ASOIAF: Lord of Nature

(Erlend Mudd, Pentos)

Sitting across him was a woman who could make any weak-willed man tremble in fear or lust, depending on the character of that person.

Had it been him before his rebirth and present experiences, Erlend would likely have reacted in such a way. He had no qualms in admitting that the woman was a cut above every woman he had ever laid his eye on, be it in this life or the previous one.

It still boggled him how otherworldly these Valyrians were.

The classical valyrian traits were quite apparent in her, with long silver-gold hair, braided in rings like finely woven silken thread. Her bright purple eyes drilled into him the way a predator would typically assess an appetizing prey.

Her interest in him was clear, Visenya 'Blackfyre' had found someone that fascinated her. Such a thing would've frightened a normal man.

A good thing that normal was the farthest thing anyone would use to describe him.

Considering her blatant eye-fucking of him, Erlend saw it as fair game to stare at her unabashedly. This voluptuous and sensual woman, mixed with her stern and serious expression, fit his preferences to a tee.

Her beauty was a harsher, more austere one compared to what was typically found in Valyrian women. It made her unique, standing out in a world where most ladies were demure trophies or alliance tokens between both major and minor players.

"Like what you see?" a sensual voice interrupted.

Without an ounce of shame, "Absolutely." Erlend responded.

Only the twitch in her lips indicated her amusement with his words. Erlend wondered how frightened the magisters were at the moment.

Then again, considering their penchant for not being able to keep their tongues from waggling, they might assume they have a chance with either of the two leaders. Granted if they tried anything, he didn't mind getting rid of them. Rich men were very much expendable in this particular continent.

"I must say, your work with the Golden Company is quite admirable." Erlend praised her work. Truly, he could not have done any better if he were in her situation.

It amused him that many in Westeros had outright mocked the idea of a woman leading the infamous golden company, going so far as to openly state that they would pay quite the penny for her to 'work' for them.

Their voices had long since died down, her actions and severe actions against her naysayers had become the stuff of legends, with many calling her maegor with tits. Ironic considering her identity.

Raising her eyebrow at his words, "Oh? You aren't disgusted with the fact that a woman has taken over? A Blackfyre to boot."

Arching his eyebrows at her, "Please, we both know what that mad fool intended to do." It went unsaid that Erlend was well aware of Aery's collaborators, many of whom were in this very room.

"These fools wanted to use me to intimidate you away." The snort that followed made clear her thoughts on that. There was no guilt at all in her eyes as she blatantly sold out the Pentoshi within the chambers.

A few of the magisters looked ready to faint upon hearing her words, "Truly?"

"Indeed, frankly I have no interest in contending with you. Rather, I have a proposal that I'm sure you'll find appealing."

A silent gesture to his guards quickly saw the ants driven out of the chambers, "Go on then, I'd love to hear it."

Not the least bothered by his actions, "As you may know, the three daughters intend to unite, I suggest letting them do so." Visenya said, paying no attention to the audible posturing of the magisters at being manhandled.

Those indigent voices quickly quieted down as soft swishes could be heard.

"Hmm, you are well aware that the fools behind this are intending to use them against us?"

"Naturally, though, it's much better for them to think their little plot was successful and save us the trouble of looking for reasons to put them down later." Pausing for a second, "I also see no reason why we can't make a profit off them." She continued.

Erlend knew that the main reason those rats in Braavos were able to remain unobstructed for so long was the lack of justifiable evidence on his House's side.

The Mudds couldn't just go around slaughtering the leading men of Valyria's bastard daughter just because they suspected foul play. This was one of the main reasons none of his ancestors ever dared to accept the crown offered.

As long as those fuckers and their scheming descendants were around, no Mudd would be able to rule Bravos without fear of having their family wiped out. It just wasn't worth it, seeing that they were far more secure in the Twilight Isles.

"This is interesting and all, but what is in it for you?" Erlend stared at the pale beauty. Gold was no doubt tempting for the company, but what was her angle in all this.

