folder of documents smiled and took them before bowing his head and walking out, eagerly mounting his horse and riding off parallel to the as of yet unfinished road.

Chapman sighed, so much hard work left him with ravenous hunger, he would have to go to the kitchens.

The Hedge Bank

Early 50 AC

PETR

As he sat in the hallowed halls of the Hedge Bank, staring at the sheer wealth and power at display in the architecture and interiors, Petr could not help but feel in awe of the position he was currently in. A little over a year ago, he had been a humble tax collector for Lord Darius and now he stood in the hallowed halls of the Hedge Bank as steward to Lord Valerin.

The walls were decorated with rich paintings and tapestries and adorned with furniture made of the finest oak and clearly carved by master craftsmen. The entrance to the Bank had been barred by a gargantuan gate which rivalled the ones he had seen at Hamedge in size. The entrance lobby where he was currently seated, waiting on one of the bank officials to receive him was several times larger than the courtyard of Lord Aerys' Keep with floorings made of marble so fine that he could actually see his reflection in it.

Two moons ago he had been summoned by Lord Aerys to his solar. The young Lord had in his usual solemn manner, unusual for a lad his age, but something he had gotten used to in the two years past that he had served the young Lord, bade him travel to the bank in his stead, to seek a loan to finance the Lord's road-building enterprise.

When he had first arrived to serve as Steward to Lord Aerys, his old friend Arthur had warned him that the young Lord was prone to flights of fancy and dreamt up the most outrageous ideas and plans far above a Lordling of his station. He had initially been cautious, as the Lord had put him to work on the census, even though he had privately felt that the idea held great merit, but as he continued to serve the young Lord, he found himself gradually developing a deep respect for the young lad. The lad had been thrown in an unenviable position, the bastard of a bastard, grandson of the most infamous rapist the realm had ever seen. Where any other lad would have succumbed to the pressure, the young Lord had instead thrived.

Lord Aerys had vision. More importantly, he had the intelligence and drive to see his vision through. He had partaken in the whisky that the Lord had gifted him as a reward for his excellent work on the census, and he could see why it was in such great demand amongst the highborn of the Kingdom. He had mandated the use of the Valerin Soap to be used for cleaning all across the Keep having seen its effectiveness.

Lord Aerys had truly created products that were near-divine in their utility. Some smallfolk whispered that he was touched by the gods. Petr was a man of the Faith just as any other, and while he did not believe in the whispers of Lord Aerys being the Whisperer Of The Night reborn, he did believe that the young Lord would go on to do great things. And Petr would serve him as his truest and most leal man throughout.

As his Steward, he owed Lord Aerys his service and fealty, but the young Lord had won his respect and loyalty after he had elevated his family. His wife Maryam, served as the Head of the Kitchen and could not be happier in her new home. His son Benedict was apprenticed to an actual Butler and Lord Aerys had recently stated that he would not be opposed to sponsoring Benedict's entrance to the Citadel if he acquitted himself well over the next year. His lad Baldwin was squired to an actual Knight. One of great skill who had well acquitted himself in the wars past. His children's futures were secured, his work was engaging and he commanded respect throughout the lands.

So when his Lord had commanded him to journey to the Hedge Bank and arrange for coin for his roads, he had done so without pause. He had travelled to Rosecout aboard one of the larger trade ships that plied their trade from the fishing town and from Rosecourt he had boarded a ship to Fordoos. His Lord had granted him ten of his Men at Arms to escort him and protect the gold that he would return with along with a Letter of Authority with his Seal granting him leave to conduct negotiations on his behalf.

As he passed under the shadow cast by the monstrous structure of Fordoos, he had been rendered speechless, as he gazed upon the size and splendour of the Titan. Never before in his life had he seen so many people, of so many different faiths, cultures and garb gathered in one place. He had made arrangements to stay at an inn near the dock and made his way to the Hedge Bank to seek an audience with one of its representatives the next day. As instructed by Lord Aerys, Arthur had sent a letter to the Bank prior to his departure, informing them that Petr would be visiting.

