11

Chapter 11 Wake the Dragon

With nothing major left to take care of it was finally time to deal with Braavos. Well, I could work on connecting all of my waypoints. That could take weeks though and I wasn't willing to put off going back to Braavos that long.

After Lorath it was nice being able to walk the streets of a city without everyone staring in terror. Of course a little fear might be nice since no one really pays attention to a little kid. Still, the bone golem I brought works well enough. Not often people see an armored nine foot figure following a kid when shopping.

The Iron Bank were professionals, but it was fairly obvious they were nervous around me. That was not a good sign. They arranged a meeting in a very lavish room.

I was patient. I listened to their excuses. In fact, they were actually reasonable. At least to them. From my point of view? Not so much.

They claim the Iron Bank didn't technically betray me. They bought the skull and shipped it here just as agreed. King Robert somehow realized I was involved and paid them for information. Fucking spy networks.

Worse he paid them with my money. Well, the money I had just paid him. Actually, I'd admire that move I hadn't been screwed over by it. He then sent a small army to hunt me down.

The Iron Bank, since they quite reasonably assumed I was dead, kept the skull. That would be fine. They didn't ship it to me as agreed, but that it was minor enough I'd just be annoyed with them.

The problem was they didn't need a skull. So they charged me storage fees. Again, I could have paid them. But no, then sold the skull to cover the fees. Within two days it was already broken up and scattered across Essos. Two freaking days!

If that's reasonable, I was not feeling reasonable.

The problem was that I still needed them.

Or did I? The thought just popped up. It was insidious and took the time to examine it before giving in. Really don't want to screw myself over.

Braavos is a trade hub, but it's not the only one. It'd be annoying to have to go all the way to Pentos, but might be worth it. It's also closer to Myr, which from it's reputation, is a place I really need to visit. A lot of the fragments had been shipped there as well.

As I was trying to decide on how I should respond I noticed my health bar change. It shows I've been poisoned. I drink an antidote to clear it and sip some more tea. And poisoned again. Well, looks like my decision is made for me.

I take great satisfaction in stabbing the droning banker. Guards stream in. There were obviously waiting. My golem defends me as I set up a turret.

It's messy trying to clear out the building so I don't. I use TNT to blowup large sections and set up some defensive walls. Then I build a half dozen more golems and press on.

I don't get them all. I don't even get that many. The Iron Bank is one of the largest institutions of Braavos. So the city moves to protect them. I watch as hundreds of city guards move in. Looks like they picked their side.

I order my golems to go out and kill everything. I escape in the confusion easily enough.

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I sail away as quickly as I could. I'm not sure if my description has spread yet. Hell, they might not even know it's me. That'll change soon enough.

I don't leave, instead I circle back. Braavos has a ring of rocky islands surrounding it. They're used as windbreaks and thus empty. Only a few watch towers are scattered and then only on the edges. And of course the Titan. It was an impressive blend of form and function.

I pick one of the larger islands and burrow into it. Just like my other waypoints I dig deep and establish a small base. The island is completely empty and so there is no one to notice me reshaping the interior. It isn't difficult to hollow out the center in order to build me a massive tree farm.

I needed all that lumber for one simple reason. Fire ships. Only a hour past midnight the first fire ship launched. The ship was simple enough. A walled raft with four skeleton archers in it. It would drift along, attacking everything until it was stopped.

Once it stopped one of the skeletons would trigger the fire charge placed in the center of the ship. The resulting fire should spread to anything they are up against. I wasn't satisfied with just that though.

While everyone was fending off the fire ships I snuck back to the Iron Bank. I quickly built myself a large stone tower over a hundred feet high. And then just like at Lorath, I set up a turret and proceeded to shoot everyone I could reach.

I didn't just use an arrow storm turret though. A dispenser turret filled with fire charges allowed me to set entire neighborhoods on fire and deny cover to anyone who wanted to get close. It wasn't until well after dawn that the city organized any kind of response.

They had a lot of scorpions. I supposed I should have realized since Braavos is a sea power. It also felt like every single one was currently being used to shoot at me. I could barely fire back without having to dodge at least two bolts!

In the end I decided I'd drawn enough attention. Even now soldiers were attempting to scale the tower I had built. Good luck, the stone was seamless and smooth as glass. I built a solid cap of stone and slid down the ladder.

I triggered the timer, basically a long wick, before running off through the tunnel I had dug. I periodically put up a wall of stone behind me. I wonder anyone noticed me escaping. I leave behind a present though. The entire center of the tower was made of TNT.

