Forging your maester's chain

[Seams]

If you were an acolyte (novice, student, whatever) at the Citadel, which three links would you first want to forge for your chain? Does the order matter? Do your choices reflect a desire to work with particular archmaesters?

In the books, I'm not sure students get to choose - do the archmaesters decide who studies what at any given time? But let's assume you have a choice.

Or would you rather be an alchemist?

From the wiki:

Quote

Chain

A maester can be recognized by the chain he wears around his neck. The collar is supposed to remind a maester of the realm he serves.^[15] The links of the chain can be made of every metal known to man.^[42] By earning their links, students "forge" their chain. This term is metaphorical; Though they do study metals at the Citadel, maesters do not necessarily train as blacksmiths^[43] Maesters never remove their chain, not even when sleeping,^[15] and it is considered a great shame for a maester to surrender his chain.^[44]

According to George R. R. Martin, it is possible to earn multiple links of the same metal; Multiple links of the same metal on a maester's chain signifies the expertise of the maester on the subject.^[45] The metals of which a student can earn links for their chain include:

 

• black iron, signifying ravenry^[38][4]
• brass^[42]
• bronze,^[15][42] likely signifying astronomy^{[N 3]}
• copper^[15][4][42]
• yellow gold, signifying math and economics^[38][15]
• iron,^[42] signifying warcraft^[15]
• lead^[15][4][42]
• pewter^[4]
• platinum^[42]
• red gold^[42]
• silver,^[42] signifying medicine, healing, and the functions of the body^[38][15][4]
• steel^[42]
• tin^[15][4][42]
• Valyrian steel, signifying the higher mysteries^[38]

While there are only fourteen known links, and thus fourteen known subjects of expertise taught at the Citadel, there are twenty-one known current archmaesters of the Citadel, for only eight of whom a specialism is known.^[46] It is currently unknown if each of these archmaesters are specialized in a separate subject or whether multiple archmaesters can be specialized in the same subject.

Only one maester in one hundred holds a link of Valyrian steel.

Maybe we need to speculate about the likely meanings of the eight links for which a specialty is not listed. Animal husbandry? Bowling? Culinary Arts? I would definitely want to be active in the Citadel's intramural bowling league.

I bet there's a link devoted to predicting the weather, since the onset of winter is announced by the Citadel, although maybe that's a subset of Astronomy. Materials science might be a topic, since the Smith is an important god and creating alloys might allow the civilization to rediscover the recipe for Valyrian steel. And someone had to know how to make the window panes for the glass house at Winterfell that seemed to be unique in Westeros. Engineering - Is Bran the Builder the only guy who knows how to build a bearing wall?

[hiemal]

45 minutes ago, Seams said:

Maybe we need to speculate about the likely meanings of the eight links for which a specialty is not listed. Animal husbandry? Bowling? Culinary Arts? I would definitely want to be active in the Citadel's intramural bowling league.

I bet there's a link devoted to predicting the weather, since the onset of winter is announced by the Citadel, although maybe that's a subset of Astronomy. Materials science might be a topic, since the Smith is an important god and creating alloys might allow the civilization to rediscover the recipe for Valyrian steel. And someone had to know how to make the window panes for the glass house at Winterfell that seemed to be unique in Westeros. Engineering - Is Bran the Builder the only guy who knows how to build a bearing wall?

I would guess that some of the unnamed links might touch on subjects like history, politics and statecraft, diplomacy and etiquette, natural sciences, and linguistics. Engineering and/or technology is a good bet.

And of course, tinfoil for conspiracy theories and wild speculation.

[Leo of House Cartel]

35 minutes ago, Seams said:

If you were an acolyte (novice, student, whatever) at the Citadel, which three links would you first want to forge for your chain? Does the order matter? Do your choices reflect a desire to work with particular archmaesters?

In the books, I'm not sure students get to choose - do the archmaesters decide who studies what at any given time? But let's assume you have a choice.

