CHAPTER 411: CHAPTER 411: THE MIGRATION BEGINS

The grand imperial founding ceremony and Lynd’s coronation as Emperor that everyone had hoped for ultimately could not be held. An official letter of notification sufficed, because when Lynd returned to King’s Landing, he also brought the northern chill with him—snow began to fall on the city.

It had been nearly ten years since King’s Landing had last seen snow, not since that previous era of extreme cold. Based on past experience, this should have been the hottest time of year for the city.

At the same time, rumors of the extreme cold and the coming Long Night began spreading among the common folk, deliberately leaked by various lords and nobles. Though some still dismissed the warnings, many others took the threat seriously and started preparing.

"The extreme cold is arriving much faster than we anticipated." Lynd looked out the window at the drifting snow, his face grim. "North of the Wall is already much like the Land of Always Winter. Humans simply can’t survive long in those conditions. I’ve already instructed Sansa to begin organizing the evacuation of the North. I only hope there’s still enough time."

"Your Grace, news of the Long Night and eternal winter is already circulating among the people. Should we..." Balin, the Master of Whisperers, asked cautiously.

Before Balin could finish, Nymeria, sitting beside Lynd, spoke up, "Since they already know, there’s no point in hiding it any longer. Announce the migration plan and the registry process nationwide. Let the lords quickly decide whether they will migrate with us. We don’t have time to play political games with them." She then turned to Lynd and added, "The Kingdom of Lorne is fully prepared to migrate whenever the order comes."

Daenerys also said, "Qarth and Slaver’s Bay are ready as well. As soon as the climate shifts, they can begin migration. The only question now is whether there is enough land on Sothoryos to accommodate us all."

Lynd did not answer Daenerys immediately. Instead, he handed her a document and signaled for her to read it and pass it around.

The document detailed the progress of the expedition. At the beginning, their efforts to open up the continent of Sothoryos had not gone well. Diseases carried by insects, difficulties adapting to the new climate, and dangers lurking in the jungles made progress slow and painful. In less than a month, over a thousand people had died from various causes.

And these were not ordinary settlers—the expedition force was made up of the elite warriors from the God’s Chosen Corps, men who had faced White Walkers and wights in direct battle. That such seasoned fighters could die so quickly, often without ever even seeing an enemy, was a serious blow—and it enraged Lynd.

Fortunately, the arrival of the sorcerers from the Black Pit and the Children of the Forest helped the expedition gradually overcome the diseases and other obstacles, allowing them to begin clearing the land at a sustainable pace. Later, the addition of Stone Giants doubled the rate of expansion. By now, the Dragon’s Horn Peninsula and its surrounding coastline south of Slaver’s Bay had come under Lynd’s control, along with nearby islands like the Isle of Tears, the Isle of Toads, and the Basilisk Isles. The expeditionary force was currently clearing the Yeen River Delta, and before long, Zamettar and Yeen would be reclaimed as well.

Though the amount of land cleared so far was not enough to accommodate all the people from Westeros and Essos, migration would not happen all at once. It would still take several years for the extreme cold to engulf both continents fully. Given the current progress, along with Lynd’s plans to continue expanding the size of the expedition, they should have enough land cleared to accommodate the migrants within a few years.

"What about food?" Margaery asked after reading the report.

"There’s no need to worry about food. The supplies we’ve stockpiled over the past few years are enough to feed the entire populations of Westeros and Essos for a year," Maester Marwyn, who had just returned from the expedition, said excitedly. "The land in Sothoryos is extremely fertile, and rainfall is abundant. Wheat can be harvested every two months, and the Children of the Forest discovered a highly productive root vegetable. As long as we plant it, we won’t have any food shortages."

"Is there really such a miraculous crop?" Nymeria asked skeptically.

"What’s the catch?" Lynd asked bluntly.

"It tastes terrible... and contains a mild toxin," Marwyn admitted awkwardly. "If eaten raw without processing, it causes hallucinations..."

