Skyrim System In Westeros

After the funeral, the nobles remained in King's Landing, waiting for the new king's coronation. Friends and family gathered, and after seven days without drinking, they began hosting lavish feasts. The leftover food was distributed among the poor, bringing joy to both nobles and commoners alike.

Above the city, six young dragons chased and played with each other. The two towering detection spires atop the Red Keep and the Magic School remained lit, their sweeping beams of light scanning the surroundings. The city's pigeons, startled by the flashing lights and the presence of the unwelcome giant lizards, hid in their nests, too afraid to take flight.

In the control chamber beneath the detection spires, mages from across the realm exchanged knowledge. They took turns activating the Eyes of Detection, discussing possible improvements.

Inside the Office of the Magic Administration Committee, Wright picked up a piece of parchment. After carefully reviewing it, he took a red quill and marked an "X" in the blank box beside his name.

The proposal submitted by Grand Mage Malora—to issue new badges for the kingdom's official mages—had been formally rejected in a vote of three in favor and six against.

"Archmage, may I ask what issue you have with my proposal? There are vampires everywhere now, and the new badge is designed with a detection function. This would allow every mage to identify them!" Malora knew Wright's temperament well—he preferred straightforward discussions rather than gossiping behind his back.

Renly, Qyburn, Thoros, Tyene, and four maesters from the Citadel sat in high-backed chairs. In the previous discussion, Tyene had been officially appointed as the headmistress of the Tyroshi Magic School. One of the four maesters was attending in place of Archmaester Marwyn, who was away on a long voyage to Asshai.

"The design is good—of course, I know that, since I created it myself. Malora's suggestion is excellent, but it fails to take public sentiment into account."

Wright placed the parchment into a box beside him, then gestured to the small steel badge pinned to his chest. "If we integrate detection functions into the badge, its size will at least double. The magic-conducting material would also need to be either pure gold or pure silver. And that presents a problem."

Standing up, Wright cast a Alteration spell, turning the steel badge into a gleaming gold one. "We mages already wear robes embroidered with gold and silver, carrying wands that draw attention. And now we're supposed to wear a large lump of gold or silver on our chests? Parading around in such ostentatious attire—are we showing off or just inviting robbers to slit our throats? Just look at me right now and tell me what you think."

"I know those thieves well—jealousy and greed drive them. They wouldn't dare kill a mage outright, but the thought of sneaking in and stealing from one? That would certainly cross their minds," Thoros said. After over a decade as a mercenary, he still occasionally took high-paying contracts. With Westeros at peace, mercenary work mainly involved hunting down bandits.

"What's the big deal? Look at me, and then look at the other nobles in the city. Are their necklaces thin and modest?" Renly argued. The golden chain around his neck was as thick as a thumb, and he never found it cumbersome.

"You're a Lord, but most mages come from common backgrounds. They only receive a knight's title after graduation. Many of them are just starting their careers—drawing too much attention would be dangerous for them. It could even cost them their lives."

"So, are we just going to abandon such a useful tool?" Qyburn tried to argue on Malora's behalf.

Wright grinned. "The Magic Committee receives funding from the kingdom and donations. We can certainly afford a hundred or so badges. But to avoid being accused of extravagance, we'll make the new badges gold-plated iron."

"Gold-plated iron? And what about the gold that wears away?" Renly, always mindful of the distinction between public and private matters, raised an eyebrow.

"I'll have Kana handle that. What do you all think?"

Achieving great success, returning home in glory, and honoring one's family—these were universal desires. There would inevitably be a great war against the White Walkers and vampires beyond the Wall. Mages would accumulate military merits and wealth. As a small and newly established class—numbering only in the hundreds, with most being low-tier spellcasters—any attempt to incite conflict against them could lead to a bloodbath. Wright intended to curb the growing arrogance among mages.

The proposal passed smoothly. The mages themselves didn't want to make themselves targets. Next, they divided up the incoming students among the three magic academies.

The nine committee members worked until late afternoon before finishing their duties. After dining on the meals sent by their attendants, they each returned home.

Although Renly held the title of headmaster of the King's Landing Magic School, the school's administration had long since been placed on a stable track. Leisurely, he and Wright headed to the academy, where they reclined on the guest lounge's sofas, sipping sweet wine and chatting idly.

Jon Snow knocked on the door.

The Gold Cloaks had been overwhelmed with responsibilities during the king's funeral, and as the young Lord Commander, Jon had to set an example, leaving him with no time to rest. Now that the funeral had ended and the new king's coronation remained unscheduled, he finally had a moment of respite. Upon learning that Wright and Renly were at the academy, he made his way there alone.