Or would you rather be an alchemist?

Cool question: To get more of a feel for the world around me, a combination of Silver, Valyrian Steel and Yellow Gold would probably be my first three. Understanding biology and economics would be great skills for someone living in the snake pit that is Westeros. As for a Valyrian link, I feel that if you did your homework during your novice training you would see there is plenty of mystery left in the world, so such a path would give you a leg up on all the stuffy non believers in the Citadel.

Black Iron, Bronze and Valyrian Steel, with a minor in Silver would be my option B, if I wanted to immerse myself in the more exciting side of things. Such a combination would be like and Art/Astronomy/Philosophy degree rolled into one. This could actually work out better for ones career as there don't seem to be many Maesters invested in the higher mysteries - a smaller pool of competition I guess.

I'd like to do some kind of exchange student set up with the Alchemists, maybe a few months studying in King's Landing if it could be arranged, the knowledge of the Pyromancers would be a fine resource, but really, they seem like they would depress the hell out of me.

56 minutes ago, Seams said:

I would definitely want to be active in the Citadel's intramural bowling league.

Hightower shaped pins, black stone balls and colourful shoes made from "Little Valyrian leather". Hopefully the bowling lanes won't be cobbled.

57 minutes ago, Seams said:

I bet there's a link devoted to predicting the weather, since the onset of winter is announced by the Citadel, although maybe that's a subset of Astronomy. Materials science might be a topic, since the Smith is an important god and creating alloys might allow the civilization to rediscover the recipe for Valyrian steel. And someone had to know how to make the window panes for the glass house at Winterfell that seemed to be unique in Westeros. Engineering - Is Bran the Builder the only guy who knows how to build a bearing wall?

This is really interesting. Great point about those window panes too. What could a Pewter link entail? How about Tin? It's a bit odd that George held back on the reveal of all the link's purposes.

[Forlong the Fat]

25 minutes ago, hiemal said:

I would guess that some of the unnamed links might touch on subjects like history, politics and statecraft, diplomacy and etiquette, natural sciences, and linguistics. Engineering and/or technology is a good bet.

And of course, tinfoil for conspiracy theories and wild speculation.

And stuff like Kinesiology, Marketing, Communications, Women's Studies, and Art History. 

[elder brother jonothor dar]

The different metals are each a different kind of learning, gold for the study of money and accounts, silver for healing, iron for warcraft. And he said there were other meanings as well. The collar is supposed to remind a maester of the realm he serves, isn't that so? Lords are gold and knights steel, but two links can't make a chain. You also need silver and iron and lead, tin and copper and bronze and all the rest, and those are farmers and smiths and merchants and the like. A chain needs all sorts of metals, and a land needs all sorts of people." Jon 5 GoT

maybe look for the missing professions for answers on missing links

[TMIFairy]

37 minutes ago, Forlong the Fat said:

And stuff like Kinesiology, Marketing, Communications, Women's Studies, and Art History. 

Isn't that part of the Silver link, the ObGyn Mysteries subset?

[hiemal]

1 hour ago, Leo of House Cartel said:

I'd like to do some kind of exchange student set up with the Alchemists, maybe a few months studying in King's Landing if it could be arranged,

 

I wonder if the Citadel doesn't have its own answer to the alchemists- they don't seem the type to go hat in hand to others looking for knowledge (or indeed to admit that anyone else even has legitimate knowledge). IIRC the alchemists were supplanted by the maesters so I suspect they must be able to duplicate at least a few of their tricks. It seems the alchemists have lost the art of transmuting base metals (if they ever possessed it) or that is was rendered unworkable or prohibitively expensive during the dragonless interim that also seems to have slowed their production of wildfire (which makes it likely more than just juiced-up naptha).

Perhaps the lead link is the Citadel's version of alchemy/chemistry?

