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Her Eternal Excellency (Raiden Ei reborn as Argella Durrandon)

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The Cryo Archon gathers all the seven gnosis' , launching a rebellion against the heavens, dragging rest of Teyvat into it.

Raiden Ei, the Electro Archon, dies as she deals a fatal blow to the Heavenly Principles, while she and the Cryo Archon are clashing.

Her story does not end yet.
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Chapter 1 - Awaken New
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    • Samael61

    Samael61

    Making the rounds.
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    Hello there,

    If you enjoy my stories you can read advanced chapters in my patreon

    Her Eternal Excellency, ( Raiden Ei reborn as Argella Durrandon) a Genshin Impact and ASOIAF crossover is four chapters ahead there.

    You can also check out my other stories in my page.

    Geek's Guide to Thriving in a Low End Fantasy World, a Robert Baratheon OC SI which is also four chapters ahead.

    Commander Shepard, The Greatest to Ever Live, which is three chapters ahead.

    Also I will create a poll on what to write next, so don't forget to join my page.

    Thank you in advance.


    Storm Kingdom
    Storm's End
    Night
    20 BAC


    Argilac Durrandon was worried about the storm raging outside his keep. Usually, this wouldn't be anything out of the ordinary. He had seen many storms in his life, and even heard of a typhoon, capable of flying a wooden ship as if it was a toy in the hands of a child.

    He had never seen purple lightning though, which made it even weirder because the storm appeared out of nowhere when his wife went into labour at noon.

    Half the castle was convinced this was a good sign from the gods, promising a strong son for him to continue his legacy.

    Other half was convinced this was a curse, signalling the end of the Durrandon dynasty.

    His fury had silenced them quickly.

    Argilac was about to turn back and head into the labour room, tradition be damned when the midwife burst out of the room.

    "The Queen has given birth to a healthy girl, your grace" she said quietly, knowing he had already chosen names for a boy.

    Argilac furrowed his brows but went in anyway, watching as his tired wife held their daughter, but there was no joy to be found in her face.

    "Argilac, I swear I didn't" Joy Penrose began, but couldn't finish her sentence as she doubled over in pain, his daughter quickly taken by one of the midwives and they were promptly ushered out of the room.

    "What in the name of seven hells is going on!" Argilac bellowed, scaring the midwives.

    "Your Grace the bleeding won't stop, please let us work" Maester Larry said worriedly.

    Argilac's eyes widened, he knew what this meant. When the bleeding didn't stop, it usually meant the woman wasn't going to survive.

    "You listen to me well Maester, you save her or so help me" The Storm King grasped the poor Maester by his collar, growling the words out.

    Maester Larry paled, knowing just how violent and out of control the Storm King could be, hurriedly nodding and going inside again.

    The door was shut and he was left with his newborn daughter and the midwife holding her.

    Argilac turned to the woman, who was looking worried for some reason.

    "What is it, woman?!" Argilac snapped. He had enough of these looks.

    The woman wordlessly handed him the babe. He couldn't help but feel confused as he peeled away the fabric wrapped around his daughter.

    "What in the seven hells?"

    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Next Day
    Throne Room

    His wife was dead.

    The bloody maester trembling before him could not save her.

    Argilac considered getting up to throttle him for his failure, but the weight he was feeling right now was stopping him from getting up from his throne.

    His wife was dead.

    And his daughter?

    She was alive and well, only instead of the black hair and blue eyes the Durrandons possessed for thousands of years or the brown hair and dark eyes his wife had, his daughter had light purple eyes - the same colour as the lightning yesterday- and purple-blue hair, which has never been seen before.

    Half the castle that said the storm was a good omen were now saying his wife had cuckolded him.

    His dead wife, whose last words to him was to swear she didn't.

    He didn't know what to do and wordlessly dismissed the Maester, whose relief was palpable.

    Argilac took his crown off and leaned back, an empty look in his eyes.

    He didn't know what to do.

    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Nursery

    Argilac eventually left his throne to go and visit his daughter.

    If she even was his.

    Her looks made him doubt, yet his belief in his wife kept him from saying or doing anything.

    Entering the room, he watched as a maid was feeding the newborn, and put her down after patting her back in the crib.

    The Storm King approached the baby after waiting for a bit, his large frame casting a shadow over her sleeping form.

    Her hair, which she had a lot more than newborns were supposed to do, was still the same blue-purple colour it was yesterday, the only proof that his wife did not lay with another man, as none had hair like that.

    He hoped … he didn't know what he hoped. He just didn't want her hair to be that color.

    Argilac turned back and left. He would name her Argella, lest people start talking and he be forced to kill someone.

    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------



    For the next several weeks lords had come and went, offering muted congratulations for his daughter and offering their condolences for his loss.

    Some had even gone as far as to offer their daughters to him, days after he had buried his wife.

    Fuckers.

    But that wasn't the worst part.

    No, the worst part were the letters that came from Dorne, Reach and Riverlands still under the yoke of the fucking Ironborne.

    All mocking him, even though their letters weren't worded as such.

    He would show them all, the Storm King promised, as he ordered the messengers be sent back.

    As for Argella, she was completely normal, besides her eyes and hair, sleeping when she wasn't being fed.



    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    The years following up to unto Argella was two proved to be challenging for Argilac.

    His bannerman was clamoring to have their relatives marry him to put their blood on the throne, as well as trying to convince him to send Argella to a sept, which would mean all but declaring her a bastard.

    Not to mention the Ironborn and Dornish were using this opportunity to harass his forces on the respective borders.

    The biggest problem was his daughter though. Her ordinariness didn't last long. She did not crawl, nor utter any sound when the Maester said she should have and just laid down on her crib all day long.

    Whispers of his only heir being a simpleton had already spread, bringing further ridicule to his house.



    What had he done to deserve this, the Storm King wondered more than once.

    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Nursery
    18 BAC


    Raiden Ei, the Almighty Narukami Ogosho, the God of Thunder and the Electro Archon opened eyes, gasping as she did so.

    She immediately scanned the surrounding area.

    She was in a room, built from stone rather than wood like Tenshukaku, filled with golden banners of a prancing stag wearing a golden crown, laying in a crib and not fighting the Heavenly Principles with other Archons.

    None of these mattered as much as the fact that she had the body of a child.

    If she did not remember clashing with the Heavenly Principles, she would think this as an elaborate prank of Miko.

    Ei laid down, focusing on herself. She was a god and an Archon to boot, she could alter her body as she wished.

    Her focus was cut short as memories came crushing down on her.

    A man, large and tall with blue eyes and black hair, Argilac, the Storm King, coming to her room every once in a while and watching her with a sad gaze before leaving.

    Her father.

    Her father?! She didn't- couldn't- have a father. She was a god, a being of elemental energy, not of flesh and blood like humans were.

    She shouldn't have a father.

    Yet she did.

    The rest of the memories were more embarrassing.

    A maid named Bessie coming to her room everyday, feeding her with milk from her breasts, and then patting her back.

    Rumours.

    Insults.

    She felt herself getting more confused, so she took a deep breath to calm down.



    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    She was reborn on a different world after dying, Ei realized, as she continued to analyze her current situation.

    Like in those books published by the Yae Publishing House.

    She was on a planet whose people did not name it yet, on a continent called Westeros, named in lieu of being in the west of the Narrow Sea, in a declining kingdom, called the Storm Kingdom, named after the storms it was famous for.

    The people of this world lacked imagination for sure.

    Worst part was the rumours.

    Her not having the colouring of her parents had led people to believe "her mother" (she had no idea what else to call her under the current circumstances) had cheated on "her father"

    Not to mention, as she wasn't fully aware of herself before this, she could not follow the necessary development paths a child would, and thus the same people also called her a simpleton, behind "her father's" back of course, as the man would kill them without hesitation.

    Ei was not going to deal with this, so she began to draw in her power, ready to shred this mortal cocoon and return to her chosen appearance.

    But she stopped, considering.

    She was in a whole new world, one where the gods did not mingle with mortals.

    Which meant she could explore the world as a mortal - albeit a royal one- could, a desire she could not follow on Teyvat.

    So Ei chose to retain the form of a baby, albeit one with the powers of a god.

    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Keeping her powers contained so she wouldn't destroy this castle meant shedding her mortal body took a couple of hours, but when she was done Ei was in control of her own body again, rather than having the awkward and clumsy movement capabilities a baby had.

    She jumped out of the crib, opening the door and checking around the corridor. Seeing no one, Ei went off to explore this castle.

    When the single guard returned from the privy and saw the door open his face paled as he rushed to check in, only to see his charge wasn't in the room.

    He rushed out to inform the other guards and search for the missing princess before King Argilac found out and killed them all.

    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Ei jumped up the stairs a couple at a time, rushing to the top of the tower to see the surroundings.

    Had anyone seen her, they would think of it as a dream.

    Having finally made it to the top, Ei saw what she guessed was the Narrow Sea.

    The castle was built on a cliff, she noted, with a stony plain stretching out to a forest.

    She watched the sea for a while, with the warm sun and the salty breeze keeping her company.

    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    "Argella! Argella, where are you!?" Argilac shouted, searching for his daughter. The stupid fucking guard he posted outside her door had lost her and the Storm King feared the worst, knowing his daughter could have been kidnapped.

    Sun was about to go down when he stopped searching, organizing riders to go out and search the area.

    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    As the sun was going down, Ei finally decided to return to her room. Jumping down the stairs, she was on the exit to the courtyard in less than a minute, watching as "her father" ( It still felt weird calling someone that) was spitting profanities at the gathered riders, promising them gruesome deaths should they not find her.

    Deciding to spare the poor guards from his wrath, she went and pulled on the King's trouser's leg, drawing his attention.

    Argilac turned to her with a "WHAT!" before seeing who he had shouted to, drawing the courtyard's attention on her.

    "I would appreciate it if you did not shout at me again" Ei warned the man gently, her baby voice not doing her any favours.

