TheLifeandTimes19

Sea Dragon Point

Sea Dragon point

289-AC Sea Dragon Point

Sea Dragon Point was located at a peninsula on the Western shore of the North. It was a bit of a journey to reach the coast, made even longer by the fact that he collected what men and woman he could along the way that were eager for paying work. There was a lot to be done at Sea Dragon Point and he would need a lot of people to see it done within a few years. More people than he could reasonably gather now. So he took what he could get.

It took almost two moons to reach the peninsula itself. They were slowed down constantly as he sent groups of people out to small villages and towns looking for others who might be interested in some paying work. It took a few days for some of them to be convinced so his journey was constantly stopped and delayed while he waited for those he had sent out to return with other new people in tow. It slowed them down considerably and was highly irritating but it was necessary as what he had planned would need as many people as necessary. Many of those that joined or met his group on their way seemed to almost be in awe of him and his uncle. When they learned they were Starks most of them were quick to show deference and respect. Kneeling on meeting them and hanging on to almost every word. Hadrian saw many children looking up at him and his uncle with gaping mouths with eyes wide with wonder. Woman and men would sometimes seem almost stunned at being addressed by them.

Harry knew his family was well liked in most of the North. He knew that the smallfolk in Wintertown seemed to love them. Still, he never expected to have such a positive reaction from so far away from Winterfell. That would make things easier.

After they passed Torrhens Square the population started to become sparser. Once they had reached the peninsula itself, there were hardly any people at all. Some scouts reported a few small fishing villages and Jod, his first Huntman, reported a few more that he saw with his eagle. But on the whole peninsula and many leagues south of it along the coast, there weren’t more than a thousand souls. There were even less people to the North.

The landscape consisted of rolling hills and some bogs. There were a few streams, rivers and lakes that fed into the ocean. These generally had a small villages set up around them. The people there were surviving off of the fish, clams, some seals and other wildlife in the area. There was very little farming. The people seemed to mostly be happy that a Stark was taking an interest in the area. When he told them he would be looking to build ships and would need workers some were happy to join the party. There weren’t many villages on the coasts itself due to the number of Ironborn raids and many were wary about moving closer to the coast for work, but with the promise of protection some of them were willing to risk it.

By the time Hadrian got to the peninsula he had a little over seven hundred men who would be willing to work constructing a castle and port for pay. Not including his guards. There were a little over three hundred woman who followed them. Most of them were spouses but there were a few others who were just looking for opportunity. Along with these people came around two hundred children. He would need to make sure they were well protected in the future. They should be fine for now, with two hundred guards and the Ironborn otherwise occupied. Still he sent a few skinchangers to scout around him just in case.

Most of the skinchangers stayed in the Neck but four of the younger ones besides Jod decided to follow him. In the future he would try and train some of them up and depending on their loyalty and skill, he might kame them Huntsmen.

He chose the largest hill overlooking the largest bay on this area of the Sunset Sea for the location to build the castle on. There were ruins of an ancient First Man structure located on the base of the hill that he chose.  On the next hill over was an ancient grove of Weirwood Trees with faces carved by the ancient children.

Along the coastline there were countless hidden coves and a few other different natural bays which were perfect for ships to hide in to ambush any enemies. The largest bay had plenty of space to build docks for ships with more space left for a good sized shipyard. There were plenty of trees growing on the hills that would be perfect to use for shipbuilding. He had the twenty Ironborn ships he captured sailed into the bay he was the closest too. It’s too dangerous to send such a small fleet south, he’s sure the King will understand. Those ships made a good start to the new Northern Fleet.

According to history there used to be a strong fleet located on the Norths Western coast hundreds of years ago, until one of Hadrians foolish ancestors decided to burn every ship.

Honestly Harry wanted to cry when he first started to realise how much that single decision of Brandon the Burner has harmed the North. Without a proper fleet on the Western coast keeping the Ironborn in check, having any type of settlement along the coast is akin to suicide. After hundreds of years without having any type of fleet, it is honestly a miracle that there are still any people living on the Western shores at all.

If there was a proper fleet that would mean there would be a proper settlement, which would mean trade. There would have been more gold coming into the North, less people starving or dying to Ironborn raids. The population of the North would be greater than it is now and the North would be many times more powerful with a strong fleet on both of its coasts.

If Brandon the Burner never burnt the fleet, the North would have had much more power throughout its history. Perhaps that would have led to some greater opportunities. Perhaps after a few hundred years his ancestors might have even decided to conquer some of the Iron Islands.  With the Western coast more secure it would have been more difficult for the Ironborn to get wood for their ships. They might have targeted the North in more raids, but after a few generations the Ironborns numbers would constantly be whittled down, while the Norths population increases due to trade and fishing providing more food. The Ironborn would destroy some ships but the North has the wood to replace ships far more easily than the Ironborn will ever be able to. The Iron Islands would have been drastically weakened and the North made stronger. It is possible the Ironborn never would have even conquered the Riverlands.

Houses around Sea Dragon point would also have benefited from the increased trade. Torrhens Square and Deepwood Motte would each be slightly richer and have larger populations. There would also be a knock on effect for the entire North. With an extra source of trade, most Houses would feel a slight benefit over the centuries. House Stark would also be able to call more men to war. Other House Stark would have had greater incomes from taxes and would probably be able to call on at least another five to ten thousand men in times of war from the knock on effect it would have on the Northern economy and its population. If not more. As the whole coastline has the potential to be protected and have great population boom.

Harry wanted to sigh at the stupidity of some of his predecessors. There is no reason to keep moaning about the past though, he will just have to fix some of his ancestors stupid mistakes now.

He will have to make sure the foundations are strong though. So all his hard work won’t be undone by an idiotic descendant.

The week after arriving on top of the hill on which Benjens castle will be built, Harry immediately set to work. In the beginning everything will have to be made entirely from wood. There was good places to mine stone along the Stony Shore to the South. The problem is setting up supply lines that can send the mined stone such a distance through the wilds, without any roads. It would be slow going but he is sure he can manage.

Harry decided to send a group of fifty men south in order to set up a quarry. They would mine what stone they could and set it aside for storage. Once Harry had some wagons made he would start sending men to bring the stone up to the building site where it will be stored until there is enough gathered to make a decent start on the castle as he determined that would be the first thing to be built out of stone. He sent another hundred men to start chopping down trees so fifty other men could begin building the port. Once that is done they can begin on some basic walls for protection. He would make sure that those men started planting trees for every one they chopped down. He wanted to try and prevent deforestation if he could.

The castle would have a simple design for now. He would focus on building a few sets of chambers, a solar, granary, great hall, kitchen, stables, a small courtyard and barracks. The castle would be a decent size once finished. It would be small compared to most castles in Westeros but he is leaving plenty of space around before the walls are put up for it to expand in the future.

The town would be built a short distance away from the castle leaving space for walls to be built to surround the castle, keeping the inhabitants safe. The top of the town should start right outside those walls and should start to slowly expand down the hill as it grows in population. Another wall would be built around the town in the future, leaving plenty of space for expansion. These walls would be wood for now and possibly years still.

Harry was making sure that the infrastructure of the town would be built properly. To do this he started designing the sewer system first. The town would hopefully grow in size at a decent pace, so proper infrastructure is incredibly important. Harry would rather no towns or cities under his domain smelled of shit and piss as Kingslanding was said to.

For now all he did was send a hundred men to start digging a main tunnel for sewerage to flow down the hill and into the ocean a distance away from the town itself,  where it will be carried away by the current. Other tunnels would be added to expand into the main tunnel underneath where streets will be in the future.

He expected it would take the men many moons before they had completed their job, as the tunnel has to go a great distance. After giving the men a supervisor who he was reasonably confident could lead the men decently, he left them to their task.

He had half of the rest of the men start digging on the top of the hill where the castle would go in order to dig a stable, flat foundation for the castle to be built on. They were to flatten the land up until where the walls of the castle were designated to go. After the walls, the hill would continue its decline giving any archers on the walls better range. It was also a large amount of land to flatten and Hadrian expected that to take the men a few moons. He really needed more men. He would like to start building the actual castle but he decided he would do it properly. A proper foundation would make the castle more stable and stronger. There will be less need for repairs as cracks are less likely to appear than if it was built on a poor foundation. It would be a lot of work but in the end it will be worth it.

The rest of the men were given the task of setting up proper shelters for now. They wouldn’t be anything fancy, just made out of wood for now. It was just to give the smallfolk a place to sleep. As it was they were still staying in tents. He was lucky it was summer.

If only he knew the recipe for cement. All he knew is that the Romans used volcanic ash and some other ingredients to make a version of cement they used on their roads. It would take experimentation to get the recipe right.

The next thing to decide upon was the structure of the town itself. His uncle Benjen didn’t seem very interested in the design of his castle. Only telling Harry to keep it basic whenever he was asked for what he would like. Harry tried to drag him into more discussions regarding the castle and how it should be built but Benjen didn’t seem interested. In fact he seemed to become more and more distant the more Harry tried to get him to participate. When Harry asked him for ideas of how he would like the town to be set out and Benjen told him he didn’t really care as long as it was basic, he decided enough was enough.

Three weeks into their stay at Sea-Dragon Point, Harry invited his uncle to have dinner in his tent in order to find out what was wrong.

Dinner was a simple affair. There wasn’t any proper supply lines to his location yet, so most of the food the workers and guards eat would be salted and dried in order to preserve the food stores. It would be another moon before more food would be delivered and it is incredibly difficult to hunt game for this many people, as most of the men were working, so the smallfolk had to get by with what was available. At least until the first crops came in.

He already had some smallfolk start some farms. There were only about fifty men that did so as he didn’t need many farms just yet as the population was still low. Those men that were chosen all had wives and children though. He figured they would help out around the farms for now. He would see if there were more farmers needed next harvest as he was still going to have more supplies brought to him.

Being Lord Stark came with some perks. While most men were eating dried, salted meat, he and his uncle had better options. He sent some of his men out hunting earlier and they came back with a wild boar and a deer as a prize. They would be having wild boar roasted over a spit for dinner along with wine for his uncle and boiled water for himself. The rest of the boar and the deer that the men killed would be shared among his guards.

Dinner had been a silent affair. The only sounds being from their cutlery as they enjoyed their meal. When the meal was over, one of the women that followed the men came into the tent and cleared the dishes. Officially his uncle hired her as a maid in his household.

That was when Harry took the initiative to begin a conversation he had a feeling would be far from enjoyable.

“So uncle, care to tell me what has been bothering you? “ Harry drawled while playing with his empty goblet.

Benjen tensed for a second before relaxing and letting out a wry smile. “ I should have known you would notice.”

Harry just eyed him with some disbelief. “If that was you trying to make me not notice something was wrong, then you are truly a terrible actor.”

Benjen seemed to sputter. “I didn’t say or do anything! How can I be a terrible actor?”

Harry gave his uncle the most deadpan look he could. “Exactly, you haven’t done or said anything. You’ve offered no advice, given me no idea of what the castle should look like. I have had to choose everything so far. Most men would be excited to design their own castle, especially when Winterfell is funding it until trade opens up and the smallfolk start collecting their first harvests and taxes come in.”

His eyes softened. “Uncle, I know for some reason you were set on joining the Nights Watch but I thought you accepted that wasn’t going to happen. Why do you want nothing to do with your own castle?”

Benjen slumps. “-ult.” He whispered so quietly Harry wasn’t able to hear what he said.

Harry leaned closer. “I’m sorry?”

Benjen squared himself. ”It was my fault.” ´He said probably louder than he intended to judging by his wince.

Harry just sighed. “What was your fault uncle?”

Benjens eyes watered. “Lyanna, Brandon, Father, the war. It was my fault. “

Harry just stared at him. “You aren’t making any sense uncle.“

Benjen slumped. “I helped Lyanna escape from Riverrun. She asked me to and I did. Then everyone died.”

Harry just closed his eyes and banged his head against the table. “Why is everyone in my family such idiots?” He groaned.

When he looked up, Benjen had an expression on his face that looked as if it was an unholy cross between offended and confused.

Harry snorted at his expression. “Uncle, do you really believe that Lyanna needed your help? If you didn’t help her, she would have found some other way. She hated the idea of being married to Robert. She would have done whatever she could to avoid that fate. “

His face sobered. “My father’s death was Aerys fault. Some blame can go to Rhaegar too. But it was also his own foolishness that also got him killed. My father was rash and impulsive and didn’t think about the consequences of his actions and that got him killed. Not you. If he just thought for a moment things would be different. Grandfathers’ death was Aerys fault, Rhaegars fault, my father’s fault and his own fault. The war was Aerys fault and Rhaegars fault. Rhaegar lit the fuse and Aerys doused it in wildfire. You should stop taking the blame for other people’s actions.”

He held up a hand before his uncle could speak. “I have a question before we continue. Did Rhaegar kidnap Lyanna? You are saying she left Riverrun of her own accord?”

His uncle sighed. “I truly don’t know nephew. I knew she had a plan for once she was out of the castle. She said she had plenty of coin and that she knew what she was doing. She refused to tell me her plan but I assumed she would try and run to Braavos or a remote part of the North. Like she always spoke about. She might have met up with Rhaegar outside of Riverrun as part of her plan or Rhaegar might have taken the opportunity to kidnap her. It is a question that often keeps me awake at night. “

Harry frowned at that. He would need to do some greenseeing when he went back to Winterfell to find out what really happened. While on one hand, he would be upset if Lyanna willingly left with Rhaegar without telling anybody, as that lead to the deaths of his father and grandfather and a whole war. On the other hand, if she was kidnapped by Rhaegar that means she was raped to have Jon and that isn’t a fate he would ever wish on someone, especially someone he loved so much. If she left with Rhaegar willingly then there is a chance Jon is a true born Targaryen which could be trouble if discovered. He would need to make sure there are no documents or evidence floating around in the south that could be discovered if that is the case.

Hadrian honestly had no idea what to feel about the situation. The whole thing was one big mess. It’s the reason he tried not to think about it too much before. There was a lot of blame to go around, Rhaegar deserved some blame and the rest goes to Aerys in Harrys opinion. He knew there would be those that would blame Lyanna. But even if she went willingly, Harry couldn’t shake the thought she was just a young girl, barely four and ten name days, and it would be easy for a charming prince to ride along into her life and act as the hero of her story, sweeping her off her feet while saving her from an unwanted marriage. It would be easy for Rhaegar to manipulate her in such a situation.

Regardless, there was no use in theorizing when he can look for himself later. One thing he already knows for sure though, is that none of the blame rests on Benjen. Lyanna would have found a way to leave Riverrun with or without his help. He was just trying to be a good brother. Not that any of them seemed to have planned things out very well if she didn’t leave with Rhaegar willingly. A four and ten name day old girl trying to survive on her own in Essos or a remote part of the North would not have an easy time of it.

Harry looked into his uncles eyes. “Uncle, the war is not your fault. Their deaths are not your fault. There is a lot of blame to go around for the Rebellion but none of it should rest on your shoulders.”

His uncle seemed to choke back a sob. “Thank you, nephew.”

Harry just nodded and gave his uncle a few moments to collect himself. Benjen surprised him by not only doing so quickly but also looking into his eyes with a determination he had never seen from the man before. At least when not concerning the Nights Watch and his goal to join it. “What did you mean when you said Grandfathers death was partly his own fault?”

Harry cringed. “Perhaps not the best choice of words. In truth, my fathers and grandfathers deaths are Aerys fault alone, but we cannot discount the circumstances that would make a man act in such a mad fashion as it completes the picture. Grandfather started to play the Game of Thrones, he played badly and he died.”

Benjens eyes widened. ”What do you mean? “

Harry rolled his eyes. “Come uncle, the North has been isolationist for thousands of years. We were before the dragons landed and we were for hundreds of years after. Then suddenly in a single generation the Warden of the Norths heir was going to be married to the daughter of the Lord Paramount of the Riverlands, his second son would be fostering under the Lord Paramount of the Vale with the future Lord Paramount of the Stormlands, who is also in line for the throne and who would be betrothed to the Lord of the Norths only daughter. That’s the North, Stormlands, Vale and Riverlands entered into a pretty deep and strong alliance uncle.  It’s no wonder Aerys was so paranoid, over half the kingdoms were actively allying against him. The worst part is that much of this alliance relied on the North as a focal point. My fathers arranged marriage to Catelyn and Lyannas arranged marriage to Robert, as well as the relationship with Lord Arryn uncle Ned formed in his fostering are the glue that seemed to hold the alliance together. Now I’m not sure who among Lord Arryn, Tully or grandfather were the masterminds behind the plot but the alliances were not subtle at all. Worse it seemed to point at House Stark as the leader of this alliance trying to make Robert Baratheon King and Lyanna Stark Queen. It is no wonder Aerys reacted negatively. That’s not to say that his reaction was within the bounds of sanity at all, because it wasn’t, but he might have reacted differently if he had known grandfather wasn’t actively plotting against him.”

Benjen leaned back in his chair. “I never thought about that. It does look suspicious now that you are saying it out loud like that.”

Harry nodded. “So yes, while Aerys was no doubt mad, grandfather didn’t help the situation either. Maybe he made the alliances to keep the North protected from the growing madness of Aerys or maybe there was some other plan. I don’t know. All I know is that grandfather should have left the south alone.”

Benjen chuckled bitterly. “Aye. You are right about that.” He then took a deep breath. “I will be more involved in building the castle and the town. I will start giving my all towards being a lord and forget about the Nights Watch. While I disagree with you when you say I don’t have any blame, I see now that you are correct that others hold far more than me. While I couldn’t protect my family then, I will redeem myself by doing all I can to protect my family now. You have my word nephew. “

Harry smiled. “Excellent. Thank you uncle. The past is best left there. No, matter how painful, it is always better to look towards the future.”

Benjen laughed. “You’re a little boy, you aren’t supposed to sound so wise.”

Harry smirked. “It is just part of my charm.”

After having a laugh for a few seconds in order to wash away the remaining tension from their conversation, Harry studied his uncle.

He definitely looked far more relaxed. It was like a tension in his body he carried around for the last few weeks had suddenly left. Harry was glad Benjen seemed to be making progress over his issues. It would take time until he fully forgave himself.  Harry debated for a few moments whether or not to tell Benjen about Jon and his true parentage. After a while he decided not to. Not until he at least had a chance to speak to his uncle Ned.

Still there were other interesting topics that they should speak of now.

Harry smirked. “So uncle, you say you are ready to finally throw your all behind being a Lord? To take the leap. “

Benjen squared his shoulders and took a deep breath before looking into his eyes. “I am.”

Harry smiled. “Excellent then there are some important things for us to discuss. First, let’s talk about who you will marry.”

“HHhrrt.” Benjen choked.

Harry continued ruthlessly. “So I was thinking about…..”

Next chapter Thursday 20 April 2023.

Sorry for such a late update guys. After a late one last week too LI have been sick as a dog these last few days. Literally spent the last three days in bed sleeping, trying to get the willpower to write the last thousand or so words of this chapter. I’m feeling better now though and promise next week Thursdays chapter won’t be late. As always criticism is welcome as long as it’s constructive.

To read ahead of the update schedule: Pat_reon(dot)com(slash) TheLifeandTimes19.

The Beginning of the Northern Army.

Moat Cailin- 288 AC

The Beginning of the Northern Army.

There had been many moments in the last few years that made Ned Stark feel proud of his nephew’s accomplishments. There were times when Hadrian’s ideas and ways of doing things had sometimes given Ned a headache, but generally when he heard his nephew’s plans he couldn’t help but feel a sense of awe at Harry’s intelligence and excitement for what the North would one day become, if all goes well. Now sitting before the Lords of the North at Moat Cailin, Ned was feeling trepidation. Uncertainty.

When he first received the raven from Winterfell from Harry, speaking of the Ironborn at Moat Cailin he was filled with worry. He managed to calm himself and fulfil his nephews instructions to first gather two thousand men for marching, another thousand for defence of Winterfell and another thousand to defend the coasts. He knew Hadrian wasn’t like Brandon. He wouldn’t do anything reckless.

Ned thought that his nephew would remain hidden in the swamps of the neck. Safe away from any Ironborn. He thought that by the time the army he raised got to the Moat, the Ironborn would have left already or he would have to start preparing for a siege while waiting for more reinforcements. He didn’t expect Hadrian to try do anything against the Ironborn. Not when he was so outnumbered.

He should have known better.

His nephew seems to always try and do the impossible. Even when he fails he never seems to think his goals are out of reach. Hadrian wasn’t one to cower down and wait for others to solve his problems.

When Ned first arrived at the Moat a few weeks after he first learned of the Ironborns presence he was slightly relieved when he found it empty of both men and bodies. He expected that the Ironborn had left and he just had to wait for Hadrian to leave the Neck and join him.

When his men found the burned longboats and the corpses he was worried about what happened and what his nephew was doing. He knew Hadrian wasn’t as reckless as Brandon but he worried regardless. After a few days when one of his scouts returned from the south of the causeway bringing news about his nephew marching North up the Kingsroad with a few hundred men, he felt relieved. When he saw the men Hadrian was with, he could immediately tell they had been in battles. Some men had wounds and others were transporting the bodies of their fallen comrades.

The proceeding few hours were a storm of different emotions for Ned. He was upset with his nephew for risking his life in a battle that wasn’t necessary. Hadrian could have stayed safe at Greywater Watch and not done anything about the Ironborn. They would have left on their own. Then Ned would deal with them later in the war.

He made sure to let Hadrian know of his displeasure but he couldn’t truly be mad at his nephew for long. Not when he was so proud of his accomplishments.

Destroying an army of four thousand Ironborn and losing less than two hundred men was a feat worthy of songs. Hadrian definitely proved himself as an able commander in the war so far, even if he didn’t personally fight in any of the skirmishes he’s had.

Once his nephew had updated him about everything that had happened and the reason for some of his decisions and tactics, he asked him to send ravens to his bannermen telling them to bring fewer men than originally intended. Stating that the North has already contributed to winning this war and that the length of the rest of the war would be determined at sea where the North couldn’t really do anything.

Ned did what Hadrian asked and wrote to certain bannermen telling them not to bring any men but a few guards for themselves, others to bring only half their army and still others to only bring a majority. At the end of everything there should be a muster of eight thousand men. Ned originally thought it was too few but Hadrian made a compelling argument when he said the Ironborn would be destroyed at sea and then the Lannister army on its own could finish the war. Anything over that was overkill.

He had to agree. So far the war wasn’t going very well for Balon Greyjoy. He lost his heir and a decent portion of his fleet when he sent them to attack the North. He lost more ships when he attacked the Redwyn Fleet who listened to the warnings but only took them half as seriously as they should have. The end result was that the Redwyn Fleet was destroyed and only another thirty or so Ironborn longships were destroyed.

By now Balon Greyjoy had lost over sixty ships and thousands of men. He still had to contend with the Royal fleet, Lannister Fleet, Hightower Fleet as well as the Mallister Fleet. Each of which will be prepared for him. Yes, Ned understands what Hadrian means when he says sending too many men would be pointless.

At least he didn’t have to try and talk Hadrian out of coming with him when they march. His nephew proved surprisingly wise and didn’t even try and change his mind.

The thing that filled Ned with the most conflicting emotions about the stories Hadrian told him was when he spoke of magic. Ned was a Northerner. He believed magic used to exist. He believed in many of the older tales. But he thought that was all they were. Tales. Legends. He thought magic had died out with the Children of the Forest and the Dragons. But no, according to his nephew, all Starks have magic in their blood and the potential to learn how to use it.

When he learnt his nephew was now a skinchanger and greenseer he didn’t know how to feel. On the one hand he was awed, he learnt about the old tales of his ancestors. Learning that House Stark still retains those gifts was a blessing he couldn’t ignore. Once his nephew showed him some of what he could do he couldn’t deny there was a lot of potential in those gifts.

There was also a lot of danger. Hadrian explained it was easy to lose yourself if you didn’t know what you were doing. Hadrian explained he learnt how to do it safely from a Greenseer who lives in The Neck.

At learning this Ned could only sigh. He should have known his nephew had other reasons for going to Greywater Watch than just visiting his bannerman. Hadrian never seems to do anything unless it serves more than one purpose. Learning of his teacher inTthe Neck also gave Ned another problem.

If magic isn’t dead and there are still dozens of skinchangers alive in the Neck alone, then that means there are others who could learn the art. Others who could abuse it to spy on and manipulate lords from all over Westeros without any of them knowing.

Of course his nephew already had a solution to that problem. His Order of Huntsmen. Ned isn’t sure he likes the idea of having an army of spies much better than the idea of using magic that makes spying so easy. He didn’t really see many other options to combat rogue skinchangers though.

When he started hearing tales of how his nephew destroyed the Ironborn using an army of snakes he was both shocked and a little fearful of the magic that his nephew could now wield. At first he didn’t really believe that his nephew summoned a whole army of snakes, he thought that it was just tall tales told by the men, and his nephew summoned a few snakes at most. But later, upon seeing how the men who marched with Hadrian spoke of him and looked at him, it was getting harder to deny. They spoke as if his nephew was the champion of the Old Gods themselves.

When Hadrian started insisting that he would teach his cousins when they were older, he once more had mixed feelings. Yes, this would be a great boon to his children. It would be a useful skill to help keep them safe. At the same time though. He doesn’t understand magic. He doesn’t want his children to learn something that could harm them. So he accepted Hadrian’s offer of teaching him and Benjen first. Even if it would be harder for them as they are older.

He knows Catelyn is just going to react terribly to this. Not only that, but tales of this are sure to spread South. How they will react is a mystery, but Ned will do whatever he has to do to protect his family. Based on the reaction from the Manderly men who arrived shortly after him, he was hopeful the south wouldn’t react that negatively. There was some concern from the Seven worshippers amongst those men, but overall most of them were Northerners now and were more accepting than not. It helped that Hadrian was a Stark and the Manderlys had always been one of their strongest supporters.

They spent the next few weeks before the rest of their bannermen arrived going over plans. Hadrian was predicting how the war might end and giving Ned scenarios of what decisions the king could make for the Iron Islands that would be the most beneficial for the North. He wanted Ned to try and influence the King towards these actions. Ned refused to try and manipulate Robert but he did agree that he would see what happens and if the opportunity presented itself he would speak to Robert.

It wasn’t like what his nephew wanted from the outcome of this war was unreasonable. His main goals were to see Balon Greyjoy dead and have the Iron Islands either weakened or put onto the path of trading instead of raiding. He wanted the surviving Greyjoy children to be given as wards to either Stannis Baratheon or the Hightowers.

Ned had no problem with giving his opinion to Robert if he asks for it.

Overall, Ned wasn’t very worried about this war. Yes, there would be death as there is in every war, but this war would be nothing like The Rebellion. Balon Greyjoy is already on the back foot and the war has only just started. He has no doubt that Balon will be beaten with few casualties for the North.

No, Ned was more worried about what plans his nephew would start to put into motion with his absence.

Ned knows Hadrian is brilliant. He knows he has the potential to change the North for the better. To make the North greater than ever. The problem is, Hadrian is still often impatient. He is still very ambitious. While that ambition to make the North strong is a good thing, Hadrian doesn’t always pay attention to what others around him might think of the changes he’s making. Or perhaps he just doesn’t care.

Ned knows that Hadrian is making the North strong. He can see that in another few years they would already be stronger than they had been in a long time. The problem is that to Hadrian, the words good enough, don’t exist. While generally this is an attitude he can approve of, things become more complicated when Hadrian’s newest ambitions involve around increasing the military power of the North.

When Ned first heard his nephew say that he wanted to increase the effectiveness of the Norths military he was of two minds. On one hand, a stronger military would mean the North is that much stronger and that much safer. On the other hand, he isn’t sure how the Southern Kingdoms would take this move from the North. While Robert may not have an issue with it and while Hadrian might not use the strengthened military to rebel against Robert, the same cannot be said for Roberts children. There are bound to be many lords who will whisper in the kings ear and the princes ear, about how they should be wary of the new military power of the North.

Once his nephew had actually shown him those plans, Ned couldn’t help but be amazed at first. His nephew had only been in one battle and had already come up with plans to rebuild the military from the very bottom. When he started looking at those plans more deeply and contemplating them fully he realised that his nephew planned to build possibly the most dangerous army in the world.

He really didn’t know how to feel about that.  Other than nervousness and trepidation for the future. Hadrian never does anything without a reason. That much Ned knew. So why was he going to spend so much time and effort to raise an army?

It was times like this that Ned feared Harrys plans. While they would drive the North towards prosperity, they would also drive a wedge between the North and the South. If not handled properly there is always a chance for war.

While Robert would prevent a war from starting. When he dies it would be a different story. If the North is strong enough by then, many lords might just demand that Hadrian declare independence regardless of any actions from the South.

Hadrian had gathered all the Lords today to inform them about what he has determined about the war and his plans to reform the Northern army.

At least he wasn’t starting too big. According to his plans, Hadrian only wants to build it up to five thousand men for now.  Even that would take years to achieve if they are to be as effective as Hadrian wants.

Ned was sitting on Hadrians right at the head of the table all the lords of the North were sitting around. Most of them were feasting and drinking, enjoying their last day of peace in the North before they started marching.

Most lords were in a good mood. They were drinking, cheering and laughing with each other. Every now or then one would try and bring himself, Benjen or Hadrian in on a conversation, but most of the time they were content to leave them to talk amongst themselves.

Ned could see a clear difference in how certain lords of the North treat his nephew now. While they respected Hadrian and his ideas before and loved him for all the prosperity he has brought, they always used to look to Ned first at feasts like these. Hadrian was always well loved and well respected by the bannermen but the lords knew Ned was still in charge and as such would always unconsciously look to him first.

Now that is no longer the case. The lords seemed to almost be hanging off of every word that Hadrian said. They definitely respect him more now that he has lead an army to such a great victory. In no other can that be seen more clearly than the Umbers. The Greatjon had been singing his nephews praises all evening for ‘showing the squids their place’. Constantly going on about how fierce Hadrian is, and that when he is an adult he will be even more impressive.

The only lords who don’t really look pleased with his nephews actions against the Ironborn are Lords Bolton and Whitehill. Lord Bolton could be explained away, the man always has that look on his face. He never looks happy and if Ned were to ever see the lord smile he would be sure to check his back to make sure there is no knife in it.

Lord Bolton had recently sent his heir south to the Vale to foster. When Hadrian first learnt about it a few weeks ago, he was angry. Domeric was his cousin and he was going to offer to foster him in Winterfell. According to Hadrian, Lord Bolton should have suspected he was going to offer to foster Domeric. While he believed that Lord Bolton is just trying to foster some relations with the south as his father did, Hadrian insists it is probably something much more sinister. According to Hadrian the best reason for Lord Bolton to send Domeric so far away was so that Domeric would be separated from any actions he takes. According to Hadrian, Lord Bolton knows that Harry values family and he might be trying to take advantage of that. If Roose Bolton commits treason and tries to overthrow the Starks, Roose Bolton would believe Domeric would be safe to carry on the Bolton name if he fails.

After having some time to think about it, he decided that there was some merit to his nephews thinking. Roose Bolton had always been an untrustworthy man and Ned would make sure to keep a close eye on him. That would be all he would do though. As while there was some merit to what his nephew said, there were also a thousand other explanations and no proof. Roose Bolton was cautious and clever anyway. Ned highly doubted he would do anything anytime soon.

No, he was far more worried about the Whitehills for now. Ludd Whitehill has always been a man with a big ego and a large mouth. He has never been afraid to share his opinions and even occasionally force those opinions on others. He is also the most devout Seven worshipper in the North.

While the Manderlys worship The Seven, they have never been as devout as most southerners. The religion has even changed in White Harbour and isn’t as strict as the south and even has some different laws and customs.

Ludd Whitehill in comparison, is more devout than most southerners and has been known to have even insulted the Manderlys for ‘bastardising the Faith’. He isn’t a very smart man or a very patient one. It is no wonder then that he doesn’t even try to hide his displeasure when he heard about his nephews use of magic.

Hadrian never confirmed he used magic to any of the lords but he never did deny it either. Ned had seen some Lords take that as proof of his nephews abilities while others were adamant there was some trick or pure luck involved.

Ned decided that he would need to watch Ludd Whitehill closely. The man was bound to do something stupid sooner or later. He could only hope he wouldn’t do something reckless in the south. While like Lord Bolton, he didn’t have any evidence of wrongdoings from Lord Whitehill, he would be a fool to not keep an eye on both of them at the very least.

He was brought out of his musings by the sound of his nephews chair scraping back. Hadrian stood and the Lords in the tent quieted down almost immediately. Ned had to admit it was impressive and amusing seeing grown Lords, who have seen and fought in wars, show immediate deference to an eight year old.

“My Lords!” His nephew began in as strong a voice as he could muster. “The Ironborn have rebelled and King Robert has called the banners do deal with the pirates. This won’t be a long war my lords, and the North will play little part in the outcome. The length of the war will be decided at sea. I predict it will be an easy war and that the Ironborn should provide little problem for the combined fleets of the Kingdoms. The Iron Islands are weak and Balon Greyjoy has greatly overestimated himself. But this is not why I wanted to talk to you today, my lords.”

Hadrian started pacing up and down along the table. “ My problem is why did the Ironborn think it was a good idea to attack us in the first place? Why did a foreign army would think they could get such foothold in the North? The answer I have come to my lords? They think us weak.”

The lords started muttering amongst themselves.

Before the noise could grow too loud Hadrian continued. “In some ways, they’re right.”

Ned winced at the noise the Lords made at that proclamation. Before he could call for quiet, Hadrians dog Padfoot, who had travelled with him from Winterfell, let out a howl.

“Arooooooo!”

The lords quieted down again and Hadrian continued. “We do not have the population of the Reach. We don’t have the gold of the Westerlands or the fleets of the Iron Islands and the other Southern Kingdoms. In those ways we are weaker than some Kingdoms. “

He paused for a moment. “But in other ways, we are so much stronger!”

Ned could see some lords visibly relax now that they knew Hadrian wasn’t just insulting the North. He even saw one or two start to nod along.

“We have the strongest men and the greatest fighters in The Seven Kingdoms. We are a kingdom that cannot be conquered by a conventional army. We come from a long line of men and woman who have struggled through the harshest winters and survived! But our greatest strength, is our unity.”

After taking a breath Hadrian started to explain. “While the southern lords and kingdoms are constantly squabbling amongst themselves for even the slightest scraps of power, the North has always stood united against common enemies. While southerners worry about their pretty silks and gold swords we have always looked to more important things. The North may not be perfect, there may be some lords who do not like each other or who have rivalries with others. Compared to the South though, the North is united! “

“Aye.”

“Aye.” Aye.”

“Aye!!”

Most lords started to agree with his nephews words. Ned could see them becoming more animated the longer the speech went on. Ned knew Hadrian would use the positive reaction to his benefit.

His nephew didn’t disappoint. “We have to use that unity for our benefit though. Our population will rise on its own now that we are growing more food. Gold can be made and ships can be built. If we use the opportunity given to us to build now, then in the future the North could match any of the kingdoms and even surpass them in gold, in ships and in population!”

“Aye!” Most of the lords cheered.

Hadrian continued. “We need to take advantage now so that we can build for the future. Many things will be changing over the next few years. The North will only become stronger and more prosperous as long as we are wise. Unfortunately there will always be those who will seek to challenge us. As we grow in wealth, others will grow in jealousy. It isn’t enough just to build for the future. We need to protect what we have built. We need the other Kingdoms to look to the North and not even think of attacking us, as that would be suicide!”

“Aye!!!” Many of the lords were banging their cups or fists on the table.

Harry stopped pacing. “I will begin building a fleet on our Western shore now that the Ironborn are about to be dealt with for at least a few years. Moat Cailin will also start undergoing repairs. This will take time to do right my lords but it will be done. Once the Western Fleet is on its way to being built, I will begin building more roads and fixing the ones we have. The ships and fleet mean trade is going to open up with more of the South alongside the Western shore, bringing more gold North. The roads mean men and armies can travel faster, increasing trade in the North itself. This will lower the price of food and make it so our populations can grow more easily. Allowing for greater prosperity. None of this will be easy, it will cost a lot of gold to start and it will take a lot of work but I will find a way my lords. Those are my problems to deal with.”

Ned could see the lords were hanging off of his nephews words. One or two of them looked dismissive, but he could see that a most of them were actually taking his nephew seriously. After Hadrian found a way to grow more food and defeated an army many times larger than his own, most of the lords seemed to have much more faith in him.

Hadrian continued. “Increased prosperity will unfortunately bring problems of its own. I intend to take care of those problems before they have a chance to grow out of control. Increased trade means increased banditry and piracy. There will always be those who seek to profit off of others. Increased prosperity and trade for us means less trade for many lords of the south who we were reliant on before now. They will not be happy we no longer give them our hard earned gold. While the North has some of the greatest fighters in the world we do not have men dedicated to keeping piracy and banditry low. We have our men at arms and a few knights, but with the population increase they will not be enough for long. In order to address some of these problems and to properly secure the North from any other kingdoms, I will be designing and building an army from the bottom up.”

Before any of the lords had a chance to speak Hadrian continued. “The army will not be very large for now. It will be no more than five thousand men. Even then, it will take years of hard work in order to get to a number that high. I plan on making it the most advanced and well trained army in the world and that type of training takes time. It will be solely under the command of House Stark during times of war but during times of peace or when a member of House Stark is not present, it will fall under the command of a general chosen from among the Lords of the North. “

Hadrian walked back to his chair and sat down. “Ask your questions my lords.”

Lord Manderly was the quickest. “ My lord, you said the purpose of this army is to combat piracy. So will the army be split into two, one part for the Navy and one part for on land?”

Ned was honestly surprised that none of the Lords had spoken up yet, going against the idea of an army solely in control of House Stark. It made sense though. Many of the Houses in the North are already incredibly loyal to House Stark. Others who were probably undecided might have been swayed by his nephews words or intrigued by the possibility of being chosen as the General of the Northern army. Others who were probably against the idea such as Lord Bolton and Lord Whitehill either knew that going against the idea now would be pointless and only risk exposing themselves as a potential enemy or they were too cowardly to say anything in Hadrian’s presence.

Hadrian smiled. “An excellent question my lord. My original plan was to have the men alternate. So that they get experience in many different environments my lord. Although I can admit that I am no expert when it comes to all manners of warfare. So I will be taking suggestions from the rest of the lords on the best ways to structure and build the army once the war with the Ironborn is over. It is my hope that between all of us we can come up with something great.”

Eddard could see that many of the lords looked more enthused with the idea of the army now. Hadrian was right. Giving them a say in how the army was structured seems to have made them much more interested in the idea instead of outright rejecting it.

Hadrian decided to continue while the lords were feeling generally positive. “In a few years the army will be used to attempt a conquest beyond The Wall. We will see how it does and decide a further course of action based on its performance then.’

Ned could see Hadrian gather a breath for this next part. This was always going to be the tricky part to get right with the Lords. “House Stark will be paying for this army from the taxes that we get from the lords. I believe we will be able to afford it comfortably in a few years once trade has increased enough. However, this army will cost a lot to run and to train. In order to do that, there will need to be a few changes to the tax system.”

Grumbling rose up amongst the lords at his words. None of the Lords looked happy with that development. “My lords!” Hadrian interrupted them. “The percent you pay in tax will not be changing.” Many of the lords started relaxing slightly at this.

Hadrian continued when he saw they had calmed down. “Only the way that the taxes are collected will be changing. House Stark will be training tax collectors over the next few years. They will be taught to evaluate lands, businesses and farms in order to work out what lords should be getting as taxes from their smallfolk. They will also be taught how to record taxes from any imports and exports. From there they will write a report to the lords telling them what they should be getting as taxes. They will also write a report to any of those lords superiors. Landed knights will have their reports sent to the minor lords and major lords they answer to as well as to House Stark. The same will happen for every other group of lords. This makes sure that you aren’t being cheated my lords and it makes sure that House Stark gets a steady revenue that can counted and relied upon to fund the army.”

When the Lords heard what Hadrian had in mind most of them seemed to calm down. It was difficult for them to truly be upset when Hadrian wasn’t changing how much they were meant to be paying but rather making sure that everyone was actually paying what they were supposed to.

When he saw that the lords had calmed down and seemed to be accepting his words, Hadrian smiled. “Thank you all for the support my lords. Please enjoy the remainder of your night. Don’t forget to think of ideas for the army and navy while you are in the south my lords. I know with the experience of the people in this room, we will be able to come up with something truly amazing.”

Sorry for the delay. My wallet was stolen earlier this week so I have been spending most of my free time trying to get replacements for my ID, Drivers licence and bank cards. Then I kept rewriting a lot of the newest chapter as I was unhappy with it. Next week I should be back on schedule though.

The Ironborn Rebellion Part 2

The Ironborn Rebellion Part 2

The Neck-288 AC

Hadrian stopped his march two hours march away from the end of the Fever River, where the Ironborn were forced to leave their longships if they wished to continue on towards Moat Cailin.

Right now, Harry was assessing the situation while waiting for further information from his scouts and waiting for the rest of the force that was originally at Moat Cailin to catch up to his group. The group that retreated south from Moat Cailin swung around back into the Neck once they were half a day south and started moving in his direction immediately after. According to the skinchanger he told to keep an eye on them, they should be at his location in another hour or so, just before the sun starts to set.