Ghost lay at the door while Jon entered the lounge alone.

Since returning from his pursuit of the vampires, Jon had looked as if he had been drained dry, appearing severely emaciated. Though his condition had improved, he had been consuming vast amounts of meat daily just to regain his strength. Beneath his Gold Cloak armor, he looked no different from an ordinary man, but his face still bore the gauntness of his ordeal.

"I heard the Gold Cloaks encountered vampires. Tell me what happened," Wright said, pouring a cup of wine and handing it to Jon.

Jon did not take the cup. Instead, he looked at Renly, then at Wright, before suddenly dropping to his knees with a loud thud, his face filled with anguish as if he were about to cry.

"Master, I have sinned!"

Renly was so startled he almost dropped his goblet. "Who did you kill?"

Wright placed his goblet on the tea table and sat back down on the couch. "Did you let the vampire go?"

Jon nodded, then shook his head.

"I'm with the female vampire. I love her. I love her red hair. She didn't leave. She said she would wait for me." Jon was speaking so incoherently that his words barely made sense.

"You've really outdone yourself!" Renly, having no authority over Wright's apprentice, leaned back on the couch and watched how Wright would handle the situation.

Wright said, "Jon, when humans turn into vampires, they do gain enhanced bodies and sometimes even altered appearances. But you're not some naive boy. You've seen all kinds of exotic beauties in Tyrosh. What is it about this vampire woman that captivated you? Or have you been ensnared by an illusion?"

Jon replied, "I chased them to Sow's Horn, killed the other vampires, and found her in a wooden hut. The moment I saw her, I knew I had found true love! I'm certain I wasn't under any illusion!"

"True love?" Wright raised an eyebrow.

Jon nodded firmly. "True love!"

"You really are a hopeless romantic! Of all the women you could fall for, you chose a vampire? Is she that beautiful?" Wright was intrigued.

Jon said, "Her skin is very fair."

"Vampires always have pale skin in their human form. Get to the point."

Jon continued, "She has a head of fiery red hair. She also has a stunning figure. And when she speaks to me, I can't hear a word she's saying—my entire focus is on her red lips."

Wright suddenly interrupted, "Wait a minute. A red-haired beauty—she wouldn't happen to be Melisandre, would she?"

A devout follower of R'hllor, born an enemy of such undead creatures, Melisandre had the potential to be an anomaly in this world Wright had reshaped. It wouldn't be impossible for her to turn into a vampire just to further her research. However, Jon had seen Melisandre in Tyrosh before and hadn't been drawn to her. That shouldn't have changed now.

"It wasn't her," Jon shook his head.

"Good. That's a relief! Now stand up when you speak."

Melisandre had lived for a very long time and hailed from Asshai. Her views on relationships were quite open. Wright knew for a fact that Nymeria had slept with her, as had Robert and Stannis. If Jon joined that list, things would get rather awkward.

Jon rose from his kneeling position. "The one I love isn't Melisandre. But… she was with us."

"What?!" This time, even Renly lost his composure and shouted.

With a thud, Jon fell to his knees again and recounted the entire story to his two mentors.

"The vampire I love is called Ygritte. When I first saw her, she was fighting Melisandre. They were both wearing red robes and had red hair. Their magic was ferocious, and they chased each other from Sow's Horn all the way to the shores of the Gods Eye. Both were gravely wounded, and I felt I had to stop them from fighting."

"You mean you saw two beautiful women and had a fit of knightly honor, unable to bring yourself to strike them?" Wright sneered.

Jon's face flushed at the memory. At the time, the clothes of both red-haired women had been drenched by the lake water, clinging tightly to their bodies. As they dueled across the lake's surface, their movements were strikingly graceful.

"I took them both to the Isle of Faces in the middle of the lake. I saved Ygritte with my blood and healed Melisandre with magic. Though they still had their grievances, they didn't attack me. They both even said that my bloodline was unique."

"Unique?" Renly looked at Wright for an explanation.

"Jon carries some Targaryen blood." Wright had studied Daenerys in Meereen and later tested Jon upon returning to Tyrosh.

"Oh." Renly wasn't particularly impressed. House Targaryen's bloodline wasn't all that special to him—he could ride a dragon himself.

"We spent our days singing songs from Asshai, the North, and beyond the Wall, and our nights sleeping together." Jon spoke vaguely, but his nostalgic expression made it clear that he had thoroughly enjoyed those days.

