Under the watchful eyes of the public, Wright sentenced the vampire to death, parading it around the streets of Tyrosh before personally escorting it to King's Landing.
"Be careful!"
"Your side is higher, loosen up!"
A dozen strong men carried a wooden cross to the back of a large carriage. Gendry ran back and forth nearby, directing them to align the bottom of the cross with the base on the carriage.
This was Gendry's first heavy-duty carriage. From a distance, it looked like a large flatbed for transporting goods, its steel frame and bolts holding together a structure three times the length of a modern carriage, yet still solid. The wheels were reinforced with steel strips, two pairs at the front, four at the rear, totaling twelve wheels. It could be pulled by four horses on flat terrain, and for inclines, oxen could take over, made specifically for transporting timber.
At first glance, it seemed like a simple extension of the carriage, not a complex design, something that any Westerosi craftsman could replicate with a blueprint. But the most important part was the springboard between the wheels and the frame, a component that Gendry and a group of blacksmiths had worked on for at least six months. After consulting with the alchemists of the Citadel, they finally perfected an alloy of phosphorus-tin copper, which delayed the project until now.
With Wright's magic, the basic theories of electricity were kept hidden, and the magical conductivity of copper was low, making copper inexpensive in this world. It was mostly used for currency or making bronze armor and crafts. The Royce family from Runestone had made their fortune by casting bronze goods in the early years.
Many in Tyrosh had not yet reached the square. Some women stayed home with their children to avoid the crowd, and others were busy with their livelihoods. The carriage paraded the vampire through the streets to ensure all of Tyrosh could witness this creature. The unknown breeds fear, and Wright aimed to have the people throw rotten vegetables and stinky eggs at the vampire, breaking their fear.
Gendry fixed the iron plates securing the base of the carriage, jumped down, and smiled as he looked at the naked vampire nailed to the cross. His grin never left his face.
"Nice job, Ser Gendry!"
A female voice came from behind him, and Gendry instantly recognized it as Ashara's. He wiped away his smile and ran a hand through his hair, "Ah, what's nice?"
The city guard had to assist with maintaining order during the parade, as angry citizens might pull out silver nails and cause harm. Ashara, as the army commander, was responsible for organizing this.
However, when Gendry turned around with what he thought was a charming motion, he found that Ashara wasn't even looking at him. Her attention was entirely on the family crest embedded on either side of the coachman's seat.
"I meant your new family crest is nice!"
Clink, clink, clink, Ashara tapped the small black shield at her waist with the hilt of her dark sister sword. The shield was narrow at the top and wider at the bottom, about the size of a palm, with a golden border. In the center, a golden bull was etched with muscle lines, capturing its motion as it ran.
"Oh, yes, it's nice." Gendry, full of words, started stuttering the moment he saw Ashara in person.
The city guard parted into two lines to clear the crowd, and the path started to open up. Tyrosh was a city with uneven terrain, but with the coachman's direction, the four oxen easily pulled the carriage, slowly parading the vampire through the streets.
As Gendry followed the parade, trying to think of something to say, he was struggling to find words. Just as he was about to lose his mind, Ashara suddenly stopped. Almost bumping into her, Gendry quickly grabbed the edge of the carriage.
"Why did you stop?"
"I have a question for you. Do you know about the vampire's interrogation?" Ashara asked mysteriously, speaking in a low voice.
Gendry was confused. "I know, the Tyrosh officials know too. Lord Wright interrogated it in front of everyone at the castle."
Ashara took a step back, walking beside Gendry, tilting her head close to his shoulder, her hand covering her mouth. "Then tell me where this vampire came from! I missed the part about the interrogation the other day and was training at the barracks for a few days."
They walked alongside the parade, surrounded by angry and cursing crowds. After Ashara asked her question, she waited for Gendry's response. After a long time of silence, she turned to ask, "Are you sick? Your face is all red."
Earlier, when Ashara covered her mouth to speak, the warm, humid breath hit Gendry's side. His crush was wearing armor he'd made, and now the warmth of her breath was on his face. A rookie like Gendry couldn't help but feel his heart race, his thoughts completely drifting away from Tyrosh.
