POV: Tycho Nestoris
Never Winter Bank.
Immediately after dozens of gazes began to scan with suspicion and envy a twelve-year-old clad in dazzling new armour fresh from the forge...
'Damn...! This situation has turned all the tables.' The Director was undecided about the new political/economic condition of the North.
He did not know whether to assess the shocking new revelations as possible opportunities to stay alive and reassert his hierarchical position, snatching an excellent deal with House Bolton and House Stark, or see them as a disproportionate threat to the institution to which he had sworn eternal loyalty...
In Tycho's eyes, Barbrey Mormont had just hoisted herself into the top twenty most powerful and influential individuals in the Known World.
The icy Spice Queen had moved with cunning, invisibility and celerity...
'Barrowton fooled us like a sock! All the financial, military manoeuvres, information and Lady Barbrey's past of the last four years were just to throw us off!'
The thought that the Iron Bank had, in fact, granted a sizable loan of nearly a million gold dragons to help finance one of their possible competitors was an affront that could have stirred more than two-thirds of the council to declare war on Barrowton.
But after the latest certified truths, declaring war on Lady Barbrey meant declaring war on the whole of the North and a good part of the Kingdoms who would have wanted to gain Gauntlgrym's favours and benefits.
Probably no one in that room, apart from the Great Players, could yet figure out who or what really controlled Gauntlgrym. This metal-producing seat would revolutionise the Known World and locate in the middle of the lands belonging to House Mormont and House Tallhart...
How many among those thousands of spectators wondered:
[House Stark and House Bolton hold a monopoly in the rights to sell weapons and armour, but who has the monopoly on Damascus steel? Who does Gauntlgrym belong to?]
There were so many market slices and applications on which Damascus could be directed that one was spoilt for choice...
Armoured doors, architectural beams, horseshoes, furniture, safes, coffers, jewellery, hammers, picks, ploughs, chains, precision instruments, prisons and many... many other possible products.
The thought that most troubled Tycho was:
'Could the Damascus steel of Mott and the twelve apparent Forgemasters recreate basic arcane conductors for magical objects?' There were very few known ingredients with such properties. And the rarest and most sought after were: Dragon bone and scales, Phoenix feathers, Tree of Life wood, Acromantula silk, and of course... Valyrian steel.
There were hundreds of other ingredients of excellent quality, such as Giant's bones, hair of the Sons of Life, Basilisk skin, Viperna's or Leviathan's bones, and many more. Still, none of them could rank up to the quality of the three divine Legendary creatures, except for Valyrian Steel, the only known artificially synthesised magical ingredient.
A conductor capable of supporting indefinite amounts of magic, the most powerful form of energy in the World.
Legend has it that a Valyrian blacksmith follower of R'hllor of humble origins named Azor Ahai invented the formula for Dragon Steel.
The legendary hero recreated the one ingredient that could support all the divine power needed to bring down the hordes of the God Estranged.
No one knew the location or confirmation of the Lightbringer's existence.
According to Magician culture, the enchanted sword possessed power on par with the Three Great Gifts of Genesis: the Phoenix Song, the Starry Gem, and the Chalice of Life...
One of the reasons why the Iron Bank preferred to keep as many of Valyria's steel weapons as possible in their crypts and limit the production of new swords was because of the Valgudryel lineage.
House Targaryen was an ancient magical dynasty of the Sons of Fire. One of the few bloodlines to possess the rare gift of Divine Divination...
One Targaryen in a thousand was born with this peculiar gift. Daeny the Dreamer saved the dynasty of the Three-Headed Dragon from the Doom of Valyria by dreaming up the cataclysm a hundred years before it wiped out the lineage of the Sons of Fire...
But only a handful of individuals knew the Prophecy of Rheyna Targaryen, 'The Forger of Heroes', the only direct descendant of the first Guardian of Love.
Even the Director General did not know much about it; information about Rheyna Targaryen was segregated at the highest levels and was currently possessed by only two individuals in all of Braavos: the President of the Bank, Ultherro Zorays, and the Sect Leader of the House of Black and White, the Kind Man.
What Tycho and the remaining members of the Council knew was that there was a real possibility that the Lightbringer was an Artifact with ethereal-sophic properties, that is, that Azor Ahai's legacy was possibly sealed in Dragon Steel, and that one day the power of the Lightbringer could be resurrected in any of the existing swords of Valyria.
