21

Chapter 21: Interlude: Corlys INotes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

"Seventy-nine years of age, he had sailed to the ends of the earth, raised House Velaryon to unprecedented levels of wealth and power, married a princess who might have been a queen, fathered dragonriders, built towns and fleets, proved his valor in times of war and his wisdom in times of peace. The Seven Kingdoms would never see his like again."

-Lady Laena Velaryon, the Skydancer, at her father Corlys' funeral

105 AC, Corlys' Office, High Tide

Corlys Velaryon was no stranger to new and fascinating things. His nine voyages throughout the known world had acquired him great wealth and fortune, propelling House Velaryon beyond even House Lannister or House Hightower. But it was not the profits he made, but the thrill of an adventure that drove him to further and more exotic lands.

He loved the thrill of discovering the unknown and filling in the corners of a map. By the time he was ten, he had visited every single city and port in Westeros. He had seen the seat of Targaryen power in King's Landing, the great bastion of learning and worship that was Oldtown, the splendour of Lannisport, the oldest existing Andal buildings in Gulltown, the unique mix of Faith of the Seven and Old Gods in White Harbour, the dour and cutthroat driftwood buildings of Lordsport, the beautiful pink walls of Maidenpool and the sapphire waters of Tarth.

By age fifteen, he had visited every inch of Westeros and every Free City, witnessing the strange Rhoynish architecture of Sunspear, the Iron Bank of Braavos, Black Walls of Volantis, the lovely beaches of Lys, the great engineering of Myr, the snail dyeworks of Tyrosh, the mazes of Lorath, the Three Bells of Norvos and the great foundries of Qohor. He saw the screaming caves of Hardhome, and even the frozen seas in the Lands of Always Winter, far beyond the Wall. That trip was also the time he first visited the Shivering Sea, seeing the great glaciers that roamed it. They stopped by Ibben and he had been entranced by the sight of the great hairy Ibbenesse. An entire other species of people.

That was when he decided that he would explore every inch of the map, to go to places where no other man had ever seen. So he designed a great vessel, one worthy of ferrying him to the ends of the world and back. He had dredged out old plans for the Sun Chaser left in Dragonstone's library, improved upon the design based on innovations he had seen in the Free Cities, before having the ship constructed of the finest materials at great cost. It nearly beggared him doing so, but it was worth every copper in his eyes.

The first voyage took him as east as he could sail, passing even the Jade Gates of Qarth and into the oriental Yi-Ti. And what a strange land that was! Not even the most experienced translator there could speak the Common Tongue, so he was forced to communicate solely in High Valyrian. Then they went to Leng, where he had to find a local translator whom could speak the Yi-Ti tongue, and yet another translator to translate his High Valyrian into said tongue. But it was worth it, oh so worth it.

The fortune of spices, tea, jade and other exotics he brought home were enough to pay off his debts building the Sea Snake, as well as hire the crew for his next voyage. He went east again, this time taking the southern route. Through the Basilik isles and beyond, to Asshai.

He recognised one of the ships on the harbour, for it was of the exact same construction as the Sea Snake. Older and more weathered, but it was definitely Sun Chaser. He had managed to get an audience with the captain, Elissa Farmen herself. Old and grizzled, she was pleased to see a young sailor from home whom admired her and wished to follow in her footsteps. To think that she was correct, and that the world was a round ball!

That was the first time he fell in love. He didn't care that she was a woman near thirty years older than him, he spent days listening to her recall her travels around the world, journeying through lands he had never even heard off, sailing continuously west for so long that it became east. To think that there was a great continent easily three times the size of Essos on the other side of the Sunset Sea! And yet even more beyond that! Not just one, but three continents beyond the Sunset Sea. It took her fourteen years, but she had sailed and sailed, until she reached the Jade Sea and Asshai.

Corlys had immediately pledged to escort her back in triumph to Westeros, to prove to everyone that she was right.

Alas, winter beat them to Westeros, and the Sun Chaser sank into the Summer Sea, his love Elissa choosing to go down with the ship that had been her home for over a dozen years. He was the only Westerosi sailor to make it home from that voyage, attrition had killed half his original crew, and the storm that sunk Sun Chaser took the rest.

