Game of Thrones: Viserys the Three-Headed Dragon.

Chapter 95: Introduction to Astronomy
When the young Dragonstone scholar was summoned to the Table Hall, he looked as serious as a man in his sixties.

Maester Pylos dared not neglect his lord, who was perhaps even younger than him. He had thought that the letter the king had asked him to send to all parts of the country was full of empty words, and was an excuse for the king to show his existence to the world. But today the king actually took the time to inspect the farmland in the Dragonstone town, and talked for a long time with the lord's farmers and self-employed farmers about the harvest and food reserves before winter. It is said that the farmers who went to watch and the people from the town who came to join in the fun surrounded the farmland so tightly that no one could get through. Fortunately, the soldiers in armor maintained order.

All these actions made Maester Pylos feel that the king's thinking was eccentric and mysterious: "You summoned me, Your Majesty."

Viserys wore a purple robe that covered his entire body, leaving only his head and hands exposed.

Pylos was in the Tuzhuo Hall, and the king was at the open window at the other end of the hall. Pylos could feel that the wind blowing from there was warm, without any chilliness of the autumn night breeze.

"This is what happened, Maester Pylos. I'm sorry to bother you so late at night. I just came back and saw a letter from King's Landing. It said that King Joffrey of King's Landing and Margaery of the Tyrell family will be married on the first day of the new year, which is also the first day of the new century." When Viserys said this, he didn't seem to care at all that the original purpose of the letter was to provoke Stannis, but it seemed more like a provocation when it fell into his hands. He just narrated as usual, and then asked, "In fact, I have always had a question that I have always wanted to find someone to solve. How does the Citadel determine the turnover of a year?"

The calendar of Westeros was promulgated by the Citadel, but in this world where the seasons change irregularly, it was difficult for Viserys to imagine how people calculated the calendar. He could not find the answer from the original knowledge reserve of this body, so he could only ask the most knowledgeable maester on Dragonstone.

"It's astrology, Your Majesty." Maester Pylos did not find the question strange at all and answered seriously, "The maesters in the Citadel pay much attention to the study of astrology and use it to calculate the year."

"Do you know what the sign is?" Viserys asked.

"The Twelve Zodiac Signs of the Sky. The academy determines the time based on the positions of the Twelve Zodiac Signs in the sky." Pylos was a little nervous.

Viserys asked, "If I understand correctly, a year is a cycle of astrological regression, right? Can you come over and point out the twelve constellations to me, and how to determine the starting point of the astrological regression?"

"Uh," Maester Pylos tried to answer calmly, "I'm sorry, Your Majesty, my major in the Citadel is not astronomy. But I can point out the twelve constellations and their main stars to Your Majesty."

Viserys said, "I am curious. Come here."

As Pylos approached the king, he could feel the warm wind, and he was sure it was not coming from the brazier beside the king. In fact, Viserys had a new legend in town today, whispering that the new king of Dragonstone was of true dragon blood, with the same heat as the dragons. Viserys hoped that the rumors would eventually make him the pyromancer of the Targaryen family, the heir of Valyrian magic.

Pylos stood on the balcony above the gap in the stone drum tower and pointed out the twelve constellations in the sky and the main stars of each constellation to Viserys.

Maester Pylos is not a good teacher.

Viserys III was not an expert in astronomy, so he was confused by the lecture. By the end, he still had no idea which stars formed a constellation or where the main star was. But he did not ask any more questions, so he just said, "Do you have any books on this kind of thing, with star charts?"

Maester Pylos replied, "Well, if your majesty needs it, I can write to the Citadel and borrow such books."

"Yes." Viserys let go of the maester who didn't know much about astronomy during his studies at the Citadel and asked the next question, "How does the Citadel calculate the change of seasons?"

Maester Pylos swallowed his saliva and said, "The maesters of the Citadel will observe the changes in the length of the day and submit the results to the Cardinal Council, which will decide when to consider the end of a season."

Viserys continued, "Do you know how it is calculated?"

"Well," Maester Pylos replied, "Your Majesty, may I write a letter to ask? This requires asking the doctors of the Cardinal Council for an answer."

The Council of Cardinals is the governing body of the Citadel. Grand Maesters are elected by them, and only the Council of Cardinals can decide on the appointment and removal of Grand Maesters - just as the Archbishops of the Seven Gods are elected by the Holy See. All meetings of the Council of Cardinals are confidential and are held only inside the Citadel, isolated from the outside world. Doctors who are considered "masters" in a certain field of knowledge are given the right to attend the Council of Cardinals.

In a sense, the Academy is also a huge mysterious organization in this world, but it discloses some of its secrets, causing people to always ignore its mysterious nature.