    She might be understanding and easy going when it came to humans, but did not mean one would get away with shouting at her like this.

    People watched, silent with judging eyes.

    After all, many still thought she was a bastard, or a curse, and definitely a simpleton. Seeing her walk and talk was unexpected for them.

    Argilac dismissed the gathered guards, the courtyard slowly emptying, people watching her with distrustful eyes.

    After all, what two years old could talk like that?

    The Storm King just took his daughter and went inside.

    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Nursery

    "You can talk?" Argilac had a million questions to ask her, but this seemed to be the most pressing one.

    "Naturally" Ei simply responded, understanding why the man had asked it.

    "Then why didn't you before?" Argilac cursed the gods more than once for "his daughter's" situation, only for it to be for no reason it seemed.

    "I did not see the need to talk to all those gossipers" Knowing she couldn't tell the truth, Ei told another truth.

    The Storm King just sighed.

    "Who?" It was a simple question, but Ei could see it in his eyes. He would definitely kill them.

    "No one important" Ei shook her head. She would prefer a more creative punishment, aimed to teach them to see the error of their ways, rather than just sentencing them to death.

    Argilac gave up, happy with the knowledge his daughter was normal.

    Though, if he knew anything about child development, he would know Ei was more than just normal.

    Alas, people were too afraid to tell him anything, especially after each time Maester Larry left King's Solar pale as a ghost, having reported the Princes' health.
     
  • New
  • Threadmarks
    • Chapter 2 - Growing Pains I New
  • Threadmarks
    • Hello there,

    If you enjoy my stories you can read advanced chapters in my patreon

    Her Eternal Excellency, ( Raiden Ei reborn as Argella Durrandon) a Genshin Impact and ASOIAF crossover is four chapters ahead there.

    You can also check out my other stories in my page.

    Geek's Guide to Thriving in a Low End Fantasy World, a Robert Baratheon OC SI which is also four chapters ahead.

    Commander Shepard, The Greatest to Ever Live, which is three chapters ahead.

    Also I will create a poll on what to write next, so don't forget to join my page.

    Thank you in advance.

    Storm Kingdom

    Storm's End

    18 BAC


    The more things change the more they stay the same, Ei thought, as she listened to the stories told by her caretaker.



    Seven Kingdoms, for seven kings, each one with different beliefs, mottos and sigils.



    The Storm Kingdom was the greatest according to her, but the evidence was to the contrary, as King Argilac, "her father" was having a hard time dealing with both whom he called the "Dornish snakes" and "the fucking reavers"



    Uncouth, but then again, it seemed to be the norm in this kingdom, where martial prowess meant more than most things.

    Ei would eventually get to learn more about the current situation of this Kingdom, but for now she would just enjoy her new found freedom from the duties of an Archon.



    And try not to think about Teyvat, knowing she would drive herself into a depression.



    The door was opened while she was musing internally, half listening to Bessie as she continued to tell the tale of Durran Godsgrief.



    Her father entered the room, which was a much more common occurrence since the day Ei woke up.



    "You are telling her the tale of Durran?" Argilac asked for confirmation, having already heard them through the door.



    "Yes, your Grace" Bessie said, her previous energy gone before the King.



    "I'll tell her myself" The Storm King said gruffly, taking hold of Argella and putting her on his broad shoulder.



    Ei considered making her refusal known, but the man offered a rather nice vantage point so she stayed herself for now.



    The man started talking, telling her the tale of Durran Godsgrief, of how he married Elenei, daughter of the God of Sea and Goddess of Wind.



    The gods, in their rage, had sent a storm that destroyed the keep Durran built over Shipbreaker's Bay, while the man had responded by declaring war on the gods.



    Brave, but it was obvious that the man in question was lucky that the gods did not just manifest themselves for a battle like she would have done, or his legend would be one of warning against challenging the gods, not bravery and love.



    Nonetheless, the tale made her curious. Was the reason she was reborn on this world tied to that legend?



    She, the God of Thunder, the Electro Archon, reborn as a mortal into a family claiming to descend from the gods.



    Ei focused on "her father", trying to sense if he had any divine presence, no matter how small after eight thousand years.



    Oblivious to this, the Storm King kept telling the tale, mentioning someone called Brandon the Builder, who aided Durran in building his seventh castle.

    No matter how hard she tried, she didn't feel even a sliver of magic resonating from the Storm King.



    Perhaps the whole thing was just a story, but she would have to look deeper into it, later.



    Soon enough Argilac had deposited Ei back at the nursery, leaving her and the maid alone in the room again.

    ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Storm's End

    17 BAC


    A year had already passed and the only thing Ei could do here was to go and read at the library.



    Which meant she had to go and learn how to read and write from Larry, a Maester, a person that was a mix of a teacher for the noble children, a doctor and a personal assistant to the ruler of the castle they were serving.



    He had lauded her as a once in a millenia genius, too excited to be disturbed over the fact how mature Argella was and how fast she learned.

    Her father had been happy, throwing her up in the air, saying "that's my daughter!", laughing heartily all the while.



    Which didn't mean much to Ei, as she was a god and learning to read and write a language was as easy as breathing to her.



    Though it wasn't all smooth sailing, as supporters of her father, mostly people they were related by blood and lords he had grown up with, were saying she was blessed, which made the other faction, those who clamoured to have Argilac remarry, either to one of their own or to a Princess of another kingdom to gain allies, rather displeased.



    Ei just shook her head. Some people would always hunger for more power, no matter what.



    Her birthday hadn't been a grand affair. It was an event contained within the Storm's End, with lords all over the kingdom sending gifts and congratulations. From what she had learned there would be a grand celebration on the day she reached majority with a tourney, but Ei was happy she did not have to spend her time with a birthday party of all things.

    ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------



    16 BAC

    Ei was the one displeased this time.



    She had headed out to the training yard to see the martial capabilities of the soldiers of this Kingdom.



    She watched for a while, the men were running drills, commanded by the master-at-arms, Rolan Storm, a man with graying hair and a muscled build

    He was a harsh man, intolerant of failure, even though they were a necessary part of learning, and drilled the men hard.



    Ei had gone to take training sword after a while, though she was stopped by her maid Bessie and a guard, which made her remember the fact she was a child and should be unable to hold a sword.



    As such she was indignant when the guard had reasoned " women can't carry sword's Princess, it is a man's job"



    She had considered smiting the man then and there but it was a sunny day with no cloud in sight and a lightning striking the man would be seen as the work of a witch, or something equivalently foolish.



    The Electro Archon returned to her room after that, annoyed.



    She needed to train to maintain her skills, but going out there and holding a sword no three years old child should be able to, would make people talk.

    She wouldn't be surprised if they accused her from being a witch to a who knows what.



    Meaning Ei had to find a discreet way of training.



    Her first thought had been the Plain of Euthymia, but there was no Shogun for her to put her consciousness into and making a puppet of her capabilities with the current level of metallurgy this world possessed would take too long.



    Thinking of alternatives, Ei considered something else, something Aether had shown her.



    His Serenitea Pot, a realm inside a teapot, which had allowed her dear friend to build a home for himself. The problem was it was made with the Adeptus Arts of Liyue and beyond some records she had no information on the said arts.



    She would have to start from scratch.

    ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    15 BAC

    Ei was diligently working on her own pocket realm and combined with her knowledge of the Plane of Euthymia she had made some headway.



    Thankfully she did have a lot of free time, besides her studies with Maester Larry, but those were rather short thanks to her learning speed.



    But all was not good with this life of hers. Turns out, holding a sword wasn't the only thing women weren't allowed to, but rather one of many on a list too long.



    It would be easier to recount what women were allowed and expected to do, coming down to a rather short list of managing a household, giving birth to heirs and pleasing their husbands.



    Ei had almost considered going out to beat some sense into the men of this Kingdom, and the rest eventually, but humans were notoriously stubborn and would be resistant to that kind of forced change.



    Meaning she would have to employ other means to change this society for the better.



    Why couldn't the Storm Kingdom be more like Dorne? For all they claimed the Dornish were untrustworthy, they at least weren't misogynists.

    ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    One problem Ei faced was paper and writing utensils of all things.



    The paper she had requested was rough and coarse and her writing utensils?



    Just a quil.



    Not even a brush.



    Meaning Ei was unable to write down her ideas for reviewing or drawing when she ran out of paper or her quill broke, costing her valuable time.

    ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------



    14 BAC


    Ei had done it. She had created a realm, similar to the Teapot, though she opted to use a painting, as nothing else felt quite right.



    Rather than have several islands like Aether's teapot did, her realm had a single large island covered with a flat grassland with a starry night sky and a fullmoon, named the Painted Realm.



    The greatest difficulty Ei faced was the materials.



    She had used ink infused with a sliver of her divine power while painting the island, but had an extremely hard time finding anything magical enough to stand her powers.



    Commonly used paper was out of question as the ink would just burn it. Ei searched out a magical alternative to this, which led her to discover magic in this world was lacking, contrary to how many women seemed to have been accused of witch's craft. But in the end, weirwood trees seemed to be the best, and probably the only option she had, so she went to the godswood in the Storm's End.



    In hindsight, she should have done it earlier.



    The trees with ashen bark and blood red leaves standing there watched her, as she had watched them. She touched the one in the center, with the solemn face and found herself in a void of smoky darkness.



    "You are a god of nature, yet not one of us" the voices spoke, sounding like the rustling leaves of a thousand trees.



    "I am Raiden Ei, the God of Thunder and Eternity, the Electro Archon. I greet you in the name of peace" she had responded. She didn't want an unnecessary fight after all.



    "We shall see" the voices responded, before she found herself in front of the tree again.



    If they weren't ready to speak she wouldn't force them.



    But Ei made sure to be gentle while cutting pieces off the weirwood tree.



    She turned the weirwood branches into paper, and it resulted in an ashen white sheet with red lines like that of veins spread all over it.



    It lasted a week before the paper went up in flames, her elemental energy eventually igniting it and turning a weeks worth of painting, ink and effort to ashes.



