One Who is Many - [Worm / Game of Thrones]

Word of God Statements

Year Date as of Chapter 1: 297 After Conquest (AC)

Spoiler: Changes to Dorne and Clarification of Ophelia's Impact

The largest and most significant change, as has been elucidated upon, is the triple Martel-Tyrel-Baratheon alliance. Arianne is to marry Willas Tyrell with the full consent of all parties involved. Yes, this means exactly what you think it does regarding the plan focused on Viserys. Garlan and Loras are both active agents of House Tyrell as in canon and remain unmarried as of this point in time. Loras is already attached to Renly and is... as infatuated with him as canon, possibly as infatuated as he was in the semi canon source. This forms the political backbone of a new power block in the south. I.E. loose, untested, but rapidly solidifying.

Dorne itself has only benefited somewhat. Doran, while quite happy to indulge Ophelia so long as she remains an asset to the family, has requested she hold back on any truly revolutionary inventions until Dorne itself is secure against outside influence. Things such as a modified wine press into a type setting machine, crude solar desalination plants for salt harvesting and water reclamation, and certain other technologies either exist but are HIGHLY secured inside Ophelia's personal workshop (I.E. guarded by both swarms of dangerous animals and squads of highly trained men) or exist only in notes and prototypes. Sunspear and the Shadow City itself is much, much more important, however. Not only has Doran been able to remain in his seat of power, thereby exercising a greater degree of influence over his own holdings, but Ophelia's nature as a witch and a prodigy has attracted both sorcerers and learned men from across the known world.

There is a strong contingent of Maesters - loyal to Oldtown - that have both served as tutors and set up their own practices inside the city, but also a small contingent of shadow binders (a VERY small number of them), hedge witches, healers, wise men, and professionals of any and every field that Oberyn could beg, bribe, or borrow access to. It would be accurate to say it is the most intellectually diverse center of learning in the world, but poorly organized and not the largest. To that end, Doran has plans to do that once he has the coin, leverage, and room to do so.

This has caused something of a minor economic boom all of its own, but increased trade is hampered by increased piracy. Something he has actively been taking steps to curtail (something only obliquely mentioned in the first chapter). To that end, Ophelia now exports many, MANY, MANY forms of silk. Every natural color, ranging from gold to blue, from spiders, wasps, silk worms, caterpillars, and more. She has bred species specifically for this and exports totally unique luxury resources. Doran has, though Ophelia is only very minimally aware of this, had people tortured and murdered for trying to steal from Ophelia. Brutally. It was not pretty. You do not want details. The prices she can charge for this is insane and a custom made silk dress (literal woven to be a single, un broken piece of flawless cloth) can be sold for more than fifty times its weight in silver (or more) depending on the level of intricacy of the design, patterns, and level of effort put into it. Her silk farms continue mostly on auto pilot, though output has slowed without her presence. Doran, wisely, is tapping into strategic reserves and slowly parceling out the supply to avoid a market crash. Ophelia also has a large menagerie, several (rather crude) greenhouses, and several farms that were under her or Oberyn's direct control. There she experimented with an immense number of plants, animals, and other forms of life (insects in particular) and Doran is actively planning to introduce new staple food sources once his current plans are complete.

The downside is that Dorne was rather poor before all this began, most of the profits have gone into building her zoos and experiments, and large portions of the coin are needed simply for basic upgrades to the city and castle to handle the influx of nexcomers.

Spoiler: Changes to the Martell Family

Arianne, Quentyn, and Trystane do not have their low level conflict. Quentyn is somewhat more confident, though even more desperate to prove himself. Arianne is no longer wary of her father and is also much more trusting of his lead in general (they had a MUCH needed heart to heart), Trystane, bluntly, has a crush on Ophelia though its more of an innocent puppy love. Ophelia never overly minded and finds him a bit silly, if good company (no serious romance, she considers him to be child). Doran was much healthier thanks to Ophelia's potions, though she never managed to fully cure his gout, only combat and manage it. Her potions also sometimes had... side effects. Of the gassy kind.

Oberyn has a baby on the way! A bit early. But there are actually 9.75 Sand Snakes at this point in the time and soon approaching 10! Maybe he'll finally get a son (don't hold your breath, but we might flip a coin). Ellaria is quite happy with this arrangement and is remaining at Sunspear with her two youngest. Doreah and Loreza are too young to have truly hit their personality, but have grown up in a family fully adjusted to the "common sense" of magic being an active force in their lives. Obella is ALMOST old enough to fit the role of dangerous flirt, which she seems to be growing into quite quickly, already slipping quite nicely into her canon personality (if moderately more cunning, as she has to sneak extra hard around her siblings to prank them). Elia is, frankly, spoiled by Ophelia and her father. She's even more insistent about being a Lady Knight than canon and has trained harder too (in case this wasn't clear enough). Sarella was moderately jealous of Ophelia for a long time and a bit confused about why she was so sullen, though she shares a unqiue bond with her younger sister (that we've hinted at) that not even Tyene can boast. Tyene is Tyene. Despite not being shown yet, Nymeria is more or less her canon self, though with even more poisons at her disposal. Obara, out of all of them, is even more protective because of the attention her family garners. As such she is also actually their unquestioned leader in the absence of their father. Without a doubt, if Oberyn is not around, they would quite willingly follow Obara's instructions.

