L6

Chapter 6: Braavos & Pentos

Created: 12.23.20 - 12.30.20, edited: 3.8.22

Circa 290 AC

By the end of the second day crossing the Narrow Sea towards Braavos, I was beyond bored just watching the seemingly never ending sea, and asked Tristifer if he wanted to spar on the deck, which quickly got more of our group involved. Soon we had a mini tournament of sorts, as everyone that wanted in, was matched against someone else in a single elimination style fight that got everyone's spirits back up. Luckily, our captain was well paid to transport us, and was fine with us having some fun as long as it didn't endanger the ship or crew.

With good winds he had originally estimated a five day trip, but so far the winds had not been too kind, and he was now leaning more towards a whole week at sea, so us finding something to occupy our time was a godsend. I was also able to win the first boat deck tournament, but it wouldn't be the last as everyone seemed to really enjoy themselves and continued training or sparring long after the first tournament ended. I sat out the next few tournaments, but continued training and pushing myself to get better and stronger as we slowly made our way towards Braavos.

My evenings inside my cabin were spent struggling through a small book compiled by Maester Javven to help me learn a little bit of the low Valyrian language that was primarily spoken in the Free Cities. There were also two members of the current crew who were raised in Braavos, and were helping me occasionally butcher their language and correct me, until I at least knew some of the very basics and one had promised to stay with me for the first few days in Braavos in order to pick up my war galley. It was something I hadn't thought or considered until just days before the trip itself, and luckily Maester Javven had a small language primer with a decent dictionary that he loaned me, so I would hopefully be able to understand and communicate with others at least until I found a more permanent translator to accompany us.

Overall, the trip by sea was rather pleasant, if slow, and I really got to know all the members of my little group, including the two guards of House Hornwood and the three exiled cousins. All three of the exiled group were a bit full of themselves, and thought themselves better than everyone else on the merchant ship including myself, which kind of pissed me off. But, they were insignificant and I wasn't going to miss them when they were left in Braavos with nothing but a small coin purse and the things they could each carry as we continued on our journey for adventure.

The two guards though were both a really good sort, and each expressed their desire to stay on with us, but knew they needed to return to Lord Hornwood, having completed their objective. I promised them that they were always welcome with me and mine, if they ever left House Hornwood's service, and thanked them again for all their help in getting the three assholes out of Westeros and accompanying us on this part of the journey. It was day seven of the trip when the lookout called out to everyone that Braavos was in sight, or at least the Titan statue that sat above the entrance of the City's harbor looking out over the sea.

Every member of my group watched in awe for the two hours it took after first seeing the Titan on the horizon until our ship was actually sailing under it, barely taking our eyes off the immense and impressive sight. The captain simply smiled at our eager faces, and laughed at some of the things we said, even telling a few stories he had learned over the years of sailing into the port until we were almost to the docks themselves. He then asked us all to gather our things and be ready to depart as he had a large shipment to pick up and would need his ship cleaned up quickly after the extra two day delay in arriving.

I stopped and thanked the captain again after I gathered my things and brought up my large chest that contained pretty much everything I brought with me, and he assured me that I could have his man Flavian for the day until my war galley was turned over to me. I slipped him a small bag of gold pieces in thanks for his transport and the additional help he was providing, and gave him a fond farewell once we were docked and tied off, before departing his ship along with the rest of my group. I gave the two Hornwood guards a farewell handshake as well, wished them luck in dropping off their exiled passengers, and hoped for a safe and speedy return home.

I then turned to the majority of my companions and told them to find a place to store our bags and chests until our ship was ready, to stick together and not leave anyone alone, and to try not to get into too much trouble before sending them off into Braavos for three days of shore leave. I told them by the time they returned to the docks, they would be able to find my ship flying the Sigil of my House, and to meet back up in case there was any news to relay to them. My own small council, now consisting of Tristifer, Rickard, Sydel, Juden, my new Captain Derik, his first mate Jonah, and our translator Flavian would stay with me as we met with the Sealord of Braavos, took possession of our new war galley, and took care of the few other errands I wanted to accomplish while in Braavos.

