The Mountain of Ice and Fire

The Great Sage saw Daenerys's great interest in the Pyromancer's Guild; her eyes said it all.

Many island princes, Free Cities governors, or wealthy merchants from Eastern cities, mercenary captains, and ship captains with many ships who came to King's Landing for the first time were very interested in the Pyromancer's Guild of King's Landing.

The pyromancers who researched and manufactured wildfire were also very famous across the Narrow Sea.

"Your Majesty, the full name of our guild is the Alchemist's Guild, and its existence dates back thousands of years. Before the Citadel of Oldtown became famous, all the learned men of the continent gathered in our Alchemist's Guild. Four hundred years ago, our guild's influence extended to Asshai in the East, the place where Lady Melisandre came from," the Great Sage said, exuding the refined aura of a scholar.

Speaking of the glorious history of the Alchemist's Guild, the Great Sage and other Sages, as well as their apprentices and assistants, all had a glow on their faces.

Lady Melisandre said, "Your Majesty, in Asshai in the East, there are still temples of the Pyromancer's Guild. The inheritance of the pyromancers there has not been interrupted. The pyromancers possess magical flame abilities and are widely respected in Asshai. The books and oral traditions of the pyromancers all say that their ancestors came from the Alchemist's Guild of Westeros."

Daenerys showed a surprised expression.

The Mountain also felt surprised.

He did not expect that, historically, the influence of the Alchemist's Guild here had spread across two continents.

The Great Sage showed a self-deprecating expression: "In the thousands of years of history, our Alchemist's Guild was once glorious and prosperous, but in recent centuries, the scientific technology of the Oldtown scholars has risen rapidly, and the influence of our pyromancers has gradually been weakened. Four hundred years ago, when the Valyrian Empire was destroyed by ground fire, and a large number of dragons also died of suffocation due to the outbreak of ground fire and thick smoke, the magic and arcane secrets of the entire world were like exhausted springs. Our fire arcane and many secret spells lost their magical power."

"Because of the dragons?" Daenerys asked.

"Yes, Your Majesty. Dragons are the highest magical creatures. When dragons completely disappeared more than a hundred years ago, our guild only had one basic skill left: refining wildfire. In the past hundred years, many great Sages in our guild have aged rapidly and died in depression. Many elder Sages were even disheartened and chose to leave silently the place where they had spent their entire lives. No one knows where they went."

The Mountain also learned about the unknown side of the Pyromancer's Guild for the first time: "Great Sage, in my eyes, wildfire is a very impressive substance, but it is just a basic thing left over after the decline of the Alchemist's Guild?"

The Great Sage looked at the Mountain and showed a wry smile. He gestured for them to go inside, and the group followed the Great Sage into the depths of the guild: "Your Majesty, in our guild, only the most incompetent pyromancers would research and manufacture wildfire. Real pyromancers can freely refine any metal and create all kinds of flame creatures."

"Flame creatures?" The Mountain's eyes lit up fiercely. In his transmigrated memories, there was no knowledge about the inside history of the Pyromancer's Guild. He was hearing about flame creatures for the first time.

Daenerys's beautiful eyes also lit up.

Flame creatures, the Mountain, Daenerys, and the accompanying generals were all hearing about it for the first time.

Only Lady Melisandre remained charming as usual, without feeling any surprise. She wore a pigeon egg-sized red gemstone around her neck, like flames and blood, which made her face look rosy and her neck skin even whiter.

The Great Sage sighed: "Your Majesty, hundreds of years ago, the apprentices of the advanced Sages in our guild would not even bother to touch wildfire. Only the most elementary apprentices and the least talented assistants would be instructed to start learning and understanding the mysteries of flame from refining wildfire."

"Is it like sword apprentices learning how to hold a sword at the beginning?" Arya Stark said. She had learned many secrets and mysteries about flame in Lady Melisandre's stone room, but the power of those secrets and mysteries was not strong, and they also required royal blood to catalyze them in order to have magical power. From Melisandre's flames, Arya saw flame creatures for the first time. But that creature could only appear briefly in the flames, and could not leave the flames to come to the ground. Moreover, those flames needed to be mixed with royal blood to hatch flame creatures.

