The Mountain of Ice and Fire

Chapter 479: Establishing the First Base

Casterly Rock. Inside the main keep's tower. The Mountain, Reynard Westerling, Dogmouth, Maester Yassa, and twenty tribal chiefs were present, led by Haggai of the Cave Dweller tribe, Raelph of the Black Bear tribe, and Iffley of the Cavern tribe.

"What is this?" Haggai, the chief of the Cave Dweller tribe, asked.

"An aqueduct!" The Mountain said. "Aqueduct design."

"Why does it look like a bridge?"

"It is a bridge, but not for people to walk on, a water bridge."

"Built in the air?"

"Yes, to ensure the cleanliness of the water."

"I don't see the need at all," Haggai stated flatly. "We can just draw the water from the aqueduct along the ground. We've been drinking mountain spring water for centuries, scooping it up from ground-level streams and ditches."

"Now that our people and soldiers are living together in concentrated areas, the population will continue to grow. The ground is very unsanitary, so we must ensure the cleanliness of the water to reduce illnesses among the soldiers and people."

"Completely unnecessary," Haggai insisted. "We've never even heard of an aqueduct in the air. How much time, manpower, and coin will it take to build this snake-like thing!"

"General, I'm not asking for your opinion. You and your tribe's people and warriors must all listen and do as you're told. This is an order," The Mountain said, glaring at Haggai.

"Yes, Lord Mountain," Haggai said, striking his left chest with his right fist.

They had learned to respect orders during their journey. The Mountain's management of the mountain people was completely militarized from the start, with severe punishments for those who disobeyed.

The Mountain looked over the tribal chiefs: Raelph, Iffley, North, Cumberland, Billy, Vito, Drum, Avon, Ingersoll, Still, Chipman… "Does anyone have a problem? If you do, don't say it. Keep it to yourself. Casterly Rock's soldiers and people must have a high-altitude aqueduct for their drinking water. The aqueduct must be high enough off the ground for cavalry to pass under."

Raelph, the chief of the Black Bear tribe, led the chiefs in saying, "Yes, Lord Mountain."

The chiefs' responses were not yet uniform, but with more time and practice, they would naturally shout in unison.

*

When leaving the Mountains of the Moon, the warriors and people of each tribe had sworn allegiance to the Mountain in their respective shrines. Those who refused to swear allegiance were naturally not given the opportunity to relocate, and they disdained moving elsewhere.

Once accustomed to backwardness and poverty, backwardness, poverty, remoteness, and seclusion become a comfortable sense of security. Making progressive changes causes discomfort.

But the young people who were willing to change and no longer wanted to live in the Mountains of the Moon were the majority. In fact, the people of the Mountains of the Moon were not unwilling to come out, but every time they believed in others and came out, they ended up being deceived.

This time was different. Timothy, Conn, Shaka, and others had already paved the way for them!

None of the warriors of the mountain clans dared to disobey the Mountain!

They regarded the Mountain as a true hero, an unparalleled warrior.

*

"This aqueduct looks like a spider web!" Iffley, the chief of the Cavern tribe, said.

"It's easy to bring mountain spring water down from the back mountain. Building the aqueduct is not difficult. The artisans from Rocky Cliff City and the Clegane army will guide you on how to do it," The Mountain said, looking at Maester Yassa from Rocky Cliff City. "Maester, can you be responsible for building the aqueduct?"

The maesters of the Citadel had to be proficient in various fields of scientific knowledge. Architecture, planting, animal husbandry, medicine, and accounting were all basic skills. For each exam passed, they would receive a metal link corresponding to that science. Maester Yassa's metal chain was very long, with more than a dozen metal links, indicating that he was proficient in more than ten different fields of scientific knowledge.

"As you wish, Lord Mountain."

"Chiefs, General Reynard, Dogmouth, you all know the story of Casterly Rock, and you've heard the song of Casterly Rock's rainy season. So, to prevent the same tragedy from happening again, I designed these ground-level towers, as well as a secret passage to the back mountain."

"Ground towers and a secret passage?" Chief Haggai said.

"Yes, Casterly Rock has a weakness: its low elevation. If the enemy digs open the aqueduct and pours water from the nearby river into it, the soldiers and people in the city will drown. Underground drainage can only drain the city's daily water usage, but it cannot quickly drain the overflowing river water. Therefore, we must build armed towers and escape towers on the ground, and also secretly dig a secret passage leading to the back mountain. The towers on the ground are connected to the towers in the underground city. If the enemy attacks with water, we can come out through the ground towers to attack the enemy, while the people can retreat to the back mountain through the secret passage."

"Is this the starting point for digging the secret passage?" Maester Yassa asked, pointing to the stables on the drawing.

"Yes, no one would expect us to build our escape passage under the stables. The stables are also closest to the back mountain. The Maester's Tower and the Lord's main keep tower must all have branch secret passages dug underneath, connected to the stables' escape passage."

"Hmm, aerial aqueduct, ground towers, back mountain secret passage, these are the three buildings that need to be built. Then what are these houses on the city map?"

"Communal toilets," The Mountain said. "Each tribe's residential area must have an appropriate number of enclosed public toilets built, according to distance. The toilets must be emptied regularly and carried to the farmlands outside to be stored."

