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Preview of THE WORLD OF ICE AND FIRE


Werthead

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  • 3 weeks later...

It seems odd that the battle of the great fork was such a close affair - The black dread himself was present yet he seems to have been highly ineffective in the wet weather. Seems to me further evidence that the dragons alone won't be enough to defeat the others - if a little rainstorm can dampen even the black dread then what chance do Danny's infant dragons stand in a snow storm like the one Stannis is stuck in.

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It seems odd that the battle of the great fork was such a close affair - The black dread himself was present yet he seems to have been highly ineffective in the wet weather. Seems to me further evidence that the dragons alone won't be enough to defeat the others - if a little rainstorm can dampen even the black dread then what chance do Danny's infant dragons stand in a snow storm like the one Stannis is stuck in.

That's a bit overstating, he wasn't described as highly ineffective, it was that the rain dampened his fires, but couldn't quench them entirely. Also, as revealed in the first World of Ice and Fire, Rhaenys's dragon Meraxes, was just as deadly on the ground as in the air during a rain storm, and Balerion is bigger than Meraxes and could have proved to be just as, if not more, effective.

I do agree, however, that the blizzards in the North would significantly hinder Dany's dragons.

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That's a bit overstating, he was described as highly ineffective, it was that the rain dampened his fires, but couldn't quench them entirely. Also, as revealed in the first World of Ice and Fire, Rhaenys's dragon Meraxes, was just as deadly on the ground as in the air during a rain storm, and Balerion is bigger than Meraxes and could have proved to be just as, if not more, effective.

I do agree, however, that the blizzards in the North would significantly hinder Dany's dragons.

You're probably right - after reading about the Field of Fire I've started thinking of Dragons as westeros' WMDs. I was just confused as to why the battle was so close, maybe the faith had some strategy to deal with the dragon, well that or they were all crazy to not run when they saw the Black Dread(highly likely as they probably all were religious nuts in the first place).

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  • 4 weeks later...

Thanks to Black Crow, Balerion Snow and Fire Eater for transcribing the texts, you guys really saved my eyesight.

Their song and music was said to be as beautiful as they were, but what they sang of is not remembered save in small fragments handed down from ancient days. Maester Childer's Winter Knights, or the Legends and Lineage of the Starks of Winterfell, contains a part of a ballad alleged to tell of the time that Brandon the Builder sought the aid of the children of the forest in raising the Wall. He was taken to a secret place to meet with them, but could not at first understand their speech which was described as sounding like a song of stones in a brook, or the wind through leaves, or the rain upon the water. The manner in which Brandon learned to comprehend the speech of children is a tale in itself, and not worth the repeating here. But it seems clear that their speech originated, or drew inspiration from, the sounds they heard everyday, and probably shared much of its beauty.

Please tell me there are excerpts from the Winter Knights. This has me salivating. And who says the tale of Brandon the Builder learning the True Tongue is not worth repeating.

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Interesting.

We know the Reeds were the Marsh Kings around 3000-4000 years ago. I suspect there probably were Umber Kings as well, along with Bolton Kings and maybe some Barrow Kings (Dustins) and Rill Kings (Ryswells) too. And probably some other lineages who died out. All eventually conquered by the Starks though.

Edit

If you think about it, a number of the current Banner Houses of the North are rather young - e.g. the Tallharts, Glovers, Mormonts, Karstarks and Manderlys. I suspect whoever the rebel lord was who ruled the Karstark lands prior to 1000 years ago was probably a petty king in his own right in ancient times, probably rivalling the Boltons in strength.

Similarly, the current Manderly lands are the most fertile in the North, so it is highly unlikely that it was not densely settled from the earliest times - and here I mean long before Jon Stark built the Wolf's Den there around 4000 years ago. I'm sure it must have been the center of some ancient petty kingdom of the First Men, which had probably long died out by the time Jon Stark decided to build the Wolf's Den to protect the White Knife from pirates.

I mean, the White Harbor area must have been one of the first areas that were settled as soon as the First Men migrated through the Neck 12000 years ago. There must have been a number of strong petty kingdoms that rose and fell in the southeast of the North. For it to have been empty for thousands of years until Jon Stark built the Wolf's Den there doesn't make sense.

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I'd imagine the White Knife area probably saw most of the conflict concerning outsiders invading the North. It seems ripe for the taking concerning the Kingdoms that existed in the Vale, and maybe that kept a strong kingdom from popping up.

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