14 Changes

There was one moon left for Greyjoy's Rebellion. The raids on the west coast had already ceased as the Ironborn were preparing for the rebellion but there was another thing that was the cause of it, the new fleet.

Lucky for House Stark, the new lord of the cadet branch of Sea Dragon Point was a genius-in-making. The man was natural in sea and strategy and with the support of Manderlys, men and women from the new cadet branch and House Mormont were trained as sea commanders.

However, the newly raised cadet branch was commanding the fleet only in my name as the owner of those ships were me. On the other hand, the eastern fleet was also working hard. The ships were designed to be used as trade ships in peacetime and warships in wartime. I was content with the situation on the sea as only the combined might of Westeros could contend with the might of the Northern navy. Even Ironborn who have ships that are written as legends would shed tears of envy seeing our navy.

The biggest shock for the North was not the ships but the coming of giants and Thenns to Winterfell. Even I didn't expect Thenns as they considered themselves the last of First Men and had nobles of their own.

The giants were a sight to see as the tallest and oldest of them was as long as the walls of Winterfell. Their numbers were more than I had expected. They have numbered around two thousand but only two hundred of them were children.

On the other hand, Thenns were numbered around ten thousand but only three thousand of them were fighters. When I questioned Benjen about them, he told me a very strange story.

When he went to their Magnar to ask permission to pass from their lands, he was nearly taken prisoner and only through Styr's intervention he was released. Apparently, the Thenns still remembered the ancient oaths given in the Isle of Faces. Weird enough, they kept records in runes since ancient times and they believed the Magnar was the chosen one of the gods. That was why every Magnar of Thenn was seen as more of a god than a man and that became a tradition but the words from a green man convinced them enough to leave their lands and pass the Wall.

I had them swear their allegiance to me as their new lords. It was a sight to see a giant kneeling before me. Their chief's one strand of hair was longer than me and that was no joke. Some even offered to shave their hair to make clothes out of it but a grumble from their chief was enough to fend them off.

However, the biggest benefit they brought to me and the North was the mammoths and wood bisons. Mammoths were something I was expecting but the bisons… They were beasts foreign to men of Westeros. They could live in the coldest places and be butchered for food in times of need. Orders were already given to build farms all across the North to produce them en masse.

The North was a cruel place in winters and many were dying of starvation. My hope was these mammoths and bisons could be our cure for starvation in times of need.

Both giants and Thenns were settled inside the new walls of Winterfell as I planned to make them the first citizens of the new city. However, I had to build new gates and houses for giants and expand some sections of the walls for mammoths as I was planning to increase their numbers and Winterfell was not enough for them. Lucky for me, Thenns didn't demand lands as I had none to give because of my generous gifts to my vassals.

Maybe I could give Sea Dragon Point to them after Old Nan's grandson's death. The keep was already built and new villages were being formed near to the shore. Thanks to my "master architect" trait and steward attribute points, my construction plans had been useful enough to finish the construction in a short amount of time.

One of the other things the Thenns provided to me was extra wargs. I already built a warg unit from my lands to spy on Westeros but their numbers were low. Although many new wargs were being discovered with the population boom, I needed more of them to spread my spy network in Essos. Birds, rats and many more animals were used to spy on people by wargs. There was even a man who warged in a fly to spy on Robert but he was crushed between his cock and a whore's pussy. It was a pity as he had great potential but lost his mind due to the death of his "animal".

Besides wargs, my special soldiers were also trained to their full potential. Each of them had the strength of a berserker and the skill of a swordmaster. They were beasts of war and they were going to prove their worth in the Greyjoy's Rebellion.

I also sent men to scout the northern mountains for ore veins and the Old Gods bless those people because they found gold and diamond ores in the mountains. Of course, I immediately hired some northerners to open a mine in the mountains. Though there was a small problem, only half of the mountain was in my personal territory as the other half was in the lands of House Forrester.

Nevertheless, an agreement was made between the houses and they were going to receive ten per cent of the income while the rest was going to be mine. Of course, all the mining process belonged to House Stark and they were going to do nothing and receive coins. Of course, they had to pay three per cent of their ten per cent to their liege but in return, they were going to be exempted as long as the mines were operated.

