Post by The Smith on Oct 31, 2009 12:00:18 GMT -5
Aegon Targaryen had been shaken to the core by the burning of Kings Landing. The unexpectedness of Ragnar Greyjoy’s move, the brutality of the attack, the dreadful scenes he imagined from the tales told to him by the survivors, the awful slaughter, and his own impotence at being so far away.
Just as he had been at Lys, he thought, his fists clenching in rage.
Worst of all had been the flight of Rhaenys. Months after the attack the Queen had still not returned to Kings Landing. Aegon had crossed from Dragonstone, as soon as he had been able, with two thousand men, to find the city undefended and in ruins. He had since brought another thousand men across, swelling his forces in the stricken city to three thousand.
Aegon felt he did not understand anything anymore. He had no real power and yet there was no-one in the largest city in Westeros to direct him what to do. He had always believed that if he did his honest best and trusted in the Seven of his Velaryon relatives, everything would turn out well in the end. He had done so against the Others and the Cult and had succeeded in defeating all his and Rhaeny's enemies. The burning of Kings landing seemed to have proved him wrong. While he had given some initial orders to his men to repair and man the walls of Kings Landing, the continued scenes of destruction as he moved throughout the city saw Aegon lose all motivation for tackling what appear e dot be the insurmountable problem of repairing the city. He spent hours in the Sept of the Red Keep watching the candle burn down on the small altar, thinking disconnected, desolate thoughts, doing nothing for days.
It had been his nephew Lord Velaryon who saw what had to be done. Aurane had crossed from Dragonstone to Kings Landing about two weeks after his uncle’s arrival. It had been Aurane who had overseen the disposal of the dead bodies in mass graves outside the city, setting up makeshift hospitals for the wounded and organising emergency feeding for those living in the open and outside the city. In the weeks after the sacking Velaryon had organized the few dazed citizens left into teams of laborers and got them to clear the ashes and debris from the worst affected parts of the city.
Aegon had at first simply issued the orders Aurane proposed. The young Lord had pointed out that most of the citizens who had survived the Great Fire had lost very little of material value – a house maybe and a few sticks of furniture, in many cases. The crops were still in the field, the livestock were in the pastures and people’s savings were still where they had been buried, usually beneath the hearth of their homes, untouched by the above ground blaze that had swept the city. The merchants whose stocks had been burnt were the greater sufferers: some were ruined; others had some of their wealth as buried silver or gold and would be able to start again.
At Aurane’s suggestion, Aegon gave extraordinary permission for teams of citizens to travel south and cut timber freely in the Kingswood for the purpose of rebuilding houses. Kings Landing was already largely deserted, but for seven days it was even more like the grave - if that was possible - whilst the few remaining families and businesses selected and felled the trees they would use for their new homes. During that time Aurane had somehow found a handful of of artisans and master builders and asked Aegon if he would help draw up the plans for a new city. The idea caught Aegon’s imagination and he began to come out of his depression.
Planning the rebuilding brought Aegon out of his helpless trance and as he travelled around the ruined city, he was periodically swept by rage and grief for the people and property that had been lost. The few small-folk who were left who at first been hostile, then wary and then indifferent to the sight of the Targaryen lord and his banner, now began to greet him with cheers, especially once new wooden houses rose on new plots. Word was evidently beginning to spread to the surrounding countryside of what was happening in the ruined city. Day by day small groups of small folk trickled in, were appraised of the situation and set to wrok on the restoration The equivalent of a small town began to grow up around the Red Keep, as people began returning. It was almost if they were desperate to huddle under the protection of Aegon himself.
Work was also begun on restoring the Great Sept of Baelor, although this was likely to take years to complete. Aegon began to pay the main builders for their services to his three thousand men and as they – particularly his sell-swords - wanted to spend their money, shops also began to open again in the Red Keep area Small folk began to bring their wares such as eggs and onions back into the city while women and girls hired themselves out as laundresses and scullery maids. A small whore house was also established to service themen towhich Aegon turned a blind eye to – at least for the moment. Bit by bit, material life began to resume in small parts of Kings landing.
As Aegon stirred from his stupor he began to spend much of his time supervising the repair of the walls. Aegon had perused the Great Library at Dragonstone, during hisshort stay there and had found some useful works about the fortifications. He had read consistently about different types of fortifications and their weaknesses against siege-craft. As he toured the walls he noted points of weakness and told the maester hurrying behind him what had to be done. Meanwhile Aurane worked near the shoreline, particularly at the harbour, often taking the small fleet of twenty ships out on patrol and honing his Seamanship skills.
Aegon and Aurane constantly toured the city, often separately. One day Aurane caught up with Aegon as he rode through the city near the Red Keep with his recruited artisans planning new stretches of the city and supervising the small teams of laborers as they cleared away the rubble. Uncle and nephew dismounted. “The whole place around the Red Keep smells of new wood.” Aurane said conversationally. “And everything is so clean!”
