4 Ch-4
Bear island is a land covered in dense forest, mountains and hills on the Northern side the ice cold winds from the lands beyond the wall whose glaciers send out massive icebergs and blizzards towards the island while the jagged stones on the coast prevent easy sea access.
While in the center of Bear Island is a dormant volcano that gives the islands Jet Black color from the Basalts and Obsidian that are mined and quarries that dot mountains.
The Bay of Bears is located on the Southern edge of Bear Island where most of the population is centered around the Mormont Hall, a tall two towered hall made of wood and Basalt that watches over the land and village.
The village is mostly made of wood and the occasional stone for the men at arms or richer craftsmen, it is walled in fifteen foot tall Basalt walls and at the opening of the bay and the gates towards inland are statues of massive bears roaring into the air.
The cog holding Lyra and Jon passes these statues that guard the sea entrance to the Mormonts lands.
As it docks a decent size crowd has gathered around Lady Marge Mormont the She Bear, a woman well into her 60s evident from her getting hair and the cane she has at her side.
With her are a group of 5 Men At Arms carrying massive Dane Axes and half plate who specialized in Anti-Ironborn fighting and four other girls two older than Lyra one taller than even Jon and the other Alysane a short and chunky girl with a baby in her arms. The others were much younger somewhere between 7 and 10 who had large smiles on their faces watching Lyra disembark from the cog.
The younger to run from their mothers side and hug Lyra, Maege yells at the two and meets Lyra and Jon Halfway.
"JORY, LYANNA! No running on the docks! Come here Lyra give your mother a hug." The sisters exchange hugs as Lady Mormont offers Jon Bread and Salt in traditional Guest rights.
"Welcome to Bear Island Young Jon Snow, it is an honor to have you staying with us for the next two years. Allow me to introduce my Daughters: Dacey, the heir to Bear Island, Alysane, Lyra who you have already met, Jorelle and Lyanna the twins." The girls give some form of greeting and acknowledgment. "Now, girls, please help your sister get settled back while Jon and Alysane follow me and I'll take you to your room Jon."
Lrya is dragged off by her sister who quickly interrogated by them getting all the information they can on Jon and there journey, while a couple of servants from the hall carry Jon and Lyras luggage, the walk to the hall was quick as the "roads" were wide and clear as even with this town being around 2,000 souls.
The three walked together and Alysane struck a conversation with Jon, "So Jon, how was the journey? Any sightings of Squids?"
"Thank the gods no. The Glover were wonderful hosts and easy sailing for my first time. Your sister was kind enough to indulge my questions about the island and looked over my ship designs."
Maege, who had only been partially paying attention as she stopped and spoke to a merchant selling dried blueberries.
Alysane filled that tidbit away in her mind for later, "Mother had said that you were quite the accomplished craftsman, Lord Stark's Letter said something about a new type of Crossbow?" She said trying to get more information out of Jon, as she knew he was here to monitor the Mormonts and to reestablish trust between both houses.
Jon smiled he was rather proud of his first creation, which had left his side and was hidden among his clothes. "Yes, after I get settled and if your mother allows, I would gladly show you the bow."
Alysane glanced at her Mother who gave a small nod and continued to walk acting like she wasn't listening to the conversation.
The group walked and talked through the muddy streets of the town till they reached the outer wooden wall of Mormont Hall. A Black Two Towered Keep that was said to be a simple wooden hall over a 1,000 years ago but when the Starks untied the North the keep was a gift to the Mormonts for their loyalty over the centuries.
The Keep is not opulent or filled with great treasures, it was a fortress. First and second little decorate the walls, what little is masterfully carved runes and art work in the very stone of the castle.
Jon and the Mormonts walked these halls showing him around the Keep and to his room, as he settled into his room Maege sat with him.
"Jon, your father wrote that have been designing and developing something. That bow of yours and a ship you and Lyra designed on the trip to the island, so I have had a forge and workshop set aside for your personal use."
"Thank you Lady Mormont, I have been designing a great number of machines and even a farming style I wish to test if you are willing."
Jon pulls out his journal and begins explaining some of his ideas to Lady Mormont: his terrace farms, crossbows, and the shop they designed.
