Part MMMDCXLI: Treasures of the Mind
Treasures of the Mind
Twenty Ninth Day of the Second Month 294 AC
"So you don't think it's worth smoothing out things in person?" Dany asks, somehow reading the letter you are penning to Wyman Manderly even though she is hanging from the empty lantern hook like some manner of improbably quicksilver bat. "I mean, he did catch some of ours with tar on their hands even if it wasn't up to the elbow." Still using Braavosi expressions, even more often than you do. You have no doubt there will be some who look more in askance at that than the fact that she spends as much of her day as a dragon as she does a girl.
You shake your head. "Sending the agents back with a fine was him deescalating the situation, either of us showing up in person to explain it would be turning matters right back around."
"Do you think we should explain the last time we were in White Harbor to the envoy, devil and all?" she asks after a moment. "I mean, that sort of thing is classified for a reason, it's a bit... daunting to most people."
An understatement if ever there was one. The idea that something as dangerous as a cornugon was loose in White Harbor and only banished back to whence it came by a fortunate intervention is limited to inquisitors and other officials with a proven record of loyalty and discretion. This was not Mantarys already divested of its lords and fodder for mirror shows. The account could be turned around to strike at everyone from Wayman Manderly to Eddard Stark to Robbert Baratheon, and while the latter may deserve all the scorn one could heap upon him you do not wish the others tarred with the same brush.
"I wish I could just send a Herald," you sigh.
"That would rather give the game away," Dany giggles."Just send Tyene then, she was involved both in the matter, she is kith and kin, but not a member of the royal House, just the right amount of reassurance."
"I'm sure she'll love the thought of the cold and snow," you snort amused.
"There are spells for..." Your sister's words are interrupted by an unexpected knock on the solar door.
You are surprised to see Qyburn and Vee entering together, not because it is uncommon for them to be keeping company, but because neither of them feel the need to share the glory of a success or split the blame for some failure. As you soon discover however this is not anything that has been done in the Flesh Forge.
You had known of course that the former maester had worked his own experiments in the darker corners of Oldtown, that he had encountered the Deep Ones and their works. You had even learned, from Vee as it happened, that he had battled one of the lords of the illithid and bested him. What he was planning to do with the remains however is audacious even by your standards. Consume the being's physical brain by warping the very process its kindred use to consume mortal hosts and thus gain knowledge beyond the magic of the Spheres directly.
"Why?" you ask simply. Were this another man standing before you might have been tempted to go into more detail about the risks to body and soul, to all he is and could become, for no magic you possess could restore him if his gambit fails. However this man has measured the risks and rewards, you see the truth of it reflected in his unwavering gaze. You are simply curious.
"With all due respect, Your Grace, it is a thing you likely cannot fully understand," he answers at length. "You had the great blessing of youth and then traded it for the nigh unmatched vitality inherent to a true dragon's body. To see yourself slowly wither, your own decaying flesh a prison, and pain a constant reminder of these things, is an experience you hopefully will never have to make. Attachment to the meat that our soul inhabits is a trait of the young, the foolish, and cowards."
"There are other ways to cheat the reaper its due, why this?" Dany asks, obviously intrigued at the potential boons as you are.
"For knowledge even the gods cannot share, even they dare not reach for," the old man replies, his tone still soft but closest you had heard to it being reverent.
"I think it's worth the try," Vee interjects. "Sometimes you can afford to poke every step ahead of you to check if the ground's solid, but not when the tide's coming in."
What do you reply?
[] Accept Qyburn's project
-[] Write in any improvements you wish to make
[] Refuse Qyburn's project
-[] Write in reasoning
[] Delay Qyburn's project
-[] Write in reasoning and suggested timetable
OOC: The reply from Qyburn is by @Azel, it did not end up fitting in any omake, but worked here.
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