Chapter 190: Tyrosh
The Breeze's Kiss sailed south for nearly a week, finally crossing the Sea of Myrth and approaching Tyrosh, the northernmost island of the Stepstones—one of the nine Free Cities.
During this time, Ian lived a routine life of feeding dragons/learning languages—practicing swordplay/skinchanging abilities—learning languages.
He also spoke with Celia and Rol.
From the former, he learned that Celia's second main quest was to become a high priestess of R'hllor, a quest she had already completed while in Pentos.
Her third main quest, like Ian's, was a series of objectives, mainly consisting of three indicators: acquiring a certain number of followers, converting (physically converting or leading them to conversion) a certain number of high-ranking heretics, and building a certain number of religious troops with B-rank or higher quality.
Furthermore, Ian's epic victory objective in her mission set had been replaced with destroying a religion with over 500,000 followers (note: reducing their remaining followers to no more than 500). Given the difficulty of this mission, Ian couldn't imagine what kind of battle would qualify for an epic victory. The criteria certainly weren't as simple as in strategy games.
Meanwhile, the objective of ruling a city with 500,000 people in Ian's mission set remained unchanged in Celia's mission. She received the same mission, but in a manner similar to the Vatican's rule over Rome—theocratic rule without secular power. This dashed Ian's hopes of earning double points for each city with 500,000 people.
Interestingly, while Celia's class was Red Priestess, the mission didn't require her to gain followers for R'hllor. Instead, the standard for followers was simply that they 'regard Celia as the representative of that god.'
In Ian's view, this wasn't just a hint to players, but an encouragement for them to become religious charlatans and create their own religions.
Theoretically, this was indeed far more difficult than proselytizing for an existing god, since it meant the player wouldn't receive any church support. However, for Ian, this wasn't a major issue, as the support of secular authorities was paramount for missionary work.
It was well known that conversion by conquest was the most effective method. Once he achieved military victory, all of Celia's objectives would fall into place.
This was probably the significance of player alliances—collaborating across different areas to rack up points was far more efficient than a lone wolf player focusing solely on one area.
From Rol, Ian gained very little. While Rol had led troops in the Disputed Lands, that was ten years ago, and he'd been wandering Westeros in recent years, which was why Ian and Cass were in the same 'region' at the start of the game.
Rol did have some friends in Myr and Tyrosh, but after ten years, whether he could find them again was another matter, and Ian considered such friendships of little value.
In contrast, he pinned his hopes on his new captain, Kohruru, regaining some influence.
Shortly after Darren told him they were almost at Tyrosh, Ian spotted the port city on the horizon.
As the coast drew closer, Ian gradually made out the high walls protecting the city, which, from a distance, resembled an impregnable fortress.
It was said that Tyrosh's inner walls were built from fused black dragonstone. Ian didn't know what dragonstone actually was, but his intuition told him it couldn't be dragonglass—obsidian couldn't build walls.
Under Darren's command, the Breeze's Kiss methodically began to lower its sails and slow down, preparing for the Tyroshi customs boats' inspection.
Ian's ship was loaded with some low-profit miscellaneous goods—items that Celia had left on the ship when she bought it. The original owner had no connections and couldn't access the highly profitable goods monopolized by the powerful.
Due to the urgency of the situation, Ian hadn't made any arrangements for the cargo, leaving it on the ship.
This was for the best. Compared to an empty ship or transporting highly profitable goods, carrying some miscellaneous cargo was the least conspicuous option.
What Ian didn't expect was that reality would soon prove him wrong.
Just as the customs officers had inspected the cargo in the hold, and Ian thought they would lose interest and leave after collecting a modest bribe, they surprisingly demanded an exorbitant bribe that would render the voyage completely unprofitable.
Ian then remembered that the original story mentioned the Tyroshi were notoriously greedy.
While Darren negotiated with the customs officers, Ian observed from a distance, not rushing to intervene.
A protection fee that would be astronomical for an ordinary captain was just pocket change to Ian now, but the dilemma was that if they paid it, it would inevitably arouse suspicion. If they refused, they would certainly face trouble.
The solution was to pay it, but how much and how to pay were questions Ian had no answer to, so he stood silently to the side, waiting for Darren to resolve the matter.
Letting professionals handle professional problems was Ian's style. He was usually very humble in areas he wasn't familiar with.
Soon, Darren finished his conversation with the customs officers and paid half of the amount they demanded. Most of it was in silver stags, with only a few gold dragons and copper stars.
It turned out Darren had been prepared.
After the customs officers left Ian's ship and returned to their small boat, Ian approached Darren.
"The customs fee is much higher than I expected. I thought paying only a quarter to a third of their asking price would be enough. Our cargo doesn't have high profit margins, so why are they charging such an exorbitant price?" Ian asked in a low voice.
"It's precisely because our profits are low that these petty officials dare to extort us. The port will never lack ordinary captains like me," Darren said helplessly. "For ships with real connections, they always let them through without question. Otherwise, if a captain from one of the great trading houses complained to the Archon of Tyrosh, they'd all be in deep trouble."
How realistic. Ian chuckled. He should have thought of this, but for some reason, he had overlooked it.
Was it because such insignificant people were no longer worthy of my attention?
Ian's usual thought process involved putting himself in the shoes of everyone he dealt with, considering what he would do if he were in their position, and then speculating on all possibilities based on the factors of 'motivation' and 'capability.'
But just now, he hadn't done that. He had simply considered the problem from his own perspective.
This incident had no consequences, but it made Ian wary. He realized that with the rise of power and status, he seemed to be inevitably becoming arrogant.
Arrogance was a dangerous companion.
Taking a deep breath, Ian readjusted himself. He saw that Darren had already left to oversee the raising of the sails and dropping of anchor, so he waved for Bronn and Dorian to come to his side.
"This time, upon entering port, your sellsword company and all the sailors on board are not to disembark without my order," Ian commanded them.
"Can't we go ashore?" Bronn was the first to object. "Do you know what Tyrosh is most famous for?"
"Sellswords, slaves, and pleasure houses," he answered himself immediately.
(End of Chapter)
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