Omake: A Watchers Imagination
Some Point during the festival
Ilaria Naerys had two loves in her life. Money and music. Having received a small inheritance from her father, she had invested where she could and used the rest to buy goods off ships and sell them to merchants. She had enough to go the the odd exclusive show, but nothing too fancy, get too expensive and people would do the work themselves. But people liked convenience her father had always said.
So when she heard that the Iron Bank had started a joint venture with the Dragon King, A company known as Astral Currents, which promised to provide nigh instantaneous communication between Braavos and Sorcerer's Deep. With more locations coming in the future. She immediately pulled all the money from investments that she could. Re-invested in any company that was moving to utilise the new mode of exchange, and incorporate a company to use it herself.
The success had been astronomical. She had started off renting space on other ships simply to get her goods out to the required locations. She now owned 5 of her own transport ships, crew and all, and more than enough money to see her comfortable for the rest of her life. Now secure in her future, she turned back to her other love.
Though she now patronized her own small set of artists, it seemed here too the Dragon King held all the aces. A dragon's hoard indeed.
The first was a lady that had seemingly sprung out of nowhere, for all she could tell. None of her peers, or those that she patroned, could say anything about her past. Having never even heard of her until now.
But then taking new names was common among artists. There were those that would dispose of all the fame and fortune in the world, if it meant they could lovingly craft their myth and legend from the ground up. And what a legend she would become. It was no wonder the Dragon King himself had taken notice. It was said she could sing the very essence of fire itself into her words. And now that Ilaria had seen and heard her perform, she could understand why.
Her voice stoked the fires of emotion. Harp strings plucked at the kindling of the heart. And as the performance had continued, grew into a blazing bonfire. And yet still she controlled it with all the skill of a master blacksmith at his forge. With her performance she shaped the hearts and souls of those around her, before finally reaching the a crescendo and quenching in a carefully prepared oil. There had been a pause as she seemed to be admiring her handiwork. Then curtsied and began to exit the circle. The applause had not started until she had almost reached the exit. And did not stop for some minutes after she had.
"Mi' Lady."
Ilaria looked up slightly startled, she had been thinking far too intently. Her hot beverage was almost cold. This trip was entirely leisure, best to leave the thinking for work.
"Sorry, didn't mean to disturb you, but the performance you wanted to see starts soon."
"No trouble, it's certainly better to not miss it," Ilaria indicated that she would follow.
The two guides, a bull-man, and a little valyrian pair. Had been recommended by an acquaintance. And the cost had certainly been worth it. They had been in the city since almost the beginning of the Kings reign, and knew where to find anything you could want. The Bull-man was not only a guide, but also an excellent bodyguard, and parted the sea of people with ease. The valyrian would run ahead, leaping along rooftops and lines, anticipating trouble and re-routing if needed. He could also deliver messages and fetch food and other goods, about as fast as you possibly could without the aid of magic.
As they walked to the circle, Ilaria's mind wandered to the thoughts of bards yet again. Or one bard in particular. The king's other bard. In terms of history, it was utter chaos. The absolute opposite of the lady with a voice of fire. It was impossible to determine the truth from the fiction. The rumors that surrounded him ranged from the fanciful, to the outright terrifying. She had heard that he was a young man from Westeros. But others had said it was she, and she was from the Summer Isles, far south. Still others said that he was from North and east, all the way from Ibben. The most preposterous by far had been that he was not actually human, or even humanoid. But in fact a floating eyeball covered in smaller eyes. She had seen some crazy things since arriving at Sorcerer's Deep, but she doubted the king would let such a monster just wander around.
And that didn't even touch on his supposed powers. She had heard that magic stopped working wherever he gazed. That you would go mad at the sight of him. But others said that no, you would fall deeply in love at just the sound of his voice. Another said he could play an entire orchestra solo. Still another said he could build entire cities just by singing them into existence. And finally that just having talked to him would bring out the best in you.
There was only one thing that seemed to be agreed upon, no matter who you asked. He went by only one name of indeterminate origin, Xor.
Fortunately in Sorcerer's Deep, it seemed to be mostly the beneficial rumors. But enough of this, she would see for herself soon enough. She ascended the stands until she found her seats, not quite the best, but a good view and fairly spacious.
Ilaria got comfortable as she waited for the current display to end, an acrobatics troupe it seemed. They complete a big finally with an impressive display of spins, flips, and twists. Before for taking a bow to the applauding audience. A group of handlers rush out to help pack up their stuff, and finally the circle is clear.