    Paper from Weirwood trees had at least proven to be capable of containing her powers, even if it was for a while, which gave Ei an idea.

    ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Taking a sapling from the Weirwood tree she visited last time, Ei began the long process of infusing it with Electro, starting with small amounts and increase it over time as the tree grew.



    Due to her divine energy, the tree grew rapidly, standing larger than it's brethren in the Godswood, two months after Ei had planted it.



    When she was done, the ashen white bark of the tree had turned to a deep bluish purple, and the blood red leaves were light purple, crackling with Electro energy.



    Interestingly enough, the face that had appeared on the tree was hers, though that didn't stop Ei from harvesting the tree as she needed it.

    The rest was simply a matter of space manipulation.

    ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Ei couldn't help the smile that blossomed when she entered the Painted Realm for the first time.



    Now, she had a place to do as she wished without people telling her what she could and couldn't do.



    Her first order of business was solving the paper issue, by designing and building a paper making machine.



    As she did not have a forge yet, Ei used wood, only using iron and steel for the most critical parts.



    Naturally, it was a success, but perhaps a too great one, because she now had several really tall stacks of excess paper that she had no idea what to do with.

    ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Ei had no idea selling paper would bring that much silver into her pockets, but at least she could use it to buy the necessary materials to build a forge instead of having to explain to her father why she needed it in the first place.



    Future visits to Weeping Town was in order.
     
  • New
  • Threadmarks
    • Chapter 3 - Growing Pains II New
  • Threadmarks
    • Hello there,

    If you enjoy my stories you can read advanced chapters in my patreon

    Her Eternal Excellency, ( Raiden Ei reborn as Argella Durrandon) a Genshin Impact and ASOIAF crossover is four chapters ahead there.

    You can also check out my other stories in my page.

    Geek's Guide to Thriving in a Low End Fantasy World, a Robert Baratheon OC SI which is also four chapters ahead.

    Commander Shepard, The Greatest to Ever Live, which is three chapters ahead.

    Also I will create a poll on what to write next, so don't forget to join my page.

    Thank you in advance.

    Storm Kingdom

    Storm's End

    13 BAC

    Argilac was off to a war in the Free Cities, joining the city state of Braavos against another city state called Pentos.

    The two cities had gone to war because of Pentos' practice of slavery, and both had offered monetary rewards to anyone willing to join them. Her father had chosen to join the side of Braavos, intending to use the gold he would earn to arm his men and hire mercenaries against the Ironborn and cover the deficit in their coffers and pay their debts.

    Had the cities been any closer, Ei would have joined just to wipe that abominable act out of the face of this world.

    But for now she would just wave at her father as he sailed to the other side of the Narrow Sea.

    Which brought her attention to her "grandfather", Lord Lucan Penrose, a tired and grumpy looking old man, who had been declared as Regent by the Storm King while he was away.

    He didn't seem to like her for some reason, even though she is technically his granddaughter.

    Maybe he blamed her for the death of his daughter or maybe it was because she wasn't a boy.

    She didn't care to be honest.

    Ignoring him, she turned back and went to her room. She intended to build herself a forge, as the weapons of this world were severely lacking compared to her Engulfing Lightning.

    She did not even want to mention Musou Isshin, as not even the vaunted Valyrian Steel swords could stand against it.

    She jumped out of the window, landing way outside Storm's End.

    Her destination? Weeping Town once more.

    While on horseback it would take several days to make the journey, less on a ship, Ei was there in less than an hour with her speed, jumping several miles in a single leap, creating an electro platform and jumping again.

    She bought everything one would need to build a forge and materials necessary to smelt high quality steel that would be necessary for the Engulfing Lightning and Musou Ishhin.

    Ei had jumped back to Storm's End after having the materials shipped back to Storm's End via a merchant ship.

    She made it just in time for lunch.

    ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Ei was facing the problem of not having any Mora. Not because she lacked money, because it was the catalyst used in crafting many things, including her weapons.

    The gold here was just a shiny metal used for trade and didn't have any magical properties.

    And it just so happened that creating Mora fell into the domain of Morax.

    She would have to find an alternative.

    ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    A Week Later

    Storm's End

    13 BAC

    "Greetings Princess, these crates have been sent to you by a man named Carn" the merchant captain said, bowing deeply to the Princess of the Storm Kingdom.

    "Yes, thank you. Have your men deliver them inside" Ei said, inspecting her crates.

    "Yes Princess" the captain acknowledged and began to shout orders at his crew to carry the crates inside.

    Ser Carn had paid good gold to have them delivered, and he would make sure they were pleased with his work to keep the business.

    Ei had the crates moved to outside her room, as they were too big to pass through the door.

    "Girl, where did you get all this?" came the voice of her grandfather while she was rummaging through one of the crates.

    "I bought them, obviously" Ei didn't even stop her search while answering the man she nicknamed grumpy.

    "Your father gives you that much allowance?" Lord Lucan was pissed at this. The King had gone to fight in the free cities for wealth, all the while giving his daughter enough coin to buy all these?

    "That fool" he thought, knowing he couldn't voice it.

    "No, I bought them with the coin I earned" Ei finally found what she was searching for, pulling out a hammer from the crate.

    "And how did you earn the silver?" Grumpy asked. She was seven years old, what could she have done to earn coin, sell her toys?

    "Oh, you know. I have been selling paper. It is a truly lucrative business" Ei said. She wagered she could be even richer than the Lannisters, as she was an expert artisan and engineer.

    If paper earned her that much silver, creating a forge for mass production and selling everything from consumer goods to weapons could earn her several times the amount.

    Lucan started thinking. The paper merchant, a man named Carn that they had a hard time tracking, was selling cartfulls of paper for half the cost of paper produced in Old Town.

    Naturally, there were a lot of buyers.

    "The man, Carn. You know him?" Lucan asked tentatively, wondering if the man was using the Princess for his own gain.

    "Yes I do. He has been handling the paper business for me" Ei said, shutting the door in her fuming grandfather's face.

    ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Inside the Painted Realm

    Ei was back in her original form, building a forge, one that was up to her standards anyway.

    It took a month of going in and out of the Painted Realm to finish her forge, which left her with the question of what to use as a catalyst to infuse elemental energy into Engulfing Lightning.

    The Electro Archon pondered for the rest of the day, but ultimately was unable to come up with an alternative.

    She left the Painted Realm disappointed.

    ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Bessie was a snitch, Ei decided, as the maid was busy tattling to her grandfather about her constant disappearances.

    The old man had decided she was at the age where a Septa should be assigned to her for the purpose of teaching her the Seven-Who-Are-One and courtly manners.

    Also to keep an eye on her, but none would dare voice that idea when it came to the daughter of a man like Argilac.

    Ei had considered a hostile takeover, but if she was ruling a nation drowning in problems she would have no time to forge her weapons.

    That is why she was currently in the Painted Realm, building a puppet who would take her place while she worked.

    But first she would need more weirwood trees.

    ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Godswood in the Storm's End scarcely received visitors, mostly people looking for a place out of the way.

    When someone had eventually stumbled on the Electro Weirwood trees Ei had grown, they had immediately informed her grandfather, the Regent.

    Ei watched from the corner as the man inspected the tree before ordering it to be cut down. It did not work, as the tree defended itself by launching a purple lightning bolt, slamming the guardsman with the axe back at the crowd.

    Naturally, all eyes fell on her, as the only other time a lightning of that colour had been seen was at her birth.

    Ei simply turned back and left.

    Good luck to them cutting down that tree.

    ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    After two months of work, Ei was done and had named the puppet Kage, short for Kagemusha, a "shadow warrior" and after instructing her, had switched places.

    Good thing too, she had no intention of tolerating the Septa anymore.

    Kage was no Raiden Shogun, capable of going toe to toe with a deity, and did not have any upside compared to humans, besides her durability.

    She was just ordinary, though as time went by and Ei "grew" , she could upgrade the puppet, creating a general to lead her armies in the future.

    Her work done, she returned back to the matter of finding a catalyst.

    ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Morax had created Mora using his powers as the Geo Archon, naturally being attuned to basically anything coming out of the ground, minus the living ones, which tended to fall into the domain of the Dendro Archon.

    Far as she knew, the Geo Archon basically blended his condensed elemental energy with gold, his elemental energy resonating with it, and as Geo did not produce any violent reactions with the other elements, this made it the perfect medium for alchemy, as well as forging.

    Electro on the other hand, did not play nice with most materials.

    If only she had some Mora.

    ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Storm's End

    12 BAC

    Her father was back victorious, to the cheers of the people, with ships full of gold and loot.

    Good thing too, she did not want to deal with the issues that would arise had he died.

    After basking in the adoration of his subjects he had picked her up, much to Ei's chagrin.

    "Welcome home, father" she greeted him curtly once he stopped spinning her.

    "Did you miss me Princess?" the Storm King asked, checking the chest one of the men was holding.

    "Yes" Ei had said, and while it wasn't a complete truth, she had come to like her father.

    "Here, a gift for my dear daughter" Argilac fished out a necklace with a rather curious looking golden coin at the end

    "The merchant said it brings good luck" The Storm King said, watching as his daughter was fixated on the coin.

    He smiled, happy that his daughter liked the gift.

    Ei snapped out of her stupor, before snatching the necklace to inspect the gold at the end.

    Which wasn't an ordinary gold coin, but an honest to seven Mora.

    "Where did you get this?" she turned to her still smiling father.

    This could be the answer to her dilemma.

    "A merchant near the docks in Braavos was selling it. He said no one would take the coins in trade and was just selling them as trinkets" Argilac responded, remembering how hard the man had bargained.

    "Thank you father, I will cherish this" Ei said, truly meaning it.

    She would have to get to Braavos and find this merchant.

    ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    There was a feast held for the return of the victorious Storm King.

    Ei just picked at her food. While it wasn't bad she would have preferred some dango over all those dishes.

    Or any other desert from Inazuma.

