The Next Morning.
Early in the morning, the Old Hawk (Lord Franklyn Fowler) and Lord Mathis Rowan arrived at the small council hall in the main keep to formally sign the cooperation contract.
Scanning the drafted contract Arthur had prepared, the Old Hawk remarked:
"Arthur, on my way here, I heard that you led a Regular Mountain Corps to purge most of the bandit and wildling settlements in the hills and forests of Starfall's territory.
At first, I didn't believe it. But traveling from Skyreach, let alone bandits, I didn't see a single suspicious person in the wild.
And then, seeing those Mountain Corps soldiers maintaining order at Star Station, I finally believed it."
Mathis Rowan, having already signed his copy, was pressing his personal seal onto the parchment. A flicker of surprise crossed his face. "Is that so?"
As a lord, he knew well the dangers and difficulties of rooting out bandits hiding in hills and forests.
They were hard to find, the terrain was treacherous, and the bandits themselves were desperate men—either fleeing for their lives or fighting to the death. Neither option was pleasant to deal with.
"If I have the chance, I would truly like to see such a force." Mathis kept one copy of the contract and handed the other to the attendant.
"I visited your orchards because of this wine. It's hard to imagine Dornish peach trees bearing fruit of such size."
Most nobles from the Reach, including Lord Mathis, had arrived at Starfall by sea from Oldtown, so they knew little of the Mountain Corps' exploits.
"They are currently maintaining security for the tourney. You will see them then."
Arthur took the contracts from the attendant, looking at the signatures and seals on both copies.
Though his face remained impassive, the frustration from Paxter Redwyne's thirty percent offer vanished, replaced by a sense of immense satisfaction.
Seventy percent should be mine!
The Old Hawk spoke up. "Arthur, since you've cleared the bandits along the route, shouldn't we build a road from the Peach Orchard to the Prince's Pass to facilitate transport?"
He had thought deeply about this since yesterday. He was very optimistic about the sales prospects of Amber Peach Wine and Arthur's proposed agency model.
He reasoned that once Amber Peach Wine penetrated the Seven Kingdoms, agents from other regions would need to transport it north from Starfall. This left two options: sea or land.
Sea transport was fast but carried risks and required a high threshold—ships, trustworthy captains, familiarity with routes. It was far less stable and controllable than land transport.
As for land routes north from Dorne, there were essentially three:
Through Blackmont, the Prince's Pass, or the Stone Way.
The route north from Blackmont was rugged and mountainous, barely a dirt path. Suitable for individual travelers, perhaps, but impossible for merchant caravans.
The Stone Way had a road, but it was winding and treacherous, and far from Starfall.
That left the Prince's Pass as the most convenient option.
Franklyn Fowler realized that if a road connected his territory at the Prince's Pass to Starfall, he could not only transport the wine easily but also collect tolls from merchants and agents buying from Starfall.
Arthur paused, genuinely surprised.
We?
This is an unexpected bonus?
Arthur had already planned to build a road connecting Star Station to the Prince's Pass to expand Starfall's influence.
He hadn't expected the Old Hawk to propose building it together because of the Dorne agency deal.
Though internally delighted, Arthur feigned hesitation. "This... building a road consumes a vast amount of manpower and resources..."
Seeing Arthur hesitate, the Old Hawk launched into a persuasive argument, appealing to reason and emotion, outlining the pros and cons. It took quite some effort on his part to finally "convince" Arthur to agree to the joint road construction project.
---
Violet Canyon, Artisan District, Blacksmith's Guild.
As the tourney approached, this became the most frequented place for knights and warriors.
The quality of one's equipment often determined a knight's performance in the lists.
Today, a sign was hung outside the Blacksmith's Guild. Four simple words: Old for New.
Fearing some knights might be illiterate, a blacksmith's apprentice stood at the door, shouting continuously:
"To help all sirs and lords shine in the Starfall Tourney, this guild is launching the 'Old for New' event starting today!
Any sir or lord registered for the Melee or Joust!
Old chainmail, longswords, gorgets, pauldrons, helms—all can be exchanged for new gear for the price of just 1 Gold Dragon!"
The announcement caused an uproar among the knights and warriors browsing the district.
"You're not fooling me, are you? A standard mail hauberk here costs 15 Gold Dragons."
"Other gear isn't cheap either. Are you really that generous?"
The apprentice shouted back:
"I swear by the Smith! Every word is true! The Artisan District belongs to the Sword of the Morning, Ser Arthur Snow. This is his command!"
"As long as you cooperate with us and register your information to verify you are indeed participating in the tourney!"
Impoverished hedge knights and freeriders, once they understood what "Old for New" meant, practically had green light beaming from their eyes.
The news spread like wildfire. Knights swarmed the guild, mostly paying 1 Gold Dragon to swap their rusty mail for new sets.
The new chainmail bore a small snowflake mark—the basic gear produced by the Artisan District. Yet, it was several times better than the tattered armor the hedge knights were wearing.
Every knight who walked out of the guild after registering their name wore a smile of pure, unadulterated joy.
The guild steward asked, "My lord, will this really boost the reputation of the Artisan District?"
"Perhaps," Karl Byrch replied, looking at the ledger filled with the detailed personal information of the knights who had participated in the exchange. He recalled Arthur's instructions.
Boosting the reputation was secondary. The primary goal was to obtain this data for future recruitment.
Arthur intended to build a standing force of knights. The tourney was the perfect opportunity to gather intelligence on these wandering swords and hedge knights.
The "Old for New" scheme filtered them perfectly. Landed knights and lords had their own high-quality armor emblazoned with their sigils; they wouldn't participate.
Those who did participate were exactly the demographic Arthur wanted to target.
Besides knights and warriors, skilled archers were also high-value targets for recruitment.
Arthur's vision for the Artisan District was clear. It wasn't primarily for profit. Without major wars in the Seven Kingdoms, the demand for weapons was generally low.
Thus, the district had previously focused on agricultural tools and horseshoes to boost productivity.
Most of the weapons and armor produced were sold internally to Starfall, serving to bolster its military strength and reduce the cost of arming its troops.