The only issue that Harry had with his plan so far were the horses. Many of the horses that were originally taken to Moat Cailin from Winterfell were let go south of the Moat, as they couldn’t be taken with the men off the path into the marsh itself.

“Jod.” He called to the skinchanger who he had put in charge of his scouts, and if all goes well in this campaign, the first person who will start training as a Huntsmen. Jod was seventeen namedays old, fairly tall for a crannogman and eager to prove himself. He was probably the most intelligent out of all the new skinchangers Harry had interacted with during the march. The man’s father was a close friend of Lord Reed who died. He was provided a basic education by the crannoglord, including how to read.

Said man looked up from where he was speaking to one of the other skinchangers who had just left his animals mind. He didn’t waste a moment before he said his goodbyes and came over to Hadrian. “Aye Milord.” He bowed.

“Has there been any changes since the last time I asked?” Which was a little under two hours ago.

Jod spoke. “There still seems to be one thousand Ironborn guarding the ships. The original count of Ironborn was off milord. There’s closer to four thousand not three. Two thousand of them are now at The Moat. Five hundred have gone North and Five hundred South. The skinchanger in charge of keeping an eye on Rodrick Greyjoy says he thinks you fled in a hurry. He sent men to look for you in the south following the tracks from the horses and men who left, but later sent some men North just in case you were trying to trick him into going South, he also sent those men to raid. He says the Greyjoy plans to leave in the morning. They’ve already been here two days and want to leave and raid south soon.. “

Four thousand is a lot of Ironborn. Eight times the number of men he has. The way Harry sees it, he has two choices now. He can wait and hold his position letting the Ironborn flee without a fight but without gaining anything for their journey either. Or he could try and punish them for encroaching on the North.

Harry determined when he heard they were raiding some of the small villages up north that he would turn the Ironborn into a lesson for the rest of Westeros.

If the Ironborn are leaving in the morning then that doesn’t give him a lot of time to work. Luckily the rest of his men should be near now. For now Harry was content to receive as much information as possible from the scouts about the Ironborn movements while he waits for night to fall.

He could probably warg into birds himself and gain a greater understanding of how the Ironborn are set out but it wasn’t really necessary at this point. Most of them were in their ships and come nightfall almost all of them would be. Harry would have to wait to see how they set up the night guards.

Right now Harry found himself a little busy. He was setting up different stations to make potions. It was already late in the day and he wanted to give his men a bit more of an advantage if he could.   The problem came in that brewing potions at night was no easy task. The fire would provide some light but it would be difficult to get the ingredients cut perfectly. He could use a potion to see in the dark but he decided to save that those for later. The potion doesn’t last more than four hours and he isn’t sure if there were consequences to taking it again right away. He could have probably asked one of the other potion makers to help him with the brewing , but Harry doesn’t trust many of their skills. Some of their recipes are okay, but their techniques when it comes to preparing the ingredients was terrible. He needed to experiment a bit anyway.

He had set three stations with cheap bronze cauldrons that Lord Reed was tasked to bring. He didn’t have access to proper potions equipment. Even the best tools Lord Reed had for stirring the potions was made of bronze. Silver was generally better as it was pure and didn’t contaminate the potion but he would take what he could get.

He was going to use two of the cauldrons to make potions of night vision. The other was going to be used to make a fire potion. A potion from the wizarding world used to make fires that burn for a very long time at decent temperatures, never incredibly hot though. As long as it was poured on a surface that wasn’t flammable it wouldn’t spread and its temperature was too low to melt through stone. If it was poured on wood though, that wood would catch fire very quickly. It was a very basic potion to make. Even so Harry was in a bind as he was missing fireworm thorax. So he needed to get creative and decided he would try use a particularly nasty breed of fire ants found in The Neck. He figured the potion wouldn’t be nearly as strong but hopefully it should at least catch on fire easily and burn a long time before it goes out. It should do some damage to the ships. He would have around ten small sacks of the potion for some archers to dip their arrows in. He also had enough night vision potion for another twenty men. With the potions Lord Reed brought on the march they would have sixty night vision potions, thirty potions of silence and ten fire potions.

Harry wanted to capture as many ships as he could tonight and while he might be able to capture all of them he wasn’t kidding himself. It would be better to focus his forces on some of the ships, while crippling the rest, his forces are still outnumbered after all. Even if he would probably be able to take all of the ships with a good enough surprise attack and the advantage of having some of his forces able to see in the dark, Harry would rather not risk losing too many men.

So he decided he would take what ships he could and then cripple the ones he couldn’t. As long as the Ironborn are trapped in the North he would be happy. He just needed to wait for the Ironborn to go to sleep so that he could find out which ships had the most of them on board.

After Harry was sure his potions ingredients were ready to be brewed, the rest of his men had arrived. He used this opportunity to pick twenty of his best guards to lead other groups of men. Ten guards would each lead nineteen other men on the attacks on some of the ships. While the other ten would each have twenty five men. Each man was going to be given a specific ship to target when the time was right. Harry hoped this way they would at least be some sense of coordination in each group.

Harry had no plans of fighting in the battle ahead. He may be brave, but he is still in the body of a young boy and the Ironborn are no doubt grown men. He plans on having a strong group of ten soldiers around him for this battle in order to handle the fighting for him, while he focuses on the bigger picture. No plans survive first contact with the enemy though. So Harry is wearing a set of leather armour and is carrying a small sword.

Once Harry had finished organising all of his men the sun had set. This gave him the opportunity to finally light the fires under the cauldrons without fear of the Ironborn seeing the smoke. Without any hesitation he began. He was so busy keeping an eye on the potions that the two hours flew by. As he suspected he didn’t have any problems. The potions were weaker than he would like, but with his proper technique it was probably better than anything that the rest of the crannogmen could make.

After he was done with the potions he still had to wait a few more hours for majority of the Ironborn to retire for the night.

Once that time finally came Harry was sitting on a small log with a map drawn in the dirt before him. It was composed of the reports from all the skinchangers. There were placements and numbers of the suspected amount of Ironborn in each ship scratched into the map. There were also marks showing where the guards were. There were over a hundred of them. With thirty stationed near the boats on land and the rest keeping watch from the decks of the ships.

Harry had spent the last two hours creating the map and he was pretty proud of the detail his skinchangers were able to get of the enemy movements.

Harry finally stood up once he was satisfied with everything. After that Harry gave his orders to the soldiers and he handed out the potions to the men who he felt would get the best use of them. Thirty of the night visions potions went to thirty of the crannogmen who would be in charge of escorting his men as close to the ships as silently as possible. They would also be in charge in killing any guards on shore. Each of these crannogmen assigned to take care of the guards had blowdarts with extremely deadly poison, bows and they had each drank a silencing potion on top of the night vision potion. Another twenty would go to the men Harry chose to lead each group of twenty soldiers boarding the ships. Ten more night vision potions went to the archers charged with setting fire to some ships with fire arrows dipped in fire potion. Harry took some of the best guards in House Stark with him when he travelled South. He hopes they would carve through the Ironborn on the ships with ease from having the advantage of being able to see clearly while the Ironborn cant.

He knew they would have to be careful in order to pull this off. If they alert the Ironborn before they are ready, there will be a fight that will lead to a lot of blood being spilled on his side.

After everyone was ready he gave the order to set out.

At the start it was easy. They made it to the treeline to the South of the Ironborn without being spotted. Once they left the treeline things got more complicated and slower. The guards that were on duty would notice them if they just walked up to the ships. Therefore Harry decided to be as stealthy as possible and made the army slowly crawl towards the ships. The crannogmen in charge of taking out the guards were crawling a bit ahead of the rest of the army. Luckily it was a dark night from the moon being covered by the clouds. This made it easier to sneak up on the Ironborn undetected.

Crawling as they were was an exercise in both patience and stealth. There were a few times that the crannogmen in charge of escorting his group of soldiers suddenly stopped and stayed still for minutes at a time. Harry could only tell why the crannogmen stopped because he took one of the night vision potions, the rest of the soldiers with him weren’t so lucky and just had to watch and trust in their guides.

The crawl towards the edge of the camp might not have been very far but with crawling the way they did, the trip still took hours. There were a few moments when he feared they might be discovered. Luckily the crannogmen he put in charge of eliminating the guards were very stealthy, had excellent aim with their blowdarts and were good at coordinating with each other when guards needed to be eliminated simultaneously.

Eliminating the guards on shore happened without any problems. It was almost ridiculously easy actually. A few of them were asleep and a couple of others were obviously drunk.

His opinion of the Ironborn sank even lower.

It was when each of his groups of soldiers started boarding the ships that things became difficult. One of the guards on the ships was actually paying some attention to his surroundings because he quickly screamed.

“Intruder-“

Before his voice cut off.

Harry decided to forgo all stealth. “Attack!“ He screamed. With a roar his soldiers rushed over the sides of the ships. Ten of the ships were left alone except for ten men dipping their arrows in the flame potion before lighting them on fire using some torches held by a few crannogmen and shooting at the sails. Those ten men quickly left those ships to burn while running back to the main force. Once they had boarded the ships they continued their assault aiming to set different parts of the ships on fire.

All around Harry the sound of men screaming and dying echoed through the night. Despite that, he calmly climbed on to the deck of the biggest ship in the fleet with Ser Rodrick escorting him. Harry suspects this ship belongs to Rodrick Greyjoy himself. The son of Balon Greyjoy was at The Moat at the moment. As such while it might have been the biggest ship in the fleet, a lot of the sailors were not present and the ship was actually less well defended than some of the others.

By the time Harry made it onto the deck, the fighting there was over and had moved into the bowels of the ship. Harry was pleased to see there were three corpses on the deck and none of them belonged to his men. It wasn’t a surprise though.

The Ironborn were unprepared and they were suddenly rushed by twenty men. If they were skilled enough or lucky enough they might be able to take a few in these circumstances but twenty was a different story. Especially if some of those men were able to see in the dark perfectly.

The crannogmen scouts that took the night vision potions were on the decks of the ships and each of them were armed with a bow and were aiming at the ships with their sails on fire shooting at the Ironborn on the deck.

Harry commanded a few of the guards he had around him to prepare the ship for departure immediately. While they were doing that he kept a wary eye on the ships that had burning sails. As Harry watched, a few men on those ships started to make it up onto the deck. Some of them panicked at seeing the sails on fire and as Harry watched some tried to save their ships with buckets of water. They were targeted the most by the crannog archers. Others however left their ships to burn and either started preparing to board the ships his soldiers were on from their ships or from the ground. Most of them were simply carrying swords and didn’t have armour or bows as it was too dark for them to see clearly.

The men in charge of setting the sails on fire had dipped more arrows into the potion and were firing those at the decks of each ship. The potion burnt too cool to melt rock or metal but it was more than hot enough to cause wood to combust quickly. By now they had each shot half a dozen arrows. The fires were constantly spreading and the Ironborn were not able to put them out with all the panic and constant rain of arrows from the other archers.

By the time those that wanted to attack his soldiers had gathered in enough force, some of his men were back on deck and preparing the ship for departure in full. One or two Ionborn rushed their ships from the shore or the other ships but they were easily cut down. The same scene was happening among twenty different ships.

Harry smiled as he started to feel his ship move down the river.

A little bit over six hours later he stopped the ships at a small inlet in the river and disembarked with his men. While that was happening he was looking over the results of the battle.

To say that Harry was happy with the outcome would be an understatement. The battle itself was an incredible success. He started with a little over five hundred men. He only lost eighty of them. According to reports most of the Ironborn were completely unprepared when they were boarded. Many of them were unarmed when his forces came upon them, others were isolated without any other Ironborn around and were easy to slaughter. Still there were a few on each ship who managed to get a weapon in time and fight back or there were some Ironborn who coordinated. Sometimes they would take a few of his men down before they were overwhelmed.

He gained twenty of the Ironborn ships as well as most of their provisions. It seems like Rodrick Greyjoy decided to leave most of his supplies on the ships instead of taking them to Moat Cailin. The other ten ships were reported to have been burned badly.  None of them were capable of being sailed without at least some repairs.

The casualties on the Ironborn side was much higher. There were six hundred men on the ships they boarded. All six hundred of them are dead. There were another hundred dead Ironborn between the guards that were on shore and those killed by the archers. Overall, the first part of the war was a success.

Rodrick Greyjoy collected what supplies he could from his ships and was now holed up in The Moat. Harry determined to march his army back there as quickly as possible. The Greyjoy was preparing to march South with his men as fast as possible.

It wasn’t the greatest plan but then again, Rodrick Greyjoy was out of options. He knew that the Northern army would be coming, he also knew that he couldn’t go North or into the marsh itself. They don’t have the supplies to hold The Moat so going South and hoping to make their way back to the islands seems to be the best chance they had at survival. While the Ironborn could have a last stand behind the walls of The Moat, he knows most would rather try and run and have some chance of survival than be guaranteed to die there.

It was a long walk back to The Moat. About three hours into the walk the Ironborn started to leave on their own march south. There were over three thousand of them though, so they would be forced to move relatively slowly on the narrow road through the marsh. Harry knew he would catch them.

It was two days later that they were finally closing in on the Ironborn army. The Ironborn never even bothered to send scouts to check the rear of their army. On the first day of their journey South the Ironborn came across some of the horses that his guards were forced to abandon. They used the horses to carry some of their supplies and so managed to speed up their march slightly. It wasn’t enough to outrun his own men though.

As they were closing in on the Ironborn army Harry was throwing his mind into The Neck. He was brushing up against the minds of as many animals as he could without fully entering their consciousness. It was a useful adaptation of the trick Morna Snow had taught him. After all if he could share senses with another creature and maintain an influence if however small while still remaining in his body, then why could he not maintain an influence in more than one?

The first time Harry tried he managed to enter the minds of half a dozen different animals, such as a few birds, snakes and a lizard lion, before he started getting a headache and was forced to pull out. The problem was that the animals all had different instincts that often conflicted with one another. He believed he would be able to get better handling these conflicting instincts with practice but he didn’t have the time to do so right now.

He decided to solve this issue by only focusing on one type of animal. For simplicity sake, and to allow him to stretch out his mind as far as possible he decided to choose an animal that had very basic instincts that was easy to manipulate and guide. An animal that he knew was incredibly common in his location.

For this he chose to focus on snakes. As soon as the small army he was leading got close to the spot the Ironborn were resting at for the night, Harry stopped the army and began building up his forces of snakes. At first he picked a random snake he saw on the ground and entered its mind. From there he got the snake to slowly slither its way to the section of the forest east of where the Ironborn had stopped. On the way that snake either came across or smelled other snakes. This allowed Harry to spread his influence to these snakes as well and the process was repeated often as the snakes approached their destination. After several hours Harry had several hundred snakes making their way through the marshes at different paces.

Snakes were simple creatures. They were almost entirely driven by instinct, so Harry found it easy to disguise simple mental suggestions as nothing more than instinctual urges. He didn’t even have to push very far to have the urges appear. He simple had to give them urges of food. Of feasting and the snakes were eager to follow the path he laid out for them.

As Harry focused, hundreds of different urges from hundreds of different sources all whispered in the back of his mind. Sleep. Some seemed to think. For those he sent a sense of anticipation and bloodlust in order to encourage them to keep going. As he watched many of those snakes suddenly started to move with more energy. Kill.Were the urges on some snakes minds when they came across others that Harry was influencing. For those he sent through a strong wave of patience. Of having a greater feast later. Harry found these snakes to be the hardest to control. Many times their instinct to kill and eat smaller snakes nearly consumed them. He had to act swiftly to drive those instincts away and to get the snake back under control.

Even once those snakes were under control, Harry found it was hard to keep them there. He was constantly having to sooth, to guide, encourage, discourage and anticipate the snakes. It was a constant battle to get them to act as he wanted them to but he is sure it would be worth it.

Harry fell so deep into his trance that he never noticed how time seemed to move by and before he knew it Lord Reed was shaking his shoulder and telling him to do the final preparations for the battle. Harry used this time to get his snakes ready for the challenge ahead and started sending them off to the East of the Ironborn. For now he wants his army to remain where it was.

Once he and the men were in position Harry started his attack by panicking the horses. To do this he made a few dozen snakes move towards the five different groups of horses. He tried to make the snakes move as close to the horses as possible without being seen. Just before the horses had a chance to notice the snakes, he left the snakes and brushed up against the mind of the horses. The horses had more complex minds than snakes so he was only able to touch two dozen of their minds at once. Still it was more than enough for his needs.

He grunted at the exertion of jumping from so many different minds at once. He knew he would have a major headache after this.

As the first horse noticed the snake, Harry felt the instinctive fear come over it. He stoked that fear as much as he could and the horse reared. One of the snakes shot up hissing and before he knew it many more horses noticed it. He stoked the fear in those horses too. He also stoked the instinct to flee.

The result was instantaneous. Dozens of horses were rearing and moving about erratically. After the first horse started running north, it didn’t take long for the rest to follow. There were some Ironborn who tried to calm the horses, but too many of them were in a panic. Some were kicked but many more were trampled when the horses started to stampede North. Some horses were injured in this of course but the majority of them escaped. There were only three horses that were left. These ones he wasn’t stoking the fear of and some Ironborn managed to calm them in time.

While the Ironborn were reeling from the sudden flight of the horses and while many of them were away from the lights of the fires, Harry began the next stage of the attack. He made the snakes advance. Within a few minutes, hundreds of snakes started slithering across the Kingsroad. They moved out of the trees right into the mass of panicking Ironborn where Harry stoked their bloodlust and their instinct to kill as high as possible.

Hundreds of men were bitten in a few moments. Some men tried to flee into the marsh, those would be hunted down by some of the crannogmen he set to the task, others tried to fight, hacking and slicing as many snakes as they could while the majority of the men abandoned all of their supplies except for what they had on them and fled to the South as fast as they could.

Harry was content to let them run for now. Without supplies, they wouldn’t last long.

Once all of the Ironborn had either fled or died he and his men waited for a few hours for the snakes to feast. Harry had pushed hunger and bloodlust into a lot of snakes and they would not be controlled now until they were allowed to feast. Even if only on each other. Once they calmed down he made them slither off and he and his men marched past where they were staying.

Around this time the Ironborn had started coming off of the panic of being woken up by hundreds of snakes and charging horses. The army turned around and started making their way back for their supplies, realising they couldn’t last long without it. A competent commander would never have left their supplies in the first place but Harry was finding Rodrick Greyjoy to be anything but competent. So Harry decided to spring another trap. While it would be easy to poison their supplies, Harry decided not to. Too many lords would have an issue with such tactics.

He and his men hid in the marsh on either side of the road while the Ironborn came to fetch their supplies. The Ironborn seemed to have a supernatural fear of walking off the path, so Rodrick Greyjoy never sent any men into the marsh itself to scout. Most of the crannogmen were armed with bows. Some of his Stark guards were too. So when the Ironborn started collecting their supplies his men opened fire.

Hundreds of Ironborn died on the first volley.

Panic set in immediately. Some of them attempted to fire back but his men were in the woods protected by tree cover. A few died to some stray arrows but nothing compared to the Ironborn. Some tried to charge into the woods but they died immediately. By the time Rodrick Greyjoy had regained control of his men hundreds more had died.

If he was smart he would charge with his full force and try and force a confrontation with his greater numbers. Not that such a thing would work of course, Harry’s men already had orders of where to retreat to if that happens.

Rodrick Greyjoy didn’t do that. He had his men collect as many supplies as they could before running.

Harry noticed a lot of his men looked at him with fear in their eyes when, during their journey pursuing the fleeing Ironborn army, they started coming across more and more corpses as men starting dying from the venom coursing through their veins. By the time men stopped dying there were hundreds of corpses.

Still, there were many more of his men who looked at him with utter awe. They were looking at him with awe after they had captured the ships without major losses but now they seemed almost reverent. Especially the crannogmen.

They were counting the dead but doing little else as they kept pace with the army. The Ironborn were completely blind to their movements. He sent fifty crannogmen ahead of the army to kill any scouts that might be sent to keep an eye on their rear. After the first few dozen scouts disappeared they stopped sending anymore and increased their pace even more in their panic. At this stage they were easy prey.

With that in mind he decided to send all the crannogmen ahead of them in order to set up some small ambushes to whittle their numbers down further while his men just kept pace with the army for now.

Five days later Harry was in the marsh east of the Ironborn waiting to attack with all the crannogmen and a few of his Stark men. The rest of the Stark men were North of the Ironborn waiting for the signal to begin their charge on the 134 horses they were able to gather of the two hundred they came to The Moat with. He had chosen a particularly dry, flat piece of the Kingsroad to stage this attack in order to make cavalry more effective. The point of this was to kill as many as they could before pulling back.

The Ironborn were in a terrible condition. There were only a little over a thousand or so left after the crannogmen had whittled their numbers down and everyone had died from their snake bites. They were tired due to the fact that they were constantly getting small raids by snakes at night that killed a few dozen of them at a time. By now they were all incredibly paranoid and had a definite phobia of snakes. Harry made sure not to control that many snakes at once again though. The last time it put him down for almost a full day, his head was so sore. Luckily the horses that fled North from the Ironborn camp ended up in their hands again. So Harry could ride the horses while making sure to keep an even pace with the Ironborn while resting.

The Ironborn had also ran out of food three days before. They still had stuff to drink though and occasionally a couple would try to kill a lizard lion to eat. This just gave the crannogmen good opportunities to kill them. There were constant fights amongst the Ironborn and even a few deaths.  Harry doesn’t know why he expected better from the pirates. At this stage the Ironborn had been fleeing south as fast as they could for seven days. In another day or so they would clear The Neck. At this stage he had a few opportunities to kill Rodrick Greyjoy but he decided to let him stwen in his fear a bit more. Besides, he wants him alive.

Harry signalled to a runner that the attack was to begin. He would run to Ser Rodrick to tell him to begin his charge. Afterwards he had the crannogmen creep closer to the Ironborn. Harry would meanwhile stay where he was and watch the battle through the eyes of some of the ravens that were following the Ironborn for the last few days.

It was with a yell of ”Attack!” that the carnage began. Arrows rained from both sides of the Kingsroad onto the pirates once more.

It seems this time they weren’t prepared to just take it and run though. The Ironborn started to scatter immediately. Many of them charged into the woods at his men while trying to use the trees for cover. While this was happening others grouped together and raised their shields while charging towards the source of the arrows with slightly more coordination and some still stayed on the Kingsroad with Rodrick Greyjoy. Most of them were disorganised though. There was no coordination between most of the Ironborn or even any of the groups. The Ironborn were raiders, used to having the advantage of surprise and fighting on ships. They were all but helpless when they were ambushed on land. Not as many died from the arrows as the first time he pulled this trick on the Ironborn but a lot died from the first volley regardless.

As many of them charged into the woods his men scattered. With hundreds of Ironborn charging into the woods the rain of arrows stopped and the Ironborn left on the Kingsroad started calming down and relaxing.

That’s when they started to feel a tremble that Ironborn everywhere had learned to fear. Eyes went North where they saw horses rounding the top of the small incline they were on. “Cavalry!” The hill was tiny really but there was enough of an angle to hide the approach of the cavalry and it also hid their numbers. It is understandable then, why the Ironborn acted as if they were being charged by numbers many times greater and panicked.

The cry went up echoed by dozens of other voices. Before they had a chance to do anything else, Ser Rodrick crashed into the first Ironborn followed by the rest of the men. The Ironborn weren’t known for being very brave and not everyone had the will to stand their ground. Many Ironborn in the front fled into the marsh leaving big gaps in the formation. The cavalry charged through the Ironborn like a scythe through wheat. Hundreds more died before Ser Rodrick started losing his momentum.

The Ironborn in the forest that went after the crannogmen turned back at the sounds of their comrades dying. This is when the crannogmen counter attacked. Shooting the Ironborn in the back as they made their way back to the Kingsroad. They then went and started on the attack for real. Peppering the Ironborn left with arrows.

The fighting was fierce. Some of his soldiers who didn’t have bows and arrows charged the Ironborn with their swords. Pressed from all sides except the South it wasn’t long before something had to give.

When Ser Rodrick successfully captured Rodrick Greyjoy by cutting off his arm, the Ironborn broke. Those that were still alive fled South as fast as they could. Leaving behind their dying friends and their crippled prince.

An hour later Harry was adding up the casualties. It was estimated that around two hundred Ironborn fled South. Another hundred fled through the marsh. There were around seven hundred casualties on the Ironborn side of this battle and Rodrick Greyjoy was a prisoner.

There were a little over one hundred and fifty injuries on his side and around ninety deaths from this battle. Forty of them from the cavalry charge. He lost a few more men when the crannogmen were harassing the Ironborn forces over the last few days but they were nothing major. Due to the Ironborn being exhausted from a lack of proper sleep for five days and not having eaten anything in well over three days, as well as the fact they engaged the Ironborn in an ambush, his men had all of the advantages and it showed in how they slaughtered their enemies. Over the course of the whole conflict Harry had lost one hundred and seventy men.

This would have been much more difficult had Rodrick Greyjoy been a more competent commander. If he was competent he never would have had his main army leave the ships in the first place. The remaining three hundred Ironborn were hunted as they ran. Some would probably escape but Harry decided it was perhaps better to leave some of them to tell the story.

He had lost less than two hundred men destroying an army of four thousand.

The only issue he had now was how he was going to explain this to his uncle Ned.

The Ironborn Rebellion-Part 1

The Ironborn Rebellion –Part 1

The Neck-288 AC

Harry stood in a small open field surrounded by trees with Ser Rodrick, Lord Howland Reed, Morna Snow and over a dozen of the more experienced warriors among the crannogmen. Among them were three skinchangers that Morna had managed to gather in the short amount of time before this meeting. She had another two going around The Neck gathering as many skinchangers and crannogmen as they could find to bolster the forces on hand.

Most of the people there were whispering harshly to each other, each throwing around ideas for what they should do. Some suggested they leave the Ironborn alone. Let Ned Stark bring an army and deal with them. Others thought they should harass them and attack them where possible to whittle their numbers down.

Harry himself was just waiting for more information. Other than the fact that the Ironborn were spotted sailing down the Fever River he knew very little. They had no idea about the numbers the Ironborn had. Their purpose though was very easy to decipher.

Moat Cailin.

He had already sent a bird controlled by a skinchanger to Moat Cailin with a letter for the men he had there. He instructed them to retreat South along the Kingsroad where they will be met by a group of crannogmen he sent to guide them in a few days. While he has no idea about the Ironborn numbers, he estimates there will probably be a lot of them. If their plan is to take and hold Moat Cailin then they would have made sure they had the manpower necessary to do so. Harry feels it would be a waste of lives to have them attempt to hold Moat Cailin with so few numbers against the Ironborn.

A short gasp instantly brought Harrys attention to the man sat on the floor a little way away from him. A small man in his early twenties with a scruffy brown beard opened his eyes and looked at Hadrian. “There were lots o’ boats milord. I counted at least thirty.”

Mutters broke out while Harry massaged the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes to think. Thirty Ironborn longships meant at least three thousand Ironborn. Possibly more if they crammed the ships. Harry doubts they did though. If they were going to Moat Cailin with such numbers, they were probably preparing to stay in the castle and fend off a siege. At least for a while. That means that much of the space in the ships is loaded with supplies.

Harry took a few moments to think about this move of Balon Greyjoys. On the surface it isn’t a bad move exactly. But when looked at properly from all angles it looks more and more idiotic. Balon Greyjoy has fifteen to twenty thousand men. Losing three thousand of them might not be crippling for him but it was a big loss. How they even got that many Ironborn to go through with this suicidal plan was beyond him! He never considered the Ironborn very loyal, even to their own lord. Although, maybe they don’t consider the plan suicidal? Or they aren’t smart enough to see they are walking into a cage of their own making?

If those three thousand can be sacrificed to keep the North out of the war or at least delay them entering the war for a few months then Harry could see why Balon Greyjoy was prepared to send them to the Moat. With three thousand men, majority of whom probably have some decent skill with archery, Moat Cailin could hold off a significantly larger force, even from the North.

He can still storm the Moat with the Northern army. He can split the army in two and have the crannogmen sneak one half south and attack from there while the other half attacks from the North. He would definitely win and take the stronghold, but he would lose thousands of men.

He would lose at least six thousand men, but probably many many more. The Moat was designed so that archers could easily defend against a larger force. While he has no doubt the Northern Army could take the castle, the losses make storming it a waste of lives. There are probably many lords who wouldn’t even blink at sending their men into such a slaughter, but not only does Harry still have some morals from his last life but he knows it would be a waste of his most rare and valuable resource. People. People who he doesn’t have enough of in his opinion. He would need to try and keep losses as low as possible for this war.

Harry can siege the castle and starve the Ironborn out. The problem is that it can take moons to work depending on how many supplies the Ironborn have.  He really doesn’t mind this fact though. If the Ironborn are all locked in the Moat then they can’t cause chaos anywhere else. Those three thousand Ironborn will be trapped and slowly waste away and will surrender or fight in a futile attempt at escape. Harry was in no rush to move his army south and join the one the King is no doubt preparing now that the Ironborn have made their move. As long as the Northern coasts and settlements are secured against any future large scale raids, he would be happy to just stay in the North and wait for the war to finish. That would allow him to spare as many Northern lives as possible and conserve their strength.

There are issues with choosing such a path though.

The North has long been a very martial kingdom in which the people are proud warriors. Lords and smallfolk in the North respect strength. If Harry chooses to follow through on a siege and just waiting the Ironborn out, some Lords may lose respect for him by mistaking his caution for being a craven. They would still follow his orders but he could definitely see himself losing some respect from the at least Umbers if he lets a group of Ironborn stop the Northern army from taking the fight to the Iron Islands. Then there would be the reaction of the king and those in the south. He knows some southern lords would use it as an opportunity to dirty his name. While normally Harry wouldn’t be bothered by such a thing, he knows politics are always going to be important in this life and that it would be best to have an image of being unstoppable. Unbeatable. That way he is less likely to get challenged in the first place. The Kings reaction is harder to determine. He may send reinforcements North in order to help, which will make Harry look weak for not being able to handle his own kingdom or he could just as easily decide Harry is too young to be in charge and would make his uncle restrict him more in his role as regent. He might even ignore it completely and just let them sort out the problem at their own pace in their own way. Harry truly doesn’t know.

Another option that he considered was having a small part of the Northern army stay to siege the Ironborn in Moat Cailin, while having the rest of it moved around the fortress through The Neck by the crannogmen. That way a smaller force could starve the Ironborn out while the rest of the army moved south to join up with the King.

It was the best plan out of the three. Moving that many people through the swamps would be tiring work that would no doubt take weeks but it could be done. It would neutralise the Ironborn in the Moat as a threat and would mean that those Ironborn didn’t really make much of an impact on the war at all, besides delaying the North for a few weeks.

In all honesty this is why he thinks Balon Greyjoys plan in sending the Ironborn to Moat Cailin was not a bad plan on paper but was definitely an idiotic decision when taken in real world context. Looking at all the facts though, Harry was starting to suspect that Balon Greyjoy wasn’t exactly a smart man. This war would be mostly decided in navel battles. The Greyjoys need to destroy the fleets in the south if they want any hope of victory and even then the most they can do is delay until the south builds more ships and whittles their forces down.

The mainland has the wood and the men to replace ships at a much faster pace than the Ironborn can. They will be defeated eventually no matter what. If the realm was more divided that might be different, but as it stands, the Iron Islands simply do not have the numbers to win a war with the rest of Westeros and it was stupid of them to even try.

No, if Balon Greyjoy was smart he would have waited until Robert died or tried to arrange an accident for him. That would definitely destabilize the realm and if it becomes unstable enough then he might have had a shot of declaring independence.

As it is, sending Ironborn to hold Moat Cailin was a waste of resources for him. The North doesn’t really have a navy, at least not one that can do anything to the Ironborn for the moment. The actual men that the North can call to war won’t really make much of a difference in the first place. The Ironborn are already very outnumbered without including the North and the actual length of the war will be determined by the fleets in the south, probably before the Northern army even reaches wherever the King is mustering his army. If the fleets in the south manage to defeat the Ironborn at sea, then the war will be over in a matter of months, most of which will be time spent travelling to the Islands and laying siege to Pyke. If the fleets in the south lose against the Iron Fleet then the war can go on for much longer and the Greyjoys will have a slightly better chance of victory. Still not a very good chance but a better chance than they had in the beginning. The Greyjoys really can’t afford to throw away so many ships and lives like they are doing at Moat Cailin when they are already so outnumbered.

Despite this, Balon Greyjoy decided to sacrifice a decent amount of his fleet to attempt to prevent a kingdom that wouldn’t even make much of a difference in a naval battle from joining with the main army. Hell, apparently he didn’t even consider that there might be a way around The Moat available to Northerners. That speaks of either stupidity or some other plan going on in the Lord Reapers mind.

Harry decided he needs more information before he decided exactly what his response towards the Ironborn would be.

He opened his eyes and looked at the skinchanger that had been patiently waiting for his orders. “Good job. I would like some more information though. Do you think you could get your sparrow close enough to the Ironborn to find the captain of this fleet? Once you have found him, try and spy on him to see what more you can learn.”

The skinchanger nodded his head determinedly. “Aye. I can do that milord.” The man didn’t even wait to be told to begin before he was closing his eyes and entering the mind of his partner to do as he asked.

Harry nodded back. “Excellent. While we are waiting on that, Lord Reed, can you please organise all the fighters who will be going and their equipment?  Make sure to pack as many potions and poisons as possible. I have a feeling they might be useful. As it is, there is no point in making proper plans until we are near Moat Cailin and have a better idea of what we are dealing with. For now, everyone just make sure to get as much rest as possible. I am going to write a letter to my uncle to inform him of the situation. Get ready, we leave at first light.”

Before Harry left the clearing he decided to check in with Morna about the progress she was having tracking down skinchangers and warriors in The Neck. He just opened his mouth to speak when she cut him off. “We’ve found another skinchanger and twenty more warriors since you last asked. I will keep looking all night boy. It’s not like I will be able to join in the march anyway!”

Harry just nodded to the woman before making his way back to the castle and to his chambers while being escorted by Ser Rodrick. Once there, the knight stood vigil outside of his chambers while he proceeded to write a letter to his uncle informing him of the situation and giving some instructions.

He asked him to send five hundred cavalry to the Western coast to patrol for any Ironborn excursions and to send another five hundred men to reinforce Bear Island. They had always been haunted by Ironborn raids, he doesn’t want to take the chance it will get worse during the war. He was also instructed to then raise two thousand troops quickly and to send them to start sieging the Ironborn at Moat Cailin, where the rest of the banners must be mustered. His uncle was also told to raise another thousand men that will be kept on guard at and around Winterfell throughout the war, just in case. Harry decided the North would only raise twelve thousand men to march south in total from all the bannermen. While he could easily raise more, he doesn’t believe those men will be needed for a war against the Ironborn. Not when they are so outnumbered.

Once his letter was written, he wrote another to Lord Manderly instructing him to send two thousand men as quickly as possible to Moat Cailin to help reinforce the siege. Afterwards he decided to have his dinner before going to sleep. It was going to be a long few months, so he would take whatever chance he could get to rest while he could.

He was awoken by the sound of knocking. He called to Ser Rodrick, giving his permission to enter.

Ser Rodrick and one of Lord Reeds guards was escorting the same skinchanger he ordered to spy on the Ironborn earlier. Ser Rodrick spoke while bowing his head briefly. “You ordered to be notified when there was any new information my lord.”

Harry suppressed a yawn and gestured for the skinchanger to speak. After a moment of shifting uncomfortably from one foot to the other, he did. “I found the leader milord and got old Feathers close enough to listen to ‘im speak I did. He mostly just talked about the glory of being an Ironborn and what ‘e will take with the Iron Price. Speaking about how many salt wives he will claim in the war. I did hear what their plans in the North are though.”

Harry barely restrained himself from asking the man to just get on with it already. He was tired, cranky and he didn’t need to hear every detail. Before he could snap though, the man continued. “It seems they aren’t here to hold Moat Cailin. They are here for you Milord.”

Harry was wide awake now, he was leaning forward on his bed towards the skinchanger in clear interest. “Oh?” He questioned leadingly.

The skinchanger nodded vigorously.” Aye milord. The leader is Rodrick Greyjoy. ‘e was speaking to one of ‘is men. Braggin’ bout how ‘e would bring the North to heal once ‘e captured you. That they would force the North to sit out the war. An’ maybe even give them wood for ships to keep you alive.”

Well, Harry guesses that answers the question of what exactly Balon Greyjoy was thinking when he decided on this course of action. It wasn’t even that terrible of a plan all things considered. Rather than just having the Ironborn foolishly hold the Moat against the North, their plan is probably more along the lines of quickly overwhelm The Moats defences with numbers and capture him before fleeing back to the Islands. There was only one thing that was bothering him.

‘Why do they think I’m at the Moat?’

When Harry first left Winterfell to come South, he purposefully gave off the impression to those who weren’t his family that he was going to Moat Cailin to inspect it for rebuilding purposes. He never mentioned Greywater Watch or House Reed to anybody but his uncles. He mostly just did that so that he wouldn’t have to put up with all of his bannermen suddenly demanding he visit their castles next. He knew that they would want him to, once they found out he spent so much time at Greywater Watch, but at the time he figured he would put that off for a while so that he could get some of his other projects off the ground first. So as far as anybody that wasn’t his family or a part of the group of soldiers he took to Moat Cailin is concerned, he really is inspecting Moat Cailin.

Harry is happy he made that decision not to tell anybody where he really went now. He highly doubted that Balon Greyjoy or any of the other Ironborn had spies in Winterfell that could tell Balon he left Winterfell for Moat Cailin. The Lord of Pyke didn’t seem like he had the cunning or skill to set up a spy network. Not one so successful at least. Which meant that he found out about Harrys journey to Moat Cailin from other sources.

Somebody in the South was playing games.

Still, three thousand men seems excessive in this scenario. If he was really at The Moat and had no prior warning of the attack, the Ironborn probably could have easily captured him with a thousand men if they managed to prevent him from retreating into the swamps.

Either Balon really wanted to make sure he was captured to keep the North out of the war and cause a strain between Robert Baratheon and his uncle Ned, or he had a serious grudge against him. Upon thinking about it further, Harry decided it was probably a mixture of the two.

The North is a major ally of the Baratheon Dynasty, if Balon Greyjoy manages to form some cracks in that alliance, he might hope it emboldens some other Lords around the continent that have an issue with Robert Baratheon to take up arms against him while there was an opportunity. Harry doubts it will work, as while there are plenty of lords who hate Robert Baratheon, most of them probably hate the Ironborn more. On the other hand, assuming Balon was told about his location from someone in the south, then that means he was probably informed that Harry had already warned the king, and by consequence the realm, about his Rebellion before it could even begin.

He could see why the Lord Reaper of Pyke would be pissed at him in that scenario.

Harry decided he would think about it more once he had gotten some more sleep and was fully rested. He dismissed the skinchanger and Ser Rodrick before succumbing to bliss.

Line Break------------------------------------------

The next morning found Harry walking though The Neck back towards Moat Cailin with three hundred crannogmen and Ser Rodrick. Ten of the crannogmen were skinchangers of varying power and skill.

Harry had been contemplating how to deal with the Ironborn at the Moat the entire time he walked. It would take his party about four more days to reach Moat Cailin while the Ironborn would reach Moat Cailin in about two days. He isn’t sure exactly what the Ironborn would do once they found out he wasn’t there though.

There was a decent chance they would just leave once they found out they wasted their time but there was also a chance they would be stubborn and would stay to either slow down the army or look for him if they believed he fled, as it was quite likely they would find the tracks of his soldiers that he instructed to retreat south.

If they flee back to the Iron Islands before he can get to them then problem solved. The army can move south without any issues.

After having a good night’s sleep and thinking about everything more. Harry came to the conclusion that he hopes the Ironborn don’t flee Moat Cailin straight away. Something he never considered before, is that the Ironborn appearing where they have in the numbers they have, has given him a few unique opportunities that he could take advantage of if he was very careful.

The Ironborn brought many ships that would greatly help to bolster the Norths growing navy. Saving Harry a lot of time and resources that would be needed if he were to build those ships himself. Capturing those ships would be a great boon and would definitely be the first thing he will look at doing once he arrives at Moat Cailin, assuming the Ironborn are still there. Capturing the ships would also mean that the Ironborn are trapped. Leaving them to his mercy. If they try and scatter over land before the army arrives then they will be hunted down.

Harry will have around five hundred soldiers once he links up with the guards that had originally travelled with him to Moat Cailin. He isn’t sure if they would be able to capture all of the ships even if the Ironborn weren’t paying attention, but he will make sure to take what he can and burn the rest.

Harry has also been thinking about reputation a lot since he heard about the Ironborn sailing on the Fever River. For many of the lords and smallfolk of Westeros, reputation is very important. It helps set the tone of all future negotiations and a strong reputation can help him immensely in other ways as well. This would be his first time making decisions in a war setting since he was reborn and he decided it was important that he makes sure he cultivates the right reputation from doing so.

If he starves the Ironborn while keeping the army back he will be known as cautions almost to the point of being a craven. If he keeps them pinned with a small siege and sends most of his army south he will be known as a practical commander but not very dangerous one if he left enemies alive in his own lands. If he assaults Moat Cailin he will be seen as either reckless or be known for not having any care for his soldiers.