    "Is the food not to your liking, daughter?" Argilac asked, watching her.

    "No, it is fine, I just do not have an appetite" Ei said, and then began to actually eat her food, lest her father questions her more.

    "Alright then" the King said, turning to continue his talk with his goodfather.

    In truth, Ei was thinking of a way to get to Braavos immediately but even platform-jumping there would take too long, and she didn't even want to think of traveling there with a ship.

    She continued to eat her food in silence, before an idea struck her.

    She would make a puppet, one that could fly her to Braavos in a short amount of time.

    After her dinner.

    ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Ei began to draw the designs as soon as she made it to her room. At first she wanted to make it a simple flying platform, but simple creations were never in her dictionary. So she considered idea after idea, and finally decided on a dragon puppet.

    She had also considered a Thunderbird, but the idea was discarded immediately, as the design made her remember Kanna Kapatcir.

    Ei immediately started work, the trusty Kage taking her place outside.

    ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Thunder Dragon Puppet, The Steed of Her Excellency

    An excerpt from the "Glorious History: Her Excellency the God of Thunder and Eternity, Version 3.0, year 200 of the Royal Calendar", a history book written by the Guild of Teachers of the Academy of Transience founded by Her Excellency.

    Created five years before her ascendance to the throne of the Storm Kingdom, the Thunder Dragon Puppet had been kept a secret until her rise to the throne, revealed for the first time during the Thunder God's war against the Ironborn invading the Riverlands. While sightings of a serpentine creature flying above the Narrow Sea and Braavos were reported, they were thought to be ravings of ill sailors.

    The Thunder Dragon was responsible for sinking the reinforcement fleet sent by the Iron Islands to support their King.

    The battle, though most prefer to call it a slaughter, was very one sided. The storm summoned by the Thunder Dragon sinked half the fleet, while the other half was destroyed by the myriad of weaponry the machine dragon possessed.

    Longer than even the famed Targaryen dragon Balerion the Black Dread, as well as significantly faster than any other recorded dragon, it still continues to guard the borders of our Kingdom, it's mere shadow enough to keep even the most antagonistic lords of Westeros from encroaching on our borders, especially with the death of the Targaryen dragons.
     
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    Storm Kingdom

    Storm's End

    13 BAC



    Lord Lucan was incensed at having a girl, even if she was his granddaughter, shut a door to his face, but he would not let things end here.



    The papermaker, Carn, was sought after by many, all wanting to employ the man for their own benefit. However, the man was like a gust of wind, coming and going as he pleased.



    They did not know where he lived, or where he was from, but his machine had made an impact in Weeping Town.



    He would get to the bottom of this.

    ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------



    Two Months Later



    A week.



    It took him a week to find time to speak with the only princess of this castle within its boundaries, after the whole debacle with those damn trees.



    He did not understand how. Lucan would visit the places his granddaughter spent most time, and she would be somewhere else.



    He went to the library once, only to see she wasn't there and searched through the castle with a dozen men.



    Where did he find her in the end?



    Back at the library.



    She claimed she was there the whole day, and it went on for a week, as if she was dancing around him.



    But he finally had his opportunity. Argella was in her room, her maid was sure of it and he went there as fast as his old body would take him just to not miss her.



    He knocked on the door and entered upon hearing her permission. She was sitting on the bed, legs crossed and eyes closed.



    "Meditation" she had called it, whatever in the seven hells it meant.



    "Princess, I was hoping to speak to you more about this paper business" he said, but Argella kept staying still, not even breathing.



    She did not answer and the silence trailed on for a while but Lucan was patient. He could wait.



    "Paper business, grandfather?" she finally acknowledged him, opening her eyes and uncrossing her legs to stand up.



    "Yes, I simply wished to know how you came to do business with that man"



    If the man would do business with her, he should have no reason to refuse him.



    "Carn is merely an intermediary. I designed the machine, he was simply responsible for overseeing the deals with the merchants as I can not leave the castle"



    Lucan narrowed his eyes. She, a girl of seven years old designed a machine like that?



    And he was the Mother herself.



    "Princess, we are family and while we might not have been close, I still wish to ensure your safety. You can tell me the truth" He tried to appear as if he was thinking of her well being first and foremost.



    "How… amusing. Your attempt to treat me as if someone is taking advantage of me is not appreciated, grandfather, and neither is your insult to my hard work" She said, smiling as if she did find the whole thing truly amusing.



    "But" he began before she cut him off.



    "But, what? Family, grandfather, is not people who share the same blood, but people that are tied through bonds. Seeing as this is the first time you ever bothered to visit Storm's End and only because you were made the Regent means we don't share any bonds for you to claim we are more than just relatives"



    Lucan frowned. He had seen many lords claim their children were blessings from the gods, and some were above average in his opinion, but the rest were idiots who only ascended to their position because of their blood.



    But Argella was something else. No child at this age could be so sharp and well spoken, nor carry themselves with the quiet confidence she did.



    "I meant no disrespect, Princess. I just think you are a bit young to design that machine. I know Maesters with decades of experience who said they could not design something like that" He had, in fact, contacted several Maesters, even the ones from the Citadel, to see if they could replicate the machine and he could build one near his castle. Alas, he had no luck on that front.



    "How old are you exactly, Lord Lucan?" She asked, dispersing any attempts at familiarity.



    "Fifty"



    "Would you say you are old enough to build a machine like that?"



    "No" he admitted after a beat of silence.



    "Then we can agree that age is not a barrier for success"



    "We can, but experience and knowledge matters too, Princess" he said, changing his angle.



    "I completely agree" she smiled at him, as if she was privy to some information he was not.



    "I had another matter I wished to speak about" he changed the subject, giving up on the machine.



    He would find out the truth himself.



    "The purple trees that appeared in Godswood, do you know anything about them?"



    Purple lightning at her birth and now purple weirwood trees?



    He did not believe it to be a coincidence.



    "Be direct my lord, are you calling me a sorcerer?" she asked, her smile not even wavering.



    "I am asking if you are one"



    She wanted direct, he could be so.



    "No, I am not" she said, her tone sincere.



    Lucan believed her for some reason.



    "Very well, if you excuse me I shall head out, I still have to check the ledgers"



    There was nothing else he wanted to talk about.



    "I wish you good luck, grandfather" she said, emphasizing the last word.



    He might have slammed the door a bit too hard to be appropriate.



    ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------



    At first, the Septa he assigned to the Princess reported that she did not disappear anywhere, unlike with that airheaded maid, but she did not seem interested in listening to her teachings.



    Her reports had changed weeks later, saying the Princess had become more docile, doing as she was told.

    Perhaps she had finally learned to fall in line?



    But the septa could not follow her all the time so he enlisted the help of Maester Larry, wanting to know the progress of her granddaughter.



    At least that was his excuse.



    The man had been excited to say the least, speaking very highly of her intelligence.



    Turns out there were extremely rare records in the Citadel, of people who could memorize whole pages with just a look and finish books far faster than any other human could.



    She was one of those extremely rare people and apparently could read dozens of books a day, only slowing down when a particular subject had her attention and she wished to savor it.



    He was beginning to rethink his doubts regarding her.



    ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------



    12 BAC



    Argilac was glad to be back home, for all he enjoyed fighting those Pentosi cunts. He wanted to rest first, but the work of a King was never done and his goodfather had dragged him to the Godswood to show him something important.



    Whatever he was expecting, it wasn't purple Weirwood trees of all things.



    They had deep purple barks with light purple leaves that reminded him of the lightning strikes on the day of his daughter's birth.



    "We tried to cut them down but whatever magic is responsible for the trees protected them" Lucan said, gesturing around the Godwood, though he could swear there used to be more trees. A lot more.



    "Wait, don't!" he shouted, just noticing the King approaching the trees, thinking he would be struck too, just like everyone who approached the damn trees.



    But nothing happened as Argilac put his hand on the bark and nothing happened.



    He inspected the tree, noticing its smooth bark, and how the leaves looked as if purple lightning crystallized.



    "No one is to touch these trees"



    "But" Lucan wanted to protest, though Argilac would not have it.



    "I won't hear it goodfather" He turned back and left.



    The tree had a face, one eerily similar to Argella, and whether it was her or the gods, his instincts told him to leave them alone.



    ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------



    He had thought about asking her if she knew something, but his goodfather already had and nothing came of it.



    Even if he did, what would it matter? She was his heir and daughter and while he was sure there was a connection, it wouldn't do if the people thought that the heir to the throne of the Storm Kingdom was a sorcerer worshipping the Old Gods.



    He would let it be and hope it did not end in a disaster.

    ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------



    Maester Larry had earned his chains in silver, copper and gold, signifying medicine, history and accounts and sums. He, just like every other Maester, wanted to rise higher, but eventually found himself assigned to a keep, though he lucked out and was chosen to serve the Storm Kings.



    He had taught King Argilac when he was a prince and while he wasn't what one would call studious, he still learned his accounts and sums very well, with no small amount of his father's insistence.



    But fate, it seems, brought him to Storm's End for a different purpose.



    Princess Argella Durrandon.



    She claimed to have learned her letters so fast, he had thought she was just playing around, but the Princess quickly proved him wrong by writing a passage on Astronomy, with handwriting so neat and clean, unlike the chicken scratch writing children her age produced.



    It wasn't just the letters she learned at an inhuman rate, but everything else.



    A dozen books on history? She read and summarized them before noon, with an even better grasp of the said books than himself.



    Entire tomes as thick as his hand on the structure of the Seven Kingdoms, their cultures, practices and histories?



    They had discussions over them, and he had felt as if he was the student and not her.



    Medicine, war, trade, whatever subject draw her interest, she had devoured them in the blink of an eye. At the rate she was going, he wouldn't have anything left to teach her.



    If the gods truly blessed someone in this continent, it would no doubt be her.
     
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    Storm Kingdom

    Storm's End

    Painted Realm

    12 BAC

    After six months of work- growing more Electro Weirwood trees, processing and carving, Ei had created her dragon.