He had been bid to wait in the Hall by one of the scribes at the entrance assuring him that a representative would attend to him soon. As he waited, a severe-looking man, dressed richly in the garb of the wealthier Fordoosi that he had seen thus far, approached him and spoke in impeccable Headen tongue, "Steward Petr of Valerin, I am Representative Quinton Giles, of the Hedge Bank. We received a missive from your Lord Aerys Valerin a few days ago and have been expecting you. I must say, you have arrived earlier than expected."

"The winds were kind, Representative Giles. I must compliment you and your Bank, it is most impressive. There are High Lords in Headens whose Keeps aren't as large and opulent as your Bank," replied Petr as he rose from his seat. The Bank official proceeded to escort him towards one of the Bank's meeting rooms while they exchanged pleasantries on the way.

"Well, Steward, it is my understanding that your Lord, Aerys Valerin of House Valerin, seeks a loan from the Hedge Bank to build a series of roads in his lands," said Giles as he leaned back in his chair getting directly to business.

"Yes Representative Giles, I have the proposal right here," said Petr as he pulled out a handbound folder of high-quality paper which had been painstakingly prepared by Lord Aerys and himself.

"As you will see, our books are healthy and we are projecting to make a substantial surplus in the coming year. This surplus is projected to grow even further in the coming years as the Valerin Whisky and Soap is in great demand in Headens and the margins in this business are more than stellar. Our agricultural produce is substantial in addition to our stellar trade-in metalworks, leather, charcoal and wool," he continued as he presented more papers before the Banker.

They went over the finer points of the proposal for the next couple of hours, with the banker asking various questions regarding the state of Valerin's finances without letting any emotion show on his blank face. Petr carefully presented his proposal as to how much gold would be needed and how it would be spent. The Banker would in turn ask several questions regarding the basis and justifications for their growth projections which formed the basis of their ability to repay the bank.

As their game continued over the hours, Petr could see that the banker was increasingly convinced regarding the ability of House Valerin to repay the loan. The fact that in case of default, Aerys had offered a share in the proceeds from the new iron mine for a certain time period practically had the man in question salivating.

"Well, Petr, this is well prepared, We generally do not see such care and precision from Headen Nobility here at the Hedge Bank. Nonetheless, we shall go through your proposal in depth to see whether we shall be able to sanction credit facilities to House Valerin. However, this does not still address our primary concern in this case," said the stern Representative as he carefully handed the papers over to an aide who stood behind him.

"And what concern would that be, Representative Giles?" Said Petr.

"Petr, you must understand that while Lord Aerys Valerin appears to be an able Lord and administrator of his lands, he is still young, untested and newly ennobled. The Hedge Bank does not make a habit of investing in young Houses, especially considering that such Houses tend to get extinguished very quickly more often than not in the ever-changing landscape of the lands. In the past century alone, dozens of Houses akin to Valerin have risen and fallen across the realm," replied the banker as he continued, "If the Hedge Bank is to take on such a risk in its books, it would need to be adequately compensated for the said risk."

"And what would this compensation entail Representative Giles?" replied Petr with a wary expression. Lord Aerys had warned him the Hedge Bank would try to get him to make concessions and agree to a rather one-sided deal to, in his words, 'squeeze us of every copper we possess.'

"Well we would generally require some form of collateral, ideally in the form of land, but as that is not possible in Headens, as your High Lords do not allow such dealings, we would have to settle for higher interest rates, perhaps around eighteen per cent compounding every year to be repaid over ten years, to compensate for the lack of adequate security," said Giles with an odd look, perhaps greed, in his eyes.

"That is most outrageous, Representative." Said Petr, in a manner that sounded almost enraged, "I have travelled here in good faith in my Lord's stead who expected that we would be treated fairly by the Hedge Bank. And yet here we are faced by that which is tantamount to daylight robbery? This shall not abide. Why I could sail south to Syl from here and approach the Stonecrow Bank and they would offer us the same loan at twelve per cent interest with a tenure of no more than five years."

