26 Paying the price for power

"We will keep a tight formation while underwater, I don't believe there will be anything dangerous under there, but I could be wrong, so eyes and ears peeled. ALWAYS know where your partners are at all times, if your partner disappears, you call the rest of the group. ALWAYS. Any questions?" I asked the fellows and the girl in front of me.

"What exactly are we looking for?" Garred asked from the back.

"Anything, everything, scrolls, books, tablets, random treasure, and important locations, like a throne room or maybe some kind of ritual chamber." Garret nods.

"If ye don't mind me asking how we're going to move about there, my lord? Is full of water, do you need such a big group if everyone is around you?" Arthur, Garret's partner, asked.

"I already scouted ahead and the palace while a great part of it is sunken in not full of water, some kind of enchantment that the water mages put on it no doubt, any other questions? No? Good, form up and don't fall behind."

I walk towards the water, cast control water, and form a bubble around me. All of my troops by my side are Marwyn and Alisa, behind them are the sailors, and behind the sailors are the owl guard.

 Under the dark water of the river Rhoyne, we marched our way to the doors of an underwater section of the palace, many fish, and many other curious creatures swam under those depths, but we kept to ourselves, and they left us alone. 

The towering doors opened with a telekinetic push from me, and beyond the threshold of the door was dry land.

 Inside, the atmosphere was eerie, with the occasional ripple of water reminding them of the depths that surround us. The tight formation remained intact as they ventured deeper into the ancient structure.

 "Fascinating piece of magic!" Marwyn said, looking back at the wall of river water that stayed at the door.

"It could be quite useful if we could use these enchantments to block other things as well."

"Like what?"

"Snow, the cold, wind." I list it to Marwyn.

"It would be most useful indeed, but first we must find the origin of this enchantment," Marwyn said. The door, for all its pompous and size, was bare of any rune or inscription.

"To that, we must go deeper."

As our group ventured deeper into the ancient structure, the decrepit state of the palace became more pronounced. Tapestries that once adorned the walls lay in tatters, their once vibrant colours now faded and stained. Rugs, once lush and ornate, were now ragged and worn. Every metal surface, save for the gold ones, was coated in rust, a testament to the passage of time and the relentless advance of decay.

The air hung heavy with humidity, causing beads of moisture to gather on our skin despite the absence of water within the halls. The atmosphere was oppressive, weighing down on them as they pressed forward.

Not long after, they arrived at an intersection, which was a circular one with four ways to go forward.

"We will camp here, in an hour we will start to explore the paths," I say to the group, they nod and start to mount their tents, the idea is to pass a week inside the palace, and find whatever we can.

 A tent was mounted for me at the centre of the camp, there were Alisa and Balerion.

"OK show me."

She is sitting on a cushion, she looks at me and nods, she focuses on Balerion, and her eyes roll back in her skull, her body goes limp and falls backwards. I hold her.

 The cat then walked in a circle and sat in front of me.

"Daenerys?"

 The cat nods.

"Can you move normally while in the cat? Are your reactions as good as normal?"

The cat started to jump around me and run inside the tent.

"Right, dodge!" I throw a pillow at the not too hard, just enough to test her reaction on the cat's body.

She easily jumped over the pillow and landed on her feet.

"OK, come back to your body"

The cat turns glassed eyes for a second and wanders off, a gasp comes from the girl.

"Welcome back, how do you feel?"

"A little dizzy, but I am OK."

"Not bad, how about we try something new?"

Her eyes shine with curiosity and excitement.

I opened a chest I brought with me and pulled a glass candle out of it.

"Do you know what this is?"

"A black candle?"

"Yes, but even more than that, a glass candle, made of obsidian, is a magical device, when the glass candles burn, the sorcerer who uses it can see across mountains, seas, and deserts, give men visions and dreams and communicate with one another half a world apart." Her eyes widen and burn with excitement and determination.

 "You will learn how to use it now, it will take some time for you to get used to it, and you probably won't be able to reach very far, but a journey of a thousand steps starts with the first." With determination gleaming in her eyes, Daenerys nods in acknowledgement of the challenge ahead. She eagerly accepts the glass candle, cradling it delicately in her hands as if holding a precious treasure.