The explosion was enormous. It turned the tower into a giant grenade and shrapnel tore apart everything nearby. Even as far away underground as I was I felt it. The stone wall I had just dropped cracked from the pressure. Really glad I put down so many.

I figure that was enough a distraction and came up. I could see all the surrounding structures still shaking. It seems the islands aren't that stable.

In all the chaos no one paid any attention to me, especially after I changed clothes. It was easy enough to wander around town. I leave pallets of TNT on timers where no one can see them. Unexpected explosions are always more terrifying.

I also periodically leave behind premade sign posts detailing how the Iron Bank screwed me over. I demand at least three adult dragon skulls be shipped to Lorath as my price to settle the matter. Hopefully someone will both to read them.

Somehow I doubt it will be that simple. Still I intend to periodically come back and attack the city until they make it up to me.

Towards that end go back to working on my base as well as another on the far side of Braavos. In between establishing the two bases and connecting them into a single chain of waypoints I periodically attack the city.

Fire ships, bombing buildings and zombie attacks. I try to keep them on their toes. I only use zombies once since they had so much trouble with them. It seemed like a quarter of the city was damaged by that attack. I didn't want to destroy the city. There would be no one to threaten then.

To be fair I do check back with Lorath before each attack. To make it easier on me I build a high stone platform outlined in torches. When the skulls arrive they are to be placed there. It's obvious enough I only have to swing nearby before I can see it with a spyglass.

When I can I sneak in and put up more signposts with my demands so they can't possibly claim ignorance. Eventually they'll learn their lesson. Either that or the city will burn to the ground.

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It takes weeks for the skulls to arrive, but they do arrive. I'm just glad Braavos decided to be reasonable. I was feeling generous too so I decided to leave Braavos alone for now. Or at least what's left of it. At least half the city has been damaged in some way by my attacks.

One of my first bombing runs had been along a large portion of the Sweetwater Canal, which is their only source of freshwater. The riots it's destruction spawned had still been going on when I had made my next attack. It probably made the zombie attack that much worse. At least the zombies cut down on how many people needed water.

I had also hit the Arsenal. I floated a whole ship stuffed with explosives over to them. I only intended to damage to shipyard there. The Arsenal attack turned out even worse for them through no effort on my part.

I hadn't realized they stored so much Wildfire there. Even now, weeks later it still smoldered with green flames. They should have been more careful when storing it. Also, I really need to get a hold of some Wildfire.

I only spared the Titan because I wasn't trying to destroy the city. Besides I might need the city at some point. I don't right now though.

Over the past month I had managed to connect all of my waypoint to each other along with my main base. It was decidedly tedious work, but well worth it. I had also established a few more waypoints, both further along the coast and inland along the Sweetwater river. I was well on my way to have a full web of stations instead of just a chain.

Speaking of expansion, the rest of Lorassyon was actually disappointingly easy to explore. Four levels of large meandering stone hallways. Occasional fortified sections looked like family compounds or work stations. Everything had decayed too far to really tell though.

I did find signs of more recent activity. Still old, but not quite as ancient. Best guess was that this was the remnants of the Cult of Boash. It seems fitting a religious order centered around a blind god would flee underground.

In the deepest level I found a stockpile of spider spawners. One room held a few octopod skeleton spawners along with a reliquary. Given how many tools and tables were present it seemed reasonable to assume it was some kind of workshop.

And that was it. All that work and worry and in the end the spiders end up being the only problem. Some of it was more recent, but it seems the cult hadn't made any real progress understanding what was down here. I could have dug downwards at any point.

I waste no time taking over the labyrinth and restructuring it. I have no reason to keep it's confusing layout. I move all of my farms and harvester setups as well as greatly expand them. I'm just glad they were so tall, I need the space to make use of my golems. Farms, orchards and ranches soon fill the layers.

With nothing to fear nearby I don't see a need to hide anymore. I tear down the maze on the surface and cover the island in a massive castle. Hollow thirty foot walls filled with skeleton archers ringed the entire island multiple times. Moats of water and flaming magma filled the space between the walls.

The very center of the castle contained a fairly nice living area. Any craftsmen I hire from now on will live there. They are going to remain safe.

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I had more plans and ideas for my island, but the arrival of the dragon skulls halted them. When I swing by and see them I feel like cheering. There they are. Three gleaming black skulls. Perfect.

I abandoned my latest idea for attacking Braavos. Poisoning their water supply would be a poor way to respond to them giving in. Besides I can always use it later.

