NOVEL NEXT Chapter 28: Capturing Lonely Light!
Damian stored away all the newfound wealth and the animal hide in the system's warehouse. The gold and silver coins were stored separately by the system and even if they differed in weight and purity from the standard Westeros coinage, the system helped in turning them into systems Gold coins which he can readily use now to buy something from the system.
He could also take them out but then they would come out as plane coins without any markings which he can still use but they won't be readily accepted outside due to trust issues.
[ Name: Damian Silvius Stark ]
[ Title: Adventurer ]
[ Status: Village Chief ]
[ Age: 14 ]
[ Money: 280 -> 10249 Gold Coins ]
"Damn! I'm rich now. Richer than most of the Minor Lords in the North. even the Mormonts should not have gathered this much wealth on them at a single time. The rest of the stuff should be worth at least another 10 to 20k if I sell them outside, maybe more if their cultural value is taken into account.
Even with the vast amount of land in their hands, the Lords of the North were poorer than their Southern counterparts.
Damian then asked Martin to copy the writings and the drawings on the wall on a piece of parchment. Every piece of history even from thousands of years ago was important and should be well protected.
After carefully checking the whole cave for anything that they may have missed, Damian left the place and covered the entrance with a stone so that it is not disturbed by someone.
It was getting dark when got back to the ships.
Jory was shocked when Damian told him about the bronze armaments he got from a cave on this island. He had carried them with him in order to show that he wasn't wasting their time on the island.
"How did you know they were there on this island-inside a cave?" Jory asked curiously. He was looking at the pommel of the Bronze sword in wonder and awe. The Seadragon head with two sapphire eyes looked beautiful to him.
Jory had a hard time believing that the sword and the other armaments were thousands of years old as Damian had claimed. Still, he wasn't an expert at such things so he left it alone and concentrated on appreciating the craftsmanship of the weapons.
It was midnight when the anchor was lifted and Damian ordered to set sail for the island where the tower of House Farwynd was located.
They had snubbed out every torch on their ships so that they were not seen by the guards patrolling the tower while they made their way towards the tunnel, discovered during the day by Damian.
After coming close enough, Damian sent two skiffs ahead to scout the place and see where it lead to. They waited for almost an hour before they saw the signal from the entrance of the tunnel.
The scouts were signalling positively which meant the tunnel did lead somewhere inside the tower.
Damian left only twenty loyal men to look after the ships and the Ironborn prisoners he had on his ships and took away every else with him to the tunnel in batches.
The tunnel was dark so they had to light torches in order to see their steps and the way ahead properly. The scouts from before guided them to a secret passage where only a single man can pass comfortably. They said the passage lead straight to a staircase which after climbing to the top, opened into a storeroom filled with food and liquors.
It should be a room that is inside the tower and below the ground level.
Damian smiled when he heard that. They slowly, one by one, followed the scout to the staircase and then to the storeroom where they gathered in a group until all had arrived.
The doors of the storeroom were closed shut from the outside but there was a small window above it from where a small and slim man could squeeze through with some difficulty open the door from outside for them.
One of the soldiers that Damian had recruited from the villages in the neck, volunteered since he filled the requirement of being slim and small to squeeze through a window.
The climb to the window was easy as everyone helped in making a human ladder. But after squeezing through, the volunteer soldier had to jump from ten feet height, which was bound to make a noise and alert any guard stationed nearby. Thankfully the worst did not happen and the volunteer successfully opened the latch from the outside.
Damian noted down the name of the volunteer and remembered to reward him afterwards.
Very slowly they walked through the passages and climbed to the ground level of the tower where at the entrance one guard was dozing off.
Hearing the sound of so many muffled steps, the enemy soldier woke up from his light sleep but it was too late as Jory immediately put him in a chokehold till he lost consciousness.
"Raymond, you and Jory stay here with half of the men and defend the front gates. Don't let the enemy guards come inside. The rest of the men including Selena, Arsen and Sirus will come with me to take capture the tower and take anyone's value hostage as quickly as possible.
The whole tower was soon enveloped in screams and shouting of intruders but it vanished as quickly as it had risen. The guards stationed outside manning the walls heard the screams but they couldn't enter through to help its inhabitants.
Finally, when they saw someone dangling Lord Gilbert's eight-name day's old third son, Yohn Farwynd from the window, they surrendered their arms and backed away from the tower's gates. Raymond and Jory went out and secured the whole keep and sent the Ironborn guards to the cells after disarming them completely.
Damian was happy to capture the Lonely Light's castle without bloodshed and therefore he ordered a small feast in the main hall for his soldiers to enjoy after the victory.