"I understand, Lord Palestars," she replies, her voice tinged with excitement and anticipation. "I am ready to begin."

You nod, recognizing her eagerness to learn and her potential for mastery over the arcane arts.

"First, you must attune yourself to its essence," you instruct, guiding her through the initial steps of connecting with the magical device like I had done with Nightfall. "Feel the energy within it, let it resonate with your own, it is similar to entering the mind of Balerion."

Daenerys closes her eyes, focusing her concentration on the glass candle. Slowly, a faint light begins to emanate from the tip of the candle.

"Good," I say, sensing her progress. "Now, to ignite the candle's flame, you must will it to awaken."

With a determined expression, Daenerys extends her hand towards the glass candle, her fingers trembling slightly with anticipation. A moment of intense concentration passes before a flicker of black fire dances to life atop the candle's surface, casting a bizarre bright glow within the dim confines of the tent.

A smile of satisfaction spreads across Daenerys's face as she witnesses her success, the flames of the glass candle reflecting in her eyes.

"Well done, Daenerys," you commend her, pride evident in my voice. "You have taken the first step towards mastering the ancient art of scrying and communication. With practice, your abilities will only grow stronger."

Daenerys nods, her determination renewed as she gazes upon the flickering flame of the glass candle, fascinated, enchanted even. 

"Let's try something, "I snap her out of it" Try to take a peek at our ships on shore" 

"Imagine the ships, imagine where they are anchored at, the people there, if you know the place is always easier to look at it."

Daenerys nods, her focus intensifying as she closes her eyes and visualizes the ships anchored on the shore. With a deep breath, she looked at the flame.

 Her eyes lost focus and the small candle started to glow much more brightly, the colours of everything started to get stronger, and brighter.

"Daenerys, that is enough, come back," I whisper to her. 

A couple of minutes later, she seemed to come back to consciousness.

 Daenerys blinks, her eyes slowly refocusing as she returns from her scrying trance. She takes a deep breath, her chest rising and falling with the weight of her newfound experience.

"I saw them," she says softly, her voice tinged with wonder. "The ships, they were anchored just as you described. I couldn't see the details, the image was all fuzzy, I could see the crew moving about on deck... just dark blurs." She frowned a little.

"That was an excellent first try, Daenerys, don't expect to get a perfect image on your first time using the candle." I've read some of Marwyn's tomes about the candles, they say that the candles aren't the easiest to use but are a great start for training novices in the higher mysteries.

"Marwyn told me that you used the candle to see another kingdom for your first time," Daenerys said with a pout, children really.

I didn't know he was looking at that time. Can I enter the candle vision with someone else? I will have to talk with Marwyn.

"You shouldn't hold me as a standard to be met, a destination to be reached perhaps, "Especially since I cheated my way into the magical peak of this world" I am not exactly your normal sorcerer, not to mention I am way older than you." She still looked a little disappointed, I paused, noticing Daenerys's disappointment, and gently placed a hand on her shoulder. "Daenerys, it's important to remember that everyone's journey with magic is unique," I say reassuringly.

 "Comparing yourself to others, especially to someone like me who has had years of experience, isn't fair to yourself. You're making incredible progress, and that's what matters." Man, I could be a couch. I mean, I may be lying to her, but that doesn't mean it is not true.

Daenerys looks up at you, her disappointment slowly fading as she absorbs your words. "Thank you, Lord Palestars," she says softly, a small smile tugging at the corners of her lips. "I'll keep working hard."

"That's the spirit!" I ruffle her head, messing with her red hair. 

... 

"Marwyn and Alisa will go together through the first corridor, 5 owlguards 5 men will go with you, and I will go into the second passage with 5 owlguards, we explore for 3 hours and turn back."

 They all nod and 10 minutes later we go our separate ways.

 The hallway I follow only illuminated by my dancing lights, is as decrepit as the rest of the palace we saw, along the way is littered with crumbling statues, faded murals depicting scenes of ancient glory, and scattered remnants of once opulent furnishings. The air is thick with the scent of age and decay, and the faint echo of distant water drips adds to the eerie ambience.

