Chapter 202 [Vault]

Title - HOTD: The Hidden Empire | Chapter 2 | Female MC

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[3rd POV] [115 AC | Superis, the Capital City]

[A combination of these five, the 3rd and 4th pictures are the entrance to the docks, as well as the homes of the outer parts of the city. The first picture is the college, where all are welcomed to learn. The last picture is the rough size of the city, but slightly bigger]

Sitting within her private Solar, Adreana read through the reports from her people in silence. It had been 15 long years since she had been reborn into this world, and since she had begun the growth of her Empire. 

Her new home had been finished only recently, with the massive palace being at the very center of the massive city, with thick walls surrounding it, and guards patrolling 24/7. It was, to her knowledge, the largest palace in the world, with thousands of rooms and being the crown jewel of the architects of her Empire. 

[The Walls + Entrance]

[The main palace and its entrance. The statues are instead spartan statues. In terms of size, it is larger than Harrenhal by many times over. And dwarfs the Red Keep. It is larger than any Palace/Castle in the real world by nearly double, with the closest being Louvre Palace at 243,000M^2/2.616 million square feet. And once you enter her residence, it reveals other buildings and such, which makes it a complex + a massive palace]

Her palace had been dubbed as such as well, simply being known as “The Jewel” housing thousands of rooms with workers everywhere. It was the most protected building in the entire Empire, as underneath the palace housed the great vault, which housed various texts and ancient books that her people had found during their voyage to Valyria. 

The voyage itself had gone…shockingly well, with her men being more than skilled enough to navigate its perilous waters. And by the time they had returned 5 moons later, they had done so with over 25 dragon eggs, all of which were petrified at the moment. As well as hundreds of scrolls and texts, large amounts of Valyrian steel (including what had been reforged into her Valyrian Steel crown) and other materials of note. 

Her scholars have long since gone through the texts, and with the aid of some of her men in Essos, had translated all of the texts. With some of them being…very helpful, more than she could have ever imagined. 

But that was for later, as at the moment Adreana was sipping on her tea as she read the reports in front of her. 

They were reports regarding their growth in Essos. Reports on the growth of the Merchant guild that they had built up over in the East, which had grown to be a bit of a superpower in Essos. One that had run into conflict with the Triarchy, Volantis, and most notably Qarth. 

She found the latter to be an annoyance, but her people had dealt with all threats skillfully, so it was no issue. 

This same merchant guild had also bought out Whorehouses around Essos, using them and their…connections to build a strong spy network that was now feeding her information. All the women who worked there were treated better than any other whorehouse in the world, and all of them were under her merchant guilds protection, primarily from attempts at enslaving them. 

Saving slaves had been a common occurrence for her people over in Essos, as they had also developed their own Sellsword company, which was separate from the Merchant Guild. The Sellsword company, which had been dubbed as the “Oratio Sellsword Company” which quite literally translated to “Adrea Sellsword Company”, named after her Empire, which was named after her. 

The Sellsword company had grown rapidly during the few years that they had existed, with them having a little over 3,000 soldiers to their name. All of them being trained extensively in order to be useful to her once the time comes. They primarily worked in protection contracts, and had proven themselves to be capable fighters against Dothraki soldiers. 

She had also had her merchant guild buyout mass amounts of Unsullied and slave soldiers/fighters from around Essos, freeing them, and giving them an offer of working for them. Which pretty much all of them agreed. With many of them being previous fighters in the fighting pits of Essos, as well as skilled combatants.

The Slavers Bay would fall to her and her Empire eventually, that much she had decided once her Merchant Guild began to find and free child slaves, transporting them to her Empire where they now lived in peace and with the love they deserve. 

That was one thing that she had her assassin brotherhood begin to dismantle in Essos. The child rings, many of them involving sex slavery, child fighting pits, and all sorts of horrific things that no child deserves to go through. And it was because of this that her Empire regularly received hundreds, if not thousands of children a month, who would then be adopted by those who wish to have children, or are taken into State funded orphanages that are amongst the most sacred buildings in the Empire, for they housed a portion of the future, and thus, were heavily protected. 

It wasn’t just taking in children that had massively began to increase the population of her people, but also one of the texts that had been found within Valyria. It was a scroll that involved blood sacrifice (aka literal blood, not lives) and sexual enjoyment. One that allowed for two women to have a child together. 

It was seemingly an ancient ritual from Valyria that had been practiced long ago, but had been forgotten in recent times, and had been mostly unused even in Old Valyria. But now it was being commonly utilized within her Empire, and had led to an uptake in children, with same sex marriage being legal in her Empire, albeit rather uncommon. 

Although it was common knowledge that the Empress of Adrea was Lesbian, and it was partially due to this that such things were not looked down upon at all. 

Reading through the reports, Adreana sighed. It looked like the Triarchy had been momentarily defeated by the Targaryens and Velaryon’s. A good thing, to be certain, but far from a permanent victory. Something that the two families would realize in the coming future, and would almost certainly regret not going to the cities of the Triarchy personally. 