Everything he does when it comes to dealing with the Ironborn will be judged by lords all over the realm. With all the changes the North is going through and with the balance of power slowly shifting, it is important that he makes sure those lords get the right impression. If he has a proper reputation then many of his plans would probably be a lot easier in the years to come. Harry thought about what type of reputation he should cultivate for hours while he was walking, before coming to answer.

He wants the lords to both respect and fear him. He wants them to respect his prowess and his intelligence while they fear going to war against him.

It was after he had decided on what type of war type reputation he wants to cultivate that Harry started to fully settle in with a plan to defeat the Ironborn. Assuming they don’t leave the Moat before he gets a chance.

Harry decided he was going to crush them. Completely and utterly. He decided he was going to turn the Ironborn into a lesson for the other lords of Westeros on why they shouldn’t fuck with the North.

He had five hundred men, less than a dozen of which were skinchangers. There were at least three thousand Ironborn that he would have to go up against that had the advantages of probably being better armed than the crannogmen in his force but also had a very strong defensive position.

Harry decided that he would make it his mission to make the lives of the Ironborn hell over the next few weeks. So that when the first part of the Northern army arrives with his uncle Ned, they would be all but ready to destroy the Ironborn who were left.

He figures if he can break them when severely outnumbered then it will give all his future enemies second thoughts when it comes to challenging the North and House Stark.

As always criticism is welcome as long as it’s constructive.

Next chapter Thursday 30 March 2023.

To read ahead of the update schedule: Pat_reon(dot)com(slash) TheLifeandTimes19.

Huntsmen of Winter

Huntsmen of Winter.

288-AC Greywater Watch

A moon after defeating the Three-Eyed Raven and meeting the Children of the Forest, Harry found himself once again at the Godswood of Greywater Watch.

Harry spent a few days after meeting the Children purely on learning the potion recipes that the men in Greywater Watch were knowledgeable about. Learning the recipes wasn’t very difficult; there were only a few of them and most of them were basic compared to what he was used to. The actual techniques they used to make the potions was remarkably similar to what he learned at Hogwarts, if not very outdated. They didn’t have proper cauldrons or spoons to mix with and instead seemed to use whatever they could get their hands on. Harry even saw some men stirring potions with dirty sticks!

After learning how to make their potions, he found himself spending almost all of his time in the Godswood. He would be there from morning to night constantly delving into the past, looking for secrets and hidden mysteries.

It wasn’t easy.

There were countless Weirwoods that had seen countless moments that were all connected in the Astral plane that was The Green. Majority of those moments were unimportant. Inconsequential. Finding something useful was difficult. He had to spend hours looking just to find some slightly interesting moments that weren’t just the Weirwood tree sitting there. Never mind something actually useful.

So he decided he would start with something broad. Something he could find a lot of examples of and something he could use in his plans.

First Men Runes.

The First Men were known to carve these runes on rocks, weapons, statues and structures that they built and used. Most Maesters believed that they used these runes to describe their history and culture but there are other stories that hold more interest to Harry. They were said to use the runes for magic. There are stories of the Royces having bronze armour carved with runes that was said to protect the wearer from harm and other stories of knives carved with these runes to increase sharpness or the runes being used to ward structures such as Winterfell or Storms End. Harry isn’t sure how much truth there is to these stories but he’s hoping where there is smoke, there is fire.

The problem with the runes lies in the fact that nobody in recent times really knows how to read the runes correctly. There are those that can speak in the Old Tongue, but reading it is a different story. There some Maesters who are said to have some knowledge of the meaning of some of these ancient runes, but according to Maester Luwin, these translations are still heavily debated by the Citadel making them almost useless for Harry’s purposes. Most runes that are left on structures today are also very degraded by time, making it difficult to discern the correct patterns and outright impossible in some cases.

The only real way for him to learn runes without having the Children of the Forest help him, is to do it the hard way. By going through the past and looking for runes that haven’t been degraded by time. By comparing all these different runes and trying to work out a meaning for them by cross referencing them. He has to basically rediscover the whole runic alphabet on his own.

So far it was slow going.

He had managed to figure out a few basic symbols so far but hasn’t learnt how the First Men even went about charging the Runes yet. Never mind how the structure of the rune scheme works. In other terms, he has started learning the First Men alphabet but hasn’t learnt how sentences are structured. Or gotten into the more complicated meanings of the symbols. It would take time to get proficient with the language. The only reason Harry even had any confidence in succeeding was due to his experience with Ancient Runes. The languages are different now, but he hopes the rules are similar to what he was used to.

Harry knows he would probably have more luck asking the Children of the Forest to teach him how to use runes but he is hesitant to rely on them. He would learn all he could from them when the time comes, but in the meantime, he would work out what he could.

It was giving him the chance to get better at Greenseeing and besides, he never knows what types of secrets he could stumble onto during his search for ancient First Men runes.

Right now Harry was looking into the past, examining a scene that brought out some interest for once. Instead of constantly stumbling onto scenes of quiet forests.

It was about 400 years into the past and was the furthest back that he had looked so far. The Lord Reed of the time was repairing and improving Greywater Watch in several places that looked to have been damaged by rot. Harry stumbled upon this scene because he was looking at the history of things the Weirwood he was at had seen. He looked back a year further into the past each time and was seeing if there is anything noteworthy. The scene really caught his attention when he saw some of the builders carving runes on pieces of wood. He was also curious because Greywater Watch is a castle on water made of wood. Wood rots. But somehow Greywater Watch has never been rebuilt after this period, 400 years ago.

For Harry this was an interesting curiosity. Learning how to make wood last longer without rotting would be very useful for shipbuilding.

He hasn’t been able to figure out what any of the runes mean yet but he has been memorizing them so he could draw them later for use as a reference.

He memorized the sequence of runes that he watched an old man carve onto one of the bigger planks before he decided to withdraw from the Green for the day.

Once Harry came back into the real world, he opened his eyes and took a deep long breath of air in order to calm his mind. He always felt that he could get mentally tired if he spent too long Greenseeing . He stood and stretched out the kinks he had developed in his back from sitting still in the same position all day.

Harry groaned and gestured to Ser Rodrick, who was sitting against a rock, to follow him.

The knight had refused to leave Harrys side in the last few weeks. Apparently while his first experience Greenseeing felt like it only lasted a few minutes to him, he was out for over a full day. He believes the missing time comes from when he was first dragged off by the Raven and the time he spent pulling it back to its cave. It might have felt like a short time to him, but he assumes time feels different on the astral plane. Understandably the knight was concerned when he got back from the tavern to the castle and found out Harry was still unconscious in the middle of the Godswood, with only Lord Reed and an old woman as company.

He got understandably more upset after arriving to the Godswood to find Harrys unconscious body under attack by lion lizards and ravens, with them only being kept away by other birds and lizard lions, as well as Lord Reeds spear.

Since that event, Ser Rodrick has been Harry’s shadow. Refusing to leave his side for anything. He doesn’t mind it too much. Ser Rodrick is a loyal man and his family had served the Starks faithfully for several generations. Harry was initially wary about showing off his magic in front of the man, but upon discovering that Harry used magic, if anything he only seemed to become more loyal.

Harry jumped into the boat and watched as Ser Rodrick started to paddle them back to the castle. He used this time to start thinking about what his next steps were. He couldn’t spend too much longer at Greywater Watch. He had been there for over a moon already and it was getting close to the time he had to leave. If he spent too long here he would have to spend an equal amount of time at his other bannermen when he visits their castles. To do otherwise would probably upset or slight some of them.

Harry withheld a sigh when he thought of that. He would need to travel to and stay at each of his major bannermens castles in the next few years. He has to go to ALL of them. If he leaves one or two out, they would feel slighted and then would probably do something stupid later on to repay the slight on their honour. It’s just better to not give them a reason to be slighted in the first place, even if Harry would prefer not to run around appeasing Lords who act more like children sometimes. At least the North is not as bad as the South in that respect.

There are advantages to travelling the through the North though. For one it would give Harry the ability to get to know his Lords better, so that he can know how to better steer them towards his plans for the North.

As much as Harry doesn’t want to admit it, The North is too large and too disorganised to properly govern. For now, at least. If he wants his Lords to follow his edicts, he needs them to want to follow them. If a lord doesn’t want to listen to him or wants to disobey him, there is a lot they can do to do so without him ever really knowing. A single lord can cause a lot of chaos if they so choose. It is better if he can get to know them properly so that he can guide them without giving them a reason to cause chaos. Still, he isn’t looking forward to going to Lord Boltons castle. Maybe he could make an exception in his case. Have Domeric come to Winterfell.

He will think about that another time.

For now, Harry needs to prepare to leave Greywater Watch and head back to Winterfell in the next few days. Then he needs to start making preparations for the Childrens arrival and the arrival of the Giants. He needs to prepare certain lords and test how they would react to the arrival of the Children. He needs to find ways for them to properly integrate with Northern citizens.  He needs to make the North stronger. Not just the military but the economy also has to be much stronger, the standard of education must be better and the laws must be clearer and more unified.

The South would probably react poorly to the arrival of the Children and Giants. So he would need to speed up his plans to strengthen the southern border. At this stage, war with the Faith is likely to happen. If he has to choose between bowing to the Faiths whims and the Children of the Forest and the Giants, then there will be war. He cares more about saving their species than he cares what the Faith thinks. Hopefully the King stays out of the issue entirely.

He hopes the Manderlys aren’t a problem. They could also cause issues if they wanted. He doubts they would though. They have been trying to fit in with the other Lords of the North for centuries now. They won’t undo all their progress. Lord Whitehill is likely to be a problem though. The Lord is already prickly with a large ego and an inflated sense of self-importance. His family were devoted to the Faith and are likely to be unhappy with some of his decisions in the future. He would have to keep an eye on him.

Harry came to a realisation after meeting the Children. He realised that protecting them isn’t going to be simple. People are always afraid of what is different. People who are afraid often lash out. There are so few Children left, in order to save their species, he needs to protect as many of them as he can. If even one is lost it will be a tragedy. He needs to influence the North into embracing the Children, while at the same time strengthening the North against internal and external attacks, because he has no chance of influencing the people in the South.

In order to do that, he needs to gather more power. He needs to start centralising power to his House. Even more than it already is. House Stark might rule the North but they don’t have any direct power over their vassals’ lands. If House Manderly or Mormont decided to cheat House Stark, there are many ways to so without House Stark knowing.

Harry knows those lords are loyal to house Stark and that they have been for years, but the North is changing and will continue to change for generations if he has any say. He needs to set strong political foundations that not only will be able to support that change. The foundation needs to give him and future Starks the tools needed to guide that change correctly.

He had several ideas for how to model his new form of government, but isn’t sure how he wants to do it yet. At first Harry had the idea he could model his new form of government after the old one. Give more power back to the lords and to the people. He could make it so that future generations of Starks don’t have absolute power but there are a panel of lords. With the Starks only holding a majority of power to balance votes in certain circumstances.

He doesn’t want to do that.

He knows that even a proper democracy isn’t a perfect government. A lot of it is just a popularity contest and lots of politicians are corrupt. It’s often how they got to their positions in the first place. There probably isn’t a perfect form of government and never will be. The last thing he wants though, is for the Starks to become nothing more than puppets.

Harry Potter might have had some issues with giving all power to one person. That it is too much power for one person.

Now, he isn’t sure if it’s because of the complete collapse of his old government or because being reborn gave him a new perspective, but Harry wasn’t sure if one person having all power would be a bad thing. If one person ruled the world, would there be less war?

If there was a King of the world, and he unquestionably ruled everywhere with no challengers. If no one could challenge him. If no one really wanted to. If his Dynasty was built on foundations so strong it could last and grow stronger for generations. Could he keep the world stable? Allow for open borders between nations? For peace and prosperity? Would there be fairness? Could mankind put aside their differences and interact and mingle among each other without fighting?

If someone was born to rule a nation so large. If they were given all the tools they needed to rule. Given all the advantages. The training. The education. If they were given all the power they needed. Beyond all the power they needed. If they were virtually untouchable by the rest of the world. Would they be able to rule well?

Or is it too much for one person to handle?

Westeros, Essos, Earth….Everywhere had so much war.

This place isn’t Earth. It’s much more brutal.

Democracy didn’t work before. There were too many people scheming for too much power. All trying to be at the top. All getting in the way of each other, and in the way of the progress of humanity.

If there was already a person at the top. Could they control the rest? Guide humanity without being driven by a lust for profit or power, because it all already belongs to them? Or would they inevitably go mad with power?

He didn’t know. He believed it could be possible for them to use their power fairly though. He had to believe that, because that’s probably the form of government that he is going to end up making. If there is a King on top of the world controlling and enforcing laws fairly, with a good administrative system behind them and unlimited resources backing them, they would hopefully be able to make the world a much better place. As long as they were half decent people at least.

Harry isn’t planning on rebelling against Robert Baratheon. He doesn’t even particularly want to be king. The issue is that he’s going to be changing the focus of power so much in the next few years that war is practically inevitable. He isn’t going to hold back on the development of the North for much longer and there are those in the South who would have an issue with the new balance of power. They will try and disrupt the Norths power as much as they could. They probably won’t have much luck while Robert Baratheon is alive, but once he is dead, it might be a different story.

So for now, Harry was just planning for the worst. He won’t rebel against The Crown as long as Robert Baratheon is alive, just like he promised his uncle Ned, but if Roberts son decides to try and curb the Norths power, then he wouldn’t really have any other choice but to do so. The lords would probably demand independence at that stage.

There were a few moments over the last few weeks, where he contemplated the idea of making Jon King of the Seven Kingdoms. In the end he decided it probably wasn’t a good idea. The lords of the North won’t be happy with the outcome and neither will the lords of Dorne. The Riverlands, Vale and Stormlands would also be a problem. Most would be reluctant to accept a Targaryen King. While the Westerlands would be hostile through his entire rule. In the end Harry decided that it was probably not a great idea to make Jon king but he would keep an open mind in the future.

The boat landed at the docks. Hadrian stepped off the ship and made his way to Lord Reed. It wasn’t a big walk and before long he was sitting in Howland Reeds solar.

Lord Reed was sitting with a piece of wood in his hands that he was shaping with a carving knife. Harry was getting prepared to propose an idea he had a while ago. If he was going to make the North strong and build infrastructure for it to last and continue growing stronger, then he has to make sure it has strong institutions supporting it.

The first thing he needs is an information network. Luckily he was in the perfect place to get a start on creating one. “My lord. The North is going to be changing in the future. I’m going to be doing all I can to promote the Old Gods and bring magic back. Now obviously, that is going to create a lot of enemies. I need your help my lord.”

Lord Reed looked up from his carving. “How can I help, Lord Stark?”

He resisted the urge to smirk. “I need information about my enemies. Who they are, what they are planning and how to counter them. I need spies my lord, a lot of them. Obviously you can see why I came to you.”

Lord Reed frowned. “Skinchangers.”

Harry nodded. “Skinchangers, my lord. They would make the best spies. What’s more is that magic is going to get stronger. There are going to be more skinchangers born in the next generations. I need to create a way to control them. A way to stop them from causing chaos. So I want to create an organisation sworn to the Stark of Winterfell. A secret organisation that will be compromised of the best skinchangers that can be found. They will be well trained and their main purpose will be to gather information for House Stark, but they will also be used to control or defeat other skinchangers that cause problems. Or used in certain situations for sabotage. Only those who are loyal will be allowed in the organisation and even then, they will be made to swear an oath in front of a Hearttree. What do you think my lord?”

Lord Reed didn’t even blink at the explanation. He merely nodded once Harry was done. “It sounds like a decent idea my lord. I dislike all this talk of spying. It is not very honourable, but I can see the necessity of it. Most spies are not very honest or trustworthy even to those who pay them. Having dedicated spies who are both loyal and competent would be a great boon.”

Harry smiled. “So you agree?”

Lord Reed nodded. “Aye, I will start to put this force together if that is your wish. I will need more details. How many men do you want? How will they be paid? Who will command them and how will the force be structured? Where will they be based?”

Harry couldn’t be happier. He was afraid Lord Reed might fight him on this. He knows his uncle Ned will probably have a problem with having spies. To his relief it looked like the Lord of Greywater Watch was nothing if not practical.

He let out a small sigh of relief and started discussing some of the particulars. “I think for now one hundred people is a good start. If we can get one hundred skinchangers as spies, that should be able to cover most of Westeros.”

Lord Reed stilled. “A hundred? That is a lot my lord. There are perhaps only half that in The Neck. Skinchangers are still rare my lord.”

Harry nodded. “Aye. I expect we will struggle to fill those numbers. That’s why I settled on a hundred. It will be the work of years to get all the skinchagers we need, but that will allow me to build the organisation properly. I would also prefer it if the ones we recruit are young. Sixteen to twenty namedays would be best. They would swear to serve for a number of years, perhaps fifteen years, before being released into retirement after swearing to never speak of what they might have learned. They will also need to be taught some skills such as fighting, reading and writing. For now we will choose the most trustworthy person to command but future Starks will pick someone out of the best recruits when a new commander is needed. For now they will be based out of Greywater Watch but in the future I will move that to Winterfell. Perhaps ten gold dragons a year would be a good pay. It is a lot, but their jobs would require them to travel and be on their own a lot. All information will be passed from each individual spy to their commander and from there to the Stark of Winterfell.”

Lord Reeds lips twitched. “I see you have thought this through.”

He snorted. “I think through everything I do, Lord Reed.”

Lord Reed smiled. “Aye. I am beginning to see that. What will you call this group?”

Harry smiled back. “I’m thinking of calling them The Huntsmen. It seems like a good name.”

The lord looked back to the wood he was carving. “Aye. It is a good name. I will do this for you my lord. I have no doubt it could be a boon if done right. I will start by speaking to the skinchangers who are-“

“Lord Reed! Lord Stark!” Lord Reed was interrupted by the sound of shouting and banging on the door of his solar.

Before Harry could comment Lord Reed had shot up onto his feet and towards the door. He pulled the door open to reveal a small man standing on the other side. ”What’s wrong?” He asked with more force than Harry had ever heard in his voice.

The man stuttered. “S-Sorry to disturb you milords. We thought you might want to know as soon as possible.”

Harrys eyes narrowed. “Know what?”

The man looked at him before looking down. “The Ironborn have invaded. Some of their ships have just been seen sailing on the Fever River towards Moat Cailin.“

Harry sat up straight. Instantly alert. “Tell me more. How many ships? How long ago were they spotted?”

As always criticism is welcome as long as it’s constructive.

Next chapter Thursday 23 March 2023.

To read ahead of the update schedule: Pat_reon(dot)com(slash) TheLifeandTimes19.

The Children of the Forest

The Children of the Forest

Cave beyond The Wall-288 AC

The cavern was silent. The only noise that remained was the quiet rasping of the soulless body of Brynden Rivers. The few Children of the forest that remained in the room were staring at him with gazes filled with apprehension and fear.

While Harry never liked it when people feared him, he had come to learn long ago that fear was a tool. In certain situations it could be vastly more useful than love. That’s not to say that it should be wielded carelessly. Fear fades with time or it is overcome by hate. Love or admiration has the opposite effect. Love grows stronger over time. People who love you will always go the extra mile. They will always fight harder than those who are compelled to act through fear.

In his opinion it was always better to be loved than feared, but it is even better to be both loved and feared. To have people love you for your actions and for what you do for them, while having them fear going against you. An ideal King or Lord should have his subjects’ love him while at the same time they should fear facing his wrath.

So while normally Harry would try and calm the Children of the Forest down, in this instance they should fear him. They should fear his wrath. They should fear the consequences of their actions and the actions of The Three Eyed-Raven.

It’s the easiest way to get them to cooperate with him.

After the silence stretched on for too long he decided he should try and push things along. “Well?” He drawled. “I’m waiting. I know you speak common, you gave it away while I was talking to your Raven. So I’ll say it one more time, take me to your leader.”

He believed he got the message across when he saw the two Children that stayed in the room with him trade glances. Before they got a chance to say anything however, his attention was drawn to a voice coming from one of the tunnels. “I’m here, Hadrian Stark.”

Harry moved his attention onto the Child of the Forest that spoke. It was a female, Harry noted. A female leader was something he found incredibly rare in this world. She was the same size as the others, she didn’t have any special markings, tattoos or clothes to signify that she was the leader of the Children. She looked the same as every other child of the forest he had seen. She carried the same agelessness that he found in all their species but her eyes did look older and more weary than the others he had met. The biggest difference he could spot between her and the other Children he could see was that she didn’t have a speck of fear in her eyes. She looked mournful when her gaze passed over Brynden Rivers, but she collected herself admirable and quickly fixed a passive look onto her face. It wasn’t enough to confirm she was the leader. For all he knew, the real leader was hiding in the shadows watching what the outcome of this meeting would be. Or they were one of the dozens that followed behind the one that spoke.

Harry decided that it didn’t matter for now. He would take her at her word that she was the leader. It was the only way this discussion could continue swiftly.

“You seem to know who I am but who are you?” He asked.

She bowed her head. “You will not be able to pronounce my name with your tongue but you may call me Leaf. “

Harry nodded slowly. She was probably right about not being able to pronounce her name. The language he heard the Children speak with earlier was beautiful, almost musical but he doubted that humans could make sounds like that if they tried.

After a moment he continued. “Greetings Leaf. I would say it is an honour to meet the fabled Children of the Forest but with circumstances being what they are….” He trailed off.

She winced slightly. “Yes, I can imagine it is a poor introduction to our race.”

He nodded. “Regardless, what is done is done. There is no point in wallowing in the past. Now I want to look towards the future. “

She tilted her head in reminiscence of a cat. “The future?”

He folded his hands behind his back and straightened up to his full unimpressive height. It was still enough to tower over the Children. “Your future to be exact.”

She tensed. “What future are you speaking of? Without the Three Eyed-Raven we have already lost. There is no future!”

Harry waved his hands negligently. “We haven’t lost until we have lost. The future is not so easily determined. I will get to that in moment though. First I want to set a few rules for this conversation. It will go much more smoothly.”

She looked at him warily. “What rules?“

Harry smiled. “First, we will only tell the truth. No lies and no omissions. You aren’t my enemy, yet. As far as I can tell the Three-Eyed Raven acted on his own to attack me. If you lent your combined power to his, I have no doubt he would have succeeded. Also remember I am a Greenseer and can verify everything you say at a later date. “

She eyed him. “Why would we agree to these rules? Why would we even agree to this conversation? You killed our greatest chance against the White Walkers. The world of man might be able to survive a few more decades but we will not.”

Harry shrugged. “Maybe I will help you. Maybe I won’t. As far as I can tell you lose nothing by agreeing.”

She looked conflicted. “I can sense the magic coming off of you. Even if this is only your spirit, you have a lot of it. Possibly more than I have ever seen. I have felt a shift in the magic’s of the earth over the last few years. Where you walk, magic grows stronger. “ She stopped speaking to Harry and started muttering to herself in her strange language.

After a few moments she firmed her expression. “Do you truly believe you can help us? That you can stop the White Walkers?”

He shrugged again. “Perhaps.”

Leaf let her shoulders drop and sighed. “Very well. I will speak nothing but the truth.” Her expression once again firmed up. “I expect the same from you however. “

I could see her decision wasn’t very popular with the other Children, based on the way they frantically started shouting at her in their language. She let each of them speak for a few moments before she spoke harshly back. The Children settled down afterwards. Some with troubled expressions, but others with clear looks of despair. Still one or two looked slightly hopeful.

Harry nodded. “Very well, I will speak nothing but the truth as I know it. I swear it on the Gods.”

Leaf stood straight and lifted her head proudly. “I will speak nothing but the truth. I swear it on the Gods. “

Harry allowed himself to relax fractionally. So far things with the Children have gone better than he could have hoped for. “My first question is this. What exactly are the White Walkers?”

He could see Leaf freeze for a moment. Even after her oath he could see her hesitate to answer. The truth must be uglier than he thought.

She took a breath and began to speak. “I think it is best if I give you context for that question. Thousands of years ago, the Children of the Forest and the Giants were the only sentient species on this continent. We lived in peace. Peace with each other, peace with nature. Everything was perfect. It was a utopia.” She looked out in space wistfully. Mournfully.

Then her expression hardened. “Then man came. “

She took another breath to compose herself. “At first we didn’t really think too much of them. We tried to get on with them as peacefully as we could, just like we did the giants. Man was cruel though. So cruel. They started chopping down our forests. Our Weirwood trees. We asked them to stop. Practically begged them. They refused to listen. It wasn’t long before they started killing my people. Hunting us down and slaughtering us for sport. Or because they wanted to be the only race. They burnt down our forests and killed us down to the last whenever they could!” She spat. Hate and fury boiling in her eyes. But underneath it all, Harry could see her sadness.

Unfortunately he believed her about mankind starting a war with the Children. Mankind had always been a temperamental race. Quick to violence and anger. Quick to condemn those that were different.

She continued. “It wasn’t long before we started fighting back. Killing man whenever we could. To protect ourselves and our Gods. The Gods of the Forest, Streams, Rocks and Earth. “

Her eyes shone with knowledge of countless ages. “We killed many. Thousands. Hundreds of thousands. It made no difference in the end. Mankind kept coming. Kept killing our people and destroying our Gods. So we destroyed the path they took to get to Westeros. Flooding it with massive amounts of water and sinking the land in hopes it would stop them. That place is now known as the Stepstones.”

She paused for a moment before continuing. “It worked for a time. Mankind stopped coming and we were able to live in peace for a bit more. It wasn’t long before they came again though. On wooden ships they landed on the shores by the thousands and began exterminating my people wherever they could find them. We warred with them for years. Centuries. “

She looked back into my eyes with a sadness that was almost painful to look at. “It was no use though. We could kill hundreds for every one of us that died and we still ended up being pushed back. We Children are not as fertile as man. While it may take hundreds of years for one of use to fall pregnant and hundreds more for the child to mature to adulthood, mankind breed quickly. In a little over a decade of life they could have children and in a little over a decade those children would be considered adults having children of their own. We were fighting on the losing side of the war. We fell back again and tried to stop them by flooding The Neck. It hardly made a difference at that stage. Before long that had pushed us further and further North. There were less and less of us. It wouldn’t have been long before we were hunted to extinction. We were growing more and more desperate.”

She swallowed thickly. “So we made a weapon. We took a man and used magic to create a creature which would hunt men for us. That would allow us to change the tide of the war.”

Harry’s eyes narrowed. “The White Walkers. “ Harry wasn’t sure about how to feel about the fact that the Children created the White Walkers. While he was obviously angry that they would do something like that, he couldn’t help but pity them. He had seen men do stupid things out of desperation. Dark things. So while he was upset about the fact they used magic to create a weapon only meant to kill. There was a part of him that understood. That couldn’t help but empathise with them. If his loved ones were being systematically hunted down and killed and there was nothing he could do to stop it, he would probably use drastic measures as well.

Leafs eyes lowered to the floor. “Yes. The Night King specifically. In the beginning we thought it had worked. The White Walkers were pushing the humans back. The more humans that died the stronger they got. We were ashamed of what we did. But we were also relieved that we were no longer being hunted to extinction.”

Then she looked at him and a tear escaped out of one of her eyes and rolled down her cheek. “The Night King was smarter than we thought though. It wasn’t long before he slipped out of our control and started hunting everything. Everything that lived was his target. Mankind, animals, my people or giants. It made no difference. He would kill us all the same. The more of the living that died, the more dead would be added to his army and the more powerful he became.”

She took a shuddering breath. “Thanks to our folly, everything was dying. We had no choice but to ally with humans to fix our mistake, and they had no choice but to ally with us to survive the Night Kings forces. We made a pact to become allies and to cease our wars with each other. So that we could focus on our common enemy. After years of war and death we finally managed to push the Night King back into the far North. Regardless of how much we tried we could not pin the Night King down to finish him off and he went where we were unable to follow. Into the far North, known now as the Lands of Always Winter. There he changed the weather freezing everything completely, making it impossible to hunt him down.  We knew he would be back though. So we then worked with the giants and your ancestor Brandon to build a wall. “

She stopped talking at that point and Harry was content to let her so that he could process his thoughts. Much of this had been guessed by him already, due to old legends and folktales told in the North, but it was nice to have confirmation that those stories had some truth to them.

He nodded to Leaf solemnly. “Thank you for answering my question. “

She pursed her lips. “Perhaps you can answer a question for me now.”

He waved her to continue. It was only fair at this stage. With a determined look in her eye she asked. “What are you?”

Harry startled slightly. “I’m not sure what you mean?”

She shook her head. “You swore to speak only the truth Hadrian Stark. You are more powerful than any man I have ever met in my life. You are more powerful than the elders who were around when I was still young, when mankind first made their way to this land. More than that though, you are skilled at skinchanging and Greenseeing. You would not be here if you weren’t skilled at Greenseeing and if you weren’t skilled at skinchanging, you would never have been able to defeat the Three- Eyed Raven in the manner you did. You are all of this and you are only a child. It should not be possible, it is not possible for a normal man to do this. So I ask again, what are you?”

Harry pursed his lips. He should have expected this. The Children of the Forest were a long lived species. They live so long they are practically immortal compared to men. It shouldn’t be a surprise then, that with all they have seen, they could tell something was off. The question is whether or not he should answer.

On the one hand, the Children had been truthful with him so far, as far as he could tell. If they were to lie to him he doubted they would tell him about their part in the creation of the White Walkers. Still, his secret was a secret for a reason. He doesn’t know whether or not he could trust them with the truth.

In the end he decided it didn’t really matter if they knew. If everything went according to plan for the rest of this meeting, then they would be reliant on him to help them. Both to survive as a race and to beat the White Walkers. Once they had been defeated he should have a lot more trust with them and their gratitude. If they betrayed him and released the knowledge after that, then there is a good chance he could use it to elevate himself even higher in the eyes of the lords, as a champion of the Old Gods. If they believe the Children at all that is. Regardless, it wasn’t a secret he would like to share at the moment. Not to so many of them and not near a Weirwood tree, where any Greenseer can stumble across the information. He was slightly surprised that they even admitted to creating the White Walkers in a place any Greenseer with enough power could uncover the secret. Perhaps they had a method to conceal information in the Green. He wouldn’t take the risk though. The last thing he needed was for some foolish sorcerer to try call upon Death in hopes of becoming The Master of Death like him. He isn’t sure what the repercussions for that would be, be he imagines it wouldn’t be anything good.

No, it was better to perhaps only inform Leaf in a more secure location.

He shook his head. “This isn’t the time or the place to have this conversation. I will tell you one day. But only you.“ He finished, casting a glance at the other Children that had started to fill up the cavern while Leaf was talking. There must have been around thirty of them now.

Harry could see that she wasn’t happy with his answer but she seemed to accept it all the same. With a resigned nod she spoke. “Very well. I will accept your silence for now.”

He smiled slightly. “You will receive the answer someday. Provided you earn my trust.”

After casting another glance at the figure of the Three-Eyed Raven he decided he had more questions that needed answering before he could discuss the future. “What about the Three-Eyed Raven? What is he?”

Leaf glanced back at the still breathing corpse with a look of sadness. After taking a moment to compose herself she answered. “Over time we saw that mankind started to forget about the White Walkers. After a few thousand years they started to see the White Walkers as either a myth or something that was destroyed a long time ago. We feared in another few thousand years they would forget about them completely. We had no idea when they would attack, how they would attack or if we would be strong enough to stop them. They had thousands of years to gather the dead and to bring them back to the Land of Always Winter, where the cold preserved their bodies. We knew they had only grown stronger over time while we and the giants were constantly growing weaker. We created the Three-Eyed Raven to be the memory of the world. To make sure that mankind never forgot about the danger of the Night King, even if my kind disappeared. We used a volunteer, a powerful Greenseer, and tied their life-force to the life of this Weirwood tree. The Three-Eyed Raven was a weapon we created to oppose the Night King. We were here constantly monitoring it and watching it to make sure it never slipped out of our grasp to reap havoc the way the Night King did.”

Harry raised an unimpressed eyebrow. “So you created a weapon more powerful than you to stop man. That weapon escaped from your control. Your solution to this problem was to create another weapon more powerful than you and hope to keep it controlled this time.” He asked incredulously.

She frowned. “It worked. The Three-Eyed Raven could see into the future more clearly and accurately than we could. He put long term plans into place in the hopes of creating a future where we had the greatest chance to destroy the Night King for good. He could never see the actual defeat of the Night King, but all the pieces were there for his defeat. “

Harry frowned. Something wasn’t adding up. “I don’t really believe that.”

Leaf scrunched her eyebrows together. “What?”

He sighed. “Perhaps he was putting pieces in place to defeat the Night King. I can believe that. I just don’t believe it was his only goal. Tell me, after the first Long Night there were still many Children alive, correct?”

She frowned. “Our numbers were low but there were probably several thousand of us left at the end. Yes. We were losing numbers constantly due to man still, we were no longer at war with them but there were still those that hunted us because they could. Still we only really started dying off in large amounts again when the Andals came and started cutting down the Weirwood trees and killing us when they could. We are creatures of magic, we need magic to be born. Between The Wall using a lot of excess magic, the Night King using more to build his army and to completely freeze the Land of Always Winter, even more than it already was, and the loss of so many Weirwood trees, magic started to become gradually weaker. It was a slow decline but it added up over time. We need magic like a tree needs the sun. Without it many of my kind and many giants started to reproduce less and less. Many more died from illness due to a lack of magic. It is why so many of my kind live in places that are still rich with magic. Like this place.  We can survive without magic for a century or two before we die but it is not a pleasant experience. It is like a piece of us is missing.”

Harry nodded. “That makes sense. What doesn’t, is why the Three-Eyed Raven allowed the Andals to get a foothold in Westeros.”

She frowned. “I don’t understand.

He sighed. “The Three-Eyed Raven is supposed to be the most powerful Greenseer alive. You say he can see the future. If he was such a powerful Greenseer, then he could see out of any Weirwood in Westeros. He could use birds or animals to easily spy on the Andals. How hard would it have been to sabotage them? To use animals to assassinate a few of the more powerful members of the Faith when they first arrived on Westeros shores? He could have easily used his so called prophecy powers to completely change the outcome of the war between the Andals and the First Men. All he would have needed to do was make Artos Arryn be thrown from his horse at the right time and House Royce, a house with deep ties to the First Men, would be ruling the Vale. The Vale would probably still be in the hands of the First Men and would still worship the Old Gods. There would be many more Weirwood trees then. Dragons give off magic, according to legend. Why didn’t he do something to stop them from going extinct? No, the Three-Eyed Raven probably planned on destroying the Night King, but it seems to me like he was also trying to weaken his jailers.”

He noticed that she had gone still. Completely and utterly. It wasn’t really a surprise to Harry. It can’t be easy to only have this revelation after being subtly sabotaged for so long. Harry noticed that many of the Children that were watching the conversation seemed about ready to burst into tears. There were others who were whispering angrily to each other and more that were just completely silent with a blank face. Like they couldn’t even comprehend what he was saying.

Leaf releasing a shaky breath brought his focus back to her. “The Three-Eyed Raven was only meant to watch the world. Not to change it. The only thing he was meant to act against was the Night King.”

Harry raised an eyebrow. “I would think that strengthening the Children of the Forest and the giants as well as preventing the extinction of the dragons would have been acting against the Night King.”

She looked at Harry with a face devoid of emotion. “I will need to think on it more.”

After a pause she spoke again. “What now?”

Harry thought over his options for a few moments. “I’m angry. I’m angry that you created a creature as despicable as the Night King. I’m angry you never learnt your lesson the first time and created the Three-Eyed Raven.”

He released a breath. “But I am also sympathetic. You were desperate and you made stupid decisions. Very stupid decisions. They were made thousands of years ago though, so I am trying not to hold it against you too much.”

He paused to let that sink in before continuing. “I want to strengthen magic. To bring it back to how it is meant to be. I want the South to be filled with Weirwood trees and for magic to not be feared or hated but accepted and embraced. Your race is on the brink of extinction. So are the giants. I would like to help you.”

He could see all of the Children perk up slightly at his words. “There will be costs and there will be conditions however.”

Leaf was looking at him with slightly wary eyes. “What will those be?”

He answered. “You will have to bend the knee to House Stark.”

That released pandemonium amongst the Children, there were many shouting angrily at him in a language he couldn’t understand while gesturing wildly. He kept his eyes on Leaf however.

He could see she was looking slightly angry now. “So you will not help us unless it is to your benefit?”

Harry reminded himself to remain calm. “It is for your benefit as well. If I am to help you. If I am to strengthen magic, you need to come south of The Wall. You need to help me plant more Weirwood trees,I don’t know how to, you need to help take care of the ones we already have. You can do this without swearing fealty, true. Many Lords in the North will probably welcome you with open arms and smiles. You are living proof for many of them that their religion is real. There will be those that will not welcome you though. While most in the North worship the Old Gods there are those who worship the Seven. There are even more in the South who would demand your heads on principle. The Maesters, the Faith and even some of the Great Houses. If you bend the knee you would become citizens of the North. I would be honour bound to protect you as long as you follow our laws. My bannermen would be honour bound to protect you because you are a part of the North. If the South were to demand your heads at that point, no Northern Lord would have the right to complain about the measures taken to ensure your safety.”

She looked slightly appeased but still conflicted. “Men are fickle. You may protect us, but what of your children when you die? Or their children?”

Harry took a breath. He had already thought of this. If he was really going to be doing this then he needed to plan for the future. He needed to build a solid foundation for future generations. “I will be giving you a decent amount of land in the Wolfswood to live in. The forest is close to Winterfell so it will be easy to keep in communication. You are right. Men are fickle. That is why I would give you a chance to have an influence on future Starks.”

She furrowed her eyebrows. “Go on.”

Harry continued. “The wisest amongst you will help raise future Stark children from when they are born. Teaching them about the Old Gods, skinchanging, greenseeing and magic in general. You will get the chance to advise them. To help guide them.”

He hardened his expression. “Don’t believe you can control them though. If even a single bannermen thought you were, then they would go to war. Mankind is fickle, as you said. What I can guarantee is that they would never be happy being ruled by anyone who isn’t a part of mankind themselves.”

He could see she was thinking deeply on what he said. Before she could come to a decision there was still another rule he would have to inform them of. “There will also be no blood magic. Not unless the Stark of Winterfell gives their express permission.”

She tensed slightly. ”With magic so weak, blood magic is the most powerful kind left.”

Harry nodded. It was a fair point, however….”Blood magic also almost always comes with a cost. That cost is not always something that is easily noticeable and when it is noticed, it can be devastating. I will work to strengthen magic as much as I can, but there will be no blood magic.”

She frowned but nodded. “You are correct, there is almost always a cost. You have given me much to think on Hadrian Stark. I can’t come to a decision right now.”

He shrugged. “Nor do I expect you to. I am not ready to receive you just yet. There is probably a war happening with the Iron Islands soon and I still need to lay some groundwork to make the transition as smooth as possible. In two years I should be ready, then you can come south with few problems, hopefully. If you agree to my terms then I would ask you to gather as many giants as possible and explain the terms to them. They will be given permission to roam some areas if that is their wish, otherwise I will give them a piece of land for them to build on. You will be expected to contribute to the North. For now you can teach myself and some other Starks magic and use magic to help strengthen the North in other ways. The giants can also expect to be asked to help with projects to strengthen the North. The more you are seen contributing the more determined my bannermen will be to protect you.“

She nodded and I noticed she was much more relaxed now than she had been through the rest of the conversation. “I will think on your offer Hadrian Stark.”

Harry smiled at her slightly and prepared to leave before a thought stuck him. A question he had forgot to ask. “One more question. How am I here? I never knew greenseers could do this.”

She laughed. It was a light and joyous sound reminding Harry of the tinkling of bells. “Before magic weakened only the most powerful or skilled could do it. Even then they could only do so at locations rich in magic, like here. “

Harry decided to think of the applications of this ability later. For now he decided it was time to get back to his body, he had probably already worried Lord Reed and Morna a lot. He nodded farewell to Leaf and the other Children before he grabbed onto the link to his body and pulled.

The Three-Eyed Raven

The Three Eyed Raven

The Green -288 AC

Harry found himself being dragged through a kaleidoscope of colours at a speed that would have left him dizzy if it was happening in the mortal world. As it stood though, he just found himself becoming pissed off.

He had long left the trail that he was on behind. Entering deeper into the Green than he would have dared to go without considerably more training and practice in the art of Greenseeing. If it weren’t for being The Master of Death, and the constant link it left him to the mortal world, he is sure that he would be hopelessly lost. Left to wonder until either his body broke from the strain of being left in a pseudo coma or his mind did.

Just as he started getting his bearings and he was ready to react to his new situation, the three eyed raven latched onto his shoulder, let go of him.

In the split second he had to react, Harry realized the birds plan was to release him so that he would go drifting even further into the Green, without any direction or control whatsoever.

He snarled and reached up, grabbing the legs of the damned bird just as it was about to leave the range of his arms. Luckily he had a lot of experience catching fast moving objects due to his time playing quiddich, and he was just barely able to grab one of its talons with his right hand.

It hurt slightly, not with real pain, but a type of phantom of pain that felt real in the moment nonetheless.

Harry found his momentum instantly shift as he was pulled along with the bird in a new direction. The raven let out a screech of surprise and stuttered in its movements for a moment.

He was quick to use that moment to his advantage and grabbed onto its leg with his left hand and pulled himself up giving his right hand a greater grip.

The raven started flapping wildly, zooming in random patterns as it tried to fling him off but his grip held strong.

