"The Knights of Storms End, no, most Knights, let them drink, play finger-guessing games, hunt, and womanize. These men are all top-notch at those things. Making them read a history book is too difficult. They prefer to sing songs, like 'Two Bears.'"
"Ser, do you believe Durran's legend?"
Ser Barristan shook his head. "I consider most legends to be ancient stories: Durran the god-hated, Brandon the Builder, Lann the Clever, and so on. However, when it comes to courage and strength, I believe both the Durrendons and Baratheons have Storms Blood flowing through them."
Gendry looked at the book, and the illustrations of the Storm Kings were so vivid, seemingly still before his eyes. "Before the Targaryen Dynasty, the Storm Kingdom was once powerful. Although the Stormlands are constantly battered by rainstorms and gales from the Narrow Sea, the Stormlands also gave birth to a group of powerful warriors."
The warriors of the Stormlands are known among the Seven Kingdoms for being the strongest, fiercest, and most skilled in battle, as demonstrated by King Robert and the Dukes and Kings before him. The Stormlands also produce great sailors and mariners. The most outstanding are the warriors of The Marches, where Anguy comes from. They are also known as the fiercest warriors of the Stormlands, and even Westeros. These men have a talent for swordsmanship, and their longbows are extraordinary.
"I've heard of that too," Anguy said, touching his nose. "During the period of the Seven Kingdoms, the Storm Kingdom was much larger than it is now. There was a King named Arlan I, 'the Avenger,' who cleared all obstacles and expanded the territory to the Blackwater Rush and the Mander River headwaters. His great-grandson even seemed to cross the Blackwater Rush and the Trident River, taking all of the Riverlands for himself. The trout were servants of the stag back then. How glorious the Stormlands were then! Unfortunately, days grew worse and worse, and everyone attacked us from all directions. Proud King Argilac managed to recover some lost ground. But not long after, the Dragon King arrived, and after the old Storm King died, his daughter married the Dragon King's bastard brother."
Gendry already knew about the prosperity of the Storm Kingdom back then; Storms End's ancestors had also been rich, but today's Stormlands was a pauper's version of the Storm Kingdom.
The Knights of the Durrandon family reached south to the Mander River headwaters, suppressing The Reach, north to the Blackwater Rush headwaters, once controlling Maidenpool and Oldstones, and west to the Riverlands, even planting the crowned stag banner on the shores of the Sunset Sea. However, Storms End's rule over the Riverlands was never truly stable, with frequent rebellions, as the distance was quite far, but lasting three centuries was still extraordinary.
"Things inevitably go to extremes. After Arlan III's death, the Durrandon family inevitably fell into decline, as the strength of the Stormlands alone could not maintain such a vast Kingdom," Ser Barristan said.
"Perhaps it would have been better if they had dug a port on the Blackwater Rush, at the location of King's Landing," Gendry said. The ancient Durrendon Kings seemed proud of their strength, subduing people by force, without too many twists and turns.
"I'm afraid it couldn't have been maintained either; no one could stop the Dragon King," the old Ser said.
"But now the Dragon King has reconciled with us, there is only one family," Anguy said proudly, "His Highness's Kingdom is far greater than the Storm Kingdom."
"Field of Fire, or I am the rage. The Durrandon family incorporated rage into their family motto, which is even wilder than the Lannister's 'Hear Me Roar.' rage refers to someone becoming greatly angered or provoked by some external cause, and it can also describe a very violent storm," Gendry thought slowly, closing the book he was reading.
"Durran built seven castles before Storms End was completed.
Ronard the bastard overthrew his brother and became the Storm King. According to Singers, Ronard had twenty-three wives and ninety-nine sons.
Arlan I 'the Avenger,' during whose reign the territory expanded to the Blackwater Rush and the Mander River headwaters.
Arlan Durrandon III, great-grandson of Arlan I, the first Storm King to rule the Riverlands.
And the warrior King, poor Argilac, struggling to support the Storm Kingdom." Gendry recalled those Kings, followed by the Baratheon Dukes.
The first hand of the king, Orys the maimed, whose hand was cut off by the Dornishmen; Duke Rogar, who upheld the Targaryen realm; Duke Borros, killed by House Tully during the Dance of the Dragons; the mad storm, the strongest warrior of his time; Duke Monford, who died fighting for the Targaryen; his grandfather, who drowned while searching for a bride for Prince Rhaegar; and then The late King Robert.
Between the marshes and the Rainwood, between storms and rocks, generation after generation of stags fought for honor and power, out of The Kingswood, across the Blackwater Rush, across the Mander River, over the Red Mountains, until Robert's Rebellion.
"The late King was a failure," Gendry suddenly stood up and said to Ser Barristan and Anguy.
Ser Barristan was stunned, not knowing why Gendry spoke like this. Although Robert's rule was indeed somewhat broken.
"The late King reached the pinnacle of power, yet he did not wish to guard that power, only to indulge in worldly desires, ultimately dying at the hands of others, becoming a laughingstock for a thousand years. The stag is a symbol of pride, wild and untamed, brave and fearless. If a stag succumbs to wine and women, if it fears the wind and rain, then it is no longer a true stag. One must not be born into hardship and die in comfort."
Strength is strength. The reason the Storm Kings failed back then was insufficient strength, because they were not truly powerful. True strength must be able to crush all difficulties and conspiracies: courage, intelligence, mental fortitude. The stag must reach the very highest peak, be fearless, and conquer itself.
Honor, the crown—only strength, only victory can wield these.
"I am the rage," Gendry directly examined the crowned stag on the book. The deer itself is one of the symbols of royalty. "I am the rage, I am the storm, I am the power."
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