Envoys from the Iron Islands

The North, Sea Dragon Point Peninsula, Flint's Finger, Brightflame Bay.

One month later, three longships flying the sigils of lordly houses of the Iron Islands sailed slowly along the shipping route through Brightflame Bay, bound for Eddard's Crystal's Scar. Besides their respective family sigils, these longships also flew rainbow flags symbolizing peace.

These slender, seven-colored pennants signaled negotiations between two powers within the Seven Kingdoms. The practice had spread from the south and originated in the faith of the Seven. Over time, even the Iron Islands and the North had gradually begun accepting this distinctive symbol of peace talks.

The three longships flew the sigils of their respective houses: House Blacktyde of Blacktyde, House Farwynd of Sealskin Point, and House Harlaw of Harlaw. Had Eddard been here, he would have been very surprised and wondered why a longship belonging to House Harlaw was here.

House Harlaw of Harlaw was one of the most powerful noble houses in the Iron Islands, and Harlaw itself was the most populous and wealthiest island in the entire archipelago. Even the accompanying members of Houses Farwynd and Blacktyde could not quite understand House Harlor's intentions, for the banner flying from this longship bore the silver scythe on black of the main Harlor family.

Bruce Blacktyde was Blacktyde's envoy on this journey. A middle-aged man in his forties, he had dark skin and a powerful build, and was an Ironborn merchant who had spent years making his living at sea. Many Ironborn advocated "paying the iron price" to the people of the green lands.

Yet many enlightened lords of the Iron Islands understood that the Old Way, centered on "paying the iron price," had long since become untenable. Raiding served no purpose beyond bringing retaliation time and again. As the times changed, the Ironborn would only lose more men with every battle, until a more forceful Warden of the West or king wiped them out entirely.

"I hope that fellow Masse T wasn't lying to me. If that lord of House Flint really does have such miraculous machines, our people won't have to work quite so hard. Blacktyde's ore may not compare with Great Wyk's, but we're the closest island to House Flint. I hope I can get more."

"Hahaha, Bruce, why think so much? If it doesn't work out, just treat this as a pleasure trip. But honestly, this godforsaken North really is terrible compared with the south. I've heard they don't even have decent ale here. Still, as long as the northern women don't disappoint!"

Bruce Blacktyde turned and found that his kinsman Theon Blacktyde had come up beside him at some point. Hearing his words, Bruce rolled his eyes, clearly at a loss for words over his kinsman's remarks.

It was nearly noon. As a dark cloud moved away, the scorching sunlight once again struck their faces. Just as the two men were about to retreat into the cabin for shelter, the lookout's startled cry reached their ears.

"Look! What's that?"

Hearing the lookout's shout, everyone turned toward his position. Soon, the thing he was pointing at came into view.

It was an enormous three-masted sailing ship. Of course, an ordinary three-master alone would not have astonished them. What truly amazed them were the flat-bottomed boats following it. Unlike ordinary flat-bottomed boats, these seemed to be made from a combination of stone and dragonglass. Their shape was rather like a carriage, making them look like large, flattened boxes.

The black dragonglass gleamed strangely in the sunlight. Soaked in seawater, the gray-black stone of their bases seemed even darker than the dragonglass. These flat-bottomed boats also used sails.

However, their sails seemed to be made of some special reflective fabric. This reflective sailcloth was actually a special fabric made from ice-silk remnants, Dragonglass Lesser Demon mucus, and weirwood leaves. It was a by-product of Eddard's research into paper. Increasing the proportion of Dragonglass Lesser Demon mucus produced this unusual fiber product, which was airtight, lightweight, and somewhat similar to plastic on Blue Star.

Because it was troublesome to make and could not be mass-produced, Eddard had used it to make sailcloth. In the past, finding enough fabric in House Flint's lands to make sails for five large ships would have been utterly unimaginable. Now, however, all of that had changed with Eddard's arrival.

The open holds of these flat-bottomed boats carried large quantities of minerals and dragonglass. Through a Myrish lens, Bruce Blacktyde could clearly see the minerals inside and estimate the boats' carrying capacity.

The mere construction of such vessels was astonishing enough, yet these people could actually use them as transports. In Bruce Blacktyde's eyes, this was utterly impossible.

"Th-this... are these really ships? In all my years, I've never seen ships like these. How on earth were they built? Have I stayed on Blacktyde too long, or have I simply seen too little? Can stone and glass really be used to build ships?"

Theon Blacktyde muttered to himself as he watched this bizarre sight. About the same age as Bruce Blacktyde, he was a distant relation of House Blacktyde on Blacktyde. Their family head, Baelor Blacktyde, had sent them to the North to seek peace and trade.

Baelor Blacktyde's father had been killed during the Iron Islands Rebellion more than ten years earlier, and Baelor had been sent to Oldtown in the Reach as an apprentice. There, he had seen many things and come to understand that the Ironborn's Old Way offered no future. His childhood experiences had also made him a devout follower of the Seven.

After hearing Masse T's description of Eddard, the young Lord of Blacktyde, Baelor Blacktyde, had recognized that House Flint was different. He had also seen the value of Magic Energy Number One, which was why he had sent his kinsmen Bruce Blacktyde and Theon Blacktyde as envoys.