"We are going to get to explore Braavos too, right?" came the somewhat whiny complaint from Tristifer, "I don't want to spend my whole time here working."

"Don't worry," I laughed easily, "we'll get plenty of time to explore after we get our business taken care of."

"How big is this boat you are buying?" came the question from Rickard as we passed what must have been one of the more expensive boat docks in the city, as beautiful and large ships filled almost every slot this close to the Sealord's Palace.

"Bigger than that one," I laughed, and then laughed even louder when all of my companions turned to look at me in shock, as the boat before us, was larger than almost any boat any of us had ever seen, "but much more plain …and built more for war than luxury."

"Holy Shit," came the exclamation from Tristifer, "how many people can it hold?"

"It's supposed to be able to hold a thousand troops," I answered with a large grin, "but 500 is the much more normal capacity if you don't want to be a little cramped."

"Damn, that's impressive," came Sydel's appreciative comment, as we neared the Sealord's Palace.

Meeting with the Sealord of Braavos was a bit of a letdown, thinking it would be like meeting the Queen or something from my first life. Instead, it was just entering a large room with an overweight and disappointing looking slob barking out orders to others, and expecting everyone to kiss his ass just because of who he was. Luckily, I just got announced, had to bow to the fat slob, and then spend twenty minutes talking with one of his helpers, turning over the payment of 1,000 gold dragons, and signing the deed to my new ship, I named the Northern Locke.

The man spoke better Westerosi than I did his low Valerian, and we were able to get through everything relatively quickly with a little help from my translator Flavian. He then brought me to the Arsenal Shipyards, which was the largest and greatest of the Braavosi shipbuilders, where he showed my group to my new ship and gave us a tour. I was really pleased as were the rest of the group, as the ship was much nicer and sturdier than the one we just traveled on, was outfitted with the necessary basics and none of the extra frills, it was a ship built for war and the North, and we were all thankful for the help from the Sealord's man.

He gave us two days to get our ship out of the shipyard's dock and pay in one of the public spaces that were prevalent in their large port city, and I left the Captain and his first mate to get familiar with my new ship as I promised to tell the rest of his crew where to find them. I handed over my House's Sigil sewn by my oldest sister before we left, to be hung from the highest mast, and walked back towards the docks we arrived at, as he told me most of his crew was instructed to wait for further instructions. Flavian pointed out a few inns and bars that were frequently occupied by sailors and you could often find captains, ships, and crews within depending on what you were looking for, knowing I needed to enlarge my current crew for the larger war galley.

The rest of that first day in Braavos was spent almost exclusively with my new ship, my captain, or meeting with small groups of sailors looking for work and seeing if they fit in with the rest of our crew and group. We ended up hiring twenty new crew members to go with the seven we came with, and by the end of the day had enough to sail my new ship anywhere and allow them to work around the clock in shifts if needed. The next day the Northern Locke left the Arsenal's dock and returned to the public dock we first arrived in, taking the place of the recently departed merchant ship that brought us, making it hopefully much easier for my companions to find me the following day when they were expected back to check in.

I led my small council of friends into the city to explore and have fun in Braavos as well, and was soon enjoying my time having some drinks and sampling some unique and different foods than what were available in the North or my previous life, and generally having a great time. I was able to find a pretty good map seller, and got myself a much better map of Essos, as well as a much more detailed map of the disputed lands, covering Tyrosh to the west, Myr to the north, Lys to the south, and Volantis to the east. It was the most fought over part of Essos, and the location of the large majority of the Sellsword companies I was hoping to join and attach my small group to, so it was important to know as much as I could about the location and known topography.

By the evening, we had settled at a somewhat rowdy inn that was much louder than I probably would have enjoyed usually, but as I had been drinking somewhat steadily all day, I was feeling pretty buzzed and happy to just sit and experience the crazy around me. There were sailors and men from all walks of life and ethnicities, all drinking heavily and getting rowdier and handsier every minute as I watched several of the barmaids trying to avoid the inappropriate advances of dozens of men simultaneously. We sat and drank for a bit more, until several fights started breaking out with other guests and it was just too likely that we would get dragged into it unless we left.