However, Wright fell into deep thought after hearing Jon's account. Something didn't add up. This was too much of a coincidence. It was absurdly dramatic—like a hero-rescuing-a-beauty tale straight out of a bard's song.

Then, all at once, it made sense. Melisandre had the power of prophecy. She could see the future. That meant she had likely orchestrated all of this, subtly guiding both Jon and Ygritte's actions. But why? What was her endgame?

Wright was certain because, according to Jon's story, during their time on the Isle of Faces, no one had disturbed them. That island was filled with weirwoods and was guarded by a secretive group known as the Green Men. Only Melisandre's prophetic abilities could have allowed them to avoid detection.

"The sun rises and sets, and I don't know how long passed before Melisandre told me that if I continued like this, I would die. Only then did both of them allow me to come back."

Jon continued to recount how he returned.

Both women wore red dresses, had fiery red lips, pale skin, and long legs—one was a cold-blooded vampire, the other a blazing high priestess of the Lord of Light.

Bang!

Wright slammed the wine bottle onto the coffee table. "One ice, one fire, and I've never gotten to enjoy either!"

"A Song of Ice and Fire, not bad. Jon, what you've done could be recorded in history!" Renly, uninterested in women, respected Jon for winning the favor of two mortal enemies at once.

Wright pulled Jon by the shoulders, lifting him up and pushing him onto the sofa. "Robb came to King's Landing, haven't you heard him? The Night's Watch brothers also got involved with the female vampire. They were acquitted."

"Really? Then what about me?" Jon's expression changed quickly, from sadness to joy, now filled with hopeful expectation.

"But letting the vampire go is still considered treason!" Wright quickly added, cutting Jon down.

Jon hurriedly waved his hand. "Ygritte wanted to break free from the control of the upper echelons. She promised me that she won't harm anyone in the future."

Wright responded, "Jon, you've read about how vampires come into being, right? From the moment they're born, they exist to drink human blood! They can sustain themselves with animal blood, but they grow stronger with human blood. Do you really think Ygritte can resist such temptation?"

"As long as she doesn't harm humans, I'm willing to feed her my blood," Jon said seriously, clearly having thought it through.

Renly sat up on the sofa. "The Coldharbour breed... High-ranking members have strong control over their offspring. Even if Ygritte is far removed from her blood relatives, if that one shows up..." Renly pointed to the floor. "Would she still be under control?"

"I don't know. The limited information I know doesn't mention it," Jon replied. With him present, Wright and Renly refrained from mentioning the name of the Daedric Prince.

"They've already conspired to kill him outside the Wall. His name is Craster!" Jon had no idea who they were referring to, thinking it was regarding the development of Ygritte's vampire breed.

"Is she still on the Isle of Faces? Renly and I will go meet her," Wright said. Since they had a vampire they could communicate with, Wright had many things to ask.

"Please, teachers, don't hurt her. I swear on my life that she's harmless," Jon stood up, bowing deeply to both of them.

Wright also stood, patting Jon's shoulder. "Don't worry, the vampire we have locked up in Tyrosh is still alive."

"Hahaha, a vampire! No time to waste, let's leave now!" Renly laughed loudly from the side. He knew what kind of vampire they had in Tyrosh.

Every day, being sliced by Tyene for research, her blood drained and dried into medicinal powder, she was so weak she was near death. When she couldn't go on, they forced live rats into her mouth. This went on every day.

Her body was bound with silver locks, every part tightly bound. After feeding, whenever any part of her regrew, it was cut off for further study. Want to commit suicide? Her jaw was taken off, her teeth pulled out, and if she refused food, blood was force-fed to her. Life was worse than death.

Qyburn liked studying the dead, while Tyene preferred studying the living. Together, they contributed greatly to the development of magic and medicine, gaining a high reputation among mages and maetser. Only the zealots of the Seven ever spoke ill of them.

The God's Eye Lake was far from King's Landing, but Wright and Renly both had dragons, so they could leave in the evening and return before dawn.

Usually, they would converse easily, but when Jon needed to mount Odahviing, the dragon was unwilling regardless of Jon's Targaryen bloodline. Jon had no choice but to tie a rope around his own body, fastening himself to the dragon's claw, swinging along as they flew toward God's Eye Lake.

The dragon's slightest movement was brutal to a tiny human like Jon, but fortunately, he knew magic and was able to consume some of his mana to avoid falling to his death, landing safely on the ground of the Isle of Faces.