East of West
Fifth Day of the Twelfth Month 294 AC
In many ways the shores of the Narrow Sea made for the most fertile soil in which to place the ideas and institutions of the Imperium. Here mercantile traditions were common, if not in all places favored by the lords of the land, and it was not uncommon to see visitors from abroad. That it was also a hotbed of loyalty for the Imperial House did not hurt, of course. A great many of those who had left the coast in search of a new life in Sorcerer's Deep when it was yet a place unknown and shrouded in peril were now returning with an Imperial education, or at the very least with the experience of the capital. They also brought with them savings to match what was, by all accounts, the richest city in the realm when divided per capita, as the Ministry of Trade and Taxation both assessed such things, to the surprise of some lords and the thoughtful consideration of others.
That was not to say there was no trouble to be had. Indeed, the largest diabolic coven yet found in Westeros after the pacification held its dark rites not five leagues from High Tide, in what might have been a rather embarrassing discovery for the Steward of the Imperial Lands.
Parion Dyodrys ensured that they were seen off into the embrace of the Ferryman without the fanfare or public scrutiny they clearly craved. 'She bears the chains of the Beast and He shall devour her!' one of them had shouted at the judge in the middle of their deposition. Apparently, that meant Valaena Velaryon, who bore a reforged devil's chain.
More troubling was the fact that the cult did not know who they truly served, and not just in the usual manner of madmen hooking fools and pulling them over the edge of reason and sanity. None of them knew and all thought they served the Father, though even cursory examination of the arcane paraphernalia present at the site indicated the worship of the Lord of the Third, apparently the 'Father of Greed' among many of his titles. A baatezu cult based primarily upon the fear that the Imperator was himself some sort of devil or pawn of Hell was enough to give Parion a headache, but then that was why he was not a wizard.... well, that and the fact that he was terrified of the sight of his own blood.
Things had not gone quite so well at the mouth of the Salmonwater, where it was soon evident that the nobles of the Vale were not the only ones inflicted with stiff necks, and neither were the common folk the only ones suffering the self-inflicted wounds of superstition. They had apparently contrived a suspicion of the triton-folk and of the Merling King all at once, which had only been set to rest with long and draw out mediation which slowed the process of setting the guild bylaws in accordance with Imperial Law to an almost unbearable crawl.
'Almost is not the gleam of a dragon's eye', as they said in Tolos, and all was well that ended within budget and on time, though the minister suspected that the guilds' drive to seek a form of 'personhood' under the law which would end in all sorts of legal tangles.
Bring Imperial Law to the Western Provinces:
Driftmark: 84 (Success)
Dragonstone: 87 (Success)
Salmonwater: 34 (Success)
OOC: Previous vote is still open, this is just the chance to see some more of the background stuff that is happening in the Imperium.
I'm so happy to see he didn't sulk in Hell forever. More chance for devil names!