Viserys asked another question. "And what about the week? Is it the cycle of a star? Do you know that?"

"It's the cycle of seven stars, Your Majesty." Maester Pylos was confident about this question. "The positions and brightness of the seven wandering stars in the sky alternate, and each rotation lasts for a week. In the Cult of the Seven Gods, the believers of the Seven Gods have given these seven wandering stars religious significance about the Seven Gods, that is, the seven-pointed stars representing the Seven Gods."

This is similar to the Earth. There is a saying about the Earth's week that the positions and brightness of the seven planets, the sun, the moon, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus and Saturn, alternate in the sky, which is collectively called the Seven-Planet Week System.

"Interesting." Viserys asked with interest, "Do you know the origins of these calendars, weeks, and astrology? Did the Citadel teach you these?"

"." Maester Pylos was stumped. "I haven't thought about that, Your Majesty. This knowledge seems to have existed in the Citadel since ancient times. I have never thought about its origin. Perhaps it can be traced back to the astrologers in the Age of Heroes." He was not sure either.

Seeing that he could not get any more information from Pylos, Viserys simply stopped asking him and changed the subject: "By the way, has there been any reply to the letter I sent out before?"

"Except for the lords of the Narrow Sea, no other reply has been received, Your Majesty."

"." Viserys didn't ask any more questions. "It's getting late. Maester, go back and get some rest."

After sending Pylos away, the regent princess Daenerys, who theoretically should have been in one of the towers on Dragonstone, but was placed in the bedroom behind the main hall on the second floor of the Stone Drum Tower, walked out of the partitioned room on the top floor of the king's main castle and asked curiously, "Why are you interested in the stars in the sky?"

Viserys didn't beat around the bush and told her frankly: "I just had a sudden thought. If the gods have entities, how do you think they are most likely to exist?"

"Stars?" Daenerys said. "The scripture of the Seven says that the seven stars represent the seven gods. For example, the red wandering star represents the blacksmith."

There are also many myths that say that the stars and the sun were created by gods, but if they knew what the stars in the sky are, they would not think so.

Viserys said bluntly: "Yes, stars. But this is just my fantasy." He raised his head and looked at the sky full of stars shining brightly.

In a world where true God exists, are these stars in the sky glass beads on a false sky, or are they planets belonging to the same star system and stars separated by countless light years in the universe?

But doubts without evidence are meaningless except for sinking oneself into nothingness. Viserys cheered up and shook off the random thoughts in his mind: "Dany, let's go. I promised to take you to a place before. Come with me." He threw away his robes and turned into a small dragon body, motioning her to get on his back. "Now?" Daenerys saw that she was wearing a silk dress and was still wondering whether to change.

"It doesn't matter what you wear there, as long as it doesn't burn me. Don't worry, I have a way."

In the darkness of the night, the sound of flapping wings could be heard from the top of the Stone Drum Tower. The young dragon in the room was curled up in the corner and sleeping. When he saw Daenerys and Viserys leave, he also flapped his wings and flew away from the castle.

When flying out of the castle and flying directly up along the huge cliffs, Daenerys soon discovered that the Dragonstone Castle, which seemed so huge, was so small compared to the huge Dragon Mountain. It was just a small fortress located in a corner of Dragon Mountain.

The steep cliffs of Longshan are like a huge curtain. The higher you go, the more you can feel how huge this mountain is.

In order to let Daenerys feel the hugeness of Dragon Mountain directly, and to let her use his own strange sensing ability, Viserys slowed down his flying speed after he was far away from the castle. He only became four or five meters tall, so that Daenerys could ride on him and have a wider field of vision.

Viserys flapped his wings slowly. They were still climbing up the great cliffs facing Dragon Mountain.

"It's following." Viserys was not moving very fast and the wind was not loud, but Daenerys could hear the sound of the baby dragon flapping its wings behind her to catch up.

"Whatever," Viserys replied.

Finally, the towering cliff came to an end, Daenerys sat up straight, took a deep breath, and her vision finally passed the cliff of Dragon Mountain.

Viserys descended from the highest point of the cliff, allowing Daenerys to overlook the volcanic terrain behind Dragon Mountain. Accustomed to seeing common mountains and rivers, Daenerys was shocked when she suddenly saw the volcanic scenery behind Dragon Mountain.

Looking down from here, the volcanic area on the back of Longshan is a huge basin as a whole. Several ridges formed by black lava that are much shorter than where they are and can barely be called mountains divide this huge basin into several areas.

It is night now, and you can clearly see the red magma pools of varying heights in the volcanic basin. In some areas, the red magma pools are connected by river-like magma rivers, flowing with red molten flames.

