The siege of a castle could be considered one of the events that cost the most human lives in a medieval world. It could last months and even years. The castle was the pinnacle of medieval technology; it was practically impenetrable fortresses without any means to cross the moat or climb the walls.
However, because of this, siege weapons were born, enormous trebuchets capable of throwing stones against the castle. The accuracy was terrible, but the damage was equally strong.
Cadmus looked at the trebuchet being reloaded with a hundred-kilogram stone and looked at Riverrun Castle. They poured oil over the stone and then set it on fire. The next moment, the trebuchet fired with a piercing sound.
The stone, weighing hundreds of kilograms and burning, tore through the air and hit a part of the wall squarely. The scene was spectacular for someone modern like Cadmus.
Some might think that the Dark Ages were an uncultured period, but it was in the Middle Ages that humanity had a surge in civilization like no other era. Culturally, militarily, and technologically, everything made enormous advances in the Middle Ages. People were not as dirty as thought, or even as crazy as movies and series presented.
Each trebuchet shot took about fifteen minutes to be ready to fire again; it was terribly slow, but still much better than trying to cross the moat and the imposing castle walls.
"I have to say, it's fun to aim and shoot." Viserys, who was next to Cadmus, commented with a smile. Seeing the damage to the wall had never been so fun for him. "Rhaegar buying these trebuchets from Braavos was a good deal."
Cadmus looked at the trebuchet firing another flaming stone and nodded, agreeing with Viserys's words; it was indeed a good deal, although loading a trebuchet was slow and exhausting. Even in war, trebuchets were few.
"Are you sure you don't want help with the walls and the moat?" Cadmus asked with a helpless tone. He originally wanted to destroy Riverrun's wall and freeze the moat, but Viserys and Jon vehemently refused.
"Do you know the fear you are causing in people?" Viserys couldn't help but look at his brother-in-law with a touch of helplessness in his voice. "Let people regain some confidence and have the illusion that you are not invincible."
Cadmus rolled his eyes and said, "I'm not invincible; if any god sends an apostle, even I will have big problems."
He didn't lie; he wasn't Gojo, who had the Six Eyes, which virtually made him have infinite energy. Cadmus was never arrogant enough to say he had more energy than a god.
"Are you listening to your own words? You need an apostle to fight you! Westeros hasn't seen an Apostle in thousands of years!" Viserys said, rubbing his forehead, feeling that Cadmus's words were really annoying.
"Don't worry, when you have a dragon, you can resist me for some time." Cadmus placed his hand on Viserys's shoulder and said, comforting his friend.
Viserys's lips pursed tightly, he rolled his eyes and paid no more attention to his friend. He felt he really wanted to punch that face. However, thinking about the murderous look he would receive from Daenerys, if she knew he had hurt her husband's handsome face, he gave up the tempting idea.
Daenerys was really scary; even as a child, she was scary. Remembering that Daenerys filled his bed with horse manure, Viserys's face turned livid. He never forgot that he jumped into a bed full of horse shit.
"In short, the lords are already nervous by your side; try not to do anything to cause more fear." Viserys looked back at Cadmus and said with sincere concern. Westeros was not used to magic, much less magic of this magnitude.
The last time such destructive magic was conjured was when the Children of the Forest broke the Arm of Dorne with a rain of meteors that was recorded in history and was an event known even today.
Faced with such power, the lords, who considered themselves superior to all others, became deeply worried and afraid. Fear leads to instability, and it was something Viserys and Jon did not want at this moment of siege.
Cadmus also knew that he had scared these poor souls, but he was not to blame that the opponent was really strong; he was not a mere mage, but a Grand Master, and an especially cunning one with complicated magic.
If he hadn't used more force, he would have lost the battle; at the same time, he also acted in anger. Stregobor was planning to assassinate his wife; as a husband and a man, he couldn't remain completely calm in the face of such a thing.
"You are too cowardly, obviously I won't do anything, but you insist that I will turn into a man-eating monster." Cadmus couldn't help but grumble with a slightly helpless tone. He wanted to be an idol, but found out he was the serial killer.
Viserys rolled his eyes for the fourth time; he didn't even bother to say that having such a powerful mage by his side was extremely stressful. However, Cadmus was seeing from a modern person a certain character considered correct and moral.
He forgot that this world was more selfish than anything else. In the eyes of the Lords, if Cadmus is like them, it was only a matter of time before the continent was thrown into a war even worse than the War of the Five Kings.
If Cadmus knew the thoughts of these lords, he would certainly have said that their worldview was really very bad and pessimistic.
"How long do you think this wall will crumble?" Cadmus asked with a curious tone, changing the subject. In his view, Riverrun's wall was just a normal wall, far from being considered strong like Harrenhal and more robust like the walls of Storm's End and King's Landing.
"About two weeks." Viserys, despite being an expert in prostitutes and brothels, was raised to be a general and was an important person in times of war, so he knew how to battle. Although it was his first time in a castle siege.
"Of course, we can speed that up by throwing dead bodies inside the castle to spread a plague or poisoning their water." Viserys added with a smile. Perhaps another army commander wouldn't act with such cruelty, but it was Viserys and the enemy was House Tully.
So, Viserys had no intention of acting like a gentleman; he just wanted to exterminate House Tully from the face of this continent. As for the methods, aren't there legends that traitors always have a terrible death?
Viserys was just continuing that legend and making House Tully die painfully.
Cadmus looked at his brother-in-law speechless, although he had heard that such a thing was normal in castle sieges, but hearing it personally was still somewhat frightening. Just thinking about being in a castle with plague and poisoned water was something that caused shivers in someone, not to mention the enormous stress and the possible possibility of betrayals from everyone around.
It was a true hell.
"You said Edmure might kill his father to get the castle. When do you think that will happen?" Viserys asked Cadmus with a mischievous smile on his lips. He was really eager to see this scene unfold before him.
"Although I've never been inside a castle during a siege, I know it's an extremely stressful situation, capable of making any coward do true madness to survive." Cadmus didn't answer the question and spoke with a gentle tone.
Viserys understood the implication in Cadmus's words and smiled; both looked at each other and saw the malice in each other's eyes.
If Daenerys had been present, she would have said:
"Two villains."
•
Inside Riverrun.
The castle walls trembled with a flaming stone hitting the castle for the first time. Screams echoed throughout the castle; everyone was extremely on edge. The feeling of death was so close; it was simply agonizing for people who didn't have much resilience or mental determination.
And in the world, almost everyone didn't have such a strong mentality.
Of all those present, there was one person even worse than the castle servants; this was Edmure Tully, the heir to Riverrun and future Lord Paramount of the Trident.
At that moment, Edmure was biting his nails, while with each impact, his expression became darker. This feeling of fear was extremely detrimental to Edmure, who only wanted to be an idle lord without responsibility.
Was it too much to ask to spend his whole life with the woman he loves and with his beautiful sons and daughter? Edmure felt that the gods were truly cruel to him. They didn't give him beauty, they didn't give him courage or even talent to wield a sword or spear.
Remembering his sons and daughter, as well as his beautiful wife, who went to Casterly Rock, Edmure's indecisive expression became surprisingly determined. "Father, it's for the continuation of our house, you understand, right?"
As for whether he made the decision out of fear or to reunite with his family, it was hard to tell.
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