The bird cawed in agitation and started pecking at his fingers while screeching at him. “Get off! Get off! Let go of me!”

Harry grit his teeth at the pain on his fingers. He knew the pain wasn’t real, but it didn’t stop him from hurting all the same. While the bird was doing its absolute best to shake him off, Harry was thinking of ways he could beat the damn thing. He couldn’t climb up higher and wring its neck as he was barely holding on as it was. Besides he wasn’t sure if that would actually kill it. He isn’t sure if it was even possible to die while in the Green. He winced at a particular painful bite before closing his eyes to think.

That’s when he noticed it.

It was faint but he could feel a connection latching on to the bird. The same type of connection he was told by the old woman Morna was essential to make sure one never got lost in The Green. The connection that connected to the mortal plane.  He didn’t know where the connection led, but at that point he didn’t really have much choice but to use it.

He could have let go of the bird and used his own connection to his mortal body to escape if he really wanted to. He just didn’t want to.

The damned thing tried to kill him! He isn’t sure if it would try again the next time he entered the Green, but Harry wasn’t going to take the risk to find out. He had become a lot more ruthless with his enemies in the years following Voldemort’s defeat. If he could help it, he wouldn’t give people who proved to be enemies a second chance to kill him when it could be avoided. Others he cared about would always be caught in the crossfire. He learnt that lesson from Pettigrew.

Harry gathered all the will he could, before reaching out mentally to the connection the bird had with the mortal plane and pulled.

The effect was immediate. The bird suddenly stopped moving so erratically and was launched backwards as if it were a fish caught on a line.

He was honestly a mixture of happy and surprised that his idea seemed to be working so well. Harry knew that he probably didn’t have to walk in the Green. The rules of this plane were different from the mortal world. His body in this plane was only his mind interpreting his experience into something he could actually fathom. One could probably travel anywhere they wanted with nothing more than an effort of will, as long as they knew where they were going. He just didn’t expect to achieve success in this manner so easily. Not against what was probably a powerful and experienced Greenseer.

Harry made sure to continue gripping the birds leg as it was pulled back to its mortal form. He could feel it reaching out to the connection tethering it and trying to fight his influence on it.

The pull on the bird started slowing down slightly and almost managed to stop completely before Harry doubled his focus and pushed more magic into pulling the damned thing back into the mortal world. It was powerful, there was no doubt about that. Harry was The Master of Death though. He hadn’t met anything that could overpower him in a contest of pure magic since he first earned the title.

Even so, it came close a few times.

After a while his vision started to darken until all he could see was black. Just as quickly as it came his vision cleared though and he found himself in a new environment with the bird missing from his grasp.

Harry looked around to examine his new surroundings with the eye of a veteran of war. He found himself in a cave or tunnel of some sort. With roots crossing in and out of the ceiling, walls and even some parts of the floor. The space wasn’t that large, it was maybe a little bit smaller than the Great Hall in Winterfell. It was a little difficult for Harry to see due to the poor lighting in the cave, but it was possible to see somewhat clearly due to some light that penetrated the gaps of the roots in the ceiling. It cast the entire place in an eerie light that was more than a little bit creepy in Harry's opinion.

The most surprising thing though, was the small green creatures that were standing next to and hiding among some of the larger roots. They stood as tall as his shoulder and were a light green colour with cat like eyes that glowed slightly in the darkness. They only had four fingers and were dressed in rags that looked as if they were grown from roots. There were maybe half a dozen in the room and they were all looking at him with surprise etched onto their features. Their surprise only lasted a moment however, as most of them were quick to brandish short pieces of wood with the end carved into a point of wood like a spear at him.

One of them started singing. The roots closest to him rose like snakes and lunged for his limbs. They completely passed through him. As one they paused.  They then proceeded to start talking to each other frantically in a strange language that Harry isn’t sure he would ever be able to understand. He doesn’t even think humans are able to make some of the sounds coming out of their mouths. To him, it sounded almost musical.

‘The Children of the Forest.’ He realized.

He didn’t know how he should react in this situation. Were the Children the ones who attacked him? If so, why? He needed to know these answers. If he guessed correctly The Children were almost extinct. He didn’t know how many of them there were. Almost all the books he read stated they were either extinct or never existed in the first place. Then again, he was finding the library of Winterfell incredibly lacking in old Northern texts. For one of the oldest libraries in the world, it didn’t have many of the rare books that by all rights should have had a copy there.

Back to the point, he didn’t want to kill the last of them if he could avoid it. There was already so little magic in Westeros, if he killed off an entire magical species he didn’t know what the repercussions could be. His ultimate goal was to nurture magic, to bring it back into the world. The Children of the Forest could greatly help with that goal.

He just hoped they spoke common.

Harry was slightly curious about how he was here, or at least how his spirit was projected here, as he didn’t know that was possible with Greenseeing. He decided he would think about it later as his attention was taken up by a groaning noise coming from the largest cluster of roots in the centre of the room that stretched from the floor into the ceiling.

Harry almost did a double take when he noticed the upper body and face of an old man that was coming out of the roots as if he were grown from it. Or more disturbingly, as if the roots were growing through him.  Upon closer inspection he even saw a root growing out of one of his eyes.

It was possibly one of the most disturbing things that Harry had ever seen and he had seen Voldemort as a weird baby creature.

As he watched the old man lifted his head sluggishly before opening his eyes fully. He noticed the eye that didn’t have a root growing through it was red. The old man blinked his good eye eye clear a few times as he was regaining focus. Once it seemed like he had shaken the cobwebs out of his head, his head immediately snapped to Harry.

“You.” He said in a voice that was absolutely dripping in malice and hate.

Harry decided he would treat him like he treated all his enemies. With copies amounts of sarcasm and condescension. “Me.” He drawled lazily. He wasn’t overly worried about any danger. He wasn’t really there after all, and he could use his link back to his body to escape any time he wanted. He might as well use the opportunity to get some information. He would decide what to do about the old man who probably attacked him once he knew more.

The old man’s face twisted into a sneer that Harry was sure would even leave Draco proud. “You’ve ruined everything!”

He just raised an eyebrow. “Sorry for ruining your attempt to murder me tree-person. I didn’t know you would take it so personally.”

“Not that!” He snarled. “The Song of Ice and Fire! You’ve changed things. I can no longer see the correct path for the future! “

Apparently this ‘Song of Ice and Fire’ was a big deal based on how the Children of the Forest reacted to the words. It was also proof they spoke common. As Harry watched they broke out into absolute pandemonium. They started shouting at each other frantically. One of them sprinted out of the room and two of them even dropped their weapons and looked as if they were only seconds away from breaking down into tears. That wasn’t Harry's focus however.  No he was much more focused on what the old man said.

Another prophecy by the sounds of it.

‘Fuck.’ Harry thought. ‘Okay, think about that later.’

He narrowed his eyes. “And who are you to decide the correct path of the future?” He already had one meddlesome old man interfering with his life once. He may have forgiven Dumbledore for everything he had put him through, hell he was even grateful to the old man after everything was said and done. He doesn’t believe he could have defeated Voldemort at all without his meddling, at least not without a significantly higher amount of casualties, but that doesn’t mean he was going to allow another to try and manipulate him for his own goals.

Especially not one who Harry doesn’t believe had goals that were as benevolent as Dumbledore’s.

The old man’s eyes glared at Harry so hard, he was half convinced he was trying to set him on fire. Not that it really bothered him much, after looking into the pool of hatred that was Voldemort’s eyes, Harry doesn’t really believe anything is really capable of scaring him anymore.

He continued to glare even as he spoke in a rasping wheezing voice that made it sound as if half his voice box had already turned to dust. “Who am I you ask? I am the Three-Eyed Raven! I am the Watcher! The keeper of the worlds history! I was watching your ancestors since before the Andals came! I have been guiding the world onto the correct path for countless ages! And you come along and ruin it! Centuries of work. Meaningless! Everything was going the way it should, until you changed it!” He finished in a coughing fit, wheezing as if one of his lungs was trying to escape through his throat.

After about ten seconds of the coughing he stopped and continued speaking. “You’ve doomed us all.”

Harry raised an eyebrow. “How exactly have I done that?”

The so called Three-Eyed Raven looked at him with contempt. “Things were supposed to go a certain way over the next few years. For one, you shouldn’t have ever been born. You’re an aberration! A mistake! Thanks to you, the White Walkers will win!”

Harry stilled. “The White Walkers?” Harry wasn’t really surprised that they were real. He didn’t believe for a second that his ancestors had a seven hundred foot tall wall built to keep out a few tribes of savages without discipline or even proper weapons. No, he was more surprised that they would choose now to make a move after eight thousand years. Although he shouldn’t have been, he always did have the strangest type of luck. Even to this day, he couldn’t tell if he was extremely lucky or extremely unlucky.

The old man coughed. “They are moving boy. The best hope we had was ‘The Song of Ice and Fire’, the prophecy of the Prince who was Promised. Now thanks to you there’s a chance it won’t come to pass!”

Harry couldn’t help but scoff. Prophecies are fickle things. They are almost impossible to interpret correctly and his opinion, are better off ignored if possible. Basing decisions off of prophecy instead of sound judgement is a recipe for disaster. Voldemort proved that when he threw away all common sense and came after Harry with an obsession for all those years. If they were true prophecies they would come to pass regardless of actions taken, and if it doesn’t come to pass then it wasn’t a true prophecy in the first place.

He looked at the thing in front of him. “Your arrogance is something to behold. Prophecies only have as much power as one gives them. They are better off ignored. “ That was something he learned from Dumbledore. The prophecy he lived through in his past life only had any power because Voldemort chose to believe it did. If Voldemort ignored the prophecy then chances are that Harry would have never been the one to defeat him. If the Dark Lord was less obsessed with Harry then chances are, he would have had much more success in his campaign. His obsession with prophecy was his own undoing. Harry would make sure he never made the same mistake.

The Three-Eyed Raven snarled. “You are the arrogant one boy! I have seen glimpses of the future! The Prince who was Promised would bring the Dawn. Now that may never come to pass!”

He laughed. “If the prophecy was so easily diverted then it was no true prophecy. ”

He narrowed his eyes as he thought of something. The Three-Eyed Raven claimed it had been guiding some of humanities decisions since before the coming of the Andals. It claimed it saw glimpses of the future and was guiding humanity on a path to make sure that that future came to pass.  What is the likelihood that the prophecy was created by the Raven to make sure the future follows along the path that it wanted? He didn’t know if Divination could be that powerful. It is also possible that the prophecy was real and The Raven decided to make sure it came to pass. Either in general, or more sinisterly, in the way it wants it to.  He needed more information.

“Who came up with this prophecy anyway and who is this Promised Prince? ” He asked

The Raven laughed at him. “It has been around longer than me boy! The Red Priests say it’s a prophecy from their god. I’ve seen visions of a future where it comes to pass. The Targaryens dreamed of it happening centuries ago. Many different religions and magic users have spouted the prophecy over the millennia! The oldest copy was found in Asshai by the Shadow . The prophecy is real! As for whom it is about?” He laughed. “It’s your cousin. Jon Snow!”

He furrowed his eyebrows together. “What makes Jon so special?”

He looked at Harry mockingly. “He isn’t the son of Ned Stark.”

Harry froze, the implications of his answer were unnerving to say the least. “Lyanna….”

The Raven grinned. “That’s right boy! Born amidst salt and smoke under a bleeding star the Prince that was Promised will bring the Dawn. Rhaegar believed the prophecy. He led our house to ruin for the sake of the world!”

Harry narrowed his eyes. “You said our house…”

The Three Eyed raven smiled an ugly smile filled with only a few rotting teeth. “Yes our house. Before I was the Three Eyed Raven I was a bastard son of House Targaryen. I was the hand to two kings. I stopped the first Blackfire Rebellion. I am –“

“Brynden Rivers.” Harry breathed. That would make him well over one hundred years old. Closer to one hundred and fifty in fact.

He grinned mockingly. “Yes, Brynden Rivers. Lord Bloodraven. I see you know your history.”

Harry was even less inclined to trust the Raven now than he was before. This man, no, this thinghas apparently been guiding humanity from the roots of the trees for years. If that were true then he knew that his house would fall. He didn’t even attempt to stop it as that would go against his vision of the future. How could Harry ever trust a man who was seemingly content with the extinction of his family? Or worse, a man who might have set it all in motion, assuming he created the prophecy that led to Rhaegar starting the war that saw the Targaryens cast down. Although he was more inclined to believe the Raven thought it was a real prophecy based on how many cultures how spouted it over the years. That doesn’t mean he didn’t try and manipulate it for his own ends though.

He tensed and prepared to pull himself back to his body at a moment’s notice. “You’re being awfully trusting with information for someone who tried to kill me. “

Brynden smiled wickedly. “What will you do with the information? You’re still going to die. While you are here, your body is vulnerable. I am not the most powerful skinchanger in the world for nothing boy. Then I will have to work to put the future back onto the correct course.”

Harry decided enough was enough. He had to leave and get back to his body before he was eaten by a lizardlion or something, but first he was going to do something he should have done at the start. Harry used his soul sight to look at the man before him, to try and get a better understanding of what he was dealing with. What he found would have made him vomit if he was currently capable of it.

There were hundreds of souls contained within the body. Too many to properly count. They were writhing and circling into and out of each other. Stitched together like an old ravaged quilt with holes and damaged seams. Each of the souls was extremely damaged in some way, affecting the greater whole, making it into something that was almost unrecognisable as once being human. This thing wasn’t even truly Brynden Rivers anymore. His was the dominant soul still, barely, but the rest of them were bleeding through. Warping and twisting his soul into something else.

Harry laughed mockingly. “It’s funny.”

The creature in front of him leered. “What is?”

Harry smiled viciously. “You called me an abomination when you attacked me. But I see the truth now. You’re the abomination. You’re not even really Brynden Rivers anymore. No, you’re hundreds of different souls, different people blended together to create this creature I see before me. This abomination against the natural order. It’s as if you were once a man and skinchanged into another one over and over again every time you were close to death. Now I don’t even know what you are.”

The Three Eyed Raven lost all expression on its face.  It just glared at him hatefully.

Harry smiled. “But I can fix that.”

Without wasting anymore time Harry reached out with his senses and tried to do something incredibly foolish. He extended his magic into the creature in front of him. He targeted the areas where the souls were connected. Using the same magic that was used to skinchange into an animal but on a person, if only targeted to the weak strands between the souls. At the same time he cranked up his occlumency to the highest he could. It probably never would have worked properly on a normal person, who had one strong healthy soul to fight him. A normal person who was constantly filled with complex instincts and emotions. Instincts and emotions that were almost completely missing from Brynden Rivers. The man was empty, he was almost like a hollow void , skinchanging completely into another person clearly having a steep price over the years. It was as if The Raven was made up of hundreds of different souls stitched together clumsily, as if a child was sewing his first piece of clothing that ended up with all the important parts missing. As a result there was no bleed through of his occlumency shields at all.

For a second the Raven looked panicked. “What are you –aaarg!”

That’s not to say it wasn’t an incredibly horrible experience. He could feel what emotions The Raven had left. The only truly prevalent emotion was hunger, hunger for another vessel. A hunger to leave this body. The feeling was easily blocked off by his occlumency shields though. He squished it down, dominating it. This thing was a caricature of a person, it lacked all instincts that would make fighting against it impossible. He could feel The Raven starting to fight back and it was slowly pushing him away, he would admit it was powerful if nothing else but Harry never actually intended to take over the Ravens mind. No that was just the first step.

Harry grabbed onto one of the strands connecting the souls with his will and ripped it out of the creature. The Raven screamed and his fighting slowed down for a second. Harry used that opportunity for all that it was worth and in the next instance he grabbed another one and another one. The creature thrashed and screamed as it was slowly unravelled. The process just got faster and faster as more souls were torn out unbalancing the delicate balancing act that its existence was based on.

After a while, when there were no more souls left Harry retreated from the creature and just looked at his handiwork.

The man in front of him resembled those who had received a dementors kiss. His eyes were open, but they were glassy and lacking focus. He was breathing shallowly but wasn’t moving at all. There was even some drool pouring out of his mouth. When he used his soul sight he couldn’t see one at all.

He released a breath and focused on one of The Children who looked almost white at this point. “Take me to your leader.”

The Roots of the Green.

The Roots of the Green.

Greywater Watch- 288 AC

The next morning found Harry and Lord Reed standing outside of a small hut made of wood near the edge of the water on the edge of Greywater Watch itself.  Ser Rodrick was given more time off which he accepted, and happily made his way to the local equivalent of a tavern to drink his day away.

They were there to meet the woman that Lord Reed said could teach Harry about the art of Greenseeing.

The home was more of hut really. It was probably a little bit smaller than his chambers at Winterfell. On the roof nested a black hawk that was chewing on a pigeon if Harry was to guess. As they walked up to the door it stopped what it was doing and looked directly at Lord Reed and then at him. Harry could feel the human consciousness in the bird.

Before Lord Reed even had the chance to knock a wooden clanking followed by a loud angry shout came from inside. “What do you want?!”

The clanking of wood grew louder before the door was violently wrenched open.

Harry finds his eyebrows lifting up slightly at the sight of the woman before him. She was an old lady. If Hadrian was to guess he would say that she was of similar age to Old Nan in Winterfell. Her skin was paper thin and covered in wrinkles. Her hair had the texture of straw and was as white as snow. She was a tiny woman, coming up to his chin. On her face was a heavy scowl. She carried a wooden staff with a rounded handle in her left hand. Her eyes however were still a vibrant green, constantly glimmering with emotion and unspoken intelligence. She was a woman who had seen many winters, who knew many of the secrets The Neck and The North held. According to Lord Reed she was said to have travelled all over the North as well as a few of the more mysterious places in the South in her youth, including the Godseye. She was, without a doubt, the most skilled magic practitioner and the most powerful Greenseer alive in The Neck. This made her the best teacher Hadrian could currently ask for.

Lord Reed dipped his head slightly. “Morna.” He then turned to me. “This is Morna Snow. She is the greatest Greenseer we have had in many years. “ He turned his head back to the old lady. “Morna this is-“

She interrupted him while waving dismissively. “Yes, yes I know who he is. Everyone in Greywater knows he’s here. You didn’t answer my question. What do you want?”

Harry found his eyebrows climbing even higher. The sheer gall of this woman was something to behold. There aren’t many that would have the bravery or foolishness speak to their lord like she did Lord Reed. There are even less who would dare do so to a Lord of a Great House. Despite that, the old lady looked like she didn’t really care at all.

Before he had the opportunity to speak Lord Reed coughed awkwardly and spoke. “We were hoping you would take the time to teach Lord Stark the art of Greenseeing.”

She looked at Harry with shrewd eyes. “Mmmh. Well….you are interesting boy. I’ll give you that. But why should I teach you?”

He shrugged. “I have already learned much when it comes to skinchanging, while I have no doubt there is much left to learn, I believe Greenseeing will help with my progression. I can’t really threaten or bribe you. You seem like you wouldn’t care about any threats if the way you speak to a Lord Paramount is any indication and I know you cronnogmen live simple lives with little need for gold, so all I can do is ask.”

She smacked her lips together. “Smart aren’t you. Fine. I will teach you boy.”

She shuffled out of the door and looked up at him. “Turn around boy so I can get on your back.” She barked.

Harry just looked at her in bafflement. “Excuse me?”

Morna smacked him in the shin with her cane. “Do you want me to teach you boy? Then carry me. I’m not walking all the way to the Weirwood.”

Harry rubbed his shin and stared at the lady for a few moments to check if she was serious.When he saw that she was he sighed to himself in resignation before bending down for the old lady to jump on his back.

He had a feeling he was going to regret this.

Line break------------------------------------------------------------

Whack!

“AAh, damnit woman!”

Whack! Whack!

“Don’t swear at me young man! I’m not so old I can’t put you over my knee!”

“I’m not swearing at you! I’m swearing at the-“

Whack!

“No excuses!”

Harry grumbled under his breath as he rubbed his poor shin that had taken an absolute beating since he met the old bat earlier that day. He shot Lord Reed a glare when he heard him laughing under his breath. Unfortunately that only made the bastard laugh more.

If there was one word that Harry had to use to describe the woman, it would be fearless.

There’s not many people who would have the guts to speak to or treat a Lord Paramount the way Morna does. He had never met any in fact. Yet the old woman wasn’t afraid of him in the slightest. In fact Harry is pretty sure that she derives pleasure from trying to get under his skin. At first she was only a little bit irritating. Atleast until they got to the Godswood.

After that, is when she really started to show just how little fear she had and just how much of a demon she was.

After Harry had carried the old bat to the Wierwood tree, she asked him to go over everything he knew about skinchanging. From there he spent some time explaining some of the theory he knew as well as the dangers and giving a short demonstration. After calling him acceptable she then asked him to do it while he was distracted. The distraction being hit by her stick every time he tried.

According to Morna, while he was decently skilled for a skinchanger he still had a ways to go. She said she would only consider him an accomplished skinchanger and ready to enter a Greendream if he could both have a conversation with someone while becoming an animal at the same time, all without having his eyes changing to white.

Harry was finding it damn near impossible.

He had been sitting under the tree for the last three hours and had made barely any progress. All he had managed to accomplish so far was feeling some of the instincts of the bird stuck in a cage that Lord Reed was requested to bring. Unfortunately after he had felt those instincts he was almost always kicked out of its mind immediately as he wasn’t focused completely on overcoming them. He would latch back on to his own body when he felt himself drifting too far towards the bird. The times he wasn’t kicked out of the animal he had lost complete consciousness of his own body.

He was finding the entire process incredibly frustrating to be honest. He could become an animal easily enough, But becoming one while retaining full consciousness in his actual body was an exercise in frustration.

He could do it with animals that he had bonded with, but other random animals was a different story.

Harry tried once again. He was staring at the Weirwood tree. He was staring at the bars of a cage. He slowly turned his head. His instincts flared with hunger. He tried to force the bird down further and started losing focus on his own body. Then he tried to bring that focus back while holding on the bird.

“Aah!” With a cry of pain he brought his hand up to his head as he was propelled out of the bird and completely back into his own body.

Whack

“Ow! Stop that!”

“Stupid boy! “ Whack

Harry glared at her for a second before bringing his fingers up to rub his temples to sooth his headache.

He released a breath to calm himself down. “What am I doing wrong?”

She sighed.” Explain to me what you are doing.”

“I’m focussing on myself and then focusing on the animal I want to become at the same time. Concentrating on seeing outside of my eyes while pushing to take over the animal. I keep focusing too much on supressing its instincts though. When I do, I start to lose focus on myself.”

Whack ! Whack! Whack!

“Stupid boy! You mustn’t suppress the bird. You must soothe it! Convince it! Or it will keep fighting you! When becoming a random animal, dominating it is the fastest method but unless you break its mind it will always fight you. It can also cause a man to start to lose appreciation for life, making them lose all compassion for others.  Raising an animal from young and earning its complete trust is the slowest method but the one with the most benefits. The animal not only gains intelligence from you but you gain positive instincts from them. They learn to anticipate your needs as long as you are good to them. “

She paused to smack her lips together. “What you need to do is a mixture of the two. You don’t dominate the bird, rather try to convince it to allow you to use its senses for a bit. The bird won’t fight as hard, if you do it correctly it means it won’t fight at all. That means it won’t push its instincts through the bond to try and fight you. The instincts will still be there of course, but they won’t be affecting you through bond as you are connected to the bird loosely and it won’t have a connection to you at all. The bond is weak, subtle. You cannot use it to try and force the bird to do something. Once you do you are dominating it, that requires much, much more focus and power than just having a subtle connection. If you want to get the bird to do something you have to make it be in its own interests. So stop trying to dominate the bird boy, and just coax it into allowing you to use its senses. Most animals won’t mind that much, as you aren’t trying to get them to act against their own interests.”

Harrys mind churned. Her words made sense. If he is only brushing up against the animal with his mind instead of trying to invade it, it would take much less power and focus.

Harry took a few deep breaths before trying again.

He stretched out his senses slowly and as subtly as he could. Once he could feel the mind of the bird he brushed up against it as subtly as he could.

He was looking at himself looking at the bird while looking at the bird looking at himself. It was a bit disorientating for a moment or two before he got used to it. He started to feel some of the birds instincts, particularly the need to fly but they weren’t overwhelming. Just a tiny voice at the back of his mind so small he almost never noticed. He pushed the most soothing feelings he could as well as the feeling of sooninto its mind.

He felt the bird calm slightly.

Now for the next test. He pushed a small compulsion for the bird to turn its head towards Morna. It wasn’t a command, he wasn’t trying to force the bird. It was just a suggestion. A small one that the bird probably wouldn’t even notice wasn’t its own thought.

The birds head almost immediately turned towards the old woman. Harry turned to face her as well and was now looking at her from two different perspectives. It was weird seeing her wrinkled face both with very clear vision that showed each and every wrinkle and from his own eyes with his normal vision.

He spoke. “How is this?”

She smiled showing her gums.

“You have it. Good. You can leave the bird now.”

Harry did so and noticed he didn’t feel any type of headache from the technique. This….this had some potential in the right circumstances.

She scratched her chin. “Do you think you can do it every time?”

Harry nodded. Now that he knows what he was doing he feels as if he could do it whenever he needed.

She smiled. “You learn very quickly boy. Now we can get to Greenseeing.”

Harry smiled. “Finally.”

Whack.

“Patience boy!”

Harry felt his eye twitch.

She on a small rock. “Greenseeing is a very powerful art. With it you can see through the roots of Weirwood trees. You can witness everything that they have witnessed if you are good enough. The past, present and sometimes even glimpses of the future are open to you.”

She paused as Harry took that in. It would be an invaluable skill to learn. He could learn so much about magics of the past if he could get good at it. The future wasn’t something he was keen on learning. From what he learned in his past life, most prophecies were made real by the people that believed in them. That’s not to say they didn’t have any power however. He would rather just stay away from them.

She pursed her lips. “It is also incredibly dangerous.”

Before he had a chance to ask she spoke. “The roots of the trees run deep. The Green runs deep. Finding a particular thing isn’t so simple. You can’t just enter and wonder around hoping to somehow stumble upon what you are looking for. You will get lost. You will lose all sense of time and meaning and whilst your soul wonders the Green your body will waste away.”

She took a breath before continuing. “You must learn to navigate the Green. The most important thing to remember is everything is connected in the Green. One event may have roots in another. “

Her expression firmed up. “The first thing you must learn boy. Is that it is easy to lose yourself. When you are in there it can feel as if you are flying. Men have been known to never want to leave. I have found it is best to never enter fully in the first place. That is where your most recent lesson in skinchanging will be important. You must enter the Green while still staying focused on yourself. So that you do not get lost, so that you do not want to stay.  You will not go as deep as you would if you were to enter fully. Some things might be out of your reach. You will however, always have one foot outside of the Green so you can leave any time you please.”

After taking a moment to think Harry realised that this was the point of the skinchanging exercise she had been making him do all morning. It was to get him prepared to start Greenseeing.

He had a question however.

“Lord Reed said that Greenseers were rare. He said one out of a thousand wargs were Greenseers. The way you speak, you make it sound as if any skinchanger could do it.”

She shook her head. “No, not any skinchanger. One in a thousand skinchangers sounds about right. It takes power to be able to do it, more than that, it takes a natural connection to the Green that only the most blessed are born with. One can be born with a connection to the Green without being a skinchanger, they will have Greendreams, but will have no power or control over what they see. You can also be a skinchanger with no connection to the Green. If they have a connection to the Green but aren’t skinchangers they cannot navigate it however, or connect to the Green purposefully. They only skim the surface of the Green. They have no control of what they see and what they see is often jumbled making little sense. As a result they don’t have to worry about getting lost though. As they never go deep and are never far from their bodies.  Only powerful skinchangers who are also Greenseers can wonder the Green on purpose. Those are incredibly rare. Those are true Greenseers and not just people who occasionally have fragmented Greendreams that they have no control or insight over. There is a big difference. “

She paused to take a breath. “With practice powerful skinchangers who are also Greenseers can learn to navigate those dreams but they will never be able to go as deep as if they used a Weirwood for their connection. I have a feeling you have never had a Greendream?”

Harry shook his head.

She murmered to herself for a moment before focusing back on him. “You are powerful. Incredibly so. I can also feel you have a connection to the Green. A strong one.” She rubbed her chin. “It might be because your mind is so disciplined.”

He looked at her in confusion.

Whack!

“Damnit, woman! ”

“Don’t act so confused boy! Do you think just anybody could learn to do what you did in less than a day? It takes discipline and skill in the mind and soul to skinchange as you have just done!”

She hurramphed under her breath. “You definitely have the ability to be a Greenseer. You have just never gone wondering.”

She looked at the Hearttree. “Come boy, you are going to try. Remember, you must still keep your connection to your body so that you don’t get lost. This won’t be like warging an animal. It will be much easier to lose yourself.  You won’t be able to be aware of your surroundings when you are in there. The most you can do is be aware of that link between your body and your spirit. That link will be the key to leaving without getting lost. That link will weaken the deeper you go however. Be careful. Don’t go in too deep. Even I, after years of experience make sure not to go too deep looking at things in the ancient past. It is far too easy for even one of my skill to get lost if I’m not careful.”

Harry took a deep breath to get himself ready for the task ahead. After running through a few basic occlumency exercises to clear his mind he was ready to begin.

He focused on the Weirwood tree in front of him. Feeling the magic pouring out of it. Harry took a deep breath and stretched his magic out, brushing it against the magic of the tree.

He had just enough time to gasp before his world went black.

His vision didn’t stay black for more than a few moments though. Before he could even come to terms with what was happening, his vision cleared and Harry found himself surrounded by a kaleidoscope of colours. Most of it was green but there were specks of blue, red and orange and purple mingled within. The colours were shifting and swirling around each other constantly in indescribable patterns.

Remembering what the old woman said he made sure to focus on his body.  On his real self. When he did so he found that he could feel a connection to his body that he could tug on. He found that the connection was easy to find.  Harry left the connection alone for now as he wasn’t finished exploring yet.

He took a few moments to contemplate how he would go around searching for something. After a while he decided it was best to start simple.

Harry decided that he would start with the Weirwood tree that he was currently connected to. Luckily he didn’t really have to search at all, he could feel the tree as clearly as he could feel the connection to his body, as he was only connected to the Green through the tree.

Harry travelled along the connection. He felt himself moving through the kaleidoscope as if he were flying. Harry isn’t sure how much time passed as he was travelling through the connection. Time lost all meaning to him. It could have been seconds or it could have been hours. The only reason he knew it wasn’t days was because he could feel his body. That connection helped him keep focused as he travelled, as he felt his mind constantly start to wonder. As his mind wondered to different topics he felt and saw the kaleidoscope shift with his thoughts, opening new paths that he could travel down.

He could see now why Morna said it was so easy to get lost. His subconscious desires and thoughts seemed to have an impact on the Green. If he wasn’t careful he would have wondered down one of the other paths instead of remaining on the one he knew lead to the Godswood of Greywater Watch.

After an indeterminate amount of time he felt himself come to a stop in the middle of a nexus of paths.

Thousands or hundreds of thousands of paths split open before Harry. Just a bit down each one he could see some of the paths split off again and again even further down. The paths were twisting around each other, some would split off and come back around and connect to somewhere else. As he watched he could even see a few of them shifting around. The sheer size and complexity of it all almost made him gape in awe. To Harry the paths resembled the roots of a tree and the nexus that he was standing in was something akin to the trunk. Somewhere where all of the roots connected.

He stood there for a bit. Just floating and absorbing the wonder of it all before he decided it was time to get to work.

In order to make sure he didn’t get lost he decided to start as simple as he could. He would try and observe only the most recent history of the tree.

He focused on only going back and observing what the tree had seen the day before. He kept his mind focused on that thought with iron discipline even as he could feel his mind start to wonder. Just when he thought he would have to leave and try again another time something shifted.

He could feel one of the paths were brought to the front. It was more focused and clearer than all of the others. He had a feeling that this was the way.

With an effort of will he pushed himself down the path. After he entered it, he seemed to be moving at a much greater speed than he did before when he was making his way to the nexus. Almost immediately his surroundings started to go black.

As soon as it started it stopped and Hadrian found himself standing in familiar surroundings.

He was standing in front of the Hearttree of Greywater Watch where he had been doing his training for the last few days.

The most surprising thing however was that he was not formless. He found himself looking down at his hands on his body. There was a sense of being disconnected from his surroundings however. Like none of it was really there. Or that he wasn’t really there.

Harry imagined that it was similar to what it feels like to be a ghost.

His attention was taken when he saw the two individuals talking in front of him. He recognised this scene from the day before. He decided to observe for a bit.

Lord Reed spoke. “And the Old Gods?”

Harry saw himself think for a moment before speaking.  “The Old Gods are the gods of the forests, rivers and stones. They are said to listen to us through the Hearttrees. There aren’t very many rules to their worship, the major ones are to respect guest rights, not to kill your kin and not to practice slavery.”

Lord Reed nodded. “A good answer, if an incomplete one. The Old Gods are-“

Harry stopped listening. He knew how this conversation went and didn’t need to see it again. He couldn’t stop a smile from growing on his face though.

After smiling to himself he decided that he had seen enough for now and it was time to return to his body. Harry reached for the connection to his body that he had made sure to keep a constant focus on. He thought the connection would be weaker or more difficult to notice as he went deeper into the Green, as that is what Morna said would happen, but he noticed that it didn’t seem to weaken at all. Harry isn’t sure of the reason for that, but he believes it had to do with being the Master of Death. He knows from experience that being the Master of Death means there is something keeping him connected to the mortal plane. He theorizes that it was keeping him connected to his mortal body even now.

That made him wonder if it was even necessary to learn the new skinchanging skill he had been practicing all morning. Or if he could wonder as far as he wanted without losing that connection.

After a moment he shrugged to himself. Either way it was a nice skill to have. It would allow him to use the senses of animals to spy with a lot less consequences if something were to go wrong. It may not allow him to completely control the animal but he could guide them if he so desired and he doesn’t risk damaging his mind or soul.

He shook that thought off and focused on something more immediately pressing.

He did it! He successfully looked into the past using the Weirwood trees. Granted he didn’t go very far into the past, but it was proof that he could do it. He knew this skill would be very important, with it he could uncover the secrets of long lost magic. He just had to be careful and build up to going that far into the past. If even Morna was still worried about getting lost then he knew it wouldn’t be easy, even with being The Master of Death. He doesn’t think he would lose the connetion to himself and get lost, but that doesn’t mean that he won’t end up searching for what he is looking for fruitlessly for a long time if he wasn’t careful.

From what he had observed the Green was large. So large he isn’t sure it even had an end. If he wasn’t careful in how he handled it, he could search it for eternity and still never find what he was looking for.

Harry is sure he could do it after a sufficient amount of practice though.

Harry decided to think about this more once he was back in his body. With an effort of will he pulled on the connection keeping him tied down to his body and started travelling through it.

Harry had just started travelling past the kaleidoscope of colours when he felt something slam in him and grab his shoulder. He was confused as he didn’t know he could feel anything in here and he definitely felt the pain of the impact.

He felt himself grow even more confused when he turned and saw what was holding onto him.

A supernaturally large three eyed crow was gripping his shoulder. With a flap of its wings it pulled him off the path he was on and much deeper into the Green.

Before Hadrian even had a chance to fight back it started screaming in his ear.

“Abomination! “

He opened his mouth to curse out the bird and lifted his hands to wrap around its neck when he felt his world become jumbled. The kaleidoscope twisting and turning around him throwing what little sense of direction he had away.

Sorry for the late chapter everyone. This week has been hectic and I didn’t find myself with a lot of time to write. For that I apologise. The next chapter will definitely be ready on schedule though. Thank you for reading. I hope you all enjoyed. As always criticism is welcome as long as it’s constructive.

Next chapter Thursday 2 March 2023.

To read ahead of the update schedule: Pat_reon(dot)com(slash) TheLifeandTimes19.

The Spider and the Mockingbird

A Spider and a Mockingbird.

Kings Landing-288 AC

Sitting in the small council chambers in the Red Keep of Kings Landing, some of the most powerful men in the realm sit and discuss the course of the largest and most powerful kingdom in the known world.

Varys, The Master of Whispers for two kings and two different dynasties generally found these meetings to be a source of both amusement and crucial intelligence that he could gather for his own goals.

Under the reign of King Aerys, he had to walk on a very thin line when it came to these meetings. He would have to ensure that he gave useful information to the king and his councillors before anyone else did so, lest the king find his worth in question and decided to have him burnt. At the same time he would have to make sure that he leaves some information out of his reports so that he could use the information to manipulate events the way he wanted them to go, while trying to subtly influence the king using the way he reported his information so that Aerys reacted the way he hoped he would. He would subtly fan the flames of the kings madness in such a way that left him well clear of his wrath. He had to be careful in his manipulations to make sure Aerys never caught on to what he was doing lest Aerys decides to have him burnt for that instead.  He supressed an instinctual shiver when he thought about burning alive.

Compared to when Aerys was ruling, he found it almost trivial to run rings around the new Baratheon Dynasty and the new Small Council.

While most of the current members of the Small Council were competent in their jobs, they each had crucial flaws that he found easy to exploit.

Jon Arryn was a decent Hand of the King. He wasn’t anything special when it came to practicing the politics the position demanded, but he wasn’t bad at it either. Jon Arryn was competent. He held the realm together when the ties that bound it were the weakest it had been in centuries, but compared to the likes of Tywin Lannister, he fell well short when it came to politics. The man was a pacifist. While his honour and mercy may have granted him the respect of many throughout the realm, he knew that there were those who would take advantage of Lord Arryns kindly nature to plot in the shadows.

Varys counted it as a blessing that the Falcon Lord was named Hand of the King, as he has the ability to hold the realm together, but not the ability to strengthen the Baratheon hold on the throne very much. This is to his benefit as the realm fracturing any more than it currently is would be detrimental to his long term plans. He needs the realm to be stable for a few more years. At the same time, increasing the power of the Baratheon Dynasty would be even worse for his plans.

Stannis Baratheon in comparison was a hard man. Not someone prone to smiling or even showing any emotion at all besides frustration, which became evident when he ground his teeth.  He was a man who wouldn’t bend for anything. He would complete what he believed to be his duty to the utmost degree that he is capable of. Varys can admit to himself that he admires Stannis’s devotion to his duty in some capacity. The problem with Stannis was that he was terrible at politics. Politics is all about bending and twisting people in certain ways, and in some cases bending yourself for greater profit later down the line. Stannis’s refusal to partake in any of the games in court is probably his greatest weakness. It can blind him to many schemes in the shadows, that he has no way of knowing about due to his staunch refusal to employ people to act as his eyes and ears in those shadows or just through his inability to see that others would bend more easily if he took a softer approach.

Pycelle was a simple creature with simple desires. A Lannister supporter who would do or say anything as long as it benefitted the Lannisters. The old man liked it when men underestimated him, happy to stay out of sight. Varys doesn’t ever really think Pycelle will become a problem. He has almost nothing to do with the running of the realm, content to give advice every now and then but happy to ignore any problems unless he is asked about them directly or they affect the Lannisters.

Lord Estermont sat in the seat of the Master of Laws. He was a smart and competent man who manages to run the Gold Cloaks of the city efficiently and dispense justice in the king’s name with great skill. Despite that, he started to slow down in his old age. The lord had mentioned that he plans to retire from the position in a few years.

The position of Master of Coin remains empty at the moment, due to the last person who held the post being unable to accommodate for the kings expensive tastes.

Most of the men sitting in the solar are content to remain silent while waiting for Lord Arryn to begin the meeting.

Bang!

All the heads in the room move in unison toward the door when it was slammed open, only to find King Robert Baratheon I drunkenly stumbling his way into the room followed by Ser Barristan Selmy the Lord Commander of the Kingsguard.

Varys feels a faint tug at the corner of his lips as he stood with the others in the room for the King. This meeting had just got interesting.

This is only the third small council meeting that he can recall the King ever sitting in. Most of the time he was happy to leave the running of the kingdom to others, while he drank and whored his way to an early grave. The King would much rather do anything else than waste his time, in the kings own words, ‘counting coppers’.

Ser Barristan in contrast would probably be a good voice to have at these meetings but is banned from attending them due to the fact he used to serve the Targaryens. He finds it funny thst he was allowed to keep his position but such a loyal and honourable man was not.

Robert barked. “Sit, sit damn you!”

After stumbling his way to his seat he waved one of his hands while another brought a goblet to his lips. After taking a gulp the king slammed the goblet on the table. “Jon you asked me to come because you said there was something important to discuss. So, get on with it before I piss myself!” He boomed.

Jon Arryn visibly sighed at his wards behaviour, but notably no longer even bothered trying to make Robert act more dignified.

After taking a moment he straightened in his chair and started. “What is the status of the fleet, Stannis?” Lord Jon Arryns voice echoed around the small council chambers.

