RoWE - Chapter 18

Chapter 18: Caina

"Fear," Aeg concluded. "The largest fortifications and standing armies are inevitably used against the most terrifying enemies. It is fear that drove the First Men thousands of years ago to build such high walls and to form and maintain an army of over ten thousand, who neither produce nor are subject to deployment. There is no other rational explanation."

"Well, you make a good point," Tyrion admitted candidly. "But please forgive me for a small insistence. I won't believe in any mythical monsters until I see them with my own eyes."

"Not believing is your right," Aeg shrugged, as convincing the other party of the existence of White Walkers wasn't his goal: "In fact, before I personally fought a White Walker and watched it shatter my steel sword like glass with its ice blade, I didn't quite believe it either."

"Just a moment ago, I thought you were the Night's Watch's accountant. How did you suddenly end up fighting White Walkers?" The dwarf looked curious: "Are you an administrator or a ranger?"

"A ranger, sigh." Aeg looked at Jon: "Kid, do you want to know why your uncle doesn't support you joining the Night's Watch? Come with me to see the steel swords broken by White Walkers. You'll soon understand that your proud swordsmanship and skills are no match for such an enemy."

The bastard followed Aeg without hesitation, and Tyrion hesitated for a moment before also quickening his short legs to catch up. This relieved the time traveler: nominally, he was going to show Jon something, but in reality, he wanted to find an excuse to get closer to Tyrion and lead into the topics he hoped to discuss.

The Lannister and the bastard followed Aeg through several turns and arrived at the room arranged for him by Benjen Stark. The Night's Watchman took out the evidence he had brought from the Wall to Winterfell to show Eddard Stark and request aid, placing it on a small wooden table for the two guests to see.

"Waymar Royce's sword was even more shattered, but it was kept by Lord Benjen to be given to your father, to be passed on to the family of the deceased, the Lord of the Eyrie." Aeg explained as he arranged the broken swords, "The two before you are mine and my comrade Gared's."

Tyrion raised an eyebrow: "The version I heard was that Waymar Royce went missing on patrol and has been confirmed dead?"

"I watched him fight a White Walker and get killed with my own eyes," Aeg lied. He had actually only heard about it, but since Waymar Royce was indeed dead, and the two before him had no way to expose him: "Another ranger and I would have died too, but dragonglass daggers saved our lives. That black thing, not to brag, was made by my own hands. If you're interested, you can put these two swords together and see the steel cracked by ice magic, not everyone gets the chance to see that."

Jon, with the curiosity of a young boy, couldn't resist starting to put them together after hearing Aeg's words, while Tyrion wasn't interested in weapons. especially broken ones. He walked around the room with his hands behind his back, found no wine jug or cups, and had to return to Aeg's side, looking up at him.

"You're called Aeg, Aeg what?"

Aeg was delighted. Just as he was worried about not having the opportunity to continue his performance, the dwarf gave him an opening.

"I'm not called Aeg. Aeg is just a name given to me by some Westerosi farmers." Aeg made a wry expression, "I also don't have a surname in the usual sense. Where I come from, the way people are named and addressed is somewhat different from yours."

"I knew there was something different about your appearance. So you're not from Westeros. Where do you come from, Essos or the Summer Isles? Surely not Sothoryos?"

"None of those. I come from what you call. a continent named Caina beyond the Sunset Sea. Caina means the central land, because my people have believed for thousands of years that where we are is the center of the world, surrounded by endless seas with no other land except for islands."

"Caina?" Tyrion had only followed out of boredom and curiosity, making small talk to ask about the Night's Watchman's origins. He didn't expect such an unexpected answer and became interested: "I've never heard of this place. How did you end up in Westeros as a Night's Watchman?"

"It's a long story," Aeg didn't expect everything to go so smoothly, successfully catching the other's attention with just a few words. But next, he had to figure out how to capitalize on his success: "After a series of astronomical observations, calculations, and conjectures, our scholars came to a conclusion: the world is a sphere. If ships are sent out to sea in one direction, they will return to their starting point after circling the world. The ruler of Caina decided to send a fleet on an ultra-long voyage to test this theory. We built several sturdy ocean-going ships with iron and set sail in all four directions."

"Build ships with iron? How is that possible?"

"Does an iron bowl sink when you put it in water? The same goes for iron ships. What determines whether a ship sinks or floats is its displacement, not the material. Caina's technology is much more advanced than Westeros'. If there's a chance, I can explain in detail."

"Iron bowls. displacement." Tyrion was a smart man. He quickly understood the principle but soon had a new question: "But how do you make an iron bowl big enough to carry people? If it leaks in one place, it will sink faster than a stone."

"We use a process called 'welding' to melt the joints between steel plates and fuse them together. As for the specific details, I'm not an expert and really can't explain in detail."

"Sounds impressive, continue your story." The dwarf pondered the scene of steel plates being joined together to form a ship, feeling for the first time that his imagination was lacking, and stopped talking, signaling Aeg to continue.

"As a somewhat famous adventurer, there was no way I could pass up such an interesting expedition. After sponsoring the project with a large sum of money, I secured a berth and set sail from Caina with the eastward-bound fleet. After months of sailing, we arrived in Westeros."

"I haven't heard of any foreigners landing from the Sunset Sea. What happened to your ship?"

"It sank. We discovered land and were looking for a place to land when we encountered a storm. Our iron ocean-going ships were designed to withstand storms, but a huge wave threw the ship onto a reef. Just as you suspected, iron ships, although sturdy, sink faster than anything once they're in trouble. I was lucky enough not to be dragged underwater because I was on deck admiring the huge waves. After drifting at sea for a few days on floating debris, I made it ashore."

"And then?" Tyrion urged, "Have the Northerners gone mad enough to grab anyone they see and send them to the Wall?"

"I drifted at sea for days, starving. The first thing I did after landing was to look for food. Unfortunately, I finally found a place with people, but due to the language barrier, I couldn't communicate. The villagers didn't understand me and refused to help. A living person can't be stifled by their own urine, so I decided to take what I needed." Aeg sighed: "Obviously, I'm not good at that. I was caught before I could fill my stomach. The people who judged me gave me a choice between having a hand cut off and donning the black cloak, so I became a Night's Watchman."

Tyrion's eyes widened: "As possibly the first Cainian to reach Westeros, you were just conscripted by the Night's Watch?"

"You could say that."

"This is the most far-fetched story I've heard this year." The dwarf's expression was strange. "If I had to choose, I'd rather believe that White Walkers actually exist."