Tristifer was probably the most drunk of us, and required both myself and Juden's help to walk / drag him out of the place without him falling or collapsing into others while taking us with him, and took much longer than it should have with Sydel trying to make us a path. I was almost at the door when Tristifer fell after being slammed into by a large man, taking Juden down with him as well, and leaving me staring at an advancing man with a large green forked beard and a large dripping mess of a drink down the front of his colorful toga-like outfit. I ducked at the last minute as I was surprised he took a large swing at me for no reason other than being there, and quickly planted my fist in his gut, then grabbed his arm, turned my hip and tossed him over onto his back, breaking him through a heavy wood table by his massive weight.

In a second, Sydel was at my side pulling me out of the inn, before going back in to grab his brother, Rickard and Tristifer, and make sure they too were able to get out of there as well. I was a little geared up after the quick and short fight, and it was somewhat sobering to now be out in the fresh air of the evening as my breathing quickly calmed down as I glanced around me. A slight feminine sounding yelp from just around the corner was out of place enough to raise my curiosity as I walked a few paces to get to the side of the inn, and see down into the alley something that really pissed me off.

I couldn't fucking stand rapists, having known a few friends and even a former girlfriend that had been raped in my previous life, and knew the psychological and physical pain it could cause that could last them their entire lifetimes. Seeing two men holding a struggling young woman as they tore at her dress and blatantly groped her against her wishes, while a third man was currently pulling down his breaches as he approached the poor thing. I didn't even think, just pulled out my knife from my belt and rushed into the alley.

"Die you fucking rapist," I growled into the pantless man's ear as I grabbed his hair to pull back his head, and dragged my blade across his throat before he could even react to my presence.

Before his body even hit the ground as he was quickly bleeding out, I had already lunged to the left, and stabbed my knife in between the ribs of the man on the left, twisting the blade and draggin it out of his side painfully as I turned towards the only living man left. He barely got out an exclamation in surprise before I was on him as well, punching him in the face with my off hand, and getting him to let go of the young woman as he stumbled a few steps back until he hit up against the outer wall of the inn. I didn't let him get his bearings, and quickly got in front of him, bringing up my knee into his gut and folding him in half before stabbing my knife down into the back of his neck, killing him quickly and ending the fight.

The young woman was staring up at me in absolute fear, trying to pull the shreds of her dress over her body to cover herself and hide from me. I instantly pulled off my leather jerkin and then my shirt, handing the dark cloth over to the terrified young woman and then slipping my jerkin back on and making sure I was seen backing away and giving her space. She unknowingly pulled my shirt around herself in comfort and protection even though I could still tell she was beyond terrified.

"Are you alright?" I asked first in my own language, then in my broken and barely understandable low Valerian, causing the girl to squeak in fright and subconsciously huddle into my shirt even further.

"Please don't hurt me," she pleaded with a small frightened voice that practically broke my heart, as the girl was obviously even younger than I first thought, probably barely thirteen.

"I no hurt you," I continued in my choppy low Valerian, and made sure I was staying far enough away from her so as not to startle her too badly. "Can you ...home safe go?"

It seemed to take the girl another minute until she actually started looking around her and found that the three men that had been molesting and attempting to rape her were all now lying in small growing pools of blood, and that none of them would ever be getting up again. Then another minute until that seemingly registered in her probably still terrified mind, and she spotted me standing at the far end of the alley again asking if she was okay and had a way to get home safely. She eventually started to get up, and had to try and keep her torn skirt up, and wrap her upper half in an unfamiliar shirt, which she soon placed from her quick examination of my own shirtless upper body, though the leather jerkin still covered my torso.

She gave me a wide eyed look after realizing she had my shirt, and I tried to smile at her and ask again if she was okay, finally getting a frightened nod of her head in response as she pulled the shirt around her protectively. I asked if she had a way to get home safely, told her that she could keep my shirt, and watched as she stared at me with wide eyes before tearing off further down the alley and quickly disappearing into the night. I turned back to the front of the inn after hearing a loud crash, and finished pocketing anything of value among the now dead rapists, and rushed back around the corner to find Tristifer and Sydel lying on the ground, having seemingly just crashed through the door, and went to go check on my other friends and make sure we all got out of there, not giving the poor girl another thought.

