章 97: Heist and shopping
6th Moon, 259AC
Doran perfectly remembers every detail of the robbery.
It was two days ago, he retired to his cabin at sunset and sent Lothar to watch that no one enters. He flew off the ship using the form of a peregrine falcon. With the stars as a guide he flew to the coast, at night the sight of the Titan was not nearly as intimidating as it is in daylight.
He barely noticed the Braavos Arsenal and flew straight into the city. Thanks to the maps that he had already memorized, it was easy for him to find the bank. The huge building stands out quite a bit. Getting inside wasn't that difficult either, he entered through a window on the first floor.
After entering things got complicated, there was no public floor plan of the bank, nothing unexpected because only some idiots will make public the floor plans of such a building (or any important building. Maegor did not kill every architect and worker just for being a bastard). Doran used a cloaking spell and a noise suppression spell to move inside the bank.
It took him several hours but he finally found the right vault, well more than a vault it was a steel locker inside an iron vault. Opening it was child's play.
The prince verified that the documents inside are legitimate and he put them in one of the chests that he brought for this heist. He brought several for a very simple reason.
Doran knows that once his grandmother uses these documents to destroy the Yronwood the Iron Bank will know that they were the ones who robbed them. To avoid this, Doran will steal more things, more documents and other important things that he finds.
After that he will use his contacts to spread rumors that someone is selling secret information on the black market. He will create a temporary identity and sell various of the documents he stole from the bank to people who have use for them. His grandmother will send Jacaerys Martell to "buy info" from this person. That way House Martell won't be suspected of the theft.
With that in mind Doran began emptying the vaults; documents, jewelry, gold, weapons, and more. In a couple of hours he filled the chests, and after putting the loot in the bag designed for this hawk form he left the bank.
`Documents detailing secret transactions of hundreds of merchants, nobles and magisters. I didn't count all the gold and jewels I took but it has to be worth a couple of million golden dragons. Converting gold bars into Westerosi coins will be easy, but I will have to be cautious and do it on the sly. Even so, I won't be able to use that gold for a while, I would be suspicious if I started spending like crazy right after the biggest heist of the century.`
"The city has no walls, if they are as rich as they say, why don't they have walls?" Fred's question snaps Doran out of his musings.
"Look around." Lothar answers. "The city is inside a lagoon protected on all sides. The only place ships could enter the city is the channel under the Titan."
"Over there," Fred points into the distance. "That part of the city faces the mainland. Someone could invade them from there!"
Doran chuckles.
"Invading them from there is almost impossible, is more likely to do it from the sea. Braavos is surrounded by miles of marshes."
"Marshes? What is that?"
As Lothar explains to Fred that it's the marshes, Doran walks up to the captain.
"It's strange," Arthur says, looking out over the harbor with a frown. "They should have given us the signal to dock at the port by now. No ships entered before us today, so I don't understand the reason for their delay."
The port of Braavos has a very orderly system, ships cannot dock where they want or when they want. Also, when a ship with merchandise arrives it is inspected before being allowed to enter the port. Doran took the opportunity to bring a wide variety of merchandise to Braavos to sell.
"Yes." Doran suspects that the Iron Bank robbery is the reason for this oddity. A part of him even expected them to close the port but to his surprise they had no problem getting in. "Could something have happened?"
"I think so," Arthur turns to some men who are chatting among themselves and gestures for them to come over. "I'll send a boat down and go to the port to speak to the officials personally."
"I will go with you." Doran is very curious to see how the Iron Bank reacted to the robbery. `I just arrived at the port so they have no reason to suspect me. As far as the world is concerned I was in the open sea during the robbery.`
Arthur nods, the prince's presence will surely speed up the process.
Doran informs Lothar of his plans, the knight looks at him warily and nervously.
"Are you sure?" he whispers.
"Yes, and no. You can't come with me."
"What?!" Lothar frowns at him.
Lothar is acting nervous and somewhat paranoid, exactly as someone guilty of something would act. For this very reason, Doran does not want his sworn knight to interact with many Braavosi, at least until his nerves calm down.
The prince explained that to the knight and he reluctantly agreed.
"Ready?" asked one of the sailors.
Doran sat in the boat and nodded. With him went Arthur and six knights. Soon Helios was behind them bobbing in the water, while the city grew larger with each stroke of the oars.
Braavos has three main ports.