"Yes, Miss Arya," the Great Sage looked at Arya with a different look than he looked at others, with two subtle traces of caution and appreciation, and a faint hint of vigilance.

The old man led everyone to a row of black maze-like entrances. The group followed the Great Sage in. The ground, ceiling, and walls were all made of cold black stone. They twisted and turned, and there was no end in sight: "Hundreds of years ago, the elder Sages all had their own flame creatures, just like His Majesty's Red Smoke Beast, the generals' warhorses, and the swords in the hands of swordsmen."

"Great Sage, when did the flame mysteries completely disappear?" Arya asked. Deep in her heart, she vaguely felt that she was about to comprehend something. Last night in Lady Melisandre's stone room, the lady said that with the appearance and power of the dragons, her flame magic had been significantly enhanced. Arya was interested in learning some flame secrets and refining shadow guards, which were skills not found in the Faceless Men's Guild. If Lady Melisandre's flame magic had been strengthened, then the Great Sage's flame secrets in the Pyromancer's Guild would definitely be revived. It was just unknown to what extent they could be revived.

The Mountain saw that the Great Sage's eyes on Arya were different, as if he was very willing to answer Arya's questions. He heard the Great Sage say: "Arya, one hundred and seventy years ago, when the last dragon in the Dragonpit of King's Landing was killed, we discovered that even the most powerful Sages in the guild only had one secret technique that could be used: wildfire. The elders and Sages in the guild were very desperate. From that time on, there was no longer the position of elder in our guild."

"Why?" Daenerys asked. She was also very concerned about the topic of flame, because she was the Unburnt. She had always thought that the Unburnt talent was only possessed by the Targaryen family, but listening to the Great Sage talk about the glorious history of the guild, it seemed that every Great Sage was the Unburnt. This made Daenerys feel frustrated, but she was even more eager to figure out whether the Sages had the ability to make themselves Unburnt.

"Your Majesty, when the Sages discovered that they only had the ability to refine wildfire left, all the elders chose to commit suicide. Many of their talented disciples and apprentices chose to follow. That was the most tragic past of our guild, and no one is willing to mention it again, let alone face it. Books about those events were all burned a few years later. From then on, Westeros only knew that the Sages of the Pyromancer's Guild could refine amazing wildfire. They did not know that their true secret arcane was the more powerful and versatile flame and the creation of their own flame creatures."

The Great Sage's words made the atmosphere a lot more depressing.

The elders and disciples in the guild chose to commit suicide, which of course made the strength of the guild even more weakened. That was indeed a heartbreaking past, full of unwillingness and despair.

The group walked out of the huge, dark, cold maze and came to a series of empty stone rooms. The temperature here was even colder. Touching the stone walls, the stones were as cold as ice. It was unknown where these stones were mined from, but they were emitting cold air.

"Your Majesty, Your Majesty, generals, this is where we refine wildfire. In each stone room, there will be a Sage, an apprentice, and an assistant. The Sage is responsible for refining wildfire, the apprentice is responsible for bottling and storing it, and the assistant stands by the door. Everyone, look, there is a rope here. After the dragons were completely extinct, the originally stable wildfire became extremely unstable. A slight shaking would cause it to burn, and then cause a fire and explosion. Whenever the wildfire in the stone room spontaneously ignited due to vibration, the assistant would pull this rope."

As the Great Sage spoke, he reached out and pulled the rope hanging by the door. There was a loud click, and the ceiling above their heads completely flipped over...

"Before the dragons became active again in the skies of Westeros, our ceilings were filled with yellow sand. After our flame secrets and arcane disappeared, yellow sand was the only substance that could extinguish wildfire flames. For safety, the ceiling of each stone room was designed as a movable flip, and the yellow sand from the riverbank was completely dried and poured from the upper floor onto the ceiling to ensure that the fire could be extinguished as soon as the wildfire ignited. Once something happened, whether it was an accident during refining or the wildfire spontaneously ignited due to vibration, or the wildfire spontaneously ignited for no reason, we only need to pull this rope to ensure that the fire can be extinguished instantly."

