Game of Thrones: Viserys the Three-Headed Dragon.

Chapter 285: Casting stones to ask for directions
The night is long and it is difficult to see the stars.

Before we knew it, Westeros had been in the Long Night for two and a half years.

The coldest winter in eight thousand years has entered its third year.

Even in Dorne, the southernmost city in Westeros, where the Red Mountains block the cold currents from the north, all activities outside the fortress were stopped due to the long cold nights.

After the initial year of fierce attacks, the White Walker army entered a dormant period lasting more than a year, dispersing deep into the south of Westeros, and their traces once appeared in the area of ​​the Greenblood River in Dorne and the Mead River in Oldtown.

Even Dorne and the castles in the hinterland of the South have staged the story of "the boy who cried wolf" many times, but during the more than a year of lurking, there have been constant small fights in some small strongholds, and no major battles to siege cities and seize territory.

However, the coal supply lines of Viserys in Dorne, the Stormlands and the Westerlands were eventually discovered by the White Walkers. Over the past year or so, the two sides had waged guerrilla warfare and security warfare around the coal transportation routes, and Viserys had deployed more and more troops in a long snake formation along the coal transportation routes.

It's funny to say that, as the invaded party, it was Viserys who was tired of being harassed and beaten by small-scale guerrilla warfare in various places for more than a year, and kept looking for opportunities to fight large-scale battles. Viserys even began to consciously throw out bait to induce the White Walkers to gather their troops for field battles, besiege points and attack reinforcements, and attack the center.

Although humans still seem to be at a disadvantage and are suppressed around the castle over the past year, the greater the pressure from the White Walkers, the faster Viserys develops. Over the past year, as more and more monks have connected Viserys with the warriors of the Seven Gods, Viserys has consciously hinted and spread the word. Under the spiritual inspiration of "Divine Interpretation", the ascetics of the Great Sept of Baelor, like their predecessors when the Andals landed, devoutly wore cloth shoes and simple woolen clothes in the long nights and cold winters, and rushed to various fortresses where the roads were almost cut off, regardless of life and death.

With a new understanding and interpretation of the "warrior's gospel", they spread the gospel of faith to the trained militiamen in the long night.

The new "warrior faith" spread rapidly as civilians' winter food supplies gradually ran out in many places.

This winter was exceptionally cruel. Despite Viserys's early propaganda, some civilians who had stored food based on their experience were unable to go out to fish, hunt, or dig wild vegetables to get food like they were used to in the winter because of the long nights. They were concentrated in the castle and, under the guidance of Viserys, had to make a living by working at jobs provided by the king.

They could either join the militia or go out to dig trenches, clear snow from roads, cut wood, etc. in exchange for wages and food. Viserys refused to support idlers, and any materials had to be exchanged for labor, corvée, and money. Viserys's granary was never given away for free. It served to stabilize the people's hearts, stabilize the prices of necessities, and let everyone know that as long as they were willing to work and labor, they would not starve to death.

The role of the Templar was to assist in the areas that Viserys had deliberately ignored.

The Seven Sacred Septs regularly provide free communion to poor civilians during worship services - the Septs usually have their own reserves, and will buy from Viserys when they are insufficient, and the free food is always accompanied by the spread of doctrine.

Under the threat of the White Walkers in the Long Night, joining the militia, praying to the warriors for courage, and working to save oneself have become common knowledge under Viserys's propaganda.

There was always work to be done for the King's officers, including digging trenches, processing wool and textiles, transporting logs and supplies, and working with local lords to build a defensive wall outside the fortress, which lasted for two years.

The militia is always recruiting new soldiers and has the task of long-term training and assisting the regular army.

The militia has everything good, including food and accommodation, but patrolling outside the city is very dangerous. If you encounter zombies, casualties are common.

Viserys was actually finding ways to create more jobs for civilians during the long night.

If we talk about what is really useful, it is to build a factory next to a coal mine in the long night, and at the same time build a steel plant and metallurgy, which can be called the prototype of industry.

As time passed, Viserys's preparations over the past year or so began to pay off.

Over the past year or so, as the White Walkers developed their own strength, Viserys's determination grew, his followers increased every day, and the Song of the Storm, which he gathered into his own strength through the power of faith, grew every day.

The efficiency of converting the followers of the Seven Gods was too high, and Viserys suspected that he was the "god" who gained the greatest benefit after the Long Night.