[Curled Finger]

@Seams, what a cool topic.   To answer your question I think I would rather be a maester than alchemist, as I'm pretty sure there must be some study comparable to alchemy at the citadel.    It's called pharmacology out my way---no that is voodoo witchery--sorry.  Seems to me the Citadel has endless study available.   Maybe some of those metals we haven't got studies for includes anthropology or sociology--we've got tons of reference to that in the World Book, genetics, engineering maybe something really useful like botany or horticulture?   Someone had to figure out how to make blue roses, right?   Because of the multitude of folklore and mythology I wonder if prophesy is even considered a higher mystery.    Surely the Citadel offers courses on languages, cultures and religion.  Now that i consider all this study maybe I would be better off just keeping an inn somewhere along the Kings Road.   

[Davjos]

Agree with the people above, nice and original topic man! 

I'd go for Silver, gold and whatever politics' metal is. They seem like the most essential rings to obtain to be a measter. After that I'd do history and ravenry to ensure a position of power and the knowledge to wield it properly. Getting control of information is such a incredibly strong weapon in this world and allows me to steer a lord in the right direction. He will become dependent on me for his health, communication and financial situation. With the political and historic knowledge I should be able to set at least his lands to my hands

[Jon Fossoway]

In the worldbook there are mentions of maesters who work translating runes. If there's a chain that studies ancient runes, I'd go for it.

[Cridefea]

I think cooper is History http://awoiaf.westeros.org/index.php/Perestan

[1000th Lord Commander]

I'd probably start with history, though it sounds like a tough one to do, as history is subjective. Iron would make me really valuable to a military leader. And Valyrian steel because it's cool.

9 hours ago, Seams said:

If you were an acolyte (novice, student, whatever) at the Citadel, which three links would you first want to forge for your chain? Does the order matter? Do your choices reflect a desire to work with particular archmaesters?

In the books, I'm not sure students get to choose - do the archmaesters decide who studies what at any given time? But let's assume you have a choice.

As for the topic itself, if I recall correctly, Pate approaces the archmaesters to demonstrate his knowledge of a particular talent, so it's up to the student to try for different links for the chain.

As for more subjects to add to the list, I'd say languages, history, plants and thier uses, engineering. Sailing?

 

[Leo of House Cartel]

15 hours ago, hiemal said:

I wonder if the Citadel doesn't have its own answer to the alchemists- they don't seem the type to go hat in hand to others looking for knowledge (or indeed to admit that anyone else even has legitimate knowledge). IIRC the alchemists were supplanted by the maesters so I suspect they must be able to duplicate at least a few of their tricks. It seems the alchemists have lost the art of transmuting base metals (if they ever possessed it) or that is was rendered unworkable or prohibitively expensive during the dragonless interim that also seems to have slowed their production of wildfire (which makes it likely more than just juiced-up naptha).

Perhaps the lead link is the Citadel's version of alchemy/chemistry?

An interesting interpretation mate, I can't see any real reason why the Citadel would not have an alchemy based link. 

I can imagine a great deal of the Maesters looking on the Alchemists as "believers of snarks and grumpkins" - the whole "magic being central to Wildfire production" bit doesn't seem like it would wash with some of the "grey sheep". Then again, the likes of Marwyn, or any Maester interested in attaining their iron/warcraft link, should have some respect for the abilities of the Alchemists.

As to the Alchemist's Guild, what do the wisdoms and Grand Master think of their counterparts in Oldtown?

Not sure about the Pyromancers and metal, depends what their process would result in. Gold? Something related to Valyrian Steel? What do you think the guild would want? I'm assuming they did have the ability at one time; if the power of the apparently unduplicated wildfire is anything to go by then the skills of the Wisdoms should not be underestimated.

Yeah, for sure Lead could be the Alchemy link. Used in transmuting processes, and correct me if I'm wrong but does lead not add colour to flame in some way?

Unless the lead link is meant to be taken as the "lead the way" or "dog lead" link - perhaps the study of manipulation, religion or even sacred oaths/vows?

