Chapter 46: Controlling Stepstones

A/N: Hey guy,

Here's today's chapter. I will upload two chapters tomorrow.

Thanks to everyone who supported me.

Thanks, Richard Swedenborg for becoming my Pàtreon.

You could read more advanced chapters on my pàtreon.

https://www.pàtreon.com/Gnanaa

For the mass release, if we reach 50 pàtreons, I will upload 5 more chapters.

Enjoy.

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Edward's losses were more than he had expected. He had lost about twenty-five ships with nearly a thousand deaths. It was a good result in many people's eyes. But for Edward, this battle was a catastrophic failure. He already had the best ships and war weapons but still lost this many. He could make more ships, but most of the crews were the experienced sailors in Stormsland. He would have to train new sailors and marines from scratch. It showed how much he had underestimated this world.

Although he had these losses, the gains outweighed the losses. He had made an agreement with Tyrosh. They would control the north of the disputed land, and he would give them some of the small Septstone islands in the northeast. He would have the rest of the Stepstones and Grey Gallows of the broken arm.

Edward made this agreement for three reasons. The first was that he owed Tyrosh a favor since they helped him when the other three cities did not allow him to sell his goods in their lands. Tyrosh, on the other hand, welcomed him and made it easy for him to sell his goods. Although they had done that for more gold, at least they allowed him to make his first big deal.

The second was the Archon of Tyrosh knew all the organization in Qarth, which in return would help his men to reach Yi ti and Asshai. Qarth had an important position, and Edward wished to control this city. But he would never dare to do such a thing. Qarth had many organizations and warlocks that could use magic. Plus, due to its location, they had a connection with Asshai and Yi ti and the cities in the shadowlands.

The third was his motive to control the city in the future. He wanted to take it little by little as he planted men from his shadow legion by the Tyrosh's master. He wanted to see if he could come close enough to own the city in the future.

Edward decided to build two great cities and two towns on those islands. He would set the first city on the island closest to Lys. He would control the trade route between Lys and Tyrosh from the sea. This city would be an open market for him to sell all his goods. It was going to be a gold dragon generator for Edward. Edward named it Mars.

The second city would be on the island closest to Dorne. He wanted to take Dorne out of the way from any dispute that could happen in the future. It would also be the best place from which he could start an attack on Dorne from the sea. Edward named it Narrow Hall.

The other two towns would be between these two cities to work as a stop and a rest for the traveling ships. And with this, Edward had concluded his plan of taking over the narrow sea and most of the trade routes between Westeros and Essos.

It would take some time to build the cities and the towns. They would also need a large number of gold dragons. Edward estimated that they would need at least four to five years for the cities to finish and start making a profit for him. Edward was not in a hurry with this project as it would still need a peaceful time to earn him more gold dragons. He just decided to start with the city on the trade route between Lys and Tyrosh.

Edward did not forget to order one of Bruce's deputies to lead a force of fifty ships and guard the area. He would also send another fifty to patrol the area around Tyrosh after getting their permission.

Edward saw it as a chance to getting involved with Tyrosh. He would first start it as a friendship relationship with the Archon of Tyrosh. Edward had helped them with the pirate problem after all. Tyrosh was always the city that would suffer losses from the two pirate dens. After controlling all the trade routes between the free cities, Edward would start with his plan. He would make the Archon his puppet or replace him.

At the end of the year, Edward sent another fifty ships to patrol the sea between his city and Lys. It was because Lys wanted to start another dispute with Tyrosh. Edward decided to have a more active role in influencing those cities. That was why he worked as a mediator between the two and agreed to send the fifty ships as peace guarding troops. Both Lys and Tyrosh would pay him compensation, so why would he refuse?

In the last months of this year, Edward was able to increase his influence on the narrow sea, the Stepstones, and the sea of Dorne. He could now middle in the internal affair of Tyrosh and Lys, but he maintained his friendship. He would not be able to control them with his fleet. Both cities had large fleets. Edward was only using the disputes between them to meddle in their affairs.

Edward was able to construct a small part of his trade network plan. He was able to connect Storm's End with Tarth after building a large port on the island. He then informed Lord Arryn and Lord Stark about his plan, to which both of them agreed. The first part of the trade network was to organize voyages between the four ports at specific times of the week. Fifty old ships from Stormsland, thirty ships from the vale, and twenty from the north would start the first phase. The trade route would begin in Storm's End and end at the White Harbor in the north. Its four main stops were Storm's End, Tarth, Gulltown, and White Harbor. There would be some stops on the road from the other regions to resupply like The Whispers and Stonedance in Crownlands, but they would change every time. Edward would add other permanent stops to the trade route in the future when the ports were ready to handle it. He also would add more trade routes so that the three regions could flourish.