After Bachelor Greg left, Titus called Duncan Vick to discuss with him the matter of Pikemen Corps's further expansion.
It is not difficult to select personnel. The former Starpike auxiliary soldiers who have followed them through several battles are already qualified to be promoted to official combat soldiers, become part of the new corps, and start to receive a fixed monthly salary.
The number of new regiments has also been doubled, tentatively set at 2,000.
Two of the old wings still need to be stationed at Starpike; the two newly established wings will be dispatched to Whitegrove and Dunstonbury respectively.
The candidates for the new captain are also selected from Gino and Parker. All centurions are candidates, and they are recommended by Sir Duncan and recognized by Titus.
The results came out quickly.
One is First Centurion Finley under Gino. He will lead the 500 people of the new alliance to Whitegrove to cooperate with Dirk Novis there.
There is another one, Bowen, the former deputy captain of the Earl Guards. Titus believes that Bowen has a lower bottom line and a more "flexible" way of doing things. He is very suitable to partner with the Hunter brothers of Dunstonbury.
Yes, after the dust of the Horn Hill in the west fell to the ground, Hale Hunter, who had been taken by his side, was also released by Titus and asked to go downstream of the Mander River to assist his cousin in reorganizing the old Dustin, and to look forward to the upstream Highgarden for their Earl.
The position of Dunstonbury is quite important. If the two brothers do well there, they can completely suppress the Golden Rose.
Sir Hale, like his brother, was shocked when he learned about this unexpected assignment. However, he was more accepting of the "Horn Hill City Lord" job than Tong Dui.
Going to Dunstonbury, although the result was different from what their brothers expected, Starpike Earl did not break his promise. He said he would give Hunter the "Lord of a City" treatment, and gave Dustin the position of City Lord.
What else can I say, just do your best first.
As for the members of the Horn Hill Chasing Regiment originally controlled by the Hunter brothers, Titus plans to keep five hundred elite Hunter who will be of great use later, and the other five hundred will go back to Horn Hill to help Laurence Roxton suppress possible "banditry" in the local area.
In this way, the four corners of the "parallelogram" are guarded by sufficient troops.
In the Roxton territory to the south of Highgarden, Titus doesn't want to make any big moves yet - the Rose family is already pitiful enough, so don't provoke them yet.
After making preliminary plans for the new city and the garrison troops in various places, Titus also thought about the future economic development plan, and became quite determined.
The integration and development of internal forces takes time, and before that, he must pay close attention to the situation on Dragonstone's side and start preparing for a war in the direction of Dorne.
After reviewing the previous exchange with Bachelor Cressen of Storm's End, Titus took the pen and paper, ready to listen to various opinions, and then discuss it with the Bachelor of Tarth ------
A few more days passed.
Titus had just finished chatting with the knight of Rivendale City who he had left behind on purpose that day, and learned the good news that Captain Wenda had returned to the city from Horn Hill.
And it was a double blessing.
The compensation - or gift, given to Red Keep, the Minister of Intelligence who "reappeared" and Titus Earl's new friend - Mr. Varys, has finally been delivered.
The lighting in East Study is still so good, and the mottled light in front of the Oak desk is full of a lazy atmosphere.
In the air, there is the fragrance of some ink from old books and a hint of foreign agarwood.
The aroma behind it is emanating from the exquisite ebony box on the table. The box is surrounded by carvings with Essos-style tangled branch patterns, and the copper buckles are shiny.
The box is exactly Pentos from Essos.
The lid of the box has been opened, and the interior is covered with dark red velvet. A huge egg-shaped object is quietly placed there, grabbing all the attention in the study room.
It is about the size of a volleyball, but has an oval shape, with a full outline and smooth lines. At first glance, it looks like a natural obsidian boulder and a work of art with a deep color.
But if you look closely, you will find that there are many dark red lines on its black base, as if sleeping volcanic magma is slowly flowing under the translucent stone skin.
As the angle of the light changes, it sometimes condenses into a vortex, and sometimes stretches out into waves, giving it a lively charm.
Captain Wenda, who returned to Earl, was standing by her side. One-eyed had long been firmly attracted by the legendary treasure on the table. When she first saw it, she actually mistakenly thought that the shell of this "Easter Egg" was made of countless tiny bright gems.
The rich texture and gradient colors are more eye-catching than the most sophisticated enamelware.
"You come and take a look too?"
Titus is sitting on the large and soft seat, full of interest.
He leaned forward and picked up the treasure in the box, holding it effortlessly with one hand - Earl adults love to hold the ball with one hand.
This black-red giant egg may not seem big, but its weight is far greater than that of an ordinary stone. Those with small hands will need both hands to hold it safely.
Titus raised his wrist and passed the ball to the beautiful captain with blonde hair in white.
White Eagle's "grabbing hand" is good. He took Dragon Egg in a calm and unhurried manner, picked it up and looked at it carefully.
This was the first time she had seen such a treasure in an ancient book.
Wenda thinks it looks like it is made of fine ceramics or enamel, but it is much heavier than them.
Wenda Toss it lightly and weigh it. The solid falling feel is clearly like a solid stone.
After purchasing Dragon Egg, the surface is not smooth, but covered with fine scaly textures, which is not irritating to the hand. It seems to be jade that has been polished for countless years, with a hard yet warm texture.
It feels good in hand!
"Is this----a fossil?"