Maege to her credit didn't outwardly show she was surprised or interested; she kept a neutral face and nodded along as he showed her blueprints and rough plans for the future.
She had only heard rumors and the letters Lord Stark wrote spoke of how impressive the boy was, but seeing it in person was another thing and she knew that the boy needed to marry one of her daughters.
Not only because of the intelligence he showed but her House needed to prove their loyalty to the Starks, after her nephew sold people into slavery.
Preferably Aly or Lyra both seem to get along with the boy but she would rather wait, talk to her girls and Jon's father.
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The following day the Archery range was filled with Mormont men as Lady Maege had called for craftsmen and warriors alike as she announced that Jon was showing off his bow that would may be used in the future along with a Ballista prototype that had been brought over from Winterfell.
The Ballista was a very different design based on the Windlances from Lord of the Rings with a series of Pulleys to make the device no wider than two feet making it easier to transport and to be used on ships.
The crowd gathered around the Windlance pointing at various pieces and talking among themselves about the weapon.
Jon in his nicer clothes arrived by the side of Aly who was wearing a green dress which is a surprise to all involved as she rarely wore dresses preferring men's pants tailored for her as she was normally seen training with her mace and shield.
Maege Mormont is off to the side observing from the side keeping an eye on things observing how her heir handled the situation at hand.
"Good morning one and all!" The crowd turned to Aly Mormont and cheered as she was quite popular among the locals and her fighting spirit was famous.
"My mother and I have called you all here to welcome Jon Snow the current Ward of Bear Island and he has built that Ballista you see here. It will be our new emplacements along the wall in addition to out on the sea in the coming months." The crowd grumbled and moved away from the weapon as they had some doubts that a child of 16 could build something like this safely.
"Master at Arms Anders, would you place the targets out and everyone else please move away from the range." Anders, a tall brown haired man with the help of some other men moved a series of wooden targetes with a variety of thickets to mimic ships.
"Jon, if you would explain and fire your Ballista please." Aly motioned to the Ballista and handed him a spear to be loaded into the device.
"Thank you Heir Mormont, as the lady said I developed and built this ballista. I call it a windlance using a number of gears and pulleys it allows a single man to load and fire the device.
[Jon with one hand pulls back on the loading arm and places the spear in the chamber,the men were amazed either at the boy's strength or ballista.]
"When production is officially started the Bolts that will be used are much stronger than a base spear and are specifically designed to destroy ships." Jon then picked up on the back end of the device and aimed at the farthest target, a wall of wood three times as thick as an IronBorn Ship. (4 Feet)
With a pull of a lever the spear flew faster than anything the men and women gathered, the spear hit the wood and shattered leaving a fist size hole and sending splinters Into the air that would kill all those around the hit.
Nodding to himself Jon locked the Ballista in place and made sure nothing was in the auto loader, "That was mildly disappointing, with the New Bolts it will shatter and leave a much larger hole and more shrapnel. Please feel free to fire it. I'll answer as many questions as I am able."
Maege watched on as old and new soldiers tested the weapon, among them was Aly boasting about Jon and showing them how this weapon will destroy any Iron born that attacks their shores, while Jon soon found himself swarmed with Craftsman asking him question after question.
Through the crowd she saw Jon and Aly make eye contact and smile which warmed the lady bears Heart, she would keep an eye on the two as she may have figured out how to save her house.
———Timeskipe of three days——-
The Workshop provided by Lady Mormont was put to work within two days of Jon's arrival, was a hive of activity as the best of the best craftsmen on Bear Island were invited and upstaged by Jon with his ingenuity.
They soon found themselves under Jon as he showed them all new ways and techniques that helped innovate every field of crafting, The clanging of metal and the waves of heat that flowed out of the workshop was heard all over the town as they began work on the first of the Nanuq everything down to the nails were being made in the workshop.
Jon supervised and occasionally helped but with his designs most of the work was done on the docks as the carpenters and ship builders began harvesting then seasoning the wood for use.
Jon would supervise for a time then leave to the many other duties he found himself taking up, he studied with the Mormonts about ruling and managing the land and quickly found himself disinterested in ruling and would rather focus on building and innovating.
He will then ride outside the walls of the town into the hills to scout out locations for terrace farms as Maege had requested them be built after the ships were completed.