That is to say, the organisation in possession of the most Valyrian Steel weapons had the best chance of getting their hands on one of the most powerful Artifacts in the World...
Tycho turned his head slightly to look for the face of The King in The Yellow and The Old Man of Oldtown... It was as he feared.
The look of the two of the greatest Arcanists was enough to tell him. The Tallharts had found a worthy substitute for an artificial magical conductor.
Now the First Men, the Mage Confederation and the Spider Queen's Organisation would have unlimited supplies to reproduce dangerous weapons, armour and magical resources!
The Titan could not face the armies of the magicians armed with equipment superiority. Nor did the lord of Oldtown seem so eager to face the armies of the First Men and the Nine Demons, fully armoured and armed with Damascus steel in the field...
The Age of Obsidian, Bronze, Iron, and Steel had passed.
The Age of Andal supremacy was coming to an end... and if the Titan wanted to maintain its supremacy, it would inevitably have to go with the flow of change.
'The Iron Bank 'Must' at all costs replenish itself with Damascus Steel!' The solutions to this enormous problem always turned to that one bitter choice.
Ronan had lured him into his web. As a result, all House Mormont and Bolton members could not be dealt with by the Faceless Men, and now Lady Barbrey was virtually immune to any political or economic pressure from the continent...
War was an option, of course, but it took time... It would take months to gather all the hundred and fifty thousand swords, the dozens of wandering sorcerers in their pay, and their fleet of three thousand ships scattered across the globe.
In that time, the two hundred blacksmiths in Gauntlgrym would have churned out hundreds of tons of swords, arrows and armour fresh from the forge...
The defences in the Silk Road were far too solid. The Titan or the High Tower could not have conquered Gauntlgrym without revealing their true strength to the world. Nor could they intervene so radically without just cause.
House Baratheon, Arryn and Tully could have sided with their allies...
It would have taken at least five, if not ten, generations to erase an event of such proportions from history.
Anonymity and the illusion of power were the keys to controlling the masses...
Peeling back the veil of conventional false beliefs that kept Lords, Princes and Kings silent, predictable and manipulable were detrimental to business.
Tycho looked for the greatest threat to the Iron Bank within the hall and found it.
'This whole show is your doing, Bloody Snow?!
How long have you been planning this...? Wait...' Tycho wondered inwardly, scrutinising the twelve-year-old with a cold mind.
Lightning struck and illuminated Nestoris' hard-working brain at the exact instant he witnessed the scene of a boy from the North and an elderly lady from the Reach arguing with each other, bringing the bank official's mind back to an episode that occurred almost seven years ago...
'Damn you!... The loan payment clause between Highgarden and Torrhen's Square!!!'
In that damned agreement signed and sealed by Bloody Snow and The Queen of Thorns in the presence of Tycho, hidden among the dozens of contract pages, there was a small note, which escaped the Braavosian's attention at the time, that drained House Tallhart's gold reserves held and managed by the Iron Bank for the past five years.
Six hundred eighty thousand four hundred gold loan dragons repaid entirely through bank payments...
No... this could not have been a coincidence. It would all have made sense if House Tallhart had planned to create a private banking institution from the outset.
The procuring gaze of gold and numbers called upon all the wealthiest and most prosperous lords of the North of the last decade, associating them with their most profitable trades and the net profit of each household.
[Lord Rickard Karstark]:
-Monopoly on the Karstark Pelts and Leather trade.
-Minimum annual net profit: 420,000 gold dragons.
[Lord Wyman Manderly]:
-Monopoly on the trade in Toilet Paper and Water-Sewer Construction Manderly.
-Minimum annual net profit: 550,000 gold dragoons.
[Lord Galbart Glover]:
-Monopoly on the writing paper trade and Semi-monopoly on the publishing and printing books.
Minimum annual net profit: 360,000 gold dragoons.
[Lord Jon Umber]:
-Monopoly on the Vodka and Whisky trade.
Minimum annual net profit: 800,000 gold dragoons.
Tycho scrutinised every Northern nobleman within range with business or sums similar to the first mentioned.
It was difficult to assess and recalculate the new Lord of Barrowton's profit forecast considering all of Lady Barbrey's ongoing business and the inaccurate estimate of the glass trade, but... roughly that amount could not be less than 2,000,000.
However, Tycho's brain nearly overheated when he shifted his gaze to the Master and Protector of Torrhen's Square...