"You would deal with slaver scum like the Stonecrow as opposed to the Hedge Bank of Fordoos?" responded Giles with a sneer on his face.

"Lord Wysten, Chief Minister to the King and the man who ennobled Lord Aerys after his father saved the Lord's life, would not begrudge Lord Aerys for seeking a loan from the Stonecrow Bank when several other Lords in Headens also do so," responded Petr blithely. It was clear that his words had hit a soft spot.

He pressed onwards, "And as far as security is concerned, we have offered the proceeds from the iron mine west of Duneon's Valley as well in case of default on our end. That should mitigate the Bank's risk substantially."

The banker adopted a pensive look. It was clear that he had not expected such detailed and well-constructed rebuttals and arguments from an 'uncultured Headen savage.'

"Give us a few days Steward Petr as we consider your proposal. I invite you to see the sights and partake in the pleasures that Fordoos can offer a man in the meantime. I shall send an aide to call upon you once we have reached a decision." Said the Representative backtracking from his previous aggressive stance and looking like he had been forced to swallow a lemon.

A sennight later Petr boarded a ship headed for Rosecourt with a locked chest in hand bearing five thousand gold. After much negotiation, the HedgeBank had offered the loan to be disbursed in four instalments which would, in turn, be disbursed over the course of the next four years at an interest rate of fourteen per cent per annum to be repaid over the next six years. While these were not as good terms as Petr had hoped for, they were within the margins prescribed by Lord Aerys.

As they departed Fordoos, Petr looked back over his shoulders as the silhouette of the Structure of Fordoos faded into the horizon. He could not wait to return home.

* * *

Harestead

Early 50 AC

Ser Briar Blanett was old. Long past were the days of his youth. He had been alive to see the last King die in the flames, or hear about it from behind his mother's skirts he supposed. Many interesting things had happened in his long life. The years of uncertainty after the Dragon's Battle Of The Head. The years of uncertainty when Margot seized the throne. And now the dawn of the reign of young Jakob. The dragon, as he was called, may have conquered the kingdom, but the throne was still very much a prize waiting for hands to be changed.

He was but the humble Castellan of Harestead. Appointed by Lord Robert Wysten, to rule in his stead, while he served as Chief Minister To The King to the young King Jakob. He had been appointed over the High Lord's brothers Boreen and Ambrose, much to the displeasure of the former and relief of the latter. An appointment he was extremely grateful for. As the son of a cadet branch of House Blanett, he had not many prospects in life, with little to inherit and even less to offer in marriage.

He had sworn himself to House Wysten several years ago and had served Lord Robert loyally and diligently for many years. Enough so, that Lord Robert had elevated him to the position he held today. And yet the past few years had seen him age seemingly two decades as he was overwhelmed with the task of managing the Harelands and its belligerent nobility.

Ser Ambrose Wysten, the rather unambitious youngest brother of Lord Robert, had been eager to foist the responsibility onto him. He was a rather rambunctious young man, full of youthful vigour and grit. But not one well suited to the tedious affairs of managing a Kingdom. He would frequently ride out from Harestead to deal with bandits, Thornish raiders in the other lands and the occasional prodding from the Tarf Lords on the borders. He was a man well suited to the rigours of battle and not the tedious affairs of Lordship.

On the other hand, Ser Boreen Wysten, Lord Robert's other brother, was a blight on Harestead. As heir to Lord Robert, at least until he sired children of his own, Boreen believed that he should have served as High Lord in Robert's absence. However, even Lord Robert was aware that his younger brother was a brutish unintelligent man, with far more ambition than wit and even lesser restraint. Even though the man had been assigned several responsibilities and duties by Lord Robert, he would frequently abscond from them and spend his time drinking and whoring away his family's wealth and dignity.

