In the centuries following the alliance between the First Men and the Children of the Forest, Skinchangers were not considered heretics or monsters, but rather revered prophets and priests.
But after four thousand years, the blue-eyed, golden-haired Andals arrived. Armed with steel weapons, their chests adorned with the Seven-Pointed Star of their new god, and fortified by unwavering faith, they crossed the sea to conquer.
This brings up a point worth complaining about: *mmp*, four thousand years ago they were still a Bronze Age civilization! After living alongside the magical Children of the Forest for four millennia, their magical civilization remained stagnant while their technological progress was *shit*. Their civilization was stuck in a rut!
In four thousand years, they failed to transition from a mature Bronze Age to an Iron Age. What the hell?!
No wonder the Seven Kingdoms were so easily swept aside by the Andals (most surrendered, switched allegiances, or intermarried, rather than being annihilated). Only the North, protected by the formidable Neck, managed to preserve the remnants of the First Men's power.
The Neck can be thought of as Westeros's "Shu Road"—a narrow pass where one man could hold it against ten thousand. Unlike the Shu Road, there was no secret passage like Chencang for the enemy to sneak through (though the sea route remained an option).
How difficult is the Neck to pass?
During the War of the Five Kings, the Ironborn, despite their low morale, held off a Northman army of ten thousand with just sixty-three archers for a full three years!
When the Andals invaded, the North was not solely dominated by House Stark.
Besides the Starks, there were many powerful noble houses, such as House Bolton, who were fond of flaying people alive.
Don't be fooled by the eccentric tastes and cruel personalities of Littlefinger and Old Leech; their family's legacy was every bit as formidable as the Starks'.
At that time, several Stark lords had their skin flayed by the Boltons and made into cloaks.
*How fucking badass is that?!*
Getting back to the point, as the Starks gradually unified the North, they also began the process of "shedding their First Men heritage."
Although the Starks constantly boasted about being "First Men" and clung to the tradition of worshipping the Old Gods, they were no longer pure First Men.
The last recorded Skinchanger lord, the Lord of Sea Dragon Point, also known as the Wolf Spirit King, was a loyal ally of the Children of the Forest.
Yet the Starks killed him and his son, along with his beast pets and his Greenseer, leaving only his daughters as spoils of war.
Would the true First Men ever kill a Greenseer?
Do you remember the sacred pact signed between the Children of the Forest and the Isle of Faces?
Only the Wildlings beyond the Wall and the Crannogmen of the Neck are considered true First Men, and they still revere the Greenseers. The Starks merely have First Men blood.
Not only the Starks, but the Lannisters of Casterly Rock, the Highgarden branch of Garth the Gardener, and the Durrandons of the Stormlands (Baratheon only inherited Storm's End after Aegon's invasion)—all are descendants of the First Men, clinging to the Old Gods for millennia.
In those days, Skinchangers were not universally reviled monsters.
But after the Andals successfully invaded Westeros, the faith of the Seven Gods, which has no gods, gradually replaced the primal yet very real Old Gods.
It's rather ironic.
The godswoods of the great southern houses, once sacred groves of the Old Gods, have slowly become gardens for ladies and children to play in.
Skinchangers and Greenseers have been demonized, almost to the same degree as White Walkers, becoming creatures to be killed on sight.
Anywhere south of the Wall, if someone is found who can communicate with animals, the surrounding people will immediately kill them.
Thousands of years passed, and by the time of Eddard Stark's children, the wolf spirit had become a mere fairy tale.
Even if you loudly proclaimed yourself a wolf spirit, people would only laugh and mock you for daydreaming.
Thus, Jon, Arya, Bran, and even Robb, all once strongly resisted their wolf spirits. Instead of developing their talents, they wished they could seal them away.
Dany's "Mother of Dragons" gift was no less extraordinary than a Greenseer's. Greenseers appeared once in a million, and during the height of the Old Gods' faith, there was at least one or two per generation. Dany, however, might be the only "Mother of Dragons" in Valyria's five-thousand-year history.
In essence, a genetic mutation.
In the original story, Daenerys resisted her talents and instincts even more strongly than Jon.
She wanted to play with her dragons, but her companions and subjects feared them. She longed to hunt freely with her dragons, but was too busy with state affairs to do so. Fearing they might harm someone, she locked them away despite their young dragons' mournful cries. She wanted to ride a dragon and fly away, leaving everything behind, but then she remembered her duty to her people.
At that time, she had even lost the Dragon Dream, almost completely severing her connection with dragons—only her Black Dragon could still sense her safety.
That Daenerys was a kind queen and a failed Mother of Dragons. She had lost sight of what truly mattered, clinging to her identity as a queen while completely abandoning the title of "Mother of Dragons."
This was more than just a title; it was the fundamental meaning of her existence.
The Dany of today was different. Even without guidance, she had developed her innate abilities in her own way.
Her efforts paid off. During her Black Dragon's flights, Dany, through the soul connection of the Dragon Dream, gained access to his perspective.
Wolf spirits could not only perceive the five senses of animals but also temporarily inhabit their bodies in human form. This wasn't true control; rather, they transformed into wolves themselves, temporarily possessing the animal's body.
Dany was considered only a "Lesser Dragon Dreamer" because her connection with dragons paled in comparison to the wolf spirit's bond with its animal companions.
She could only receive sensory information from her Black Dragon. Far from being able to become a dragon, she couldn't even control their actions.