[LynnS]

Luwin has a bronze telescope while Aemon has a brass telescope.  A Myrish lens might be a higher quality make for a telescope; while Luwin recieves a glass lens to upgrade his telescope.  Brass is still used to make telescopes today. 

brass = telescopes, astronomy

Quote

A Storm of Swords - Jon IX

On the edge of the Wall an ornate brass Myrish eye stood on three spindly legs. Maester Aemon had once used it to peer at the stars, before his own eyes had failed him. Jon swung the tube down to have a look at the foe. Even at this distance there was no mistaking Mance Rayder's huge white tent, sewn together from the pelts of snow bears. The Myrish lenses brought the wildlings close enough for him to make out faces. Of Mance himself he saw no sign this morning, but his woman Dalla was outside tending the fire, while her sister Val milked a she-goat beside the tent. Dalla looked so big it was a wonder she could move. The child must be coming very soon, Jon thought. He swiveled the eye east and searched amongst the tents and trees till he found the turtle.

A Dance with Dragons - Victarion I

This time it was a Myrish cog named Dove, on her way to Yunkai by way of New Ghis with a cargo of carpets, sweet green wines, and Myrish lace. Her captain owned a Myrish eye that made far-off things look close—two glass lenses in a series of brass tubes, cunningly wrought so that each section slid into the next, until the eye was no longer than a dirk. Victarion claimed that treasure for himself.

 

Bronze seems to be associated with magic and warding, esoteric knowledge

bronze = rune lore
 

Quote

A Game of Thrones - Sansa II

"His armor is bronze, thousands and thousands of years old, engraved with magic runes that ward him against harm," she whispered to Jeyne.

A Game of Thrones - Daenerys VIII

The stallion kicked and reared as Rakharo, Quaro, and Aggo pulled him close to the tub where the khal floated like one already dead, pus and blood seeping from his wound to stain the bathwaters. Mirri Maz Duur chanted words in a tongue that Dany did not know, and a knife appeared in her hand. Dany never saw where it came from. It looked old; hammered red bronze, leaf-shaped, its blade covered with ancient glyphs.

A Clash of Kings - Catelyn I

The ancient crown of the Kings of Winter had been lost three centuries ago, yielded up to Aegon the Conqueror when Torrhen Stark knelt in submission. What Aegon had done with it no man could say. Lord Hoster's smith had done his work well, and Robb's crown looked much as the other was said to have looked in the tales told of the Stark kings of old; an open circlet of hammered bronze incised with the runes of the First Men, surmounted by nine black iron spikes wrought in the shape of longswords. Of gold and silver and gemstones, it had none; bronze and iron were the metals of winter, dark and strong to fight against the cold.

 

 

Bronze can look like gold:

Quote

Take a look at the color of the coin. Bronze coins are typically a deep-brown color, or at least a variant of brown. Bronze is a loose term that conveys a wide range of copper alloys, which means that copper is combined with tin, aluminum or nickel. But typically, Bronze is 60 percent copper and 40 percent tin or nickel. Gold has a distinctive color, like honey yellow, and may also have copper spots depending on the alloy. While a bronze coin can look like gold, a gold coin rarely looks bronze.

Quote

A Storm of Swords - Jon X

"Yes," Mance said. "The Horn of Winter, that Joramun once blew to wake giants from the earth."

The horn was huge, eight feet along the curve and so wide at the mouth that he could have put his arm inside up to the elbow. If this came from an aurochs, it was the biggest that ever lived. At first he thought the bands around it were bronze, but when he moved closer he realized they were gold. Old gold, more brown than yellow, and graven with runes.

A Storm of Swords - Jon I

Beside the brazier, a short but immensely broad man sat on a stool, eating a hen off a skewer. Hot grease was running down his chin and into his snow-white beard, but he smiled happily all the same. Thick gold bands graven with runes bound his massive arms, and he wore a heavy shirt of black ringmail that could only have come from a dead ranger. 