However, the more benefits Viserys gained, and the greater the power he controlled with the power of faith, the more doubts Viserys felt in his heart grew every day.

Since the beginning of this war, whether it was Viserys, the Red God R'hllor, the God of Cold, or the Drowned God who had recently fought a battle with R'hllor in the River Rhoine and a great battle of water and fire against the corpses of Essos in the Golden Fields, they were either developing believers or maintaining the status quo.

Only the Three-Eyed Raven seemed to have gained nothing except helping Viserys prevent the God of Cold from completely occupying Westeros. The North also lost a large number of believers, and even the remaining people began to subtly lean towards Viserys.

There is no way. Believing in "Warrior Viserys" and praying to him for courage can really get some "positive feedback". Viserys can use bioelectricity to stimulate the adrenaline of believers and pan-believers when they pray for courage, making them forget their fear for a short time.

But the Three-Eyed Raven and the Old Gods just let Viserys do what he wants, converting a large number of believers and increasing their power. It can even be said that the war situation in Westeros has exceeded pre-war expectations as Viserys' power has grown, and they no longer need to rely on "dragging" to find a chance of victory.

Viserys was even trying to force the White Walker army to jump out for a decisive battle.

Unless the God of Cold showed his power himself, Viserys didn't think he would lose to anyone on the battlefield now.

But as his power grows, Viserys is now most worried not about the God of Cold, but the old god, the Three-Eyed Raven.

Although the other party had been cooperating happily with Viserys, and after several battles, they had developed a tacit understanding, and the other party even helped Viserys to make a cross-era communicator.
But the more Viserys felt that he had an advantage over the White Walker army deployed by the God of Cold in Westeros, the more he couldn't understand what the Three-Eyed Raven wanted to gain from this war.

Viserys believed that what the Three-Eyed Raven said to him was true, but the other party must have been holding back, and there must be an information gap between them.

Of course, Viserys also has reservations about the Three-Eyed Raven. They are both on guard against each other and neither of them can say anything about the other. But everything Viserys does can be traced. He is now doing addition, and the purpose of his behavior is relatively easy to guess, but the old gods are now doing subtraction. Viserys is at a loss as to the purpose of the old gods and there is no trace to be found.

Viserys had tried to explore the purpose of the Old Gods, and had tried to do so more than once. Viserys even observed Jon Snow, the Old Gods' spokesperson on the Wall, through the eyes of different believers, trying to find a breakthrough from him. However, Jon seemed to be just a tool man with magical talents, just a smokescreen and a tool thrown by the Old Gods, and Viserys could get nothing from Jon.

Jon stood in front of the stage and realized that he was a smokescreen placed in front of the stage. Viserys knew that the old gods must have a greater plan.

But as the situation has developed to this point, with the White Walker offensive easing, Viserys has fewer and fewer opportunities to test the waters.

Viserys could even keenly perceive that not only Jon Snow, but also Viserys himself was in a sense an ally put forward by the Old Gods to attract attention. The Old Gods had been hiding behind Viserys since the war began.

"Lord Brynden, I have a proposal." Viserys summoned the Three-Eyed Raven and decided to discuss the next move with him and make some probing moves. "Although the South is shrouded in the long night, the climate is relatively much better. I plan to try field combat in the South. Not a large army, but let the knights wearing thunderstorm armor lead only a small team of elite soldiers to perform reconnaissance duties deep in the wilderness. Their job is to find the army with a larger number of White Walker troops. I will use the Valyrian steel armor and their faith array to carry out targeted strikes on the gathering places of the White Walkers. What do you think of this tactic? Since the White Walker army has chosen to disperse its forces, instead of waiting for them to gather and passively be attacked, it is better to take the initiative to go out and seek opportunities to fight in some advantageous areas."

"Doing this will cost you a lot of strength. It will cost you a lot to collect faith and destroy only a small number of zombies. This is not worth it." "You think so?"

"What we have to defeat is the Long Night. The army of the White Walkers is just a threat in the Long Night. The difference between them and the cold wave that can freeze people to death is that the army of the White Walkers is more flexible."

"So we really have to wait 20 or 30 years or even longer, a generation, two generations? Until the long night is over?"

"I thought you were well prepared. Aren't the supplies you prepared for ten or twenty years?"

Viserys shrugged. "Supplies are for mortals. I mean us. My strength is growing so fast that I wonder, what am I waiting for? What are you waiting for?"