[Ser Helman Tallhart]:
-Direct monopoly on the trade of Soap, Fertilisers, Agricultural implements, Ships, Gin, Taylish... etc.
-Rights and corporate interests in Northern Network, Karstark Pelt and Leather, Umber Alcohol, Glover Paper and Books, Ryswell Horses and Transport, Mormont Salt and Glass, Manderly Toilet Paper, Tyrell Perfumes, Cerwyn Grain and Livestock, Flint Wool and Clothing, Hornwood Stoves and Heaters... etc.
The endless list reported only the declared and legitimate business of Torrhen's Square... Possible and probable gains from the black market were still unknown to the Iron Bank.
A conservative minimum estimate could not be less than '5,000,000' gold dragons a year profit.
Although the Titan was in business with almost all the Great Houses of the North, little more than 0.2 % of all that gold was kept in the coffers of the Iron Bank; a symbolic, deceptive and derisory sum...
The Norse demanded that most of the payments due from Braavos be sent safely to White Arbor or Karhold Mouth.
One of the most coveted production goals, which would have guaranteed any Bank official a great reward and bonus prize, was to convince one or more of the wealthy Northern Houses to bring at least a fifth of their gold into the hands of the Bank...
But that goal was now simply unattainable under the circumstances.
And now, the Director also explained 'why' the Queen of Thorns had forced her son Mace to withdraw more than half of the 6,000,000 gold coins stored in the private vault of House Tyrell.
It was likely that Lady Olenna had long been aware, or at least had sensed before anyone else, the possible suspicious financial manoeuvres of House Tallhart...
The seed had been sown and watered since before the day of those two fateful signatures, and what was most disconcerting... was that a devilish mind of barely five years had been planning from the beginning on 'where', 'when' and 'how' to germinate the plant!!!
'That little Demon Bastard is a more unpredictable menace than The Watcher!!!' decreed the bravoosian with an inner roar.
Damascus Steel or not, it was imperative that Duncan Tallhart had to die...
The real mastermind behind all these constant, gargantuan issues had to be eradicated as soon as possible; otherwise, sooner or later, more 'Colossal Catastrophes' would befall the World Order.
Tycho noticed the duo turn in one direction, and a familiar voice came again, catching the audience's attention.
This time, Lady Barbrey elevated herself ten feet above the vast, gold-veined marble staircase so that all could see her.
"Your Majesties, my Lords, my Ladies, Barrowton's guests and friends from the North... I know I have entertained you far too much with speeches and introductions, but I again invoke your patience and leniency, my Lords... I have but one last great announcement to make to you all." Promulgated the icy Spice Queen.
'It is time... Our Competing Enemy is about to announce himself to the World.' It was simple logic. The Master Puppeteers had amply captured the audience's attention with breathtaking spectacles and performances. Now all that remained was to show the final act of the Great Spectacle...
"Leaving the seat of Barrowton in the hands of my husband Jorah and House Mormont was one of the hardest choices I have ever made... Don't get me wrong, milords. I love my Jorah, and I am confident he will be the best replacement the Barrowlands and the North could hope for.
It is not easy for a woman to make her way in a patriarchal society in which, until a few centuries before, men of noble birth even had the right of First Night... I know well that in the thoughts of some of the women here among you today, hidden under false smiles and manners that our society imposes on us, lurks a disappointment at my choice...
Some of you even found the courage to voice those thoughts by asking me, 'Why'?
'Why, Lady Barbrey, do you want to leave all the power and influence you have won in the hands of a man that rightfully belongs to you? You were an idol to me... To all of us..." Barbrey lowered her gaze slightly to the ground for a few moments before breaking the brief pause with:
"I address that woman, and all women of noble birth or not, rich or poor!
I have chosen this path because I have not yet conquered anything! And nothing in Barrowton really belongs to me!'
...After the death of my first husband, Lord William, I inherited the seat of House Dustin not by the law of men, but by a Woman... 'The Good Queen' Alysanne Targaryen! The Queen who fought the patriarchal injustices of the Seven Kingdoms for decades...
She who drafted and persuaded King Jaehaerys I to sign the 'Widow's Law' decree, the law that granted me and thousands of widowed ladies rights, justice and inheritance!"
Tycho noticed that many ladies, handmaids or servants were increasingly trying to approach the front rows. He also sensed a few quiet whispers of agreement from many young women, too shy or frightened by the outraged men who were visibly displeased with Barbrey's words.
