The Braavos Mountains had several relatively gentle valleys and mountain passes.
Under normal circumstances, these provided Braavos with convenient land routes for communicating with the outside world.
Yet because of the area's unique terrain, several fortresses had been built here centuries ago under the orders of a Sealord.
These fortresses ensured that the lands north of the mountains remained under Braavosi control.
However, no one had been able to threaten Braavos from this direction for hundreds of years, so the fortresses had gradually fallen into disrepair.
Not long ago, however, Freygo had ordered them reinforced.
The fortresses closest to the coast received particular attention.
At this narrow pass beside the sea, at least twenty thousand soldiers from Westeros and ten thousand Braavosi soldiers were stationed.
More than four hundred scorpions had also been deployed, with men guarding them around the clock.
Nearly half of those scorpions had been concentrated at a single "scorpion battery."
A concentrated volley from these weapons was something none of Viserys's dragons could withstand.
If Viserys wanted to use his dragons to break through the pass, he would have to risk losing them.
If he sent soldiers to storm the position, he would inevitably have to pay a terrible price.
And the Targaryen army had not yet fully assembled.
The formal assault had not even begun.
But every night, Viserys had Balerion fly over the walls and roar a few times, purely to intimidate the enemy.
He especially liked doing it when most of the soldiers had already fallen asleep, achieving the effect of exhausting the enemy.
The Westerosi soldiers standing atop the walls could already see the increasingly enormous Targaryen camp, as though it were growing larger every day.
Black royal banners and black armor made it resemble a dark cloud that was constantly growing thicker.
Within that heavy cloud, the most violent thunderstorm was gathering.
"I heard that Viserys has been giving those men land. I wonder if it's really true."
A soldier from the Vale whispered to his companion.
His eyes were bloodshot, with heavy bags beneath them, and he yawned as he spoke.
"How could that possibly be true?" a Riverlands soldier replied. "Ten hectares of land would be enough to make me a lord."
"If Viserys is really handing out land to those soldiers, I'll eat this scorpion right now!"
Because of the war, soldiers from the Seven Kingdoms who would normally never have crossed paths in their entire lives had now become acquainted with one another.
They discussed all sorts of strange subjects.
Would a Lannister really shit gold?
Was the North covered in blood all year round?
As for this particular Riverlands soldier, he had always thought of the Riverlands as fertile, but every inch of land already had an owner.
For the lords of Westeros, the idea of simply distributing land was still far too radical.
Although they had already learned that Viserys really was handing out land, they dared not tell the soldiers beneath them.
If the men learned that losing to Viserys meant receiving land, morale would probably sink straight through the ground.
So Robert and Freygo had deliberately spread rumors claiming that Viserys's promise of land was nothing more than a deception.
If they managed to repel the Targaryen army, they would receive their promised rewards immediately.
To further encourage morale, Freygo had even brought out large quantities of gold and piled it along the fortress walls.
He promised that anyone who killed a Targaryen soldier would receive ten gold coins.
Anyone who managed to shoot down a dragon would be rewarded with an entire chest of gold.
Robert went even further.
If someone could shoot down a dragon, he would immediately raise that man to the rank of lord.
If anyone managed to kill Viserys, Robert would marry a princess to him.
It did not matter if the man came from Flea Bottom or an even more lowly background.
With the situation becoming so desperate, he had no choice but to imitate Viserys and open a path for men of humble birth to rise through the ranks.
These promises did have an effect.
The soldiers responsible for operating the scorpions surrounded their weapons every day, studying and experimenting with them.
Their skills and accuracy improved rapidly.
However, among the nobles responsible for defending this place was Domeric, the eldest son of Roose Bolton.
Domeric was currently trying to figure out how he could make himself useful in the coming battle.
When he had met Viserys, the prince had promised to divide the North in two, with the lands east of the White Knife going to House Bolton.
If Domeric wanted Viserys to honor that promise, he needed to earn some merit first.
"Are you saying that His Majesty did not execute those nobles?"
After a period of probing, Domeric had determined that Raymond Darry of the Riverlands was the man most likely to be won over.
House Darry had firmly supported the Targaryen royal family during Robert's Rebellion.
Three of Raymond's elder brothers had even died alongside Rhaegar at the Battle of the Trident.
And there was also his cousin, Willem, one of the Kingsguard, who was very likely somewhere in the Targaryen camp below.
"I swear it to you! My father's name is on the list of those who were executed. Do you really think I would make a joke about my own father?"
Domeric was a polite and well-mannered young man, and Raymond believed that he would not lie.
"Good! I believe you. What should we do next?"
"If we're going to seize this place for His Majesty Viserys, then the more men we have, the better.
Most of the nobles in the North are loyal to House Stark, and I don't know the lords of the other regions well enough.
So I hope you can find some nobles who are willing to swear allegiance to House Targaryen again.
I'll serve as your witness."
"Good! We'll do exactly that!"
Raymond agreed with Domeric's suggestion and quickly put the plan into action.
There were thirty thousand soldiers stationed at the fortress.
Before long, they had gathered nearly five thousand men who were prepared to act as an inside force and seize the fortress in coordination with the Targaryen army.
Some of the participating nobles came from the Riverlands.
Others came from the Stormlands.
Although the Stormlands had been the Baratheon heartland, even Robert had been forced to suppress opposition within his own lands before he could officially march to war during his rebellion.
Clinton, Viserys's Hand of the King, was himself a noble of the Stormlands.
After Robert successfully claimed the Iron Throne, he retaliated against House Clinton by taking away a large portion of its lands after Clinton had once driven him into the arms of a prostitute.
Once Clinton had been restored to prominence under the Targaryens, the nobles who had previously resisted Robert began stirring once again.
But there was another problem.
How were they supposed to establish contact with Viserys?
"His Majesty sends a dragon to harass the fortress every night.
We can wait until His Majesty sends out the dragon, then seize the scorpions and make as much noise as possible.
His Majesty will certainly notice!"
Domeric suggested.
The scorpions were positioned in the most conspicuous locations, so Viserys could hardly fail to notice if they were deliberately damaged.
Several nobles selected an elite force of several hundred men and prepared to attack the scorpion battery on the fortress walls during the night.
Night fell.
Domeric and Raymond planned to lead their elite squads toward the scorpion battery from two different directions.
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