    It was a forty feet serpentine dragon of deep purple colour, with two limbs at the front and two at the back.

    Armed with an Electro beam as its main weapon, nodes capable of launching Electro orbs and the ability to summon storms meant it could destroy entire cities by itself.

    Though the most important part was its modularity. Ei could simply switch the parts with anything else, changing the Thunder Dragon's size and configuration.

    She could make it hundreds of feet long, capable of carrying an immense amount of cargo or just fill it with more weapons, making it an even more potent and deadly war machine.

    Now, all that was left to do was to infuse it with enough Electro to bring it to life.

    Ei could use her powers, but spending this much power on it would mean she would have to rest to restore the amount of elemental energy she would spend.

    That was why she had taken the Painted Realm out to Durran's Point, sneaking out of the castle as everyone was busy sheltering from the incoming storm.

    Contrary to what the legends said, Ei did not feel any divine energy, or any magic at all from the storms that had been battering this land for thousands of years, which could mean two things.

    One, the gods responsible for the storms had faded, for the lack of a better term, because from what she gathered, the gods of these lands, gained power from worship only, unlike Archons who were empowered by ruling, their people's faith in them and being a fragment of the elemental Authority the Heavenly Principles had stolen from the Seven Sovereigns.

    Since those gods weren't worshipped in the Storm Kingdom anymore, it was possible that they either lost their domain in these lands, or had simply faded away.

    The storms could simply be explained as the divine power of the gods changing the land permanently so they wouldn't need to send storms every now and then.

    The second option was they had never existed and were just stories, but then again Ei still hadn't looked deeper into it, busy as she was.

    At any rate, none of it mattered for now, as she was busy dragging the Thunder Dragon out of the Painted Realm.

    Setting the puppet down, Ei turned to the gathering storm clouds and raised her hand, launching an Electro orb at the clouds to take control.

    There was no resistance.

    The Electro Archon's eyes lit up with power as the storm clouds began to grow at an exponential rate. Soon enough, Ei had accelerated the storm to full swing.

    To the people watching from the safety of Storm's End, the storm took them to the day Princess Argella's birth.

    Purple lightning crackled with an unbelievable intensity, as if the very gods themselves were making their displeasure known to mankind.

    Ei clenched her hand, concentrating the storm to a single point and drawing the natural lightning mixed with her divine energy.

    With a mental command a single giant lightning bolt struck the puppet, slowly draining the storm, infusing the Thunder Dragon with life.

    It took a minute, but when the storm dissipated, the Thunder Dragon's eyes opened, glowing purple.

    Slowly, the lumbering creation of a god rose, and soon enough was floating, its rudimentary intelligence - compared to a human anyway- slowly learning how to control its own body.

    When it was done, the Thunder Dragon locked its gaze on Ei, recognizing her as its master, and bowed.

    Ei patted the massive head, feeling quite happy.

    -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    People of Storm's End were terrified.

    The storm had appeared with a swiftness unseen and had disappeared just as fast after a lightning bolt of epic proportions struck Durran's Point.

    Many had seen it as a bad omen, a sign from the gods about the approaching end of the Durrandon dynasty.

    Argilac scoffed at this. If the gods wanted his line to end they would have to come down here and kill him.

    Not to mention that damn purple Weirwood tree that had shot up in the Godswood made some people with loose tongues accuse his daughter of witchcraft.

    He turned to the girl in question, with her blue purple hair and light purple eyes, shining each time lightning crackled in the sky, his gift from the gods.

    She had watched the entire event with nary an expression on her face.

    The Storm King did not understand it. Sometimes Argella was quite chatty and enjoyed bantering, other times she was like a doll, not saying anything unless she was spoken to, and her face did not betray any emotions.

    He turned forward and sighed. If only his wife was here, Argilac was sure she could raise their daughter better than he did.

    ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Sneaking back into the castle, Ei made her preparations, mainly gathering enough silver stags to buy all the mora the merchant possessed, going by the rate of the necklace.

    Well into midnight, Ei headed to Braavos atop her dragon, flying above the clouds.

    ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Braavos

    Next Day

    Ei reached Braavos just before sunrise. Her first thought was Westeros could stand to learn a lot from the city.

    Sending the Thunder Dragon back into the Painted Realm, she, in her guise as Carn, was walking through the harbor, searching for the merchant, which took a while, because there were a lot.

    Ei eventually found the merchant, peddling his wares near the fish stands.

    "Greetings" the Electro Archon said, holding out the necklace, "I believe this was bought from you"

    "Ah, yes. How can I be of service?" The merchant was nervous, hoping he wouldn't get into another fight about the necklace.

    "Do you possess more of these coins?" Ei asked, not willing to name them, lest she draw any attention from the merchant.

    "Yes I do, my good man, a chest full of in fact. But most people say there is something wrong with them and refuse to accept them in trade"

    Mora tended to be much larger and shinier than other gold coins used by the Free Cities, and with its unknown depictions, and most smiths inability to melt it, made people consider it a form of fools gold.

    "May I ask where you found the chest?" Ei asked, after all the more Mora the better.

    "I found it on the shores of the Storm Kingdom eight years ago. The storm that hit us that day wrecked my ship, and I barely made it to the shore. It just stood there, sticking out of the sand" The merchant was truthful, seeing no need to hide where he found the chest.

    He had searched after all, hoping to find more to overturn his bad fortune, but was unsuccessful.

    Ei blinked. So not only was she somehow sent to this world, a chest full of mora had been as well.

    She wondered what else from Teyvat - if any- could be here.

    "I will give you a chestful of silver stags for them" Ei offered, and the merchant's eyes shone.

    "Let us say two chests" he bargained, his greed getting the better of him.

    "Very well" Ei could have bargained back, but the Mora were worth a lot more to her.

    The merchant's smile wavered for a second, not expecting the man before him to agree to it so easily.

    Damn it, he should have asked for more.

    "Ah yes, the chest is at my home. Let me gather my wares and we can go" The merchant began to put his wares in a sack and soon enough they were headed to his home.

    Stopping by the merchant's house, Ei claimed she had to go to her ship to bring the silver.

    Sneaking into an alley Ei took the chests out of the Painted Realm and made her way back.

    The merchant happily inspected the silver, while Ei did the same to the chest full of Mora.

    Excellent, though Ei wondered, just what else had that storm brought to this world?

    ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    By noon Ei was back in Storm's End, pushing the Thunder Dragon to the limit. Sneaking back into her room she began to carve the shaft of Engulfing Lightning.

    Ei had worked nonstop for the next two days, and the fruit of her labour was a masterpiece, as the first Engulfing Lightning she wielded was.

    Lighter in colour than the original, the shaft was perfectly balanced, as well as durable enough to handle the might of a god.

    Now, only the blade was left, and she had to head out again, this time heading well away from Storm's End.

    After all the energies released from forging a divine weapon would be quite destructive.

    ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Each strike of the hammer rang out akin to a lightning strike, each blow to shape the metal releasing shockwaves that would smash stone to dust.

    Ei raised the blade to the air, divine lightning striking the metal, heating it way beyond any mortal forge would be capable of, as well as infusing power into the steel, slowly giving it a purple colour.

    Where mortals would see destruction Ei only saw creation and artistry.

    She kept hammering.

    ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Day turned into night and night turned into day again and Ei raised the blade while the storm clouds dispersed.

    It was almost done.

    Perhaps fusing the blade with the Electro Weirwood tree was the easiest part of the whole process, all she needed was power after all.

    "Finally" Ei whispered, raising Engulfing Lightning to the air.

    Twirling it in her hands, she fell into the familiar motions of her katas. Each swing cutting through the air, each thrust sending out air blasts, the weapon was perfect in her hands.

    It felt as if a part of her had returned.

    Ei continued to train, all else forgotten.

    ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Storm's End

    11 BAC

    Winter had come to the Storm Kingdom, and Ei found it weird.

    Not the winter itself, but the disparity of the seasons.

    She had not realized it before, occupied with other matters as she were, but the seasons of this world did not make any sense.

    Winters and summers lasted years, with short autumns and springs between.

    Ei had learned enough astronomy to know that the seasons depended on how the planet orbited around the star, and for the world to have such irregular seasons, this planet's orbit around the sun would have to be extremely unstable.

    But it was not.

    As the chill washed over her, Ei realized something.

    This winter was not an ordinary part of the seasonal cycle of this world, not entirely at least.

    It contained magic.

    Someone or something was responsible for this.

    Ei pushed back against the unnatural cold, feeling her powers meet a wall of ice, death and cold.

    It could not stop her though, and as she increased the pressure she was exerting, the unnatural cold broke, retreating with a howl.

    ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Ei sent a letter to the Citadel, requesting several books on Astronomy, the Others and White Walkers, as well as Historical records concerning the seasons.

    Which had been rejected with a very polite letter.

    "To Argella Durrandon, Crown Princess of the Storm Kingdom,

    Regarding your request to borrow several books, we are unfortunately unable to accommodate your request. The subjects you mentioned include some of the rarest books amongst our library and are only open to our highest ranking members, as such we can not part with them.

    However, we are glad to hear of your interest in scholarly matters and will be happy to provide you with less unique books from our library.

    Also, if you wish to find books on the Others and White Walkers, you may have find them in any place selling children's books.

    Archmaester Gavel of the Conclave

    If that is how they wished to act, then so be it, Ei thought, a burst of Electro burning the paper.

    ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Stabilization of the Seasons of the Storm Kingdom

    An excerpt from the "Magic and its Effects on the World"

    According to Her Excellency, the unnaturally long winters and summers Westeros faced were caused by magic, winters originating from further up in the North, with the Land of Always Winter assumed to be its source, while the magic responsible for the summers originated from Essos. While most believe Rholl'r responsible for the length of the summers, there is a not so insignificant amount of people who believe the magic of the Dragons and Old Valyria was responsible for it.