While his hold full of jewels, silks and spices swelled Velaryon coffers threefold, his most valued possession from that voyage was a single battered plank from Sun Chaser, and a map of the lands travelled by Sun Chaser, one of its kind, inked by Elissa Farman's cartographers, covering nearly two-thirds of the globe. Corlys had been too grief-stricken to recount the voyage, and by the time he managed to tell his tale to the maesters, the grey rats declared that he must have lost his mind at sea, to concoct such a fantastical tale, and didn't believe Elissa's map.

His fury to prove them wrong was what motivated his next voyage, where he tried to follow Elissa's route eastwards. While he reached the eastern coast of Essos, he proved unable to cross the Jade Sea and had to turn tail. He followed that up by going southeast next, hoping that warmer waters would prove better. He went further south than anyone had ever before, reaching Sothoryos and going down it's western coast, but eventually was forced to return. His next voyage took him down the eastern coast of Sothoryos. The one after that tried the eastwards route once again, reaching Ulthos, the furthest any Westerosi sailor apart from Elissa had ever went.

His seventh voyage went north, beyond the Shivering Sea, hoping to cheat by going through the top of the world to the other side, but he was unable to pass through the frozen seas. Still, doubling back to Ibben allowed him to recoup his losses in trade goods. His eighth voyage brought him back to Ulthos, but he was unable to pass. His ninth voyage was made at the behest of the maesters, whom in exchange for sailing them around the entire continent of Essos, would lean on the lords and ladies of the Seven Kingdoms to attempt a great expedition west. So he did it, taking a dozen grey robes northeast, past the Shivering Sea and Mussovy, until they reached Essos' eastern coast, down south until they reached Yi-Ti and the Jade Sea, circling around to Qarth before heading home.

Five of the twelve maesters had survived the voyage, and Maester Mathis, one of the five, wrote a great book about his voyages, though he omitted Elissa Farman from it, still believing that Corlys had lost his mind. By then, Corlys was a very rich man from all his travels and trading, with enough money to fund his much desired expedition west. Unfortunately, his grandfather Corwyn passed away, and he became Lord of Driftmark, and a sense of duty forced him to settle down and marry, to continue on his lineage.

His years at sea had jaded him into thinking that he could no longer be surprised, for he had seen far more than any man or woman alive. And yet, Rhaenyra had done the impossible. She had surprised him. To think that everything he ever wanted was right under his nose this entire time, at a tiny island a day's sail away from Driftmark.

He had laughed and laughed and laughed until he cried, unable to believe the prize before him. The Fifty Encyclopaedias of Valyria, written by Dragonlord Traemaeryes Belarys. Every single scrap of Valyrian knowledge, complied into fifty books. Including one Encyclopaedia of the Planet, which contained a great map of the entire world, every corner filled in and without blanks. A entire description of the peoples and lands of every continent. To think that the world was so large that Westeros and Essos were only in the upper third of the ball.

He never realised that the Valyrians had explored the entire world, but it was obvious in hindsight. For five thousand years, they were the preeminent technological, magical and military power in the world. They had plenty of time and dragons to scout out every single corner of the map, though they seemed content with hoarding the knowledge, instead of spreading it to the rest of the world or even outside their peninsula.

And what knowledge that was.

The Encyclopaedia on Agriculture was amazing. To think that Valyrians could increase a farm's yield by nearly a hundredfold with the right preparations.

While they had none of the Valyrian's 'genetically modified crops', whatever those were, and couldn't lay down wards to repel rot, insects and vermin, or encase the fields in a bubble of accelerated time, there were other lesser options that could improve crop yield. There was the plough, to till the earth and rejuvenate it. Crop rotations, which allowed even fallow and weak soil to produce bumper crops every year. And alchemically infusing the soil with potions to yield better crops, what they called fertilising.

Already, the current harvest was looking promising, despite it only being the first time such methods were attempted. It had taken quite a bit of cajoling and bribing, but the farmers of Dragonstone and Driftmark agreed to at least try the new methods with greater or lesser enthusiasm. Even should the harvests fail, Viserys had made promises with the Reach to secure the necessary food to feed the two islands, which helped reassure many.

And their leap of faith was rewarded, with the current harvest being on average threefold their usual.

A flap of wings shook him out of his thoughts. He looked up and saw a pair of dragons moving to land in the field he set aside outside his castle specifically for that purpose. Silverwing and Vhagar. His daughter had brought the girl he wanted to see.

———

105 AC, Corlys' Office, High Tide

Rhaenyra studied the bushels of wheat on the table, nodding to herself before looking up at High Tide's Maester Pate.

