Chapter Forty One

Ninth day, Third Moon, 251 AC (+128 days from last chapter)

The breeze carried a slight chill that proudly proclaimed that it was no longer summer. Being so close to the water made its effects easier to bear – that and a nice hot cup of tea.

I had dragged my desk outside of my new office so that I could enjoy the sunlight while I was able. Since I was sitting all day, I had to wear my nice flannel jacket and a light scarf to keep warm, but it was not yet cold enough to bother with gloves or a hat.

I was currently going through a few books that Lord Stark had given me, things such as, census data, resource data, a book on the history of the houses of the North, and a book that contained a variety of information – like laws and customs. Though I can admit, I was leaving that aside for now, especially since Lord Stark said that he would aid me with the next few tax collections – at least until I got on my feet.

Jon, the Master Builder who was loaned to me by Lord Stark, had left a few weeks ago once it became clear that autumn was here. He didn't want to be caught out by snowstorms, and there was nothing really for him to do at Sunset's Rest during the winter.

He, along with 128 people and ten men-at-arms, came with Koryn and I from Winterfell to Sunset's Rest. We picked up another thirty people as we moved across the countryside, and there were even people still drifting in! It had shocked me at first, but people were actually interested in this new opportunity! It had made me take an honest look at how I viewed others, and I had to admit that over the course of my forty years here, I had grown a bit of a superiority complex. I was more educated than 99% of the people here, I knew things they didn't even dream about, and I knew the taste of freedom.

It was easy to look down on them; to see that these people didn't really strive to do better and that they just seemed to aim to live. To be fair, trying to live here was difficult, especially for a peasant, but it didn't make it easier to connect with people. Sure, once I got to know people, my view on them changed, but my default view of people was pretty low. I'm sure there was some proper term for it, but it was, what it was. It was funny to think about too because I was never the smartest person – not that I was dumb, obviously, but I was not a great scientist, mathematician, philosopher, or what have you, but being here in Westeros was quite the ego boost.

Once I had recognized that my original view was overly conceited, I realized I shouldn't be that surprised that people were travelling here in search of a better life. Had people not done the same thing since the founding of America? People weren't able to hop on a boat here, so they had to walk, but the effect was the same. If they could, they sought a better life. Granted, it was not much of a better life, yet, but there was hints of one, at least from the traveler's perspective.

Most of the new travelers had hastily built homes, which they were now reinforcing in preparation for the upcoming winter. The work I had them doing was mostly preparatory work so that we could build up our supplies to start building the castle. While the Master Builder staked out the worksite, the workers began to chop trees, mine limestone, iron, coal, and all the other supplies we would need an abundance of. The Master Builder finished staking the castle before he left, so the workers were also now starting to excavate a food storage area that would be beneath the eventual castle as well as stockpiling the other materials.

It was exciting to see everything taking place, even if all the work was giving me a headache. Managing everyone so that work flowed smoothly, while at the same time planning for the future and working on my farm. The farmwork was mostly offloaded to others, but there was no way I was getting rid of my farm anytime soon! I had put too much effort into it, and I loved it too much.

My castle was pretty much designed already, and Jon and I had come up with a design that could be expanded later if needed. There would be the main house for my family, done in a mansion-esque design, and would have barracks, an inn for visitors, a stable, blacksmith, and all of the defensive requirements recommended by Jon. He was a bit confused by my rough drawings for the main house, but he got the idea and made the defensive changes it needed to be an actual castle. I had thought about adding some really cool towers, like Winterfell has, but ultimately decided against it. I didn't have the internal heating capabilities that Winterfell did, so building such extravagant features would be incredibly costly to keep. We plan to keep space clear though, in case that changes at some point down the road, but there was no need for it right now since my family didn't need the space.

Speaking of my family, their reactions to our rise to a Masterly house was interesting. I missed the initial reaction, unfortunately, because Lord Stark had sent a rider letting our families know that we were delayed and the reason why. I was still greeted with hugs and kisses when I returned, though everyone was very shocked. Nyra and I had several, very long conversations, but the children took it well. Well, Anari doesn't quite understand, but she is close enough for now – she thinks it means she is a real princess, and I don't have the heart to correct her. The rest of the family took it in good cheer, though poor Ethan almost had a heart attack, and hasn't quite recovered. As he is getting on in age, he is just over 70 years old, it's not unexpected, but it is certainly unwelcome.

A shout breaks me from my reminiscing, as I see Koryn and Donovar making their way over to me.

"'Lo, Michael!" Koryn shouted, happily.

"Koryn. Donovar," I replied, giving each a nod.

"Michael," Donovar acknowledged, with a small bow. "How goes the planning?"

I shrugged. "Alright, I suppose. How is the training?"

Donovar nodded, with a serious look on his face. "Good. Your son is learning quickly, more so than the other boys his age. The older men are giving me some more trouble, as expected, since they have ingrained bad habits, and typically make for poorer students. So far, we have twenty boys of varying age, around your son's age or older, with twelve older men. The older men will make fine garrison troops and guards, once we are done training them, but the boys should go on to become the equal of other Lords' men-at-arms, with the proper motivation."

I sighed. "That's a start I suppose, but it doesn't do much for the rest of the land."

Koryn shrugged. "Not much we can do about that. One step at a time."

"I know next summer you were planning to do a tour of the land. Maybe we can tie in some defensive applications? Stay long enough to train a garrison in the more major settlements?" asked Donovar.