For such an old and otherwise kindly man, Varys admits that Jon Arryn has skill when it comes to commanding a room. The Falcon Lord almost never raises his voice, not even when he gets angry at an idiotic lord. He speaks in such a way that brings all but the most unruly of bannermen to silence and attention. Lord Arryn has the unique ability to cut a man down with a smile on his face and in such a way that it leaves most Lords confused whether they had won their exchanges with the lord or not. Varys has even seen some men who were dismissed from court in shame believing Lord Arryn was doing them a favour by protecting them from the kings wrath, or the wrath of the Lannisters. If only the lord had more steel in his spine and was willing to show less mercy to his enemies, he would probably be many times more effective in his role and would have made a much better adversary in the Game of Thrones. Unfortunately for the Falcon Lord, his honour and mercy may win him many friends, but it also gives many of his enemies more opportunities to plot in the shadows, as they don’t fear the repercussions of doing so. As many believe the worse that Jon Arryn would do would be to give them a slap on the wrist.

“The construction of the Royal Fleet is proceeding as expected Lord Arryn. So far, we have constructed twenty three trading cogs and nine warships. Filling those ships with competent and loyal men is a far more difficult task however. Most of the men who try and join the fleet are wastrels who would be better served cleaning privies than serving the king in such an important role. Ser Davos has been inspecting the men and bringing those that qualify up to standard but it is a slow process.  Piracy on the Narrow Sea has also greatly slowed down progress. There was a large increase in piracy after the destruction of the Targaryen fleet and we have lost quite a few ships trying to curb it. The worst of it seems to be behind us however, so we should be seeing more success in the coming days. That is, of course, as long as we receive the proper funding.” He said the last part while looking at the king, who seemed to be too busy admiring his reflection in the goblet to notice the not so subtle barb to his spending habits.

Jon Arryn sighed while messaging his nose. “The crown is one hundred thousand gold dragons in debt to the Iron Bank. We will have to take another loan to pay for the rest of the fleet. I’m looking at candidates to fill in the position of Master of Coin, but finding someone qualified and trustworthy is proving difficult. My wife suggested a Petyr Baelish, who she knew as a girl. Apparently he has worked wonders at Gulltown. I invited him to Kings Landing half a year ago to work in customs for a while so that I can see how competent he is with my own eyes. So far he seems to be doing a good job but I will watch him for a while longer. In the meantime, Pycelle will have to continue looking over-“

He was interrupted when the king threw his goblet across the room into the wall. “Come on Jon! You told me that we were discussing something important. I don’t want to sit here all day counting coppers! So get on with it already!”

Jon Arryn sighed. “Very well Your Grace. The main topic for discussion for today is the Iron Islands. We received a letter from the Starks quite a few moons ago that stated they believe the Greyjoy’s are building up their fleet. Possibly for a rebellion. Varys, last time you said you didn’t have any spies on the island in position to confirm their fears. I trust the situation has changed?”

He could see the king perk up at the change of topic. It could be because the Starks were mentioned or it could be because the possibility of war was. Most likely it was for both reasons.

Varys smiled. “Even my little birds find it hard to survive on those dreary rocks among the pirates my lord.” That was a lie. He had spies on the islands for years. He just wanted to delay informing the king of his news for as long as possible, in order to give the islands as long as possible to prepare. He knew that their first target would most likely be the Lannister fleet. Varys was happy to have the Ironborn destroy the fleet if it meant weakening the Lannisters for the foreseeable future. After all, they would be large obstacles to overcome for his plans.

He continued before he could be interrupted. “It does seem like young Lord Hadrian is correct in his assumptions however. My little birds report that Balon Greyjoy has been building ships at an impressive speed. What these ships are for I cannot say with certainty, but a rebellion is the most likely possibility.” Truly what he found most remarkable about the whole thing, is that such a young boy was able to see the signs of the coming rebellion before lords older and much more martially tested did.

The king laughed. “The Starks are reliable as ever.”

Lord Arryn cleared his throat. “Yes it seems they are. Now the decision remains, what are we to do about this Your Grace?”

Robert frowned. “Ey? What do you mean? We call the banners and smash those upstarts. What else is there to discuss?”

Jon Arryn sighed as he often seemed to do in the presence of the king. “We can’t just call the banners on them when they haven’t actually done anything yet Robert. Yes, it looks bad that they are building more ships, but they could claim it is for trade, they have almost completely stopped raiding over the past year. Their lack of raiding can be seen by some as Lord Greyjoy trying to change their culture as his father before him did. We can’t be seen as the ones instigating this war. Your reign is still new and some Targaryen loyalists will use it as excuse to name you a warmonger. ”

The king snarled. “Then what do you suggest? Wait for them to attack the kingdom?!”

Lord Arryn raised his hands in a placating manner. “I didn’t say that. We should just look for more peaceful means to avoid a war first. We warn the Lords on the coast, Lord Tywin, Lord Mallister and the Lords of the Reach need to be warned as soon as possible. We also start preparing the fleets for war and summon Lord Greyjoy to Kings Landing to answer for these accusations. “

Robert looked sceptically at his hand. To be fair he wasn’t the only one. Lord Stannis, Lord Estermont and even Pycelle didn’t seem like they agreed. Truly Jon Arryns pacifism was his most admirable trait, it is also a trait that could lead to much bigger problems for the crown down the line. Some problems in this world could only be solved with violence.

Robert sighed and shook his head. “Damn you! Fine, well try it your way first!”

Lord Arryns shoulders slumped in visible relief. “Thank you.”

The king slammed a meaty fist on the table. “I will be prepared when war breaks out though! Stannis, you are to start preparing the Royal Fleet in case a war does break out. I want the men training, I want them properly armed and armoured. Pycelle, send ravens to the lords to prepare to muster their banners if the Greyjoys do rebel. I want to crush those squids completely if they decide to spit on my mercy!”

Seeing both nod their heads. The king continued. “There that’s sorted, now was there anything else? Or can I go back to the girl waiting in my chambers?”

Jon Arryn shook head with downturned lips. “No, we need to discuss events in the North while you are still here.”

Robert narrowed his eyes. “What about the North?”

Jon Arryn seemed to take a moment to prepare himself for the conversation ahead. “The North has invented a new farming practice that is seeing them growing a lot more food. They also have the Gift now.  At the rate that they are expanding their farms, in a few years they will no longer need to import food at all.”

Robert laughed. “Ha! Good for Ned! It’s about time the North got something for all their suffering.”

The Hand shook his head. “While I am happy that the North seems to be prospering, it is creating problems with the other kingdoms. Already they have stopped importing from the Reach and some Lords are complaining about it. Some Lords in the Riverlands also fear that the North will stop buying food from them too. “

The king spit on the floor. “Those bloody flowery cunts. They were happy to extort the Northerners for years, now that they are finally prospering on their own they want to complain? They can complain to my hammer! The North fought for me in The Rebellion while those cunts were feasting outside of Storms End. Let the bastards complain! The Riverlands were hardly any better. Hoster blackmailed us for his help, he refused to fight unless you and Ned married his daughters. Let him whine all he wants!”

Jon released a breath. “Robert-“

The king interrupted. “No Jon! The North has been loyal. They will be left to grow in peace! You hear me? That’s an order from your King!”

Lord Arryn closed his eyes. “Very well. That’s all Robert.”

The king was quick to climb to his feet and left the room with a muttered “Finally” under his breath.

After that Lord Arryn went through the rest of the agenda with the council before calling the session to a close and leaving to his other duties.

Varys made his way to his chambers in order to think about events and what they mean. While it wasn’t ideal that Tywin Lannister would no doubt be prepared for any Ironborn incursions, it wasn’t of great importance in the grand scheme of things. There will be more opportunities to bring the Lannisters low over the next few years. That’s not even going into the terrible secret of the Queen and Ser Jaime that he had discovered. With that, it should be easy to turn much of the realm against them.

Of more concern currently, was the growing power of the North. He estimates that in another few years the North will be completely self-sufficient. When that happens there will be nothing really tying them to the Seven Kingdoms, other than loyalty to Robert Baratheon.

If it comes out that the king doesn’t have any trueborn children the Northerners could just declare their independence from the rest of the kingdom. From that it will be extremely difficult to bring them back into the fold. All attempts to attack them from the South would be doomed to fail at Moat Cailin. If they try and attack them from the coasts they will need to march an army through half of an extremely large kingdom to reach Winterfell.

Varys is aware he doesn’t know war like he does politics, but even he can see it will be an extremely difficult undertaking to march an army through foreign territory that they don’t know as well as the natives. That’s not even taking into account the difficulties in supplying the army and the fact that soldiers on the march often fall sick. He imagines soldiers will be even more likely to fall sick in the cold. When the army does reach Winterfell they will need to dig in for a siege that will be extremely difficult and time consuming. Winterfell has large thick walls. It is easily one of the most defensible castles in the Seven Kingdoms. If winter comes while the army is camped outside of their walls, then the Starks win.

Assassinating the Starks is more likely to work but even that comes with its own issues. Most Northerners, even the smallfolk, are loyal to the Starks and foreigners will be easily noticed in the North, making it difficult for them to even get close to the Starks. Unfortunately he can’t just ignore the problem either. Hadrian Stark is proving to be brilliant and has already laid the groundwork to make the North stronger than it has ever been. Varys can’t even imagine what he will think of to further increase their power in the future.

After contemplating the issue for a while he started to smile. The Greyjoy’s Rebellion is looking as if it is likely to fail without doing any damage to the Lannisters, but that doesn’t mean that he can’t find any use for it. All he has to do is direct them towards a different target.

Varys moved the carpet on his floor and lifted up the hatch to the secret entrance to the tunnels running through the keep with a smile on his face and a single thought at the front of his mind.

‘For Aegon.’

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Petyr Baelish screamed as he threw his jug of wine against the wall.

“Fucking Starks!” He fumed.

Now Petyr was normally more in control of his emotions, but as it is, he can’t help but vent. His plans that he had already spent years on, were going so well. He had spent countless hours working in Gulltown making them more profit, or atleast making it seem like he was with creative usage of numbers. He was making a good amount of coin for himself while putting the Graftons in further debt. He successfully used his relationship with Lysa Tully to convince Jon Arryn to bring him to Kings Landing where he could more easily spread his influence. He was even being considered for the position of Master of Coin. Everything was going to plan.

Countless hours of planning, of scheming, bribing and blackmailing people in order to further his goals were all meaningless.

Once again, the fucking Starks ruined everything. First they took his one true love away from him and now they made all his plans worthless.

The new method of bookkeeping that Hadrian Stark came up with, that was now starting to be used in all the Kingdoms, made his plans infinitely harder. He is sure he could still figure out a way to steal money from the poor fools who hired him, only now it is much harder. And much more dangerous.

It is that much easier for people to notice discrepancies in the records and as such he can no longer be as blatant. That on its own wouldn’t be such a problem if he didn’t need to beggar the realm as much as possible for his plans.

After taking a few deep breaths he forced himself to calm down and think.

Petyr paced up and down his room in his new brothel in Kings Landing, while desperately trying to think of how he can find a way through this mess. While trying to think of another way to reach to top where he belongs.

His thinking wasn’t made any easier by the sounds of the fucking Septon standing outside his window preaching his drivel as loud as he could for all those around him to hear.

“Think Petyr. Think. You aren’t going to get outdone by a fucking boy. Especially not a Stark who doesn’t even know who you are. Think. What if I- no that won’t work. But if-“

“And The Mother gives mercy to all her worshippers!”

He growled under his breath but didn’t let the useless drivel distract him. “I just need to be more careful. Find another way to get the coin. If I use more Essosi merchants to hide-“

“The Father grants justice! It is by his light that all sinners are cleansed!”

He closed his eyes and released a breath. “If is use a third party to-“

“The Crone grants wisdom and lights the way for all believers!”

Having had enough he marched to his window to scream at the Septon to shut up. The damned fool was giving him a headache!

When he got to the window he paused at the sight in front of him. The Septon stood on a small wooden box preaching for all he was worth with a fanaticism that was astounding, but that wasn’t what caught his attention. No, what made him pause were all the people who stood there listening to the drivel the fool was sprouting. There must have been half a hundred people listening to his words. Even as Baelish watched, a man who was dressed in little more than rags, who looked to be half starved, dropped a copper coin into the basket in front of the Septon.

Truly the heights of some people’s fanaticism astounded him.

Petyr Baelish felt a smile grow on his face as he had a new idea that he hadn’t considered before. He doesn’t necessarily need gold to amass power. After all, the ability to command half a hundred people to stop and listen to you is a power all on its own. The ability to get a man to willingly give their last copper with nothing but a speech is also power.

Yes. This could work.

Baelish found his smile growing even wider as he found his new path to the top. He knows it won’t be an easy position to reach but….

‘Chaos is a ladder.’

Thank you for reading. As always criticism is welcome as long as it’s constructive.

Next chapter Thursday 23 February 2023.

To read ahead of the update schedule: Pat_reon(dot)com(slash) TheLifeandTimes19.

Warging

Greywater Watch-288 AC

The Godswood used by the people of Greywater Watch is unique in Harry’s opinion. Where Winterfell’s Godswood was found in the middle of a forest and surrounded by nature, the Godswood Harry and Lord Reed went to for magic training was situated on a small island in the middle of the lake that the castle was resting on. The Hearttree in the middle stood as the sole tree on the island, otherwise there was dozens of plants, bushes and flowers scattered all around. Most astonishing was that he recognized a lot of them as potions ingredients.

There was nothing truly potent. There were no Venomous Tentacula plants or Mandrakes but there was Wolfsbane, Deathcap, Daisies, Mint and a dozen other plants that he recognised as potions ingredients.

Harry couldn’t remain patient now that he has discovered he might be able to practice some form of magic from his old life, even if it’s his least favourite branch of magic. “What are all these plants for?” He asked with the most innocent expression he could muster.

Lord Reed never even slowed his walk up the path leading to the Hearttree as he called over his shoulder. “My people have long since discovered how to use the magic in plants and some animals to create different potions, with different effects.”

Scrunching his eyebrows in honest curiosity, Harry asked. “What effects?”

Lord Reed slowed his walk now that they had nearly reached the top of the incline and were now within a dozen or so metres of the Hearttree.  He released a sigh that carried a hint of melancholy. “According to our legends, my ancestors were once capable of creating potions that could heal all but the most serious injuries, poisons that could kill a man in a few breaths or put one to sleep for eternity. They could create tonics that made them unable to be burnt or able to breathe under water for a short time. Some legends even say they had potions that allowed them to run for a full day and night without tiring, and others that allowed them to lift as much as ten men.”

He looked around at all the plants with sadness. “ Much has been lost, magic doesn’t affect plants and animals like it used to when it was strong. Many recipes were also never written down and were lost when those that knew them died. Now we can create a few healing remedies, they work, but are nowhere as strong as what the legends describe them as. We have poisons found nowhere else, but they take time to take effect. We have potions that can increase stamina for a short time but nowhere near as long as the potions in the legends. The most often used potions we have are those that can grant us sight in the darkest of nights or increase our other senses. Others we have allow our people to walk in complete silence and to hide our scent. There are a few more but those are the major ones.”

Harry found himself both happy and disappointed by what Lord Reed said. He was happy because the potions effects sounded remarkably similar to what he was used to from his first life. People had obviously never taken potion making as far as what he knew they were capable of but they were still able to make some potions that sounded very useful in the right circumstances.

He was disappointed because Lord Reed said that with the weakening of magic many plants had lost their latent magic and were no longer useful as potions ingredients. He guesses that’s why they grow these plants around a Weirwood tree. The magic it gives off to its surroundings probably gives the plants magical properties. He doubts the properties are as strong as what he was used too, meaning potions are probably weaker, but having potions that work are a great boon regardless.

He wasn’t so upset about the fact that they had lost many of their recipes. He was never that interested in potions, but his knowledge probably far surpasses anybody in this world. It shouldn’t be a huge issue to recreate some of the more useful ones provided he can find the right ingredients that were grown in a magically saturated environment.

That’s if potion making works the same way in this world.

And if he can find the necessary ingredients in the first place.

Once they had stopped in front of the Hearttree he decided to ask. “Are these all the plants you grow for potion making my lord?”

He hummed. “With magic so weak, most plants lose their magic if grown away from a Weirwood tree. That’s why we have only plants here and no other trees but a Hearttree. It’s to save space so we can grow as much as we can. Fortunately this is not the only Weirwood in The Neck. There are dozens scattered around. Most of them are normal Weirwood trees but there are a few Heartrees.  Every few moons Greywater Watch will be moved. Floating along the bogs and rivers until we come to another Hearttree, where we will stay for a time. We grow ingredients at these trees too. We grow some different plants by each tree but most of the plants grown are the same at each one. As those are the ones that are used most commonly.  Even when we move on from this area, some will still come here to make sure everything is healthy and thriving. It has long been one of the more sacred duties of my people.”

Harry rubbed his chin and gazed at the plants in thought. According to Lord Reed, most of these plants are grown at a dozen other different sites in The Neck. It doesn’t sound like there are a large variety of plants but there is a decent quantity grown. It’s not nearly enough, but it is a good start.

He decided that he would start growing a few plants in the Godswood of Winterfell. Some for emergencies where he may need a potion of healing, but mostly just so that he can experiment and try to remake some of the more useful potions he remembers.

He is snapped out of his thoughts by Lord Reed sitting on the floor before the Hearttree. The Lord of Greywater Watch spent a few moments just staring at the solemn face of the tree before he turned and gestured for Harry to join him.

Shrugging his shoulders, Harry decided to humour him and unceremoniously plopped himself down on the floor next to Howland.

Nodding his head in satisfaction Lord Reed began to speak. “What do you know about magic Lord Stark? What do you know about the Old Gods?”

Harry shrugged. “I don’t know much about magic, the library in Winterfell was lacking in the topic. l do know some of the old stories however. There are stories of wargs and greenseers who used to appear among those of First Man descent. I have only had some success with warging, I haven’t tried greenseeing.  I know the Rhoynar would practice water magic and the most powerful of them are said to have been able to lift rivers and flood lands. The Valyrians used fire magic, prophetic dreams and their dragons to conquer much of the world. There are supposedly shadow binders in Asshai by the Shadow that can control shadows and darkness.  The Red Priests in Essos are supposed to be able to glimpse into the future in the flames. Faceless men are said to be able to take the appearance of different people. What the limits of each of these types of magic are though? I have no idea.”

Lord Reed looked at Hadrian with a keen glint in his eyes. “I’m surprised you have had any success in warging my lord. It is a difficult and dangerous skill. If one is not careful they take too much of the animals instincts into themselves. The stronger your bond with the animal the more the instincts bleed through. Many wargs have been known to go mad because of this. It is even more dangerous if you are young. Children haven’t properly developed into the people they will be. It makes it easier for animal instincts to take root into their being. The fact you appear to not have developed any of these instincts is both lucky and remarkable.”

He paused and scratched his chin in thought. ”That could be because of your Stark blood. Starks in the past were incredibly powerful wargs. Despite that, none have ever gone mad.  Which is remarkable, as the more animals a man is bonded to, the more likely they are to lose themselves to the instincts of those animals. Even our wargs must be careful to only form bonds with a few animals at a time while some Starks in our histories are said to have been able to become dozens of different animals at once with ease.  Some are said to have developed certain cravings or certain animal instincts but they were generally small things, more often than not some of those instincts could even be seen as a positive trait. In the histories we have in Greywater Watch, never has a Stark lost themselves to those instincts completely.  The blood of the Kings of Winter is powerful indeed….” He trailed off.

Harry thought of what he said. In truth, warging wasn’t that difficult for him to learn. At-least until he got to his current level where he started stagnating. Harry always put that down to the fact that he is experienced in magic, but could Lord Reed be right? Could his Stark blood also play a role?

Harry isn’t sure. He has been using occlumency to keep the animal instincts out of his mind when warging with Padfoot and he completely suppressed them when dominating other random animals, but now that he thinks about it, he found it remarkably easy to do so. It might also have something to do with being the Master of Death or just his hard earned skill in occlumency but there is no way to know for sure. If Lord Reed is right and his Stark blood plays a role then the only way he can know for sure is by teaching his family occlumeny and warging and seeing their progress. A thought for another time.

Whatever the reason, he is grateful he doesn’t have to worry very much about losing his mind.

Lord Reed’s voice brought him out of his thoughts. “And the Old Gods?”

Harry gave a brief recital of what he knows. “The Old Gods are the gods of the forests, rivers and stones. They are said to listen to us through the Hearttrees. There aren’t very many rules to their worship, the major ones are to respect guest rights, not to kill your kin and not to practice slavery.”

Lord Reed nodded. “A good answer, if an incomplete one. The Old Gods are the gods of nature. They are said to watch us through the eyes of Weirwood trees, true. But they do not speak to us through them, they talk through nature. Through the animals in the forest and the wind in the trees. It is our job, to learn to listen. My father taught me, as his father taught him, that the gift of warging was given to us by the gods so that we could understand animals and nature more easily. So that we might be able to listen to the gods with greater clarity.”

The Lord paused and looked up at the top branches of the Weirwood tree, where a hawk was resting. “Come, let us test your ability with warging. Try and become the hawk .”

Harry glanced back at Lord Reed in confusion. “I thought you said it was dangerous to warg into too many animals? That their instincts can change you?”

Lord Reeds lips twitched. “Aye I did say that. Perhaps I should have been more clear. The instincts don’t bleed through immediately. Rather the longer you are connected to the animal, the more you start to think like the animal. When you dominate an animal to become it for a short time, you completely suppress its instincts. The level of the bond between yourself and the animal you are warging into also plays a role. The deeper the bond is, the more the exchange goes both ways.“

He scratched his chin. ”How to explain this? If you were to raise a dog from a pup into adulthood you would care about the dog more than you would care about another random dog you came across. That plays a significant role. You trust your dog, you care for it. That makes the connection between you more open from both sides. The dog trusts you and as such you will be able to slip into its skin with ease. You trust it and therefore its instincts will bleed through your bond with greater ease. Whereas the random dog will not trust you. You can warg into it if you are powerful enough but the level of connection will not be as deep. You won’t gain as great of an understanding of the animal and how it thinks but you will also not be as affected by its instincts if you are careful. Repeatedly warging a random animal will deepen the connection however, so even if there’s no bleed-through the first time you warg it, there might be some on the third time and even more on the fifth. All wargs need to keep vigilant for this. By understanding the instincts and where they came from they can keep greater control over them.”

Harry nodded. It made some sense. Warging into a random animal is difficult but if he overpowers the creature it is possible to become it. In that scenario he is dominating the creature and will therefore feel its instincts less as he is suppressing its mind. If it is an animal he has a bond with it is much easier to slip into its skin but it is more like a partnership. Therefore he will be more aware of the animal, its instincts and how it thinks. Making it easier for its instincts to affect him.

Harry closes his eyes and focuses on the hawk. He imagines what it feels like to see from its eyes, the feel of the wind across its feathers and the bark of the tree under its talons. With an effort of will he pushes the magic out of his body focusing on the bird the entire time.

There is a moment of resistance, as if the bird is fighting back against this intrusion. The resistance isn’t that great though, not for somebody who once had to fight off being possessed by Voldemort, arguably the most accomplished practitioner of the mind arts in his generation. It only takes a small amount of power and focus to subvert the will of the bird. Pushing its thoughts and instincts to the back of his mind until it is merely background noise.

The next instant Harry is looking over himself and Lord Reed in a vision that is clearer and sharper than anything he has ever seen with before. With a small effort of will the hawk takes flight and lands on top of his shoulder.

Harry winces. Even though he is in the mind of the bird he can feel that his shoulder is slightly injured. The problem with dominating creatures will like this, is that he is the one in absolute control. He doesn’t have any of the instincts of the bird nor does he understand its body and its strength.

Luckily he has had plenty of practice warging into birds over the years. The first time he tried to fly as one was an embarrassing moment in which he flew straight into a tree.

It took him many hours of practice before he could do so with any type of skill.

Lord Reed’s voice had him turning the birds head in his direction. “Good, good. I see you did it easily my lord. That is quite remarkable. Normally it takes years for a warg to be able to learn how to do it this quickly. Please fly the bird back up to the tree and leave its body so I can speak to you properly.”

With a flap of his wings Harry sent the bird soaring into the air. He flapped a few more times, doing a small lap around the Weirwood tree before he had the bird come in for a landing. The landing was rougher than expected, he underestimated the speed he was traveling at, but it was still an acceptable landing nonetheless.

Withdrawing his mind from the bird Harry opened his eyes.

His gaze was drawn to the hawk when it released an angry screech at him before it took off quickly into the air with a ruffle of feathers and flew away over the trees.

Lord Reed brought Harrys gaze back to his grass green eyes when he spoke. “You are remarkably powerful my lord. Most grown men would only be able to do something like that after years and years of training. Even then, they would still struggle more than you did.”

Harry scrunched his eyebrows together. “If it is so difficult then why did you ask me to do it?”

He smirked. “You said you had warged before. I wanted to see if you could do it.”

Harry frowned in annoyance. “ How do you normally start training wargs then?”

Lord Reed chuckled at the annoyed look on his face. “All children are given a fledgling bird of prey as a companion once they reach seven namedays. They are made to raise them into adulthood. For those who have the gift, there will often be signs. They will start to have dreams where they can see through the animal’s eyes or their birds will sometimes show an intelligence that is beyond normal, reacting to unspoken commands or behaving in ways birds normally wouldn’t. Once we have identified if a child has the gift, they will go for further training in order to learn how to control it. It starts small, just trying to see through their companions eyes or using their other senses without trying to control them. Once they are developed enough and can do this on command, they are then taught how to change into their skins properly. First from close to their animal, then from further and further away. If they master that and they are trusted enough, they are given the option to learn how to control random animals that they have no bond with. While some will be able to find some measure of success doing this, most will not. Most are unable to completely dominate random animals like you can. It is only the very rare few who can.  I have only met three others who could do so in my life. Thank the Old Gods.”

He looked at me seriously. It was probably the most serious I had ever seen him. “While it is truly amazing that you are able to warg this easily my lord, I ask you not to dominate animals like this unless you have no other option.”

Harry blinked. “Why? I thought you said it wasn’t dangerous to dominate them like this.”

He shakes his head. “No, I said that their instincts won’t bleed through into you, as you dominate their beings and suppress those instincts. Not that it isn’t dangerous.”

He sighed. “What do you think warging is my lord?”

Harry shrugged. “I’m sending my mind into the animals. “

He shakes his head vigorously. “No, it is much more than that. You aren’t sending your mind into the creature. Or at least that’s not all you are doing. Rather you are extending your soul, your magic, outside of your body and making a portion of it, a tiny slither really, connect to theirs. When the bond goes both ways, like with the dog that you raised, while there will be some bleed-through of instincts if you aren’t careful, that is all that will happen. It can become a serious problem if allowed to go too far, yes. But generally there won’t be any negative impacts on your soul as long as you are careful. When you are dominating a random animal, it is your soul dominating theirs, telling it to submit. When you dominate something on such a profound level, it can leave an impact on your soul in other ways. People who have done this too much, who have lived years doing this, have changed their souls in other more malicious ways than just gaining a few foreign instincts. Some have been known to lose all compassion they have towards their fellow men, they have lost their ability to feel any emotions at all, except for the most extreme emotions. Many times these people become even madder than those who are changed too much by the instincts of animals, driving themselves to do more and more heinous things just feel any emotion at all.”

Harry's face was pale and his mouth was open in horror.

Lord Reed nodded. “It isn’t an issue if only done rarely. It takes time for a change that large to overcome a person’s soul. For you I would think it is even less of an issue due to how much magic you give off. That shows you have an extremely strong soul. Still, I would rather you be safe than to push it.”

Harry nodded. Lord Reed’s words made sense. Even in the wizarding world, magic was connected to a person’s soul. His even more so than a normal wizard once he had claimed the Deathly Hallows. There were plenty of types of magic that could have negative consequences on the user. Those were always classified as dark magic and Harry always made sure to stay away from those types of spells. So to come across it and to have been practicing it accidentally for years was horrifying.

In truth he isn’t upset at knowing he can’t dominate an animals mind without consequences. Harry always felt it was wrong to do so, in the beginning he was extremely hesitant to even try and he only continued once he learned that it had no negative impacts on those animals he did it to.

The only reason he did it at all was because he was desperate to have access to some type of magic. For him, going from living and breathing magic to not having access to any at all was a terrible experience. His magic is the only thing that kept him sane when everyone had died.

Regardless of how much he misses what he had, Harry vowed that he wouldn’t dominate any more animals unless he had absolutely no other choice. He would rather form a proper bond with one and make sure he doesn’t develop any negative instincts than risk losing the ability to feel emotions.

He knows that occlumency is able to filter out these instincts when the bond goes both ways as he has been doing it with Padfoot since he first started warging.

Lord Reed stood up. “Come my Lord. I feel that is enough for today.”

Harry stood and started to follow him down the path. “So how did I do my lord?”

He smiled. “In truth, I do not believe there is much that I can teach you when it comes to warging. You seem to have a remarkable grasp on it already.”

Harry supressed his disappointment. He wasn’t that surprised, but he hoped he would be able to take the art further.

Lord Reed still must have seen the disappointment on his face as he smirked. “I wouldn’t worry my lord. While there isn’t much more you can learn about warging there is still some other things for you to learn.”

He instantly felt his mood turn a little brighter. “Oh, like what?”

“You will of course be taught how to make a few potions, but the skill I am sure you will be most interested in is not one that I can teach. In fact, I’m not completely sure if you can even learn it.”

Harry looked at him in confusion. Lord Reed answered his unasked question. “In every thousand men, there is one warg born. In every thousand wargs there is one greenseer born. I am not sure if you have the ability my lord, but based off of your magical presence I think there is a strong possibility that you do.”

Harry felt a mixture of emotions. While the legends do make it seem like a powerful ability, Harry isn’t sure he wants to know the future. He has been involved in enough prophecies in his life already. The only reason he is considering it at all was that it was said one could use it to see into the past.

He released a small sigh. “How will I learn it, if you can’t teach it?”

Lord Reed smiled. “There is an old woman who lives in a small hut just outside my keep.  I’m sure I can convince her to teach you.”

Thank you for reading. I hope you all enjoyed. As always criticism is welcome as long as it’s constructive.

Next chapter Thursday 16 February 2023.

Greywater Watch

Greywater Watch

‘Moat Cailin is a ruin.’

Intellectually Harry already knew this. He had read all the books he could find that pertains to the North and had devoted a great deal of time learning about the strongholds and castles in particular. He knew that Moat Cailin had seen better days, that it was allowed to fall into ruin. Still knowing something and seeing it for yourself is different.  The Moat served as the shield of the North against the South for millennia. It threw back invasion after invasion. With it the North could stand against armies made up of everything the South could throw at them.

Seeing the crumbling stone and three remaining towers for himself, only served to make him sombre. It only served to remind him of how much the Norths power had dwindled over the centuries. House Stark had ruled the North since men first started to come together in greater numbers, since they started to move away from the rule of clans and first started forming Kingdoms. His ancestors had built something truly extraordinary, conquered and kept the largest kingdom in Westeros. Fought off all outside invasions, put down all internal rebellions. They had forged a dynasty that was possibly the oldest in the world. A dynasty that was older and greater than any dynasty that existed in his old life. House Starks name had become synonymous with the North.

They had ruled for so long, kept the peace for so long that most Northerners couldn’t even imagine being ruled by someone else. Sure, there were still disagreements with bannermen. There were still rebellions to put down every few centuries.  But compared to the southern kingdoms the North was united. The only major problems they had with bannermen were from the Boltons and from Skagos.

What do they have to show for ruling such a large kingdom for so long? One of the weakest Kingdoms in Westeros. Sure, they have probably the strongest fighters on the continent but they lack the numbers to make their military a true power. They have the most land but they lack the people to truly take advantage of it. They have less gold than all the other kingdoms and what gold they do have goes into feeding their people during winter with hardly anything going towards investing for the future or maintaining what they have. It is no wonder that what was once a magnificent fortress has been eroded into ruin.

House Stark lacks the power to truly have a hold on Skagos. Yes, they have conquered them before and could do so again easily enough. There’s no way to could enforce House Starks hold on them after leaving though. There’s no way to really extend his will there. House Stark has dominion over them in basically name only. He would have to work to fix this. He would have to expand their navel power, their army and administration.

He has already started on the navel power. Their administration needs a lot of thought though. It would be something important for future generations. He can’t change it carelessly. He has to carefully think through how he builds it. There’s also only so much he can change as it is. He lacks the power to truly change any laws. That power lies with the King. So for now Hadrian has no choice but to forget about any large changes and the ones he does make has to be done with a certain amount of subtlety.

The military power is the most difficult however. The best thing would be to train an army from the ground up and have only one army for the entire North. An army that only answers to House Stark. The problem is his bannermen. He has a feeling some might have a problem with this. He has no doubt he could convince many of them. Many of them have kept faith with House Stark since they swore fealty to them. If he words it in the right way and gives a just cause for changing the military, many of them would probably grumble but would accept his decision. The problem lies with the Houses who would use it as an opportunity to either cause chaos or to sow discord among his bannermen and his house. The biggest problem lies, once again, with House Bolton.

Harry massaged his temples while thinking about that particular headache as he passed through the Northern Gate into the stronghold itself.

House Bolton have lead almost all the rebellions there have been against his house in the history of the North. Hadrian has no doubt that they would probably be the leaders of rebellions again. Maybe not in his lifetime, but eventually they would. Why his ancestors never seemed to end their threat and were content to have one of their more powerful Lords constantly ready to betray them, he will never understand.

Harry still remembers the look in Lord Boltons eyes from when he met him for the Harvest Feast in Winterfell. Looking into his eyes told him all he needed to know about the man. There was not a shred of warmth to be found there. They were as cold as the most frigid winters. Even when he looked at his son there was not a spark of emotion. Harry knows those eyes. They are the eyes of a psychopath.

Unfortunately dealing with house Bolton isn’t so simple. Harry would like nothing more than to get rid of Roose Bolton. The problem is Domeric. Harry cares for his cousin, he really does. He might not be as close to him as he is with his Stark cousins, only seeing Domeric once or twice a year when their grandfather brought him to Winterfell to visit, but he still considers him family. So even if he does get rid of Roose Bolton, House Bolton will probably still be a problem for his descendants.

Sometimes Harry curses his grandfather. He loves him, as he is family, but he knows he can never truly trust him. Rodrick Ryswell is ambitious, he cares about House Ryswell above all else. That in itself is not a bad trait to have, as Harry cares about House Stark above all else. The difference is that Rodrick doesn’t seem to care about his family’s happiness as much as he does about advancing his ambitions, as can be seen by the fact he married his daughter Bethany, to Roose Bolton of all people. That’s not something he can agree with, his families safety and happiness is his primary concern. So while Harry can respect his ambitions he cannot help but be wary of the man, after all he must have known what he was doing marrying his daughter into House Bolton when he already had one married to House Stark.

Shaking his head clear of his morose thoughts and vowing to start making plans to separate Domeric from his father in the future, Harry examines the courtyard of the moat with a sigh.

The courtyard is probably in even worse condition than the towers. There were holes in the ground all over the place, what few places that still seemed to be smooth weren’t level and there are all sorts plants shooting up out of every crevice. The worst was the wooden keep, which had been rotted away and is missing completely.

Harry shook his head, there is going to be a lot of work needed for this place.

Before he can delve into thoughts and ideas on how to start fixing the fortress he is spoken to by Ser Rodrick, who is leading the two hundred guard escort he has taken with him on his journey. “My Lord, where would you like to stay while we are here?”

Casting a glance around what he can see of the fortress Harry finds it isn’t a difficult question to answer. “We will take the Gatehouse Tower. Don’t let anyone enter the Drunkards Tower, I don’t trust it not to fall on our heads. Also send eight men with horses to scout for any trouble. Two men must go North, two to the Northeast, two to the Northwest and two must ride along the Fever River to the West. Hopefully that should give us enough warning if anything happens.”

Looking to the knight to make sure he understands, Harry only continued speaking once he received a firm nod. “Excellent. I am going to retire for the night Ser. Please have my supper brought to the solar on the top floor of the tower.”

Ser Rodrick gave his assent. “Aye my Lord. When will Lord Reed be arriving?”

He climbed off of his horse and removed his riding gloves while answering. “He said he would arrive within a few days of us. Not sure exactly when. Hopefully we won’t have to wait too long for him.”

Sir Rodrick just grunted. “Aye.”

After that Hadrian started walking into the Gatehouse tower followed by three guards that Ser Rodrick assigned to him for the moment. While the knight started barking orders to the rest of the men.

Line Break----------------------------------

Howland Reed arrived the next day. According to the guards he seemed to have just appearend in front of the gate at the Southern end of the fortress as if he was a ghost.

Harry isn’t sure whether Howland is just that naturally sneaky, the guards weren’t as aware of their surroundings as he hoped they would be or if Howland Reed used magic of some form to cover his approach. As far as he is concerned any of the three could be a possibility. Crannogmen are naturally sneaky due to traversing the marshes and swamps where they live while staying hidden to hunt or avoid predators. Hs guards aren’t at the level of competence Harry would like yet, while they are all individually skilled, many of them lack discipline that Harry would expect from professional soldiers. As far as magic goes, Harry knows very little of what it can accomplish beyond warging and some old legends that may or may not be real examples of magic.

Upon meeting the lord, Harry still can’t find an answer. Howland Reed is a small man, so small some might mistake the lord as a child upon first glance. He only stands a bit over a head taller than Harry himself. Were it just that then he wouldn’t feel there was anything special about the man but his height. But the first time he came face to face with the Crannogmen he knew he didn’t waste his time on this journey. Harry could feel the subtle aura of magic around the man.

It was weak. Incredibly so. In his last life, Howland Reed would be classed as a squib, able to perform the most basic of magic, like potions, but little else. In this life however, he is the only person Harry has met who he can say without a doubt has magic and practices it. While his power in magic is much less than his uncles or even his young cousins, it is much more refined. While his uncles have stronger magic than the Crannoglord, probably due to their bloodline, it means little as they have received no instruction.

Hadrian was just happy that he didn’t waste his time coming down to the Neck. He was so happy in fact that he accepted Lord Reeds offer of leaving for Greywater Watch immediately.

Now during his third day of traversing through the neck Harry can’t help but think he may have miscalculated. He was only able to bring Ser Rodrick with him and had to leave the rest of the guards at Moat Cailin due to the fact that The Neck is dangerous to traverse and Lord Reed isn’t able to watch more than a few people at a time. They had to leave their horses behind and were forced to walk on foot with only the supplies they could carry on them. The march through the neck was slow so far, with them taking winding trails that twisted and turned in all directions while fighting off mosquitos and other insects the whole time. They were forced to sleep in trees a few times to avoid the lizard lions and on top of that it rained the day before. It can be safe to say that he was having a miserable time.

Harry pushed through though. If he can learn even a little bit about how magic works then the journey would have been well worth it.

Harry stepped over a small puddle in the middle of the path while grumbling under his breath. He doesn’t think he was being quiet enough however, based on how Lord Reed looked at him with a frankly infuriating smirk on his face. “The worst part of the journey is over my lord.”

Before he could question what the Crannogman meant, Lord Reed pulled on a rope that was tied to a tree next to one of the many rivers he had seen. Harry could see the rope pull taught before he noticed a small wooden boat making its way slowly towards them.

Next to him Ser Rodrick released a small breath and a muttered. “ Thank the Old Gods.” Harry couldn’t help but agree.

With a deft movement of his hand Lord Reed untied the rope from the tree and gestured for them to get on. Harry wasted no time in hopping onto the back of the boat and sitting down with a tired groan. The boat wobbled slightly when Ser Rodrick stepped onto it, but otherwise it remained remarkably stable for what he would expect of a boat this size.

Lord Reed hopped onto the boat with a single agile step that didn’t seem to disturb the balance of the boat at all before speaking to them. “I’m afraid I’m going to have to ask you to keep your hands inside the boat, unless you want a lizard lion to take it. “

Harry was happy to comply. At this stage he was just happy to be off of his feet. Three days of trekking through the marsh would probably tire most adults, for his childish body it was almost torturous.

He took the opportunity to close his eyes and get some rest. He found himself drifting off almost immediately.

“-Stark. Lord Stark.” He was woken by Ser Rodrick shaking his shoulder while calling for him.

“Mmph.” Was his articulate reply while he sat up and rubbed the sleep from his eyes. He then stretched his hands above his head while releasing a small groan at how stiff his back was. Sleeping curled up on his pack on a small boat was the definition of uncomfortable.

After he was good and awake he spoke again. “What is it Ser?”

Ser Rodrick answered in a voice filled with amusement. “Lord Reed says we are nearing Greywater Watch my Lord.”

Lord Reed didn’t look back from the front of the boat where he was paddling with a small oar. “You should be able to see it from just around this bend my lord.”

Now more wide awake because they are finally reaching their destination Harry looked at the bend that Lord Reed had described eagerly. He needn’t have reacted so quickly as while the bend wasn’t very large in itself, the boat was moving at a slow pace and he had to wait for a minute or two looking at the greenery around him.

After they had taken the bend however, he couldn’t help but release a small gasp at the sight in front of him. There was a small lake, surrounded by trees on every side with flowers of every colour blooming on them rising high up into the air. The water was tranquil, the only thing disturbing it was their boat and the boats of a few other Crannogmen who were paddling towards the centre of the lake, from various other streams and rivers on all sides. In the centre of the water rested giant structure that Greywater Watch was found. Just like the legends and myths said, the castle rested on the water held into its position by some means that he wasn’t able to glean.