Chequy Port is where merchant ships dock and their goods are inspected by the Sealord's customs officers upon arrival in the city.
The Purple Harbor is a port where only Braavosi ships can dock.
Ragman`s Harbor, also called the Outer Harbor, is where all foreign ships are allowed to dock.
Chequy Port is where they are headed.
Looking to the right, Doran saw a harbor, a network of docks and berths filled with Ibben whaling ships, swan ships from the Summer Isles, and more galleys than he could have counted. To the left was another harbor, farther away, past a headland where the tops of half-sunken ships jutted out of the water.
`Braavos is huge, the largest port in Dorne is smaller than any of these` Doran feels a slight envy, but also a tingle in his fingers. He wants to take a pencil and start designing a city ten times as great as this one.
A city more beautiful than any other.
When he was four years old he visited Kings Landing, where he met a lot of interesting people and saw how big this world is. But also, for the first time, he witnessed the anti-Dornish sentiment that runs rampant in Westeros. Much of the continent believes that the Dornin are lazy, lecherous good-for-nothings. Their culture and history is mocked and ridiculed.
Witnessing it, Doran wanted to explode, yell at those ignorant idiots and more. But he didn't do anything, he didn't say anything. In its place he set out to use all the knowledge he accumulated in his past life to make Dorne the greatest kingdom in the world!
That goes in all aspects, in culture, art, technology...
The prince knows that it will be a slow process, it will take decades to fulfill his dream but he will not stop until it is done.
`The day will come when all speak of Dorne with wonder and envy.`
Soon they reached the port and the boat stopped next to a staircase that goes up to the pier. Arthur Sand is the first to climb the ladder, followed by two knights. Doran only goes up once they give him a signal. Although a port in Braavos shouldn't have many obvious threats to life of a prince they still have to be cautious.
Going up to the port Doran sees Arthur talking to a fierce looking guard, they are speaking in the local Valyrian dialect.
Arthur raises his voice and gestures with his hands rapidly, pointing at the fleet and at him. The guard looks at him and his eyes widen in surprise, he steps back and holds up his hands placatingly. He says something to Arthur and he calms down.
As the captain walks towards them the guard runs towards a building.
"Simpleton," Arthur scoffs. "These braavosi were raised in a pigsty."
"What happened?" Doran asks.
"They don't have an ounce of respect, my prince. Those dull-headed arses would have been content to make us wait days if you weren't here." Arthur frowns and huffs.
"The power of a title." Doran mutters, not at all surprised.
After five minutes a man dressed in an emerald green robe with a feathered cloak slung over one shoulder approached them, grinning broadly.
"Prince Dorna Nymeros Martell, if I am not mistaken! Truly honored. I am Kael Terys, a humble servant of the Sealord." Kael bows.
`Humble servant? Dressed in clothes more expensive than many nobles? Yeah, sure.`
"You say you recognize the importance of the person before you yet you still disrespect him by making us wait." Arthur intervenes glaring at Kael.
"My sincerest apologies, my prince." Kael's smile is as fake as Leprechaun gold.
Doran smiles politely in response.
"Would it be possible to know the reason for such a delay? I understand the Braavosi port system is one of the swiftest and most efficient."
A little flattery can take you many places.
"Of course, of course! Our forefather created a very efficient system indeed." Kael strokes his mustache. "There was a little problem a few days ago, a servant stole a very valuable jewel from the Sealord's Palace. A national treasure worth more than a castle!" The Braavosi leaned in to whisper the last. "Of course, I didn't tell you anything."
"Of course." Doran nods and returns Kael's smile. `Is this how the Iron Bank intends to cover up the robbery? A robbery at the Sealord's palace is less serious than one at the supposedly safest bank in the world. In addition, this excuse allows them to investigate all the people within the city without raising suspicions. But how long can they keep up this farce? All the people who entrusted them with such important documents for safekeeping will find out sooner or later. And when that happens... The reputation of the Iron Bank will be in tatters and the entire economy of Braavos will suffer a terrible blow.`
Doran surprises himself how little he cares about the consequences of his actions, he does not feel any guilt.
Clearing his throat, the prince asks when they can dock.
"Surely we are not suspects of this unfortunate incident! We just arrived in the city this morning."
