1 The Foundation

Year 298 AC

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"My lord! " Announced guards outfitted in chainmail as they pushed through the entrance of the tent with their prisoner in chains .

The addressed , or the king as he was sat behind a table , his masked face held down seemingly focusing on what he was writing with his quill and ignoring the beckons of his royal guards .

And without even motioning to look up at the man /prisoner he spoke .

" My physicians told me unaccounted times that I didn't have long to live, … but yet here I am , by God's grace and will no less." He added

"Nothing in this life is ever certain until it happens. One cannot always believe in doubts and assumptions for in the end things may turn out differently. For instance you presume that you and the rest of your lot could pay us off and have us turn back to the east from whence we came , but you and the other magisters assumed wrong."

"We came here for something far more valuable than gold and silver . And my decision wasn't witless after all. You have very bountiful lands here. Farms and orchards stretching as far as the eye can . Grain fields that could feed hundreds of thousands of people, all in the control of fat rich men and a puppet for a prince . Am I correct Magister Illyrio Mopatis ? " The king questioned as he now looked up at the man who only flinched in fear by his steel gaze.

"I-Indeed your Grace" The man fearfully scrounged out .

'How'd everything happened so fast he had pondered over and over. He heard of an army coming west weeks ago , their numbers unclear but reports said it was somewhere around 4000.'

Not many were worried of this new threat for they thought they could flatter and pay them off as they did the Dothraki and if it came to a siege of the great city their tall walls could have held off the invaders for years meanwhile they hired sell swords to deal with the threat at their gates , but it was too late .

Too late to realize that these men were not like the barbarian horsemen and neither could they be reasoned with in the same sense . Now one of the greatest cities in essos had fallen in less than half a day.

Men dressed as merchants infiltrated the city days prior before the attack and as the army that was said to be 4000 was now 20,000.

20,000 armed soldiers and warriors similar to those of the westerosi came upon Pentos.

"What is a city without able men to run it?" Baldwin said , his voice calm and soothing but every time he spoke it seemed to have unsettled the magister and the mask on his face made it even worse for the man.

"Fear not magister , no harm will come to you , as long as you comply then your assets shall be returned to you . I only require one thing from you , and that is submission . Complete submission to my reign here . Do this and I shall make you far richer and more powerful than never before " he said as he now stood from his chair and walking towards the obese fork beard man .

"Help me … and I shall help you, you shall become one of the most powerful men in the east , aid me in my endeavors and we shall make this city far greater than it ever was ." The king ended as he now stared into the man's eyes but all he was doing really besides trying to persuade the man was reading his mind and gaining information.

And unfortunately for illyrio who had traitorous thoughts on his mind . Thoughts of betrayal once he got the chance to do such, and it sealed his fate , yet still he knelt , … knelt in compliance and submission in front of the monarch unknowing of his doom .

" I Illyrio Mopatis , swear my fealty to you … oh Great King . " He quickly iterated not knowing the man's name .

Hearing this Baldwin smiled behind his mask and it also showed within his eyes which mopatis saw thinking it as content from his fealty to him .

"Stand up my friend" Baldwin says subtly

Though it was a little difficult for the man to rise from his knee due to his fat figure.

Returning to his seat the king rested his arms under his chin and analyzed the magister for a second before speaking .

"I accept your fealty and I had hope you would've been honest for some part . But it seems not . Have him hanged with the others . " Baldwin orders in Latin as he picked up back his quil and continued his writing.

Feeling the change in mood and confused at the language he heard the masked man speak had frightened him and before he could say something else to the ruler, the guards who brought him here had grabbed him aggressively .

The man started begging and pleading, but his cries fell on deaf ears.

——

"It is double pleasure to deceive the the deceiver, and yesterday's bout was really pleasurable, 20 of your fellow magisters were hung for lying to me , they harbored thoughts of betrayal,… and retaliation , understandable , I did take your city but one must understand when they have truly lost and must bend to the new order of things. No one will come to save this city neither bravos , neither myr, lys , volantis , tyrosh , Qohor . Your animosity for each other had now come back to haunt you all . And no ! Your Bravosi overseers will not run come to your aid , and I bid you remaining magisters with my thanks , for your wisdom to see the outcome of it all and to truly submit so in that you shall have a place in my court . Another matter i wish to address is the merchant vessels that managed to leave port while we attacked . Trade is the lifeline of a city, especially a large city like this , i don't want fear to drive merchants apart from Pentos although it already has i want to restore the economy back to where it was. " Baldwin said

"So in that i want you to write letters to the free city declaring your country under new rule and you the magisters with your wealth and connections have aligned yourself with its new ruler. You are smart men , I think you will explain it to them well enough. And I have chosen an envoy to go to Bravos and explain what has happened here , though by God those that have escaped will be spreading their tales of this city's invasion and fall, nonetheless that is all you may leave ." Baldwin finishes . The 15 magisters skittered off many moving quicker than the others for some were obese , though their stubby legs moved with speed all the same .

"Do you trust them to carry out such an order ? Who knows, they might write of treason to their nearby states and betray us . " Tiberias vouched as he looked at his king who sat upon his throne.

"No i do not my , but they will not be so careless to betray the lion while in its jungle , all their assets are within my hands , plus i trust their need to pursue more profit and raise their station through me . A few of them i spoke with have harbored thoughts of expansion for years . The resurgence of the Great Pentoshi empire that once was before their fall and being servants of their neighbors to the north. I take advantage of their ambition of seeing Pentos reclaim its former glory and i make them richer than before and they loyalties shall truly lay in my hand if not then they will be hanged . " He said to his right hand man his silver mask giving him a rather appalling look .

" I see. But my lord if Bravos was to act and send its armada as you've stated that they possess then we will be cut off from sea and our advances of creating our own kingdom will be stalled in its infancy . This is a huge gamble!"

"I know and its a gamble that we will win , the bravosi may send their fleet to cut us off by sea or embargo Pentos , but they cannot starve us out, the country side is full of food and any force they send to land will be crushed, we will come to terms either or either . " Baldwin replied confidently getting agreeing nods from tiberias and a dozen other men in his court.

—— ——

Later within the king's study

"I spoke to cardinal Constance this morning. He has given his full support and rallied the men than never before since entering these lands, another crusade if one could call it so is at hand . The city that worships the black Goat ! Qohor, it will be taken, its foul priests will be hung then burned along with their foul idols . I will not have such an abomination nearby the Faithful. But truly i require the resources within the area . We will need a lot of lumber in the future and Qohor exports a-lot of it sitting at that vast forest, now to give the order for it to begin and you wondered why i split the army and left the ten thousand men further to the east when i did Tiberias now you see. " Baldwin voiced as he smile at his mentor his face plain to see as he was not wearing his mask .

The intended was not only surprised but speechless, he was fearfully curious about the king's intellect at planning on a scale which was never seen before .

' Denaerys Targaryen, how unfortunate I hadn't been within this world earlier . Now you are far out of my reach , but i find you'll grow into a strong woman no less and a queen eventually, but should I do as i must ?'

"My lord is everything alright? " The 51 year old man questions with concern as he saw the young man staring in a daze .

"Oh yes , everything is alright my friend "