𝐀 𝐒𝐎𝐍𝐆 𝐎𝐅 𝐈𝐂𝐄 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐅𝐈𝐑𝐄 𝐕𝐄𝐑𝐒𝐄
nathaniel is born in the deep forests of the free city of qohor . but he is a capricious child ; his eyes seemed too steely , too cold for a babe born under auspicious circumstances . he never cried , staying silent in his crib while his parents sought answers from different wise women and wet nurses . he was healthy , but wrong . one night , when he was three , his mother came to find dark shadows circling his head . in tears , his parents took him to a temple of the black goat , where they sold him into priesthood . there , he was meant to shed his name and old identity ; to learn servitude and magic . he was given the name of mandrake , for his eyes that burned with a violet shade . however , an older priestess , who took care of him and treated him with kindness despite instructions otherwise , continued to use his name . nathaniel thus could never let go of his identity, his convictions, his desires to climb from lowly serving - boy to formidable priest , wielding dangerous magic .
at the age of fourteen , nathaniel had been educated in the art of blood sacrifice and the summoning of lower spirits . he knew several dialects of valyrian , and the common tongue . for his skill and dedication he was entrusted into the libraries , under the impression he would not disobey . but , secretly , nathaniel poured over old tombs , learning the magic forbidden to him . one night, he sought to put a difficult spell into practice . having drawn a summoning circle and sacrificed a goat , he called forth . initially , he thought he summoned forth the black goat himself , but realised it was a fearsome spirit . but he made a grave mistake — a misspoken word , which caused the spirit not to remain within the summoning circle , but to enter nathaniel himself .
terrified that his summoning would be found out, nathaniel fled , and for the next six years travelled the free cities of essos , offering his skills and learning other forms of magic , such as fire summoning from the priests of r’hllor . his desire was always to reach the old valyrian texts , and to unbind the demon from his soul . as such , he eventually made his way to westeros , embroiling himself in the house conflicts with the desire to uncover old magic that had been forgotten even in essos .
due to his desire to access the targaryen libraries that held old tomes on the magic of old valyria , nathaniel aligns himself with the greens , who remained at the red keep . he does not understand , nor concern himself with , succession law , or have particular close allegiance to one house . however , he comes bearing references from many of the great houses sworn to aegon’s cause . due to the dowager queen’s close allegiance with the faith of the seven , nathaniel cannot work his magic openly , but he conducts spy work for aegon and aemond by sending his spirits to different parts of the realm, also employing their power during the dance of the dragons .
muse dependent , he could do the same for the blacks — enticed by daemon’s fascination with old valyria .
𝚊 𝚔𝚗𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚗 𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚍𝚘𝚖𝚜
nathaniel is on his way to king’s landing , bearing references from the martells in order to ingratiate himself with the targaryen family and gain access to their libraries . on his way, he stops at ashford meadow , finding it a good way to make contact with more representatives of the houses and perhaps make some extra coin by offering his power to ascertain victory for the sparring knights .