The next day, we all got a pretty late start after the late night getting back to the Northern Locke, drunk and sore from our various fights, and looking forward to another day in Braavos and getting ready for the next step in my plan. Soon groups of my traveling companions would show up at the new ship, find a bunk or place to set up and leave their packs and learn that we were probably going to be leaving in the next few days. First, I would need to get food and provision to outfit the new ship and make sure we were fully stocked with all necessary supplies, knowing that the next longer voyage may be transporting a whole lot of former servants back to Westeros after we went to Pentos.

Near the end of the day, after almost everyone had reported in for the day, got their things put away, and received their probable departure schedule, I was approached by two strong looking men with dark brown almost black hair and neatly trimmed beards that had me kind of nervous. When they asked in an accented Westerosi language, who I was and what was my purpose in Braavos, I was curious what exactly they wanted, but knew I didn't have too much to hide other than three bodies of rapists, and told them why I came and where I was from. Then they pointed to someone further back on the docks surrounded by three other people all wrapped in similar dark brown cloaks that had me really worried that I was about to have trouble, until the smallest of them pulled down their hood and I immediately recognized the young woman whose attackers I killed the night before.

"So, it was you who saved our dear sister last night?" came the voice from the seemingly older of the two after seeing the recognition in my eyes, and the one acting more as the spokesperson of the pair.

"I had just come out of the inn, and heard a commotion in the alley," I answered calmly, looking at the pair honestly. "I fucking hate rapists ...the worst fucking kind of monsters."

"When was this?" asked Tristifer next to me in surprise.

"While Sydel was trying to get you, Rickard and Juden out of that fight inside," I answered with a shake of my head to Tristifer, having been teasing him about how drunk he got most of the day, but not wanting to get into that right now while these two unknowns were here.

"You have done something we cannot thank you enough for," spoke the same older brother honestly and sincerely as he looked at me intently for a long time. "If you'll have us, my family would like to pledge ourselves to you."

"What?" I asked in surprise and a bit of disbelief, not sure I heard or understood him correctly.

"Our sister's virtue is irreplaceable to us," came the voice of the younger of the two, "we would gladly pledge ourselves and our family to you Lord Locke."

"I'm not a Lord yet," I tried to reason, not sure why, but the whole thing was kind of hard to believe and wrap my head around.

"But you will be, you already lead these men, this ship, and are the heir to your Westerosi Family?" came the first man's reply and question, that had me again taken aback that they knew all that.

"Yes, that is true," I responded with a sigh, still not entirely comfortable with the whole feudal system I found myself immersed in, but couldn't deny the truth.

"We are both shipbuilders here in Braavos," came the reply that had my eyes widening at the implications and the absolute luck if this proved true, "our uncle is a former Master Shipbuilder, our younger brother is a shipbuilder apprentice, our mother is a seamstress, and our sweet sister is her apprentice, and our most precious treasure."

"You have a wonderful and talented family," I answered, not knowing what exactly to say to that. "What are you proposing though?"

What they were proposing turned out to be swearing their family's allegiance to my own, and placing themselves completely under my care as vessels, happy to pack up their entire lives and follow me wherever I told them to go. It was frightening at some level the amount of freedom and control they simply gave up to me, just for saving their sister from something horrible, but in their eyes was a truly wonderful thing worthy of celebration and the faith they were placing in me. Once I came around to accepting the idea, it was a stroke of incredible luck, as four shipbuilders coming to Oldcastle was exactly what we needed to teach others and start our own fleet, as buying individual war galleys from Braavos would become insanely expensive very quickly.

I told them my current plan to travel to Pentos, soon sending this ship back to my home in Oldcastle, while I and my companions went looking for a sellsword company to attach ourselves to for the next few years. I gave them a small rundown of how my Father and Grandfather were helping me expand our business ventures and holdings in the North, and would greatly value and appreciate shipbuilders who could oversee and train a new generation as they grew our fleet. They very much liked the prospect of having control over a brand new shipbuilding company, being their own bosses so to speak, and teaching others everything they knew while being given every opportunity to make good lives for themselves and their family.