Bang! Ashara elbowed him in the waist, both of them wearing armor, but she controlled the force to keep it light.
"I'm fine!" Gendry quickly answered, snapping back to reality.
"Then you idiot, answer my question." All the soldiers knew the vampire's origin and discussed it amongst themselves with theories, but Ashara, the city guard and army commander, had no idea. Not wanting to ask the soldiers, she had seized the opportunity to ask Gendry instead.
"Oh, let me tell you the gist. The two vampires we captured are both of the Coldharbour breed, with bloodlines from two different sources. Lord Wright captured them at sea, one of which is the one being paraded around in the cart in front, and the other, the big bearded one, was killed on the spot. The murderer in Tyrosh and the one left with only one leg are both descendants of that big-bearded vampire who was killed." Gendry tried to explain as clearly as possible.
Ashara asked, "So, what are the vampires doing in Tyrosh?"
Gendry thought for a moment. "This goes back to their origin, beyond the Wall in the northern part of Westeros. The big bearded one and the noble vampire were once captains in King's Landing's Gold Cloaks. This year, two fraudsters impersonated the late Queen and Prince in King's Landing. The Gold Cloaks suffered a loss in battle, and when the king investigated, he found many officers and soldiers guilty of corruption and selling positions. The two of them were caught up in this scandal, and after the trial, to avoid corporal punishment, they chose to join the Night's Watch at the Wall."
"Vampires turned out to be former Gold Cloaks?" Ashara thought they were magical creatures like the Children of the Forest.
"Vampires, like the Others, can't reproduce naturally. They can only create descendants through their special blood ritual, turning humans into their offspring." Gendry was interrupted but continued. "Let me continue with the story of the two Gold Cloaks. Even though they were criminals, they were seasoned soldiers. After arriving at Castle Black, they completed their training in just one month. Because there were quite a few Gold Cloaks exiled to the Wall, the Night's Watch dispersed them into groups, each led by a senior member. Last year, the king ordered an increase in intelligence gathering outside the Wall, and soon after finishing their training, they accompanied the Rangers to the north for more training."
"So, that's when they became vampires?" Ashara was deeply intrigued, having never heard such a story before.
"They weren't in the same Ranger team. The big bearded one left to patrol, and his seven-man team didn't return within the designated time. The Lord Commander of the Night's Watch, Mormont, sent a rescue team to search for them, and the vampire paraded in the cart was one of those who went out with the rescue team. The weather outside the Wall is harsh, and now the cold winter has begun. Ice cracks, snow piles, and deep pits can appear out of nowhere. Anything can happen. The Night's Watch has a death quota for Rangers on reconnaissance missions, and as long as the deaths are within that limit, they won't send more teams to search. Other rescue teams found nothing, and the lost team was simply recorded as missing."
Seeing Ashara listening intently, Gendry grew more animated. "The two teams of Rangers were captured by northern vampires, who tempted them with promises of immortality, resistance to the cold, boundless energy, and magic, turning them into their offspring. Fourteen people in total, eight seasoned Rangers chose death, while six criminals, including the two former Gold Cloaks, betrayed humanity."
"Those traitors! They deserve to die!" Ashara clenched her fists.
Gendry added, "From the interrogation, Lord Wright learned that the vampire who turned six of them was a red-haired woman. From her conversations, they deduced she couldn't read or speak the common tongue of Westeros, so she was likely a wildling from the north."
Ashara nodded. "It seems the wildlings were becoming vampires much earlier than we thought!"
"Even worse, according to the confession of the noble vampire, after they became vampires, they were taken further north. In a huge basin, they saw countless human and animal corpses and undead. In the center of the basin was a temporary camp, where vampires and blue-skinned Others gathered."
"Vampires have an internal hierarchy based on bloodlines, and the most primal bloodline is from a vampire named Craster. The second generation consists of his nineteen wives, who were perhaps also his daughters."
Ashara turned her head. "Wives and daughters?"