Wrangling Ser Boreen while at the same time managing the affairs of the Harelands kept Briar on his toes. Over the past couple of years, the affairs of the realm had been fairly calm, with even the blasted Thornish also being fairly quiet. With the young King Jakob soon to achieve his majority and the Regency of Lady Lisa soon to end, Lord Robert had ensured that his time as Chief Minister had been put to good use with several concessions and royal favours being granted to the Harelands. However, in his little corner of the world, not much had changed in the last two years.

The most interesting in recent years was the sudden rise of one Lord Aerys Valerin. The bastard son of a bastard son of house Helmsire. Briar supposed it would make a good song one day at the very least.

Before Aerys had visited Harestead to accept his lordship, earned by the death of his father, he had not expected much of the boy. Lord Robert had instructed Briar to welcome him to the Harelands and to send a trustworthy man with Aerys when he departed to ensure no foolish action on behalf of the boy. The lands he was given were nothing special, a meagre fishing village on the bay, an unproductive mine and some timber yards were the extent of the lands. A good gift, but not much else for Harestead.

After meeting the boy, however, Briar had found him strange. At the age of thirteen, he spoke as if he had lived a lifetime. He was a curious lad. Intelligent as well. Yet Ser Blanett had wished him well on his journey and expected never to hear anything of note about him again.

Aerys had proceeded to entirely defy expectations.

Where once was subsistence farming, minor industry and a lone tower, the same had been transformed under the leadership of Aerys Valerin into something else entirely. The young Lord had focused a great deal on infrastructure and industrial development in the past two years and the fruits of his labour were already being seen.

The Valerin Whisky was in great demand in the Harelands, with Lord Wysten and himself having both placed large orders with the young Lord of Valerin. He had even heard tell of some miracle cleaning tool developed in Valerin named 'Soap' that was now being exported by Lord Aerys. Recent taxes collected from the region had jumped by almost forty per cent last year, with massive exports of stone being reported from Destrier Hall to Valerin.

Yet the most impressive feat was not in his mysterious 'whisky' but in his infrastructural development. He had been informed by Ser Goren in a report that Aerys had invested heavily in the development of his lands and was spending enormous amounts of gold to build and renovate Valerin and the other little towns in his region. Very few Lords saw the benefits of investing gold in infrastructure that was not their own keep and seeing such foresight from one so young had astounded the Castellan of Harestead.

He had briefly even considered that Aerys may be a puppet for the Maester or some other unknown player in the region, as no boy of four and ten should have been capable of what Aerys was doing. Ser Goren had however thoroughly disabused him of the said notion and assured him that Aerys Valerin was the driving force behind the region's development.

Ser Briar had dutifully reported such in his writings to Lord Robert, without too much scepticism and disbelief. The growth of Valerin Whisky for one was surpassing all expectations with hundreds of barrels being sold in the Harelands and CrownBares every moon, the extra tax earned from this export was not an amount to be dismissed. Lords all across the Harelands loved the stuff. Reportedly, Lord Robert and the King's Cabinet loved it as well.

He would have to keep a close eye on young Aerys. If he continued his growth, his rise would come at the expense of some other Lord's loss. And that would create enemies. Sooner rather than later, young Aerys would find himself in above his head and would require intervention from Harestead.

Already he had heard from his cousins in Copperbay that the rise of the young Lord was creating issues for Alban. The Lord of Copperbay was not a forgiving man. A thick-skulled brute who cared for nought but skill of arms and looked down on the keener aspects of lordship dismissing them as copper counting. Briar rather disliked him in fact. Undoubtedly he would not take well to what he perceived to be an upjumped bastard stepping on his toes.

Soon enough, Aerys would need help. And at that time Briar would be ready to step in and lend a hand. At a price of course. He took a sip from his cup, relishing the burning warmth that erupted in his chest. Briar admitted a fondness for the drink himself. Was not every inhabitant of Headen an avid drinker?