It's easy to join, but very difficult to leave. The Miracle Fleet and Lorath's army stationed in Pentos were like ropes tying their hands and feet, while the city's police stations were like knives held to their necks. As long as they made any unusual moves, the charge of treason would fall upon them, leading to their utter ruin.
After realizing there was no way to leave, some of Pentos's governors and princely families went to another extreme: since they couldn't leave, they would fully join, completely integrating and becoming an official Lorath city-state directly ruled by Lorath, just like Ge Dohe.
They did this not out of foolishness, but as a result of careful consideration, because they found that although becoming a directly administered city-state would make them lose some rights, it would also allow them to gain many benefits, such as being able to directly purchase controlled items from Summerhall that were previously unavailable, such as various mysterious potions produced in Black Hollow, and fine weapons and armor produced in Summerhall's forge.
By trading these controlled items, they could gain more profit, and also use this to enter the core of Lorath's power, unlike before when they were still half-outsiders.
However, while some wanted to fully submit, others couldn't let go of their remaining power, believing that maintaining the city-state's semi-independence and holding onto their power was more useful than the benefits gained.
In Pentos, these two factions were almost evenly matched, and neither could overcome the other. But with Lorath's announcement of possessing five dragons, the scales quickly tipped towards the internal annexation faction.
And soon after Lorath signed a comprehensive alliance agreement with Daenerys, who controlled Qarth, the internal annexation faction became the prevailing trend, because Lorath's current situation reminded them of the Valyrian Freehold.
With Daenerys's addition, Lorath now controlled eight dragons, not counting the three from Summerhall. Such power could already rival the Dragonlord families of the Valyrian Freehold in its heyday. Everyone could see that the number of dragons in Lorath's hands would only increase, and it was not impossible for them to eventually possess hundreds of dragons, like the Valyrian Freehold.
In this situation, the earlier and more actively one annexes, the more benefits one gains. It's much better than being passively surrendered when a large army approaches later.
Hence, Pentos submitted a request for internal annexation, transforming itself from an autonomous city-state into a directly administered city-state of Lorath.
Although Pentos's actions surprised many, there were still traces to be found, discernible from the past internal struggle between Pentos's internal annexation faction and independent faction.
However, Lorath's simultaneous submission of an internal annexation request to Lorath along with Pentos was completely unexpected, as there had been no prior signs whatsoever.
Lorath's delegation even joined Pentos's delegation to Ny Sar.
Lorath is located at the northern tip of Essos, right next to the Shivering Sea. Besides fish, it has no other valuable special products, and it is almost an invisible entity among the Free Trade City States. If it weren't for Lorath's sailors being distributed all over the world, most people wouldn't even know that a city called Lorath existed in this world.
Lorath's biggest characteristic is that it has the best sailors in the world. Perhaps due to their long-term exposure to the extremely harsh climate of the Shivering Sea, the overall quality of Lorath's sailors ranks first in the world. Most shipowners, when recruiting sailors, will prioritize recruiting Lorath's sailors. Some people even dye their hair to look like Lorath people to make it easier to be recruited.
Lynd's Miracle Fleet also has a patrol fleet, composed entirely of Lorath people, responsible for the safety of the sea area along the Braavos line.
It was precisely because Lorath was too barren, and Lorath temporarily had no use for Lorath's sailors, that Nymeria, after establishing Lorath, only dispatched a ten-person team to Lorath to complete the routine establishment of diplomatic relations. Afterward, that ten-person team remained in Lorath, representing Lorath in trade relations with Lorath.
However, although it was called trade relations, Lorath and Lorath have only traded twice over the years, so Nymeria's list of conquests did not include Lorath's name at all.
Although Lorath's internal annexation came suddenly and without warning, Nymeria had no choice but to accept it. After all, they were directly annexing to become a directly administered city-state. Refusing Lorath's inclusion would undoubtedly have a negative impact on future efforts to subdue other city-states. Therefore, even knowing it would incur huge financial costs, Nymeria could only accept it.
However, Nymeria very cleverly did not handle the takeover of Lorath herself. Instead, she had someone send the news of Pentos and Lorath's annexation as city-states to Lynd, and then had Lynd take over Lorath on her behalf.
Lynd naturally had no objection to this, as he happened to want to explore the situation of the Shivering Sea, to see what was in the polar ice cap north of the Shivering Sea, which would also allow him to better understand the Others.
Moreover, Lynd was also interested in the land north of Essos, a place that people on Westeros had not yet explored. Corlys Velaryon, the Sea Snake, had once visited the legendary Thousand Islands and had contact with the Kingdom of Ny Sar there. Lynd was also interested in that place and wanted to form an expedition to explore it.
The emergence of Lorath Just right solved the problem of personnel selection, because Lorath has the best sailors, and these sailors are very adapted to the harsh climate and extreme cold temperatures of the Shivering Sea. With their assistance, at least there is no need to worry about dangers on the sea.
Therefore, after receiving the message from Ny Sar, Lynd immediately formed an envoy fleet and sent people to Lorath to take over the city defense work. As for management personnel, they would be dispatched after the army was fully stationed and public order was completely taken over.
Unlike Pentos, neither Lynd nor Nymeria had any understanding of Lorath's situation, so they would not immediately take over the entire city's administration. Instead, the three original princes of Lorath would continue to manage it, and the clerks would take over the administration after they became familiar with Lorath's situation.
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