    Many, especially the North, considered this as proof that the Others and the Night King were real, while Faith of the Seven declared Her Excellency " a fearmonger", accusing her of spreading fear amongst people to keep her grip on power.

    Naturally, this accusation did not find many believers, especially as the Storm Kingdom only suffered snow and winter three months a year, while the rest of the continent faced winters lasting years at a time.

    Coupled with Her Excellency's reforms in the fields of agriculture, our Kingdom never had to suffer the harsh conditions the long winters brought for close to three centuries.



    Notes: The Storm didn't bring anyone to Planetos, just items and objects.
     
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    Storm Kingdom

    Storm's End

    11 BAC



    Argilac had thought it was time for his daughter to join him in court to see how the kingdom was run.

    Sitting on a chair beside her father's throne, Ei watched the proceedings as people both common and noble came to air their grievances to the King. Commoners requested aid, whether in grain or against bandits.

    Nobles had entirely different concerns, however. Border clashes, fights over insults, either perceived or true, and the rare tax exemption requests for projects.

    "What do you think, daughter?" Argilac asked his daughter her opinion after listening to Lord Grandison and Lord Fell, who were squabbling over a plot of land on the border between their lands.


    Knights of House Grandison had slain one of current Lord Fell's younger brothers, thinking him a bandit hunting unlawfully on their side of the border, while the boy had been chasing a stag and accidentally crossed the border. One thing led to another and the boy had been killed.


    The Knights responsible for this act had been sent to fight at the border with the Ironborn, and a certain plot of land from House Grandison had been granted to House Fell by Argilac's father, Durran.


    House Grandison claimed it had been long enough and their debt had been paid, while Lord Fell disagreed, requesting the land be granted to them permanently.


    Both houses were strong and Argilac couldn't afford to choose one over the other.


    His daughter had proven to be a genius, at least when it came to learning her letters, and Argilac wanted to see if she could do well in solving problems like this as she had done in learning.


    The Lords turned to Ei, who was watching them with a calm and collected gaze.


    "Lord Fell, you claimed House Grandison's debt to your house had not been paid. Would your late brother think the same?" Ei asked. In Inazuma, matters such as these would have been solved without any intervention on her part, but she would have to handle them personally for now, at least until she created a proper system to oversee these issues.


    "My brother?" Lord Fell asked, confused.


    Where was she going with this?


    "Yes, your brother. Would he wish for you to continue this feud and risk more people dying?" Ei leaned forward, clasping her hands under her chin " Would he wish for you to endanger your life, if he loved you half as much as you seem to love him?" Ei continued to press. Manipulating a person's emotions would not have been her first choice in de-escalating a developing situation, but she knew appealing to their logic would be an exercise in futility.


    "No, of course not" Lord Fell sounded offended by the implication.


    Good.


    "Then continuing to hold on to a land for a dead person who would not want you to do it if it meant conflict would be an insult to him, do you not agree?" Ei questioned the Lord, using the love he had for his younger brother.


    Lord Fell looked as if he was about to burst and say something foolish, before biting his tongue and shutting up. He took a deep breath after a while "Yes, you are right, Princess" and agreed to her reasoning.


    "Then the land should be returned to House Grandison in the interest of peace" Ei said, turning to her father to see his reaction.


    He was smiling, impressed.



    Lord Grandison was trying to force down a grin and failing, which only incensed Lord Fell further.



    " And Lord Grandison, your House should employ knights who should not be so eager to kill a young man over a stag of all things. Had they been willing to use their heads, this matter could have been resolved easily and not lead to a feud lasting decades" Ei chided the other Lord, and wiped the grin off his face.



    "Yes, Princess Argella" he replied stiffly, putting a smile on Lord Fell's lips.



    They shook hands after that, agreeing to end the feud then and there.



    More petitioners came after that, which gave Argilac more opportunities to test Ei.



    Having spent centuries as the "Kagemusha" of her twin sister Makoto, Ei had learned a great deal when it came to ruling, and the petitions that came before her were not matters she had not faced before.



    After the fifth petitioner who came in because of a bad harvest, Ei had enough.



    "Maester Larry, please gather everyone who came because of a bad harvest, or matters related to farming. I will talk with all of them tomorrow" Ei ordered the aging man who turned to the King for confirmation.



    "Do as she says" Argilac was curious as to what his daughter would do but chose to wait until after they were done to ask.



    Maester Larry bowed and left, gathering the mentioned petitioners and returned after he was done.



    Soon enough, the last petitioner came in and the court was adjourned after that.



    ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------



    "You handled the court well today, Princess" her grandfather praised her, though he did look as if he swallowed a whole lemon while saying it.



    "Do not force yourself to praise me if it is too hard, grandfather, after all, we would not wish for your health to suffer due to the exertion" Ei said calmly, as if she was actually worried about his health.



    She was beginning to understand why Miko enjoyed teasing people like this.



    "Why, I would never!" Lord Lucan looked offended, his face scrunching like a wrinkly old apple.



    "HA-HA-HA, she got you good, old man!" Argilac guffawed, slapping the old man on the back laughing all the while.



    Quickly muttering an excuse, her grandfather left, grumbling.



    "Oh that was nicely done daughter. That old man is always giving me grief, it is good to see him put down for once" Argilac praised Ei, and ruffled her hair.



    Ei's eye twitched, barely stopping herself from slapping his hand away, instead choosing to fix her hair.



    "So how will you handle the farmers?" Argilac crossed his arms, waiting for her answer.



    Several factors made farming in Storm King a rather troublesome prospect, especially due to how vital it was.



    Weather was one of those factors. Besides the unnatural seasons, the constant storms the land faced, which mostly affected the areas where farming was possible, negatively impacted the yield and quality of the crops.



    Which is why the Marches were so vital, as the fertile land provided more than two thirds of the wheat produced in the kingdom.



    Dornish raids mostly targeted the farmlands, and if they managed to advance deep enough, they could target the larger farms, setting them on fire.



    No wonder the Storm Kingdom hated them with a passion.



    Another factor was the population of the Kingdom, which was rather low compared to other Kingdoms with similar sizes, owing to the weather and the lay of the land, and the constant wars and border clashes, discouraging people from settling in the Storm Kingdom.



    However, it was not all grim, as the animal husbandry and dairy farming was more advanced compared to crop farming, due to the abundant water sources and pastureland.



    But neither of them lasted as long as wheat and barley did.



    "I intend to introduce machines which will make farming easier and faster, as well as teach the farmers how to better make use of the land" Ei explained. Makoto might have taught people better farming techniques and concepts such as crop rotation, but it was Ei who built machines that made farming much easier, reducing the labor necessary.



    "What machines?" Argilac asked with a frown. He had not heard anything about Argella building machines.



    "I will demonstrate them later, you are welcome to watch if you are interested" Ei offered, not wishing to waste anymore time explaining, as she would have to pull an all nighter to build the machines.



    "Will your allowance be enough?" Argilac did not know much about machines, but his daughter had proven her smarts today and he would help her however he could.



    "I have enough silver, but I will need to borrow the forge" Ei asked, after all her forge was more fit to produce weapons than farming tools.



    "Aye, I'll send orders for Hammond to help you" Ei nodded, she would prefer to work by herself, but if she could teach Hammond how to build the machines and delegate that particular responsibility to him.



    ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------



    Next Day



    Hammond was a stubborn man, and he did not like being forced to listen to a little girl and build the contraptions she thought of, even if the said little girl was a princess, but he did it nonetheless.



    After all, one did not say no to King Argilac without a good reason.



    He began to change his mind though, as the machines came together.



    Maybe she knew what she was doing after all.



    ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------



    Storm's End



    Outside the Castle Gates



    Four Days Later



    First light rays of the sun hit his face as Hammond guided the horse, the chestnut mare dragging the seed drill, the reaper and the thresher, trailing behind the Princess.



    He had spent the last four days helping the Princess build the machines, and if they worked half as good as she claimed they would, well, even a man like him could see their value.



    He yawned, as Princess Argella began to demonstrate the machines on cutting down wild weeds and threshing wheat sheaves and sowing whatever seed they had found.



    The farmers' eyes were shining, seeing their back breaking labour reduced to the pull of a horse.



    "Each farmstead will receive a set of these machines for free, and those who lack a beast of burden to pull them will be provided one as the silver allows. They will be distributed depending on where the yields were poor as well as the size of the farm" Ei explained the situation as simply as she could and then proceeded to educate the farmers on crop rotation.



    The farmers were doubtful, not sure how what the Princess was explaining would work, so Ei gave them an incentive, rather than try to explain the process in detail.



    "If you suffer poor harvests due to the crop rotation, you will be paid the full price of a successful harvest by me"



    ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------



    Ei's next order of business was to train people to build the machines. Messengers were sent to Weeping Town to recruit and train blacksmiths in the process, as well as to buy iron.



    None of which would solve the problem of how slow manual smithing was. It took four days to build three machines, only because Ei already had extra steel ingots she was willing to spare, and she worked the nights while Hammond was asleep. Smelting enough steel, or wrought iron to build them would increase the time it took exponentially, and buying them, especially with her deciding to give the machines for free to the already struggling people would strain her finances.



    She could ask Argilac for silver, but then again the man was against her stance on not charging the smallfolk for the machines.



    A Mikage Furnace would solve the problem but there was no Tatarigami, or any other energy source here to fuel it, and building one from scratch with the current level of technology of this world would take too long.



    Alternative means would have to be devised it seemed.





    Industrial Growth of the Storm Kingdom



    Storm Kingdom Iron Works



    Powered by a large waterwheel to pump the bellows and raise the massive triphammers , first generation the Iron Works built during Her Excellency's youth had driven a never seen kind of growth in the Storm Kingdom, and eventually in the rest of her domain.



    Including a blast furnace to produce pig iron, a forge to fine it into wrought iron and then forge into bars, the amount of iron produced far surpassed the manual means.



    The amount of wrought iron produced in these furnaces led to the early mechanization of agriculture, and greater armament of the forces bordering the Ironborn controlled Riverlands at the time.



