Game of Thrones: King of Harrenhal, starting with a blue hand stat panel

The Mandeb River is turbulent, and the water is quite muddy from Bitter Bridge to Gao Ting, making it shallow for boats to sail.

Arthur stood at the bow of the pleasure boat "Centaur" surrounded by his attendants.

His yellow cape fluttered over his shoulders, making him look handsome and dashing.

On the Mandeb River, you might occasionally encounter the flower boats aboard the "Centaur".

The nobles and wealthy merchants on the ship greeted Arthur warmly upon seeing the bat flag.

"A salute to you, Arthur Hoan, darling of the tournament."

"Champion Arthur! Champion Arthur!"

A person's name, a tree's shadow.

This is the idol effect.

A lord's authority comes from power, while a knight's authority comes from the battlefield and the tournament arena.

Arthur traveled by boat south to Highgarden.

Along the way, you can see lush green grass and vast, fertile fields.

River Bend truly deserves its reputation as the premier granary of the Seven Kingdoms.

"The Reach is indeed bountiful," Sir Lucas remarked.

The Red Mountain Range divides the area into north and south, with vastly different geographical environments.

River Bend is rich and prosperous, while Dorne is hot and barren.

Dorne is more fragmented than the North.

Because of geographical barriers, the feudal lords acted independently.

Leaving aside the vast desert in the middle and the barren coastline in the south.

The major players are all based in their own territories and don't really connect with each other.

"Going down from the Bridge of Bitterness, there are the Long Table Hall and the Cider House, both renowned for their prosperity. However, after Old Earl Owen was expelled, the Long Table Hall has been under the administration of the Iron Throne. The fruits and vegetables of the Long Table Hall, and the 'Red Apples' apples and cider of the Forsoway family in the Cider House, are very famous," the captain of the Centaur explained to Arthur.

"Then I'll have to experience it properly." Arthur laughed heartily.

The territories of these two families in the middle reaches of the Mandeb River are better than those of the Casway family.

Both the Red Apple and Green Apple Forsovereign family are quite strong.

The coat of arms of the Marie Weiss family in the Long Table Hall is a white background with a golden sign of abundance overflowing with apples, carrots, plums, onions, leeks, turnips, and fruits of various colors, bordered in gold.

This also shows how fertile and productive their land is.

Today, this family, like the "Griffin" Clinton family and the "Farmer" Darryl family, has suffered during the dynastic change.

The long table hall was originally a place of wealth and power.

Until the Mad King stripped Earl Owen of his family lands and titles and exiled him because of his failure as Hand of the King.

Even after Robert succeeded to the throne, he did not easily forgive that old sycophant, Earl Owen.

The Earl of Irwin died in exile.

His grandson, Earl Orton, is currently in exile in the Eastern Continent and has to pay a considerable fine to the Iron Throne every two years.

Earl Orton has been spending money and trying to find a way to return to the Long Table Hall in his territory as soon as possible.

Although the Iron Throne is showing signs of weakening, Orton is not expected to return for the time being.

Orton's exile will probably last for several more years.

"The Reach isn't without its share of bad land, like the Peck family's," the captain said. "The Peck family's lands are full of stones, soil, and pride, but not much in terms of produce."

Both being frontier lords, Tali's Horned Hill was richer than Starshuttle City, and Peck had been bleeding money and paying reparations because he had chosen the wrong side.

"Poor Peck," Veri Ward said dismissively.

"There was nothing we could do. Ever since the Gardener King passed away, the Peck family has been on a downward spiral," the captain recalled.

Pike is a typical example of someone who lost everything, going all in and losing every time.

Star Shuttle City has now been reduced to nothing but frontier territory.

"Does this mean they're not even as good as the Mandalay family?" Veri asked.

"They're really not as good as the Mandalay family," the captain said definitively.

that's the truth.

Rose seems to be a natural archetype.

The Peck and Mandalay families fought fiercely for the throne of the River Bend, causing a decade of chaos in the region.

Ser Osmond Tyrell, the Grand Steward of Highgarden, united with forty houses to defeat the two and installed Men VI as king.

After Aegon's conquest, the Tyrell and Bark families had no blood ties and became estranged, leading to the gradual decline of the proud Bark family.

Now, Peck is far inferior to his old rival who was flourishing in the North.