A Number of Instruments are bought out just off centre of the circle. Not quite an orchestra, but perhaps some truth to that rumor. Some drums, a harp, a flute, a couple of cellos. Finally, a woman, clearly of summer isle origin, walks out to the instruments. The moment she has, the crowd is almost completely silent.
The woman moves to the drums and starts playing. The beat is steady, simple but powerful. Then she takes a step back, and it continues to play. She steps up to the next set of drums, layering the beat. And again stepping to the next instrument. She picks up the flute and plays a low tone, shifting slightly every few beats. Stepping away again she moves on to the next. Each instrument adds more to the song, until she is finally playing the last cello.
A deep measured song, contemplating, but powerful, inexorable. It emphasizes the feeling of preparedness, of methodical process, but filled with insight, creativity, and hope. Just as Ilaria is sure she can see the work of some grand machine in her mind's eye, the building of an empire, the work of its people. She sees Ground in front of the woman ripple.
And there rises up a miniature city. It's clearly small, the buildings are run down and the keep to the side is falling apart.
The view shifts rock seeming to slide and shift as the keep becomes the centerpoint of the display. There in the courtyard, a Figure with white hair holds out its hand, red shifts across the ground and a tree of white sprouts and grows rapidly, flowering with leaves in the same blood red.
Again the view shifts, The whole city in display again. The buildings move and writhe, seeming to knit themselves together again, no longer completely dilapidated. The green fire sprouts across one side of the city. The buildings fade into the ground as a man and a bull-man lifting a bucket together onto the flame.
The view shows the whole city again, docks, and many buildings completely destroyed. The view zooms in on the destruction, which steadily fades.
Then suddenly road sprout, webbing out across the ground, into the familiar pattern of the Sorcerer's Deep. Old roads widening, buildings shifting along or fading into the ground altogether. The view zooms back on the docks, stone rippling like water, as the old docks submerge and new ones arise piece by piece. Buildings begin to slowly rise along the docks edge.
The view moves to the Silver serpent enterprise offices, showing them rise out of the ground, details fading into existence as the pieces lock in place. You see inside people shaking hands, bargaining goods, going over ledgers.
Then the library. Rising and showing people pulling books and reading. The city hall, a hearing in session. The baths, people wandering in and out of rooms wearing bathrobes. The Inn of the Golden Hearth, seeming to appear out of thin air this time, as opposed to building up from the ground. The Legion HQ. The view moves out into the street, showing a procession of legionnaires, armor gleaming.
The the view moves to show the moon singers temple, Its causeways and the great telescope in the center. Then out to the sea again, the temple of the surging sea, rippling in a way similar to the surface of a pond. The temple of Yss, labyrinth-like curved walls rise out of the ground, and just before it is covered over, it's possible to see a hazy coiled creature in the middle of a pool in the innermost chamber.
The scene shifts again, the circle of battle rising out of the ground whole, seats clicking into place. There's spectators and two groups frozen in the middle of a battle. Then the university, a class in session, people talking pointing at a model of something.
Then the Philosophers tree, rising in the same way as the previous. A shadow from nowhere is cast on the ground, and out of it, up rises a dark tower. Inside someone traces a finger across a book, then holds out a hand and a flame appears. The Planar transport terminal, a great gate rises, tracks moving into place, people moving through, taking goods and returning with others.
The view moves around the entire city, people moving by, humans, bull-men, valyrians, serpents, giants, and more. The Growth of the healing tree, view zooming in on the face carved into it.
Then out to an overall top down view of the entirety of Sorcerer's deep. As the last buildings slot into place, a castle rises on the hill overlooking the city. A Dragon roosting on the top, looking out over the city, It reaches out its wings protectively. Then, It stops.
Ilaria lets go of a breath she didn't notice she was holding. Looking around she noticed everyone else seemingly enraptured by the display. Each one by one coming to their senses as they realised it had come to and end.
OOC: So I realised something. A criminal lack of Xor. So I decided to fix it. This is the first part in a small series (was supposed to be a single omake, but i realised that it was way too long for that) focused on the under appreciated abomination. I think the whole city scene could be better, if you have any suggestions let me know and I might change it. Listening to the music during the second half of this post is mandatory. 
Also yes i know the instruments don't match what is used in the music i linked, I don't entirely know what would have been available and tried to put in what I thought would be able to do a reasonable rendition of it.
