A compass, out of all things.
For the consumption to be as minimal as can be... as long as he didn't magicalize the entire circular casing and the directional markers... just the pointer itself.
The flattened type for easy etching... as the stitching needle version would genuinely be horrendous to rune on.
So yeah... he got to working... dono'd drops and drops of his red essence... stripped a teensy part of his spirit, which was nothing at all to a multi-warg grandmaster freak like him... to finally get the Royce bronze in all of its potential glory...
Then, he shaped it into a flat rhombus strip with a hole in the middle... and simply inscribed "toward" and "North" in teensy letterings.
And yes, the runing process was as easy as that... it was just the necessity of magical mediums that locked its utility for Ronan all this while.
As for all the previous weirwood reserves he could have wizard-ed around with... those were executively decided to be shoved into the ribs of the Santa Ma-Rhea.
Granted, as of now, not only did he have a new batch of wood that was generously given by the Sons of the Tree... he also had another magical medium to choose from.
Yet he may actually have three. For aside from the Royce bronze itself... Ronan felt that he could actually simplify to just using either the bloodied copper or spirited tin.
But that needed further verification.
As of current, he just needed to fit his always-North-pointing bronze needle into a prepped casing with steady floater fluids... designed not just with cardinal directions but also with angle markers as well.
All locked together with a thin but sturdy glasswork cover that he also prepped as part of the entire design...
And thus... a non-magnetic compass was formed.
Leaving Ronan somewhat satisfied.
Turning and turning the gadget... cause he was always amused with a compass's peculiarity. Much more so when this one was magic-based.
Then again, he could have gone with magnets... but it wouldn't have been as experimentally enlightening as this.
Granted, his compass also had the quirk of not being affected by magnetic fields and whatnot, so there's that.
And yeah… he actually had the option to change into a pointer that didn't just point "North"... he could go for one that had South, East, West, and many else.
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Of course, with this special compass in hand, t'was time for the next adventure...
The Cleansing of the Mountain campaign was fun and all... but it was akin to local sightseeing at best...
The truly unique destinations were someplace else.
And Ronan wanted to go and explore them.
Coupled with the fact that he just shirked his marriage duties with the excuse of being a wee 14-year-old...
So, he felt that he had to supplement that with very long-distance trips.
Meaning that it was high time for the anchored Santa Ma-Rhea to set sail... into places across the Narrow Sea and maybe even beyond it.
Like Columbus with the Santa Maria or Orlumbus with the Yonta Maria.
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Accordingly, the mountain clans and the hill tribes had long been settled. And the painting that symbolized that... had also long been hung on the castle's walls.
A reminder... of an order restored. And the peace achieved.
The wild and guilty ones took the block, while the broken and hapless remainders were sent to take the Black.
Barring the women and babes that were pouring into Runestone itself. For education under some Will of Bronze.
In any case, executions were consecutively happening in the Houses that offered their dungeon space... each of these grateful Lords taking their share of justice.
While the procession of new Night's Watch brothers were taking the High Road... the only land pass out of the Vale through the Blood Gate.
Off to the North and its Wall they go.
But such matters were beyond Willam Royce now... much more so to Ronan, who has most likely locked himself in repetitive readings once again. Apparently tinkering within the forges as well.
Willam believed it had something to do with the princess's actual reappearances in the territory... or the constant back-and-forth of Lady Arryn's lady-in-waiting.
Both lass flitting between from respective stations and towards Runestone... with messages clearly too delicate for ravens.
But Ronan did come out eventually... out of his self-imposed solitude at last... and with new purpose.
A new task... pertaining to the very big ship that Willam had long wanted to sail in.
Meaning that it was finally time... for the Bronze Order to take to the seas. With Willam being first to line up for it.
This voyage was simple... to familiarize Order members with the huge ship's peculiarities... and offloading goods to Bravos while they're at it.
It was about learning and earning, he said.
To learn the great ship's moods, its turns and tilts and temper... haul goods to their destination to earn back the coins that Ronan had poured into the thing.
And soon enough, it did happen... with the sea treating this trip kindly. For the most part.
With the ship's bronze hull gleaming like a mountain cast adrift.
Pirate ships fled at the mere sight of her shadow. Even the other Braavosi-bound boats looked small when beside her.
Truly overshadowing all else.
No doubt the biggest there currently is... but just as Willam thought that everything was going to be smooth sailing with such a mighty vessel.
All of them suddenly felt a great big bump!
From below...
A shuddering, soul-deep thud that ran up the ship from keel to mast.
With the deck lurching beneath Willam's feet.
Making him lose his footing... and then his balance... and then the sky seemed to spin... as he actually went over the rail.
Into the cold, choking blue. As if the sea swallowed him whole.
Fortunately… Underwater, he was relatively fine, even as the surroundings seemed to turn vast and soundless all of a sudden.
But then and there, as Willam's eyes struggled to make sense of the blued light... he saw it...
The culprit!
Not a reef. Not a rock.
A whale... white as winter's first snow... looming out of the deep.
A creature many times the size of the Ma-Rhea. A mountain given flesh. A terror of the depths that is perhaps much older than any house or crown.
A behemoth... but no...
For it might actually be a freaking leviathan!