The castle wasn’t the largest he had ever seen. In fact, compared to Winterfell it was small. The castle only took up a portion of the floating structure however. Surrounding the large wooden keep in the middle were hundreds of smaller homes that he could see people entering and exiting. Now that he got a chance to have a closer look he could see there were even more ramshackle homes all around the lake, that looked like they were designed to be able to be taken down and moved in a moment’s notice while simultaneously blending into the trees surrounding them. All in all, it was a very impressive picture. Harry was sure that some magic had to be involved in keeping the structure floating, he doesn’t think wood would be enough to keep a structure that large above the water and even if it is, it would require the wood to constantly be replaced due to rot. As they got closer he looked out for any signs of rot on any of the wood. He just got more excited when he couldn’t find any. As Harry stepped off of the boat onto the small dock next to the wooden keep of Greywater Watch the sun began to set. In front of his eyes, thousands of lightning bugs began to appear, it was still too light out to appreciate the sight in all its majesty, so he promised himself he would return later to watch them.

Lord Reeds amused voice knocked him out of his wide eyed wonder. “Not what someone thinks of when they picture a floating castle in the middle of a marsh is it?”

Harry looked back at the lord with a smile. “ No, it most certainly is not.”

After a few moments Lord Reed gestured for us to follow his lead up to the gates of the of the keep itself. “Come, I’m sure you are hungry after the journey. “

Feeling his stomach growl Harry rushed to follow with Ser Rodrick on his heels.

Line Break-------

Harry was sitting in the main hall of Greywater Watch with Lord Reed, his wife Jyana abd her infant baby jojen as well as his young daughter Meera. He had ordered Ser Rodrick to rest for the evening, trusting in Lord Reed’s guards. The knight was taking his dinner in his room and was getting some well-deserved rest after our journey. The hall wasn’t very big. It was probably a similar size to his chambers at Winterfell. It was nice though, it had a much warmer and more informal feel to the dinner than eating in the Great Hall at Winterfell. Even the food was good, a smoked trout that was caught earlier that day and was therefore incredibly fresh. Harry didn’t release before now how much he missed the taste of fresh fish. They rarely got fish at Winterfell and when they did it didn’t taste too great due to being on the road for weeks before it got to them. This convinced him that he would have to find a way to get fresh fish to Winterfell faster.

Even the company was pleasant. He missed his family but he had to admit to himself that he liked the Reeds. Howland was a typically quiet man, he seemed perfectly content to sit in silence just watching the world around him, but when he spoke he demanded Harrys full attention. Generally because he had something important to say. He reminded Harry of his uncle Ned. He can see why Ned refers to Howland as a friend. Jyana was a warm woman. That’s the best way Harry could describe her. She seemed to always have a true smile on her face and she practically radiated kindness. She seemed to live for her children, her eyes held this spark every time she looked at one of them.

Meera was also a delight. The young girl was a very curious child, unafraid to ask questions. “What is Winterfell like? Father says its ten times the size of Greywater Watch but that can’t be right. No castle can be that big. Ooh, or is it true that the Starks ride Direwolves? Shelley, the old lady who runs the fishery says they are bigger than horses and that the Starks have whole packs of them. Ooh or is it true that-“

“Meera.”Her mother chastised. “ Why don’t you give lord Stark time to answer your questions?”

Harry couldn’t help but laugh. “It’s all right my lady. I think it’s cute. To answer your questions Meera, Winterfell is indeed a massive castle. I don’t know how much larger it is than Greywater Watch but ten times seems like a good number. Unfortunately we don’t have Direwolves but maybe we will have them one day…”He trailed off wistfully. Yes, he definitely has to make a plan to get Direwolves. He is a warg, so he should be able to train them.

“How are you liking Greywater Watch my lord?” Jyanna brought me out of my musings with a soft smile.

Hadrian couldn’t help but smile back at the woman. “It is a lovely castle my lady. Unlike anything I have seen before.”

She laughed softly. “I’m glad you like it my lord. I’m happy our home impresses you so.”

He laughed. “That it does. I will admit I was expecting it to look more run down and aged like Moat Cailin. I will admit this is a pleasant surprise. It has a feel to it, like it’s almost magical.”

She smiled slyly. “There are many secrets hidden in the swamps of the neck. Greywater Watch is just one of them. Isn’t that right Howland?”

The man looked up from his food long enough to give an answer. “Aye, my people have lived here for thousands of years and the swamps are still teaching us lessons. I have no doubt my children will learn lessons from it that I myself am unable to teach.”

He could feel his curiosity rise at their implications but decided it to let it rest for now and continued to enjoy his meal. After the meal was finished Lady Reed ushered the children to bed and left me alone to speak with Lord Reed.

The man stared at the flames on the lantern in the middle of the table for a few moments in silence before speaking. “You know I think this is the first time a Stark has been to Greywater Watch in thousands of years. It might be the first time since House Reed first swore fealty to the Starks. Why did you decide to come my lord?”

Harry answered smoothly. “A great failure on their part, my lord. How can I ever hope to rule a people that I know nothing about?”

He looked up from the lantern into Harrys eyes. ”A good answer, aye.  But a half-truth nonetheless. ”

Harry stared at the man impassively while inwardly he was impressed. It seems he underestimated Howland Reed. He was hoping to stumble upon magic while he was here and then ask for lessons afterwards. It seemed he now had little choice but to confess to hisreasons beforehand. “To learn magic.”

He sat back. “Before I can give you an answer to the question of magic, I have one of my own. What is your ambition my lord. What is it you fight for?”

I thought of the question. It was a surprisingly difficult one; I wanted to think my answer through. I found the answer came more easily than I expected it to. “For my family and for my heritage.”

He scrunched up his eyebrows. “Your heritage.”

Harry shrugged his shoulders and emphasised.  “OUR heritage. Weirwood trees are becoming more and more rare as the centuries pass by. The North gets less and less powerful. Magic becomes weaker and weaker. I seek to protect what is left. To fight for it. It is our birth right. The Old Gods are the gods of our ancestors. I am the Stark of Winterfell. The North has long been the home of the Old Gods. I MUST fight for them! For what is left of our culture before we are stamped out!”

Lord Reed had an approving glint in his eyes. “Magic has long been weak in the world. Much and more of it has been lost.” He straightened up. “We still have a few tricks however. In the morning I will teach you what I can.”

Harry felt a smile come onto his face. “Thank you Lord Reed.”

He bowed his head. “It is an honour my lord. Now if you do not mind I would like to get some rest for tomorrow.”

Waving him away with a nod he stood to head to his chambers.

Harry paused in his steps to ask about something that was bugging him. “You didn’t seem shocked when I stated my intentions to learn magic, why is that my lord?”

He just smiled. “I might not be the most powerful when it comes to magic, but I can sense it just fine. All Starks are powerful my lord. But you? You blaze like a hundred Weirwoods.”

Before Harry could ask him to clarify what he meant, he was already marching out the room.

Thank you for reading. As always criticism is welcome as long as it’s constructive.

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Next Chapter : Thursday 9 February.

How to Win with Trade

Sitting in the back of the forge on top of a wooden box, Hadrian wiped the sweat off of his face with a rag before taking a gulp of water out of his mug. He grimaced slightly at the warmth of the water but continued drinking it nonetheless.

Apprenticing for Winterfell’s blacksmith Mikken is not what he imagined it would be like to learn to smith. At first, Hadrian was excited to learn how to forge. He imagined himself learning how to make swords and armours quickly before he could push the technology used in smithing to further heights. His idea was to make steel easier and cheaper for the North to produce. Not just because it would be a great boon to have more armour and weapons but also to use the steel in some of the other projects he thought of. It isn’t something he would try to do anytime soon as not only would other kingdoms take advantage of the technology, the increase in pollution would be unwelcome too.

Hadrian decided long ago that if he was to take inspiration from the muggles from his old life he would do his best to avoid repeating their mistakes. Pollution was one of their biggest.

Smithing hasn’t really turned out to be as exciting as he thought it would though. For the first few months all he did was look at different ores and try and guess which would be best used for higher quality steel. Once he had finally started to get decent at doing that, Mikken had him spend another half year learning how to treat leather or how to sharpen a blade properly. Even after he had learned to do all that, he still wasn’t allowed to touch a hammer or go near the forge himself. It is all moving at an incredibly slow pace for Hadrian. Not that he can complain too much about it, it is pretty much entirely his fault after all.

There’s one crucial fact that Hadrian forgot before he started working in the forge. Blacksmithing requires strength. Strength his childish body doesn’t have yet.

That’s not to say that he regrets apprenticing as a blacksmith. The entire point of doing so was to increase the technological prowess of the North. If he just came right out and started creating inventions that did so, without having a plausible means of discovering the need for those inventions or having a basic knowledge of how to make them himself, he was afraid people might accuse him of being a demon.

That’s not something he wants in this society, even if he was protected by his lordship.

So while blacksmithing might seem like a waste of time for him right now, he knows it will be necessary in the future. Both to create some of his ideas and to have an alibi for others to point to, in regards to his inspiration for where his ideas come from.

Still, sometimes he can’t get rid of the irritation he feels when he wastes so much time just watching Mikken pound on a piece of metal with his hammer, while explaining why he does each strike in the way he does for the thousandth time.

With a small sigh he put down his cup before hopping off of the box he was seated on.

After waiting a moment for Mikken to take a break from striking the anvil so he can be heard over the noise, he speaks. ”That will be all for me today Mikken, I have a meeting with a few lords after the midday meal and have to look presentable.”

Looking up from the sword he was crafting with a face covered in soot and ash he waves me away. “Aye, I will see you tomorrow then Milord?”

Walking towards the door he calls over his shoulder. “Wouldn’t miss it Mikken!” Before continuing on his way out of the forge and towards the refreshing air outside.

Taking a moment to breathe fresh, cool air that doesn’t smell of smoke, Harry smiled contently. Working in the forge may be hot, uncomfortable work but it sure does make one appreciate fresh Northern air.

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“-portion of the gift will stretch from your lands, North to Brandons Gift, but fifty miles East of Moles Town. The land from fifty miles to the East of Moles Town and south to where your Northern border currently is will remain with House Stark for now. Brandons Gift still belongs to the Nights Watch. From fifty miles east of Moles Town all the way to the eastern coast will become the land of House Umber. The lands to the west will be divided up among the mountain clans but I will discuss that with them. “ Ned finished explaining to Jon Umber.

Hadrian was happy for his uncle to take point for the majority of this meeting with the Umbers and the Madnderlys. As far as he is concerned he did a decent enough job giving an impression of himself to his lords the previous night at the feast. Besides, if he were to be telling the lords what parcel of land would be theirs, they would probably try and argue with him and put pressure on him to give them more. He may have earned their respect with his actions so far but most lords would still try and take advantage of his age for their own gain. It is a lot harder to argue with a grown man though.

The Greatjon nodded quietly to his uncle. The man looked like he was struggling to function today after the feast last night. He had bags under his eyes and his skin was slightly paler than usual. He was even almost late to the meeting as he had slept in quite a bit. It honestly shouldn’t be much of a surprise to Hadrian, the man drank enough the previous night to knock four grown men uncurious. The fact that he was functioning at all was mildly impressive. Not that he was functioning all that well, the impression he had of Lord Umber led Harry to believe he was a loud exuberant man. To see him sitting so quietly while occasionally nodding or speaking softly while rubbing his temples was quiet amusing. Hadrian never failed to notice the pleased gleam in the man’s eyes though. It is safe to say that he was happy with what he was being given.

Feeling that his uncles part addressing the lords was over with Harry decided he would talk to Lord Manderly about his reason for being at the meeting himself.

Clearing his throat he began. “ Lord Manderly I’m sure you are wondering why I’ve requested you today.”

In opposition to Lord Umber, Lord Wyman Manderly looked about as fresh as he did the day before. He looked hale, hearty and ready for the discussion ahead. He had been quiet in the proceedings thus far, content to watch Lord Umber and my uncle speak with a small smile of amusement that Hadrian believed was due to the Greatjons obvious suffering.

Once Hadrian spoke the lord dragged his eyes away from his entertainment and brought his gaze towards him.” Aye, my lord. While it has been….amusing to watch Jon struggle through this meeting, I must admit I am curious as to my presence here. After all, what happens regarding the Gift has nothing to do with me. My lands are too far away.” He finished while tilting his head slightly in curiosity.

After taking a moment to decide how he wants to begin Hadrian started speaking. “True the gift has nothing to do with you personally, other than some of the food you might be trading from it. The reason I wanted to speak to both of you at once is something I will get to just now, for now this next part only involves yourself. What I would like to speak about involves my uncle.”

Noticing his gaze flicker to Ned Hadrian clarified. “My uncle Benjen. As I’m sure you are aware, the drastic increase in our agriculture will be a big boon for the North. Not just to feed our people, but also for our economy. What I want to do is make sure that most of the influx of coin we will be seeing goes towards improving the North further. More specifically, towards building a Western fleet.”

His eyes lit up in understanding. “You want me to host Benjen and teach him about running a city, sailing and commanding a fleet. So that he can start a hold on the Western shore.”

Nodding slightly, Hadrian continued.” Aye, the Ironborn have been pests on our Western shores for too long. I aim to fix that.”

I could see the smile on the lords face. No doubt this is a boon to him as well. Even if Benjen isn’t the Lord of Winterfell, it is well known I value my families opinions. Creating closer ties to my family can only be a good thing as far as the lord is concerned and a settlement on the west coast won’t have any negative impact on his own trade. So he has nothing to lose from agreeing and he might even be able to leverage his increased relationship with Benjen later down the line.

It seemed something occurred to him however and he decided to ask his question. ”You’re not giving the hold to Lord Eddard.”

His uncle decided to chime in. “Hadrian has a different hold in mind for me.”

Lord Manderly only nodded at him before bowing his head. “Then it will be an honour to host and teach him my lord.” He bowed his head slightly.

Harry smiled. ”Excellent my lord. That isn’t all I wanted to speak on however. But before I begin I need an answer to a question. How much does a trading cog cost to build and how long does it take?”

He hummed to himself. ”An average cog? About 1000 dragons or so. Maybe a little less. It would probably take about three or so months in my shipyard to build one, but we can build three at a time.”

Leaning back in his chair Harry stapled his fingers together. “Excellent. House Stark would like to purchase a dozen cogs for now. Do you think they could be ready in a year?”

He nodded, his many chins jiggling at the action. ”That shouldn’t be a problem my lord.”

Harry smiled. “Good, good. In a year or so, assuming my uncle is ready by then, I would like to send out a trade expedition.”

“A trade expedition?” He asked with a quizzical look on his face.

Hadrian hummed slightly. “Instead of sending out one ship on a voyage for trade, I would like to send a fleet my lord. A fleet that would travel all the way to Yi-Ti. This way the ships would be spared from piracy, as no pirate will want to take on that many ships. We can trade them things they cannot easily get, such as fur from some of our bears or wolves for a much greater price than it would be worth in Westeros or Essos. Once there the fleet would purchase some items that cannot be found on this side of the world and bring it back to trade for a huge profit in Westerosi markets. Neither of my uncles are too sure of the idea and so I thought it might be best to ask your opinion.”

Lord Manderlys eyebrows crunched together as he spent a few moments thinking about the idea. After about a minute of silence he spoke. “It…The idea has some merit my lord. I believe Corlys ‘The Sea-Snake’ did something similar when he was alive. But even then I believe it was only a few ships that went with him. It is known he got great wealth trading with Yi-Ti, but the actual number of ships he used is unknown to me.”

Hadrian shrugged. “To me as well my lord, the actual history texts speak only of the fact he did it. Not exactly how he did or how many ships he used.”

I could see that the lord was much more serious now than when we first started the meeting. Staring at me with an assessing, calculative gaze. “I would be very interested if I could add a few ships into this voyage my lord.”

He smiled slightly. “I thought you would never ask my lord. For the size of the fleet I would prefer to only have two dozen ships to start with. Just in case. We can increase the numbers next time. I would also like it if there were a three or four warships, to escort the fleet for extra protection.”

He hummed. “So a dozen ships from me and a dozen from House Stark to start with. That sounds agreeable. I would also be willing to add the warships into the fleet myself. Yes, yes that sounds agreeable.” The lord broke off there and started running some numbers under his breath.

Hadrian couldn’t help but smile. While it may seem like the Manderlys are losing out on this deal slightly, it is because they are. They are providing most of the ships, the sailors and the experience to the voyage. The voyage itself is also something that they could do on their own, with or without House Stark. But the fact remains it was my idea. I am the lord of the North and the Manderlys would not dare use an idea I came up with without my blessing. Lord Manderly knows he will lose out on some coin from this voyage as half the ships belong to House Stark, but he also knows that he stands to make more coin from this in the future. House Starks holdings are in the middle of the North, so while we may send a few ships every year for these voyages we will probably not focus on maritime trade very much, being content to collect the increased taxes from the trade. Not to mention sending the few warships we have on the voyage cannot be done without the blessing of House Stark.

Really, the Lord only stands to gain from this and he knows it.

Harry clapped his hands together. “Excellent. We will work out the full details in a few moons. I just wanted to see if you would find the idea interesting for now. “

After taking a small breath to brace himself for a conversation he knows will be difficult, Hadrian begins. “Now, for the last part of the meeting. I have been looking into the feasibility of conquering beyond the wall far into the future.”

Seeing Lord Umber start to perk up he rushed to continue. “It isn’t something I am decided on for the moment. I am just weighing options and seeing how likely my ideas are to work. This is the reason I wanted you here Lord Umber. As you know more about the wildlings than I or my uncles do.”

Calming himself slightly, Lord Umber asked in a curious tone. “And Lord Manderly?”

Shrugging Harry responded. “He is here to discuss the feasabilty of my plan.”

Narrowing his eyes at me, Lord Umber asks. “What exactly is your plan?”

Taking a deep breath he braced himself. “Trade.”

Harry wasn’t disappointed. Lord Umber practically exploded onto his feet and started roaring. “Trade?! You want to trade with those savages? I think you better explain my lord.“ He finished taking big gulps of air.

Harry just looked on impassively, not reacting in the slightest besides the slight narrowing of his eyes. “Are you finished?”

Just when he was sure Lord Umber was about to explode again he abruptly sat down and muttered. “Aye.”

Nodding slightly Harry continued. “Excellent. Aye, trade. The biggest issue with trying to truly conquer the lands beyond The Wall lies in the fact that the wildlings are unorganised. They’re uncoordinated. If I send an army up there, they might be able to destroy a few clans but the rest will scatter and attack us when we aren’t expecting it. They know the land better than we do, than we ever will. It will become a war for attrition that will last years, probably decades. While the North is about to have more wealth than it has had in a very long time, I am not willing to throw that all away to feed and supply an army in the middle of a frozen wasteland. Do you believe this is true my lord?”

He grumbled slightly under his breath but answered nonetheless. ”Aye. It will be damn near impossible to supply an army up there. Even if we get a fortified area the wildlings will still find ways to pick off our soldiers on the march.”

Hadrian inclined his head in agreement. “Hence my idea for trade. It is not possible to conquer a land without trying to get the support of the people who live in that land. If we go up there with an army they will never support us. While we may be able to just kill them all, that will be both incredibly difficult and is not something I will feel comfortable doing. They may be wildlings but the blood of The First Men flows through their veins as well. But if we were to fortify a port and trade them things they need, like food or clothes, for things they have, such as furs, out of said port, some may find themselves moving near the soldiers stationed there for both protection and to make their lives easier. After a while, and after they have become accustomed to our people and ways, some of them may be willing to bend the knee and become citizens of the North. Either in order to come South or so that they can get greater amounts of protection. Over time this will make the idea of bending the knee more agreeable for many of them. I’m not saying it will be easy, there will be many clans that will want to fight us to stop us from integrating these people. But at least they will come to us and fight us on our term. Instead of having our soldiers march through a land they know better than us and picking us off small amounts at a time.”

Lord Umber still had an incredibly sour look on his face but he seemed to be contemplating the idea atleast. “I still don’t like it. It may work but the wildings have been killing and raping people on my lands for thousands of years. Trading with them….I…it doesn’t feel right.”

His uncle Ned decided to press his advantage. “Not even if it means it might get them to stop raiding? At least in such numbers. Or to give a chance for some of our people who have been taken by the wildlings to find their way back North?”

Lord Umber still didn’t look happy but he was no longer angry atleast. He released a sigh. “Aye, perhaps if it stops them from raiding it can be seen as a good thing.” He rubbed his eyes tiredly. “It’s true that they have the blood of The First Men. While I may not like the wildlings, they at least keep to their word more than southerners do. Most of them don’t even know how to lie. Practically every one I’ve caught has always been proud to regale me with stories of their atrocities.”

Harry spoke. “Thank you for your input my lord. Lord Manderly, how feasible would it be to set up such a trading port.”

Lord Manderly rubbed his chin. “It’s certainly possible my lord. It will take a number of years to set something like that up however. We would need to find a place that is both defensible and that can host a harbour.” His eyes lit up. “Unless we use one that is already there. There used to be a city beyond the Wall, or at least the closest the Wildlings had to one. Hardhome. It’s found on the coast of the shivering sea. It was destroyed centuries ago. By slavers from Essos I believe. Although I don’t believe the records are very clear. But it should have some infrastructure we can use. I believe it might have also been built in a small bay, although I’m not too sure. I will have to research it again.”

Hadrian furrowed his eyebrows. “Why have I never heard about this?”

Lord Manderly shrugged. “ I read it in one of the older texts I have, I believe. It was mostly about tales and legends the wildlings have. I cannot recall the name at the moment though.”

Harry frowned to himself. He thought he had read all of the books about the lands beyond The Wall in their library for preparation for this meeting. This bears further investigation. Not at the moment though, he still has to wrap up this meeting.

“Very well. Hardhome sounds like a feasible option on the Eastern coast. I will have to put more thought into the Western one. It isn’t important at the moment though, all of this is just so I could see the likelihood of my plan working. It’s not something that will be implemented for years yet. If it is as all.”

Harry nodded to himself before he decided he could at least throw Lord Umber a bone, as he does have legitimate grievances against the wildlings. ”Excellent. Lord Umber, I understand you have legitimate reasons for your hatred towards the wildlings. Therefore if this plan does happen, with your blessing I will make sure it is a member of your family that secures Hardhome and turns it into a fortress to hold off against any raids there are. Perhaps Mors would be a good choice?”

He looked slightly mollified by that. A small grin even broke out on his face. Hadrian guesses it is easier for him to swallow if it is a member of his house that will tame the wildlings. “Aye, Mors hates them even more than I do. He will be happy to have a chance to kill the worst of the fuckers.”

Harrry smiled. “Good. One last thing my lord, before you leave. Giants. Are they real or have they gone extinct?”

He furrowed his eyebrows. “Most Maesters would tell you that they are nothing but myth. Either they never existed or they are all dead. I believe they are still there though, not in any great number but I believe they are real. I have had too many wildlings tell me stories about them for me to believe otherwise.”

He looked at me with curiosity. “Why do you ask?”

Harry just grinned mysteriously. “I’ve just been wondering lately if the North would have ever been conquered if we had some.”

He laughed boisterously at that answer. When him and Lord Manderly left the solar Hadrian could still hear him laughing as he walked down the hall. ”Giants! The lad doesn’t think small does he?! Ha!”

Once they left and it was just him and Ned in the solar his uncle spoke. “I believe that went about as well as it could have.”

Hadrian laughed slightly. “At one point I thought Lord Umber would reach across the desk and strangle me!”

Still chuckling Ned replied. “He is a very…passionate man.”

“That he is uncle. That he is.”

After a moment Ned became serious once again. ”Are you still sure about your plan to leave Winterfell?”

Harry just smiled. “It’s about time I travelled and saw more of the North. I’m sure the Lords would be happy to host me.”

Ned frowned. “Aye, but Greywater Watch? Lord Reed is a good man and a good friend but wouldn’t a more powerful Lord be a better place to start your tour?”

Hadrian chuckled. “Trust me uncle. It’s the perfect place.”

After all, it is about time he started learning more about the magic in this new life and the Neck is the best place to do so until he finds a Child of the Forest.

Addressing the Lords.

Addressing the Lords.

Winterfell 287-AC

Sitting on his nephews left at the high table in the great hall of Winterfell, Benjen Stark nursed a cup of mead while thinking about the direction that his life has taken in the last few years.

Benjen knew he wasn’t meant for greatness. No, he was nothing but a third son. A third son of one of the most storied houses in existence, a great house, but a third son nonetheless. However it used to be different.  When he was a boy, before he knew how the world worked, he would run around playing with wooden swords with his sister, pretending to be one of the great figures of history, such as Cregan Stark or Aemon the Dragonknight. He would dream of someday matching those legends. Of someday carving his name into the history books as someone that future generations of Starks would admire long after he was dead.

Then the war happened.

After his brother and father were murdered in the Red Keep in front of some of the finest knights of the realm, with not a single one of them lifting a finger to help, without them even offering a token of protest, he lost all ambition to try and match those so called venerated knights such as Barristan The Bold or The White Bull. He started to see their knighthoods as nothing but empty titles.

When his sister died at the end of the war, he almost broke. He blamed himself. He still does, really. He was the one who helped her escape Riverrun. He thought he was doing the right thing. His sister didn’t want to marry Robert Baratheon and she convinced him she had a plan that would mean she didn’t have to. She never told him exactly what she was planning and, although hesitant, he allowed her to convince him that allowing her to leave would be for the best. All Benjen wanted was to make her happy.

That decision cost him almost everything he cared about.

That’s when he decided that he would join The Watch. He felt like he needed to redeem himself and The Wall seemed like the best option. At that stage in his life, glory was the furthest thing on his mind. Marriage and children seemed like a blessing he should never have. No, Benjen was ready to give up his freedom and serve the North in the best capacity he felt was available.

His nephew disagreed.

In the beginning he put off going to The Wall on his nephews insistence. He had already lost so much family and he didn’t want to ruin the relationship that he had with one of the few members that was left behind. So he told himself that he would wait a year or two for his nephew to grow a bit before he made his way to The Wall. Before he knew it one year had become three and he realised that the longer he stayed the more difficult it would be to leave. He decided then that he would leave as soon as he could. However Hadrian decided he would not lose another member of his family and so proposed to make him a lord of his own holdfast. Benjen tried to refuse, he really did. But as he was coming to learn more and more often lately, it is extremely difficult to win an argument with his nephew. He has a way of presenting facts that make his decisions sound so reasonable. He makes it so that you feel like an idiot if you refuse him, as Lord Commander Qorgyl recently found.

Even so, Benjen still tried to refuse.

When Hadrian first proposed his wager to increase the yields, Benjen honestly never expected him to win. After all, what could a boy of seven namedays know about farming that farmers hadn’t learnt in the last thousand years? How could a boy who has hardly been out of Winterfell know better than men who have been practicing the profession their whole lives? So seeing a chance of being allowed to leave with his blessing and more importantly with his relationship intact, he accepted the wager.

He should have known better.

He knew his nephew was brilliant, but until he saw the figures for the first harvest after the start of the wager, he didn’t know how brilliant he was. When he saw those figures he felt like he was a part of some grand joke that the gods where playing. His father looked South for his children’s marriages in order to increase the strength of the North, when all he had to do was wait a few years for his grandson to grow.

Even though he still wanted to join The Watch, Benjen accepted the outcome. He always tried to be a man of his word and he knew he would never be able to look at his nephew in the eye if he tried to renege on their agreement. Even so, those first few months Benjen felt a little bitter about the outcome. He knew he shouldn’t. He knew he was being given an opportunity that most third sons would kill for, but he still felt as if he was being rewarded for his actions leading up to The Rebellion when he should be punished. There were times when he almost confessed what he did. When he almost owned up to the mistake he made that ended up costing so much. What held him back was the fear of how his nephew and brother would react. The fear of how they would look at him. He already lost so much family he doesn’t know if he can bear having the remainder wanting nothing to do with him.

In the end it all came down to cowardice.

Straightening his shoulders and finishing his drink he resolved himself to confessing after the Lords had left Winterfell. As while he feared losing the family he had left, he refused to be rewarded for his actions. After he confessed he would accept whatever judgement his family had for him.

Benjen found himself sitting a little easier, a little more comfortably after he resolved himself to do what he should have done long ago.

After pouring himself another drink he shook himself out of his thoughts and took a look around the hall.

His nephew Hadrian was eating quietly with a small smile on his face as he observed the lords feasting in the hall. His face may look relaxed but his eyes were sharp, his gaze was searching, piercing. Sometimes his nephew would still unnerve him. Benjen had seen grown men with eyes that weren’t that aware. It just didn’t belong on such a young boy. Sometimes Benjen felt his nephew could look at a man and know him better than the man himself did. That he could see into a man’s heart and know what drives him and what he fears with but a glance. Benjen felt his lips turn up slightly at seeing his nephew smile. Even if it’s a small one. Smiles from Hadrian are a rare thing indeed. His nephew almost never seemed to relax completely. He was always jumping from one thing to another with complete seriousness and a concentration that most grown men couldn’t match. The only times that he seemed to truly be relaxed was when he was with his younger cousins or with himself or Ned. So to see him smile, even slightly, in front of a hall filled with lords from all over the North was truly a pleasant surprise.

On Hadrians right Ned is sitting having a quiet conversation with Catelyn who is sitting next to him with Sansa in her lap with Robb next to her. Judging by the slight scowl on her face she isn’t very happy. Likely the reason is that Jon is also at the high table sitting at Benjens right. She tried to argue that a bastard shouldn’t be seated at such a place of prominence when the lords were at Winterfell. Ned seemed about to give in to her demands but Hadrian would have none of it. Benjen will never forget how Jon seemed to straighten up at his words. ’He has the blood of the Starks running through his veins. As far as I’m concerned that makes him more important than any lord in the North.’

Looking out over the lords feasting Benjen felt a smile come to his lips as he watched the Greatjon and Rickard Karstark trying to drink each other under the table. The Greatjon seemed to get louder and more energetic the more he drank. While Lord Karstark seemed to be struggling to keep up with the mountain of a man. He laughed when he saw the Greatjons son cheering his father on. Looking past them he noticed Lord Manderly was stuffing his face with as much of the food as he could, while laughing merrily to some joke Lord Mormont told him. Shifting his view his eyes fell on Lord Bolton who seemed to be watching the other lords quietly with a gaze that seemed inhuman.

Resisting the urge to shiver he turned his attention away from those dead eyes towards Hadrian’s other grandfather, Lord Ryswell. The man seemed to be in good spirits, drinking from a cup of mead and loudly regaling those near him of stories of his late daughter Barbrey and speaking about how much Hadrian reminds him of her. He and his children were frequent guests at Winterfell, often coming to visit Hadrian and trying to pass along his wisdom to his grandson. They never stayed for more than a few weeks at a time but Lord Ryswell seemed to try and make it a point to visit Hadrian at least once every six moons or so. Benjen knows Hadrian appreciates it when they visit and he often seemed to hang on to every word Lord Ryswell says about his mother. They would generally be seated at the high table when they visited but with so many lords currently in Winterfell, Hadrian decided he could not show too much favouritism, even if Benjen knew he would always have a soft spot for the Ryswells.

The rest of the lords seemed to be in similarly good cheer. Laughing, drinking and boasting to one another in a way that only Northmen could.

His nephew shifting drew Benjens attention back to him just in time to watch him sit up straight. Hadrian seemed to glance at his dog which was lying in front of his spot at the table for a moment before looking back over the lords. In the next few seconds the black hound sat on his haunches and released a great howl that echoed over the hall.

“Arooooooooooooo”

In a moment the hall was instantly quieted as all those present looked towards the source of the noise. Feeling his brows scrunched together Benjen idly wondered how his nephew did that, he had never seen Hadrian training the dog. A question for another time perhaps, as his nephew cleared his throat and began speaking.

“Thank you all for coming to this harvest festival my lords. I will try not to take up too much of your time as I’m sure some of you would rather get back to drinking.” At this he sent a sly glance towards the Greatjon, who released a loud booming laugh and raised his mug in a toast while patting Lord Karstark on the back with one of his meaty hands. The lord almost stumbled over from the force of the blow but managed to right himself admirably in Benjens opinion.

While the commotion was going on Hadrian walked around the head table to stand in front of the lords. A serious breach in etiquette, as most lords wouldn’t deign to move to their feet to address their bannermen in their own hall. Something his father once told him was a display of power. Benjen was sure Harry knew this, so what was he doing? He had never known his nephew to do anything without a purpose.

After taking a moment to look over the lords in the hall his nephews continued. “The first thing I would like to do is give thanks to all of you. When the Mad King burned my grandfather alive and murdered my father, my uncle called his banners AND YOU answered that call!” Harry’s voice carried clearly across the hall. Not one lord made a sound. But Benjen could see most straighten up in their chairs.

“Many of you have been to Winterfell in the past three years and I’ve had the opportunity to thank you in person before today, but just as many have been busy with your own duties so I never had that chance. Now that you are all here, I felt that I had to take the opportunity to thank you for the support and loyalty you have shown my family my lords.” Hadrian dipped his head down towards the lords as he finished his statement. Benjen could see some lords puffing their chests out in pride at his nephew’s words and actions.

While it is common for lords to thank their bannermen for their actions and recognise their feats during a war, most Great Lords will do that by assigning a few honours towards the lords and giving a brief word of thanks. Rarely will they give genuine heartfelt thanks to all the lords regardless of their feats in the war when it is those lords sworn duty to answer the call in the first place. It’s basically unheard of for a great lord to humble themselves before their lords by rising to their feet while their lords sit. Benjen could never see Tywin Lannister, Jon Arryn or Mace Tyrell doing so. Hells he doubted even Robert Baratheon would do so. He could see most lords greatly appreciated the gesture if the slight smile on some of their faces was any indication.

The Greatjon stood. “What happened to Rickard and Brandon was a great crime! It was an honour to answer the call and avenge them!” He boomed. He then lifted a mug of ale in a toast. “To the Starks!”

All the lords quickly stood with their own mugs. “To the Starks!” They chorused before taking a sip.

Hadrian smiled while bending over to pour some ale into his own cup before lifting it. He could still see over m heads from the raised platform the head table was stood on, even if only barely. “You honour us my lords. I’m trying to honour you.” He jested with a small chuckle before lifting his own mug of ale. “To the North!”

The lords raised their cups again. “TO THE NORTH!” They roared and Benjen echoed before everyone took a sip of their ale.

Placing his cup on the table Hadrian watched the lords for a few moments. Once the commotion died down he continued to speak. “I –No we-” he gestured to the head table where all the Starks were sitting. “are honoured to have your faith and trust my lords. To that end I will be dedicating my life to making the North strong so the south will think twice before moving against us in such a way again.”

A cheer rang out across the lords. After a few moments Harry raised his hand for silence. “I have already started plans to make the North stronger. Some of those plans have met success.  As of a few weeks ago I have entered into an agreement with The Nights Watch in which the Gift will be returned into our hands.”

An even greater cheer washed over the hall. Benjen could see that Lord Umber was especially happy. As he should be Benjen thought. When the Gift was taken away from the North, the Umbers lost a lot of land. Benjen knows his nephew plans to give quite a bit back to them.

“My uncle and I will be speaking to the lords that this pertains to in private over the next few days. For now there is another topic I wish to speak about that will have as great, if not a greater impact on the North. Over the last year I have spent some time studying the farming practices of the North and have come up with a way to drastically increase the yield of our fields.” Muttering rang out across the room. Most of the lords had sceptical looks on their faces. Hadrian seemed to have expected this though, as he gestured for Ned to speak.

“It’s true my lords. Following my nephews instructions the farms around Winterfell have seen a fifty percent increase in yields over the last nine moons. The farmers expect this number to continue to rise for a time.” The muttering grew much louder. This time it carried an excited air about it. Most of the lords know Ned Stark as a paragon of honour. He never lies, so for him to say that the yield increased by that much most believe it had to be true. The muttering grew louder and louder before his nephew dog once again began to howl.

“Aroooooooo!”

Once he had the lords attention and there was quiet in the hall Hadrian started to speak again. “The process is pretty simple and will be written down for you to take back home to your Maesters, so they can make sure your farmers can learn how to do it. Basically you divide a field into four equal parts, three of those parts will be growing whatever crop you choose while the last will grow turnips or clover. After each harvest the field growing turnip or clover will be rotated to one of the other three fields while the area they used to grow in will now be used to grow your crop. Another advantage of this is that turnip and clover can be used as feed for animals allowing us to increase our number of livestock as well. I know it sounds like madness my lords, but it works.”

Many of the lords looked like they were in between looking incredibly happy and still skeptical.

Before they could start yet another commotion his nephew continued. ”Now while I know many of you are still skeptical I ask that you give this a chance my lords. I guarantee you will not be disappointed. There is only one more bit that I would like to speak on but it is nowhere near as important as the previous topics. I have invented a new way of keeping an accounting of coin. It is simpler than the old methods and much harder to cheat as well. It will also prevent you from being cheated. To this end you are all to implement this method in your own households as soon as you can. My Maester will be sending out written instructions in the weeks after you have returned to your holds on how to implement this method. “

The lords barely even reacted to what his nephew said. Benjen believes it didn’t even register as something important to most of them. Not when they were told the North would be gaining a large amount of fertile land and that his nephew has come up with a way to make sure all land grows even more food. Next to that a new way of keeping numbers must seem like something trivial to them. All except for Lord Manderly who he can see is watching Hadrian closely.

“Thank you for your time my lords. Please get back to the feast. Lord Umber, Lord Manderly please present yourselves to my solar tomorrow at noon my Lords.

With that abrupt finish Hadrian spun on his heel and walked back around the table to his seat.

Only once Hadrian was seated did the commotion start up again. The lords all sat back down into their own chairs and began to speak loudly with each other about what this could mean for the future of the North. Most began to really drink in earnest and the mood of the feast got even more celebratory than it was before. Benjen could loudly hear Lord Umber repeatedly toasting to his nephew with Lord Karstark and downing drinks with even more zeal than he did before. As he watched he saw Lord Mormont join in with a toast towards his nephew before racing with Lord Umber and Karstark to see who could finish their drink the fastest. Benjen had a feeling that the feast was only just starting. He also had a feeling that most of the Lords would be conspicuously absent the next day.

“So how did I do?” He was brought out of his observations by Hadrian who was speaking to him and Ned.

Benjen saw his brother look at his nephew with a proud smile on his face. “You did very well nephew. It is important for lords to create loyalty with their bannermen. You did well in the speech in the beginning, thanking them for their loyalty during the rebellion. It can mean more to a man to get recognition than you think. I doubt many Great Lords would bother to thank their bannermen for doing their duty. Doing so certainly endeared you to many of them. The lords were certainly excited to hear about the new farming practices and the return of the Gift.”

Benjen snorted.” That’s an understatement. I doubt many lords here will be able to function until well after noon with how much they are drinking. Lord Umber looks like he has never been happier.”

Hadrians eyes travelled over the hall and his smile widened slightly. “Good. They should celebrate. It is certainly a good occasion to.”

Benjen looked back over the hall and felt a slight tug on his lips as he looked at how merry the people in it were. He laughed slightly as he saw Lord Karstark fall off his chair and struggle to stand back up with how much he was swaying as he did so. He guesses the Greatjon is still undefeated when it comes to drinking contests.

Hadrians spoke again. “Uncle Benjen are you prepared to do what we discussed in regards to Lord Manderly? “

Benjens couldn’t help but feel himself perk up slightly at his nephews words. While he would be sad to leave his family in Winterfell to go to White Harbour, he is happy that he would finally be of more use to his family. While he knows none of them see him as a burden, he knows that they don’t really need him either. Hadrian hardly even needs Ned these days. So while it may be a bit selfish of him, Benjen is more than happy to go on a bit of an adventure away from Winterfell for a while. Plus he cant help but be excited to learn how to sail and captain a ship.

“Aye,nephew I am.”

He could hear the smile in Harrys voice. “Good.”

Hadrian reached for the jug of ale, pouring some into his cup. Lifting the cup he spoke.  “Then let’s have a toast-“

Before he could finish speaking Ned snatched it out of his hand. ”You’ve drank enough tonight. “

Hadrian pouted. “But Uncle-“

“No, Hadrian.”

Benjen burst into laughter. When his nephew looked towards him with eyes filled with betrayal he averted his eyes so he was looking back at the lords. “This is going to be an interesting few years.” He stated.

After his gaze landed on Lord Bolton who was staring at his nephew with a blank face and an intensity in his eyes that he couldn’t help but find worrying, he murmured so softly that nobody could hear him. ”An interesting few years indeed.”

Thank you for reading. As always criticism is welcome as long as it’s constructive.

To read ahead of the update schedule: Pat_reon(dot)com(slash) TheLifeandTimes19.

A Bargain Well Struck

A Bargain Well Struck

Winterfell-287 AC

Clash

The wooden practice swords collided together sending tremors through Hadrian’s hand.

‘Duck’ The thought came just in time for him to put it into action. His opponents sword came just over his head, barely grazing the top of his helm. Unfortunately the hasty duck left him unbalanced causing him to stumble back.

‘Move.’

Rather than fight against his momentum he decided to use it, pushing himself further back and avoiding a follow up swing that would have caught him on the arm. With a gasp of effort he lifted his sword just in time to catch the follow up swing, the effort of stopping his stronger opponents swing caused his arm to release a brief flare of pain that he tempered down through pure willpower.

With a grunt he attempted to counterattack only to have his sword pushed away. In the next moment his opponent held his sword to his neck.

“Stop!” Ser Rodricks voice carried over the practice yard with an ease that he always found admirable.