I don't slow down and jump out of my boat even as it smashes against the shore. It's just wood. I ignored the guards watching me and walked past them towards my shiny black treasure. I was so surprised I almost didn't react when one of them suddenly turned and stabbed me with his knife. I turned to face him. Really?

He was brave at least. He drew two more knives and kept attacking. I noticed I was poisoned. Eh, he'll be dead before it matters. In the meantime everyone else was running. At least they weren't idiots.

A quick flurry of attacks with weapons that flickered in and out of existence killed him easily. It took more hits than normal though. It was then I realized I wasn't just taking damage. I had a whole host of status effects on me right now. Pain, weak, slow, vulnerable, the list went on and on.

Whatever he had used was some nasty stuff. It was while I was studying him that I noticed an odd bronze dagger. Storing showed me it was enchanted. The enchantments were odd. One used to butcher meat neatly. One to preserve meat gathered. And another used to safely remove the wielder's own face.

A faceless man.

Interesting. I wonder who hired him. Probably should have captured him. Oh well, I'll try and capture the next one. I am now more determined than ever to safeguard my future craftsmen.

I laugh when I finally turn to collect my skulls. The town is completely silent and I can't see any lights on anywhere. In the alleys I can see people trying to sneak away from me. Looks like they're still scared of me. Good.

I leave quickly though. I have magic to play with!

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An arcane workbench is apparently the jackpot. It didn't have a lot of recipes, but the ones it did give me were amazing. Beacons, wardstones and more.

The beacons were just like the game. Mostly. They didn't seem to have any lingering effect. They did have a much larger area. Not a bad trade off overall. Wardstones were basically beacons. Instead of targeting creatures though, they affected any blocks that are marked with a redstone rune. The rune might be a problem if not for what else I got a recipe for.

I can now make redstone. The recipe calls for obscene amounts of energy and materials, but it was possible. It was a nice option so that I wasn't limited to my hag farm as my only source.

That paled in comparison to the fact that I could now create Valyrian steel. It was even harder to create than redstone both in energy and materials. It didn't come with any recipes, but the method of creating it could be applied to an iron item already formed. Very inefficient, but much better than making trips to Qohor.

Of course that might be so much more useful before I found one of the most broken loopholes involving my powers so far. While clearing out the maze beneath Lorassyon the most common enemy I ran into was skeleton archers.

Unlike the spiders the skeletons tended to be clustered in defensible positions and in groups. They didn't wander around or give chase either. What they did do was fire tipped arrows. They didn't run out either.

When I finally buried them in bodies and made it close they only had one difference from a normal skeleton archer. They each clutched a tipped arrow in their off hand. When they fired their bow they didn't use the arrow either. Instead the arrow that appeared was a copy of the one they carried.

As if I didn't have enough resource producing methods I found that this one was even better than the infinity enchantment. The arrows could be poisoned, tipped with potions or made from odd materials. They were always copied. Having them fire gold arrows with diamond heads just proved how broken my exploit truly was.

I hadn't had the chance before, but I do now. And of course arrows made with dragon bone shafts and Valyrian steel heads are copied perfectly. Ok. So resources are pretty much never going to be an issue.

Of course that wasn't the only alteration. A number of the recipes were for my Golem Crafting Station. I now had the option of a dragon body. It was faster and tougher than a centaur golem without being any larger. It couldn't wield tools at all though.

The option to craft a dragon head for the golem had similar issues. It was easier to make since any skull would work, but at the cost of intelligence. It would basically be an attack dog. It did give a generous bonus to the overall health, but didn't really seem too useful. I mean, they couldn't even fly.

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With everything looking up it was time to get me a dragon. In the game defeating the Ender dragon leaves a stone block called a dragon's egg. Here I'm betting it's a bit more than just stone.

Getting there isn't any problem at all. If anything I'm drowning in resources. I stock up on as much as possible. Hell I have everything I need to live there indefinitely if that's what it takes. There is no way I'm going to chance dying for real.

It was a strange feeling stepping out into what looks like outer space and not suffocating. The portal had let me out in a platform that just floated in the middle of nothing. Off to the side and extending above me I could see a mass of endstone.

I was glad to find most of the minions I sent through were here. I may have overestimated how much initial room there was. I quickly started extending the platform even as more minions started appearing and some were pushed off the sides.

Their death did tell me one thing though. I was most definitely not floating in space. When they fell off the sides they vanished into an inky darkness that rippled like water.