 Looking through various rooms we a lot of old jewelry and pieces of gold imbued in old rusted metal, but nothing significant.

 As you venture deeper into the palace ruins, the corridors become increasingly labyrinthine, twisting and turning in intricate patterns that seem designed to confound and confuse. The Palace according to the books is colossal, ten times the size of the Red Keep, I have never been to the Red Keep, but I assume that means we will be lost quite easily here.

Despite our thorough search, we find nothing of significant importance, no scrolls, books, or tablets that might shed light on the secrets of the palace. It seems that whatever knowledge once resided within these walls has long been lost to the time.

 3 hours later we are back at the start with a lot of jewellery but nothing else to show.

 The other group is quite the same.

 "Half an hour of rest and we go into the other passages" They nod at my orders and we spend the next half hour discussing the findings of our journey.

Once again we marched into the passages.

...

I feel eyes on me, I look around but simply can't find them just the four owlguards with me, the path I follow is just another hallway, mould and humidity so dense that almost form clouds, a creeping feeling seems to permeate this particular path so, of course, I kept my course, if creep shit is happening here then is where I am supposed to be.

 At least an hour passed and the hallway not only didn't end but didn't change either.

 So I turned back and walked, for 30 minutes, and still exactly the same.

 Is obvious that some magical shenanigan is happening here, an infinite hallway is an interesting trap, and the question is how to escape.

As I kept walking, the feeling of being watched intensified, sending shivers down my spine. The oppressive atmosphere of the hallway seemed to close in around me, suffocating and unnerving.

I focused my mind, searching for any traces of magic that might give me a clue as to how to escape. Of course, I find nothing, D&D magic is pretty hard in its ways, I probably can't detect magic because I don't have the spell for it, I should focus a little more on the magic of planetos when I leave, it is certainly more organic.

 I look at the three owlguards with me and know they are no help.

 Wait a second, three? where are the other two?

 "Fuck this." I cast the solution for every wizard problem, fireball, on the wall farther from me.

 The wisp of fire leaves my hand and touches the wall.

BOOOM

A massive explosion shook the place. I didn't think this through, my ears ringing because of the explosion, at least I didn't get burned this time.

The wall was scorched black from the explosion, pieces of it falling down around it, but it remained standing, well if brute force didn't work, I wasn't using enough of it!

 I point my hand to the wall once more and cast a fireball again.

 The whisp of fire hit the wall and once again a powerful explosion occurs, this time a hole in the wall is formed.

 One more, the fire and sound fill the hallway, and a huge gap is on the wall leading to another hallway.

 A good 10 minutes of walking showed that this one wasn't looping.

 As I pushed open the grand golden doors with a wave of telekinetic force, they swung wide to reveal a magnificent hall beyond. The room was adorned with ancient tapestries, their vibrant colours now faded with time, and intricate carvings adorned the walls, telling tales of battles long past. At the far end of the hall, sat a regal figure upon a throne of pure gold.

The man was dark-skinned, his features bearing the proud heritage of his people. His black eyes, sharp and piercing, regarded me with a mixture of curiosity and wariness as I entered the hall. In his hand, he held a gleaming spear, its point aimed towards the ground in a gesture of both strength and reverence. Upon his brow rested a crown, adorned with precious jewels that glimmered in the light, marking him as a ruler.

 He speaks in a tongue I don't understand, Rhoynar perhaps?

"Sorry there, friend, I don't speak your tongue," I say in high valyrian, he answers in the same language if heavily accented.

"Don't assume us friends, winged tyrant."

"Winged tyrant?"

The figure smiles mockingly "Don't consider yourself a tyrant? Or perhaps you don't have a dragon then."

"Yes to both." not a tyrant and don't have a dragon, I answer.

"Yet you burned your way to here, I can smell the smoke from my throne, Valyrian."

"You are mistaken good sir I am not a Valyrian, I came from Westeros."

"Yet you have the appearance and power of a fire mage, dress like an Archon, and speak in that cursed tongue. Didn't Freehold steal enough from us already?." he narrowed his eyes.

