In any case... with great power comes great responsibility... is what he pretty much just sort of imparted to them.
A profound phrase that should have a profound effect... if said by a relative on his or her dying breath.
Then again, Ronan knew from experience that they will still most likely overdo it.
If given abilities that are beyond normal… it's just a given for former normies to abuse the heck out of it.
More so for someone like Ronan who had a page that aided him for every use and rewarded him for reaching milestones.
Like he did with warging... since his babyhood.
And if not for the medium issue, he would've runed so much and graffiti-ed Runestone into a scribbled mess already.
As a matter of fact, this whole retaliation campaign is just an opportunity to gauge both his skinchanging and runed creations.
Since the trouble seekers gave the opportunity... he simply took advantage.
Myr simply happened to be the one that presented the most intent for resistance at this point and bore the brunt of it all.
So, it wasn't as clean as a takeover as it had been with the strategically weakened Tyrosh.
Meaning that there were some damages to repair... and this Free City isn't as "free" of a "purchase" as it should have been.
Though the conquered Myrmen would really have no choice but to pay restitution for themselves... so maybe it was just lucrative overall, and he was fussing over nothing.
Accordingly, with all of that muttered in his mind... Ronan's thoughts then churned to the next step...
The next stop after a considerable while of consolidating this here place.
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Obviously, following the fall of Myr, attention was finally turned to the last of the three cities that had once formed the Triarchy.
Lys.
Of the sister cities… Lys has perhaps the most peculiar in reputation and nature alike.
Where Tyrosh thrived upon dyes and shipping, and Myr upon craft and invention... this one may have prospered through beauty, pleasure, and the trade of flesh.
Even when it is a city that lies upon a fertile island in the Summer Sea, west of the Disputed Lands.
Unlike its counterpart island city, Lys was blessed with fertile soil and warm winds.
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Vineyards and orchards dotted the island, and its fields produced fruits and wines that were carried across the Narrow Sea.
Lyseni vintners were widely praised, and their strong wines were favored in ports from Pentos to Oldtown.
Yet as mentioned, trade in wine and fruit was only part of Lys’s wealth.
The city might actually be more known for its pleasure houses… which were said to be the finest in all the world.
Here, courtesans trained in music, dance, poetry, and other more intimate arts entertained nobles and merchants alike.
Some were born free, others were bedslaves raised from childhood to serve such purposes. Bred from generations of handsome youths and pretty girls.
Through these, the trade in slaves remained one of the pillars of Lys’s prosperity.
While the other Free Cities had trafficked heavily in dyes or craft… Lys had refined the practice in its own kind of art.
With their markets supplying servants, concubines, and entertainers to courts and households throughout Essos. Perhaps only rivalled and outdone by those from Slaver's Bay.
Regardless, for these reasons, the city was rarely without coin.
And when there's coin, there's always the rich that hold the most of it... the rulers… the magisters drawn from wealthy families.
With these magisters governing through a conclave that debated trade, alliances, and war… though the captains of the city’s armies and fleets held influence of their own.
Overall, its culture was unique and could have remained that way for a long while
But as known by many... the Lyseni just had to join Tyrosh and Myr to form the Triarchy...
To repel Volantis, at first.
Yet they just had to overdo it.
By hoping to control the Stepstones and even turning their ambition towards Westeros for whatever haughty reasons.
Which was when and where they collectively erred.
Especially as they've provoked someone they shouldn't have.
With Lys itself being at the tail end of the Bronze's Retaliation...
Dorne... Tyrosh... Myr... and then them...
The Lyseni read many accounts of what happened to those priorly mentioned. From scattered missives and bird-carried letters that were able to make their way.
They've long read and experienced krakens rising from the sea... dreaded of dragons burning armies in open field...
But for the most unwelcomed and recent addition... the Lyseni have now been informed of bronze-armored warriors whose strange abilities are just as fearsome.
Absurdities that could have been dismissed as exaggeration… however, the results could not be any further from the truth.
So… the magisters under their selected First Magister's purview… had long debated amongst themselves in never-ending meets.
And a final consensus was eventually reached...
After realizing what resistance had only brought to their allies.
Dorne was assaulted by dragons and forced to assimilate.
Tyrosh had lost its freedom after being starved and weakened.
Myr had lost its power and much of its city in a single violent assault.
With just that enumerated, the Lyseni had little desire to test whether their fate would prove worse.
Sure, some of them argued for resistance... some dared propose options like the strangler or the infamous tears of Lys... but many others saw reality more clearly...
Even the gonfaloniere was more cognizant of the despairing truth.
That the bronzene Westerosi was inevitable.
If krakens ruled the seas, the Lyseni fleets would continue to be trapped in their home as if it were their prison.
If dragons took to the sky, their vineyards and pleasure gardens would burn like dry straw.
And if the bronze warriors came ashore... the city’s armies and scrounged-up sellswords would not hold the walls for long.
So... it was just better... to bend than to break.
Better to preserve whatever they could of their wealth, their trade, and their people.
Perhaps an act of cowardice is enough to make their upcoming adjudicators more lenient.
Which is why when the bronze sails finally appeared off the coast of Lys... they actually found no sliver of resistance.
Instead, the Lyseni welcomed them with subservience.
From the magisters… their guards… their city’s soldiers… and even their slaves…
All had come to enact their collective decision…
All of them bent the knee.
Nevertheless… with this simplistic submission of theirs... all of the Triarchy's three pillars now pass under new authority.
The authority of the Bronze Order, House Royce... and most distinctly, to the authority of Ronan Royce... the Prince Consort of Westeros.