By the time they left, they promised to return in two days with everything they owned, and ready to begin the next stage of their family's life in Oldcastle, swearing themselves to me personally. It was rather humbling and incredible luck, and after they left I smiled wide at Tristifer's still confused look before teasing him about missing out on all the excitement while busy fighting some drunk sailor the previous night. Sydel was quick to congratulate me on the incredibly lucky find, and was curious what exactly their skills were in regards to ship building, but knew they were worth more than any gold if they were even half as competent as they claimed.

The rest of our business in Braavos went pretty smoothly, the only large thing of note was the successful loan I got from the Iron Bank of 10,000 gold dragons I was planning to use to liberate and purchase indentured servants of value to send home. I only had a little under 1,000 gold dragons left myself, and didn't want to be spread too thin, and was banking on one or more of my inventions or ideas paying off relatively soon and could pay back the bank then. The loan also got me introduced to the Iron Bank, and established a line of credit for my Family, in case we ever needed their services again in the immediate future.

With our war galley full of provisions, my companions loaded along with the Dontaryon Family of shipbuilders, we set off from Braavos in just under a week after arriving full of excitement at the continuation of our journey. It was a full day until we were pulling into the large port city of Pentos, the closest port in Essos from King's Landing, and I was on the lookout for any Westerosi ships that might recognize us or give us any trouble. Luck was apparently still on our side, as we avoided notice and found a docking place in a relatively out of the way pier for a few more dragons, in order to try and keep my new war galley a secret for a bit longer.

Pentos was a beautiful city, with a much larger gathered population than the more spread out canals and islands of Braavos, and was again a mix of different races, ethnicities, and religious faiths of all kinds. While slavery was technically illegal, they had many indentured servants, collared or branded just as slaves were, and lived a life no different from the average slave and were plentiful in numbers. Right after we arrived, we witnessed one 'servant' being disciplined by a whip almost to the death for simply dropping one of the bags he was carrying for his 'master' as they moved around a bustling marketplace.

After having told my crew again to have some fun for three days of shore leave, and set up a small contingent of guards to protect our ship while in port, we had all ventured towards the large nearby marketplace where I witnessed the whipping. Deciding this was to be my first target, I followed the wealthy and gaudily dressed man and his small contingent of collared servants and even a pair of dark skinned guards until the marketplace was nearing an end. As he was getting ready to depart, I called out to him and had to hide my disgust as he looked over me and my few companions at the time in utter contempt, clearly seeing us as not even worthy to speak to him.

"I am looking for some servants of my own, and wondering how to go about purchasing them?" I asked slowly in my choppy bastardized Valerian, causing him to snear even further at me and dismiss my intelligence right off the bat.

"You buy them off their current patrons," he answered through almost gritted teeth, not wanting to talk to us, but also seeing me for the possible sucker he thought I was, "I can sell you four now for a hundred gold dragons."

"Can I pick which four?" I asked back, knowing I was overpaying, but willing to get my foot in the door so to speak, and it would be worth it if I could get his two guards.

"Yes," he grumbled, obviously not as happy with my question, making me realize it was the correct one as he glared at me.

I did a quick look in the eyes of each and every member of his small party, and pointed to the man I witnessed being beaten earlier, a young 20-ish looking man who seemed to have intelligent eyes, and then pointed at his two guards. His glare at me hardened considerably at my last choice, but I simply returned it nonchalantly and waited for him to say something about my selection. Eventually, he argued that these two guards had been with him the longest, and he was unwilling to let them go, but would allow me to choose two of his younger guards.

I agreed as long as I was allowed to go with him, to select the two guards myself, and allow the other two men to collect any of their personal things. He would not let my entire group, currently of six, to come with us, but allowed me to bring one more member of my party for the transaction. I told Sydel that if I wasn't back in one hour, to gather all of our troops and storm this man's manse, making sure he heard me before selecting Tristifer to come with me and watch my back.