But in fact, the red lava area does not account for a large proportion of this huge basin. Most of the place is dark volcanic rock reefs that appear particularly dark in the night - yes, reefs. This terrain reminds Daenerys of the chaotic reefs on the seabed that can occasionally be seen at sea after the tide recedes.

In the night, these volcanic lavas have strange shapes and ups and downs, and hot steam comes out of geothermal vents from time to time, as if Longshan is a huge beast that is breathing.

This sparsely populated dead zone, where no living creatures can survive, is complex and intricate. From the highest point, one can easily see several huge craters that seem to lead directly to the interior of the volcano, where grayish-white hot steam is emitting and the deep red magma is dazzling even in the night.

Viserys waited for Daenerys to recover from the shock before saying to her, "Choose a place you want to go and I will take you there."

Daenerys could smell the pungent sulfur of the volcano, but the smell did not make her feel uncomfortable, but made her inexplicably excited. When she heard Viserys ask this, she looked around, wanting to go everywhere, but not in particular. Suddenly, she had an idea: "Where did you go before? I want to go to the place you have been to."

"Yes," Viserys said. "But where I went might be dangerous for you. See that huge crater down there?"

Daenerys looked at the direction where Viserys' head pointed. It was a huge crater. From a distance, she could see the raging heat and dazzling magma inside. The crater was huge, like the gate to hell. "Oh my God, were you resting in a place like that before?"

"You can too." Viserys suddenly grew larger and opened the mouth of his left head. "Go into my mouth. It's safer."

One of the characteristics of Viserys's ancient lioch dragon body is that his mouth can open very wide. When his body reaches a certain size, Daenerys can fit in his mouth. But both parties may have to endure the uncomfortable feeling.

This was the first time Daenerys had observed the mouth of Viserys's dragon body in this way. There was a dense layer of huge fangs on the outer edge of his mouth, like huge sharp spears.

Viserys had now transformed into the largest form he could, with a body length of sixty to seventy meters. The teeth in his mouth were so huge that Daenerys would not feel that she would be hurt if she entered his mouth.

Viserys's current form is a magical construct, so he doesn't need to eat. Moreover, the magic in his left skull is not activated, so his mouth is clean and there is no need to worry about the blood and flesh of wild beasts left behind or the foul smell.

Viserys lowered the left side of his head and extended his huge forked tongue like a snake to make room for her to step up. Then he used his middle head to say to her, "If you feel uncomfortable, pull my tongue three times, and I will take you away immediately."

The steam from the volcano is filled with sulfur gas, which is very dangerous for ordinary people. Although Daenerys is no longer a human in Viserys's eyes, it is still better to be cautious.

Daenerys climbed up Viserys's huge tongue and followed his curling tongue into the mouth of her brother's dragonized left head, which made her feel strange and new. When she came in, she found that the temperature in Viserys' mouth was lower than she thought, even much lower than the outside of the top of the volcano at this moment, and even cooler than the temperature of Viserys's scales. His huge tongue was soft against her back, like a warm and soft cushion. His mouth slowly closed to a half-open state, leaving a space.

Viserys turned his head on the right side, observed the situation inside, and asked, "Dany, can you see outside?" This body structure, which is very difficult for humans to understand, became like an instinct for Viserys when he first became like this in Hyrule, just like breathing, which he could master naturally without learning.

"Yes!" Daenerys told him loudly.

While they were doing this, they were particularly close to Daenerys and were no longer afraid of Viserys's baby dragon, which fluttered in front of Viserys, as if it wanted to get into Viserys' mouth with Daenerys.

Viserys paid no attention to it, but rose into the air, soaring at a furious speed, toward the crater in the basin below.

As the dragon's size grew, it became difficult to fly slowly. Viserys had tried to slow down as much as possible, but each flap of his wings still only covered half a body length, so Daenerys could only see the surrounding scenery through the slit in the dragon's mouth, and it kept changing in a blur.

Finally, at a certain moment, she felt Viserys lingering in the air, and the temperature in the dragon's mouth, which had originally felt cool, rose sharply. She could smell a strong smell of sulfur and feel her throat burning when she breathed.

Then, she felt Viserys slowly descending, and through the gap in the dragon's mouth, she saw that she was descending to a lower level than the ground with Viserys. On the strange stone wall in her field of vision, there was a dazzling light of fire, and her body could feel the burning air, making her sweat. Daenerys carefully crawled to the side of a huge tooth, hugged the giant tooth, crawled to the gap between the two giant teeth and looked down.

She could see that there was a huge lava lake below, and she had a strange feeling, as if something was attracting her, right beneath the hot lava.

(End of this chapter)