Chapter 196: Dragon Eggs, Dragon Kin, and Dragon-Riding Arts

Casterly Rock, Hall of Heroes.

This is one of the burial grounds of House Lannister, where any family member or close relative who died bravely for the Lion House may be interred.

The Hall of Heroes is famous throughout the Seven Kingdoms, and legends of it even reach the continent of Essos, for the hall displays hundreds of sets of precious armor belonging to House Lannister's Knights, lords, and Kings of the Rock.

It is rumored that even the most ordinary set inside could sell for hundreds of Gold Dragons.

The fully armored King and the Duke of Casterly Rock, Tyrion, walked into the long-silent Hall of Heroes, surrounded by fifty First Men soldiers in various iron armors holding torches, as well as Maester Cressen, the Castellan Stafford, and other Westerlanders.

"My request isn't too high, is it? It wouldn't be too much to ask to take back the Valyrian Steel Sword on Tywin's armor, Ice, and my own sword, Moon-Shatter?"

Before returning to King's Landing, Arthur I finally had the time to deal with this matter.

"Reasonable and fair, my King."

For some reason, Tyrion's mood had been excessively good lately; he would hum a little tune while walking.

Perhaps it was because Casterly Rock had officially come into his hands.

The group walked straight inside until they reached the statue representing Tywin.

The statue, clad in a full set of iron armor, was lifelike, essentially a perfect restoration of the former Jiaodu of House Lannister's facial features and physique, with the greatsword Ice held in the statue's hands, planted before its feet.

As for Moon-Shatter, it was displayed on the stone wall behind the statue, placed side-by-side with several iron swords Tywin had used.

Arthur observed carefully for a while and discovered that it was impossible to remove Ice without damaging the statue.

"The stonemason of your house is truly diligent; you wouldn't mind if I broke the statue's hands, would you?"

The King asked, then turned his head to look at Tyrion, who was carefully observing another, smaller statue.

"Huh! Isn't this you? Can a living person be erected here too?"

After looking closely, Arthur I exclaimed.

Compared to the original, this was a very tall statue, about seventy percent the height of the Tywin statue beside it.

The stone carving's posture was also exaggerated: "Tyrion" held a helmet in his left hand, his right hand pointing straight east with a sword, his gray-gold hair fluttering behind him, looking quite fierce and tall.

If an outsider didn't know the situation of the Imp, they would praise the original owner as a "Giant of Casterly Rock" just based on this statue.

The smile on the Imp's face had long since vanished; confusion, surprise, and a trace of anger crept onto his face.

"It seems that in some people's hearts, I am already dead."

Tyrion mocked himself, then ordered his cousin Stafford to remove his statue from the Hall of Heroes later.

Of course, he also replied to the King in time: "No problem at all. Ice belongs to House Stark by right; it is perfectly fine for Queen Sansa and you to inherit it."

Thus, the King used the removed Moon-Shatter to break the hands of Tywin's statue and took out Ice.

"I wonder which of these two swords is sturdier?"

The reason Valyrian Steel Swords are famous is that they never dull; in terms of sturdiness, it is hard to say whether a Meteorite Sword or a Valyrian Steel Sword is superior.

"Ice, of course. This Moon-Shatter is only called a Meteorite Sword; in reality, it was crafted by a great blacksmith using special materials. The falling star iron of House Dayne can only forge one sword, and that is the white sword, Dawn," Tyrion said.

He loved to read and had an understanding of the situations of all the great houses of Westeros.

This remark made the King feel a bit strange, as Moon-Shatter was clearly much sturdier than ordinary iron armor.

So Arthur I asked: "Then why does House Whent claim this sword is also made of the same material as Dawn? And that its sturdiness exceeds that of ordinary iron swords?"

Tyrion leaned toward the King and pointed at Moon-Shatter, saying:

"Your Majesty, House Whent has only been enfeoffed with Harrenhal for exactly seventy years; how could they possibly obtain a famous sword on par with Dawn? The reputation of this sword was simply manufactured by the Whents for the sake of face, with the help of close houses. As for the sturdiness, perhaps those blacksmiths used some small tricks. As far as I know, Tobho Mott can forge special iron swords that are sturdier than those made in ordinary castles, just at a higher price."