He led us on a fifteen minute walk to a rather wealthy part of town and a large manse that was almost the size of Oldcastle's keep, where he told his two guards to gather the staff and guards for inspection while Tristifer and I waited in the front courtyard. The two men I already selected were told to gather their things and return in five minutes or they would be beaten, and I had to again hold my tongue and not say anything yet. When his entire staff had assembled, I realized he only had four other guards, and two dozen other servants of various functions.

I picked the two youngest looking of the four remaining guards, and asked if he knew of any other merchants looking to offload some of their access help, as even just an introduction would be worth something to me. The greedy asshole's eyes lit up, and I knew he would agree, promising me to get in touch with some of his fellows and to meet him back here tomorrow at midday for the introductions. I nodded happily, handed over the hundred gold dragons without protest, slipped him a small handful more in good faith, and led my now four new indentured servants out of the manse and back towards my ship.

After getting back, I sat down with the four former servants and told them about my plans to grant them their unconditional freedom and relocate them to the North to grow my town's small population, unless any of them wanted to stay on with me and my companions heading out into the Disputed Lands to fight as a sellsword. None of them had any desire to become sellswords, though the two guards did at least consider it, but all four were happy to agree to a move to Oldcastle if it meant they would arrive as free men, with job prospects. I asked them if they knew of others who would want out of their current life, and aside from the remaining staff of their former employer who would all love to be rid of him, they had very little interaction with other servants.

The next day was busy, cozying up to the rich merchants of Pentos that I met with and was introduced to, slowly amassing a rather large group of former indentured servants that I hoped would want a new life in Oldcastle. He first introduced me to a wine merchant who sold me half of his current staff, some forty servants for the low price of 500 gold dragons, then a cloth merchant who I spent 1,000 gold dragons on, increasing my numbers by 120. From the third merchant I acquired an even 200 former servants for 1,800 gold dragons, not caring that I was getting the really young and the somewhat older ones of their staff as it suited my needs just fine and left them all happy and not asking any questions.

That third merchant was the one who introduced me to one of the Magisters of Pentos, who was able to sell me a simply staggering amount of former servants for just 5,000 gold dragons. That he was wealthy enough to afford 10,000 servants that he didn't even need spoke to just how wealthy the man was, but I wasn't going to complain when the deal was offered. I did ask that he allow me a day to get the temporary premises together in order to house my newest servants, and we agreed to meet the following day to finalize the transaction.

That night I rented three large warehouses in one of the cheapest parts of town, and moved my current 364 former servants into one of them until they could all be sorted out and room made for them to journey back to Oldcastle. I tasked my companions to play guard, as I expected some kind of trouble to show up after I threw around that much money and acquired that many servants in one go, but knew I would have to wait and see what came of it. The next day I went and took possession of the remaining ten thousand former servants I purchased from the Magister, glad a large majority of them were children that would have a better chance to adapt to the Northern climate and their new lives.

Early the next morning, I had the first 1000 people stuffed on the Northern Locke all headed back to Oldcastle for the first of many trips, and even convinced two other merchant ships to tag along and provide transport for another two hundred people for a small fee. I sent the oldest first, knowing they would be the hardest to adjust to their new lives, and wanting to keep the three now bursting warehouses with the youngest and smallest among them for space saving purposes. The Dontaryon family was given my personal quarters for the trip, and a promise that I included a letter with my Captain detailing their vow and expertise, as well as my desire to have them start our own Locke-Dontaryon Shipbuilding Company.

In the letter to my Father and Grandfather, I also sent word of the total number of indentured servants I had purchased, liberated, and would be sending their way for the next several weeks and any available merchant ships they could send along would be useful. With that first batch of servants sent to Oldcastle, I met with the remaining 9,000 and allowed them to make their own decision on whether they wanted to relocate as free men and women to Oldcastle, travel with my companions to the Disputed Lands, or be granted their freedom and allowed to walk out and make their own way in the world. None of them however took that final option, of which I was secretly thankful for, and we had a good hundred of them agree to come with me to the Disputed Lands either as soldiers or camp personnel to help aid us.