A Dance with Dragons - Jon III

Lady Melisandre watched him rise. "FREE FOLK! Here stands your king of lies. And here is the horn he promised would bring down the Wall." Two queen's men brought forth the Horn of Joramun, black and banded with old gold, eight feet long from end to end. Runes were carved into the golden bands, the writing of the First Men. Joramun had died thousands of years ago, but Mance had found his grave beneath a glacier, high up in the Frostfangs. And Joramun blew the Horn of Winter, and woke giants from the earth. Ygritte had told Jon that Mance never found the horn. She lied, or else Mance kept it secret even from his own.  

A Dance with Dragons - Jon XI

The armbands were old gold, solid and heavy, engraved with the ancient runes of the First Men. Tormund Giantsbane had worn them as long as Jon had known him; they had seemed as much a part of him as his beard. "The Braavosi will melt these down for the gold. That seems a shame. Perhaps you ought to keep them."

I'm doubtful that the wildlings sport arm bands of  gold incised with the runes of the first men.  Jon seems to be mistaking bronze for old gold.

I suspect that forging a link requires certain knowledge of the alchemy of metals.  I.E. copper + zinc = brass; copper + tin = bronze.   The acolyte must mix the metals to make the ring, rod and mask.  Their knowledge might include practical use and esoteric knowledge:

http://borderlandresearch.com/book/metal-power/copper-the-substance-of-venus

 

 

[hiemal]

11 hours ago, Leo of House Cartel said:

Yeah, for sure Lead could be the Alchemy link. Used in transmuting processes, and correct me if I'm wrong but does lead not add colour to flame in some way?

 

I believe it burns blue:

"Under the sea, smoke rises in bubbles, and flames burn green and blue and black..."  ACoK

 

[elder brother jonothor dar]

Continuing my theam of vocations 

Master of ships and Sailors though navigation would probably come under astronomy.  What about the rest of the masters, wispers spys secretes and riddles seems like a good one.

High Septon and the faith, now is this a higher mystery or do the maesters see it as truth.  No doubt the 7 themselves are all represented by a metal.

Not sure about whores beggars and miners but not everyone needs to fit the allegory

[Javelin Catcher]

Lead for balloon craft. 

Platinum got the minstrel who sells the most songs 

Pewter for the student drinking champions 

Tin for food preservation 

[AlaskanSandman]

On 10/1/2017 at 7:15 AM, Seams said:

If you were an acolyte (novice, student, whatever) at the Citadel, which three links would you first want to forge for your chain? Does the order matter? Do your choices reflect a desire to work with particular archmaesters?

In the books, I'm not sure students get to choose - do the archmaesters decide who studies what at any given time? But let's assume you have a choice.

Or would you rather be an alchemist?

From the wiki:

Maybe we need to speculate about the likely meanings of the eight links for which a specialty is not listed. Animal husbandry? Bowling? Culinary Arts? I would definitely want to be active in the Citadel's intramural bowling league.

I bet there's a link devoted to predicting the weather, since the onset of winter is announced by the Citadel, although maybe that's a subset of Astronomy. Materials science might be a topic, since the Smith is an important god and creating alloys might allow the civilization to rediscover the recipe for Valyrian steel. And someone had to know how to make the window panes for the glass house at Winterfell that seemed to be unique in Westeros. Engineering - Is Bran the Builder the only guy who knows how to build a bearing wall?

Am i the only one that finds it weird that Maesters have Valyrian steel that they're just some how able to make into links, that they can later add to some ones links. This just seems very odd and out of place given that supposedly Tobo Mott is the only one in Westeros said to be able to reforge Valyrian steel. Not even Aegon the Conqueror seemed to know how to make the steel, so who's doing this?