Instead of responding verbally, the Captain-general placed her hand on his own. Her alluring purple eyes staring straight toward his own chocolate orbs.

They remained like that for a few minutes, neither saying a word. Desire and obsession stood hand-in-hand, clearly visible to him.

Erlend was the first to pull back, letting out a sigh as he got up. Visenya kept her eyes on him throughout it all, waiting for his reaction.

Looking straight back at the deadly dragoness, Erlend extended his hands towards her, there was a warmness in his eyes that hadn't been there before. "It would be rude of me not to invite you for Dinner."

…

"Fair warning most of the canon information will be useless." He should've paid more attention to that comment, especially considering the identity of his mother.

There was never an Aemma Arryn in the original series, at least not in this century.

His mother being who she was, meant that one of his closest kin outside of Uncle Lorimas was none other than the poor schmuck Jon Arryn, who had to rule 7 kingdoms.

A man who had so much power, yet little actual benefit from it. By the old man's remarkable beard, the position of hand led to his falcon kin's death.

The pseudo-king ruled a realm that wanted to tear itself apart, whilst the actual king drank and whored himself to an early grave.

Unfortunately, that didn't make him heir to the vale, since his cousin Denys and his son came before him in the line of succession, with mother being the younger twin to Alys.

As for poor Elbert who had just been burned alive by King Scab, well his heirship no longer mattered all that much.

The fact that Aerys foolishly went through it surprised him since you'd think his advisors would have enough sense to advise him not to kill the then-heir to the Vale.

Still, one couldn't help but admire that mad son of a whore. Him burning Brandon and Rickard made a bit more sense when you realized he already offended one of the great houses, and killing them should theoretically cripple a second great house that was already likely to side against him.

Rhaeger had already pissed them off, might as well throw more wood into the flames.

A shame he was bat shit crazy, it would be an enlightening conversation to have with a pre-mad aerys.

Naturally, there was still the question about Harrold's claim, but that took a backseat considering Erlend's claim would be stronger than his due to having the more prestigious bloodline.

The Mudds was a royal house after all, exiled or not, then there was the millennia-long stint of being major nobles within Yi Ti, something he had no time to get into.

There was also the whole fiasco with Braavos, since if you really stretched it, one could semi-legitimately consider the Mudds the ruling figureheads of that damned city.

Funny how a last-minute fuck you to the Valyrians started that whole can of worms. Hells that probably added another point to him in Senya's opinion.

The rebellion as expected had already been kickstarted, thanks in no small part to Lyanna's folly and Rhaeger's prophecy-addled mind, protecting Eddard and Robert played a key role in Jon's decision.

Poor Elbert, most people seemed to brush over the fact that his cousin also got killed.

What was troublesome last he checked was that everything was the issue that both Lysa and Catelyn remained unwed.

What his imprints and confirmation from the Shadow Wardens found out was that Brynden 'the Blackfish' had convinced his brother against immediately marrying his girls off, instead going for a betrothal.

It wasn't the most solid way to create a block, but it gave the rebels so much more leeway in acting immediately. Valuable time that had been wasted in canon with that farce of weddings had instead been used on planning and harassing loyalists.

Ironically, it was Erlend who had indirectly helped in convincing the stubborn trout. If his information channels were correct, Hoster was under the assumption that should the rebellion be successful, he could convince Erlend to wed Lysa instead of Uncle Jon.

A hell of a risk, that would see Visenya gut him like floppy fish.

There was also the reasonable logic that should things go tits up, Catelyn could serve as Edmure's regent and prevent someone like Walder Frey from getting to power.

This meant there would either be no Robb or he would be younger, he was still hoping there was some timeline bullshit in play that would fix it by making him Sansa's twin since a lot of his current plans relied heavily on the war of five kings still kicking off.

Stannis was another interesting change because apparently, he married Lady Jeyne Swann, daughter of Lord Gulian.

The Mannis had that Baratheon rizz, since not only was he less broody, but he was also far more charismatic and considered charming. The horror and all that.

Not having the shadow of his brother looming over him, did him good, as he played a key role in stopping his wife's would've abduction from the Kingswood Brotherhood.