Gasping, Hadrian attempted to catch his breath while wiping his face on his forearm in an attempt to wipe the sweat off. While he was greedily sucking air into his lungs, Ser Rodrick walked up to him from where he was watching on the sidelines. “That’s enough for today my lord.”

With a shallow nod Hadrian gave in to the older man’s advice and moved to place the sword back into the stand where it came from. Then he returned to his position in the centre of the yard so that he could listen to the knights advice.

“You’re doing well my lord. Your forms are good for your age, but you need to work on your footwork some more. You become unbalance too easily, making you an easy target for any skilled fighter. We will work on that some more tomorrow. You also sometimes still hold the blade too tight making some of your moves come off as too rigid. Other than that, you have made good progress on your training so far.” He said.

Hadrian grumbed at the praise. “Doesn’t feel like it.”

The knights lips twitched in amusement. “ That’s because you insist on sparring against opponents who are a lot bigger and older than you are my lord. Against others your age you would not have such a difficult time.”

He nodded his head in conceit to the point.  When he was five Harry decided that he would start learning how to fight. From what he has been able to see and gather, Westeros can be a very brutal place and many of the lords will only respect someone if they can prove their martial ability. It was with that thought in mind that he asked his uncle Ned to allow him to start training a little bit earlier than others do.

His uncle was accommodating to his wishes up to a point. While he didn’t allow him to spar until earlier this year, he allowed Ser Rodrick to begin teaching him forms.

Hadrian wasn’t satisfied with that though. He felt like he was wasting time that he could use to improve. He knew his uncle was right in not allowing him to spar so he decided that he would work on his fitness and agility whenever he could, so that he would eventually have a clear advantage if he ever found himself fighting for his life. With this in mind he would wake up every morning just before sunrise and run around the battlements of Winterfell until he found himself start to grow tired. After that, he would spend an hour running through the small obstacle course he had constructed deeper in the Godswood in order to work on his balance and agility. Hadrian figured this would give him an edge against most opponents as he had observed most men only focused on their sword skills and not on their bodies. This is also the reason that Hadrian decided he would spar against older opponents in the yard, as not only was there a shortage of people his own age that he could spar against, he also used the opportunity to push himself against opponents who had some semblance of skill. After all, if there is no challenge he would not get better as quickly. The oldest person he had sparred against was only twelve and he only ever sparred with wooden swords. So it’s not like his uncle could complain about him putting himself at risk as even if he was hit by them, it’s not like they had the strength to seriously hurt him through the padding he had to wear.

The downside to this however, is that Hadrian found that he was quickly running out of time in the day. He would wake up at sunrise to go for a run, then he would practice on the obstacle course before moving to the Hearttree to practice his magic for two hours. After that he had practice with Ser Rodrick for an hour or so before he had to attend lessons with the Maester, who, contrary to his expectations never let him slack off. No, if anything the Maester seemed enthused with his perfect memory and used it as an excuse to make him read every book that Winterfell had in the library. No matter how trivial or meaningless the content within was. He repressed a shiver recalling the time he had to read through ‘1001 Poems for Fair Maidens’.

Once he was finished with his lessons with the Maester he attended the midday meal with his family before going to the blacksmith to learn from him for an hour or two. That left Hadrian with only a few hours a day to work on some of his other projects to improve the North and to spend time with his cousins.

“You should go get cleaned up my lord. Your uncle requested your presence in his solar after the midday meal.”

Ah right, he has a meeting with the Lord Commander of the Nights Watch. The man had arrived the day before looking slightly haggard from his journey with a dozen brothers of the watch. So far Hadrian had only greeted the man when he first arrived in the castle and asked a few pointed questions about the state of the watch. Otherwise he left him to rest from his journey and to be shown around Winterfell by his uncle Benjen.

With a short nod to the knight Hadrian made his way to his chambers to get cleaned up.

Line break-------

Sitting in the main solar of Winterfell behind solid oak desk that dominated the room Hadrian sipped boiled water from his cup while waiting for the Lord Commander of the Nights Watch to arrive for their meeting. On either side of him sat his both of his uncles, creating an image of a unified front for the Lord Commander. None of them are speaking, content to sit in silence thinking about the upcoming meeting while they wait for their guest to arrive.

While Hadrian was sure that the meeting would go well when he invited the Lord Commander to Winterfell he can’t help but feel slightly nervous now that the time has come. The Gift is very important for his plans for the North. While it isn’t absolutely essential for some of his plans, acquiring the Gift would make majority of them a whole lot easier.

Not only will the extra land act as a good carrot to dangle in front of some of his more stubborn bannermen, such as the Umbers, to get them to give their support for some of his plans that might be seen by some Northerners as strange or ridiculous, it will also allow him to significantly boost the Northern economy in the short term. This boost of income will give him a lot more leeway to apply some of his other plans to further increase the power of his kingdom.

Therefore it is important that everything goes well.

Hadrian is brought out of his musings by the guard outside the door knocking and announcing the arrival of the Lord Commander. Straightening in his chair, he releases a breath of anticipation before ordering the guard to let him in.

The Lord Commander enters the solar at an easy pace. Judging by the way his eyes widened slightly upon settling upon me it is clear he expected this meeting to be between himself and Ned. This is a good start. It sets the commander slightly off balance. Now to capitalise.

“Lord Commander Qorgyl, I would firstly like to thank you for agreeing to come to Winterfell to meet with me. Before we get down to business, can I offer you some wine?” Hadrian offered with the most genuine smile he could summon. He often found that it was easier to manipulate his political opponents with kindness than with ruthlessness or with petty power plays. Especially at his age, and especially when he had very little leverage over them. Most people expect the power plays once they are experienced in the field of politics, therefore being shown kindness and being treated as an equal can often throw them off. It is harder to say no to someone when you find yourself liking them. It’s even more difficult to say no to children that you like.

“Aye, I would appreciate that Lord Stark.” To the old mans credit he didn’t show any of the incredulousness he must be feeling due to having to deal with a young boy instead of his older, and no doubt in his mind, smarter and more experienced uncles. Hadrian sent a glance towards his uncle Benjen who was quick to move onto his feet to fetch a cup for the man. While his uncle was busy doing that, Hadrian took the time to examine the Lord Commander of the Nights Watch.

Lord Qorgyl had seen better days. He was an old man who seemed like he was in the twilight years of his life. His skin was extremely pale, his eyes were tired and he seemed underweight. His movements where slow and his hands shook slightly as he picked up the goblet of wine that was placed in front of him. Hadrian guessed that’s what living on the wall for over three decades could do to a man, even if he hadn’t gone on rangings in a number of years.

After taking a few gulps of his wine the Lord Commander placed the goblet gently on the table and released a content sigh. “I haven’t had a good cup of Arbour Gold for many years now. A man can forget how much he misses the simple pleasures in life living on the wall.”

He nodded along to the Lord Commanders words and offered a wry smile.” I’m afraid that I can’t comment on the pleasure derived from wine. Uncle Ned has never allowed me to drink any.”

His uncle chuckled softly. “When you are older, nephew. You give me enough headaches as it is.”

Lord Qorgyles lips twitched slightly before a serious look came upon his face. “As much as I have enjoyed the warmth and hospitality of Winterfell, it is probably best if we get down to business. I cannot be away from the wall for too long lest some of the newer brothers grow too bold for their own good.”

Despite himself Hadrian found that he quite liked the old Lord Commander. He appears to be a very serious man but you can see that he has a small sense of humour under the gruff exterior he shows to the world.

He smiled. “I quite agree Lord Commander. To put it simply at the outset of this meeting we hope to have hatched a deal with the Nights Watch which will be beneficial for both parties.”

Lord Qorgyl looked slightly intrigued. “And what does this deal entail exactly?”

He let a small grin grow on his face. “The return of the Gift into the North of course.”

The Lord Commanders face tightened until it resembled a statue. “The Gift was given to the Nights Watch by Jaeherys l. I fail to see how losing it can benefit the Watch. “

Hadrian suppressed the small amount of irritation he felt. “Can we speak candidly my lord?”

Lord Qorgyl nodded grimly. “I would prefer it if we did.”

He smiled to try and lighten the mood. It didn’t seem to work. “Jaeherys is seen as a wise king. He is seen as great king. He kept peace for almost his entire reign and managed to set a lot of the framework that holds the Seven Kingdoms together to this day. This fact is undeniable.”

After taking a moment to let this settle in he continued. “But I’ve always had a different opinion of the man. When he gave the Gift to the Watch he not only hurt the North but the Watch itself. It’s even crossed my mind that he was deliberately trying to push House Stark and the North toward open rebellion so that he could further curb our power. There are many reasons he might have done this, ranging from the fact it would have given him the opportunity to replace House Stark with another house that would be more easy to control or it could be that he did this to hurt the North to allow the faith a better chance of spreading its influence in the future or it could have been for any number of reasons. However I refuse to believe that he gave away a kingdoms worth of land on a whim because he admired the Nights Watch.”

Seeing the old man open his mouth, Hadrian was quick to continue. “Let’s look at the facts shall we? Looking through the old records that Winterfell had of the Watch, I came to a number of conclusions. The first being that the Nights Watch has never in its history, had the resources or manpower to effectively govern a piece of land that large. Not without breaking their neutrality and not without losing focus beyond The Wall where their efforts are meant to be directed.”

He couldn’t tell what the Lord Commander was thinking. Hadrian decided that he would be a good poker player. Well, if poker existed in this world that is. It took a moment for the man to reply. “And what lead you to this conclusion?”

Resisting the urge to smirk Hadrian was quick to reply. “ When the Gift was first given to the Watch there were around seven thousand brothers. It’s not the peak of their strength but the Watch was still pretty strong regardless. Of those seven thousand brothers, perhaps five hundred to a thousand of them were builders, stewards or blacksmiths. The six thousand left over were either warriors, recruiters or trainers. Now that is a large number, and in theory they should have the numbers to govern their increased holdings, maybe not effectively, but they had the numbers to at least keep the peace. In reality however the situation is very different. A few thousand of those men had to be used to scout beyond The Wall to keep an eye on the wildlings as is the main duty of the Watch. Hundreds of them or perhaps even thousands of them, had to be used to govern the watch itself, as there were many men that weren’t there by choice and as such they had to be constantly watched for desertion before they were trusted or to prevent a mutiny, which has happened more than once in the Watch’s history. Let’s be generous and say that four thousand brothers were available to help govern the Gift. That sounds like a reasonable number, aye?”

The commander replied with a stiff nod and his assent. “The Watches first duty is to keep an eye on the wildlings. Many brothers would have been used to do so. If we had the numbers we would send many more out ranging than we do.”

Hadrian nodded. “Aye, so four thousand brothers needed to somehow govern a piece of land that is almost a third the size of the Riverlands. That’s already a difficult task. Then take into account the fact that they have to collect taxes from their lands, they have to work to maintain the settlements and they have to dispense justice over their new subjects and the Watch is already being stretched very thin. Not to mention the fact that many members of the Watch were criminals that were forced to join and that people were probably not keen on accepting the judgment of rapists and thieves in the first place. Creating strain between The Watch and the people living in the Gift. The strain was probably increased due to some Lord Commanders mismanagement, as some of them were smallfolk who were never trained to govern in the first place and commanding The Watch is no doubt very different from ruling over thousands of smallfolk. Now the Watch is spread thin and can no longer stop as many raids from the Wildlings as they used to and so they already start to fail in their duties. This creates a poor environment to live in for the smallfolk living on the land as they are suffering from an increased amount of wildling raids. As a result many of them start to move South. Jump ahead to the current date and most of the Gift is now left barren.”

Hadrian stopped for a moment to let the man process what he had just said before asking his question. “Your thoughts my lord?”

The Lord Commander seemed contemplative for a moment before replying. “Aye that does seem to match up with what our histories have implied. You forget though that the Watch was already losing strength for many years before that. Since the time of Aegon the Conqueror the watch has been losing strength as less wars between the kingdoms meant that less men were sent to The Watch as a result of those wars.”

He nodded his head in conceit of the point. “Aye, you’re correct of course. In the time of Aegons conquest the brothers were numbered closer to ten thousand. Regardless, The Watch never had to rely solely on prisoners of war before that. They definitely used them to bolster their forces but they were never solely reliant on them. Even during the reign of Jaeherys, during possibly the most peaceful time in in the history of Westeros, there were still over seven thousand brothers. One thing you are forgetting my lord, is where many of the willing volunteers for The Watch were from.”

He scrunched his eyebrows for a second before his shoulders slumped and he leaned back into his chair. “The Gift.” He whispered in realisation.

Clapping his hands together he confirmed the Lord Commanders words. ”The Gift!”

Leaning forward and resting his elbows against the table he decided to expand the point. “Many second or third sons joined the Watch from the Gift. Either due to not wanting to burden their families during winter or due to the fact they found protecting their families from wildlings was a noble cause to dedicate their lives to. A proper count was never taken of where the brothers were recruited from, but we both know that many today still join The Watch in order to receive a meal and a place to sleep. Many of them are even from the South. You can imagine then that for those who were starving or who were a burden on their families that a place that they could go to receive a guaranteed meal that was so close by would seem like an enticing prospect. As less volunteers joined The Watch, you were forced to rely more on criminals, dragging the reputation of The Watch down and as a result made people even more hesitant to volunteer. Creating a vicious cycle of relying more on criminals, meaning there would be fewer honourable men would be willing to join, meaning you had to rely even more on criminals.”

The Lord Commander looked like he had aged a decade in a day. When he first walked into the solar he looked proud. Now, he just looked tired. He released a weary sigh. “And so the Watch failed in their duties to the Gift and as such began to fail in their duty to the realm.”

I hummed. “None of that my lord. The Watch was never designed to govern a piece of land that large. It was designed to hold The Wall and to scout the lands beyond. Nothing more, nothing less. It is hardly the Watches fault they could not effectively do duties that it wasn’t created for in the first place.”

He just nodded tiredly. “I thank you for your words. Now I believe it would be best to bring us back to the deal you mentioned earlier.”

I took a sip of water to give myself time to gather my thoughts. “To be honest with you my lord, I could probably take The Gift back whenever I wanted. I doubt it would be difficult at all. All I would have to do is ask my uncle Eddard to write a letter to the king asking for the Gift as a reward for the Norths part in The Rebellion. Throw in some words about how we would like the land back that the Targaryens stole from us and I imagine he would pretty much throw it at us.”

Lord Qorgyl looked grim. “Aye, he just might. Even in The Watch we have heard about the kings hatred for all things Targaryen.”

I looked him in the eyes and said in the most serious voice I could muster. “But I won’t do that. I have too much respect for The Watch and your sacred duties to do that. I would much rather come to an agreement that benefits both of us, even if it increases the costs to Winterfell.”

A relieved look flashed across his face for a moment so brief I would have thought I was imagining it if I wasn’t specifically looking for any change in his expression. “What agreement is that my lord?”

Leaning back into my chair I flashed a small smile at the Lord Commander. “I would see the Watch compensated. Winterfell is willing to donate three thousand Gold Dragons a year to The Watch in perpetuity in order to have the Gift returned to us.” Three thousand gold was no measly sum. A family of commoners could live off of a Gold Dragon for a year, provided they lived frugally and didn’t waste any coin. Not that I really expected him to accept that offer, but negotiations had to start from somewhere.

I could see him straightening slightly as we now moved into more familiar territory for the man. Bartering has long been a skill that all men in Westeros have developed. For someone from a noble house like Lord Qorgyl, it is a skill that he was probably taught from a young age and expected to excel in. “ While three thousand gold a year is a lot of coin, we both know that the Gift is the most fertile land in the North. Twelve thousand.”

I almost chocked. The North only paid 60 000 gold dragons to the Iron Throne in taxes this last year, which makes up half the taxes that Winterfell receives from its bannermen.´”While the Gift is very fertile, there are no smallfolk to farm it. It will be years before we even receive a profit from it. Four thousand.”

His lips seemed to twitch. “But you will be turning a profit. Eight thousand.”

A grumble forced its way past my lips. “We will be forced to spend a lot of gold to get to that point. Five thousand and we will repair one castle of your choosing within the next ten years.”

After taking a moment to think it through he nodded his agreement. “It seems we have a deal my lord.”

With a slight smile I reached over the table to shake his hand. “Aye, it seems we do. My uncle Eddard will finalise the agreement with you tomorrow.”

Lord Qorgyl gave a short nod before standing, saying his goodbyes to Ned and Benjen before marching out the door.

Hadrian slouched slightly in his chair feeling relieved. While it was more than what he was hoping to pay, it was less than he feared. He estimated that once the Gift was populated it would save the North at least 20 000 Dragons a year due to no longer having to purchase as much overpriced food from the South, never mind the coin they would gain from selling the food. Besides most of that coin would be spent purchasing items from the North, injecting the coin back into their economy where it would eventually make its way back to Winterfell.

Harry felt a pleased grin work its way across his face. He could work with this.

Looking at his uncles he saw that Benjen seemed to be gaping slightly while Ned had an impressed look on his face.

Lifting an eyebrow and adopting a small smirk he decided to comment. “What?”

Both of his uncles shook their heads slightly before Benjen decided to stand and make for the door. “I leave him in your hands brother. I need a drink or five.”

Harry snorted slightly before closing his eyes in contentment. Yes, he could definitely work with this.

Thank you for reading. I couldn’t find a proper value of the buying power of gold Dragons as the books seemed to be quite inconsistent when it came to that so I had to come up with my own values. I hope you all enjoyed. As always criticism is welcome as long as it’s constructive.

Next chapter Thursday 19 January 2023.

Plans

It didn’t take Hadrian long teach the farmers a method to increase their yields. More specifically he decided to teach four- field crop rotation. He noticed that the farmers would often leave a part of the field fallow. He had to make them replace the fallow fields with turnips or clover instead of the usual corn. The idea was to use the turnips and clover to feed livestock so that farmers could have more of that as well.

Both adult Starks had a strange combination of looks on their faces when they heard the news from the farmers that the yield was gradually getting higher each harvest. It was a mixture between excitement and resignation.

That’s when Hadrian decided to invite the Northern Lords to Winterfell for the Harvest Festival.

It was three moons to the next festival and Harry spent many nights alone in the main solar of Winterfell with both his uncles, discussing what they would do with some of the newfound wealth and the wealth they would gain once they spread this knowledge to the North. During this time he told them about a few of his plans. He didn’t tell them everything of course. Both because he knew there were some they wouldn’t agree to, but also because he didn’t want to overwhelm them.

His biggest plan at the moment was to get some land back that rightfully belonged to the North. New fertile land.

Yes, Hadrian was determined to get the Gift back into the hands of the North.

Which leads to the current circumstances.

“Uncle I want you write a letter to Robert about giving us permission to get the Gift back from the Nights Watch.”

His uncles face went through a myriad of emotions. It was late at night and him and uncle Benjen were sitting beside a fire in the solar. Both of them had cups of mead in their hands and were listening to some of my ideas.

Benjen was the first to react. ”The Nights Watch is neutral. The King will want to think twice before taking land away from them. Some may not react very well to it.”

Hadrian nodded his head lazily. “Aye, that’s why I want him to give us permission to negotiate with the Nights Watch for them to return the lands to us. “

After being quiet for a while uncle Eddard nodded slowly. “Aye, it may work. Robert will give us permission if I ask. How will you get the Nights Watch to release the lands though?”

There was a simple answer for this one. “The Nights Watch is failing uncle. It has been losing numbers for many years now. They only control three castles now. They only have a little over a thousand men and according to what I have heard they are getting very little if anything from the Gift due to low numbers and wildling raids driving off all the small folk.”

He give that a second to settle in before he continued. “I plan to ask them to give the Gift back to us and whatever lords who are named for these lands will pay their taxes to us. In return Winterfell will arm them ourselves, we will aid in rebuilding some of the castles along the wall as well as helping increase the prestige for the watch, we will give them a decent sum of gold every five years or so, so that they can maintain their castles and to trade. There will be other stipulations but I will discuss those with the Lord Commander.”

The uncertainty was back on their faces. Uncle Ned was surprisingly the first to voice his thoughts. “I’m not sure if the Lord Commander will agree to that. They are losing a lot of land in this. I think they would want something more.”

Harry shook his head. “True the Gift is a large piece of land but they lack the men to patrol it and the smallfolk to farm it. It’s useless in their hands as it is. I considered having those new houses pay a portion of their taxes to the watch but that will very soon become some of the most valuable land in the North. It is already extremely fertile, with the new farming practices; its value will be massive. I can’t let an institution that doesn’t answer to the Starks receive such a large amount of wealth and have any control over a northern house, even if it’s just in tax. Imagine what a statue worshipping southerner as a Lord Commander might do with that type of wealth. Never mind the fact that the watch hardly trades for anything, they won’t be able to spend that wealth and it will just sit there collecting dust or being stolen by the rapers and thieves on the wall. No, the most I can offer the watch is gold and arms as well as trying to increase their reputations so that more volunteers take the black.”

He knew he was laying it on thick with all the southern hating nonsense I was spewing. There was a method to the madness however. Hadrian knew that one day there would be trouble with the Faith. That’s something he’s accepted. They would not allow a land with rival gods to flourish like he planned on the North doing over the next few years. The South will not leave the North alone, because the North flourishing means more gold will travel into the North and less will be left in the Southern kingdoms. Growing our own food means less will be purchased from those Southern kingdoms, making a dent on their economy. It will be even worse for the South once the new farming practices spread there. The price of food will drop quite drastically, meaning many farmers will struggle to sell their wares. Inevitably they will look for someone to blame and the North makes the perfect scapegoats.  The Faith will most likely find this as perfect ammunition to use against the North and the Old Gods, so tensions are going to rise. It’s almost inevitable that the North will go to war with the south, just not the form that war will take.

In the meantime he’s going to make the North as strong as he can. By having a reputation among his own family of disliking southerners he will have an excuse for why he disregards most of the wishes of the South over the next few years. Leaving him to mostly grow the North in solitude for the time being, while having a simple excuse among family for some questionable actions that they won’t understand.

With any luck this will also help make his cousins more wary of the South as well.

Catelyn had been irritating him with some of her actions lately and he needed to make sure they had no lasting impacts on his cousins’ development. Preaching that Seven-Star nonsense to Robb. Trying to make him be wary of Jon because he’s a bastard. She even tried to move Jon out of Robbs room and into one of the smallest servant’s quarters we had. She was pissed when he had him moved across the hall from Robb, into a room similar in size to Robbs.

He was pulled out of my musings by his uncle Neds sigh. “If you think you can convince him I’ll invite him to Winterfell.” Hah, even uncle Ned seemed to have given up trying to change his opinion on southerners.

Hadrian nodded to him. “We have the Harvest festival in three moons. Invite him to Winterfell in two moons. We would have gotten a positive reply from the King by then so we can discuss terms. This will also give us another moon to decide how the lands will be split up before the Lords get to Winterfell.”

Both his uncles nodded and took small sips of their mead. Uncle Ned started rubbing his hands over the fire while Benjen just stared into the flames.

After a few moments of comfortable silence he decided there was still more to talk about and so cleared his throat and began to speak. “I hate to bring this up now Benjen, but I think in the next week or so you should make your way to Sea-Dragon Point. You need to decide where you want your new keep to be and start coming up with a basic design you want. After the Harvest festival I’m hoping you will go with the Manderlys to learn how to captain a ship, so I think it would be best if we had those details sorted before then so that the building can begin while you are at White Harbour.”

Benjen just gave a resigned nod. Harry was sure he was still a bit upset about not being able to join the watch. Hopefully travelling outside of Winterfell and actually doing things will help improve his mood.

There wasn’t much else to speak about at that moment, so Hadrian wished both of his uncles well before heading off to his chambers to get some sleep.

Line break-------------

The next morning found Hadrian sitting with his legs crossed in front of the Heart tree in the Godswood of Winterfell.

For the last three years, since the end of the Rebellion, Harry would come out to the Godswood every day for a few hours in the morning to work on his magic.

In the first few weeks it was incredibly difficult to get the magic to respond in any meaningful way. He started by trying to manipulate the elements. He would sit over a candle for hours trying to get fire to move or flicker slightly, he would submerge himself in the hotsprings and try to move the water or he would sit quietly in a clearing trying to move around the air around him or the snow on the ground. After several weeks with no results he started to get incredibly frustrated. He went through his memories from his past life recalling all texts on the nature of magic or elemental manipulation using probably the most useful gift from being the Master of Death.

Perfect memory.

Many would probably consider the immortality to be more useful. Or the extra power that comes with the title. But to Harry the greatest gift would always be the ability to remember his happiest moments. To remember his friends faces, smiles and laughs in perfect detail.

Some days he thinks these memories are the only reason he is still sane. On others he wonders if they are pushing him closer to insanity by providing him with a reminder of what he lost. Harry doesn’t particularly care. He is just happy to have something to remember those lost to him by.

After searching through all his memories of elemental manipulation and still failing to achieve any result, Harry came to the conclusion that the magic system of this world is too different from his own. He can still feel the magic in the air even if it’s weakened. Trying to manipulate it however just leaves him frustrated by a lack of progress.

It was then that he came to the conclusion that he would have to learn the magic all over again with this new system.

He decided to start with a magic that, according to his research, his ancestors probably had great control over.

Warging.

He determined that his ancestors were capable of warging due to a few facts. First, thousands of years ago the Starks defeated the Warg King and married his daughter into their bloodline. The magic should have passed down to their children and he found proof that it did. Some of the older texts written in the old tongue made reference to Stark Kings of old having companions in the form of Direwolves that were said to be extremely loyal and fiercely protective of the Starks. If that doesn’t scream warg then he is not sure what does. He was never able to discover why exactly the Starks had lost their companions though, or why they stopped practicing warging. The pages of the older texts he was reading were either too faded from old age or too damaged to read anything further.

At least it provided an excuse to order the Maester to teach one of the orphans in Wintertown how to read and write, so they could start copying the texts. Harry knew he would need a team of talented loyal scribes for his plans for the North and its best to start now.

Unfortunately Harry didn’t have a Direwolf that he could learn how to warg with so he decided to go with something else.

More specifically, he started with a pup from one of the hunting hounds that he named Padfoot. The dog resembles a husky with great shaggy black fur.

It took him a few weeks after adopting the puppy to learn how to go into its mind after great amounts of concentration. After his success in those efforts he was reinvigorated in his pursuit of magic and now over three years later he has a much greater control over the ability.

He can warg into his dog easily from a large distance away. He isn’t sure of the exact limitation yet as he has never been that far from Winterfell. Based on his experience with warging into birds he believes it’s far. He hasn’t actually been able to find a limit yet and he’s flown a bird out of the North completely.

Two years ago after he had mastered warging into his dog on command, he decided to move onto other animals. That’s when he first learned of the inherent danger of warging. The animal and the human share a mind. Therefore unless one is careful, some of the instincts of the animal can bleed through to the human.

The first time he warged into a random raven in the rookery and flew, he had almost got lost in the instincts of the bird. The feeling of freedom that the bird in flight gave could be addicting to those unwary. Luckily for him, his memory is perfect and he has experience using occulemency to fight intrusions into his mind. This made it a lot easier to notice the instincts that weren’t his and shut them down.

Now, he can warg half a dozen different creatures at once. The only downside to this is that he has to concentrate immensely on meditation. Meaning that he has to sit still and he has very little awareness of his surroundings unless one of the animals he has warged to is nearby. He has been trying to fix that issue but hasn’t had much success as of yet. Even trying to actively warg into one animal only has him lose awareness of himself. Unfortunately without a teacher, he is forced to learn everything from scratch. Luckily being around the ambient magic in the godswood makes it a bit easier to push his magic in different ways with less strain, making it easier to experiment.

He misses his old magic terribly, but that’s not to say there aren’t any advantages to what he has learned to do in this life so far. In fact, he used warging to determine that the Iron Islands were going to rebel. He first noticed that the Ironborn were being spotted more often but the number of raids wasn’t increasing and so decided to investigate. It was incredibly frustrating to make a bird fly all the way to the islands. He was only able to warg at night, lest his family find him and grow concerned. The problem with this is that inevitably the bird would wander in a different direction when he wasn’t actively trying to guide it. Sometimes undoing the work of the previous night.

Needless to say it took him weeks to get a bird to Pyke and spy on Balon Greyjoy.

Once he found out he was planning to rebel, he tried to think of how he could inform his uncles so that they could subtly warn the Houses on the Western shores. Eventually he decided to hit them with enough facts presented in a way to make the Ironborn Rebellion sound if not definite then at least plausible.

Harry is slightly ashamed to admit to himself that he almost didn’t tell them about the rebellion at all. He knew that his uncle would warn the King. Despite what he told his uncles he didn’t know how the King would react to the rebellion. He expects him to let the rebellion kick off before putting it down because like he said to uncle Ned, putting down an Ironborn Rebellion with most of the Lords of Westeros behind him will add a great deal of legitimacy to his reign. Unfortunately he doesn’t know if that is what Robert will do.

He hopes he doesn’t make any moves to act against the Ironborn because he expects they will move against the Lannister fleet first and Harry hopes they burn it to ashes.

The Harry from Hogwarts would never be able stomach the thought of knowing about a war and not doing anything to stop it. He would never wish for a war with all the devastation he knows it will bring. That was before he lost everything and everyone he loved.

This time he is determined to keep what he has. Unfortunately that means making decisions that he finds terrible to protect his family.

The Lannisters are one of the biggest threats to his family in Westeros. They’re undoubtedly the most powerful family on the continent and while they aren’t enemies of House Stark, he can’t rely on that staying the case forever. Tywin Lannister is a ruthless man. A cruel man. Harry will not let House Stark go the way of the Targaryens.

He clenches his fist thinking about the fate of those children and their mother.

While Harry might be more ruthless than he used to be, that doesn’t mean that he is okay with the murder of innocents. Nevermind children.  That’s partly the reason that he told his uncles about the rebellion, so that he can clear his conscience. Even if only slightly. As whatever happens next between the Ironborn and the Iron Throne is out of his hands.

The fact that Robert Baratheon rewarded the bastard with the brutal murder of children by making his daughter Queen is a serious black mark against him, that will never be removed from Harrys mind.

Harry released a breath with a sigh. He’s working himself up. With another deep inhale and exhale he feels his shoulders relaxing. A calm and relaxed mind helps greatly with warging, working himself up will only make the process harder.

Closing his eyes he focuses on Padfoot. Before he knows it he’s staring at his body from a low angle and with senses that aren’t human. His eyesight might not be that great at the moment but his hearing and sense of smell are just more. He doesn’t know if he will ever get used to seeing out of the eyes of animals. Stretching out his mind he concentrated on sharing his consciousness with a small brown owl that lives in the Godswood that has gotten used to him warging with it.

His senses start expanding and his viewpoint changes again as he starts to see out of the eyes of two different animals at once. It was an intensely nauseating experience the first few times he tried to do this.

His vision started clearing as the owl, reaching a definition and depth perception that is impossible for humans. He starts to feel hungry. With a searching glance he spots a small rabbit a small distance away. His instinct drives him to leap from the branch and kill and feast.

Harry quickly clears his mind and gains control of his instincts. That doesn’t mean he is going to ignore them completely however. Today feels like a good day to fly. He will give the owl some food just later to make up for missing his meal now.  He stretches his wings and with a quick push-“

“Harry!” Padfoots ears perk up at the sound of his two little cousins voices. With a quick flex of willpower he pulls his consciousness from the owl and padfoot back into his own body.

He stands up and turns around just in time to get tackled by Robb and Jon. He stumbles back a few steps chuckling. ”What are you two monsters up too?”

Both of them step back laughing before Jon answers. “We hide from Mira.”

I can’t help myself from releasing a loud laugh before ruffling the hair on their heads. Both boys push my hands away with a pout. ” Its ‘We’re hiding from Mira, Jon.”

Jon looks at the floor with a frown while mumbling the correction I just gave him.

Mira is the governess that was hired to take care of Robb and Jon a little over a year ago after I finally managed to get rid of the damn Septa that Catelyn insisted on bringing from the Riverlands when she first came North. I had tried to get rid of her unsuccessfully for two years until eventually I found out while warging, that she was sending messages south through a man in Wintertown.

Making a bird steal the letter once the man got a few days away from Winterfell gave me the chance I needed to finally get rid of her. After giving my uncle the letter in which she reported our private family secrets to Hoster Tully, reported how successful she has been in converting the North to the Seven and repeatedly called us heathens, he finally decided that I was right and she needed to go before she could poison his children toward the Old Gods.

Catelyn tried to argue against it, but couldn’t deny that the Septa was in the wrong. She then tried to bring another Septa North to teach her children, but at that stage I was done playing around and told Ned in no uncertain terms that the Starks have worshipped the Old Gods for thousands of years, and would worship them for thousands more if I could help it. I told him our bannermen would never support a Stark raised in the Faith of the Seven. It still ended up being one hell of an argument. He wanted to support his wife and was determined to do so until Benjen joined the argument on my side, and told him that I was right.

To this day Catelyn seems content to completely ignore my existence except for the occasional glare she throws my way. Not that it’s ever really bothered me. Once you’ve had Petunia Dursley as an aunt, anything seems like a major improvement.

“Why are you two hiding, hmm?” I ask with a smile on my face.

Both of them break out into giggles before Robb answers. ”It’s funny.”

I can’t help but laugh a little with them. “Aye it can sometimes be funny but you mustn’t do it too often to the poor woman, okay?”

They both put serious looks onto their faces before answering simultaneously. ”Yes Harry.” My cousins are the only ones that really call me Harry in this life. When they were younger they couldn’t pronounce Hadrian so I told them to call me Harry. Uncle Ned and Benjen have called me that a few times as well but generally they both seem to prefer to call me Hadrian for some reason.”

With a smile on my face I start leading the two out of the Godswood. ”Come on, let’s go see Sansa.”

Robb groans. “But she’s boring. She just sleeps.”

“Shes your sister Robb. It is both of your jobs to look after her. She might be boring now but so were you two when you were her age.”

He glares. “No. We were fun.”

I laugh hard.” Aye, whatever you say. Come on you two, if you behave you can watch my sparring practice for a bit afterwards.”

Both of their eyes light up and their previous reluctance disappears completely.

“Really?!” Jon asks looking as if I just gifted him something amazing.

Robb is already racing away. “ Hurry up. Lets go!”

I smile. Yes this is worth protecting.

Getting Started

I know it’s been a while but some things in life have been getting in the way lately. I just finished moving a few months ago and had to get used to a completely new routine that didn’t leave much time for writing. I actually had this chapter finished a little while ago but decided to wait until I could write a few chapters ahead so I could more easily keep to a set schedule from now on. I have written a few chapters ahead now and will be releasing the next chapter on this website on twelve January 2023. I have a bonus chapter that can be found on patreon if you want to read ahead of schedule. The next few chapters after that are being reviewed and edited as we speak and the next one will probably be up on patreon by Saturday. I want to thank everyone for the reviews, likes and follows. I really appreciate it. As always criticism is welcome as long as it’s constructive.

287 AC- Winterfell

Eddard Stark was a simple man, with simple values and simple desires.

He never had a desire for power, at least not since he was old enough to know what the cost of that power would be.  No, he was a second son and the North would go to his older brother Brandon. Eddard Stark had accepted that truth a long time ago.

He never had a desire for coin. Being from a Great House, he never went without. He always had the best. The best education, the most well-made clothes, the best food and the best steel in his swords and armour. He rode the best horses, had the best training and slept in some of the best castles in Westeros. No, Eddard Stark had no desire or need for coin. While House Stark was not as rich as some southern houses, they were better off than most.

All Eddard Stark ever wanted in his life was to live with honour. All he ever desired was to serve his family to the best of his ability in whatever way was needed and perhaps he’d be given a small keep somewhere in the North where he could raise a family of his own. Even then, he never put much thought into marriage. At least not until the tourney of Harrenhall.

This is why it was so easy for him to turn down Robert Baratheon when he tried to make him the Lord of Winterfell.

Oh, he knows that he upset quite a few people in the South with his decision. Robert sought to reward him for his part in the Rebellion. Jon Arryn claimed that in this treacherous time the North needed a strong leader and not a child as its Warden. Hoster Tully was furious he refused to usurp his nephews rightful position, claiming his blood deserves to rule the North. Don’t even get him started on Catelyn….

But Eddard Stark was a family man first and foremost. He never even contemplated the idea.

Now as Eddard stark sits and watches his seven year old nephew and Benjen argue about the merits of the Wall, he can’t help but think he made the correct decision. His nephew was brilliant.

Sometimes so brilliant it scared him. It can be eerie to see a seven year old correct a Maester.

Maester Lewin said it only took him two moons to learn how to read. With that outstanding progress, Eddard had the Maester move him to more complicated work.

He blew through them like they were child’s play. The Maester was astounded and asked Hadrian how he does it. When asked, Hadrian just said that he ‘remembers everything’. A few days later he proved that boast to be true when Eddard picked out a random book out of the group his nephew had read and opened it onto a random page to start reading. He was astounded when his nephew managed to take over from him in a few moments and recite the entire page through pure memory.

At the age of five his nephew went on to learn numbers. After the first three months he came to Ned and asked to have a look at the accounts of House Stark. Ned, knowing how smart his nephew was, let him. But not without a stern warning that any final purchases would go through him until his nephew was older.  It only took his nephew a few days to decide that he hated the way the accounts are kept. A month later he created a new method of keeping the accounts. He called it double entry bookkeeping. So far it has proven to be a major improvement over the current method used.

The only problem was when Maester Luwin wanted to send his current method to the citadel. His nephew argued that the North should benefit from it first and therefore it would be released to the South only when he deems it. His nephew argued to wait a few more years before sending it to the northern lords so he can capitalize on it with something else to make it as beneficial as possible.

At first Ned was against the idea of not sharing it. But he realised that his nephew was the Lord of the North and he was the one who invented it and should therefore be the one who decides how it is used.  While Ned could use his power as regent to ignore his nephews’ wishes, he realised very early on that it would be counterproductive to undermine him like that, especially for something so trivial. No, he decided that his nephew needs to learn how to rule properly and as such he wouldn’t go against his wishes unless he felt like he was making a major mistake. The minor ones could be smoothed over and used to teach Hadrian lessons about where he went wrong.

To his pleasant surprise, Hadrian hardly ever made mistakes. Hells, in some ways Ned was convinced that he was a better ruler than most lords already. The only thing his nephew needed to work on was his politics. Not to say that Hadrian was bad at it. He just never failed to hide his disdain for it.

Ned mostly handles the bigger matters in the North these days.  Such as dealing with the lords and dealing out justice as well as looking over the taxes. When it comes to holding court for the smallfolk he decided to give his nephew a say in the decisions that would be made, in order to teach him more about responsibility.

He nephew took to it just like with everything else, like a fish to water.

The only thing about his nephew that occasionally irritates him is his strange ideas and habits. Well, that and his stubbornness.

When he turned six his Hadrian decided that he would apprentice under the blacksmith. No amount of arguing would change his mind on the matter. All he would say in response to Ned’s arguments is that if he is to rule over the people then he should know how their craft works in order to allow them to get the most out of it. He gave the same arguments for why he decided to follow around the farmers for two moons when he turned seven. Of course, just like with everything else his nephew was declared a prodigy by Mikken, Winterfells blacksmith.

The silver lining with that is at least most of the lords of the north respect his nephews dedication.

It is his brothers irritated voice that bring him out of his musings.

“Hadrian I understand you don’t want me to go and that’s why I haven’t left, even though I wanted to three years ago. But now you’re older. Hells, you’re smarter than me, you don’t need me anymore. You have Ned to look out for you. I want to something for myself. To bring honour to the Stark name. I can do that at the wall. There’s honour in joining the watch.”

Hadrian’s expression softened for a moment before hardening again. “I can understand that uncle. I know you want to do more in your life than just stay in Winterfell. That doesn’t mean I’m going to allow you to waste away your life though.”

Benjen sighed. “Hadrian –“

Hadrian stood. “No! Perhaps once upon a time, the Nights Watch was an honourable order, but it’s not now. It’s a prison. For rapists and murderers who were too cowardly to face the block for their crimes. Rapists and murderers who are probably still raping and murdering people. So what if it’s targeted at the wildlings. Rape is still rape and murder is still murder no matter who you do it too. Maybe there are some honourable men among the brothers of the watch, but they are few these days.”

Benjen looked like he had been slapped.

Ned sighed. Perhaps he should intervene now before words that can’t be taken back are said. He doesn’t want Benjen to join the Watch either. Not because he shares his nephews view of them. No, Ned believes that there is still honour in the Watch. Sure there are many criminals who chose the black to avoid the headsman’s axe for their crimes. But there are also many second sons who took the black to bring honour to their families. Most of those men might be from the North as the south has a poor view of the Watch but that doesn’t change the fact that in the North the Watch is still seen as an honourable institution.

“Hadrian, that’s enough. The watch is still an honourable choice to make. There may be men who aren’t honourable there and some men who don’t take their oaths as seriously as others. All that means is that they need more men like Benjen there.”

His brother looked at him gratefully. “Thank you, Ned.”

His nephew however was starting to look frustrated. After a few seconds of silence a gleam entered into Hadrian’s eyes that made Ned worried. He recognised that look. It’s the same look he got whenever he had one of his ideas. He got that look when he decided to remake the way the accounts are kept, it’s the same look he got before he decided to apprentice for the blacksmith or when he decided to follow the farmers around for two moons. Ned had learned to both dread and appreciate that gleam in his nephew’s eyes.