[LynnS]

For silver - medicines and healing; but also poisons

Quote

 

A Clash of Kings - Prologue

His chambers seemed dim and gloomy after the brightness of the morning. With fumbling hands, the old man lit a candle and carried it to the workroom beneath the rookery stair, where his ointments, potions, and medicines stood neatly on their shelves. On the bottom shelf behind a row of salves in squat clay jars he found a vial of indigo glass, no larger than his little finger. It rattled when he shook it. Cressen blew away a layer of dust and carried it back to his table. Collapsing into his chair, he pulled the stopper and spilled out the vial's contents. A dozen crystals, no larger than seeds, rattled across the parchment he'd been reading. They shone like jewels in the candlelight, so purple that the maester found himself thinking that he had never truly seen the color before.

The chain around his throat felt very heavy. He touched one of the crystals lightly with the tip of his little finger. Such a small thing to hold the power of life and death. It was made from a certain plant that grew only on the islands of the Jade Sea, half a world away. The leaves had to be aged, and soaked in a wash of limes and sugar water and certain rare spices from the Summer Isles. Afterward they could be discarded, but the potion must be thickened with ash and allowed to crystallize. The process was slow and difficult, the necessaries costly and hard to acquire. The alchemists of Lys knew the way of it, though, and the Faceless Men of Braavos . . . and the maesters of his order as well, though it was not something talked about beyond the walls of the Citadel. All the world knew that a maester forged his silver link when he learned the art of healing—but the world preferred to forget that men who knew how to heal also knew how to kill.

Cressen no longer recalled the name the Asshai'i gave the leaf, or the Lysene poisoners the crystal. In the Citadel, it was simply called the strangler. Dissolved in wine, it would make the muscles of a man's throat clench tighter than any fist, shutting off his windpipe. They said a victim's face turned as purple as the little crystal seed from which his death was grown, but so too did a man choking on a morsel of food.

 

Why do some maester's have rings with gems or crystals included in the ring?
 

Quote

 

A Game of Thrones - Eddard IV

The Grand Maester smiled gently from his tall chair at the foot of the table. "Well enough for a man of my years, my lord," he replied, "yet I do tire easily, I fear." Wispy strands of white hair fringed the broad bald dome of his forehead above a kindly face. His maester's collar was no simple metal choker such as Luwin wore, but two dozen heavy chains wound together into a ponderous metal necklace that covered him from throat to breast. The links were forged of every metal known to man: black iron and red gold, bright copper and dull lead, steel and tin and pale silver, brass and bronze and platinum. Garnets and amethysts and black pearls adorned the metal-work, and here and there an emerald or ruby. "Perhaps we might begin soon," the Grand Maester said, hands knitting together atop his broad stomach. "I fear I shall fall asleep if we wait much longer."

 

Does it signify some other knowledge associated with the specific ring.  Amethysts for poison?  Why do the maesters forge a ring, rod and mask?  Does each signify another degree or level of knowledge or authority?

[Deepbollywood Motte]

3 hours ago, AlaskanSandman said:

Am i the only one that finds it weird that Maesters have Valyrian steel that they're just some how able to make into links, that they can later add to some ones links. This just seems very odd and out of place given that supposedly Tobo Mott is the only one in Westeros said to be able to reforge Valyrian steel. Not even Aegon the Conqueror seemed to know how to make the steel, so who's doing this?

From a SSM; 

Quote

Now the question. Do maesters fully forge the links of their chokers from raw metal, or do they take strips of existing metal and forge it into the links?

When he said a maester "forges" his chain, it is more metaphorical. They do study metals, but that doesn't necessarily include training as blacksmiths.

I had assumed the former, but the latter would be simpler. I ask, of course, because of the link of Valyrian steel in Maester Luwin's chain. Did he know the spells, or did he take an existing strip and beat it into shape?

He studied magical tomes and histories, and mastered enough of the arcane lore to impress an archmaester into granting him a link. He did not necessarily have to make the steel himself.

So I guess Tobho Mott could practice his Valyrian steel reforging skills once in a while on a maesters link, or the citadel has their own secret blacksmith within her walls who has the same skill.