It wasn't water. Experiments showed that anything other than obsidian or endstone that touched the liquid was instantly and silently dissolved. Endstone seemed liable to sink, but obsidian was strangely buoyant, floating like cork.

Overall my entrance was a rousing success. I only lose a dozen or so units and I had a small army with me. Using the supplies I brought I set up a full fledged base for myself. Farms, a crafting room, even a skeleton and spider spawner.

I build a large spiral ramp leading up to the sheer edge of the island. I made sure to make the top from endstone so the dragon wouldn't destroy it. Then I marched onto the island.

I was accompanied by my special troops. Almost fifty skeletons after losses. Each one outfitted with iron armor with fire resistance. They were all mounted on summoned ice spiders and carried a variety of tipped arrows. I'm not sure if any will affect the dragon, but wanted every advantage I can get.

When I stepped onto the island I was confident. I had beaten the game before. I was prepared. I even had special minions. When I saw the dragon for the first time all I froze.

That wasn't an Ender dragon.

I start running back down even as a wave of fire blasts most of my troops off the island. That wasn't an Ender dragon! That was a Game of Thrones dragon! They're completely different!

I send out the surviving troops to attack the iron cages. At least that part of the plan is working. I sadly note less than half remained and watched them charge out. The dragon breathed on them, but thankfully something went right. The armor kept them alive through at least one breath.

I wince as endermen savage them. The skeletons didn't seem to know how to handle teleporting enemies. They had effectively stalled until I yelled at them to ignore them.

I note the flames leave behind a small cloud of dark red fumes where they touched the endstone. Ok, so there are some similarities. I both wince and cheer as explosions wipe most of my remaining minions. I really wish they were intelligent enough to give more complicated instructions.

Yeah. I'm satisfied for now. I yell at the minions to stay on the pillars and shoot at the dragon. Maybe they'll do some damage. And of course flaming arrows don't hurt it. On the other hand Arrows of Harming do.

Still it's not enough. The dragon I face dwarfs an Ender dragon. It's easily the size of a football field. The arrows, for all the damage they do, are only removing tiny slivers of it's health bar.

I retreat for now. I'm really glad I set up a base. Paranoia for the win!

I'm even happier with the spawners and start making more troops. My template had worked fairly well so I stuck with it. I didn't enchant it though. That would take forever. Still, at least I managed to give them all arrows of harming.

It was easy enough to make them and sent out batches of sixty-four to secure the area. I expected they would die in droves, but hopefully they'll hurt the dragon and maybe thin out the endermen.

I went up with the fifth wave. I didn't really expect to have won yet, but I was bored. The skeletons still can't fight the endermen and were being slaughtered. And any that were caught in the dragon's breath just melted. The fire protection was more important than I had realized.

It took longer, but I built a squad of obsidian golems this time. They were slow, but thankfully immune to fire. I was also glad to note they didn't have any problems fighting the endermen.

I kept watch as they stormed across the island. It was only around a square mile, which was still much larger than in the game. I really wonder what the dragon ate. Maybe the healing crystals kept it fed? It would explain it's size. It was enormous!

The dragon breathed on the golems a few times and eventually landed to attack them more directly. That was what I was waiting for. I raced forward and planted my arrow turret, filled to the brim with arrows of harming.

My hail of arrows tore into it even as I ignored the slight damage from it's breath. Well, those arrows that made it to him. A wall of fire is a pretty effective anti-arrow defense. The dragon had to pause to draw breath though, my turret didn't.

Individually each arrow was a pinprick, but hundreds of them with potions? It was like watching acid eat away at something. I made sure to shred it's wings so my golems could reach it. The island was now blessedly free of endermen.

I never saw the tail coming. After smashing into the ground I looked back, trying to figure out what happened. I noticed my armor was very damaged and my health was actually missing a chunk. I could see the remains of my turret, broken and already dissolving. Ah, and I could see the tail of the dragon heading right for me.

I threw myself to the ground. Damn it, they never did that in the game. I notice broken pieces of golems being launched off the island as well. I think about going back for another turret, but it's right there and already hurt.

I charge instead.

When the tail swings out at me I twist and brace myself. I crouch and brace the two spears I summon. I duck and roll and it swings over me. The tail slams into the spears, driving them deep. I summon another spear and brace. The tail flinches back and slams into my new spear.

The dragon shrieks and collapses with a blinding flash of light.

What just happened? Did I kill it by stabbing it's tail?

As I stare in disbelief I can see the throat still moving. A few seconds later a golem crawls out of it's mouth.

All of that and it chokes to death.