Chapter 94

You guessed there were a few reasons that could take the place of your master's motivations that made a decent amount of sense, but you soon supposed that the forge district was a bit too dangerous for your thoughts to wander around like that. The different gangs you had seen so far were as harmless to you as the average group of bandits you and your companion had encountered on your journey, so despite their obvious displeasure, you weren't really worried about the risks of taking a look.

But you were sure that half of the unsavory fellows that enjoyed themselves in Nora would soon take offence with your presence as well if they learned that you had taken care of their gangs, so a bit of caution was in order. For while you knew that the raider gangs currently struggled with their neighbours, you were sure that a new assassin with a perceived hero complex coming from the Sept of Corbus wouldn't be ignored, even if they lost a few streets to their rivals.

And while you would have enjoyed a good fight against the raider scum of Nora any day of the week in normal circumstances, that didn't mean you were willing to be looked down upon as a potential victim for so much as a second. You were after all here to make some use of your master's silver, and not to accidentally become a target of these fools because they thought they had a chance while you were distracted by your own thoughts.

So you swiftly took a moment to take in your surroundings once more before you approached one of the more impressive forges that from what you saw still accepted commissions as they forged some swords for the raiders going by their quality. And you found that you were actually impressed as they did everything to make sure their work remained untraceable down to the quality of the steel itself to ensure their heads remained where they were, both now with the raiders in charge and in the future once the Arryns restored order.

It was a fascinating situation to behold as these swords were still lethal enough to intimidate the unarmoured townsfolk of Nora while they would be as good as useless against the guards of their leaders with their decently made gambeson and chain mail. These smiths were crafty in quite a few ways if they had managed to sell the raider gangs this garbage while they thought of it as a boon, so much so that you wondered if your decision to buy some weapons for the sept was still a good idea.

You were absolutely clueless when it came to the prices the current situation of Nora demanded of its craftsmen for the base materials, let alone how much the smiths of the forge district could reasonably demand of you for the work they had poured into their various end products. It was a bit of a mess, but the pouches you got from your master still begged you to lighten their load, which after your conscience poked you from the side turned out to be enough to get you to move. And besides, you could always visit the smithy in question once things had been set right to make sure the price you got from them wasn't too unreasonable.

In the end, you simply bought ten spears of decent make and another ten daggers for the priest since they had been banned from wielding anything larger for ages, which you guessed was impressively mirrored in their outlook on life. It annoyed you to no end that you were still so restricted in the actions you could take since the chaos needed to be maintained as it was, but you supposed it was a great opportunity to try a few new tactics and ways of thinking.

Normally, you would have simply targeted the leaders of the raider gangs one by one till no one that could draw together more than a dozen men remained, which you would have followed up by burning down their makeshift armouries. Yet as things stood none of the new factions had the strength to prevail against such tactics, so public order would have inevitably returned too soon, which was why you decided to arm one of the older factions instead. Ten spears might not sound like much, but considering how much of the raider's resources and men were focused on one another, you knew the spears completely changed the cost to gain ratio.

For while one of the larger gangs could have certainly spared two dozen men to raid the sept and it surroundings anytime they wanted if they ever lost the fear all sane mortals held within their hearts for the wrath of the gods. You knew that the more they plundered the rest of Nora while you travelled to the Eyrie the more enticed they would become, greed and desire weren't that easily crushed by fear after all. So other more proven ways to ward against such greed was required, namely the prospect of facing a negative balance followed by facing a mob armed with the weapons they had bought.

You knew of course that the Vale was still burned to the ground a dozen villages at a time by the Mountain Clans, which made your efforts kind of pointless, especially since you had hardened your heart not too long ago. But since you knew of your master's changed outlook towards the Mountain Clans, you couldn't help but try to save what little you could. It was extremely bothersome that your heart returned to its previous state from where it remained as insistent as you knew it, but since you were aware that all these people suffered for nothing you found that even your mind agreed with it.

The priests after you offered up one of your pouches and the weapons had been more than pleased, so you had a place to safely operate from and time to think about it all. Though that being said, you found that as soon as your heart and mind both poked what you supposed was your soul repeatedly that the gained time felt more like a curse than a blessing. And while you did your best to keep yourself from interfering any further, your mind after a few days had nevertheless, and much to your chagrin, still found a decently sized loophole.

The populace of Nora had no knowledge of your presence or the massive losses of the Mountain Clans, so they feared House Palno would lead them into ruin, as their invasion was more like some unstoppable natural disaster than a war. Though you and your master on the other hand already knew that Lord Palno was a failure that had to be replaced, or he would know once you informed him. And once you combined that your master wouldn't need additional proof like the Arryns with the fact that the Mountain Clans lost the strength to simply push into the lands of House Palno a few new options opened up.

For as things stood, if looked upon with the required knowledge there wasn't any immediate threat Lord Palno could lead his lands and people into ruin with, which meant that if things were retuned to order he could simply be replaced once the Lannisters took over. So the question was if the good Lord Palno was the kind of lord that would put half the town to the sword for their rebellion or if things would return to normal after the raider gangs were hung, as the latter would have allowed you to finally interfere in earnest.