"This is why I chose to leave the seat built by men and made 'for men' and invest my talents, experiences, skills acquired over the years, and commitment to something different... Something of my own.
Something that could inspire women who do not want to be just remembered as mere instruments of reproduction or property of their husbands to get involved and take the first step towards a different path...
A path considered by our society to be accessible only to men.
All of you, my lords and 'ladies', currently reside within my path... of my dream." Hundreds of male and female individuals looked around, admiring the massive hall with more criticality and attention to detail...
"Gauntlgrym is the iron arm of the Silk Road, but the beating heart of this commercial street is this structure," Barbrey gave her audience a few seconds to peer around and better admire the building, and then she continued:
"Today, before you all, I declare the birth of the First Great Northern Banking Institution!"
Dozens of valets untied ropes or pulled strings, dropping masked curtains in curtains and decorative tapestries, showing what lay beneath...
Various inscriptions carved in marble and stone with dark steel letters appeared on all sides of the hall. Hundreds of mechanical torch braziers lit up in unison in one great wave of fire so that all the shadowy areas of the vast man-made cave were visible...
Peculiar natural veins in the rock carved into the mountain shone and reflected a red and orange glow.
Tycho widened his eyes, crinkling them with his fingers to ensure his vision didn't deceive him.
'But... those... Are those silver veins! No... the metal is too light.
That's not silver... it's Platinum!
May the Many-Faced Gods show mercy and protect Braavos...
A bank built in the heart of a platinum mine. One of the most precious metals on the world market!' Thought Tycho with alarm, not wanting to believe what he was witnessing.
Currently, the Crown Mint could exchange one ounce of pure Platinum in Westeros for fifteen gold dragons*.
It was no secret that the northern lands were vast and full of new resources.
The biggest problem that prevented the lords of those lands and the resource hunters from exploring and mining the vast northern moors was the frost... House Bolton was a prime example.
There were dozens of iron, tin and copper mines in the Hills of Solitude.
However, House Bolton, over the millennia, never managed to extract any appreciable profit from those treasures; simply because of the cost in lives, labour and resources that mining required.
The small mountain in which the headquarters resided seemed to have been artificially carved deep. And all the construction work must have been carried out in the middle of Winter...
Nestoris had no idea how much Blood, Gold and Tribulation House Tallhart and Dustin might have invested in this project.
'A million? Two? Maybe even three...' the Braavosian now had a clear idea of what Lady Barbrey had invested the four million gold coins in loans required by all the lending institutions in Essos.
The Iron Bank had literally financed one of its most dangerous future competitors!
Barbrey Mormont cruelly waited for all her enemies and future allies to stew in their nefarious and evaluative thoughts.
And finally, the wicked witch proclaimed:
"Here in the mountain... erected in the heart of a platinum mine, I welcome you all to the most imposing, inaccessible and secure fortress in the North!
... {The Never Winter Bank!}"
***
End Chapter.
--------------------------
*[Author's note:
The value between respective precious metals of Westeros.
1 gr Pt= 5 gr Au
1 gr Au= 90 gr Ag
1 gr Ag= 7 gr Cu
1 gr Cu= about 3 gr Fe
Common Forge Steel is worth at least four times the value of Iron (depending on quality).
One ounce= 28.35 gr.
A Gold Dragon weighs 1/3 ounce in Au (1 Gold Dragon= 30 Silver Moon).
A Silver Moon weighs 1 ounce of Ag (1 Silver Moon= 7 Silver Stag).
A Silver Stag weighs 1/7 ounce of Ag (1 Silver Stag = 7 Copper Stars).
A Copper Star weighs 1/7 of an ounce of Cu (1 Copper Star = 8 Pennies).
A Pennies weighs 1/14 of an ounce (low alloy mixture of tin and Iron).
I remind everyone that 'indicatively' the purchasing power of a Penny is around $0.75.
****
Little tidbit for economy-fantasy nerd readers like me... (I may be the only one on planet earth, but who knows!).
Based on these estimates, I can calculate roughly how much House Frey paid in dowry to Roose Bolton for his marriage to "Fat" Walda Frey.
Assuming Walda to be a class III obese person, I estimate the weight to be around 130 kg (270 lbs)
The dowry was the bride's weight in Silver, so.