Spoiler: Order of the Sand Snake's Birth and Ages

For convenience, and because GRR Martin never gave us canon ages, Obara (~272 AC), Nymeria (~275 AC), Tyene (~278 AC), Sarella (~281 AC), Ophelia (~283 AC), Elia (~285 AC), Obella (~288 AC), Doreah (~292 AC), Lorezah (~293 AC), Unnamed Child (~Month 7 of pregnancy).

Spoiler: Ophelia's Parentage

Ophelia Sand, the reincarnated form of one Taylor Hebert, was sired by Oberyn Martell - who was roughly 26 at the time - on a Prostitute that lived on Dragonstone. This occurred in, roughly, 283 AC. Ophelia is, as of the first arc, 14 going on 15 or just recently 15 depending on when in the year we place her birth date. Ophelia herself was born on Dragonstone but was soon returned to Sunspear by her father, who gladly raised her.

Ophelia's mother is a prostitute named Rhaella. Rhaella, other than being particularly intelligent and attractive, if on the thin and tall side, had little of note about her otherwise (being a life long prostitute). She was somewhat prone to illness - a fainting sickness that left her cold and she suffered badly in Winter - but was talented enough at her job to excel. She had bright blue and amethyst eyes, particularly fair skin, and black hair (northern by the then young and inexperienced Oberyn's reckoning and he suspected her to be a bastard Stark or Karstark mostly because those were the two houses he remembered the most). However, she had particularly fine Valyrian features in all other ways.

Rhaella's parents were Roose Bolton's father (the Bolt-on theory may or may not be accepted as you like) and a prostitute named Calla. Calla was a whore as well, with white-gold hair, bright amethyst eyes, a fiery temperament, and held the same particularly fine beauty as her daughter (and, before she suffered from her profession, the same extreme beauty as her mother). Her parents were an unnamed bed slave of extreme and purposely bred beauty bought from Lys, of pure Valyrian extraction and a great bastard of a number of Valyrian royal lines, and Maelys the Monstrous. Calla was the sole issue of this... rather violent coupling.

Calla's mother was pregnant when Maelys was slain and captured by the Westerosi. Unwilling to sully his sword with the blood of a pregnant woman, or allow another to slay her, Ser Barristan demanded they take the woman prisoner instead. If Calla had been a boy, the child would have been either exiled or killed, but was born a girl instead. As such, both Calla and her mother were sold to a whorehouse on the island by the Lord Celtigar at the time - as he had been the one who held them in captivity and no lord or knight was permitted to marry either woman. Refusing to kill them, they were, instead, given a... different fate.

Rhaella did not know her lineage, what so ever and thought she was merely another whore born bastard. Calla did not know her true lineage, but knew she was under no circumstances ever to be permitted to learn it.

Ophelia is the bastard daughter of four or five lines of kings and of two princes. This is intentional, explicit, and should be kept in mind going forward.

Spoiler: Ophelia's Relationships

Doran Martell: Originally loved her, as he does all his nieces, before growing deeply, deeply suspicious. To a degree he feared and mistrusted her for a good while. However, over years of interactions, he's come to deeply trust Ophelia. Second only to Oberyn and Areo. Quentyn is actually considered less competent than her by him, even if he does love his son, and that is a big part of why he feared a usurpation. At this point she has, more or less, cart blanche so long as she doesn't endanger the House, the Country, or risk war with a foreign power.

Arianne Martell: Originally she didn't think much of Ophelia, considering her one more of her uncle's children. When her intelligence and powers became clear she was rather jealous of those abilities. But it was when Tyene transferred her obsession to Ophelia instead of her that she began to fear the girl. While she does trust her cousin, she is deeply concerned by the fact she grows more powerful, more vital to Dorne, and more learned with every day. To that end she fears what Ophelia will one day ask in payment for her assistance. However, recently that has begun to change as Ophelia vocally supported her cousin's marriage with Willas the first time around (when she eloped) and even helped distract the guards sent after her for a time by having their horses refuse to run. This forced the men to travel into town to acquire more and was actually one of the few times Ophelia was actually punished by her father.

Quentyn Martell: He's somewhat intimidated by his cousin, especially as she helped tutor him in his studies once he finally returned home, but is genuinely appreciative of her. He also doesn't fear her possibly usurping the throne as he genuinely believes she's destined for greater things. Their interactions are, however, somewhat limited as Quentyn was fostered elsewhere, though Ophelia has done what she can to boost his confidence, knowing that her own success has put an even heavier burden on him to succeed.