The sailors aboard the other two longships seemed to have noticed what was happening as well. Before long, Bruce Blacktyde saw House Harlor's "Silver Axe," Yoren Harlaw, appear on deck. He belonged to a distant branch of House Harlaw and was an Ironborn merchant who made his living near Ten Towers. It was unclear whether he had been sent by his house's lord or had come on his own initiative.

The other fellow was Alan Farwynd, known as the "Sea Lion," from a branch of House Farwynd of Sealskin Point. These fellows had probably all come here after hearing Masse T's words. They could all become Bruce's competitors, for they, too, seemed intent on securing those miraculous machines and trading opportunities for their houses.

After witnessing this marvelous sight, the three longships flying rainbow flags followed behind Eddard's transports. Along the way, four oared warships came over to inquire about their purpose and intentions. Upon learning that Bruce and his companions were envoys from the Iron Islands, they let them pass as usual.

Throughout the journey, Bruce felt uneasy, as though some terrifying monster were watching him. After he asked around, some sailors reported the same feeling. They all thought something beneath the sea's surface seemed to be watching them.

Yet when they searched the water, they found nothing unusual. Their instincts were not wrong: something was indeed following them beneath the surface. These were the merfolk Eddard had recently created, a variant produced by modifying Dragonglass Lesser Demons. Among them were also hybrids created by modifying humans.

Eddard had named them Dragonglass Merfolk and Dragonglass Naga, because they all contained the twisted souls found within Ice Dragonglass. Since they were experimental creations, Eddard had made only five specimens of each kind and used them to provide security for the transports.

Soon, this imposing fleet entered the docks of Crystal's Scar. House Flint's formerly dilapidated docks had become an immense harbor. Five large docking areas had now been established: the Commercial District, Mineral District, Foreign Ships District, Passenger District, and Reserve District.

Since Bruce Blacktyde and his companions had arrived on foreign vessels, a pilot boat led their longships straight to the Foreign Ships District. After undergoing an inspection, they finally entered the Dock Market as they had hoped.

Once the officials guiding them learned their purpose and intentions, they took them straight to the Reception Center. Crystal's Scar had completely changed. Its clean, orderly streets and uniformly planned buildings utterly transformed the Iron Islanders' impression of the North. Had the four men in charge not known for certain that they were at Flint's Finger, they might have thought they had arrived in White Harbor.

"What's that?"

As they walked along the road, "Silver Axe" Yoren Harlaw suddenly pointed at a strange black pillar standing a little over three meters tall beside the street. Only when Bruce Blacktyde and the others drew closer did they discover that it was made entirely of dragonglass. Its poppy-like shape drew murmurs of wonder from them.

"That's our streetlamp. It's used for lighting at night. When there isn't bright moonlight, it can guide everyone back to their homes, just like a lighthouse."

"Streetlamp!"

Upon hearing this newly coined word from the official, everyone in the Iron Islands delegation instinctively repeated it. They knew what a "lamp" was, but they did not know what a streetlamp was. Commoners in the Seven Kingdoms generally used fish oil for lighting, while noble households used whale oil.

Such extravagance was utterly beyond anything the Iron Islands delegation could imagine. They also noticed that many commoners here wore clothing made from some kind of black silk, which shimmered strangely in the sunlight.

At first, they had merely found it a little odd. But as more and more people appeared before them, all wearing such fine clothes, the Iron Islanders felt like ugly ducklings among swans.

The delegation could not see so much as a trace of dirt on the streets here. Apart from certain construction sites, there was scarcely any stray earth to be seen. They also discovered that some buildings were actually made of dragonglass. At first, they had thought these were some unusual decorations, but only after seeing more and more buildings did they realize that many of the structures here had actually been built from dragonglass.

They did notice one thing, however: the dragonglass buildings they saw were only two stories high, while the taller buildings were constructed from some strange stone blocks. These black-gray blocks looked as though they had been specially carved, with no gaps at their joints.

Only then did they understand the true meaning of the name "Crystal's Scar." Everything they had seen and heard along the way had completely overturned the Iron Islands delegation's worldview. Especially when he saw the City Guard soldiers' equipment, Bruce felt as though he were dreaming.

Matching half-plate armor, helmets, bracers, knee guards, groin guards, longswords, hand crossbows, and small round shields-anyone who did not know better might have thought they had encountered the household guard of some Warden's house. Every one of these warriors was tall and powerfully built. Any one of them seemed capable of matching the master-at-arms at House Blacktyde's castle.

Everything they had seen and heard along the way made the Iron Islands delegation feel as though they had arrived on Pyke. Or rather, House Flint's Crystal's Scar was even cleaner than Pyke in the Iron Islands. Although Crystal's Scar was not as large as Pyke, Bruce saw something on the faces of its people that Pyke lacked: hope.

The Ironborn might describe their character and way of doing things as iron-willed, but all of that was entirely shaped by their environment. The Iron Islands were a place desperately short of resources. Apart from iron ore and fisheries, they had very little arable land. It was precisely this harsh, barren environment that had created the Ironborn's culture of raiding.

Yet truly enlightened lords understood that such a life of raiding could never end well. It served no purpose beyond deepening the hatred between the Iron Islands and the green lands. Throughout history, every large-scale raid had been followed by terrible retaliation from the green lands.

I hope today's meeting can bring a new change to our house. The Ironborn truly need to change.

Bruce Blacktyde thought this silently, then walked toward House Flint Castle with firmer steps.