1 gr Ag= about 10.4 $
Walda= 130,000 g x 10.4= $1,352,000.
Honestly, Roose, I'm a little disappointed....
If it's just a matter of mere bargain, considering that Walda eats for three people, and that in the North in the middle of winter wheat is worth almost as much as gold, it doesn't sound like the 'Bargain of the Century' to me. ]
Forgive the delay in publication, dear readers...
As a modest gesture of apology, a double publication!
Happy Reading!
*****
POV: Barbrey
Never Winter Bank.
About a minute after the name of a new institution was announced to the world...
Pyrotechnics erupted the instant after the announcement.
A few drops of Wildfire and coloured firework powders created a magnificent spectacle throughout the hall.
One hundred stone cauldrons lit up simultaneously, creating green and silver light shows. The monumental candelabra in the centre dominated the firework of lights with a small red and white sun.
It was a small birthday present from Barbrey for her partner.
The candelabra began to sprinkle flakes of soft silvery faux ash, like bright white snow...
Barbrey sought out the birthday boy's gaze, and he fixed it, bowing his head with a slight smile of thanks. A smile that the lady returned.
Then... both gazes became more serious.
'The moment of truth... at least 100,000,000.' Barbrey thought with slight anxiety mixed with shivers of excitement.
{Hundred Million Gold Coins} was the minimum sum the Never Winter Bank had to be able to raise to stand a chance of competing against the furious, rich and ruthless Titan...
At the time, the Platinum veins shown were nothing more than a stage trick.
A compelling visual means belting the Bank of Braavos founded inside an Iron Mine.
In fact, the precious metal, yes, was present in the mountain, but the mine was not yet profitable enough to be called such. The mountain was certainly not Casterly Rock.
The chief miner and many other experts in the field estimated, in the rosiest prospect, a thousandth the amount of platinum compared to the overflowing golden rock found by the ancestors of House Casterly and Lannister.
On top of that, the rock was tremendously hard to work, and mineral veins were scarce. So even digging at total capacity, the Never Winter Bank was unlikely to make more than 8,000 gold dragons a month...
A relatively paltry sum compared to the Bank's exorbitant needs.
The North needed urgent liquidity to meet all the hyper-expansionist challenges the First Men would face in the next three years.
And Braavos was not going to sit idly by - no.
The Iron Bank would certainly have aggressively attacked the Never Winter Bank on all fronts.
Oldtown held the first place of war superiority in the Known World, but not even the combined resources of the Second, Third and Fourth World Organisations could rival the mammoth stockpile of gold and riches crammed into the Titan's coffers.
The Trade sector was Braavos' favourite battlefield, and no one had so far managed to wrest any notable victories against the World's Greatest Economic Super-Power...
Ronan estimated at least 1,500,000,000 gold coins in funds-deposits, and at least 700,000,000 shares. And that was the estimate for the mere liquid coinage available to the Council of Braavos...
Between: magical artefacts, Valyrian steel, mana stones, jewellery, precious stones, unknown treasures, real estate, ships, and holdings in a variety of business sectors, crammed and well guarded in only the Old Gods knew which remote corners of the world, the Iron Bank boasted total assets worth between 4 and 5,000,000,000 gold coins (approximately $ 40,000,000,000,000).
The Fourth World Organisation did not even hold a tenth of the assets. Yet, the Spider Queen had chosen to invest 30,000,000 gold coins in the Never Winter Bank, risking almost a third of the organisation's liquidity in the Bloody Snow & The Frosty Spice Queen project.
The investment agreed upon the year before saw 'only' 10,000,000 golden coins. Still, both The Watcher and the Spider Queen had not taken particularly kindly to the Titan's rudeness in moving against Zick's young heir immediately after the end of the protection period.
In response, Madame Zishua had not only tripled her investment but had also pulled several strings and called in several favours to get many of The Watcher's 'friends' to change their trusted financial institution and move their gold to a more promising Bank...
Almost half of those famous 41 million, taken from the Iron Bank in the last few months, belonged to the hundreds of wealthy merchants, warlords, nobles and heirs of Essos who owed one or more favours to the Fourth Organisation.
This was one of the peculiarities that elevated the body loyal to the Guardian of Love's preservation and devoted to the Spider Queen's commands to the pinnacle of world powers...
All that wealth, those resources, but most of all, that War Power hidden in great secrecy in every corner of the Known World had not been combined to create empires or legacies to be passed on.
