ASOIAF: Lord of Nature

Note: This chapter is basically an info dump of magic, plots, and planning, with Erlend coming to terms with his power and the future of his descendants.

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(Erlend Mudd, Firmridge)

Great news, his eyes weren't red. He wasn't going to turn into a classic anime protagonist, crisis averted.

Gone was the chocolate brown, in its place was a deep shade of forest green, almost sage. within it were small, imperceptible flecks of colors, a result of his mastery of the elements he believed.

Right, moving to more important matters. Divine energy and magic were similar in that they both could alter reality.

However, there was a stark difference in how the two went about it. Magic could practically do whatever you wanted it to, with one only being limited to the amount they can harness, their magical reserves and the control they have over it.

Of course, one should not forget that they are also able to coerce, force, or cooperate with the primal force.

This was vastly different from divine energy which obeyed its wielder to the extreme and only really required its owners to have power and mastery over said divinity. The downside of such power is that generally it only gave you authority over your divinity and limited the user on how they can affect everything else that didn't fall under its control.

There was also the whole issue of faith-based divinities and self-achieved divinities, but that wasn't all that important at the moment. All one needs to know is that the latter will always be stronger than the former.

The good news though, he now had two sources of power from which he could draw, giving him a significant advantage in his already disgustingly stupendous power.

No, what mattered now was for Erlend to head to the central point of his fortress and complete a project that had been in the works since he first took control over it.

Excitement took hold of him, as he realized how close he was to his magnum opus. This was the final gift he'd leave to descendants, one that would assure their safety and comfort more than anything a Dragon or army could.

…

As always Erlend appareted straight to his private gardens, ready to head to head to the fortress's core.

Only for him to pause mid-step at the ridiculous sight to greet him.

Three very non-human creatures froze, staring at him intently and with suspiciously familiar eyes. Around them were the rest of his family, who were fussing over the three magical creatures with awe and a hint of surprise.

Malora was characteristically noting everything down as she inspected them, completely ignoring his presence and everyone else around her.

The first to approach him was a very familiar creature, its hind legs and tails were that of a horse and its front legs, wings, and head resembled a giant eagle. Steel-coloured beaks opened to greet him, but only loud piercing shrieks came out. The most outrageous thing was its blue eyes that stared at him sheepishly and even tried to hide under its bronze wings.

Perched atop the hippogriff was a falcon chick of all things, its chin and neck were lily white and its eyes were surrounded by a yellow circle. The wings were bluish-gray, with several vertical streaks on its breasts.

One would be incorrect to assume that it was normal by any means, considering its wings literally shimmered in the light, not unlike a shiny and there was a certain intelligence in its eyes that shouldn't have been present.

Last, but not least, was a kitten of all things? Clamoring atop the hippogriff's neck and attempting to climb on top of its head. It was the smallest of the creatures and by far the cutest.

Tawny fur that was entirely covered with black spots, and a head that was darker than the rest of its body, though paler above the eyes. The white whiskers on its face moved at his sudden appearance and it froze as its eyes made contact with his.

All three creatures were magical, despite two looking like they came from the mundane side of things. Their auras and magical reserves were plainly visible to him.

Easily dwarfing anything else he'd seen and only surpassed by that of his draconian children and his reserves.

Slowly and nervously the three seemed to change, in their place were three familiar figures. His children looked at him sheepishly, not daring to make eye contact with the baffled father.

Deciding to break the awkward silence, "I knew my ascendence would give you three a power up… I just didn't expect it to unlock your animagus form." He said.

Knowing that they were no longer in trouble, the three children turned to look at one another, seemingly coming to an unspoken agreement, before shifting right back into their magical forms.

Without a second missed, all three pounced on their father for the fright he gave them. Whilst Erlend's lovers laughed at his misfortune.

Only Malora thought differently, her mutterings about interruptions and research sending everyone else into another fit of giggles, whilst an exasperated Erlend did his best to gently keep his children from dogpiling him.

It didn't help that both Dany and Rhaenys decided to join in the fun, leaving him outnumbered.

This really wasn't how he expected things to turn out.

"Dad, what happened to your eyes!" Rhaenys suddenly shouted into his ears, alarming the rest of his brood.

…

His children unlocking their animagus forms was one of the last things Erlend expected to happen. Mostly due to his lack of expertise in potions, making it difficult to even get started on that.

It was why he was hedging his bets on familiars, which could be of great aid to them.

Eventually, as centuries passed, House Mudd would most likely be able to develop on that front, but not any time soon. He was more focused on runes, enchanting, and charms, which already existed in this world, albeit in a limited form.

An example of this was First Men's runic arrays, which were mostly focused on protection, preservation, and strength.

Knowing that his children could unlock their forms naturally and without aid was like a breath of fresh air to the Wizard King, yes it took him ascending to divinity to push them to it, but it would only get easier for descendants to do the same in the future, with it becoming a family magic of sorts.

Bloodline magic was quite prominent in this world after all.

He could perhaps look into unlocking his animagus form, but it wouldn't be as impactful as it had been for his children, due to him being able to shapeshift to other beings like most gods were capable of.

It would be best if he left that for later. Maybe to connect better with his true self if he ever found the need to.