She played with Dragon Egg, rubbing the texture of the scales with her fingertips. The transparent light passed through the gaps between her fingers and reflected on the surface of Dragon Egg, as if it was "polished" on the spot, shining with a moving reflective luster.
"Did the long years turn it into a stone egg?"
The captain murmured to himself and couldn't help but turn the stone egg, wanting to see the light and shadow from the outside world flowing around among the lines of the scales, his eyes a little obsessed.
Titus stood up and walked to the table, lightly touched the surface of Dragon Egg with his fingertips, feeling the warm and delicate touch, and gently squeezed the female guard's hand.
"The outer shell is the mineralized crystal of calcite, and the texture inside is the pores of the original eggshell and the fibrous structure of the eggshell membrane. Countless years of petrification have made it harder than steel."
Captain Wenda couldn't understand this, and she was used to Master Earl's occasional bad jokes.
Gently placing Dragon Egg back on the velvet, the female guard's gaze still remained, she smiled sweetly and joked, "Black with red, like obsidian burning from the inside. Sir, are you going to put it on the table and use it as an ornament?"
Titus smiled and said nothing more.
He also noticed that the egg looked black, like a midnight ocean, but was actually dark red, showing vibrant dark red waves and swirling patterns.
If your guess is correct, the Dragon Egg Illyrio Governor Mopatis sent should be one of the three Dragon Eggs he claimed "came from the Shadow Lands east of Asshai".
There have always been two theories about the origin of the magic dragon:
Valyria Shepherd's Blood Magic and Asshai Witchcraft from the Far East.
The two are not necessarily the same thing----
As for the three eggs of Governor Pentos, Titus is more willing to believe that their true origin is the work of a prodigal son of a large Braavos family who was once the "Sea King".
The close friend of the "Western Queen" Rhaena·Targaryen - or the lesbian girlfriend, Miss Alisa Farman of Fair Isle, in order to realize her dream of being a navigator, she once stole the Dragon Egg of the dragon "Dreamfyre".
No more, no less, three too.
Alisa Farman seemed to have used them to make a deal with Sealord of Braavos at the time, exchanging a large amount of gold and a four-masted ocean-going ship "Sun Chaser".
Then, this woman changed her name to "Yali Xishan", recruited a large number of people and fleets in Oldtown, and embarked on the "global" trip of the Sunset Sea.
Brother Bass, who had researched the dragon pole, had just become Hand of the King at that time. When he took office, he had to leave King's Landing and take a boat to Braavos to negotiate with Neptune and Iron Bank.
The purpose is to get back the three Dragon Egg stolen by Alyssa Farman - people say that Alyssa sold these Dragon Egg to Neptune.
But when Buzz Hand of the King questioned Neptune, Neptune unsurprisingly chose to deny it.
Bass returned empty-handed.
Some people insist that Neptune fooled and deceived the honest Brother Bath, thinking that the new Hand of the King was a disgrace to his mission.
However, Bass reached another agreement with Neptune. Iron Bank of Braavos canceled all the principal of the debt owed by Iron Throne, and the total debt of the royal family was immediately halved.
"Ali Xishan" took the "Sun Chaser" exchanged for Dragon Egg and traveled westward, entering the depths of the ocean for her adventure.
Her whereabouts and fate have not been recorded in history, and no one else knows.
Until the "Nine Great Voyages" of "Sea Snake" Corlys·Velaryon, on the second voyage, he arrived at Asshai in the far east, and discovered an old, dilapidated and weather-beaten ship there.
Because its appearance is similar to that of Elisa Farman's car, "Sea Snake" firmly believes that it is the lost "Sun Chaser".
It travels from Westeros in the west to the Sunset Sea, all the way to the east of the world----
While recalling the magical experience of Westeros female Magellan, she put Dragon Egg back into the small ebony box, closed the lid, and the copper buckle clicked.
Wenda couldn't hide his inquisitive expression and asked out of curiosity, "I heard that besides Dragon Egg, that bald Master of Whisperers also sent something else?"
At that time, Master Titus was blackmailing -- no, when he was making friends with Varys, she was also there.
Titus nodded yes.
What the other party did this time was quite bright.
As a bonus for Dragon Egg, they also sent the corrugated steel machete that Varys had mentioned.
Titus picked up a long bronze box from behind the table, placed it upright next to the ebony box containing Dragon Egg, and opened the lid with a little force with one hand.
A cold black light seemed to burst out from the box, which was more fascinating than the obsidian light of Dragon Egg.
It was an oversized arakh scimitar.
The crescent-shaped blade has a smooth arc. Even the scimitar is more than three feet long. The dark and dull blade has fine ripples on it, which is the unique forging method of Valyrian steel.
Its handle is polished from the tip of a black angular keel. It is hard and naturally curved, and the grip fits the palm of your hand.
One side of the handle is carved with a twisted and twisted ancient text.
The strokes are strange and difficult to understand. They are neither like Valyria nor Essos, the third of the "Four Ancient Civilizations".
Rhoynar or the writing of the Salor Khanate--it may not necessarily be the ancient writing of Yidi, right?
"Qiangji Bowen" such as Titus is also completely incomprehensible.
Let's just call it "Listening to the Spring Rain in a Small House All Night" - or else it's "The Moon in the Well".
He was also not sure whether this was really the scimitar of "Shadow" or the saber of the roaring warrior under "Prince Shiyi".
Or maybe the two knives are actually the same one?
Windblown's "Prince in Clothing":