Just as he was about to speak Hadrian opened his mouth. “Sea-Dragon Point.”

Benjens brows furrowed together. “What?”

Hadrian was now sporting a smug grin. “You said that you feel like you aren’t contributing here. Well that’s my solution. The North needs a Western fleet not just to keep the Ironborn at bay but also to increase trade on our Western coasts. I would name you the Lord of Sea-Dragon Point.”

Benjens mouth was hanging open. I knew I wasn’t much better. It is true that a fleet on the Western coast would be a boon. A few Starks have tried to create such a fleet after Brandon the Burner destroyed the last one after his father went missing at sea. The problem is that the Ironborn have always destroyed what little progress we have made there and the North doesn’t have the coin to waste on something that the Ironborn would destroy as soon as they got the chance. Based on the stubborn set of his nephew’s shoulders none of this would deter him. If anything the challenge might just encourage him more. Ned felt a headache coming along.

After opening and closing his mouth a few times Benjen decided to reply.” I don’t know what to say.”

Hadrians smug smile got a bit bigger. “Say you accept.”

His brother wasn’t so easily convinced however. “If you’re going to be raising a new castle then Ned should get it.”

Hadrian just waved him off. “Uncle Ned is going to get Moat Cailin.”

Yes he definitely felt a headache coming along.

Benjen had an answer for that though. “Nephew, Moat Cailin is an important seat and no doubt it is a great honour to guard the north from the south but the moat is a ruin. I’m sure Ned wouldn’t mind living there but Catelyn would throw a fit.”

His nephew was seemingly unconcerned however. “Then we will repair it.”

Ned felt like he had to interject before his headache got any worse. “ Hadrian, Winterfell may be better off than many other houses in Westeros except for the other Great Houses, due to our ancestors frugal spending habits, but we cannot afford to build two new castles at the same time. Much of the gold we have in our coffers are for buying food for the North and the rest of it is to be saved because-“

“Winter is Coming. Yes, I know uncle.” His nephew interrupted. “However, I believe I might have a solution to some of our problems.”

Annoyed at the interruption but curious of what Hadrian may mean, he motioned him to continue.

Hadrian grinned like a cat that just caught its prey. “While looking over how the farmers operate these last few moons I have learned much about our farming practices and I believe I may have devised a way for our farmers to greatly increase their yields.”

I could only look at him sceptically. After all, men have been farming since the begging of time. It’s one thing for Hadrian to make a way to keep track of gold easier, but to increase the yield of farms? Surely if such a thing were possible the maesters would have discovered it a long time ago. I could tell by Benjens face that he seemed sceptical as well.

Hadrian sighed.” Give me six moons uncle Benjen. If I can’t increase the yields of the farms around Winterfell by then, I will stop protesting your decision to join the watch.”

Benjen released a weary chuckle.” If you manage such a thing nephew, I will gladly give in to your wisdom.” I could tell Benjen didn’t really believe Hadrian would succeed. He was just going along with this in hopes Hadrian would support his decision. Hadrians support might not be necessary to join the watch but I could tell that it was something that Benjen greatly desired. After all, we both lost a lot of family, he doesn’t want the family that’s left behind to resent him for leaving.

Hadrian sighed releasing a breath of relief. ”Good.”  He quickly perked up however. “However there are certain issues to sort out before you can move to Sea-Dragon Point when I win our wager.”

Benejn let out a small chuckle. “Confident are we?”

Hadrian huffed in what I could only call amusement.” One day, you two will properly appreciate my genius,”

Now both Benjen and I laughed before my brother decided to ask. ”What issues are these exactly?”

The smile on Hadrian’s face was immediately wiped away, replaced by a look of complete seriousness that looked quite off-putting on a seven nameday old boy. “First the castle has to actually be built, or at least the most important parts need to be built, such as the keep, the docks and barracks. While that is taking place however, you will be spending some time in White Harbour learning how to sail and how to manage a port city from the Manderlys, as well as overseeing the ships that they will be building for the new Western fleet. You will also need to get married uncle.”

Now Benjen was looking more nervous than before. I knew I failed to hide my amusement at the look on his face. After a few moments he managed to collect himself well enough to ask a question that was also on my mind. “Why would you have the Manderlys build the fleet? Would it not be better if the fleet was built at Sea-Dragon Point so that the shipbuilders could get experience doing so? After all, I can’t always have the ships built at White Harbour. “

Hadrian conceded the point with a nod of his head. “True, it would be better to build a dedicated shipyard and have the ships built at Sea-Dragon Point itself but not right now, not until the Ironborn have finished their rebellion.’

“Ironborn rebellion?! “ Both Stark brothers shouted at once.

Hadrian shrugged looking completely unconcerned. “Of course. We’ve had multiple reports from the Mormonts that the Ironborn have been chopping down trees all over our Western coasts. “

Ned slouched in his chair while rubbing the bridge of his nose. ”The Ironborn have always done that nephew, there is little wood to be found on the islands themselves so they take from our coasts. That doesn’t mean there is going to be an Ironborn rebellion.”

Hadrian just smiled slyly. ”You’re correct uncle, they have always done it. What isn’t usual however, is how much they have been doing it lately. I went through some of the records from grandfather’s time as the Lord of Winterfell and from what I’ve seen, the Mormonts noticed more ships in these past two years leaving our Western coasts than they had reported in the dozen years before that. When taking into account the fact that they probably only notice a very small portion of the ships that actually go to our Western coasts, due to them only patrolling around Bear Island and occasionally travelling south to trade their furs, it starts to paint a more worrying picture. On top of that, the number of raids we are experiencing has slowed down noticeably in the last two years. This tells me that the Ironborn are probably building a fleet and aren’t raiding in order to save their manpower. Then there is also the fact that from what I gather, Balon Greyjoy never actually bent the knee to the Baratheon Dynasty. They bent to the dragons, but the dragons are gone. A people who follow a culture which praises the virtue of taking what they want at the end of a sword, might find this to be a good time to try their hand at breaking away from the Iron Throne.”

Ned rubbed his temples and closed his eyes thinking. He didn’t want to believe it. He hoped he would never be in another war, but the more he thought about his nephews words, the more they seemed plausible. It’s true the Mormonts had mentioned that they had seen more Ironborn ships than normal, it’s also true that the raiding has slowed down in the last two years. He didn’t know much about Balon Greyjoy, but he never did hear of him bending the knee.

Its Benjens grim voice, that brings him back to reality. ”So what do we do about this?”

Hadrian snorts. “There’s nothing much we can do. It’s very possible that I’m wrong and we have no spies on the islands to confirm my theory. If the Ironborn do rebel it is unlikely to affect the North much anyway. The first thing they would want to do is assert their dominance in the seas, which means targeting the fleets of the Reach and Westerlands and perhaps whatever fleet the crown has managed to gather these past few years. I doubt they will sail that far South, atleast in the beginning of their rebellion, but it is a possibility. For now we should give the Mormonts a small tax break in order to train more men at arms and a notice to be prepared and to fortify if they can.”

Ned looks up his eyes grim. “I will write to the king about this. Hopefully he can get the Greyjoys in line before there is a need for war.”

The look in his nephews eyes turned slightly pitying.” You are welcome to do so uncle but I doubt it will mean much. A rebellion from the Greyjoys is an opportunity for the Baratheon Dynasty. While King Robert might not be able to see that, Jon Arryn certainly will.”

The next words came out in a growl from the normally restrained Stark.” I fail to see how the Greyjoys rebelling can be seen as an opportunity!”

Raising his hands slightly in a gesture of peace his nephew explained.” The Baratheon Dynasty is still new uncle. Many rightfully see Robert Baratheon as a usurper-“

Ned stood.” Rightfully!? He is the king! “

Hadrian’s eyes became as cold as ice. Ned had never seen that look on his nephews face before. It sent shivers down his spine. That look does not belong on such a young boy. For a moment, his nephews eyes reminded him of his father’s when he dressed down an arrogant bannerman or when Brandon or one of his siblings made him extremely angry.

Hadrian spoke quietly. ”Sit. Down.”

His body betrayed him by sitting almost immediately. He couldn’t help but do so, due to those eyes so similar to his fathers.

After nodding in acknowledgement Hadrian spoke. “Robert Baratheon was declared king due to his Targaryen blood. He was declared king over the Targaryen children despite the fact they had a much better claim. Now that may have been done due to the fact that Aegon Targaryen was in Kings Landing with the Mad King and Rhaegar absconded with aunt Lyanna. But what it doesn’t do, is change the fact that he stepped over the bodies of innocent children, his own kin no less, in order to sit on that throne. I don’t care what justification you give. I was the one the Targaryens hurt the most with their actions. Aerys killed my father, Aerys killed my grandfather, Rhaegar took my aunt, who was like a mother to me. Even with all of these actions, I find the actions of killing the Targaryen children and their mother despicable. What is Roberts excuse for rewarding Tywin Lannister for these actions? That Rhaegar took Lyanna from him? He never knew her and she despised him.”

Seeing the shocked look on his face his nephew chuckled bitterly while Benjen shifted uncomfortably in his chair. “Don’t be so shocked uncle. Aunt Lyanna spent a lot of time with me. When I told you I remember everything, I meant it. From around my first nameday, I can remember every detail of every day, I have ever had. Many of those days were in her company. Many of those days she would rant about her betrothal to Robert Baratheon. About her plans of escaping beyond the wall, or to Essos, so she wouldn’t have to marry him. So no, I don’t care about his supposed love for my aunt. If he had really loved her, he wouldn’t have fucked so many camp followers during the rebellion. He wouldn’t have been trying to get with every girl he saw during the tourney at Harrenhall.”

Ned was conflicted. He knows that Hadrian spoke the truth. It still hurts to hear those things said about his friend however. For even if he himself agrees with the fact that the murder of the Targaryen children was despicable, he still can’t help but think of Robert as his friend. Still despite his nephews words, there is still one truth that his nephew must remember.

“He is still the king. ”

Perhaps sensing his conflicting emotions his nephews eyes softened. “Aye, he is still the king, uncle. Have no fear. I have no plans of rebelling against him. Despite the fact I find the murder of children to be terrible. I cannot deny that we still owe him for aiding our house in the Rebellion. He may not have had a choice as the Mad King wanted his head as well. But it doesn’t change the fact that he still aided our house. For that and that alone, he will have my support.”

Ned released a breath of relief.

Hadrian then continued. “ He may have my support and as such the support of the North, but he does not have my trust. Robert Baratheon will probably never make a move against the North but I don’t trust the Lannisters not to once he is dead. So I will do whatever is in my power to make the North strong uncle.”

He exhaled. “I understand.”

Hadrian nodded and smiled slightly. “Good. Now what was it we were discussing again?”

Benjen released a weary laugh and despite himself Ned found himself joining in. “I thought you said you remembered everything nephew?”

He smiled slightly. “I do, uncle. I was just trying to break the tension.”

After taking a breath Hadrian continued. “As I was saying earlier, the Greyjoy Rebellion would be an opportunity for the Baratheon Dynasty because they are still new and don’t have the support of many of the lords in Westeros. However, if there is one thing everyone in Westeros hates, it is the Ironborn. The rebellion would not be that dangerous to the Baratheon Dynasty and would most likely be crushed quickly, even if they managed to destroy all the fleets in Westeros, which is unlikely, the simple fact is that the Iron Islands have a low population. If the Greyjoys did manage to achieve supremacy on the seas, all that would happen, is that most houses on the coasts would be a lot more motivated to build more ships that they could keep sending after them. Even if the Greyjoys took down three or four ships for every one that they lost, they would eventually lose purely due to the fact that they can’t compete with the numbers the rest of Westeros can muster. The Iron Islands have 20 000 warriors maximum. The real number is probably closer to 15 000. The rest of Westeros can bring easily over 200 000 men. This hatred of the Ironborn means that most houses will be willing to fight against them under the Baratheon banner. Bringing a lot more legitimisation to Roberts reign.”

Ned had to admit when his nephew put it like that, it put the rebellion in a new perspective. The Ironborn could cause extreme amounts of damage and chaos, but it’s true that they are hated by everyone in Westeros. Most houses would be willing to put aside their grudges to deal with them, with the exception maybe being Dorne. They would probably sit the war out completely.

Ned has never been the smartest man but even he can see that the Ironborn would be overwhelmed by numbers eventually, even if they do get supremacy of the seas. It’s as his nephew said, most houses both inland and on the coast would be motivated to build ships as quickly as possible in order to put them down, and the longer they raid for, the more harsh the consequences would be for the Iron Islands. Why then would they even rebel? Was his nephew even correct in his theory?

He decided to ask. The answer was both satisfying in its plausibility and worrying in the fact it could mean another war in the near future.

“Nobody ever accused the Ironborn of being smart uncle.” Hadrian said with a roll of his eyes. “In fact I would say most of them are deluded idiots. Their entire culture is about taking what you want with the iron price. It’s the reason why they have tried to conquer land on the continent so many times before. They wanted it. So they took it. It’s also the reason that they would never be able to hold any of the land they conquered for long. In their religion, everybody is lower than the Ironborn. How can you hold a land without the support of the people that live there? The answer is, you can’t. Not unless the people are cowardly Riverlanders who are too busy feuding with themselves to properly respond to the threat the way they should.”

Ned couldn’t even bring himself to sigh at his nephews comment about Riverlanders. Try as he might, the one thing he couldn’t seem to do is change his nephew’s views on Southerners. It’s not like he can completely blame the boy either. The South had taken much of his family from him. Still, his nephew had a particular dislike of the Riverlands and the Reach. He once referred to the Reachmen as ‘Cowards who opened their legs for the seven instead of protecting their gods’ and the Riverlanders as ‘Deluded Fools who are so busy fighting each other over imagined slights, that they willingly let the Ironborn into their kingdom.’. Unfortunately Catelyn doesn’t seem to have helped increase his nephews’ opinion of the Riverlands. Sometimes he feared she had the opposite effect.

Still that’s not something he wants to dwell on at the moment. Not with all of the information his nephew has dumped on him during this conversation. First his plan to build up Sea-Dragon Point for Benjen, then his plan for Moat Cailin, increasing the yield of the farms and the possible Ironborn rebellion. After taking a few moments to sort his thought he decides that he should just focus on what he could do.

“I’m going to send Robert a letter detailing that the Ironborn might be looking to build a fleet. We don’t know for sure if they are, so Roberts Master of Whispers can look into that for him. I understand that to some an Ironborn rebellion can be seen as an opportunity to secure Roberts rule, but I’m hoping he will end this before a full scale war can break out. I will also send a letter to the Mormonts granting them a tax break like you suggested, so that they can prepare in case of the worst. Hopefully they can train more guardsman and fortify a bit before anything happens.”

With a small smile his nephew stood up from his chair. “Very well uncle. I’ll leave that to you. Now I have to go meet some of the farmers in order to tell them how to do their jobs properly. Uncle Benjen, don’t forget your promise. If I increase the yield in six months you must take up lordship of Sea-Dragon Point.”

Benjen could only give a tired nod. It seems like I’m not the only one this conversation took a toll on. With that acknowledgement Hadrian turned and walked out the door with a small bounce in his step.

Once the door closed behind his nephew, Benjen slumped in his chair. “Ned, I love him. I really do. But damn if he isn’t terrifying.”

Ned could only groan in agreement.

Benjen continued. ”He’s going to make one hell of a lord though.”

Ned released a weary chuckle. ”Aye, that he is.”

Next chapter Thursday 12 January 2023.

To read ahead of the update schedule: Pat_reon(dot)com(slash) TheLifeandTimes19.

New World, New Problems

New World, New Problems

Winterfell – 284 AC

It took over a year for Harry to regain full consciousness.

Before that it felt as if he was constantly drifting in and out of sleep. Eventually these periods became further and further apart as time passed, until one day he found it no longer happened at all.

During these periods of lucidity he tried to figure out what was going on.

Harry will admit to himself that it took an embarrassingly long time to figure out that he had somehow been reincarnated. It took nearly a year to figure out actually. It took another three months to come to terms with that fact. This was not what he was expecting for his next great adventure.

After first coming to the realization that this was not a dream he fell into a pretty deep depression. The whole point of jumping through the Veil was to see his friends and family again. The realisation that he would be separated from them forever was a heavy pill for Harry to swallow.

The fact his new mother died giving birth to him felt like the universe was kicking him while he was down.  That’s two lives where he was responsible for his mother’s death. His new mother’s voice haunts him almost as much as Lily Potters screams and the green flash did in his old life.

‘Mommy loves you, Hadrian. My little King of Winter.’

His new family were the ones to pull him from his spiral.

Harry didn’t know how to feel about the Starks at first.

Having a family that actually seemed to genuinely care about him was a new experience. In his previous life his closest family were the Dursleys and they seemed to want less than nothing to do with him.

The Starks though… the Starks were different. They weren’t perfect by any means but most of them went out of their way to make him feel like a part of the family.

His grandfather, Rickard Stark, was a stern man. He would walk around Winterfell with a face that was carved from ice. He was a man who could strike fear into the hearts of others with just a look. Rickard was not a man who showed his emotions easily. That’s not to say that he didn’t have any. Harry noticed that his grandfather would thaw around his family.

He probably spent the least amount of time with his grandfather when compared to his other family. Most of that was due to Rickard being busy with his responsibilities as the Lord Paramount of the North.  A position that gave his grandfather almost unlimited power in the North. The position itself unfortunately comes with many duties that can be very time consuming if taken seriously. His grandfather would often travel for months at a time to meet with his bannermen.

As a result of this he is not very close with his grandfather compared to the rest of his family.

His new father, Brandon Stark, gave Harry the impression of a man who loves life. His father seemed to be the opposite of his grandfather in almost every way. If his grandfather was quiet then his father was loud. Where his grandfather was a planner, his father would rather leap in with both feet.  Where his grandfather would try and control life for his advantage, his father would happily go along for the ride.

Brandon Stark is what Harry always imaged James Potter was like during his school years.

He may not have been the most mature man but he loved his family and was not afraid to show his love. For that Harry couldn’t help but love him back.

Lyanna Stark was the person that Harry spent the most time with. Sometimes it seemed like she would spend every free moment she had in his company. She would spend hours in his room telling stories of the Seven Kingdoms and the deeds of famous knights. She would carry him to the yard to watch the men train in sword fighting and archery. She would take him to the Godswood to pray and play in the dirt. It got slightly annoying when she would make baby sounds at him or when she would try and make him play with dolls and there were times Harry wanted nothing more than to stop acting like a toddler around her just so he could have somebody to talk to, but he persisted in acting like a child and in the end Harry couldn’t help but love his aunt like a mother in the time he got to know her.

In his previous life, his greatest wish was to have a family. In Westeros, his wish came true.

Maybe that’s why he feels as if his heart was ripped out of his chest as he watches the bones of his grandfather, aunt and father be placed in their crypts beneath Winterfell.

In all honesty it felt as if the universe was playing a cruel joke on him. It gave him a family he could only dream of as Harry Potter, a family he couldn’t help loving, then it cruelly ripped them away before he ever got to show them his real self.

Harry thinks the only thing keeping him from breaking down completely is the presence of his two uncles.

Feeling a weight settle on his shoulder Harry looks up towards his uncle Ned. He just gives a weak, hesitant smile and squeezes my shoulder before speaking. “ It’s going to be alright lad.”

The movement is more awkward than it should have been. He’s not as close with his uncle Ned as he should be, due to him growing up in the Vale.  Therefore his uncle doesn’t seem to know how to act around him. The moment however is genuine and as Harry glances over towards his uncle Benjen, who also tries to give him a smile, he feels slightly better knowing that he’s not completely alone.

Giving his shoulder one more squeeze his uncle starts to guide him towards the exit of the crypt.

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Hours later finds Harry standing inside one of the warmest rooms in the castle looking down at two cribs.

This was the first time that Harry has seen his cousins. Earlier he was more focused on the bones that his uncle brought back than the two babies. Now that they have been laid to rest, Harry figured it was time to check on the family he gained.

Harry didn’t want to be bothered by his uncle’s wife while visiting them so he waited until she left to her chambers and Old Nan was watching them. Harry doesn’t hate Catelyn Tully. He just doesn’t know her. Nor does he feel like getting to know her right now. Especially with how cold she was to him when he first met her earlier. Harry knows that his father was supposed to marry her. He could only conclude her attitude has to do with the fact he married his mother instead.

“Pretty boys aren’t they?” Old Nan said from her corner where she was knitting a blanket.

Harry ignored the woman as he looked down at the two, he couldn’t help but be slightly mesmerised by the innocence in their eyes.

As Harry looked down, he realised that that he had to protect the family he had left. This world is cruel compared to Earth. Based on the histories of Westeros that he had heard so far and what he has personally experienced, the strong rule while those that are weaker than them either comply with their rule or are crushed. Most nobles seem to care more about their personal glory and about advancing their own interests than looking after the interests of their people. People here are more selfish and violent than on Earth.

The North is the largest Kingdom in Westeros. In fact, the Stark family ruled a kingdom that was larger than the rest of the six Kingdoms put together. Despite this, the North was weak when compared to some southern kingdoms. The kingdom may be massive and the warriors may be fiercer than those in the South but the population is a lot lower than many of the Kingdoms in the South. The North is poorer than almost every kingdom except for the Iron Isles and perhaps Dorne. So the South can afford better armour and weapons than what many of the warriors here have access too.

Harry realised in that moment that in order to protect his family he will need to make house Stark and the North strong enough that nobody would be able to harm them. He knows it won’t be easy, there are those that will seek to use his family for their own ends.

As Harry looked down at the smiles on the faces of his cousins, he finds that his heart is filled with new resolve. He will drag the North kicking and screaming into the future. He will make the North so strong that no Southern Kingdom will dare risk offending them.

And if the South dares to bring any harm onto his family, then he will destroy them.

There was a time where Harry would be horrified by the idea of willingly starting a war no matter the reason. That was before he watched the muggles destroy everything he cared about. Before he saw what a shitty job they did at ruling.

As Harry walks out of the chamber there’s a small voice in the back of his mind that he isn’t able to silence completely.

A voice that whispered. ‘I could do a better job. I could build a better world than the last one.’

Line break---------

Harry decided that if he was going to make the North as strong as he could then he would need to start as soon as possible. After a few hours of thinking of plans that he could use he realised that the first thing he would need to do was build up a reputation of being a genius so that people would be more likely to listen to him regardless of his age.

Magic would have made it a lot easier to convince people to do what he wants. Just a single confundus charm and most would gladly listen to anything he had to say. Or he could use Legilimency to read their thoughts and see how they really think of him so that he could make plans to alter their perceptions.

Unfortunately this is where he ran into an obstacle. Or rather a wall. Magic in this new world is different than what he is used to. It’s more primal, less refined.

The first time he tried to move a small stone with magic he had a nosebleed and passed out for over a full day. When his family found him later in his room they thought he had caught a deadly disease and were worried that he was going to die as his temperature was very high and he was sweating heavily. This happened after a year in this new life.

After trying to use magic almost killed him he was a lot more wary to try it again for a long time. Harry wasn’t sure if he could die in this new world. In his old world magic put his body back together whenever he was injured or killed. The magic in this new life is so different that he isn’t sure what would happen if he were to die. He theorises that he will probably end up being reincarnated again if his body is incapable of holding his soul.

Harry quickly decided that he needed to look into how magic works in this new world and adapt to it instead of trying to force it to work the way he wants it to.

Surprisingly it didn’t take him long to get his first clue on where to begin. In fact, all he did was ask Old Nan to tell him stories about magic. That’s how he first learned of all the ancient legends of the first men and the north. Old Nan seemed to take a surprising amount of joy in trying to scare him with stories of wargs, greenseers, giants, Children of the Forest and White Walkers.

She seemed slightly disappointed that he was never scared but was happy that he took such a strong interest in the history of his people.

From there Harry discovered that several of his ancestors were supposedly wargs and greenseers. It’s also how he learned that most people in Westeros treat magic as if it were a myth. The first time he asked his grandfather if he could warg, his grandfather laughed harder than he had ever seen him. His grandfather then sat him down and told him sternly that magic was gone from the world if it ever existed in the first place.

He knew his grandfather was wrong. Magic couldn’t just die off like that. It is a primordial force of nature. It can be stronger or weaker at different times or at different places but it can never disappear completely.  He could also feel the magic in the air, much much weaker than what he was used to and much more primal and uncontrolled than Earth but it was definitely there. At first he thought that maybe the magic users were just hiding away like they did in his old world and that he would need to travel around and look for them.

Then he first entered the Godswood. The moment Harry saw the ancient Weirwood with its blood red leaves and the weeping face carved onto the bone white bark he could feel it. The air was saturated with magic compared to the rest of Winterfell.

This gave Harry all the pieces of the puzzle that he needed to draw a conclusion about why the magic in this world is so weak. It only took a few months and a few pointed questions about this world’s history for him to realise that his conclusion was probably correct.

On Earth there were all types of magical creatures still roaming around such as dragons, goblins giants and of course wizards. All of these creatures gave off magic. Each of them also fed off of magic and as such required it to survive.  Each had their own brand of magic that they gave off. While all of these types of magic were similar they were also completely different. So while a dragon gave off magic that goblins and giants fed off of, giants and goblins gave off magic that the dragon in turn fed off of. Like how trees release oxygen that humans use and humans release carbon dioxide that is in turn used by the trees.

The only magical creature that didn’t technically require magic to survive were wizards and witches. They only consumed magical power in order to convert it into their own form of magical power. So without all of those magical creatures all that would happen would be that wizards and witches magic would be greatly weakened. They would still have some magical power due to the fact that Earth gave off its own magical energy at the leylines.

The conclusion that Harry came to is that magic has been weakened in Westeros greatly due to the influence of man. First the first men came and killed off many of the giants and Children of the Forest. This of course had a negative impact but it wasn’t anything serious. Over time there numbers would climb again and no harm would have been done. Harry doubts that much harm would have been done even if they went extinct. Not if they give off similar amounts of magic as goblins and giants from earth. Most likely magic would have adapted and while it would have been weaker it would not be greatly so.

No, Harry believes the true problems started when the Andals came.

After Harry visited the Godswood and saw the sheer presence of the ancient Weirwood trees magic, he came to the conclusion that Weirwood trees are responsible for conducting the magic of the Leylines in the earth into the air. This means when the Andals came and they chopped down many of the Weirwood trees in the south they greatly reduced the magic in Westeros. When they started hunting giants and the children of the forest into extinction, it made magic even weaker in Westeros.

The Andals then married into Southern houses and claimed magic was an abomination. From there they killed the people who showed signs of having magic. After generations of killing off those who showed signs of magic in the south and breeding those noble houses with rich histories, that probably have magic somewhere in their ancestors, such as the Lannisters or the Martells, with Houses who are purely Andal and have not a drop of magic in their blood. They were, over generations, able to greatly reduce the number of heirs from these houses who are born with magic.

These heirs were then taught to despise magic and view it as evil by both Septons and Maesters. Magic is about belief. So if enough nobles from a certain bloodline reject it over generations then magic will eventually cease to appear in those bloodlines. This is especially true if all sources of magic are removed from these bloodlines like the Andals did when they cut down the Weirwood trees.

Harry believes all of this had a compounding effect on the availability of magic in Westeros as the only sources left of magic in the south were from the few Weirwood trees that were left and what small amount of magic made its way south from the Weirwood trees in the North.

Unfortunately Harry theorised that a not a very lot of magic made it south as most of it was used up.

He came up with this theory when he wondered why the whole of Winterfell was not as saturated with magic as the Godswood was. Surely if Winterfell was next to a Weirwood tree for thousands of years then magic would saturate the castle to a similar level to the Godswood?

Over a period of many months Harry tracked the magic coming out of the Weirwood trees and he came to a startling conclusion. While some small amount seemed to have been used up by the castle for a reason that he hasn’t been able to fathom yet, the majority of the magic made its way north.

After another few weeks contemplating why it was moving north he came to a conclusion that explained why magic is not seen in the north even though the Andals never got a foothold here.

The answer he came up with is that the Wall was using it.

A structure that large, made up entirely of ice that has stood for thousands of years without melting even in the summer can only be explained with magic.

Harry theorises that the wall uses magic to sustain itself. Back when it was first built, this drain on magic would have been seen as negligible. The Weirwood trees all over Westeros would be able to produce enough magic to easily supply the wall while having enough left over to saturate Westeros easily. Unfortunately that is no longer the case. With so many Weirwood trees being chopped down there is barely enough to saturate the wall as it is with very little if any being left over.

Some magic still came to Westeros from Essos as dragons a creatures of magic and the amount of magic they give off is much greater than any other creature, with dragons only requiring magic to hatch and when they are very young, before they start releasing their own.

When the Doom happened many dragons were killed and as such Harry theorises that this caused the magic levels in Essos to plummet. When the last dragon died the amount of magic reached its low point. This meant that the only magic left is found in blood of certain people who haven’t had it bred out of their bloodlines by the Andals yet.

Upon reaching this conclusion Harry didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

What he did know was that he didn’t like the Faith of the Seven. At all. He was also wary of Maesters as it seemed to him like they were pretty useless. In all the years that they have been around they have done very little to advance anything.

In his mind this was incredibly suspect. If the maesters completely controlled all the knowledge then it makes it incredibly easy to manipulate people how they want. When he learned that the Hightowers were one of the first to convert to the Faith of the Seven and they did so without a fight, it started to paint a concerning picture.

The maesters claim magic is a myth that died out with the last of the dragons. The last dragon died out because it was born sickly and weak but Harry knows that it isn’t possible for dragons to get sick and that they are creatures of magic. If they hatch they should hatch healthy. The only reason he could think of that they wouldn’t is if foul play were involved. Harry isn’t one hundred percent sure that maesters killed off the dragons but when he takes everything into account too many inconsistencies appear.

First the Faith of the Seven reviles magic and seek to destroy it wherever they go. The Faith of the Seven first got a foothold in Westeros in the Reach, or more specifically at Oldtown where the lord at the time didn’t even attempt to fight for the Old Gods. The Citadel is located at Oldtown and have the most influence in the Reach. The maesters control almost all knowledge and as such they can write history without being opposed. The Citadel has done very little to advance the technology level of this world which tells Harry that they probably have different priorities than advancing knowledge.

Harry isn’t sure whether the Faith of the Seven was created by the maesters to destroy magic or if the maesters were influenced by the Faith of the Seven to try and get rid of magic and at the end of the day he doesn’t care. He trusts neither of them.

Harry determined that he would need to think of a way to get both of those institutions out of the North but first he will need a lot more power than what he has.

The first step towards that goal was to convince his uncle Ned to allow him to start lessons. Luckily this didn’t end up being too difficult. Most noble children start learning their letters and numbers at five namedays. Convincing his uncle to let him start a year early was actually fairly easy. His uncle actually seemed slightly proud of him.

The written language was completely different from what he remembers from Earth so luckily he doesn’t have to slow down the pace he learns at too much in order to not bring the wrong kind of attention to himself. The last thing he needs is to be called a demon. Especially in this society.

It was a few weeks after his lessons started that he had his first major obstacle besides trying to get his magic to work properly.

Convincing his uncle Benjen not to waste his life in a penal colony.

Here is chapter 2. Sorry it took so long but I have been moving this past month and as such had very little free time. As you can see this chapter was written in third person point of view. Please let me know if you guys prefer this over how chapter one was written which was in first person point of view. Magic in this story will not work exactly as it does in Harry potter. There is a reason for this. If Harry had access to his old magic then I believe the story would get very boring very quickly. There would be no struggle if he could just wave his wand and solve every problem. That means that the story would not be very interesting at all. So I have decided to solve this problem by instead making him use a version of magic that is more similar to what is found in a Song of Ice and Fire. Magic will be more of a primal force and it will be more about manipulating nature and what is there than creating new things or manipulating space. As such there will be elemental magic, greenseers, wargs and sacrificial magic used for more powerful effects.

I tried to explain why magic is so weak on Planetos as well as I can but I’m not sure if I did a good enough job. Please let me know if I did or didn’t and I will try and fix any problems. Criticism is welcome as long as it’s constructive.

Hadrian Stark-Creating Avalon

The End and the Beginning

I, Harry James Potter, am tired.

I had lived a long life. Too long some might say. Well, most would probably say considering all of the tragedies I have witnessed. As I trudged along the dark empty corridors in the bowels of the Ministry of Magic, I couldn’t stop my mind from reflecting on the past. On the foolish young boy I was, the stupid man I became and the events leading up to my current circumstances.

After Voldemort was defeated he thought everything was finally going to get better. I believed that I was done and that I could finally rest without the weight of the Wizarding World on my shoulders. I thought I could just date Ginny, maybe play professional Quidditch and generally just live my life free of responsibility.

I couldn’t have been more wrong.

After Voldemort was defeated my fame only seemed to climb to greater heights. I may have had a load lifted off of my shoulders, with no longer having a homicidal Dark Lord dedicating himself to my death, but that didn’t mean the Wizarding World was prepared to let me go into a peaceful retirement.

No, on the contrary, they propped me up. The Wizarding World decided that Harry Potter was the new Albus Dumbledore. The only reason I went along with it was because Hermione insisted it would help make rebuilding the Wizarding World easier. She convinced me that we needed someone who could be a poster boy for the changes that needed to happen in the wizarding world. She was right, as usual.

I tasted something bitter as I recalled how many times I fought with her about taking more power. I felt nauseas as I remember how childish I acted over taking more responsibility. In the end I still did it, but maybe if I did it less reluctantly then the world wouldn’t be the mess it is now.

I swallowed the lump in my throat and shook my head clear of that particular thought. There’s no use dwelling on what ifs...

After a few years I had finally fully accepted that I would never be a normal wizard. That’s when I really started to train at magic.  It’s also when I realised I had stopped aging.

That had been difficult to swallow.

It got even more so when I walked off a dark wizards AK.

Eventually I adapted though. After a few years I retreated from the public and threw myself into studying different wizarding and muggle cultures around the world. I met various interesting people and had a lot of flings and relationships. After a while, I stopped moping about the curse of immortality so much, and I started living to enjoy life. My friends had families and they were happy. Even though I wouldn’t age or die with them, I was okay for now because I still had many years with them because wizards generally lived longer than muggles. The British Wizarding World was the most stable it had been in centuries and was finally making some progress towards equality of magical species. It was slow progress but it was there. Things were moving forward and life carried on. Or at least it did for about fifty years after I had graduated Hogwarts. Then the damned muggles fucked everything up.

Overpopulation became a massive issue all over the planet as a lack of resources drove people to become desperate. It wasn’t long before war started among the muggles for resources. The war was damaging but it was possible to recover. Or at least it was until some idiotic muggleborns decided to expose magic to the world as an answer to the muggles resources problem in the hopes of getting them to stop killing each other.

The muggle governments immediately started kidnapping and experimenting on magicals in order to discover how magic works.

In the beginning very few wizards and witches were caught as we remained secluded in the wizarding world. However muggleborn children were being targeted and either being killed or experimented on. This of course greatly angered the governments of the wizarding world.

I tried to talk the wizarding government into retreating from the muggle world completely except to bring muggleborns into our world when they first showed magic. I figured that if we hid for a few years and came out every now and then to subtly wipe muggles minds of magic, we might eventually be able to convince the muggles that magic isn’t real.  Or failing that, I told them we needed to find a way to coexist with the muggles.

I came close to being successful. Perhaps if I focused more on seizing power and didn’t try to give it back whenever I could I would have succeeded. Most of the wizarding world seemed like they would be happy to be permanently be cut off from the muggles at that stage. The problem was that the wizards that ran the governments had too much pride to retreat from people without magic.

It wasn’t long until the wizarding world and the muggle world was at war with each other. However this war was much more devastating than the last. With fear and paranoia running rampant a new witch hunt began. Some muggles in very religious countries started stoning and killing other muggles who they accused of being magical in extreme and violent ways. Others took advantage of the chaos for their own goals, others added to the chaos as they saw a chance to seize more power…

Hundreds of millions of muggles died when the muggles fought each other.  Hundreds of millions more died in the new witch hunts.  Billions died from starvation. At that stage things were terrible but eventually things would heal.

It wasn’t until a bunch of wizards decided to burn down the city of London that things reached a tipping point.

The muggles decided to retaliate by launching a nuke at where they believed Hogwarts was.

After retreating from the muggle world many British wizards and witches moved to the town of Hogsmead. Therefore when the muggles dropped the bomb ninety percent of the magical population of England died.  Including Ron and Hermione. When the bomb hit I also died briefly before reforming somewhere nearby.

The magical world was so enraged by what happened that a week later a dozen more cities burned.

It wasn’t long before the muggles were launching nukes everywhere. The bombs themselves wiped out majority of the human population that remained. The radiation from the bombs spread everywhere until it killed off almost all life. The life that remained was so sparse and mutated that most of it is disturbing to look at.

After a few years of searching for signs of human life all over the globe I finally decided that I need a way to end my torment. End the loneliness. That’s what lead me here, to what was once the magical object I hated most but now is nothing less than the most beautiful thing I have ever laid my eyes on.

The Veil of Death.

I could feel my heartbeat speed up as I approached the archway. The whispers coming from the other side were no clearer than they were the last time I was here. Stopping in front of the veil I close my eyes and all the faces of all those I’ve lost flash through my mind.

I open my eyes and grin. “Well, onto the next great adventure.”

I step forwards.

The sensation was the most peaceful feeling I had ever felt. My feet lifted off of the floor as I floated further and further along. As I moved a few feet from the arch my awareness started to slowly change.  It felt like I was floating along a calm river made up of pure energy. The further along I went the more of the rivers currents I started to feel. After a few moments I started to feel as if I was starting to sink in to the currents of energy. To become part of the whole as just another drop in the river.  As I floated along the current I became aware of the other drops in the river. Each one was different. Some were much bigger than others, some more full of colour or more substantial. All of them floated along the currents of the river however. There seemed to be two main currents in the river, one that was peaceful and seemed to be near the surface of the river, which I was on, and one that had looked much more rough and uncomfortable deeper down. As I paid more attention I noticed some new drops join the river. Some seemed to sit near the top or only sink a bit while others sunk like stones to become part of the more rough current.

As I started to gain even more awareness of the current I was floating along I became more aware of the river. The two different currents split at a fork in the river. The lower rough current seems to split from the calm peaceful one at the fork. Afterwards I can only see one current.

Huh, it looks like Heaven and Hell might be real after all.

Before I am able to reach the fork in the river I suddenly feel myself being flung out the side of the river. My calm peaceful journey suddenly becomes chaotic as I feel like I am no longer floating on a river and am rather being pushed through a pipe. It feels like the pipe changes direction constantly as I go along. I am also aware that I am becoming less and less aware as time goes on. It feel like I am slowly falling asleep. Until suddenly it feels like I hit a wall.

Winterfell – 280 AC Rickard Stark POV

Rickard Stark loves his family. Everything he does is for his family. To keep them safe and protected.

He knows that while House Stark rules the largest Kingdom of Westeros, it is also possibly the weakest. Which is why he decided when he first started to rule Winterfell that he would do whatever it took to make the North strong.

Over the years he believes he has succeeded in making the North stronger. The population all over the North seems to be higher than when he was a child. Most of his bannermen are happy with House Starks rule and things were stable.

He’s not deaf, he knows some of his bannermen groan about his southern ambitions. Unfortunately he believes that there’s not much more he can do for the north without southern alliances and gold. Alliances and gold which will go a long way in making sure the Starks are secured even from the mad Targaryan on the throne.

He believes that he did his duty to the North and his family, which is why it is so frustrating for Rickard Stark that his oldest son decided that he wouldn’t go along with his plans.

When Brandon ran away and got married to Barbrey Ryswell he nearly disinherited him for his brother. The only reason that he didn’t is because he knows that it would greatly insult one of his stronger lords which is something that he cannot do lightly.

Now as he stands outside the birthing chamber with his son those thoughts of southern alliances are far from his mind. Instead all Rickard Stark is feeling is nervous and impatient. It doesn’t help that his idiot of a son has not stopped pacing for the last hour.

As Brandon walks back in front of me for the hundredth time I finally feel my patience snap. “Will you please-“

The door opening interrupts what I was going to say. I look over to find my lovely wife standing in the doorway.” Come Brandon, quickly now!” She ushers our son into the room.

I take a deep breath before entering myself. Once I’m past the threshold I look upon the birthing bed.

Barbrey Ryswell does not look well. Her skin is clammy and sweat is pouring down her face. She is as white as snow and surrounded by a pool of blood. I know just from a look that it is not looking good. A glance at Maester Walys shaking his head at me confirms my thoughts. She won’t live much longer.

I decide to stand a bit away from the bed in order to give Bandon and Barbrey relative privacy in order to talk. I can’t make out what they are saying to each other as they are whispering and I don’t try very hard to listen in, as they deserve to be able to say goodbyes properly.

The tears that stream down my sons face as he is handed his child before he leans over to kiss her is not a sight I believe I will ever be able to forget. I hear his breath hitch when Barbrey goes still.

After taking a few moments to gather himself, Brandon moves towards his mother and myself with the child.

“Im so sorry Brandon.”  Lyarra states softly.

He just smiles a fragile smile with tears in his eyes before looking down at his son. “Mother, Father, I would like you to meet my son. Your grandson. His mother named him Hadrian. Hadrian Stark.”