"Like running around the camp naked," Bert interrupted with a grin, glancing at Marwyn. "Just like you, Maester."

At that, everyone’s gaze turned toward Maester Marwyn, and the old scholar, usually so unflappable, actually flushed with embarrassment.

Lynd didn’t laugh. Instead, based on Marwyn’s description, he immediately thought of a certain plant from his previous life—one that was similarly toxic but could be processed into emergency rations in desperate times.

So he asked, "How do you clean the toxins? Do you wash them, grind them into powder, shape them into bread, and then bake them in the oven?"

Maester Marwyn was momentarily stunned, then asked, "Your Grace, have you encountered this type of grain before?"

Lynd shook his head, then turned to the steward beside him and ordered, "Draft a reward decree to honor the members of the expedition who discovered the new food crop on the continent of Sothoryos."

"Yes, Your Grace," the steward replied.

"All current construction projects are to be halted. Begin recruiting shipwrights and building more large ships." Lynd thought for a moment, then turned to Nymeria and Daenerys and said, "You will need to work hard again. Return and oversee the preparations for the migration."

"Let me go back!" Nymeria quickly cut off Daenerys before she could speak and said, "Let Daenerys stay here to assist you. Augustus and Myrcella will also remain. I’ll take the other children with me back to Ny Sar."

Lynd nodded in agreement.

He then issued several other broad orders, such as instructing the Church to assist in the migration plans and notifying the Citadel to prepare for relocation. However, all of these directives were left at a general level without detailed implementation plans, because based on past experience, overly detailed pre-arranged plans often encountered numerous problems during execution and ultimately had to be completely revised. It was better to set the general direction, establish some forbidden boundaries, and let those responsible work out the practical details themselves.

With the proclamation from King’s Landing, news spread across Westeros and Essos—even to the most remote corners—that the Long Night was coming and that the world would soon be engulfed in snow and ice as the northern cold marched southward.

The migration edict that followed did not cause much unrest. After all, people had recently undergone an emergency migration drill when the White Walkers marched south, and thus, most already had some experience. Overall, the situation remained stable.

As Lynd and others had predicted, the reactions to the migration order varied greatly between the commoners and the nobility. For the common folk, the promise of land on the continent of Sothoryos was incredibly attractive—especially for those who owned no land of their own. Furthermore, the migration order wasn’t just for free citizens; it also included serfs bound to nobles and wealthy merchants. Once they registered to migrate, their status would automatically change to that of free laborers.

Thus, once the migration order spread, masses of people flooded their nearest registration centers to sign up.

However, the noble lords saw this situation very differently. Although Lynd had promised that lords willing to migrate would be granted land and retain their titles in the new territories, he had not specified how large those fiefs would be.

They all understood that the land they would eventually be granted would surely be smaller than their current holdings, but none of them wanted their fiefs to shrink too much. Many hoped someone else would step forward first to test exactly how much land would be allocated.

Moreover, some nobles still harbored doubts about the coming extreme cold. After all, there had been a severe cold snap ten years ago, but it hadn’t lasted long. They thought that this time, too, it might just last a few months and would eventually pass.

Regardless of what people thought, Lynd’s migration plan pressed forward without deviation, unfolding in an orderly fashion—and accelerating.

Hundreds of cargo ships were dispatched from White Harbor, Miracle Harbor, King’s Landing, Sunspear, and Oldtown. These ships ferried large numbers of Seven Kingdoms residents to Essos, following the coastline south to Slaver’s Bay, and from there sailing across to reach the frontier lands in Sothoryos.

During the initial phases of the migration, some obstacles arose. Some nobles and lords tried to prevent their subjects from leaving. In response, Lynd first issued stern warnings. When that failed, he sent in troops to crush resistance, using the harshest methods possible to make an example out of those who dared oppose the migration—sending a clear message to anyone else thinking of defiance.