    The second iteration was able to produce more than just ingots and nails, while the third generation, "Sun Forges" could produce arms and tools all by themselves.
     
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    Storm Kingdom

    Storm's End

    11 BAC

    Knowledge was one form of power and to that end Ei had frequently visited the library of the Storm's End.

    Impressed by her drive to learn - a rare thing seeing as the Storm Kings preferred to punch their problems until they became a bloody mess- Maester Larry had offered to teach Ei Valyrian, the language of the Old Valyria and the Dragonlords.

    As they were at the bottom of her list of things to worry about, Ei had not spared time to learn about them, but now that the farming machines were under production, she had decided to rest for a while, and took the opportunity offered.

    To her disappointment and ire, the greatest empire this world had seen was a despotic cesspool of slavery, blood magic and other dark arts and horrific experiments performed on people.

    Had they not already perished, Ei would not have hesitated to obliterate them the second she learned just what kind of people they were.

    Alas, the majority of them were destroyed by the event named the "Doom" and only the houses Targaryen, Velaryon and Celtigar had survived.

    As they did not practice slavery, nor the mentioned blood magic and dark arts, Ei saw no need to start a conflict with them.

    Another interesting part was their dragons.

    Far as she understood from the books, they were merely flying lizards capable of breathing fire, nothing like the Sovereign Dragons.

    After learning the language, Ei saw no need to further learn about the Valyrians.

    Her time could be spent better elsewhere.

    ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Ei finished the blueprints in a week, working on and off, as she was also busy with inspecting the agricultural machinery production, training and growing her paper business.

    She showed the plans to her father, who naturally did not understand much and summoned Hammond the Blacksmith and Maester Larry to take a look.

    The men began to inspect the drawings with a fervor, conversing animatedly regarding the feasibility of the proposed forges.

    "My King, if these forges work we could arm more men than we have ever" Hammond exclaimed. While he was no engineer, the concept of these Iron Works was easy to grasp, and if they worked, well, his work would be easier.

    A lot easier.

    Maester Larry agreed, giddy on his feet. The blueprints were a marvel, not because they were something complex and beyond his grasp, but because they brought together several already existing concepts together.

    Riverrun had large water wheels they used to control the gates, bellows and hammers were an inseparable part of a forge and blast furnaces were known in Essos. That the Princess had brought them together so easily and turned all three into a single construct, made him question how he or anyone else never thought to do something like that.

    Larry was sure the Maesters at the Citadel would think the same.

    He made to take the blueprints but the Princess proved to be swifter and snatched them from Hammond.

    "Ah, Princess, I was hoping to study the blueprints" He said, nervously shuffling his hands at the dispassionate look Princess gave him.

    "For what purpose? If there is something you did not understand I could explain it" Ei offered, after all she intended to employ the Maester to oversee the construction while she was busy with other affairs and making sure he had full grasp of the blueprints would ensure a more seamless work.

    "No, I understood the blueprints, I just wish to send a copy of them to the Citadel. I am sure the Maesters would be glad to have a marvel like this in the library" he explained, looking hopeful that the Princess would understand.

    " You may not" Ei blinked before refusing the offer, annoyed at the mention of the Citadel and the Maesters.

    They had refused her request to borrow several books, citing "they are only open to our highest ranking members" and whatnot, as if they couldn't have simply just sent her a copy.

    If they wished to hoard their knowledge, so be it, but Ei would respond in kind and not share her knowledge in return.

    "But…" Maester Larry said, thinking about appealing to her better nature.

    "No buts, Maester Larry. As long as the Citadel refuses to share their knowledge, I shall treat them much the same. Nothing about any of my creations shall be sent to the Citadel and that is the end of it" It usually took a god to make Ei lose control of her emotions, but the undisputed monopoly the Citadel kept on knowledge for thousands of years and did nothing with it besides serving the lords?

    No schools to teach the people, no assistance by the Maesters to solve the common problems smallfolk faced everyday and no attempt to use their vast libraries and the political strength they held to improve the atrocious conditions the majority of the populace lived under?

    Had someone done this in Inazuma, well, divine thunder struck even when the skies were clear.

    Maester Larry felt a shiver in his spine and felt the words die in his mouth.

    He nodded and quickly left, followed by Hammond, who looked much the same.

    As for the King, he found it amusing how a girl of nine name days old scared grown men.

    "So, daughter, how did you come up with this Iron Works of yours?" While Argilac was not a bookworm, he still knew of the history of his house and could say with confidence that they were all warriors, not builders, save perhaps for the legendary Durran Godsgrief.

    "Call it a divine inspiration" His daughter offered no further explanation and Argilac snorted.

    After all, she worshipped the gods as much as he did.

    "How much is this going to cost?" Argilac might be a warrior but unlike most others, he was well versed in how to handle the coin and keep the books.

    Ruling a kingdom that was already in dire straits for a long while made him consider where every penny went, lest things got worse.

    Ei had already calculated the amount she had and how much it would cost to build the Iron Works. Every single silver stag she had would cover roughly half of the production costs.

    "Hundred thousand silver stags in total. I have enough to cover a quarter of the costs, our coffers will have to cover the rest" Ei knew this project would require readjusting the budgets, but as the Storm Kingdom did not have the abundance of natural wealth the Westerlands had nor the fertile lands of Reach, an industrial revolution would be their best option.

    Ei would see to it.

    "I know how much allowance I give you Argella, it is nowhere near that much" Argilac leaned forward, puzzled.

    "I have my own means of earning silver" Argilac frowned at this. You didn't get that much coin from selling embroidery.

    "I own half of the paper business booming in Weeping Town. As it is a product everyone needs, there is no issue with selling it."

    Argilac was dumbfounded. He had seen the machine, watched as it created sheets of paper that would take days of work.

    The amount of wealth it brought to the Weeping Town had drawn the interest of the whole of the Kingdom.

    "That was you? But how?" Argilac had tried to find the man called Carn behind this machine, but as if the ground had split and swallowed him, no one could.

    "I designed the machine and used intermediaries to see it put to production. I have been saving it as I had no need to spend it" Ei explained, but of course it was easier said than done.

    Designing and building the machine, then bringing it to Weeping Town to find a trustworthy partner to oversee the production and maintenance and training workers was time consuming, especially as she had to constantly travel between Storm's End and Weeping Town to avoid suspicion at home, but she managed.

    "I am surprised grandfather did not tell you though" Ei commented, and she truly was. Something like this should have been brought to his attention, certainly?

    "He did not but then again men start forgetting things at his age" Argilac winked, inwardly furious at his good father.

    One did not live to his age by forgetting things, and the Storm King was sure he did not tell him that on purpose.

    He would find out why.

    "Tell me more about this paper making machine of yours. I heard Gardes and the Hightowers got into a fight over it" Argilac, despite his good fathers schemes, was still in a good mood, especially after learning who actually was responsible for the latest dispute in the Reach.

    While every place of trade produced parchment, and paper to a lesser degree, Oldtown having the Citadel meant they produced more than most and could affect the price of it as they wished.

    Cheap and good quality paper flowing out of Weeping Town undercut their business, and the Hightowers did not like it at all.

    Rumours said Lord Hightower petitioned King Gardes to ban paper from Storm Kingdom, but apparently King Gardner refused, saying competition was good for trade.

    While the paper trade itself was nowhere near big enough to start a dispute, Gardes' dismissive attitude was.

    Argilac was just happy to see any disagreement amongst the Reach.

    ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Next Day

    Budget adjustments here were intense, to say the least. Ei, owing to her previous position, had done just as much, though it was usually to allocate several million moras to fund a festival, not seventy five thousand silver stags to cover three quarters of the cost of the Iron Works.

    King Argilac started with a plan to reduce the already allocated coin, distributing the cut amongst different expenses to reduce the impact.

    Unexpected, yet perfectly logical, and Ei thought that would work.

    It did not.

    The master-at-arms, apparently also responsible for the repairs around the castle, was the first one to request exemption, citing he had already ordered materials and promised payment.

    Next was Maester Larry, raising concerns over his need to restock his healing supplies.

    As the castle lacked a Queen to oversee the management of larders, winter clothing and other daily necessities, the head maid stranded with the responsibility came forward, informing the King about the rising prices of grain and meat, both due to the approaching winter and the poor harvests, saying they may not be able to fully stock for the winter if they faced cuts.

    Argilac massaged his forehead, veins pulsing.

    Ei ignored the whole thing halfway, barely listening as she tried to come up with a way to find the necessary silver herself.

    Increasing the price of the paper was one way, but that would still take time.

    Time she did not wish to waste.

    Huh, the God of Eternity, yet here she was, impatient.

    Ei shook her head.

    Perhaps she could find a gold mine or something? That way, there would always be a steady source of income.

    She couldn't do it herself, as once again, it was out of her domain, but that didn't mean she couldn't build a machine to detect natural sources, not only gold, but silver, copper, iron, coal and everything else.

    A consideration for the future, as it would take even longer than raising the price of the paper, and if they couldn't spare enough silver for this, they never would be able to do it for the development of a mine.

    Perhaps treasure hunting?

    After abolishing the Vision Hunt Decree, she and Aether had had traveled around Inazuma, going on a friendly trip rather than a ruler inspecting her lands, and they had found treasure chests, whether hidden in some crevice or a behind a puzzle or in the possession of outlaws like the Treasure Hoarders.

    She had let her friend take the treasure chests as she had no need for their contents.

    Spending time with a friend was worth more than any treasure to her.

    Memories aside, if she could find treasure chests here, perhaps that could solve her problems, but where to find chests?

    But there were no Treasure Hoarders here, or monsters, to guard chests, nor puzzles with rewards at the end, left behind by people long gone.

    Ei leaned on the wall, her eyes drifting outside, completely ignoring the throne room now.

    Perhaps she could just go and raid some Ironborn ships? Then sink them, of course.

    It was only fair after all.

    Ei straightened herself, eyes locked forward.