The faithful followers of The Watcher had nothing of their own to lose, only a perpetual enormous debt to repay...
The most feared among them, the Nine Demons, would not weigh the pros and cons of a possible war against their benefactor's enemies. Whoever they were: Men, Kings or Gods...
The Nine Demons would have simply answered the call, gathered their weapons, invested whatever resources they possessed for the purpose, and marched to the end into the darkest confines of the Abyss with their predatory eyes turned towards their target and a smile on their lips...
This is why the Titan and the High Tower were reluctant to move to eradicate one of the greatest anomalies in human history.
{Why march against a mighty enemy with nothing to lose when the simple passage of time would dissolve the anomaly in a few decades for them?}
The natural death of the Guardian of Love was one of the most anticipated and, for others, most feared events in the World.
The Fourth World Organisation would be extinguished along with The Watcher's flame, and the looters would inevitably pounce on the enormous power vacuum left behind...
Unless someone picked up Zick's true legacy and managed to provide those thousands of men and women united by a single glue with another purpose to look forward to...
An almost impossible feat...
The Spider Queen Organisation was, perhaps, the most complex and intricate organism ever devised by man.
Each organ was different from the others, and almost all were composed of hundreds of widely separated and incompatible organisational tissues or cells...
The members belonging were not mere subjects of a kingdom, followers of creed or tradition... No.
There even existed adherents with eternal and unresolvable grudges between them that not even the Spider Queen could control with her web and prevent them from mortally slaughtering each other, but which only The Watcher could make coexist sometimes even collaborate.
Barbrey looked at her friend-dreamer and hopeful benefactor...
The new World Menace who, in all likelihood, was becoming more and more adverse to Braavos, Oldtown and all the remaining malevolent minor forces at the Guardian of Love.
The individual who both Barbrey and Zick believed could succeed in that impossible feat...
The one who would bring, not only to the North but to all the domains of man, a more remarkable and more revolutionary anomaly than The Watcher himself, and who would soon become the 'Number One' target of the most dangerous individuals and entities in this World...
'I must watch that suicidal mad boy's back. I must at least defend him from the Titan... I cannot fail.' She thought instinctively, throwing avalanches of coal and rivers of oil over her feeble and insecure inner flame, thus generating a fiery glow that dispelled any doubts or insecurities.
"The Never Winter Bank will welcome with open arms any honourable and industrious individual, lineage, institution, society, city or kingdom in Westeros or Essos seeking financial or monetary aid!
Any noble or peasant seeking credit, security, assistance, bureaucratic facilitation, business advice or guarantee support will always be welcome and welcomed by me or one of the six hundred and twelve bright, helpful and knowledgeable business officers of this great and new institution!" The army of mathematicians began to make its debut.
Hundreds of accountants of both genders, wearing the same uniform and an identical notebook, arranged themselves in neat rows at the base of the staircase in hierarchical order.
Only the master accountants and senior managers took their places on the lowest ladder rungs below the Managing Director in command.
The spectators seemed rather impressed by the parade. Especially Nestoris...
With over six hundred educated trade officials, he was an official body that no Master of Coin in Westeros had ever managed to set up for the Crown.
Less than one per cent of the continent's population could barely read and write. Basic arithmetic was one of the few skills the populace was forced to learn to not be swindled by the richer, more educated merchants.
This was the invisible poison of the Citadel... Only noble blood and the rich could afford the services of the Maesters, the Keepers of Knowledge.
If the populace had wished to learn, they would have been forced to seek the permission and help of their feudal lord, with the benefit of a maester in their manor, or turn to Oldtown...
Not even the King of the Seven Kingdoms would have gathered several such individuals educated in the science of numbers and trade with trivialities.
"Allow me to introduce the Right Arm of the Never Winter Bank.
One of the brightest and most promising minds the North has ever known!
A young man who has had the honour of learning in the field with the best trading masters in Braavos, spending more than three years in the service of the renowned and respected Iron Bank...
The former Chief Treasury Delegate, Head of Trade of Torrhen's Square, and current General Manager of the Never Winter Bank... Ronan of House Atreides!"
A young man in his early twenties, clad in full black ceremonial silk robes adorned with platinum trimmings, descended the steps, positioning himself one step down to Barbrey's right.
Ronan Atreides respectfully bow to the audience, uttering no words but expressing all his confidence with his gaze and bearing.