Too bad for them, that she would likely be taking care of that little issue before it became one. 

There were also reports regarding the situation in Westeros, which was…basically a huge shit show. Their politics were awful, backwards, and horribly destructive. Not to mention corrupt as hell. 

‘Hmm, so it seems the little Heiress is soon to be married off to the Velaryon boy, it’s truly too bad, with what such an awful marriage will lead to’ Adreana thought, knowing that this marriage would be the start of the next “Phase”, with Rhaenyra Targaryen having bastard children, very obvious bastard children. 

It was the birth of these children that would eventually lead to the Dance of the Dragons, alongside her fathers foolishness, and the manipulations of Otto Hightower. 

‘Good thing I’m not involving myself in any of that. Let them destroy themselves, I could care less’ Adreana thought, sipping on her tea. She might have thought this, but she didn’t really feel this way. Adreana was commonly known in her Empire as being a very very kind person, almost too kind at some times.

She was kind to innocents and civilians, but absolutely ruthless to her enemies. And the Targaryens were not her enemies, especially not the children that would die due to these two factions, the Greens and the Blacks. 

‘I am interested in trade with the North, though. They have a lot of resources and materials unique entirely to their region, and they would be a good ally to have’ Adreana hummed, having long since planned on working with them at some point in the future, potentially even strengthening the North for the eventual Long Night. 

Adreana continued to read through the reports, signing papers and answering correspondence. But after a few more minutes of working, she stopped as a strange sensation filled her being, and her eyes widened in realization. 

‘S-Someone is trying to enter my lands?’ Adreana thought in alarm, as she felt like she was pulled from her body, and she was shown a distant place, and the one who was, her eyes widening more at the sight of a man unconscious on top of small pieces of wood, seemingly from the ship that he was on.

’…It seems he was in some sort of storm and pulled all the way out here. But how? Unless…that damn entity that brought me here did this’ Adreana thought with a frown, understanding that it was trying to get her involved in the greater world. Which she understood, but it was still annoying nonetheless. 

The temptation to just leave him to die was there, but as she stared at his unconscious form, a sigh escaped her lips, and for the first time since it’s birth. 

An outsider would be allowed into her lands. 

[Map of the current Empire. Ignore the capitals, and just focus on the Kingdom/State names. It also looks much smaller than it actually is. As the Empire is the size of the entirety of Westeros, including the lands beyond the wall, times 1.5. And that is not all the lands either, as there are lands farther West, which would make it even bigger]

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[3rd POV | Location: The Kush Kingdom]

Walking through the port city of Meroe, a dark skinned man walked through the beaches of the area, a smile on his face as he felt the warmth of the sun upon his skin. 

This was a regular occurance for him, to gaze at the sun and walk the beach, feeling the warmth of the life giver, and remembering the gifts of the Heavenly Empress. 

As he walked through the beach, he stopped as a gasp ripped from his throat, upon seeing a man unconscious on the beach, water and sand coating his dark skin, his white hair falling behind him as the man ran forward to the foreigner. 

“This man!” He whispered in shock. Reaching down to his neck, he felt for a pulse, breathing out as it seemed that he was alive. 

“Good, he is not with the Gods just yet” The man muttered, as he let out a grunt, lifting the man with slight difficulty, deciding to take him somewhere he could treat him. 

This man's name was “Babu” and was one of the resident healers, who had graduated from the great college of Superis, learning the arts of healing and farming, and was one of the best of his year in the arts. 

It didn’t take long before he had the man upon a small bed within his shack outside the city, treated and still unconscious. 

He wondered who the man was, but he remembered the words of his teachers ‘Man or woman. Foreigner or resident. All deserve to be treated with respect, and all deserve to be treated’  

Babu was ripped from his thoughts as a sharp gasp ripped through the room, as the unknown man shot up with a choked gasp, looking around sharply, as his eyes locked onto Babu. 

“Wh-who are you?! Where am I!? Where are my men!?” The man yelled, as Babu noticed he was speaking the common tongue of Westeros, a language that many of the Empire’s citizens had learned for the future. 

It was a common language in the Empire, alongside Greek, Latin, Arabic, and a handful of others. 

“Calm! You have just awoken from unconsciousness. Sit back, and calm yourself” Babu said, as the man growled, but slowly leaned back in the bed in silence. 

“Good. You are currently outside the city of Meroe, of the Kush Kingdom. I found you alongside the beaches in the outskirts of the city, and brought you to my home in order to heal” Babu explained calmly, as the mans eyebrows furrowed. 

“Meroe? Kush Kingdom? I have never heard of these places” The man said, as Babu chuckled. 

“Yes, that is to be expected. For we, these lands, are what lies West of Westeros. I believe that many of the scholars have dubbed theses lands as the “Hidden Continent”” Babu explained, amused at the wide eyed reaction the man showed, before he shook it off, deciding to calm himself, as he asked an important question. 

