Chapter 21: Three Masks
109 AC, Braavos
Quarro Otherys, the Sealord of Braavos, could feel the sharks circling him. He did so for many years, likely since the Triarchy began to demand ruinous tolls in the Stepstones, halting his people’s trades and reducing their profits. Braavos was the jewel of the world, certainly the most civilised city on this side of Essos, but beneath it all lay the foundation of a system that was based on gold and profits. While this gave any commoner a chance to rise greatly with their wit and cunning, a decrease in profits angered everyone.
And with the newfound blockade of the Stepstones, he knew that he would likely not live past the next decade, given the dissatisfaction of the nobles around him. It was a bitter thing, to have fought from the bottom, taking House Otherys to a middling noble house at best, into one of the wealthiest in Braavos through nothing more than his ingenuity, to lose it to no fault of his own.
He had a plan, as well, one that would have seen him survive the coming storm by wedding his useful son to Laena Velaryon. The Sea Snake was an impressive man, but his wife’s blood was far more precious. After all, Braavos held three petrified dragon eggs, and Quarro had been hopeful that Targaryen blood would hatch them. Even if it did not work, the Braavosi would wait until his grandchildren were fully grown before making a move, buying him valuable time. Dragonlord blood was precious, and already Volantis had attempted to steel them, though they were quite unsuccessful in their efforts.
Compared to the security of the potential of Braavosi Dragonriders, a few ships and men seemed to be quite a paltry exchange, yet the Sea Snake reneged on their agreement, leaving Quarro no choice but to wait for the inevitable assassination that would succeed, which would all become more frequent as Daemon Targaryen and the Triarchy continued to war.
And so, when a scroll came to him with the Sea Snake’s seal, he had been surprised, to say the least. It was unlikely to have been a marriage proposal, given the fact that Laena Velaryon was now a full Dragonrider, but the fact of his son, Laenor Velaryon, wishing to speak with him regarding a proposition of some sort certainly grabbed his attention.
Firstly, it was the secrecy of it all, for no rumours of the Sea Snake’s son coming to Braavos were being spread, and looking at the boy before him, he understood why. He was dressed like a merchant, and not quite like what a Westerosi noble, yet his features betrayed him, for the boy looked quite like his father. Not much was known about the boy, aside from some silly tale about him riding in secret in some tourney and being knighted for it, and more interestingly, his talent as an artist, where his work was praised to be greater than any before him, likely an exaggeration.
It was enough for him to hear what the boy had to say, and the Sealord of Braavos must admit that the boy was sharp, at least sharp enough to hint at some of the war’s impact on Braavos and on him, likely hoping to use it as leverage for their negotiation, though he could see his father’s hand in this. It was a shame that it had all ended so disappointingly, “I am offering you a way to break the Triarchy beyond repair.”
Quarro gave the boy an uninterested look and did his best to roll his eyes. Perhaps it was an unwise reaction, but he had more than enough enemies near him to worry about some boy across the sea being offended by his reaction. He could see what the boy hinted at, likely joining forces with Driftmark to fight alongside the Rogue Prince and destroy the Triarchy. It was hardly ‘Breaking the Triarchy beyond repair’, but the Westerosi were certainly dramatic people.
Normally, it wouldn’t be such a terrible prospect depending on what Braavos could receive in exchange for its aid. He would have been able to negotiate to get a few islands in the Stepstones after the fighting. Unfortunately, this was not a normal situation, for the Triarchy was investing far more than they should on the Stepstones. And so, the wise choice was to wait until their economy was weakened after this little spat, and Braavos would then support someone to free the Stepstones.
Which was why he had to refuse the offer, “I will not risk spilling Braavosi blood, nor spend Braavosi gold, to fight a war that your father and the Rogue Prince started, especially not after our last agreement.”
The Sealord had expected perhaps mortification or anger, but the boy surprised him by smiling widely, “Whoever said anything about fighting a war? No, all that we need to bring down the Triarchy is this, right here.”
The boy took out a small piece of parchment, one that he handed Quarro casually. Despite the dubious nature of the claim, he was curious. And so, he unfolded it and read its content, his eyebrow rising with every word.
It was made up of instructions of sorts, and they were quite detailed, far more than he had seen before. Though it was not his expertise, he did not think that blacksmiths measured the heat of their forges by the melting of various metals.
Still, the end result escaped him, and he did not see how this would change much: “How would this destroy the Triarchy?”
“Because what you have in your hand is a reproducible recipe to create glass with great clarity,” the boy answered.
Quarro choked on his own spit, the words settled in, and even his First Sword stiffened in shock at that. He looked at the treasure in his hands, and if it was true, it would be worth far more than any army or fleet in the world. This was an opportunity to create Braavosi glass, to undercut the Myrish, and potentially a way out of the pit that he was in.
This was an opportunity unlike any other he had ever had in his time as Sealord of Braavos. This could enrich his family, enrich Braavos, and compete with the slavers, something that every man with Braavosi blood would cherish.
Still, this would pose a great issue, mainly a potential war with Myr and with it, the rest of the Triarchy. Was that the boy’s plan, to pit them against Braavos instead of focusing on the Stepstones? It would certainly work, and Quarro did not find it in himself to refuse the idea. He did not know if it would be better for Braavos in the long run, but it was certainly better than waiting for his own death.
He looked at the boy in suspicion, especially as the boy had given him the instructions before an agreement was made, “What do you want in return for… this?”
“Nothing,” the young Velaryon answered with a shrug, “I am prepared to give it to you for almost nothing.”
“Almost nothing,” he found himself repeating, as if disbelieving the words that left his mouth.