"Well, you certainly have a grudge can't say I blame you" I replied, taking a few steps closer to the throne but making sure to keep a safe distance. "But appearances can be deceiving, my friend. I may wield fire, but that doesn't make me a Valyrian. As for my clothes, it's simply a matter of personal preference, black goes well with everything."

The man regarded me with a sceptical expression, his grip tightening on the spear.

"And what brings a non-Valyrian, fire-wielding stranger to the depths of the Rhoyne, to the heart of my palace?" he asked, his tone laced with suspicion.

"Just a bit of exploration, finding old secrets from old civilizations."

The man's eyes narrowed even further as if trying to discern the truth from my words.

"A thief then, just not from Valyria."

"You are way too harsh with your words my friend, I am here because my wife... future wife is of Rhoynish descent and told me some fantastical stories about what her people once did, so come see for myself."

A small smile graces the man's lips.

"At least our people endure."

"It does, but the culture is weakened, your ways, your language and your magic are all but gone, but perhaps it doesn't need to be so." I scratch my beard.

"Speak, man of the west"

"Even if diminished there are those that cry for the embrace of mother Rhoyne, the Orphans of the green blood they are called, if you would share the magnificence of your palace with me... I could help them to settle here once more, protect them, they would own me loyalty of course but the Rhoynar would flourish once more under me." The man narrows his eyes and shakes his head.

"Powerful you may be, fire mage, but you can not stand against the might of the dragon lords, they will not allow the Rhoynar to rise from the depths once more." the man said sadly.

"My friend, the Freehold was destroyed four hundred years ago," I say

The man's eyes widened in surprise, and he tensed, his grip on the spear loosening slightly.

"Destroyed? The Valyrians are no more?" he asked, his voice tinged with disbelief, he frowned. "Liar."

"I speak the truth and anyone you, any of my companions, ask, they will confirm it, I wouldn't dare go against the dragon lords if they still existed" I replied. "But the catastrophe known as the Doom of Valyria wiped them out, along with their empire. Westerosi history books are filled with tales of their downfall, the 14 flames ignited as one and the entire peninsula turned into a hellscape, the land broke, the sea boiled, even the dragons fell like flies from the sky, even 400 years later it is impossible to live there, some smaller families survived it, but they are gone now as well."

 I use some Silent Images to illustrate to the man.

 A loud clang was heard in the throne room, the spear the man was holding hit the ground, his face was covered by his hands, and a sound came from his throat a deranged laughter.

"So the Freehold ended in fire! hahaha! The Gods are just! They are good! Those fire-spiting devils are GONE!" he laughed like a crazed man, he spoke some more in Rhoynar, and I let him have his moment.

"So my friend, what say you? One hand wash the other."

"I say yes! yes! My friend if what you say is true the Rhoynar must return home! Here to the Rhoyne!" he composed himself a bit" Though I must know what it that loyalty would entail."

"Harbor and production of ships, they will follow my laws, and worship the old gods as well."

"Rhoynar worship Mother Rhoyne first and foremost" he frowns.

"And they can do that but they also will worship the old god of the forest, there are a ton of weirwood trees in your city already."

"Since when? I left a Dry Man taking care of the city above," the man mentioned.

"A what?" The fuck?

"A cadaver of an old foe that was drained of its liquids and filled with magic to serve as a fighter," he explained.

 Is every piece of magic in Planetos involved with necromancy? Why does everything need killing to work?

The shrouded lord, was a little pawn then "Oh that, I killed it, I apologize."

"You are a very astute mage indeed, it matters not, if my people are to return to the city then the creature would have to be removed."

"Well, where do we start? It would be nice to have something to tempt the Orphans of the Green Blood to move, scriptures, art, books and scrolls. To remember them from where they came from." give the library pass!

"You may find an archive, following down that door then turning right, then left, go to the end of the hallway, then left and right once more."

Why do people make castles so big in Planetos? An entire city, could live inside here. "Can you show the way?"

"No, I am afraid I am forever trapped in this throne, to leave it would mean my permanent end, and... I don't want that, not when the Rhoynar are ready to resurface."

 A dead but not really guy who holds his entire civilization weight and is trapped in a golden throne... This motherfucker stole the Emperor of Mankind's stitch! Thats Heresy!