Trystane Martell: Trystane is utterly infatuated with her, having a deep, deep crush on his cousin. More than once he's broached the topic of marrying her one day with both his father and uncle, though Ophelia, because of her inherited age, considers this to be mere puppy love and has politely declined. To that end, he's taken them well and isn't pushy about things, though he has actually learned how to play the flute (rather well) just to impress her. It could be said that Ophelia views him more as a good friend that she wants to mature into a fine young man than a potential marriage partner. She has, once, sicked Nymeria on him to try and play matchmaker (without Tyene's games) and this almost worked - only being failing when the young woman in question got too eager and Trystane had to flee to preserve his honor.

Marissa: She was her wetnurse, maid, and is the closest thing Ophelia has to a mother. While Marissa has no real power or influence, Ophelia would genuinely listen to her and take her advice. While intelligent, she was a whore and lacks much in the way of a formal education. This tends to limit her to good, common sense advice and helping Ophelia sort through her emotions.

Areo Hotah: Surprisingly hit and miss. While he does not dislike her, his goal is to protect Doran and his direct line. To that end he considers Ophelia the one person most likely to be able to usurp the throne of House Martell. While they're polite and respectful to one another, he's taken as many precautions as he possibly could to ensure that her magical reach inside the court is limited to public areas and has even gone out of his way to prepare a number of magical countermeasures. Though, it should be noted, he has not tested any of them on her and would defend her to the death if she was attacked.

Oberyn Martell (Father): She is close to her father, who knows, roughly, the exact specifics of her powers. She trusts him enough to share recent developments with him but also does not feel pressured to come running if something happens. To that end, he is as engaged with her as she wants him to be. Meaning, mostly, he spoils the girl, does everything he can to indulge her whims, and treats her like the rest of his daughters. Who, infamously, are known for having him wrapped around their finger.

Ellaria Sand (Step Mother): The two are close, but not particularly so. Ellaria is close enough to be counted as family, but they are mostly on friendly terms. She was also the one who helped educate Ophelia on female courtly manners, though Ophelia balked when offered to be taught how to seduce a man and wrap him around your finger. Ellaria generally considers Ophelia somewhat scary, but a good person at heart. She worries what might happen if Ophelia is pushed too far by an enemy, but freely admits she'd likely by right beside the girl should something happen to Oberyn or one of her girls (which includes her non blood children too).

Spoiler: Colors of Silk Ophelia Can Produce

Worm Silk: Gold, Brown, Pink, Red, Black, Blue, Yellow, White, Orange, and shades of such based on diet and proportions. Wasp Silk: Gold, White, Yellow. Spider Silk: Theoretically any color given time and breeding due to chemical makeup of spider silk. As of right now, primary colors are: White, Black, Orange, Red, Gold, Yellow. Silk can be iridescent and non iridescent.

Certain colors and shades can be either EXTREMELY hard to produce or resource intensive. Red/Orange/Yellow silk requires extremely specialized diets to produce even small amounts. Gold requires specialized breeding programs or species. White is easiest and most consistent, Gold follows (once breeding populations are established for farming), and all other colors fall somewhere between these and the ROY colorations.

Spoiler: Ophelia's Business Dealings

Ophelia herself doesn't actually usually deal with the money side of things. Rather, her farms produce a certain quantity of goods, these fabrics are then checked and weighed, and Doran and his Castellan oversees the sale (at auction) of each unit of cloth. Right now they're going the diamond route - forced scarcity. He maintains a rigid control over the supply and is slowly selling it at market prices as demand for it grows. At this point in time, it is known as "Dornish Silk" of various grades. These grades tell you what kind of creature produced it and whether its better for reinforcing armor or clothes. Ophelia herself has made clothes and garments for her family (and Marissa) as gifts, but rather rarely does custom pieces for sale. At the moment we'd say there are maybe thirty complete garments made by her swarm out there.

To that end, many knights HAVE had their arming coats reinforced with particularly strong spider silk, though whole gambesons made of it are extremely rare and produced by people other than Ophelia. While not as valuable as Valyrian Steel, it's about as rare as right now, both because of a stringently controlled supply and a small production base.

Her potions, however, are more well known. Ophelia directly produces certain batches upon request and rarely bulk batches for export. Mostly she deals with venoms, antivenin, and poisons derived from plants and animals rather than chemicals, diseases, or magic. She also much prefers to produce medical products over things that are lethal, such as her paralytic. Additionally, she is also working on other - here to less successful - projects related to a mild narcotic that can work to purge the system of addictions, a truth serum, and treatments for heartburn, gout, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and stroke.

I think that about covers everything. We'll update this when/if we make more WoG statements. If we missed anything or anything needs extra clarification, let us know!

 

Yeees it's back and I can finally upload my fanart, hope y'all like it! Anyways gonna go read the chapter now, since I uploaded the image first