If it was any consolation Mace was still an oaf, and the reach was still sitting on their asses. Poor Randyll and Paxter had to reign in the fat flower, as unlike in the prime timeline Stannis was better prepared since Storm's End was better supplied and garrisoned than expected.

The onion knight still made his debut, though he kept his joints with the Young Stag being more grateful due to his unborn child.

The north remained largely the same, excluding the lack of marriage for Eddard's hand, giving them more time to prepare and head south, as there was no delay in his return to the north. Though there were some mutterings about Bolton's treachery, which was frankly reliving, at least some form of normalcy still existed.

Uncle Jon had sent a letter at the beginning requesting aid should the Sistermen get any ideas, which wasn't all shocking. The rulers of the three sisters had never been all that loyal to the Arryn's and were a primary reason for much of the conflicts that occurred with the north outside of the obvious andal vs first men issues.

Dorne didn't have much of a choice, either they complied and joined up with the Targaryens or they lost their princess and her kids to being cooked by fire. However, they sure took their time when preparing.

Far more troubling news was that a heavily pregnant Rhaella had been sent to Dragonstone, without Viserys. This worried Erlend, as for one he'd likely be more influenced by the mad king and there was no guarantee he'd ever be sent to Dragonstone.

For this reason, several of the shadow wardens made up a part of Elia's household, preparing to step in should things get dicey.

If young Griff was an actual Blackfyre, Erlend wanted to make sure that the real Aegon was safe, to counter that bullshit. One of his plans revolved around having his daughter marry him, which would secure his descendant's future positions as rulers of the Riverlands.

That brought into question Visenya's role in all of this, but the dragoness didn't seem to care much about 'official' marriages.

No wonder, Aegon hadn't exactly made the idea of marriage look that appealing.

As of now, his forces were presently about 21,000 strong, divided into 7 banners, each made up of 3,000 well-trained and bloodied men. The fleet had been drastically sized up to about 150 ships, thanks to the devastating blow dealt to blasted pirates that had been harassing the north-western shores.

A joint operation between the Banners fleet and the Braavosi fleet managed to round up the pirates based in the narrow sea and shatter them, with the recoverable ships being divided between House Mudd and Braavos and to be refitted.

As Erlend sat within my solar, contemplating the events that had been happening these past few years, he couldn't help but shake his head at the changes that were made.

He knew that there was barely any hope that his plans would remain unchanged, there being too many variables that had been altered or simply destroyed.

Distracting him was a gorgeous blade that stood proudly on a pedestal.

Ardent, the ancestral sword of House Mudd, a saber, forged from the ore left behind a falling star, and one of the primary reasons Erlend preferred to wield one-handed swords. Forged only a century before the second golden era, many in his house saw this sword as a sign of changing fortunes and they were right.

Just not the way they expected it to go.

Next to it on another pedestal lay a gorgeous circlet, engraved with various moments of House Mudd's history, from their time as kings to merchant princes, generals, dragonslayers, and even lovers.

Honestly, from the tales he'd heard from his father, the Mudds seemed like a family of shonen protagonists with all the luck that it entailed.

Moving to the circlet, it was made from the same meteorite as Ardent, although it had never been worn by any of the Mudds as a reminder of the past, there was hope that it would eventually be placed upon a Mudd's head.

A crown fit for a king, his uncle used to say, yet House Mudd had no king.

As he pondered the circlet and the saber, a knock could be heard from the door, before he could respond, simultaneously a ringing sound echoed within his mind.

The ring was so loud, it felt like several fireworks had exploded in his head. A clear sign that many of his imprints had witnessed something significant.

Bearing witness to its message, the shock began to set in.

All Erlend could think was, 'Well shit, there goes any hope of maintaining the timeline…'

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Note: I wasn't sure how to exactly introduce Visenya, hell I am still having second thoughts on the way this chapter has gone but we're rolling with the punches boys. As for where Illyrio is, eh, who gives a fuck about that fat bastard, Erlend has more important things to do, cough Senya cough.