“Yes. All I want is one small thing, something that will cost you very little. And that is for you to send the contents of this little piece of parchment across the Known World. I want every city from the Wall to the Summer Islands, from Braavos to Leng, to know exactly how to make glass. And in every letter, I want you to say that this is a recipe for Braavosi glass without a single mention of mine or House Velaryon’s involvement, that you decided to share with the world how to have glass that was not sold by slavers.”
The Sealord spluttered at that, “That would devalue every single glass ornament across the world. The entire industry would fall and collapse… The losses alone would be incalculable. Why would you ever want to do that?”
“Oh, it’s much more than that. After all, I did ask that you send it to every city, even Tyrosh, Myr, and Lys.”
Then, the image began to clear up regarding the boy’s motivation. The Triarchy was a fragile alliance between three Free Cities that warred against one another since the Doom of Valyria. They would not stand by Myr as its greatest industry collapsed. In fact, they would even likely start producing their own glass, something that Myr would dislike. It was inevitable that they would war against one another once more, collapsing the Triarchy completely.
The Sealord of Braavos looked at Laenor Velaryon with new eyes, and certainly a newfound respect and caution. This young man, before him, had likely somehow discovered how to create glass, and yet, instead of enriching his house, he had leveraged himself in a way that would cause the most damage to his enemies.
It had been calculated, thorough, and would most likely work, and perhaps even collapse three Free Cities, without spilling a single drop of blood. A part of Quarro was tempted to do the same to the Sea Snake and not send the instructions, but there was nothing stopping the boy from getting another power to do the same. He could imagine Pentos doing this, for example.
Also, as the Sealord, being perceived as an enemy of slavers and likely as the man who had been responsible for this plan, would not only halt his enemies’ approach but cement his name in history. For him to have been responsible for the collapse of the power that encumbered his citizens would earn him a lot of breathing room, given that most blamed him for his passiveness when it came to the issue of the Stepstones, even if it was the right decision to take. The boy’s offer, though not as lucrative to him as keeping the recipe for glass as secret, was still quite advantageous to him, and it would come at little to no cost for him or for Braavos.
There was also another part of him, a smaller part, that was wary of what the boy might do as well. If he had been this calculated against the Triarchy, then one could not help but wonder if he could do the same for other enemies. Quarro, himself, did not wish to find out, especially since their goals aligned at that moment.
And so, the Sealord of Braavos grabbed a cup of wine and raised it with a wide smile on his face, “To the destruction of the Triarchy, then.”
The boy smiled and took a goblet of his own, doing the same, “To the destruction of the Triarchy.”
And so, with a sip of wine, what was likely to be a defining moment in history had taken place, one that would likely affect most of the continent at the very least.
After taking a sip, he smiled at him, “I am glad that this is out of the way. Feel free to try out the glass forging. It takes a bit of effort to get it just right, but that mostly comes from experience. It was pretty bothersome to translate the temperatures all to the melting points of various metals to be reproducible, instead of relying on a thermometer, like the ones I made in Driftmark.”
Quarro simply nodded, not truly understanding most of what had been said. He thought that this was it, the usual casual conversation after a deal was struck, but the boy’s eyes sharpened for a moment, “Oh, yes. I almost forgot. There’s something else that I came here for.”
The Sealord of Braavos found himself tensing at what else would come. After all, if the first part of their conversation was regarding the likely collapse of an entire industry, he felt somewhat anxious about what would come next.
To his surprise, the boy reached into his coat and retrieved… a small porcelain cup and handed it to him. Quarro slowly took it to examine it, and it was certainly pretty, likely worth quite a lot should it be sold. One should not walk around with it, in fear of scratching or chipping it, but then again, Westerosi nobles always found a way to spend their gold in the most ridiculous ways possible. Then again, Essosi merchants were hardly better in that regard.
Still, he raised an eyebrow, feeling slightly confused, “Do you wish to sell it?”
“Well, yes, that and the crates that I brought with me on my ship.”
Quarro froze once more, something that was becoming quite common in this meeting, and repeated, “Crates…”
“Yeah. I might have gone a little overboard, but I didn’t know how many of them would survive the trip here from Driftmark. I have to say that the padding worked a lot better than I expected.”
The connection with the instructions to forge glass in his hand was more than enough to show itself. This was no fluke. He did not know how Laenor Velaryon was able to do it, but the boy somehow could make porcelain as well as glass.
He frowned and asked, “How does it compare to porcelain from Yi Ti?”
It was certainly not the same. Quarro had the privilege of having his own collection of porcelain, and while what he was holding in his hand was very similar, it felt somewhat… lesser.
“It’s slightly different. Porcelain from Yi Ti use materials local to the area, ones that I don’t know exist anywhere else. Not that most would care, of course.”
The Sealord of Braavos smiled, realising the truth of what it was. Even if it would likely be worth less than the pieces from Yi Ti, it remained a very sought-after commodity, one that would likely not be seen anywhere.
The boy smiled at him, smug satisfaction brimming in his features, and spoke up, “Now then, let us speak of terms...”
AN: This story is still relatively new, so if you'd like me to continue it, please let me know in the comments what you think of the rewrite so far.
Well, I told you I was pretty proud of the plan. Laenor is using this war to hit a lot of birds with one stone. For one, it would destabilise the Triarchy due to the coming infighting, without House Velaryon being targeted by assassins, and he also got a trading agreement with Braavos for his porcelain, meaning that he could begin financing his projects in Castle Driftmark. He would also be able to use glass without anyone bothering him, since everyone would also have it. He would also be able to see glass and mirrors openly, though at a lower cost, because he already had the infrastructure set up to do it.
As I said before, I am planning on uploading more of this story (outside of normal uploads). I have a bit of a backlog of chapter drafts for this story that I’ll try to go through when I can. As usual, I don’t mind rewriting this chapter depending on your feedback, so please let me know what you think and if you have any suggestions.