The Centaur sailed downstream until it reached the Long Table Hall pier.

"Apples, top-quality apples, you'd still think they're cheap even if they cost twice as much!"

"Come buy some blood melons! They're as sweet as honey!"

Farmers sold their goods on the docks of the Long Table Hall or in the shade of the city walls of the Long Table Hall.

The captain and sailors of the Centaur would also purchase goods in the Long Table Hall to sell to the High Court.

"Who goes there?" the dock supervisor asked.

"The Casway family's pleasure boat, with distinguished guests on board."

The pleasure boat, flying the Casway family flag, also docked at the former Mariwell family's own dock, the dock where the giant gold flag was flying.

Now, next to the giant gold banner, the gold banner of the Crowned Bucks stands out even more.

The long table hall was rather awkward, because the lord had been exiled and had not yet returned.

Currently, the Iron Throne's tax collectors are in charge, and the entire Long Table Hall is temporarily considered the king's fiefdom.

"Welcome, guests from Bitter Bridge, guests from the River Ann family." The dock tax officer greeted them warmly.

Bitter Bridge and Long Table Hall are very close and have a close relationship.

"You should have informed me beforehand; I have only recently returned to the Long Table Hall. Please forgive any oversight, Master Arthur, Sir Lucas," said Wolf, the tax collector of the Long Table Hall, warmly.

"Thank you for your hospitality, sir. However, we are in a hurry to get to Highgarden, otherwise we would certainly have rested in the Abundant Long Table Hall," Arthur apologized.

Arthur and the captain have agreed not to linger in the Long Table Hall.

"That's a real shame," Ulf said with a smile, seemingly unconcerned. "Since I can't invite you in, please accept this small gift."

Ulf sent Arthur some fine wines, golden wine from Green Pavilion Island and superior spiced liqueur from Highgarden.

"These cost a lot." Arthur was still slightly shocked.

This tax official appears to have made a considerable amount of money in the long table room.

His attitude seemed overly enthusiastic.

"To be honest, Master Arthur," Ulf said in a low voice, "I still need to return to the King's Landing customs or tax office. I need to cultivate relationships with other important figures beforehand. Every year, Earl Aurelius appeals his rights, and if he pays some fines, the Prime Minister will surely let him return."

"Then I won't stand on ceremony." Arthur then had Veri give the tax collector some gifts in return.

Arthur thought the tax collector had good judgment.

Ulf's philosophy is also that having more friends means having more paths; make friends.

However, Arthur felt that Ulf's career prospects in King's Landing were not necessarily optimistic.

Once Littlefinger takes over, he will have purged King's Landing's financial system into his own Littlefinger gang.

Finally, Ulf personally led Arthur to purchase a considerable amount of high-quality fruit in the long table hall.

These fruits are excellent in both appearance and quality, and have a wonderful aroma.

Red apples, blood melons, purple grapes, oranges, pomegranates, and black plums.

"Thank you for the gift, thank you for your friendship," Arthur said to the kind tax collector.

After this conversation, I've made another friend.

After a brief stop, the flower boat "Centaur" continued its voyage, with its next stop being the territory of Red Apple Fossoway.

"The Earl of Orton sounds to be in a very bad state right now," Sir Lucas said.

"They deserve it, don't they?" the captain sneered. "Back in the day, Earl Owen was prime minister before the Mad King, with his nose in the air. So when they suffered disaster, few of the Reach lords were willing to lend a helping hand."

Even if Lord Orton returns, Jon Arryn will only return half of his territory.

In addition, Earl Orton spent a lot of money bribing public relations officials, which severely damaged the family's fortunes.

Arthur watched the long table hall recede into the distance.

"A potential Blackfire Party member, a spy for Varys." Arthur was secretly intrigued by the exiled Earl of Orton.

If he's right, Orton is very likely a spy bribed by Varys.

Earl Owen was never a die-hard follower of the Dragon King.

On the contrary, he was a power-hungry sycophant who was not well-liked in the river bend.

With his family in decline and now in exile on the Eastern Continent, it's perfectly normal for the spider and the cheese vendor to lend Orton a helping hand.

Regardless of whether it's black or red, Orton only hopes that the Dragon King can turn the tide.

Aside from Orton, the Golden Company's so-called friends must include the poor, struggling Peck family.