Scrrrr!
"Wh-What happened back there? How did Lord Kaiser do it?"
"A whole bridge felled, all alone... Gods are with him."
Scrrrr!
Chett annoyedly stopped sharpening his sword against the rotating grindstone. Being the tallest man amongst the garrison, well, second tallest after Small Paul, he eyed the chattering men with a position of power. He outranked them as Lord Kaiser's page.
"Our lord's no common man, that's certain, sure. I've faith in him, I do. He'll make these lands bloom yet. The signs are plain to see already. I've read those books that Lord Kaiser gave me. Not just courtesy and swordplay, no. There was plenty in there about trade too. Ramsgate's got twenty ships already. All that's wanting is to put 'em to proper use."
"But how did Lord Kaiser bring down the bridge?" asked Jonos.
Chett shook his head. "Does it matter? We're sworn swords, ours is to guard Ramsgate and Lord Kaiser true. Idle tongues and tavern talk'll get us nowt but trouble. Stir yourself now. His lordship ordered the blacksmith to craft us special tools for training. Heavy tools, mind you. Call twenty men together."
Jonos looked at his friend Kyle and got to work.
They had no idea what these tools were. But they were excited because, Gods be good, Lord Kaiser had one majestic body.
####
Ramsgate Port, guesthouse,
Early morning, Wylis helped Chett and the men set up the gym in the guardhouse. It was designed by him with all the weight-lifting machines possible. From power racks to bench presses, bicep curls, chest press, shoulder presses, lat pull-downs, and many more, including some CrossFit equipment.
He planned on training them and himself every morning, then picking the best talents and making them the gym instructors for all the other men. Of course, he'd train twice a day; the second time would be for him and his women only. He had every intention to keep Lyanna, Rhaella, Ashara, and the rest fit.
But right now, he had arrived at the port and entered the lavish guesthouse. It was more of an upscale inn with a bit of extra facilities. It was reserved to entertain important guests.
Soon enough, he was guided to a housing unit that had living space and a bedchamber. It was the norm in his upscale inn. Qyburn opened the door for him, greeting him with a deep bow.
"Stay here," Wylis ordered Chett and two other men to guard the door as he walked inside. "Qyburn. You're early."
"I didn't sleep, my lord."
That excited?
Wylis followed the disgraced Maester into the well-lit sitting area. There, he saw a few medical apparatuses on the table, and a testing kit for penicillin. Right beside the table was a short and stocky man, looking more like a fantasy dwarf than a human.
He had a thick neck, strong jaw, and enormous hands. The man was well-built, but with an ale-belly. White hair came out of his nose and ears, naturally bushy brows. Even the attire was interesting, ragged, nothing like a maester.
That's one interesting maester.
For a few long moments, Wylis and the old Maester stared into each other's eyes, as if measuring each other. But then the Maester grinned, revealing his red-stained teeth.
"Lord Kaiser! A delight, a rare delight. Qyburn's letter came, and I meant to toss it aside, truly I did. Yet once I began chasing stories about you, well, my feet carried me here before my mind could protest. Your fame has crawled across the Narrow Sea, from King's Landing all the way to Braavos. Have you heard what the magisters in Pentos call you? The Ice Giant, no less."
Wylis laughed, more amused than impressed. "Well, that's new. Qyburn, write it down. The Gods curse me with more titles than sense to recall them."
"Proof of your rising legacy, I'd say," said the Maester, giving a simple bow. "Archmaester Marwyn, aye, the one they whisper about. At your service, my lord. How might this old sinner of a scholar aid you?"
"Let us sit," Wylis said, dragging a chair to the table. It groaned under him. "I hear you have roamed far and speak more tongues than most. Were I not bound here, I would have chased the same winds. But for now, I must borrow your travels to feed my curiosity."
"Ah, borrow on demand, my lord, on demand. It is the curious coins that lords and ladies press into my palm, just to glimpse the mysteries I carry, that let me wander so very far and wide."
Wylis nodded and took out a stack of folded papers from his fur coat. "Since you have spent so many years in the East, I reckon you've been to Yi Ti?"
Seeing Marwyn nod, Wylis continued.
"My questions aren't specific to Yi Ti, however. Look at this paper." Wylis presented the first paper. It had an artwork that he'd personally drawn. "On your journeys, did you ever come across farmlands that were submerged in water willingly? Fields that yielded long grains, which become white when properly worked?"
Wylis waited as the Archmaester seemed to think deeply, rubbing and playing with his beard. He noticed Qyburn's curious expressions. The man had no interest in being there, as it didn't relate to medicine. Yet, the Maester wanted to hear it as Wylis was speaking.
A cult of men with brains? I wouldn't mind having that.
"Curious, very curious. How do you know of such things, eh? I have seen these long grains growing in Yi Ti and again in Leng. The people of Yi Ti eat them rough, still wearing their brown coats, simple as that. The Lengii, proud people, won't touch it until the coat is gone and only the white remains, though it takes more labor. I, myself, prefer the white."
Fuck! Rice exists?!
Wylis was excited. No, he was elated.
Chasing rice wasn't a personal project for Wylis. No, it was a financial choice. What was rice? It was no less than a super crop. First of all, it was grown in flooded fields, which makes pest and weed problems negligible. It could be harvested multiple times in a year. It was easy to store. And it was also a high-yielding crop. The best part, it was also calorie-dense.
Ting!
Huh?
[New Side Quest - Welcome To The Rice Fields!
Description - It is time Westeros earns its food revolution.
Goal - Bring rice to Westeros and harvest it at least once.
Reward - Agriculture Mastery & Agriculture Tools Blueprint Package.]
That's… an enticing reward.
Agriculture Mastery alone was an ability worth three years of his life. However, the blueprints were even harder to get, as they were individual things he needed to buy. But here it was a package. And it made sense, sending an expedition to Yi Ti was not going to be cheap or easy.
"Wonderful," Wylis said, setting down the second paper. It showed a round, lopsided ball of mud and roots. "And this ugly thing here? You may have seen it in Essos. Boil it, toss it in a stew, or mash it down to a paste. It grows beneath the earth like any stubborn root. Sometimes it looks like this, sometimes darker, a deep, dirty red."
It was a potato. Wylis prayed to the Gods for this one. It would elevate the entire North and end the constant cycle of worrying about starvation and survival for most Northern houses. Moreover, he believed that the thing holding the Westeros population back was the ability to feed more people. If food became abundant, people would naturally raise more kids.
Marwyn the Mage hummed. "What does it taste like, my lord?"
Wylis didn't care if they doubted how he knew it. "Mild, earthy, and starchy. It becomes creamy or fluffy when cooked. Could be sweet or rich and buttery, depending on how it's cooked."
"Ah, yes… I do recall it well. I tasted something much the same in Marahai, a little island out in the middle of the Jade Sea, just off the southern shore of Essos. Fine folk there, though they live cheek by jowl with two wee volcanoes that spit smoke and fire day and night. They put it in every blessed food they cooked, so everything ended up tasting near enough identical. Mind you, they never ate it by itself."
Wylis wasn't excited this time. There wasn't enough clarity whether it was really a potato.
Ting!
It is? Is it really potatoes?
[New Side Quest - One potato, two potatoes, three potatoes, four!
Description - A Tyrant feeds his growing population well. Well-fed hands strike the hardest.
Goal - Bring potatoes to Westeros and harvest them at least once.
Reward - Plant Breeding Mastery]
Plant breeding? That's…
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