Looking at the exhausted forms of his kids, Erlend couldn't help smiling. His refusal to hatch any more dragons in this world stemmed from his desire to keep his family safe when he was eventually gone from this world.

While becoming a god could stave off the potential civil wars dragon riders would undoubtedly cause, it would only work for as long as people believed in his legend.

Even then there was a bit of uncertainty. One only needed to look into Japan's history from his world to understand that. They were believed to be descended from the gods, but despite that, for most of their history, they were largely just figureheads in their own nation.

Adding Dragons to the pot that was already filled with magic, was just begging for trouble. The Targaryens for all their vaunted power quickly fell under the allure of the so-called 'Great Game'.

Their reliance on Dragons was one of the main reasons they fell in the first place. Erlend wanted his descendants to rely on their magic and power, not a temperamental nuke of all things.

It was why he was so focused on accruing as much magical knowledge as possible. Unlocking their animagus forms was one of the best ways to protect themselves and the special traits they'd get from it were guaranteed to be better than what wargs and greenseers would get.

He even suspected that over time they might develop a certain amount of influence on the wildlife around them, no doubt a bit of his nature divinity leaking to them.

Going back to the topic of potions, their development in this world was ridiculously weird. On one hand, some elixirs could bring down the Valyrian Dragons to their knees, provided you could hit them of course. Yet on the other hand, even the most basic potions that could be found in the Potterverse were absent from this world.

Erlend suspected that had a lot to do with the fall of the Empire of the Dawn, which was the most advanced magical empire this world had seen as far as he was aware, not to mention the time periods before it.

The fall of major civilizations tended to drive advancements and developments backward in nearly every sector. The Middle Ages is a perfect example of that.

Hell, Westeros has been stuck in the same age for thousands of years, despite having a center of learning that could put the libraries of his past world to shame.

It took years and discreet pushing from Erlend himself to get the ball rolling on bringing back those 'Dragonsbane' elixir. Otherwise, those rats would've never dared rear their ugly heads and join together for their not-so-little 'trap'.

He wondered what reaction the Sealord would have, once he found out about that particular tidbit. The man he so vehemently wanted to bring down, just happened to be his key backer in this whole little plot.

Even the Warlocks who managed to 'escape' his grasp were unaware of their role as pawns in all of this. Honestly, it felt like Erlend was Darth Sidious and his cabal of enemies were the oblivious Jedi playing to his tune.

Huh… The more you know.

…

In front of him was a literal cube. Its importance though, could not be underestimated.

Erlend was largely inspired by Fanon's take on the whole 'Lady Hogwarts' and sentient Hogwarts cliches and figured what better defense for his family than the literal fortress they lived in.

It also helped that an army of semi-sentient metal suits would also be of great help, should the contracts established for the Royal Guard somehow fail for one reason or another. Erlend knew that was far-fetched, but it was better to be safe than sorry.

He had no desire for a Praetorian Guard situation to develop within his lands, the Kingsguard already proved corruptible with Cristen Cole's inability to get over the fact he was rejected.

Kingmaker his ass, the only ones who get to decide who becomes King are the Mudds themselves, and no overreaching official will be allowed to do anything of that sort.

So Erlend decided to make Firmridge sentient, and his divinity would make the process that generally should've taken centuries even with several ley lines running through the fortress into a matter of hours.

Hence why in the past few hours, Erlend had been busying himself with carving runes and permanent enchantments into the block. From preservation to durability to even growth.

All of it was carved on the block using Valyrian steel. Imbuing it with more power than it normally came with. The block was nothing to scoff at either, instead of using plain stone or the oily black stone, Erlend used his divine power to create and shape jade that would serve as the base.

Jade is said to keep its owner from harm and bring harmony. Attracting good luck and stabilizing emotions. Most importantly its ability to connect with higher realms made it a great conductor for his divine power and magic.

There was no runic symbol that he did not carve. His masterpiece would be the best there is and the Fortress would be unmatched by any other structure in this world, not only in size but also in wonder.

There would be no skimping on this final defense, Erlend had even used one-third of his available reserves to ensure this came out as perfect as could be. Which said a lot, considering his total reserves, now surpassed the total combined magical might of his draconian children. Who was essentially a renewable source of magic?

Right, finally inputting the finishing touches, Erlend took a step back to look at the result of his work.

Like one would connect cables to a television, Erlend gently grasped the leylines running right through the fortress and connected them to the cube. He also added a bit of his divine energy into the mix, the cube instantly changing from a deep jade to a more natural shade of green.

Instantly, Erlend could feel everything around him come to life. A new aura permeated with life washing over him and grasping him in what could only be described as a hug.

Like a child meeting its parents after a long day in school.

With a warm chuckle and bright smile on his face, "Hello there Ridge, it's nice to finally meet you." Erlend greeted his youngest child.

As if reacting to his words, the area around him was blanketed with warmth and joy that could hardly be put into the world.

For Erlend, this was once in a lifetime opportunity and he could not be any happier.

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Note: Hippogriff, Peregrine Falcon, and Black-footed Cat. All of them are magical forms of the base version and come with unique abilities. What those abilities are… Only time will tell. Also it would be weird for Erlend not to bring his castle/fortress to life, every half-decent wizard needs his own Hogwarts after all.