"Golden Company", under the leadership of "Bittersteel", attaches great importance to honor and commitment.
Although the employment price is extremely high, there is never any breach of contract.
At that time, the governor of Qohor relied on Unsullied to try to break the contract and default on the debt, but in the end he was unable to withstand the debt collection army of Golden Company.
"Words are like gold!"
This is their motto.
This mercenary group with 10,000 soldiers is currently the largest and most powerful existence in Essos.
There were thousands of heavily armored knights with one person and three horses alone, plus their attendants.
There is also a special unit that rides elephants, which is more powerful than the heavy cavalry group.
Not only Viserys hiding in Braavos is plotting against them, Titus has also been secretly coveting the ownership of this force.
This is an all-professional army with top-notch military literacy, rich war experience, and familiarity with Westeros tactics.
If you can use it for your own use, it will be a great help.
When Aegor River was in exile for Essos, he witnessed many exiled knights supporting House Blackfyre - even the lords were confused.
Due to poverty, they signed up to join other mercenary groups one after another.
Fearing that the power of the Blackfyre faction would wither away day by day, Igor decided to form a mercenary group belonging to Blackfyre. This was the original origin of Golden Company.
It is precisely for this reason that many of the members of Golden Company are exiled nobles and their descendants who failed in the Westeros battle - even the "red-haired" Jon Clinton, who had his left hand cut off by Titus and was later expelled by Mad King, also ran away to Golden Company.
Among them, of course, the distant relatives of the Peake family are also indispensable.
As for Varys and Illyrio, these two guys are more cunning than the other.
One claims to Westeros that someone is Targaryen orthodox; the other deceives Golden Company and explains that someone's true identity is actually a descendant of Blackfyre.
Two people bet at both ends and cheat at both ends.
The truth or not is not important. The core purpose is to win over Golden Company, who is the direct descendant of Blackfyre, for their use.
If anyone has the most motivation to interrupt his plan for Golden Company, it is this pair.
But then he thought about it, the time for the sixth "Blackfyre Rebellion" was not yet ripe, how could Golden Company be influenced by outsiders and fall into internal strife first?
Titus has given rise to new speculation: the cause of Ricewell's death may have been the work of someone inside Golden Company.
Previously, with his secret funding, Essos's three distant relatives had taken control of Golden Company's cavalry unit and were preparing to continue infiltrating toward the elephant soldiers. Unexpectedly, one of the three relatives died in a "scrabble" manner.
Is this an accident or some kind of warning?
Could it be that it was the leader of Golden Company, "Black Harren" Mistoin, who actually took action?
Titus frowned when he thought of this fellow member of the same clan who was once the president of "Kingswood Brotherhood".
There are a lot of "government affairs" on his side, and many matters involve his energy, so he can't get away and go to Essos to deal with the matter.
Captain Wenda was keenly aware of his doubts and immediately asked for orders, "Sir, if you need to find out this matter or save the remaining Peake, I can run east."
Titus looked back at her with a gentle expression and reluctantly replied, "I can't live without you."
After thinking about it for a while, he made a decision.
He is going to let the "Knight of the Golden Mountain" go to Essos on his behalf. While figuring out the cause of Ricewell's death, he will also stabilize his own forces in Golden Company.
The sea breeze in Alliance Port carries bursts of salty smell, and seems to carry the unique heat of Disputed Lands, blowing towards the faces of the visitors at the port.
The stone pavement on the pier is heated by the scorching sun. When you step on it, you can clearly feel the heat waves running up the soles of your boots.
Disputed Lands, located southwest of Essos.
This area has long been a "terrain".
In the beginning, this place was a prosperous place under the rule of Valyrian Freehold.
But in the four centuries after Valyria's "Doomsday Catastrophe", Free Cities, which collapsed and rose, launched many wars here.
Occasionally, nobles from Westeros will participate, making the situation here even more chaotic.
During the "Century of Blood" period, Disputed Lands was briefly controlled by Volantis, until the hegemony of Volantis, which attacked everywhere and swallowed up Essos throughout the Western Continent, was overthrown by the alliance of various states.
At that time, Volantis was so arrogant that Braavos, House Durrandon, and House Targaryen jointly targeted him.
With their support, Pentos and Tyrosh turned Disputed Lands in the hands of Volantis into scorched earth, and successfully liberated Myr City and Lys Island from the latter's hands.
The Volantis forces completely withdrew from this place.
Of course "Valyria's eldest daughter" would not give in and invaded Disputed Lands again. Lys, Myr and Tyrosh formed an alliance. The three city-states jointly fought against Volantis and finally defeated the invaders.