Among the Seven Kingdoms, the migration of the North proceeded the most smoothly. Without the protection of the Wall, the North was fully exposed to the extreme cold. The Northmen, already highly sensitive to the cold, could sense the impending disaster. Thus, when Sansa called for a migration, aside from a few lords unwilling to abandon their lands, most heeded her advice and began relocating en masse. They all departed White Harbor by ship, crossed over to Braavos, and then migrated south alongside the people of Braavos and Lorath.

Although Braavos and Lorath were situated similarly to White Harbor, unlike northern territories such as Winterfell, which lay closer to the Land of Always Winter, the North still had mountains and forests to shield it from the cold surging south. In contrast, Braavos and Lorath were completely exposed to the Shivering Sea to the north.

When the extreme cold swept southward, White Harbor only saw light snowfall, but Braavos and Lorath were already sealed in by ice. Lorath fared relatively well, as its mountain springs and rivers continued to provide drinking water. Braavos, however, was a different story. As the cold struck, all its waterways froze, the sea iced over, and even ships became trapped. Towering city walls surrounded Braavos, effectively turning the city into a prison.

Fortunately, Lynd had anticipated this scenario. He had already constructed numerous wall towers outside the city, enabling them to supply the trapped residents, rescue those within Braavos, and continue the migration southward.

Compared to Braavos and Lorath, cities even farther north such as Pentos and Norvos fared much better. Thanks to mountain ranges blocking the coastal cold waves, the freezing front halted at Essos’s northern coastline. Although these cities remained cold, the climate stayed within bearable limits.

Because the extreme cold advanced faster than expected, Lynd was forced to expand the expedition tenfold, pushing deeper into the dense jungles of the Sothoryos continent. One after another, settlements sprang up like mushrooms after rain across the northern reaches of this mysterious land. Over time, these settlements would develop into towns and villages.

In the third month after the great migration began, the first group of major lords to migrate—Daeron Martell, Shireen Baratheon, Sansa Stark, and Mace Tyrell—landed on the continent of Sothoryos. Lynd handed over the cleared Zamettar, Yeen, Gorosh, and the Isle of Tears to them, and also granted large portions of newly cleared territory to the accompanying lords.

Once the land was distributed, Lynd publicly announced to the noble lords of the Seven Kingdoms that future lords would no longer receive such generous land allocations.

Though this announcement stirred some dissatisfaction among the nobles and lords, none dared to voice strong objections. After all, the earlier examples of those who tried to interfere with the migration plan served as a clear warning.

While the migration itself progressed relatively smoothly, the resettlement phase faced several challenges, including outbreaks of plague and malaria.

In less than three days, seven settlements, housing a total of twenty thousand migrants, fell ill. Examination revealed a plague triggered by the hot, humid climate. Fortunately, Lynd had made preparations in advance, promptly isolating the affected settlements and stocking ample medicinal herbs. Thanks to these measures, they managed to eradicate the plague before it could spread further.

As for malaria, it was largely tied to the migrants’ living habits. Accustomed to relieving themselves indiscriminately and drinking untreated water, they posed significant health risks. Lynd had no choice but to treat the sick while forcibly changing their habits through a combination of punishments and rewards. He also ordered the daily burning of insect-repellent herbs around the settlements to drive away mosquitoes and lower the chances of disease.

Even though Lynd had anticipated these problems and made thorough preparations, after all the turmoil, over two thousand people still died from illness.

Because Lynd did not suppress the spread of this news, word quickly reached the continents of Essos and Westeros. The once-enthusiastic wave of migration began to slow. Many worried that if they migrated to Sothoryos, they too might fall ill or die. Furthermore, a few months after the first wave of extreme cold, the climate warmed slightly, leading many to believe that the cold might only be temporary and that the Long Night and eternal winter Lynd had warned of might never come. As a result, they decided to hold off on migrating and wait to see what would happen.