    Perhaps there was no need to go and search for a ship to sink.
     
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    Storm Kingdom

    Shipbreaker Bay

    11 BAC

    There were many stories about the Shipbreaker Bay, from it being cursed by the gods to the bay being created as a defensive measure by the use of magic.

    Ei didn't believe any of them, but the fact was there were a lot of sunken ships in and around the bay.

    Ships that would no doubt contain riches.

    She dived, cutting through the water like hot knife through butter in a single stroke, approaching the ships saturating the seabed.

    There were a lot.

    Ei approached the sunkens vessels, swimming slowly this time, and began to inspect the most recent looking one.

    She entered through the hole in the ship's hull and swam through the entire ship but found nothing worthy of note besides some of the human remains stuck on the ship.

    The Electro Archon granted them one last mercy and incinerated their remains with a burst of elemental energy rather than let them rot.

    She visited the next vessel and had some luck there, having found a chest full of gold. She swam up and tossed the chest to the shore before diving again.

    By the time she decided to end this little treasure hunt, Ei had incinerated the remains of over two dozen people and had more than enough wealth to build the Iron Works.

    She decided to surprise Argilac by discretely leaving half of the gold inside the treasury.

    Ei was meditating when Bessie came in excitedly.

    "Princess, you must come quickly, the King is calling for you!" She said with a spring in her step.

    The Narukami Ogosho opened her eyes and followed the excited maid with a "Very well"

    "See? Even the gods are with her!" Argilac said, taking a handful of gold from the sea smelling chest and dropping them back.

    "Your Grace, first those mysterious trees, then chests full of gold appearing in the treasury? The gods are never this direct, please think this again" the King's goodfather advised, actually worried about the whole thing unlike Argilac.

    "Bah, enough with those damn trees old man, we are using this gold and that's that" Argilac dismissed his goodfather's advice again. He had seen those trees and upon learning what happened to the poor sod who was ordered to cut it down, he ordered the trees to be left alone.

    In truth, they had taken him to the day of his daughter's birth, and whether a blessing or a curse, Argilac thought it best to leave them alone.

    Ei would have agreed with her grandfather, if it wasn't for the fact she was the one responsible for both events.

    "Father, what happened?" Ei asked, playing the ignorant.

    "You won't believe this Argella, but chests full of gold and other valuables appeared in the treasury! There is more than enough to build your Iron Works!" Argilac said, his jovial tone infectious.

    Lord Lucan wanted to appeal to the Princess, hoping she would make her father see reason, but trying to do it in front of him would be received badly by the man.

    "Fascinating, I will start the work immediately then" Ei simply said, she didn't feel like pretending.
    ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Her grandfather found her after the court was dismissed.

    "Princess, do you not find it strange, all these random events happening right under our noses?" the old man asked, hoping she could advise her father to be more cautious.

    "I do actually, however unless we can find a culprit with ill intent, there is nothing left for us to do" said the culprit.

    They continued to talk, with him expressing his interest in the Iron Works, wondering if one could be built for his lands too.
    -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Orders for materials and workers were sent to Weeping Town, while Ei headed there with a procession to personally oversee the work. There were complaints against sending a nine years old girl there for something so important, no matter how intelligent she was, but as she was the only one with a complete understanding of the plans for building the Iron Works, Argilac agreed to send her, with great reluctance.

    This society's beliefs on women were becoming more annoying to Ei as she grew. She knew most had complained solely for the fact that she was a woman, and thought she wouldn't be able to handle something so important.

    She was beginning to rethink her soft approach towards a fundamental change in this land's culture.

    The construction had begun with the water wheel near one of the rivers flowing to Weeping Town.

    It was the easy part.

    ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Weeping Town

    10 BAC

    A year had passed, and Ei, for all her immortality and the patience that came with it was beginning to get irritated.

    The construction faced many challenges.

    First one was the storms. Ei did not want to mess with the weather of the Storm Kingdom, after all nature ran on balance and if one part was broken then the others would follow soon.

    After the second time a storm damaged the construction site, Ei had enough and dispelled all the storms within the kingdom.

    Next was just how slow the shipment of the materials were. The low population density of the Kingdom was a problem that affected every part of it. They couldn't call as many levies as the other kingdoms, nor did they have their workforce. As such, materials took time to arrive, and the construction suffered for it.

    Buying the materials from Reach was an option, but an extremely expensive and undesirable one.

    Which left Ei with no choice but to go and find ways to increase production, from water wheel powered saws to buying horses and other beasts of burden to carry the loads, further delaying the work.

    She couldn't do anything about the large metal parts necessary for the Iron Works, as Iron Works itself was the solution, so things were still extremely slow on that front.

    Perhaps the most annoying thing was the squabbling and disregard for her orders.

    House Whitehead, the ruling house of Weeping Town and its Lord Tommen Whitehead were naturally involved with the construction, and the man was problematic to say the least.

    Constantly cutting her off and questioning her, Ei had almost struck the man down with a lightning bolt, but apparently word made it to Argilac about his conduct, and the man had received a letter.

    Ei didn't know its contents, but whatever Argilac told the man had him silent as a whisper.

    And just as things were starting to go well, she was recalled to Storm's End, to meet a potential betrothal of all things.

    She blinked and flat out refused, telling the messenger to go back and inform her father she had no intention to marry.

    Naturally, the man panicked, not knowing what to do. He couldn't force her to come but he had to obey the orders of his King. Seeing no other way, the messenger went back to inform Argilac of her refusal but Ei had no intention of listening to the Storm King, so she had to stop him from coming and bothering her.

    That's why whenever the man attempted to leave the castle, a violent storm appeared out of nowhere, forcing him to turn back. He seems to have gotten the message after the ninth time it happened and had sent a letter, saying she didn't have to return as the talks failed, but even through the letter Ei could feel the man's displeasure at her open defiance.

    Not to mention the assassination attempt on her, though she was the only one aware of it. Someone had poisoned her dinner, and while no one else would have noticed the tasteless and odorless poison, it was a simple matter for Ei due to her divine nature.

    She wasn't sure who was responsible, though Dornish were reportedly fans of using such methods. At any rate, it wasn't going to work on her but that didn't mean she wouldn't find the one responsible.

    Eventually.

    So here she was, with less than half of the whole project done, directing workers.

    This whole experiment about understanding the hardships most mortals faced everyday was eye opening to Ei.

    Most lords did not pay proper salaries, but people had no choice but to take up the work to feed themselves and their families. Ei, on the other hand, lacked the desire for wealth unlike humans, and had no problem paying much better salaries to workers.

    Which attracted more workers when the news spread.

    But of course it just brought more problems. The smallfolk did not know how to handle all the extra coin they suddenly had, and began to develop bad habits. Gambling, drinking, and buying unnecessary luxury items were becoming a problem.

    Ei could have simply banned drinking and gambling, but humanity never did well when they were forbidden from doing something.

    That was why she gathered the workers everyday before their shift began, teaching them how to spend their earnings wisely in simple terms. Whether they would listen was up to them.

    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    "Daughter" Argilac said, voice as frosty as the Northern winds.

    "Father" Ei said, not even bothering to turn to face him, still focused on the drawings.

    "You defied me, your father and your king, in front of people" Argilac crossed his arms, trying to glare a hole into Ei's head.

    "And?" Ei's uncaring tone only made Argilac's fury boil more.

    "And? AND?! Do you think this is a joke?! I have let you do as you please for too long, we are going back now, and find you a betrothal!" Argilac ranted, about to drag his daughter back to Storm's End.

    Ei lowered the papers she was holding and turned to face him. There was nothing threatening in her stance, she was as relaxed as she could be.

    No narrowed eyes, no thinned lips, nothing.

    Yet Argilac stopped cold, feeling as if he was choking and sweat began to gather on his forehead.

    He looked at his daughter, but saw something else. She was still there, but floating above her was the silhouette of a giant maiden dressed in finery the likes he had never seen before, holding a sword just as foreign, ready to strike him down.

    The Storm King felt as if he was being judged by the divine, and was found lacking.

    Pressure he felt made him fall to his knees, and he felt weak, like he never had before.

    It all disappeared in an instant, like it never was there, leaving Argilac gasping for breath.

    "No, we are not doing anything of the sorts. If you wish to continue the Durrandon line, feel free to remarry." Ei commented, returning back to her work

    "What, what was that?" Argilac stumbled, rubbing his dry throat.

    "What do you mean?" Ei asked, deciding to play the ignorant.

    "That thing above you" Argilac stood on unsteady feet, watching her warily.

    "Perhaps you are coming down with something? You should go and see the Maester" Ei looked up, seeing nothing.

    Argilac was sure of what he saw but had no explanation for it.

    He left without saying anything, his mind wondering.

    -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    For the next week Argilac was reluctant to interact with her, which didn't bother her to be honest.

    She had bigger problems.

    Iron and coal, two materials necessary for the forges. There was an iron mine near the Bronzegate, which supplied all the iron ore to the kingdom, but there were no coal mines, and the people used the more expensive charcoal, which required cutting down trees and burning them long enough in an oxygen free environment, compared to coal which you just had to mine.

    Ei had given out orders to the Maester of the Weeping Tower to get in contact with the Maesters of other keeps and castles to see if there were any records of coal discovered in the Kingdom. If she was lucky they could find at least one and if not, she would have to create something to search and dig for coal throughout the kingdom, which meant more work for her.

    For now she had ordered an increase in the charcoal production to stockpile for when the Iron Works were ready.

    Which was taking a lot longer than she would have liked, but at least it was a steady progress now.

    ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Ei had brought the Painted Realm with her, to make it easier to transport Kage and the Thunder Dragon.

    Switching places with her shadow, Ei snuck out again, just as she had done for many nights, leaving far away to not be seen by anyone, all for the sake of training.

    She had no sparring partner, no one to engage in a practical exchange with and as such was left with training by herself, which made her remember how alone she was in this world.

    The Electro Archon missed her friends, both the deceased and the living.
     
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