The Mountain of Ice and Fire

Chapter 108: War

(3rd Update)

*

Ironborn, a people whose way of life and glory revolves around raiding and killing.

They neither believe in the Old Gods of the First Men, nor the New Gods of the Andals—the Seven; they worship the Drowned God.

The Ironborn's creed: What is dead may never die, but rises again, harder and stronger.

They believe that those who worship the Drowned God will never truly die. If a person dies, it is not the end, but a journey to the Drowned God's watery halls to be served by mermaids.

During the Drowning ritual, the Ironborn are submerged in seawater until they suffocate, then revived using crude, primitive CPR techniques. When the drowned person awakens, it signifies rebirth (rises again) and becoming stronger than before (harder and stronger).

Those who cannot be revived are considered sinners, their hearts not true to the Drowned God.

The Great House ruling the Iron Islands is House Greyjoy, led by Balon Greyjoy.

The Greyjoy family words are 'We Do Not Sow'. This is the source of their confidence in 'despising the green land's weaklings' because the green land's weaklings are feeble, delicate, lack courage, and only know how to toil, daring not to take by force.

In the Mountain's eyes, the Ironborn are a primitive, barbaric, ignorant people who genuinely enjoy killing.

They have never revered life, only trampled upon it, just like the Mountain used to.

*

The Mountain didn't bring many of his brothers this time: three brothers, Raff the Sweetling, the loyal Polliver, and the executioner Dunsen. Plus, a few native cavalry brothers from his territory who haven't killed anyone yet, to give them more experience and help them quickly become fierce, savage, and ruthless.

Since the Duke didn't seem inclined to teach these Ironborn a lesson, nor allow the Mountain to do so, the Mountain kept a low profile. Most of his brothers were unaware; otherwise, people would really die. He only brought three knights from House Clegane and a few native cavalry warriors from the villages; the rookies needed training.

When the Mountain came to the tavern, he saw several Ironborn drinking in a private room on the second floor, at the corner.

The Ironborn's attire was easy to recognize. First, their clothes were very dirty, either black or gray. Their faces were tanned dark brown from the constant sea winds. Second, their voices were also very distinctive, as if they had a small ball in their mouths, and their tongues seemed unable to straighten. Finally, they didn't wear armor.

Those who fight at sea avoid wearing armor because anyone who falls into the water while wearing armor will sink straight to the bottom.

But the Iron Islands have a fleet comparable to any in the Seven Kingdoms—the renowned Iron Fleet—which is different.

Victarion Greyjoy is the second younger brother of Lord Balon Greyjoy; he is the commander-in-chief of the Iron Fleet. He is a devout believer in the Drowned God. Even when sailing, he wears heavy armor, believing that he is blessed by the Drowned God and will never drown at sea. His soldiers, influenced by him, all wear heavy armor and wield large axes, making them incredibly brave and fierce.

It is said that among the Seven Kingdoms, there is no fleet that can match the Iron Fleet in naval warfare.

However, the Ironborn selling iron ore this time are not from the Iron Fleet.

This can be seen from their attire, flags, and the noble house emblems on their clothes.

The flag pattern on the five iron ore ships is—a black horn with gold trim centered on a red background.

This is the house emblem of House Goodbrother of Great Wyk, Hammerhorn.

House Goodbrother is a very powerful house among the Ironborn nobles and one of the most influential nobles on the Iron Islands' largest island, Great Wyk.

Hammerhorn is located deep within the island's stone mountains, far from the open sea. House Goodbrother's main source of wealth is the iron ore-rich mines.

The Iron Islands sell iron ore to the Westerlands, the North, the Riverlands, the Reach, and Oldtown.

The nobles of the Westerlands are well aware that the Iron Islands always sell iron ore to the Westerlands at the highest price. The reason is simple: the Westerlands have gold mines. House Lannister is the wealthiest in the world, lacking nothing but lacking money.

The annual increase in iron ore prices, or even the quarterly increase, has caused much resentment among the nobles of the Westerlands. However, the Westerlands have no iron ore and cannot be self-sufficient. Moreover, the Iron Islands can choose not to sell iron ore to the Westerlands; they have other places to sell it.

Iron ore is never difficult to sell!

But the Westerlands cannot do without iron ore!

This is a blatant extortion!

This is also the Ironborn's way of dealing with the world. As long as they can take advantage, they will continue to do so, and even escalate. The principle of knowing when to stop is impossible to exist in the Ironborn's minds.

*

When the Mountain came to the tavern, the tavern owner was terrified.

He hid his wife and daughter first, then came to the Mountain's table with a smile.

The Mountain sat alone on the first floor—because as soon as he arrived, the customers on this floor quietly left. These people were very polite, making sure not to make any noise when they left.

"Ser Gregor, you…"

"Get out!" Gregor said politely with just this one word.

Then, the tavern owner left.

It was very quiet.

So, the Mountain looked down at the docks below.

*

"Hey! Let her go!" A balding, somewhat neurotic man said timidly.

This man was tall, but his eyes were timid, and he was obviously a commoner, wearing coarse clothes, with a crude short knife at his waist like a knight.

This is the kind of craven man from the 'green lands' that the Ironborn deeply despise.

"Big brother, don't ask for a beating," a shorter but very stout Ironborn laughed. "Get lost quickly."

"She is my wife," the man mustered his courage and raised his voice a little, his eyes flickering, obviously afraid. "Let her go; this is Lannisport."

"Your wife?" Another Ironborn said in disbelief. "Big brother, how could you have a wife when you are so ugly?"

The three Ironborn laughed together.

On the ship, more Ironborn emerged from the cabins to watch, each with a rugged black face and unfriendly eyes.

Whoosh!

The man who seemed a little abnormal drew the short knife from his waist. It must be said that the scabbard was not great, but the quality of this short knife was really good, gleaming with a cold light—a good knife.

The neurotic man seemed stimulated, constantly tilting his head mechanically, looking at people with his eyes askew, the right half of his face twitching. "Let go of my wife, or I will kill you."

The three Ironborn and more than ten Ironborn on the ship laughed together.

They had seen too many of these craven men who were scared to death inside but had mouths as hard as iron ore.

As soon as they made a move and saw blood, this kid would be so scared that he would kneel and beg for mercy.

The Ironborn were brave men who came and went in the wind, licking blood from their blades, enjoying killing and arson. When had they ever been afraid of a craven man who was shaking even while holding a knife?

"Come on, brother, stab here! Don't shake your hand!" A guy who was even taller and stronger than the bald neurotic man tore open his shirt, revealing his black iron-like chest covered with chest hair.

As expected, the bald neurotic man took a step back in fright and stammered, "Let go of my wife, don't force me!"

The Ironborn laughed again at his craven appearance, scared to death but with a stubbornly hard mouth.

More Ironborn walked from the iron ore ship's cabins to the deck to watch the excitement.

"Come on, brother, don't be afraid, stab here."

The neurotic bald man looked up and saw a face watching him from the window on the top floor of the tavern.

The bald man said, "Are you really begging me to stab you?"

"Of course, I'm just afraid…"

Pfft!

The short knife stabbed into the chest of this tall, stout Ironborn. The action was too fast; his two brothers were still laughing, the Ironborn on the ship were still joking, and the bald man had already pulled out the knife and stabbed a second time…

Thank you canglan66 for the reward, thank you!