 I turn around and there is someone else, another man, I look at Garin and he is frozen as are the owlguards.

"Congratulations You found the golden throne of Chroyane, the centre of the Rhoynar civilization, from here the victories over the Freehold of Valyria were planned, and here are the remains of the deafened Rhoynar civilization stay."

"Hey, long time no see" I smile, now that I think about it, he is my oldest friend in this world, and I don't even know his name, to me he is still Ben.

"Indeed it has been some time, I heard you are having children, congratulations" he smiled back.

"Thanks, man, so to business? I got some questions"

"To business then my friend, ask them and if I can, I will answer."

"First my reward for the exploration what it is?"

"One spell of 6th level two under 5, and two cantrips also two proficiency with spears apparently."

"The rewards are meagre, aren't they? why not a language proficiency I need that you know."

"I told you the Wall would be the biggest one you got, and I don't decide the rewards." he shrugs.

"First about enchanting items, you remember from before, I have to lose my hand and my eyes, can I fix them with magic?"

"No, you won't lose the member just the ability to use them, even if you gauge your eyes out and regrow them you won't be able to see with them, same with the hand."

"Damn..." Plan A is down, how can I go around all-time blindness?" could I change my cheat spells? And can I have that book of spells to browse through again?" He thinks for a while.

"Yes... I can allow it this time, as a gift, from me to you and your new family, but has to be a spell you already know, and here is the book" he says.

"aww you gonna make me cry, give me a hug." I spread my arms.

"Please don't." he raises a hand for me to stop and give me the book.

"Another question, if I use a spell to see is allowed?" I look through it.

"I believe so."

"Can you be more certain? I would like to see my children when they are born you know." I gave him the best puppy eyes I could, which is probably shit since I am a grown-ass man.

 A moment pass.

"Yes, it is possible."

I nod and keep looking through.

"Okay, I am ready to choose. For the 6th level spell, I choose True Seeing. The others are Flock of Familiars and Dispel Magic, I would like to change my cheat spell from Detect Thoughts to Flock of Familiars if you could make it always active like Telekinesis, even better, and take the deal to enchant items, both of them." I have to pay the price for power.

He smiles faintly "Not bad, so be it." 

 His smile is the last thing I saw before total darkness, I am too lucid to have passed out.

"I am still here." oh wow... I-I am blind, huh, it's really weird, I feel my eyelids open but is total darkness, ok, it's starting to freak me out, my right hand has no feeling in it at all, completely gone, is just hanging there.

 I cast Flock of Familiars, is like finding a familiar but I can summon more than one at a time and different animals as well.

 Two snakes appear. the snakes climb into my hands and slither through my arm until they reach my neck, there they wrap around my neck and bite their tails, and their heads rest by the sides of my neck pointing forward like weird necklaces, I change merge my vision with the snake, is weird, the vision is in the wrong height and not as focused as it should, the sounds aren't as sharp as they should either, I have to change that later, maybe a crow would be better.

"Ready for a lecture?" Ben asks, I turn my magic eye to him, still not right, too close.

"Lecture?" I ask trying to adjust my eye, it's not going great.

"There are rules and conditions to enchant items."

Oh, of course, "Sure, go ahead"

"Any item can hold one spell, if you want to make a spoon that grows flowers, use Druidcraft on it, perhaps a helmet that makes a booming voice, put Thaumaturgy on it, but always one, the exception is Valyrian steel that can hold two spells." Ok easy to follow, so Valyrian Steel can hold two spells, nice.

"How many times is possible to use the spells inside?"

"Good question, cantrips unlimited use, as usual, normal spells once every dawn." Ok damn, I just lost my eyes for this!? 

 I take a deep breath, is not that bad is it okay cantrips still fucking op, and valyrian still gives two spells.

"And how many a person can use?"

"Three items can be attuned as usual."

OK not bad not bad, if I give a person three items with the same spell, there are three uses per dawn, if is valyrian steel, six, is not bad at all.

"Anything else? oh, how do I make them?" Though I have the impression I know how.

"Well you need a-" He stars and I interrupt.

"A human sacrifice." he nods, because of course.