That first week and a half stuffed in the warehouses with 9,000 people was really tough on everyone, and just having space to do much of anything was very limited, but I was able to go through and meet with everyone and discover what they could all do. Finding several seamstresses, leather workers, and cobblers among the group that I quickly put to work getting everyone outfitted in more appropriate clothing and shoes was the first step. Finding several that could read and write, and even a few dozen that spoke both low Valerian and Westerosi were quickly put to work in organizing and keeping records of everyone, and generally following me around and helping.

When the Northern Locke returned to Pentos, it was met with great relief, as following it were over a dozen merchant ships of various sizes all ready to load and ferry our new residents to Oldcastle. A large group of around 3,500 were loaded among all the ships and sent on their way the following day, giving those remaining an increased living space that we all quickly spread out into, grateful for any extra room. It also allowed us to set a small area aside to continue with our sword training, and getting several of the newest recruits among our number up to speed with the basics, as Vayon and Hubbard continued to work in a local forge and produce the standard armor we were all using for the newest members. Now only the soldiers were getting the breastplates, while camp helpers were given leather jerkins with the same crossed keys Sigil of House Locke, to denote them as belonging to me, and their role in our group.

When almost two weeks later the Northern Locke returned again, with even more merchant ships trailing behind it, we were able to load well over 4,500 people into them all and send them back to Oldcastle the following day. With it came a long letter from my Father, praising me on the arrangement I made with the Dontaryons, and giving me the early progress on that and several other fronts regarding our growing businesses and inventions and questions they had. He was very pleased with my progress already, and promised he would be finding all of the incoming people places within our growing holdings, even mentioning that they had started construction on the first glass greenhouse for their lands and how hopeful they were for the future.

With our numbers now just at 3,000 remaining, space all of a sudden became even less of an issue, and things seemed to be progressing at a great pace. I was still weary that we had remained in Pentos too long, but it turned out for the better when we were joined by at least two hundred former servants who had no work available, and then 'raided' several times by other greedy merchants, looking to steal some of our servants for themselves, thinking we would be easy pickings. Instead, we captured several dozen household guards and hired sellswords and ransomed them back to their owners or companies for large amounts of goods, weapons, tents, and gear we would need in the immediate future, and even convinced one group of ten men to join us and double cross the man who paid them.

With their help, we were able to infiltrate the wine merchant they were paid by, that I had purchased forty slaves off of, and liberated the rest of his household staff after killing and robbing the man of everything he had of value in retaliation, including several dozen barrels of wine and other equipment. After that, we sold off some of his possessions to increase our finances and also stopped having any of the other greedy merchants look too closely into what we were doing. It allowed us to continue drilling our newest members and getting everyone up to acceptable levels of competence, before they saw any real combat or danger. By the time the Northern Locke returned for the third time, we were all antsy and anxious to get out of Pentos, and loaded the growing number of the remaining 4,500 former servants onto the ships, with a letter to my Father telling him this was the end of the group, and that we were moving on to the Disputed Lands now with a group of over 100 soldiers and 50 more camp personnel.

That transportation to the Disputed Lands was solved when I met a recruiter for the Company of the Rose, who was up in Pentos looking to add to their numbers as they were being contracted by Tyrosh for an offensive planned against Myr. They promised us transportation for our entire group if we met and joined with the sellsword company, too which I agreed under the condition that I would need to speak with the Captain of said company before anything was agreed to. It took three days for the ravens to fly to their camp in Tyrosh and back, but I was given permission to state my demands in front of their Company Captain after we sent off the last group of former servants to Oldcastle. We were all transported to their camp by boat on the coast near Tyrosh, a deal I couldn't pass up, and that had my companions excited to finally be getting to the reason we all came to Essos.

It helped that the Company of the Rose was well known among Northerners, as they were founded several generations back during Aegon's conquest, as they were former Northerners that wouldn't bend the knee to the Targaryens. That several cadet branches of many of the Northern families still existed in the sellsword company, was another boon that we were hoping to benefit from. By the time we were nearing Tyrosh, my group of over one hundred young men interested in being sellswords, were all outfitted in matching breastplates, though a few of the newest still had hard leathers, with the camp helpers in their matching leather jerkins, and ready for the next stage of our adventures, looking like a group of sellswords already.