Beyond the Black Dragon, Dany couldn't control different species of animals like a Skinchanger could. Even with the White Dragon and Green Dragon, she couldn't establish a stable Dragon Dream.
It wasn't that the other two dragons were rejecting her.
It was more like having a limited number of skill slots. As her bond with the Black Dragon grew stronger, the other two dragons seemed to have fewer Dragon Dreams with her.
*Actually, wolf spirits also have "skill slot" limitations. Those with high talent can control multiple animals, while those with lesser talent can only control a single dog—the most docile and easiest to control. Varamyr, who could control six animals, earned the "honorary" title of Sixskins.*
Ser Jorah explained to Dany that each dragon had only one master, and each person could only bond with one dragon. Until the current master died, no one else could ride that dragon alone.
*Of course, outsiders could ride as passengers with the dragon's owner present.*
Similarly, a Targaryen who already had a dragon couldn't bond with another.
"Huh, what was that?" Dany suddenly jolted awake.
In a fleeting glimpse, she had seen something extraordinary.
The Black Dragon's vision was astonishing, seemingly allowing it to see dozens of kilometers away from an altitude of a thousand meters.
The image was blurry and lasted only a moment, but the Red Waste's uniform, dark crimson color was striking.
Previously, through the Black Dragon's perspective, Dany had only seen the blue sky, the red comet, and the red plains of varying clarity.
Suddenly, as the Black Dragon turned, Dany saw a patch of white abruptly appear on the otherwise crimson ground.
Could it be a city? Or a hill of uniquely colored rocks?
"Big Black, stop playing around! Find that white thing again—it looked like a city," she urged in her mind.
According to Dothraki tradition, animals shouldn't be given names. But Dany didn't consider her dragons mere animals; they were legendary beings, no less than humans.
So she had named them long ago.
*Uh, Big Black, Little White, Little Green...*
Well, those were nicknames she often used.
The Black Dragon *should* be called Deathwing; it would be a waste of his hellish, black-and-red scales.
But the name Deathwing is too hated. She doesn't want her little dragon baby to die young. When he's invincible, he can declare himself: "I am Deathwing, the destined destroyer of worlds, the end of all things, I am the Great Cataclysm!"
Hmm, that's pretty cool.
The other two are much more ordinary: Jade and White Jade.
The Green Dragon is as translucent as jade, his body like the finest jade, radiating vibrant vitality.
The White Dragon is primarily the warm, lustrous hue of white jade, but along his bone structure, he has streaks of platinum that shimmer like sunlight, exuding a sacred aura that inspires reverence.
If anyone asked, she'd tell them the Black Dragon's scales gleam like black gemstones, hence "Black Diamond."
Jade, White Jade, and Black Diamond—all beautiful, harmless, and beloved gems. Their names are completely non-threatening, perfectly masking the fact that they are the most brutal creatures in the world.
*Hiss—* The Black Dragon found the white patch Dany needed, a dazzlingly reflective expanse of pure white.
The Dragon Eye's pupils contracted as a white light on the dark red earth grew steadily larger.
"That's really a city!" Dany exclaimed joyfully.
It was located approximately 30 kilometers southwest of KaLS, beyond the exploration range of her water-gathering cavalry team.
"We almost missed it," she said, patting her chest in relief.
The Black Dragon was still a youngling. He didn't hold the altitude for long before flapping his wings and landing back in the basket behind Dany.
Dany immediately found Jorah and told him about it.
"This..." The knight's face showed astonishment, both at the appearance of a city and at the young dragon's ability to see so far, and at Dany's ability to share its vision.
"Your Highness, I've never heard of any cities in the Red Waste, nor do I know of any human settlements in this forsaken land," he said cautiously, stroking his chin.
Dany, however, recalled the dried riverbed they had encountered earlier. "Perhaps it's a civilization lost to the river of history. The distance is too great for the dragon to see clearly, but he knows it's a vast city—far too large to be a mere village. You and I both know the current Red Waste could never sustain such a large city."
"An abandoned city?" Jorah nodded thoughtfully. "Let's send scouts ahead to investigate. At least it will offer some shade."
Thirty kilometers was only an hour or two's ride. By noon, Aggo and two other warriors returned.
"Khaleesi, you were right. It's a stone city, entirely white. But there are no residents. The gates are broken, the houses have collapsed. Only wind, sand, and flies move through the streets. It's a dead city, nameless and forsaken by the gods. We should avoid it."
"Why?" Dany asked, puzzled. "No people means we can claim it freely. If there were residents, I'd worry about their attitude towards KaLS."
Jhiqui trembled. "When the gods abandon a place, demons hunt at night. Everyone knows such places are best avoided."
"Everyone knows," Irri agreed.
-----------------------
Completed English PDF of this fan-fic on my Patreon shop if you want to support and own the full fan-fic in one go. Just grab the PDF and binge the entire story from start to finish!
Guys, I've uploaded some High Quality english translated fanfic on my Patreon shop! Feel free to check it out-if you're interested, you can grab a copy and support me there.
Here are a few titles of recently uploaded fanfics:
New Addition:
" Game of Thrones: Reborn as Drogon, Mind-Read by the Dragon Queen "
" Game of Thrones: The True Dragon Descends "
" Game of Thrones The Glory of a Knight's "
" Game of Thrones: The Storm of the Stag "
" Game of Thrones: The Glory of the Seven Gods "
" Game of Thrones: The Strongest Dragon Mother "
Your support means a lot-thanks in advance, legends!
many more are available.
patreon.com/EminentWriter
(End of Chapter)