“…What is your name?”

”My name is Babu. It is nice to meet you, the first visitor of these lands” Babu replied as the man listened, before replying. 

“And I am Lord Coryls Velaryon…it is nice to meet you as well, Babu”

”Now…would you be willing to show me around this…Kush Kingdom?”

”It would be my honor!”

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Walking through the streets of Meroe, Corlys glanced around in slight surprise at the surroundings. It was tidy, with people walking through the markets with smiles on their faces. The markets in question sold all sorts of goods, many of which he had never seen before, and even more of them were of high quality. The sort of quality that would cost a pretty penny in Westeros, but was seemingly commonplace in this place. 

“Do you not have markets like this in Westeros?” Babu asked, slightly amused by the man's quiet shock at the surroundings.

Coughing awkwardly, Corlys replied “No, no we do not. Our markets are far…dirtier than this place, and do not carry spices and exotic goods like yours does, with only the biggest of the markets having such things. Perhaps Essos is similar…but not like this” Corlys said, remembering the markets he had seen in Essos, none of them comparing.

”How interesting. This is only one of the many markets of the Kingdom, and is far from the largest. But I suppose our lands are…quite different in comparison to the rest of the world” Babu responded with a small smile. 

“It certainly is” Corlys responded, admitting inwardly that the place was beautiful, even if it was sandy, it had a charm that most of Westeros simply did not. 

“Are your lands any different than Kush?” Babu asked. 

“…Very. I hail from Driftmark, an island that I am the Lord of. It is…beautiful, but nothing like this. We do not have such a warm and sandy atmosphere, except in the warmest of summers. It also smells more of the sea, unlike this place, which smells of spices and herbs” Corlys explained, as he enjoyed talking of his home. 

“There are towns that smell of the sea. Meroe is simply an important port city to the Kingdom” Babu replied, as he knew of what Corlys was speaking of in regards to the smells of the sea. 

“How large is the Kingdom, if I may ask?”

“Hmm, I suppose it should be roughly the size of the Westerlands and Reach combined? I am not entirely certain, to be honest” Babu replied, not really sure. All he knew was that the Empire was quite a bit larger than Westeros. 

“Truly? This land is that large?” Corlys asked in surprise. The Westerlands and Reach were both quite large, not as much as something like the North, which was larger than all the other Kingdoms combined (as they hadn’t conquered Dorne at this point). 

“Mmhmm. Our kingdom is far from small, and with that comes the ability to bring forth all of the goods that we sell” Babu replied with a nod. 

“Intriguing, truly. Would your kingdom be interested in a trade agreement with my family?”

”That is not something I can speak on, Corlys. You must speak to the ruler, but I can tell you that they would likely be interested in speaking with both you, and the King of Westeros. As soon our lands will be known to the entire world, and we wish for a good relationship with our Eastern friends” Babu responded, as this sort of stuff was public knowledge. 

“That…I would need to speak with his grace, but I believe he would be interested. Although…a trip to your lands may prove…difficult”

”Fear not. Now that you have come here once, you shall arrive here again much easier than before. According to the scholars, we are only a week sailing from the farthest islands that you Westerosi have found. Aegon, Visenya, and Rhaenys” Babu responded, the man looking surprised at this. 

“Truly? How is it none else have found this place?”

”We know not. But the scholars assume it has something to do with the magical protections of our founder. It is said that they placed impenetrable barriers around the land so that only those given permission may enter, and now that you have entered, you may return. This barrier however, is said to have a certain date in which it will fall, and that date is 115 AC according to the word of the scholars” Babu explained, as the man looked surprised at the mention of magic, but he has seen stranger, so he decided it would be best to find out more about that later on. 

“And how will I be able to leave? I do not have a ship to sail on” Corlys asked, as Babu hummed.

”I believe we can make an arrangement with the local mayor of Meroe. Once we explain your situation, I am certain that he will provide aid, especially if the ruler themselves wish to meet this King of yours, which they no doubt do” Babu replied, as the local mayor was a kind man, one who was well liked by the people. They also had an excess of ships, so it shouldn’t be hard to get Corlys one, as long as he repays them for it. 

“And I suppose I will need to pay for the ship, once I return?” Corlys asked, as Babu nodded. 

“And if you do not, then I doubt the ruler will be open to trade with Westeros, so I suggest not to try and cheat us out of the ship, once you see it” Babu replied, as Corlys looked at him with a raised eyebrow, but nodded in acceptance, understanding the point. 

“Now, let me show you around the town more!”

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That’s the end of the chapter!

Corlys and Babu have become friends! Corlys had found himself in the lands of the Kingdom of Kush. 

Love interest is Rhaenyra. 

There’ll likely be a timeskip in the next chapter, before Corlys returns back to the Empire with Viserys in tow, alongside others of course. 

Anyways, have a good day!