Aegon nodded. It was unnaturally clean. The fire had swept away the damp rotten wood of the older buildings, the thatched roofs thick with grime from years of cooking fires, the foul ancient stables and in some quarters of the city, fetid old dunghills. There was a smell of newness: new wood, new thatch, new rushes on the floors, even new whitewashes in the walls of the wealthier dwellings, funded obviously be re-discovered buried hoards. The fire also seemed to have enriched the soil, so flowers grew in odd corners. Aegon remembered that a maester had once remarked how few people had fallen ill since the fire and this was thought to confirm a theory held by many maesters that disease was spread by evil-smelling vapors.
His mind was wondering. Aurane had said something. “What?” he said.
“I said that Rhaenys should be grateful to you for restoring order to her city.”
”There’s a very long way to go. Aegon replied. “In any case Queens, and Kings for that matter, are often notoriously ungrateful. Let’s not assume anything for the moment.”
“So where to here from here, then?” asked Aurane.
Aegon shrugged. “There’s little we can do elsewhere. We stay here, unless called. Consolidate the city, maintain order, keep rebuilding. I mean to see that the Ironborn will not be in a position to take the city again.”
As they walked, Aegon began unrolling a map. Moving to a low stone slab that has clearly been toppled in the recent sack, he spread the map out, securing the corners and edges with small rocks.
“I want men here and here.” his finger stabbing at the map. “Some of this excess stone is to be collected and fortifications to go up here, near the harbor, especially the approaches from the harbor into the city."
Aurane asked a few questions as Aegon detailed his plans, said he would let Aegon know what was happening and mounted his horse heading for the harbor.
Aegon watched him go, rolled up his map and leapt onto the stone slab. His eyes scanned to the north and west of the city and then out towards the sea. He wondered where the next threat would come from. All he could do was to be prepared.
Results:
Aegon Targaryen restores order in Kings Landing, and takes control of the city with 3,000 men. 1,600 of his men remain at Dragonstone.
Kings Landings’ walls are repaired and fortified by Aegon Targaryen’s men.
Small areas of Kings Landing begin to be rebuilt and a rudimentary economic system is established to servce Aegin’s forces.
Small amounts of Kings Landing’s former citizens begin returning the city
Aegon Targaryen’s popularity rises with the small-folk of Kings Landing.
Aegon Targaryen begins to fortify Kings Landing Harbor
Aegon Targaryen moves towards Grandmaster in Siege-craft
Aurane Velaryon moves to Expert in Seamanship
Just as he had been at Lys, he thought, his fists clenching in rage.
Worst of all had been the flight of Rhaenys. Months after the attack the Queen had still not returned to Kings Landing. Aegon had crossed from Dragonstone, as soon as he had been able, with two thousand men, to find the city undefended and in ruins. He had since brought another thousand men across, swelling his forces in the stricken city to three thousand.
Aegon felt he did not understand anything anymore. He had no real power and yet there was no-one in the largest city in Westeros to direct him what to do. He had always believed that if he did his honest best and trusted in the Seven of his Velaryon relatives, everything would turn out well in the end. He had done so against the Others and the Cult and had succeeded in defeating all his and Rhaeny's enemies. The burning of Kings landing seemed to have proved him wrong. While he had given some initial orders to his men to repair and man the walls of Kings Landing, the continued scenes of destruction as he moved throughout the city saw Aegon lose all motivation for tackling what appear e dot be the insurmountable problem of repairing the city. He spent hours in the Sept of the Red Keep watching the candle burn down on the small altar, thinking disconnected, desolate thoughts, doing nothing for days.
It had been his nephew Lord Velaryon who saw what had to be done. Aurane had crossed from Dragonstone to Kings Landing about two weeks after his uncle’s arrival. It had been Aurane who had overseen the disposal of the dead bodies in mass graves outside the city, setting up makeshift hospitals for the wounded and organising emergency feeding for those living in the open and outside the city. In the weeks after the sacking Velaryon had organized the few dazed citizens left into teams of laborers and got them to clear the ashes and debris from the worst affected parts of the city.
Aegon had at first simply issued the orders Aurane proposed. The young Lord had pointed out that most of the citizens who had survived the Great Fire had lost very little of material value – a house maybe and a few sticks of furniture, in many cases. The crops were still in the field, the livestock were in the pastures and people’s savings were still where they had been buried, usually beneath the hearth of their homes, untouched by the above ground blaze that had swept the city. The merchants whose stocks had been burnt were the greater sufferers: some were ruined; others had some of their wealth as buried silver or gold and would be able to start again.