The "Three Daughters Kingdom" formed by the three kingdoms announced that Disputed Lands would be under their rule. After more than thirty years, there was no war in the area - until the Three Daughters Kingdom split internally and the area fell into war again.
Now, this is the main battlefield for Golden Company and many mercenaries.
Those competing for it have also become "Three Daughters" of Valyria.
The name of the Alliance Port is taken from Triarchy back then. It was the only neutral port of Disputed Lands.
Ships from either side can dock here to bring enough foreign materials and supplies to the smoke-filled inland and the mercenary groups fighting there.
The place here is not big, but the business is prosperous. The manager is a small role who does not belong to the three cities of Tyrosh, Lys, and Myr. It is also for the sake of balance.
Davos Seaworth has set foot in this port countless times, but only as a smuggler.
A half-businessman, half-criminal who makes a living in the dark world by sneaking under the night, avoiding customs duties and patrols.
And the person who stepped onto this Disputed Lands southwest port today was already a knight.
Knight of the Golden Mountain.
Davos walked in the sunshine with his head held high, the cloak behind him fluttering in the sea breeze.
With Davos's bright clothes and the accompanying appearance, no one on the dock dared to look down upon him in the slightest.
Titus Earl granted him a piece of mountainous land near Jinshan Port as a fiefdom. This was an extremely rare reward under the Starpike territory's main policy of vigorously reclaiming land controlled by wealthy knights.
As far as Davos knows, there are only a few knights who can still retain the fief under Lord Black Lord, including Ser Duncan of Wake Forest and himself.
They are all Earl's confidants.
Just like him, he is now managing the construction of Jinshan Port for Lord Earl.
Compared to a naval admiral, he is indeed more suitable for running merchants or managing a place.
This time, he was responsible for the negotiations with Essos Golden Company. Earl had always had great trust in him.
Davos has also worked very hard in recent years and started to learn words and writing by himself----
Compared to the shabby smuggler back then, Davos is now wearing a gold embroidered brocade robe and a dark velvet cloak.
The golden mountain pattern on the cloak sparkles, as if it can blind others. He wears a dagger inlaid with gems on his waist, and his whole person is full of energy.
The black sails of the three warships behind them were drooped, and ten armed merchant ships were neatly lined up beside the dock. The crossbow arrows exposed on both sides of the ship glowed with cold light. There were more than 600 well-equipped soldiers and sailors waiting on board.
This is an armed force that cannot be underestimated in Alliance Port.
Davos, who was surrounded by thirty armor-piercing guards, subconsciously touched his chest where Earl's letter was. He raised his head to check the direction, and soon found the wooden signboard of the largest tavern on the edge of the pier, the "Black Gold" tavern. It had been eroded by the sea breeze and was somewhat old. Half a gold coin and a battle ax were painted on it with faded gold paint.
When the wind blows, the signboard makes an aging sound.
Thinking of his own knight title, and then thinking of the name of the mercenary group that is the target of this negotiation, Davos muttered, "This name is quite suitable for the occasion----"
Arriving at the door of the tavern, Davos's eyes first fell on the "Golden Company" military flag hanging by the door.
The flag was made of thick fabric, and the dark black background was embroidered with several golden skull patterns, or in other words, they were skulls plated with gold.
This is due to the last wish of the founder of Golden Company, "Bittersteel" Aego River.
Before his death, Aegor ordered that his skull be boiled to remove the flesh and blood, plated with gold, and placed on top of the flag.
When he crosses Narrow Sea and regains Westeros in the future, he will place the general's flag and his own golden skull in front of the army. He will "see it with his own eyes"
Witness the return of Blackfyre's legion to their homeland.
His successors followed suit and used their own golden skulls to decorate Golden Company's main military flag after his death. As a result, the number of golden skulls on Golden Company's other flags also increased from generation to generation.
This is where the battle cry of Golden Company comes from, "Gold is above, Bittersteel is below."
The last member of House Blackfyre to take charge of Golden Company is the "violent" Maelys.
Since him, Golden Company has used internal elections to produce new "talkers", and the person waiting for Davos in the tavern at this time is the contemporary leader Mistoin.
Withdrawing his gaze, Davos led someone to open the door and enter directly from the front of the tavern.
Sure enough, this pub has been completely booked.
All the tables and chairs originally placed had been moved away, leaving only a large Oak long table in the center.
elephant.
Except for the mercenaries dressed as warriors and wearing the black and gold skull and crossbones flag, there was no one else waiting.
Davos found that most of those mercenaries were tall and had some scars on their faces.
On their waists, behind their backs, and in their hands, these people carried all kinds of weapons that he had seen or never seen before, as if they could enter combat mode at any time.
The military flag of Golden Company is "gold at the top, Bittersteel at the bottom":