"And you can confirm that this is not a freak miracle?" His daughter's best friend asked with barely contained enthusiasm. "This is reproducible?"

"Most like, your grace." Maester Pate replied. "The Valyrian methods uncovered have worked unequivocally across all farms subjected to the treatment, on both Driftmark and Dragonstone. This seems highly unlikely to be a freak miracle."

"Understood. And you have gotten your colleagues to independently verify this, yes?" Rhaenyra pressed.

Smart girl. Corlys thought. Rhaenyra clearly knew how sceptical the grey rats could be. Getting multiple independent accounts was a good way to validate a great number of claims. Otherwise those hidebound dullards would rather pretend that all was fine, ignoring and dismissing the greatest discoveries of the century.

"Indeed, your grace." Maester Pate agreed. "Maester Timn on Dragonstone has already written a treatise on this. As has Maester Willis at Driftmark and Archmaester Vaegon. Between the four of us, I doubt that even the Citadel would dismiss our claims."

"Very well. And if all fails, I'll get the Lord Hand to put his stamp of approval on this and lean on the Citadel as well. You have done well, Maester Pate." Rhaenyra said, satisfied, Maester Pate bowing and heeding the dismissal.

Corlys waited until the door to his office closed before turning to face the crown princess.

"Tell me niece, what do you intend on doing with this knowledge? We agreed to performing this experiment to see if it worked, but now that it does, what's the next step?" Corlys asked Rhaenyra. The young girl nodded at the question, swirling her cup of iced water and taking a long sip before speaking.

"I intend on giving this knowledge out for free." She confessed. "I'd have the Citadel disseminate it throughout the Seven Kingdoms under my name, as a grand act of charity to the smallfolk farmers."

"Ah, I see. You'll also have them mention your name on the developments, no? That the crown princess discovered a new method to chase away starvation. Mayhaps also having the Faith back you up by praising your name to the masses." The Sea Snake nodded, understanding the ploy.

"Hmm, good idea. I didn't think of including the Faith on this. Thank you for the suggestion." The crown princess mused, hand on her chin contemplatively. "Yes. I'll have to come up with a suitable script, but I think that I can get the Faith to sing my praises."

"The North will be very appreciative of your gift. Autumn is nearly over. As the Starks like to say, Winter is Coming. This knowledge might very well be the difference between life and death for them."

"Dorne and the Iron Islands as well. If their crop yields increase, mayhaps they'll spend less time raiding and more time farming." A noise of amusement escaped her throat. "Mayhaps even Skagos, the Wildlings and the Hill Tribes should be made privy to this knowledge. Anything that keeps them from attacking our citizens."

"I would advise against that, niece. They're savages and will bite the hand that feeds them. All you'll do is give them full bellies and more bodies to bring to bear against us." Corlys replied. "But that is a thought for another time. I'd like to discuss something with you, niece."

"Certainly. I will always have time for family, Uncle Corlys. Please feel free to speak freely and frankly." Rhaenyra smiled, taking a drink of her water.

"What are your intentions towards my daughter?" Corlys asked, the Princess spraying out her drink in shock. He handed her a silk handkerchief to wipe herself dry, and eventually, his daughter's illicit lover looked up and met his eyes.

"Ah. There is the famous monster." He said, unruffled at the sheer coldness and ruthlessness contained within those pools of indigo so similar to her uncle Daemon's. "Aemma warned me about you. Said you killed Daemon with ease."

"Do you think yourself exempt from my plans?" The monster calmly asked. "I manipulated Daemon to his death. I can do the same to you."

"Lies. You didn't expect this conversation." The Sea Snake silkily replied. She was a good liar, arguably the best he had ever seen, and she was calm even when threatened by a man far older and larger than her. Too calm, in fact, which was what tipped him off to her unpreparedness. The calm was fake, and she was trying to present a cool front despite panicking internally.

Rhaenyra was silent for a long moment, which was confirmation of what he suspected.

"Now then, answer my question. What are your intentions to my daughter?" He asked again, watching as the perfect princess unravelled.

Notes:

Okay. I've got writer's block. This was a struggle to write. Can anyone please recommend me some good ASOIAF fics to read for inspiration? Focus on alternate history and rational decisions. I've read everything from CaekDaemon, Leonyra, Return of Valyria, Targaryen Ascendancy and a few others involving Rhaenys Targaryen surviving the Sack of King's Landing.