Stephen Baratheon POV
'Well, this was a waste.' He thought as he flew up in the sky and gazed down on the smaller mansions scattered about in the wealthy people area.
Compared to the larger mansions, the wealth held in these smaller mansions was almost negligent. But since he was done searching the larger ones, the smaller ones were all he had left.
He did find an intact library inside the treasury of one of the mansions though. But none of the stuff inside those books were magical in nature, so their value was limited. He still took those books though, as they might still prove to be useful. Plus, Marwyn and Sarella would love to read them, regardless of whether they're magical or not.
After aimlessly drifting around the city and utilizing his Observe ability to locate any significant structures he might have overlooked initially, such as a bank, public library, hatchery, etc., and failing to discover anything of genuine worth, he concluded that it was time for him to depart.
He bid farewell to the two dragon riders he'd buried, the many ghosts that he'd encountered, and the creepy carnivorous plants he mostly avoided, before he made his way out of the city and down South, journeying along with Valyrian Road.
As soon as he left the protective wards covering the city, he was immediately engulfed by the dark volcanic smoke once again. But after having encountered real ghosts, other things in life didn't scare him as much as they once did. So he plowed through the darkness without any concern.
He had only flown for about dozen miles or so when he encountered a big problem though.
The land in front of him vanished, and was entirely replaced by a large body of water.
A body of water that stretched from horizon to horizon for as far as eyes could see.
Strangely, the volcanic smoke didn't seem to persist above the water, as if it relied on the cursed land to maintain its existence. This occurrence provided him with a clearer view of the vast body of water ahead of him...although, its peculiar nature left him perplexed.
He tried to remember if there was any such large lakes in the continent of Valyria, and then felt like an utter fool when he used Observe upon the large body of lake and realised just what exactly it was.
It was not a lake. It was a sea, that was formed when the entire continent of Valyria shattered to pieces, like fragile glass, and hundreds of miles of landmass got submerged into the water.
Huh…
This entire situation reminded him of the 'Breaking'. When the Children of the Forests shattered the Arm of Dorne, connecting lower-eastern part of Westeros to Essos. This cataclysmic event submerged the entire landmass and resulted in the creation of numerous small, isolated islands that are now referred to as the Step Stones.
Of course, by the time the Children did that, a lot of the First Men had already crossed over to Westeros, and in the end, the Children lost the war regardless.
But it made him wonder.
Just what kind of forces were the Valyrians meddling with, that it caused such a huge catastrophe.
Was there any truth to the rumours that the Valyrians were punished by the gods because of their tendency to sacrifice large number of slaves during their magical rituals.
Was Valyria destroyed because of internal sabotage?
Legend had it that it took the sacrifice of thousands of Children of the Forest to break the Arm of Dorne. Now that he had a better understanding of the immense magical power wielded by dragons, he recognised that the sacrifice of merely a dozen or so of these creatures could result in a calamity of similar magnitude.
But... why would someone sacrifice dragons. And in such large quantities at that.
Perhaps one of the rulers aspired to attain godhood and chose to sacrifice untamed dragons to accomplish this goal, only for it to result in a catastrophic tragedy.
A nice theory. But despite how many theories he might have regarding the Doom of Valyria. Without solid evidence to back it up, none of his theories held any real weight.
Drifting above the expansive sea, where the murky, black volcanic smoke lingered before gradually dissipating, giving the appearance of smoke rising from the water itself, he gazed at it for a moment before heading south, toward his ultimate destination.
He could only hope that the main city of Valyria had not met the same fate as the landmass, sinking beneath the surface of the water. It would be a major setback if that were indeed the case.
After soaring for just a couple of minutes, he came across several landmasses drifting on the water's surface. These masses resembled small hills, adorned with an assortment of moss, fungi, and other aquatic flora."
And, were those landmasses... moving in water?
Curious, he moved toward those landmasses, and used Observe to study them.
The result was surprising… but also not really.
For the landmasses were not actually small coral islands, as someone might guess at first glance, but giant turtles.
It was not as surprising to him because he'd read about the giant turtles that lived in the river or Rhoyne, and were often encountered by the boats sailing up and down that river.
Only… he hadn't known that those turtles could get this freaking big!
These turtles were colossal in size; their shells were so vast that if they were flat instead of domed, one could effortlessly play a game of basketball on them.
According to his Observe ability, this was another instance of mutation resulting from the giant turtles residing in an area that had been saturated with magic for centuries.
He wondered if these turtles survived by sustaining themselves on magic, or if they actually ate something.
What would even fill the bellies of creatures of such size?
Even more curious now, he floated down and gently landed on the back of one of the turtles.
Now that the turtle fell within his Shaper range of 10 meters, he was able to study its biology. To a mild extent.
