Please Follow: 41 Ghosts of White Wall City (Part 2)

"That traveling merchant caravan brought news. They said they had previously encountered survivors from a caravan out of Riverbend—a trading town on the banks of the Blue Fork—that had been looted by bandits, so they wished to hire a Mercenary Company from us to escort them to King's Landing.

"My adoptive father's first reaction was whether our men had done it. Ser, you may not know this, but there hasn't been any bandit trouble around the northeastern shore of Gods Eye Lake for a very long time." As long as caravans passing through pay us protection money, his adopted son Dorian silently added.

"So when my adoptive father heard the news, his first thought was whether one of the Mercenary Companies under our command had failed to keep their hands in check. He hired a twelve-man Mercenary Company to that caravan while ordering a thorough investigation into the matter." Dorian continued,

"We received word again two days later. Before our internal investigation had yielded any results, we learned that the caravan had been looted, and our mercenary squad had been almost completely wiped out. There had been twelve men: four cavalrymen, six swordsmen, and two longbowmen. In the end, only one cavalryman escaped alive."

"What happened?" Ian asked curiously. Mercenaries being wiped out was hardly normal. They would not fight to the death; once they sensed things were going wrong, they would inevitably turn and run. Yet they had still been annihilated under those circumstances. That could only mean their opponents had either ambushed them or possessed considerable cavalry strength.

"He said they were attacked by a mounted band, around twenty or thirty men, all cavalry. They closed in from every direction. Since they were caught by surprise, they had no time to use the wagons to set up a defensive line. They were scattered in a single charge. He himself escaped only by secretly mounting a horse amid the chaos."

"The enemy didn't pursue him?" Ian asked strangely.

"I asked him the same question. He said someone did chase after him at the time."

"And they failed to catch him?"

"Yes. He was so terrified that he rode at full speed. The pursuers gave up after chasing him for a while. He never stopped either, until he ran his horse to death from exhaustion. Then he traveled on foot for some distance before making it back to the mercenary camp."

Ian pondered for a moment before asking, "Where were they attacked?"

"On the Kingsroad near the ruins of White Wall City. Most of the attacks that happened afterward also took place there, which is why we guessed White Wall City was the bandits' lair."

"I think it's the exact opposite." Ian shook his head. "I think their camp should be quite far from the ruins of White Wall City."

"Why?" Dorian found that hard to believe.

"If their camp were near White Wall City, why would they give up the pursuit? Obviously, if they let a witness escape, the first place you would search would be around the site of the attack. If their camp were truly there, wouldn't it be more reasonable for them to keep chasing that fleeing cavalryman?

"But if we look at it the other way around, and their camp was far away, then letting one witness go would not be such a big deal. Besides, as a bandit gang, they would not prepare large numbers of spare horses the way a regular army would. If they were far from their camp, they might have chosen to abandon the pursuit of an enemy fleeing for his life in order to conserve their horses' strength." Ian gave his conclusion.

"We truly hadn't considered that, because the area near White Wall City is the only place between the eastern shore of Gods Eye Lake and the Crownlands with dense mountains and forests. Farther east lies a vast plain, where they would have nowhere to hide. Only here offers them a place to shelter." Dorian explained.

"That's another contradiction." Contradictions were a good thing. A case needed puzzling details in order to be solved; featureless matters were the ones that left people with nowhere to begin. "Go on. Continue your story."

"Yes, Ser." Dorian paused for two minutes, recalling the events. "After that cavalryman brought back the news, my adoptive father immediately recalled all the Mercenary Companies.

"You know, Westeros hasn't had a war for many years. Mercenaries here cannot be hired by the company as a whole like they can in Essos, so our mercenary corps has always operated as scattered, small Mercenary Companies.

"Once all the Mercenary Captains who could return had returned, we held a meeting in Ser Harrison's castle. Yet after discussing it together for a long time, no one could offer a single valuable clue. It was as though this bandit gang had appeared out of thin air."

If this were the second month after launch rather than the second day, I'd have to suspect this was the players' doing, Ian thought to himself.

"You have no idea what a terrifying piece of news that result was for us, who claim dominion over both northeastern shores of Gods Eye Lake."

"What do you mean, dominion over both northeastern shores of Gods Eye Lake? You're just a small mercenary corps. Are you saying you don't even regard the great lords?" Ian could not help laughing as he interrupted Dorian.

"Oh, great lords? Then tell me, which great lord is there in this land?" Dorian did not get angry. Instead, he smiled and asked.

"The great lords here..." Ian suddenly faltered. He realized that he genuinely could not name the great lord of this region for the moment. It was not that he had forgotten or did not understand the situation around here.

On the contrary, he understood it too well.

Because all three great lords of this region had fallen.

First was the Butterwell family of White Wall City, mentioned earlier. This family had once been extremely powerful and wealthy, as could be seen from their dreamlike castle. Unfortunately, they had sided with Blackfyre twice during the Blackfyre Rebellion and were ultimately exterminated by Brynden "Blood Raven." Their seat, White Wall City, was not only destroyed, but its ruins were also sown with salt.

The second was House Rowan of Harrenhal. Ian had already completely recalled their history of decline when he bought hunting clothes in Harrenhal. In short, they had been ruined after siding with the Targaryen family during the War of the Usurper.

The third was House Darry of Castle Darry. This had also once been an exceedingly powerful family. Their lineage could be traced back to the age when the Andal defeated the First Men and occupied Westeros, giving them a history of more than six thousand years.

They were the Targaryen family's most steadfast royalists. During the Blackfyre Rebellion, they chose to support the Targaryen side on the Iron Throne. Thus, after the Butterwell family was destroyed, they received nearly half the lands along the eastern shore of Gods Eye Lake, rising in one leap to become one of the foremost great families in The Riverlands.

During the subsequent War of the Usurper, they once again stood beside the Targaryen family, even defying their overlords, House Tully, for that cause.

P.S. Please follow along. Brothers who are letting chapters pile up, please drag the progress bar to the end and then click the next chapter. Thanks.