Mining the gold and diamond was not enough as I also needed to process them so I hired some people who worked on the diamond to train my own men. On the other hand, I had two options for gold; sending to Manderlys or to the royal mint in the Capital.

Sending the gold to the Manderlys could be more profitable but it would also be dangerous as eyes were already on me because of the amount I was spending. Therefore, I decided to play it safe and sent the golds I have mined to the capital for minting.

All things were going good for the North but it wasn't only the good things that happened as there also had been many obstacles on my path. One of them was the food the North bought from the Reach. The deal was off as the North didn't need their food anymore and we were even producing more food than we could eat.

There had been many voices and complaints from their side but lucky for me, I was the best friend of the king and the nearly-adopted son of the Hand. The fuckers even had the nerve to send one of their own to negotiate and possibly spy on me and the North. However, Howland did a good job and the man was eaten alive by a lizard-lion. Of course, all of that was seen as an accident but none knew it was a warg who did the job.

Their next attempts to send people were also met with unfortunate endings. A ship was suddenly attacked by whales and crashed into rocks. A horse was gone mad and threw its rider into the raging river while passing from the Twins. A man was scared to death by snakes at night…

In the end, Tyrells gave up in their attempts to negotiate and many saw it as divine intervention. However, it wasn't only Tyrells who met unfortunate ends at sea. Many Sistermen also died due to the attacks of whales while trying to raid the trading vessels entering the White Harbour.

Although the Manderlys didn't know about it, they were thankful to the whales for their attacks as most of their trade was affected due to the Sistermen.

Trade was quickly becoming an important part of the North and Winterfell was already the centre of the northern market. The roads really paid off as caravans were already being formed between the settlements. The North was a big place and the distance between the castles were not something that could be traversed in days. However, the new roads lowered the travel time to days and with the increase of trade, all of the lords began profiting from it so the lords were happy with their liege and that made me a good lord in their eyes.

However, I wasn't content with just being a good lord and that required me and my children to be more intimate with the lords. Speaking of children, I swear, they are nothing more than trouble. The absence of a mother-figure was becoming a problem each year. Robb was already questioning things and running around and making trouble with Jon.

Weird enough, it was Jon who was more mischievous amongst them. The boy had no one other than me to restrict him and I wasn't one to steal away their fun. Although they were mischievous, their siblings were something they couldn't contend with. They were born at the beginning of 285 AC and all of them had inherited the looks of me.

There was a word in the North about my seed being weak but their birth proved otherwise. Already, everyone knew of their deeds in the castle and claimed the wolf's blood in them.

The eldest of them, Sansa, was like a bell that was ringing every day. She wasn't stopping even in her sleep as her snoring was a legend amongst the servants. On the other hand, Arya was wilder than her sister but her actions were more secretive. She was like a shadow cat that was roaming in the darkness.

Contrary to them, my secondborn son, Brandon, was taken in by Styr as his apprentice and already, his hands were tending weirwoods. I didn't know how to steal the information I needed from him but with this, he would teach everything he knew to Bran and when the time comes, he would die at my hands for the things he has done.

My youngest, Rickon, was a warrior at heart. He was already attacking guards with wooden swords and his war cry was famous in the keep. Of course, all of my children had their own accomplices with them and those accomplices were their direwolves.

The beasts were already as big as horses and my children were riding them everywhere. Someday, Robb and Jon came to break their fast while sleeping upon their direwolves. Later, I learned that they weren't sleeping but warging. This was something I was expecting but it was surprising to see it this early.

When I asked about it Styr, he told me that being exposed to another warg brings out the potential of a man. Apparently, my being connected with Winter was a boon for my children.

While days passed in peace, a raven arrived from the Sea Dragon Point with news of an attempted attack on the new settlement. After that raven, another one arrived from Flint's Finger about attacks on the villages.

I called my maester immediately and ordered him to call banners. He met my order with confusion as it was just several Ironborn raiders attacking villages but I knew otherwise.

This was the beginning of a war and the rise of the first men.

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