"Of course!" Kael agrees with Doran's words. "We keep good records of all ships coming and going. And no ship belonging to House Martell entered Braavos in the last few days until you and your fleet arrived. In fact the last ship belonging to your house left port 11 days ago, a ship belonging to the Sun Trade Company if I remember correctly."
The Princess of Dorne had sent letters ordering all Dornish ships moored at Braavos to return home. This was done to increase security on the coasts, preparing for the war.
"Great! Then, when can we dock? I have several things to do in the city and little time at my disposal."
"I'll have your ships inspected right now! Although the process will take quite a while, with the number of ships in your fleet I anticipate they won't finish until tomorrow nightfall. But you don't have to wait that long! If you want, I'll send for a carriage to take you wherever you please. "
"That would be splendid."
Doran gives some instructions to Arthur, who returns to the ship accompanied by several port workers. The knights stay with Doran while he converses with Kael, finding out more about the situation in Braavos.
The braavosi proves to be no ordinary man, his knowledge of various subjects is deep and extensive.
"May I ask you what you intend to do in Braavos?" Kael looks at him with a twinkle in his eye. The attempt to extract information from him is obvious, but Doran shows no sign of noticing.
`Is he underestimating me because of my age? If he is doing so, then too bad for him.` Doran has no intention of hiding the official purpose of his visit (to expand his trade network and buy several ships).
"My visit to Braavos is prompted by two reasons."
"Two reasons?"
"Expand my business contacts and buy some ships."
"Buy ships?" The braavosi looks at him strangely. "I was told that you have your own arsenal in Dorne, and I have seen the splendor of your ships firsthand."
"Certainly, but my shipyard is quite new. And small, when compared with yours. I've been told that in Braavos you can build a ship in one day."
"And may I inquire why Dorne needs ships so suddenly?"
The increase in pirate activity in the Narrow Sea is no secret to any sailor. The attacks have tripled and are increasing more with each passing month. But the reason for those attacks remains a secret to most. House Martell is one of the few players aware of the existence of the Band of the Nine. And Doran doesn't plan to be the one to make that alliance public.
"Some time ago my House sent an expedition to the Summer Islands, the results were favorable and we have created quite a few commercial alliances in that part of the world. In order to take advantage of these new contacts we need more ships than we currently have. Building them ourselves would take too long. And as they say, time is gold."
Since through the Sun Trade Company they have been selling many exotic goods from the Summer Islands in the past months that information is known by many people.
"Yes, I have heard about that expedition. In fact, I myself bought a cloak of feathers from some exotic birds of the Summer Islands from one of your stores!"
"Is that the one you're wearing?"
"No, that cloak is too beautiful and delicate to wear while working at the port-"
The two continue their conversation.
***
Entertaining Kael proved to be very useful, as he accompanied him to the place where he had to go to buy ships from the Braavos Arsenal. He even helped him with the paperwork and expedited the procedure.
`Who would think that buying a few ships would require so much bureaucracy...`
In the end Doran placed an order for 200 warships, which will be ready in 8 moons. The time is longer than the prince would like but he cannot speed up the procedure. The war will most likely start before the ships are ready. The plus side is that the time it will take to build them gives them plenty of time to train the sailors who will sail on those ships.
The standard price for a warship is 10,000 golden dragons, so the total for all those ships increased to two million.
Doran had to suppress a grimace when he signed the contract, that's the most money he's spent at once in both lives. And more money than any House in Westeros makes in a year through taxes.
Currently the Sun Trade Company gives him a profit of 15,000 golden dragons per moon, that is, 210,000 golden dragons in a year.
If Doran had had to pay for the warships out of his pocket, he would have gone bankrupt, to tell the truth, he doesn't even have half that gold. At least not in cash, the prince invests most of his profits to grow his business or to finance new inventions.
That money comes from House Martell's coffers, and if it weren't for how much House Martell's profits have increased in recent years, that expense would have depleted their treasure.
Fortunately that amount is only half the gold of their treasure. Still an important amount but House Martell will not be bankrupt anytime soon.
`Given that all House Yronwood properties will end up in our hands this is not such a significant blow. Also, if the war expenses turn out to be too much we can turn to the gold of the Iron Bank`
After finishing his business Doran left Braavos, Kael invited him to several parties but he had to decline. The prince is in a hurry to return to Dorne.
He has several projects that he wants to start before resuming his Tour. Projects that would be vital to the war.
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