A lot of its biology was confusing to him, because it was so heavily saturated with magic. And while it did support his theory on their mutation, it didn't provide him with much practical information.
Still, he floated over its entire form and studied all its body parts.
Although he couldn't comprehend all of it, he did discern that the turtles possessed numerous tentacles suspended beneath their chins, which they utilized to ensnare microorganisms such as plankton and small fishes to nourish themselves."
These turtles were more like a jellyfish/whale hybrid at this point than actual turtles.
Might as well just call them eldritch abominations and be done with it.
His thoughts on the turtles' biology were interrupted by a sudden splash of water and a fast-moving object barreling towards him from his peripheral vision.
In an instant, he raised his Mana Shield, and as something hurtled towards him at top speed, he frowned. The impact of the collision splattered the object into chunks of flesh and meat that flew everywhere, staining his Mana Shield with blood, viscera, and organs. He dispersed his shield, and the messy remains landed on the turtle's back with a loud splat.
Shaper did its work and told him that the chunky salsa once used to be a fish. A heavily mutated fish that had giant fins on its side, which allowed it to fly for brief periods of time.
Before he could study it in more detail, another fish flew out at him from another direction.
He was ready for it this time and dodged to the side, Stag Song coming out of its scabbard in a flash and slicing the fish clean in half.
On this occasion, he managed to get a clearer view of the fish and noticed that it bore a resemblance to a swordfish, albeit much larger in size. The only discernible dissimilarity was the appearance of fins on its sides and a mouth that resembled that of an alligator rather than a typical fish.
Yeah, not creepy at all.
He'd only studied two water species so far (three, if you count those creepy carnivorous plants), and he was already wondering if he was still in Planetos and had not somehow transferred over to the Chuthulu universe. Would certainly explain all the Eldritch fuckery going on over here.
Another swordfish thingy jumped out of the sea and flew at him at a speed far faster than a fish had any right to swim at.
He easily dodged and cut that one in half as well, wondering how those fishes were able to sense him in the first place.
Was one of their senses highly evolved due to magical mutation? That made the most sense.
After evading and slicing through two additional fish, he retrieved a sizable bedsheet from his Inventory (it's best not to question why it was there to begin with), and reinforced it with his mana before using it to capture the next fish that flew at him.
Despite the enormous mutated fish's vigorous thrashing, he managed to restrain it and ascended into the sky, out of harm's way from any additional attacks by the other fish.
To his surprise, he noticed that several of the smaller (bus sized) turtles had already gathered the remains of the fishes he had slain and were presently feasting on them.
…good for you eldritch turtles.
The fish struggled inside the bedsheets until he took his sword and stabbed it through its spine. Cutting off its ability to move but still keeping it alive for another minute or so.
With its movement curtailed, he got hold of the fish and studied its biology more clearly.
Unlike the turtles, who were very hard for him to study, he was able to study the sword fish to a greater extent.
The majority of the fish's biological functions were typical, albeit augmented by the magic permeating its form. However, he was unable to examine its peculiar razor-sharp mouth or its large fins.
Fins that should technically be too small to give them the ability of flight. Yet, they were somehow able to fly regardless of the law of aerodynamics.
It… reminded him of dragons. Whose bodies were too large and too heavy to actually be capable of flight. But the dragons were obviously able to disregard such simple physics problems and fly regardless.
Because... magic.
Though, if these eldritch swordfishes were able to evolve to fly, then it made him wonder if the dragons were once some lesser species as well, which then lived in heavy magically saturated area for centuries and then turned into giant fire breathing dragons?
Were the Wyverns from Southoryos and Dragons in Essos the same magical species, only in different level of magical evolution? Like monkeys and humans?
He mused about how hilarious it would be, to find that the dragons actually evolved from a chicken.
Or a lizard…
Yeah, all those jokes about the dragons being nothing but giant fire breathing lizards seemed even more hilarious now that he realised that there might be a semblance of truth in them.
Maybe not a small house lizard. But he could definitely see something like a giant Komodo dragon being magically saturated for centuries and eventually turning into the first giant, fire breathing dragon.
He could definitely see one of the mages in Valyria coming to the same realisation, and then trying to create a magical phenomenon to magically evolve himself into a god. Only for the process to go horribly wrong and lead to the Doom of Valyria instead.
But… what if the process succeeded? What if a human was actually able to turn himself into a god.
The god named R'hollor suddenly came to his mind. A god that he lovingly referred to as an eldritch monstrosity. And he now wondered if he had not been in the right all along.
It also made him wonder if the Children of the Forest and the Giants were merely humans who had drank too much magical cool-aid and turned into what they were now.
What about the Brindled men in Southoryos? Or the Ibbenese in Ibben who look more like dwarfs than actual humans? Or the green tinged humans that live in the Thousand Islands?