"This is really cleverly designed!" Daenerys reached out to try pulling the rope. There was no yellow sand on the ceiling. She heard a click, and the flipped ceiling flipped back, returning to its original state. There was no flaw at all, seamless.

"Great Sage, you don't need yellow sand to extinguish wildfire now? Congratulations on the revival of your flame secrets!" Arya was eager to try. Since her big friend the Mountain could get Melisandre to teach her some flame secrets and the arcane of shadow guards, he should also be able to get the Great Sage to explain some secrets about flame to her. From Melisandre, Arya discovered another brand new window, a new world full of fascinating charm.

"When dragons are active again in the sky, our flame secrets do have some revival, but it is far from enough to create flame creatures," the Great Sage smiled.

"When will it be fully revived?"

"When more dragons appear in our sky. The more active the dragons, the more powerful the magic. Not only our flame secrets, but also the Red God, the Seven Gods, the secrets of various wizards, and the occultism in the Citadel of Oldtown will be revived one after another. It's just that the degree of recovery varies."

"Great Sage, when I was reading at home, Maester Luwin, in order to read about the stories of dragons, read that Aegon IV Targaryen, in order to conquer Dorne, had the Sages hatch seven dragon eggs in Summerhall."

"Yes, but the wildfire lost control, and a big explosion occurred in Summerhall. The King, Prince, Captain of the Kingsguard, and many courtiers and noble ladies were burned to death in Summerhall. Her Majesty Daenerys's brother Rhaegar Targaryen was born in the Summerhall explosion. The Queen's Majesty's mother was rescued by the Captain of the Kingsguard and placed on the grass outside. She gave birth to Rhaegar Targaryen. And when the Captain of the Kingsguard returned to save the King, he could no longer come out."

The Mountain knew this story. This was the Targaryen royal family's famous 'Tragedy of Summerhall'.

The Mountain said, "Great Sage, I heard that before Aegon IV hatched dragon eggs in Summerhall in order to conquer Dorne, he ordered the Pyromancer's Guild to create 'dragons' for him." The Mountain's purpose in coming here today was also related to the 'dragons' that the pyromancers had created.

"Your Majesty knows that we once created dragons?" the Great Sage said in surprise.

The Mountain was not a person who liked to read. His fame did not come from erudition, but from his cruel killings as a teenager and his illiteracy.

"I heard Maester Qyburn mention it," the Mountain said, readily using Grand Master Qyburn.

"Oh!"

"Great Sage, before testing the power of the wildfire bombs, can we visit the 'dragons' you once created?" The Mountain said very politely, but his tone was firm. He wanted to see them, without a doubt.

"Dragons? Dragons created by the Sages?" Daenerys's beautiful eyes widened even more. She was hearing for the first time that dragons could be created by humans. Arya Stark and others were equally surprised.

"Those are not real dragons. Our guild had no choice but to obey the King's orders."

"Please lead the way," the Mountain said with a smile.

"Okay. But those are very failed things," the Great Sage said.

However, everyone's interest was greatly increased, and everyone yearned to witness the 'dragons' created by the Sages.

So, the Great Sage led the way, walking through winding corridors. He laughed: "The 'dragons' are in the warehouse on the next lower level. It is already covered with dust."

As the group moved forward, a black and shiny giant stone wall appeared in front of them. Many reliefs were carved on it. The reliefs were mainly based on strange-shaped creatures, creatures that almost everyone had never seen before—like lions but not lions, like wild horses but not wild horses, like shadow lynxes but not shadow lynxes... This wall emitted a faint cold air, and the touch was smooth and clean, spotless, which indicated that someone often wiped it. Everyone saw a row of dragons and phoenixes dancing at the top: The Alchemist's Guild has a long history, and wildfire is only one of the foundations of our many sacred secrets. Before the magic power disappeared, the flame creatures created by our Sages through flame secrets were vast and complex, and countless.

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