At Aurane’s suggestion, Aegon gave extraordinary permission for teams of citizens to travel south and cut timber freely in the Kingswood for the purpose of rebuilding houses. Kings Landing was already largely deserted, but for seven days it was even more like the grave - if that was possible - whilst the few remaining families and businesses selected and felled the trees they would use for their new homes. During that time Aurane had somehow found a handful of of artisans and master builders and asked Aegon if he would help draw up the plans for a new city. The idea caught Aegon’s imagination and he began to come out of his depression.
Planning the rebuilding brought Aegon out of his helpless trance and as he travelled around the ruined city, he was periodically swept by rage and grief for the people and property that had been lost. The few small-folk who were left who at first been hostile, then wary and then indifferent to the sight of the Targaryen lord and his banner, now began to greet him with cheers, especially once new wooden houses rose on new plots. Word was evidently beginning to spread to the surrounding countryside of what was happening in the ruined city. Day by day small groups of small folk trickled in, were appraised of the situation and set to wrok on the restoration The equivalent of a small town began to grow up around the Red Keep, as people began returning. It was almost if they were desperate to huddle under the protection of Aegon himself.
Work was also begun on restoring the Great Sept of Baelor, although this was likely to take years to complete. Aegon began to pay the main builders for their services to his three thousand men and as they – particularly his sell-swords - wanted to spend their money, shops also began to open again in the Red Keep area Small folk began to bring their wares such as eggs and onions back into the city while women and girls hired themselves out as laundresses and scullery maids. A small whore house was also established to service themen towhich Aegon turned a blind eye to – at least for the moment. Bit by bit, material life began to resume in small parts of Kings landing.
As Aegon stirred from his stupor he began to spend much of his time supervising the repair of the walls. Aegon had perused the Great Library at Dragonstone, during hisshort stay there and had found some useful works about the fortifications. He had read consistently about different types of fortifications and their weaknesses against siege-craft. As he toured the walls he noted points of weakness and told the maester hurrying behind him what had to be done. Meanwhile Aurane worked near the shoreline, particularly at the harbour, often taking the small fleet of twenty ships out on patrol and honing his Seamanship skills.
Aegon and Aurane constantly toured the city, often separately. One day Aurane caught up with Aegon as he rode through the city near the Red Keep with his recruited artisans planning new stretches of the city and supervising the small teams of laborers as they cleared away the rubble. Uncle and nephew dismounted. “The whole place around the Red Keep smells of new wood.” Aurane said conversationally. “And everything is so clean!”
Aegon nodded. It was unnaturally clean. The fire had swept away the damp rotten wood of the older buildings, the thatched roofs thick with grime from years of cooking fires, the foul ancient stables and in some quarters of the city, fetid old dunghills. There was a smell of newness: new wood, new thatch, new rushes on the floors, even new whitewashes in the walls of the wealthier dwellings, funded obviously be re-discovered buried hoards. The fire also seemed to have enriched the soil, so flowers grew in odd corners. Aegon remembered that a maester had once remarked how few people had fallen ill since the fire and this was thought to confirm a theory held by many maesters that disease was spread by evil-smelling vapors.
His mind was wondering. Aurane had said something. “What?” he said.
“I said that Rhaenys should be grateful to you for restoring order to her city.”
”There’s a very long way to go. Aegon replied. “In any case Queens, and Kings for that matter, are often notoriously ungrateful. Let’s not assume anything for the moment.”
“So where to here from here, then?” asked Aurane.
Aegon shrugged. “There’s little we can do elsewhere. We stay here, unless called. Consolidate the city, maintain order, keep rebuilding. I mean to see that the Ironborn will not be in a position to take the city again.”
As they walked, Aegon began unrolling a map. Moving to a low stone slab that has clearly been toppled in the recent sack, he spread the map out, securing the corners and edges with small rocks.
“I want men here and here.” his finger stabbing at the map. “Some of this excess stone is to be collected and fortifications to go up here, near the harbor, especially the approaches from the harbor into the city."
Aurane asked a few questions as Aegon detailed his plans, said he would let Aegon know what was happening and mounted his horse heading for the harbor.
Aegon watched him go, rolled up his map and leapt onto the stone slab. His eyes scanned to the north and west of the city and then out towards the sea. He wondered where the next threat would come from. All he could do was to be prepared.
Results:
Aegon Targaryen restores order in Kings Landing, and takes control of the city with 3,000 men. 1,600 of his men remain at Dragonstone.
Kings Landings’ walls are repaired and fortified by Aegon Targaryen’s men.
Small areas of Kings Landing begin to be rebuilt and a rudimentary economic system is established to servce Aegin’s forces.
Small amounts of Kings Landing’s former citizens begin returning the city
Aegon Targaryen’s popularity rises with the small-folk of Kings Landing.
Aegon Targaryen begins to fortify Kings Landing Harbor
Aegon Targaryen moves towards Grandmaster in Siege-craft
Aurane Velaryon moves to Expert in Seamanship