It seemed as if the more he knew, the more questions he had.
He used Shaper to turn the brain of the fish into mush before he put it in his Inventory. For a deeper study at a later date. Or for just eating. He was curious about how magical flying fish tasted, okay.
He gazed at the sea below him once again, wondering just how many secrets were hidden in its depth. And if the Drowned God was actually just another Eldritch Monstrosity as well.
Then he gazed South and started flying once again.
This time, he didn't stop flying until he finally arrived at land once again.
The black miasma hindered his sight once again, but he didn't need to delve within it, since there was a city at the coast of the Smoking Sea.
This city was much smaller than the city of Oros, and about slightly larger than Kings Landing. Observe told him that this city was named Tyria, and unlike Oros, this city was mostly in ruins, as it was closer to Valyria and was thus hit harder by the Doom.
The most surprising thing about this city however, was that there were actually a few people living in this city.
He had to use Observe to make sure that he wasn't hallucinating, or worse, seeing ghosts in broad daylight.
So shocked was he by this discovery that he float in one place for minutes, and gaped at the 'people', if you could really call them that.
He was dubious about calling these inhabitants 'people' because of the heavy magic saturation they had suffered across their entire bodies, for however long they have been living in this place.
One of the women had three heads. Another man had 6 hands (four of which were dangling from various parts of his torso). There was a child who had ugly scales forming over half her body. A woman whose hands were long enough to touch the ground while walking upright. And a man whose face looked like the head of a fish (this guy freaked him out the most).
He counted over a hundred of them living in the ruined houses near the coast. Though for all he knew, there might be thousands of these people deep within the city.
He wasn't sure how to feel about these people. Should he help them somehow? How the hell would he even do that? Or should he just let them be?
A part of him wondered if putting them all down wouldn't be an act of mercy on his part. But he quickly shut that part down.
If these people wanted to live, then he had absolutely no right to kill them because of some perceived notion of moral superiority.
The debate on how to treat these people came to an end when one of them threw a spear at him.
He was flying high enough in the sky that the spear didn't even reach him. But this emboldened the others and another idiot picked up his spear and threw it at him as well. This action was quickly followed by a third, and a forth one.
Soon enough, everyone in the tribe was throwing weapons at him. Even the children got in on the fun, picking up rocks and pebbles to throw at him.
One of the projectiles even reached him. It was an axe that was used by the woman whose arms were long enough to scrape down on the ground.
Hm… her mutation was actually useful, compared to many others in the tribe whose mutations didn't seem to be all that useful.
If magical mutations can be passed down from parent to children, like is the case with natural evolution, then her children (who'll have longer arms) would definitely have an advantage over the woman who had three heads.
Eventually, the long armed people who dominate this place, and after a few centuries, only the long armed people would remain in this tribe.
It was so similar, yet so different than the Natural Theory of Selection.
He studied the people from a distance for a few more moments before he decided to leave this place.
The city was ruined to the point that he probably won't find anything of value in it. And the people in this tribe were obviously hostile toward outsiders.
As he left the city and flew further South toward Valyria, he wondered if these people were the decedents of the people living in Old Valyria. Or if they were just some people who arrived in this place after the Doom had done its work and things had settled down a bit more.
It would be rather amusing if he studied some of those people and some found Lannister DNA in them. Considering the story about the Old Lannister King who came to Valyria in search for treasure, only to find death and destruction like everyone else.
He must've covered a hundred miles or so under the cover of the black miasma, when he finally noticed the black volcanic smoke glowing red.
No, not glowing red, but reflecting light from the distance.
He immediately flew up in the sky until he was out of the black mist that covered the entire ground and got a better look in the distance.
And in the distant horizon, he saw 14 large volcanos, each one just as large, if not larger than Dragonmont. Each one spewing forth tons of glowing red magma that flowed down the side of those mountains like a river, as well as tons of toxic volcanic fumes into the atmosphere.
The fact that the 14 volcanoes were still active, 4-5 centuries after the Doom of Valyria, didn't surprise him nearly as much as it should have.
By this point, he was so used to the magical bullshit of Planetos that he simply took one look at the active Volcanoes and then dismissed them.
Okay… he didn't really dismiss them. But he did remove his gaze from them because there was something more interesting in front of him now.
Dozens upon dozens of giant black towers rose out of the black mist and speared into the sky. Each tower larger than the Hightower (which was the tallest structure in all of Westeros). Each with a landing pad and living area at the top for Dragons. And each one large enough to host a Balerion sized dragon with ease.
The fact that some of those towers were twice as tall, if not even taller than Hightower (which is now considered the tallest tower in the entire world), made him realise just how far ahead these Valyrians were from everyone else during their time.
And it probably didn't need to be said at this point, but yeah.
He had finally reached the ancient city of Valyria.