This actually made a lot of sense; even the poorest families would not sell their precious swords.

Duke Tywin, as the wealthiest Duke in Westeros, could not buy a Valyrian Steel Sword, so a newly established count family like House Whent certainly could not buy a good sword.

Arthur glanced at Moon-Shatter, then swung Ice a few times, feeling that the Valyrian Steel Sword was more to his liking.

"I didn't expect Moon-Shatter's origin to be so ordinary. It's no wonder; I only helped someone kill a few wild boars, how could Lady Whent just give away a famous continental sword?"

In all likelihood, Lady Whent also knew the origin of Moon-Shatter, so she gave it away without a care.

After retrieving the two swords, the King took the Imp back to the military camp outside the city; once the Westerlands houses sent the hostages, they could return to King's Landing.

……

The eastern section of the Golden Road.

At the front of the army column, the King was chatting with several nobles beside him.

A week ago, the King, having finished handling affairs in the Westerlands, finally set off to return east, followed by the Riverlands Army and two hundred elite soldiers of House Tyrell.

Garlan insisted on stuffing this two-hundred-man unit into the capital's garrison under the pretext of the lax defense of King's Landing. The Little Rose, Margaery, also agreed with her brother's approach, crying and saying that her father's death was due to the poor security in King's Landing.

In consideration of the fact that the Tyrell Queen repaid him with a fountain of affection every night, Arthur took this Tyrell Cavalry along.

In any case, with the upcoming reorganization of the King's Landing City Watch and the royal standing army, two hundred cavalrymen really wouldn't stir up any trouble.

In the battle outside the city, the soldiers of the Tyrell, Beesbury, and other houses who had fought hard against the Westerlands' right flank suffered heavy losses, and most of this army returned to their own lands in the Reach with Garlan to recuperate.

As for the gold mines, territories, and other rebellion reparations carved out of the Westerlands, while the main army was still in the Westerlands, they were occupied one by one by the intact hundred-man units from the army Garlan brought, waiting for the enfeoffed families and royal mining supervisors to take over.

The Jiaodu of House Lannister, Tyrion, was taken away as planned, and his uncle Kevan and cousin Daven were also taken to King's Landing; as for the various great houses of the Westerlands, many were required to provide "King's Attendants" as hostages.

Many heirs or unmarried daughters of Westerlands houses were taken to King's Landing, ostensibly to accompany the King and royal family members, but in reality, as hostages.

After four Dragons circled and swooped low over their heads, and the Stormborn Daenerys, riding a white mare, caught up with the group, the topic turned to the dragons.

Even as dragonets, their flight speed far exceeded that of the rapidly advancing army, so the magic dragons often flew ahead, then flew back, and even went to chase wild beasts on the ground.

Once, Drogon even mistook a little girl squatting by the side of the Golden Road for a lamb and charged toward her, preparing to have a snack; fortunately, Arthur reacted in time and had Alduin swoop down to intercept him.

Afterward, Daenerys understood the rebellious son's thoughts, so in front of the other three dragons, she scolded the black dragon Drogon severely in High Valyrian.

After this, Drogon restrained himself much more; after all, humans provided him with sufficient meat, especially tender lamb.

"I think Drogon is biding his time; he might take it out on Daenerys fiercely later. He might even run away from home."

The King, in golden armor, said to the Dragon Mother.

Calculating the timeline, it was about time for Drogon to enter his rebellious phase.

Tyrion stared closely at the dragons in the sky and replied: "That shouldn't be possible, right? I remember that among the twenty-five dragons, once tamed by a dragonrider, the dragons generally obey the rider's commands."

Dragons develop a strong sense of dependence and trust toward those who raise them; dragons possess intelligence far higher than ordinary animals, can be trained into powerful combat mounts, and can understand their master's commands; but in reality, dragons are very willful.

If untrained, after being attacked, a Dragon will turn everything in its surroundings into ashes.

Arthur answered with a smile: "That's right, my relationship with Alduin is very stable; the two of us can even transmit our emotions to each other."

Alduin, this black Dragon covered in spikes, has its own thoughts and ideas; perhaps because of the system, after its master Arthur conveys an order, it executes it quite firmly.

