Chapter 78: Son of Gerion
"Carrying us captives, Captain Quhuru's ship set sail from the Summer Sea, bound for King's Landing. Unexpectedly, as we passed the Stepstones, we were attacked by another group of pirates. They had seven ships, while Quhuru, including our Laughing Lion, only had four. We were outnumbered."
As Ian told his story, the sailors' attention was rapt.
"At this point, Captain Quhuru suddenly told us that the enemy was the Ironborn, and he asked if we could take up arms and fight.
As everyone knows, the Ironborn and the Westerlands are sworn enemies locked in blood feud, so my father and his sailors agreed to Quhuru's request without hesitation. After my father swore an oath to the Seven on the honor of our house, Captain Quhuru distributed our weapons and sent us all back to the deck of the Laughing Lion," Ian quickly fabricated his tale.
"Soon, the battle began. The Ironborn blew their war horns and let out terrible howls. Their longships relied on their agility to weave into the middle of our fleet, dividing and surrounding our vessels.
And because they closed so quickly, the crossbows on our ships basically became useless. Soon, the Ironborn cast grappling hooks and began to board the ships to fight."
"I—" Ian paused for a moment, finding the story somewhat difficult to craft, because he was still unfamiliar with naval warfare of this era. Though he had worked on another game about naval battles in his previous life, that was in the age of sailing warships with ship-to-ship cannon battles.
But since Ian had already reached this point, he could only continue speaking: "I was only twelve years old at the time, and I don't remember the battle very clearly. I only remember that I was assigned a crossbow and hid in the cargo pile at the stern.
At that time, an Ironborn threw a grappling hook onto the railing not far in front of me, so I aimed at that spot and waited for him to board.
Soon, his head appeared.
Many Ironborn don't wear helms, but this man was different. He wore an iron-horned helmet, probably a captain, so I waited a second longer for his head to fully emerge, and then I loosed, driving the steel bolt into his eye."
"Well done!" As soon as Ian finished speaking, the sailors around him applauded, as if they were the ones who had slain the Iron captain in the naval battle.
"Then several Ironborn at the stern fell into disarray and were cut down one by one by our brave sailors. But the terrible thing was that one man discovered me hiding and loosing bolts, and he threw a hand axe at me.
I quickly ducked to avoid it, but the axe hit the crate behind me. The boxes that were stacked haphazardly suddenly lost their balance and buried me underneath. I couldn't participate in the rest of the battle.
Later, the sailors under Captain Quhuru moved the boxes and rescued me. It was then that I learned we had won. In that battle, we were outnumbered yet hit those filthy Ironborn hard, forcing them to flee and leaving behind four ships and most of their crew."
"Huzzah!" The sailors cheered again.
"My father fulfilled his oath, and Captain Quhuru waived our ransom as agreed and released us on the spot. After that, we abandoned our plan to sail to King's Landing, and Captain Quhuru escorted us all the way back to Lannisport. It was during that voyage that he and my father became friends."
"Pardon me, but who is your father?"
"Gerion Lannister, brother of Lord Tywin Lannister," Ian replied. "I am his son, Lucien Lannister. Seven years ago, I sailed with my father aboard the Laughing Lion."
Ian had originally chosen the name Lucien to pass himself off as the son of Ser Damon, a member of a cadet branch. Fortunately, Gerion and Damon were not of the same generation, so his new identity as Lucien made perfect sense.
When did Ser Gerion wed? Ser Grantham, the turncoat sitting next to Ian, instinctively wanted to ask, but before he could speak, he suddenly realized something.
He worked for Ser Lucien's coin, not for the Lannister name or Casterly Rock. So, what difference did it make to him whether his employer was Ser Gerion's bastard or trueborn son?
After realizing this, Ser Grantham looked away, wisely remaining silent.
"Gerion Lannister? Is he the lord who sailed to the ruins of Valyria to search for the Lannister ancestral sword 'Brightroar'?" A sailor under Boris asked. He had heard of this tale. Gerion had been so prominent when he set out that he became something of a legend among sailors after he disappeared. "But, I heard that he has..."
"Do you believe me, a living person standing before you, or do you believe rumors spread by men who don't even know what Gerion Lannister looks like?" Ian asked.
"Of course we believe you, m'lord. We have absolutely no intention of questioning the honor of a great house," Boris quickly replied with a smile, then slapped the sailor on the forehead and cursed, "Why would the lord lie to us? One word from him could have our heads!"
"It's natural for you to have doubts," Ian said to the sailor, shrugging helplessly. "After all, we haven't been heard from in years. We did sail to a very dangerous place, but no matter what, we're back."
"We're back," these few words seemed to contain infinite power, stirring the hearts of all the sailors present.
In an age when every voyage was a matter of life and death, in the hearts of these sailors, almost all of whom had faced mortal danger, these simple words, 'I'm back,' represented all their hope, contained all their courage, and told their entire story.
"Cheers to Captain Quhuru and Lord Gerion!" A sailor, finally unable to contain his emotion, raised his cup and shouted.
Gerion didn't hold the title of lord, but to these sailors, calling all Lannisters lords was always safe.
"Cheers to the sea and its brave sailors!" Ian raised his cup and responded to the sailors.
He knew he had gained their trust, so next, he would incorporate them into his plan.
He would only need to verify that there were no new crewmen on the ship to rule out the possibility of other players.
And these sailors, whom he had recruited under the guise of being the son of Captain Quhuru's good friend, would directly strengthen his forces' combat effectiveness and intelligence-gathering capabilities in the harbor.
(End of Chapter)
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