The three-eyed crow's eyes flickered. "I understand your confidence growing with your power, but believe me, Viserys, taking the initiative to attack in the long night is a risky act."

"Under the long nights of the relatively warm southern regions," Viserys corrected him, then casually said, "I thought you would be happy to hear my plan of counterattack."

"If you insist, you are the commander-in-chief after all." The Three-Eyed Raven smiled slightly, "But my power cannot help you in the South Territory. Do you hope to fight back at the Great Wall as well?"

"Speaking of the Wall." Viserys paused. "Now that the White Walkers' offensive on the Wall has eased, I plan to rotate a group of the defenders on the Wall to Winterfell for rest. Especially the wounded and the soldiers who have made meritorious contributions in the previous battles. Winterfell has warm hot springs. I plan to arrange for the defenders to rotate and rest between battles to relieve the physical and mental health of the soldiers who have been guarding the Wall for nearly two years."

".Your attitude towards mortals once again impresses me," the Three-Eyed Raven nodded, "On the other hand, is this the bait you threw out?"

"They have been lurking for too long, and the decision on whether to start a war is always in their hands."

The Three-Eyed Raven commented: "This is a good move."

"I plan to include the Night's Watch's battle heroes in the first group of people who will be resting, to show that I treat all the defenders equally."

"The Night's Watchmen on the Great Wall now only make up a small part of the garrison, but they are the ones doing the most difficult reconnaissance missions. It is indeed necessary to appease them."

Viserys replied, "This is no consolation. I promised to give the Night's Watch the honor it deserves, and to change the image it had during the long summer as a place where criminals could flee. I must answer for what I said."

The Three-Eyed Raven nodded, "I must admit, before the war I never thought the situation would develop so quickly and so well."

Viserys heard this and said with emotion, as if he hadn't noticed, "Now that I think about it, wasn't our first counterattack a bit hasty? If we had waited a little longer, we wouldn't have gotten to where we are now."

The Three-Eyed Raven responded to Viserys's lament without any concern: "We cannot predict the future before it happens."

Viserys blinked. "Yes, the future is always unpredictable, like a maze." His tone seemed to imply something.

The Three-Eyed Raven's gaze rested on Viserys and fell silent.

A lot of things happened during Winterfell's first counterattack, but there's one thing Viserys still doesn't quite understand.

The cellars of Winterfell.

Viserys heard vague oral accounts from some people, and finally pieced together the "truth" that Lady Catelyn of Winterfell and Rickon Stark who suddenly appeared were unfortunately killed in the crypt while hiding from the invaders thrown into the castle by the army of the wights.

Lady Sansa of Winterfell forbade the spread of this matter, and the incident was glossed over afterwards. Only a few people knew some fragmentary details about the related events and results.

The army of the White Walkers was approaching, and the military composition of Winterfell at the time was complex, with personnel from all over the place mixed. This sad thing was treated as the Stark family's family affair, and it did not cause much splash, and soon no one cared about it.

But Viserys never considered this a trivial matter.

Viserys was convinced that Rickon Stark's sudden appearance and death must be related to the Three-Eyed Raven, and Catelyn's death further proved this.

No matter what, Catelyn was the one who was resurrected by R'hllor through miracle. How could she have died quietly for no reason?

There must be some unknown secrets behind the deaths of Rickon and Catelyn, some clues related to the power of gods that mortals cannot detect. The deaths of Rickon and Catelyn could never be used just to exchange for a chance to counterattack on the battlefield.

Just as the Three-Eyed Raven believed that Viserys's plan to project power and carry out targeted strikes in the south was a "cost-unworthy" waste of power, then how could the chess pieces that the Three-Eyed Raven and R'hllor abandoned after making their moves be a waste of power for no reason?
What happened at Winterfell was the only place Viserys could think of where the Three-Eyed Raven might have left any trace.

Viserys planned to get involved, use a few chess pieces, and stir up some trouble.

Thanks to the complex personnel structure in Winterfell, Viserys has already figured out which direction to start from.

When Viserys began planning for Winterfell's rotation, two candidates had already been decided.

Arya Stark.

Tyrion Lannister.

Arya and Sansa, Tyrion and Littlefinger, it is foreseeable that there will be strange reactions between them.

Viserys wanted to use their entanglement to find traces of the silent war of gods in Winterfell.

(End of this chapter)