The Dragons in the history of House Targaryen were similar to this.

After Dragonriders mount their dragons, the two sides can not only communicate unilaterally through High Valyrian, but also transmit each other's emotions through a mental bond.

Adult Dragons may even be able to sense the distress and death of their current Dragonrider.

During the Dance of the Dragons nearly two hundred years ago, when Helaena Targaryen, the daughter of Alicent Hightower and Viserys I, leaped from Maegor's Holdfast to her death, her Dragon, Dreamfyre, who was confined in the Dragonpit, suddenly roared and snapped the two chains that bound it to the ground.

But the situation of these three Dragons of Daenerys is different from Arthur's, who has a system, and even from the Dragons of their predecessors.

When in Astapor, in order to pull off a "white wolf" scheme to obtain an army of eight thousand Unsullied, the Dragon Queen had once put chains on Drogon, the largest in size, and feigned a trade with the rulers of that city-state, the Good Masters.

Since that time, Drogon may have held a grudge against the Dragon Mother.

And during the Dragon Egg stage, Daenerys was ill-prepared.

House Targaryen brought five Dragons from the Valyrian Peninsula, four of which died one after another, leaving only Balerion the Black Dread to survive until the Conquest Era.

After House Targaryen established a firm foothold on Dragonstone, the Targaryens used Balerion to hatch two more Dragons: Vhagar and Meraxes.

This is the famous initial trio of Dragons.

After House Targaryen conquered the Six Kingdoms, the Targaryens' contact with the outside world increased, the Western Continent's understanding of dragons grew, and the Citadel also began to participate in the heritage of House Targaryen, with some secrets beginning to be presented to the eyes of the world.

For example, to strengthen the bond between Dragon and rider, after a person with Targaryen blood is born, a Dragon Egg is placed in their cradle to let the future Dragonrider grow close to the dragon inside the egg.

In the prequel House of the Dragon, the Dragon Egg that Daemon Targaryen stole for his mistress Mysaria was the one placed in the cradle of Prince Baelon for a day.

It is worth mentioning that this Dragon Egg was produced by the aforementioned Dragon, "Dreamfyre."

Daenerys's three Dragon Eggs were also laid by Dreamfyre; in the 54th year of the Conquest Era, they were stolen by Elissa Farman and taken to Braavos. Two hundred and forty years later, these three eggs were purchased by Illyrio from Braavos, and later the cheese-monger seized the opportunity to transfer them to the Stormborn.

Of the seven Dragon Eggs Arthur found at Summerhall, five of them came from the "Last Dragon."

The "Last Dragon" was a green dragon, small in stature with withered wings, which produced five Dragon Eggs before dying, but not a single one was hatched.

Returning to the main topic, Daenerys did not undergo orthodox Targaryen education, so naturally she did not know the preparations before hatching dragons, and coupled with the fact that all three dragons were close to her, it may have diluted the mental bond between her and Drogon.

This makes the black dragon Drogon not very well-controlled.

"A Dragon with such large wings, I don't know how people manage to ride them," asked Tyrion, who was drinking again.

His level of obsession with Dragons far exceeds that of ordinary people.

A Dragon is a reptile covered in scales with two wings and two legs. Their forelimbs form leathery wings, just like a bat.

Among these four Dragons in the sky, King Arthur's Dragon has the longest wingspan, already reaching the seven-meter magnitude; in terms of body length, Drogon has surpassed Alduin, who is also a black dragon, reaching over six feet.

Generally speaking, a dragon's forelimb span slightly exceeds its body length, and the two large wings extend nearly one body length on each side of the forelimbs, allowing the Dragon's wingspan to reach three times its body length.

Body length is the distance from the top of the head to the root of the tail; if there are no accidents, a Dragon's tail length is close to its body length.

The body shapes of the three Dragons, Drogon, Rhaegar, and Viserion, conform to this rule.

But Alduin is different; his forelimb span is 1.5 times his body length, his wingspan reaches four times his body length, and his tail length is also 1.5 times his body length.

Coupled with a body full of spikes, his dominance in the sky is no less than that of the black dragon Drogon.

Daenerys, who followed Arthur on horseback, asked: "I want to know what you feed Alduin, why are its wings just like yours, able to be so long?"