Barbrey could not help but enjoy the brief moment of astonishment, rancour and jealousy that the eyes of the boy's former Master Trainee expressed in that instant.
"But even the best Mind in the world needs a vigorous Body to protect it.
Therefore, let us give a second welcome to the steadfast left arm of this new institution...
From the distant lands of IB Nor, the current Commander-in-Chief of the Company of the Rose!
One of the last descendants of Beris Stark, cousin of the last King in the North, Torrhen Stark, and
current New Executive Chief of Security and Trade for Foreign Affairs of the Never Winter Bank...Commander Cregan Ilayx Winter!"
A second man made his entrance, but unlike the first, he was twice as old, a much stockier and taller build, and was lined in steel, fur and leather of the highest quality the Bank of the North could offer as a gift.
It only took one glance to realise that this individual had been hardened by countless battles and that the rank of Commander-in-Chief had not been inherited by mere descent but earned by sweat, blood and steel...
Cregan bore a fair resemblance to Brandon Stark, with the same hair, a similar square jaw and a wild yet martial bearing that only an actual Alpha Wolf could display. However... 'the look'... That look was much sharper and more ruthless.
Those were the eyes of a man in perpetual contact with death and suffering.
The various scars on his face decorated the pale, hard skin almost artistically, marking the seriousness of the northern man.
It had not been easy to gain favour and cooperation with the Company of the Rose.
It took more than a year, dozens of messenger delegates, various gifts and gestures of friendship to achieve just one face-to-face meeting with Cregan Ilayx Winter.
A meeting that Barbrey was forced to take part in great secrecy in Sisterton...
The exiled descendants of Torrhen Stark vowed never to set foot on their homeland again until the North was once again the independent kingdom it once was, and the Old Crown of Iron and Bronze was once more worn by the Kings of Winter...
The members belonging to that Sellswords were no ordinary mercenaries.
Over the centuries, the Titan had signed hundreds of Iron contracts with almost every sellswords from Tyrosh down to Qarth, always keeping some captain, lieutenant or officer in each Company in reserve in case the current commanders-in-chief chose not to honour the agreement...
Should the need arise, Braavos could even force even the Golden Company, a company famous for its loyalty, to never break a contractual agreement, to dissolve minor contracts and benefit exclusively from their services.
History recalls Aegon Rivers, known as Bittersteel as the founder of the centuries-old Company, but few know where and at what price the bastard of Aegon IV had found the funds and resources to set it up from nothing.
Golden Company, Second Sons, Company of the Cat, the Stormcrows, Gallant Men, Long Lances, Jolly Fellows, Iron Shields, Windblown, Bright Banners, and so many others, too many to name... Almost all the major and minor sellswords in Central Essos were secretly in the grasp of the Iron Bank.
Only one major company, outside the control of the High Tower, Carcosa or the Spider Queen, continued to resist the insistent enticements, offers and manoeuvres of control of the First Four World Organisations... The Company of the Rose.
Five thousand swords and pikes, one thousand heavy knights, two thousand light knights, and two thousand archers and crossbowmen tempered mainly by perpetual skirmishes against Khalasar Dothraki, marauders and pirates. Loyal mercenaries in the service of one grand island that, three centuries earlier, welcomed and provided shelter to the exiled First Men in their time of need...
To wrest from the hands of IB and New Ibbis, their strongest and most trusted militia had not been an easy achievement, nor had it been achieved on the cheap...
Barrowton and Torrhen's Square had bestowed various facilities and trade agreements with the Ibbenese. Moreover, the Never Winter Bank had promised the IB Council the funds and resources to double the numbers of the Company of the Rose so as not to deprive them of their trusted militia...
As for convincing the Commanders and officers-in-chief of the company itself... well, it had been a different kettle of fish.
Mountains of gold, inexhaustible stockpiles of Karstark leather, thousands of Ryswell stallions and war mares, shares in the Never Winter Bank, and even Damascus Steel... nothing seemed enough to move the 'Honourable-Testardness' of the officers of the Rose Company one inch.
The not-yet-official 'Green Council' was even forced to reveal a few hands earlier than expected.
Lady Barbrey's latest offer disarmed the immovable distant descendants of the Starks...
The Administrator of the Never Winter Bank glanced at her trusty new shield, recalling the climax of that arduous and exhausting negotiation.
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End Chapter.
*****