"Craster lived beyond the Wall. He was probably in his forties or maybe thirties, but there's no record of his birth date. His father was a member of the Night's Watch, and his mother was a wildling from Whitetree Village. Because of his parents' positions, Craster had the support of both the Night's Watch and the wildlings. When he grew up, he married many wildling women, had daughters whom he kept at home, and when they grew up, they became his wives and bore him children. The sons were sacrificed to the Others. Many of the Others today are his sons."
"That bastard! I'll cut Craster down myself!" Ashara gripped the hilts of her two swords, her fury palpable, and she finally understood why the castle folk had tortured the vampires so mercilessly.
At this point, Gendry scratched his head. "The next part of the confession is... a bit difficult to say."
"What's so hard to say? Hurry up, tell me!" Ashara wasn't about to let him off the hook. She was determined to hear the rest of the story.
"The vampires are not afraid of the cold; they can walk around in the freezing cold of the far north with their bare arms. The north also has some animals for the vampires to feed on. With plenty of food and no fear of the cold, they are strong, full of energy, and spend most of their time either fighting or coupling. Craster couldn't monopolize all the female vampires, and he also wanted to see if vampires could reproduce between themselves. So in that basin, whether it was day or night, there was always the sound of men and women together. Both of them confessed that that period was the happiest time of their lives."
"Hmm~~ Like white pigs on a farm," Ashara made a fitting analogy.
Seeing that Ashara wasn't offended, Gendry breathed a sigh of relief and continued to explain why the two vampires came to Tyrosh.
"At the base of the Wall, there's a powerful magical array. The Others, wights, and vampires can't cross it, and there's magic in the sea that prevents them from moving south. The Others are like crocodiles or snakes, able to act quickly for a short time but usually slow and deliberate, sometimes taking months just to plan one thing. Vampires, however, are full of energy and quickly devised a plan to bypass the Wall. They sailed around the Wall's weakest point in the sea magic barrier, gathered the strength of all the vampires, and managed to get a few across the barrier. Including the two who came to Tyrosh, a total of five vampires made it to Westeros."
"Five? Then they could still breed here, and soon there would be vampires everywhere!" Ashara started to worry.
"Don't worry too much. Out of the five, Lord Wright killed one, and another is currently being paraded through the streets. Also, Lord Wright discovered through experiments on the vampires that the magical array beneath the Wall is similar to the expert-level restoration magic: a defensive array that can stop undead creatures. Apart from destruction, conjuring, alteration, and illusion, most restoration magic has a special effect on these undead creatures. Surprisingly, using healing magic on vampires actually hurts them, so in the future, healers in Westeros won't just be able to save people, they'll also be the strongest fighters against vampires."
Ashara's right hand ignited with flames, which she then exploded with a snap. "As long as there's a way to deal with them, that's good."
Gendry continued, "The vampires also need intelligence, and their biggest threat comes from mages and dragons. And, as luck would have it, the mages of Westeros have all gathered in Tyrosh this past half-year. The two vampires disguised themselves as mages and infiltrated the suburbs, gathering detailed information on every mage they could find."
"One of the vampires, the one parading through the streets, claimed to be noble, but he was actually a knight who had lost his title. He longed for a noble life and frequented taverns in Tyrosh to gather information. The big bearded one was just a brute who used his strength to become a Gold Cloak. All the vampires in Tyrosh are his offspring, and they're all illiterate thugs. This time they attacked because the two vampires argued. Neither would back down, and they seized the opportunity while Lord Wright was away."
"Haha, they really don't know how to gather intelligence properly, suffering from their lack of culture!" Ashara laughed.
"Luckily, Lord Wright caught both of them in the end, and since vampires can't control ravens, they didn't manage to take any of the information out of Tyrosh. But the other three vampires operating on the mainland are still unknown. Lord Wright's trip to King's Landing is likely going to take a long time before he returns."
After finishing his tale, Gendry looked at the white-sailed ship, the Wave-Rider Knight, in the port. It seemed like Lord Wright's journey would take six months or even a year until he could hunt down and eliminate all the vampires.