"Just ordinary meat, perhaps it's because of the difference in dragon types!"

Arthur I said.

Tyrion behind them became interested and began to recount the differences in Dragons throughout history:

"Yes, they are all called Dragons, but their body shapes are also very different. For example, the Rogue Prince Daemon Targaryen's Dragon, the Blood Wyrm Caraxes, is famous for its overly long neck; in addition, the Blood Wyrm has a pair of small auxiliary wings on its hind legs, which makes its maneuverability in the sky much stronger."

Caraxes is a red dragon famous for its rich combat experience, with a neck as thin and long as a snake's.

In the 130th year of the Conquest Era, the Blood Wyrm killed the ancestral dragon, Vhagar, which was twice its size.

Afterwards, it still had the strength to crawl ashore and died under the walls of Harrenhal.

Several nobles marveled at this old news, not expecting the individual differences among Dragons to be so obvious.

Subsequently, the Dragon Queen recounted how to ride a dragon.

"It is a very wonderful feeling, just like when you are intimate with your children; once the Dragon lowers its head, I naturally mount it, as easy as riding a horse."

Tyrion shook his head, "Without dragon blood, it certainly wouldn't be this easy; among the Dragonriders of Westeros, all of them have Targaryen blood."

Including the initial three Dragons and the "Last Dragon," the Targaryens possessed a total of twenty-five Dragons after establishing the kingdom, two of which died before the Dance of the Dragons, and seventeen died during the Dance of the Dragons.

Only four Dragons survived during the Dance of the Dragons, and later two more were hatched; these six Dragons died one after another, and even the Dragon "Sheepstealer" hiding in the Mountains of the Moon was no exception.

"Dragon blood is a very vague concept; I remember a female Dragonrider, called Nettles or something, she didn't seem to clearly have Targaryen blood."

Oberyn, having finished his chatter with his mistress, rode up and joined the King's discussion.

Tyrion recalled for a moment and said with a very certain tone: "Nettles was the Dragonrider of Sheepstealer; she was the typical appearance of the First Men intermarrying with the Targaryens."

Nettles had black hair and brown eyes, a petite figure, and possessed the typical characteristics of the First Men.

From her appearance, one could not tell if she had Dragon King blood, but to be able to ride a dragon, one of her parents must have been a Targaryen.

One could even rule out the mother; Nettles's father must have been a Targaryen.

This also conforms to the so-called Law of the Firstborn, where when a Targaryen intermarries with an outsider without dragon blood, the firstborn inevitably resembles the mother; the most typical example is Jon Snow.

"Knows-Nothing" Jon has brown hair and gray eyes, with the iconic long face of House Stark.

That is to say, Jon Snow completely inherited his mother's characteristics.

In reality, although rumors abound, those who can ride dragons must have Dragon King blood, limited to the forty Dragon King families of Valyria and their descendants.

Even if one goes two or three generations without intermarrying with a Dragon King family, the purity of the bloodline will not reach the threshold for riding a dragon.

And since the Doom of Valyria, only three Dragon King families have survived in the world: the Targaryens and two other small families.

One of the Dragon Kings, named Aurion, was stationed in the Free City of Norvos; upon learning the news, he took his dragon and an army of thirty thousand and returned to the Valeria Feixu, intending to revitalize Valyria.

Then, a Dragon King, an adult dragon, and tens of thousands of troops were reduced to ashes, leaving not even a shred of news behind.

Setting aside the factor of his self-proclamation, Aurion was actually the first Valyria Emperor.

It is rumored that the remaining Dragon King family went to Asshai near the Shadow Lands, and no news has come out for nearly four hundred years.

Combining the above factors, those currently capable of riding dragons must be the Targaryens and their descendants.

Some members of the Velaryon family on Driftmark can ride dragons because, during the early period of the Conquest, the family intermarried with the Targaryens for a long time, purifying the members' Dragon King bloodline to a degree similar to that of the Targaryen members.

As for why some commoners on Dragonstone can ride dragons, it is because the right of the first night is not prohibited in the territory of Dragonstone; these people possess relatively pure dragon blood, and are therefore also called "Dragonseed."

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