"How do you store them in the farmlands?" Haggai asked, his eyes wide.

"Dig cesspools for storage. Every household of farming people must dig a cesspool in their farmland. The cesspool must be covered or fenced off, otherwise some wild children will fall in and drown. This is an administrative order, and no one is allowed to disobey. Willing or unwilling, the people must fully comply."

"Yes, Lord Mountain!" The chiefs agreed. This time, they shouted much more uniformly than the last time.

*

Communal toilets – this was the first time all the tribal chiefs of Casterly Rock had heard this name. In the mountains, it was very convenient for them to relieve themselves on the spot, men, women, old, and young alike, were all used to it. In front of and behind houses, under trees, among mountain rocks, by streams, by ponds… (Someone once lived in a remote ethnic minority village for a while, and the sanitary conditions were very primitive. The outside world is modern society… but some places are still backward.)

The Mountain's meetings were simple and crude. You could explain, you could doubt, you could not understand, you could feel awkward, you could not want to do it, but you had to execute.

The armor and longswords he gave to the chiefs and warriors were precious items that they could not have accumulated in several lifetimes in the Mountains of the Moon. The living conditions he gave them in the castle, the fertile land he gave to the people, were noble castles and fertile land that they had never dared to dream of in more than a dozen generations.

*

The Mountain looked at Reynard and Dogmouth: "General Reynard, Dogmouth, you will assist Maester Yassa, lead two thousand mountain warriors, three thousand people, the one thousand artisans you brought, one thousand soldiers, and recruit five hundred stonemasons, carpenters, and construction workers from other towns. Starting tomorrow, build aqueducts, ground towers, underground secret passages, and public toilets."

"Yes, Duke," Reynard and Dogmouth bowed together.

"Haggai, Raelph, Iffley, North, Cumberland, Billy, Vito, Drum, Avon, Ingersoll, Still… you will lead your respective tribal warriors and people, and everything must listen to the arrangements of the Maester and the two generals. First build Casterly Rock, then train troops and fight wars."

"Yes, Lord Mountain."

*

A few days later, the Mountain left Casterly Rock and arrived at Tabek Hall.

Many parts of Tabek Hall had been completely renovated. The speed of two thousand soldiers and three thousand people was not slow. The repair of the city walls was basically completed, and the city gates were being built and would soon be installed. The abandoned houses and walls had basically been restored.

Whether soldiers or people, everyone worked together to repair the houses and castles that already belonged to them, and the progress of the work was astonishingly fast.

In Tabek Hall were Lady Janei, Maester Halleck, Maester Stanbach, and Earl Mooton, who had returned earlier.

When the Mountain arrived, he made the same request – Janei, Halleck, Stanbach, Earl Mooton, Timothy, chief of the Scorcher tribe, Zilla, chief of the Black Ear tribe, Shaka of the Stone Crow tribe, Gonsal, chief of the Moon tribe, and about twenty other tribal chiefs, to build drinking water aqueducts in the city, and to build 'communal toilets' in the city as a complement.

A drinking water issue and a people's sewage issue are key points in urban civilization construction.

The Mountain put forward the overall concept, explained the reasons and rationale, and then, with both administrative and military orders, required everyone in the city to participate in the new construction.

As for artisans, artisans from all over the Westerlands could be recruited, as long as they were paid!

*

Rhonin Keep.

A small town located between Casterly Rock and Tabek Hall.

Stra Rhonin was the lord of Rhonin Keep.

He had a hobby: he liked to sunbathe on top of the main keep tower.

On the walls of Rhonin Keep, two large flags fluttered: one was the Clegane family's red smoke beast ice sword flag, and the other was the Rhonin family's sentinel tree flag.

Earl Rhonin squinted lazily. The sound of footsteps echoed rapidly on the spiral staircase. The guard, Dick Rhonin, hurried up: "Earl, the Mountain is here."

Rhonin jumped up from the deck chair as if a red-hot branding iron had burned his buttocks. Ever since the Mountain brought the barbarians into Tabek Hall and Casterly Rock, Rhonin had been uneasy. He looked relaxed on the surface, but he was always uneasy in his heart.

The Mountain was not a reasonable person. Rumor had it that the barbarians under his command were ruthless killers and were loyal to the Mountain.

Rhonin and many small lords in the Westerlands believed that the Lannisters' power in the Westerlands was gone. The rumor that Tywin had been killed at the Crossroads in the Riverlands was spreading like wildfire in the Westerlands. If the news was true, then no one in the Westerlands could restrain the Mountain.

Earl Rhonin, who had been worried that the Mountain would come looking for trouble, finally got his wish very quickly.

He had originally planned to visit the Mountain after the Mountain had settled the barbarian soldiers and people, but he did not expect the Mountain to come in person. This was too fast. The Mountain did not even wait for the matters of Tabek Hall and Casterly Rock to be finished before coming to Rhonin Keep. Was this a blessing or a curse?

"How many people did the Mountain bring?"

"A Clegane light cavalry, about five hundred; two hundred-man squads of sword and shield soldiers, two hundred-man squads of spearmen, and two hundred-man squads of archers. They are flying King Joffrey's royal banner and the Clegane family's red smoke beast ice sword flag!"