I shook my head. "Major settlements? The major problem is that we have no major settlements. Everyone is dispersed, afraid that if they congregate, the Ironborn will target them. A few weeks of training at every small village will take years. We would need to convince them to move closer to each other, and that is not an easy process."

Koryn frowned and said, "I think we're getting ahead of ourselves. Really, what we need to do is figure out what are actual goals are and work backwards. I know you already thought on it a bit Michael when you were originally planning the castle. Let's expand on that."

Donovar agreed, so I rolled out the map of the area. It was more detailed than I was used to and showed quite a few streams and lakes, as well as general geological features, that were not marked on the general maps.

"Well, to start, let's break this down into regions," I said. I quickly drew four regions and named them Northern Coast, Northern Interior, Southern Coast, and Southern Interior. "How's that?" I asked.

Koryn and Donovar looked it over, before Koryn said, "The names are awful, but I get the idea. I think it should be five regions though. The northern half of the Southern Interior is quite different than the southern half."

"True," I conceded, "It's more similar to the Northern Coast region, but then the region would be ungainly."

Donovar said, "I agree with Koryn. Five regions would be best." He scratched his cheek and added wryly, "And maybe some actual names as well."

I rolled my eyes. "Fine. The Southern Coast is the Stoney Shore - no need to change that. Hmm, the Northern Interior can be called the Inverloch. The northern half of the Southern Interior can be called Woodshire? While the southern half can be called Rillplainshire? Then the Northern Coast be called Iowa."

The two men eyed me in amusement, but I was pleased with the names.

Donovar said, bemusedly, "Those are some… interesting names."

Koryn covered his cough with a laugh. "Yes, interesting. Do these, uh, interesting names have a meaning?"

I blushed a bit, as I had let my enthusiasm get ahead of me. I cleared my throat and replied, "No, not really. I just thought they sounded good."

Koryn laughed, and Donovar just shook his head.

"Names aside," I said, "How should we go about defending that?"

Donovar frowned in thought. "Well, Sunset's Rest will serve as the hub of protection for Iowa, though we will need to increase our forces. Maybe a castle in each region?" He scratched his cheek. "That would mean another two Masterly houses to control that though. From there, we form up a cavalry to use in response to any Ironborn raids, until they realize that this land is protected and stop."

Koryn shrugged. "Sounds about right. Who else would take control of those castles though?"

I didn't like the sound of that plan. It didn't sit right with me and sounded pretty lazy, to be honest. "I don't think that is our best bet. Let's think this through. We need castles to protect our people. We need to protect our people from various threats. The threats they face are Ironborn raids, wildlings, a Westerosi civil war, a Northern civil war, an Essosi invasion, or some random invasion from people beyond the Sunset Sea."

Donovar looked flabbergasted. "Civil war?! People from beyond the Sunset Sea? What are you talking about?"

"Well," I replied, "we need to think about every threat, regardless of the likelihood. I am not truly worried about people from across the Sunset Sea, but it is a possibility. And planning for it is pretty much the same as planning for the Ironborn - It will be naval landings we need to contend with. So, I think we need three castles, one here at Sunset's Rest, one at The Fishing Village – which by the way, definitely needs to have its name change - and one somewhere along the Twin Lakes River. This will protect the coastline, from external threats. I am not overly worried about a civil war, or an Essosi invasion threatening the West Coast, so we don't need to bother with any inland castles, for now."

Koryn looked thoughtful, while Donovar started to calm down. Poor man probably thought I meant to start a civil war.

Koryn asked, "Will that be enough? We know that the Ironborn will still infrequently raid even Glover and Mormont lands, and even if it is less than our area now, it still doesn't really solve the problem."

No, it doesn't," I conceded. "But it is a start. We will need a mobile force to combat that, one of which is horses. With enough horses and increased water traffic, hopefully, we can spot the Ironborn early and respond to raids along most of the coast."

"What about some naval forces located at each castle?" asked Donovar.

"That would be expensive, more expensive than we can afford for now. I don't think between us, that we even have the expertise necessary for such a thing. I imagine fighting on a boat is a lot different than on land."

Donovar shrugged. "I've never been on a boat myself, so I wouldn't know."

Koryn said, "Perhaps we can ask White Harbor for help? They would likely know such things."

I nodded. "I will make a note of it and include it in my letter to House Manderly. We have the one longship for now, maybe see if any of the fishermen want to try it out and see what it's like?"

"I will talk with the fishermen and go along with them. See what it would be like to fight on a boat. Maybe I will take some of the recruits with me. Even if we don't fight on water, moving soldiers by boat is much quicker," replied Donovar.

We have ideas; now we need a plan. I spoke my thoughts aloud for both of them, "First, we need to build up Iowa. Get Sunset's Rest built and populate the region. Encourage people to move here and improve the lives and health of those that already do. Next, will be one of two things. On the tour next summer, if possible, at some of the larger coastal villages, it may be possible to build smaller fortifications of some sort. Something to house food stores, and a place to fall back to in the event of a raid. Hopefully, that will encourage people to move to these more fortified locations and make things easier for us. Failing that, we then need to get started on The Fishing Village and building a castle there."

"Speaking of which, I need to rename that. Any thoughts?" I asked.

"Maybe go back to the old name? Fisher's Village," replied Koryn.

"Doesn't make much sense to call it based on the prior Lord's family name," retorted Donovar.

"Maybe something in the Old Tongue? Fishing is, what? Fiske? Village is ver, or was it vær? So, perhaps Fiskevær?" I asked.

Koryn gave me a wry smile. "You really like using the Old Tongue, eh? I dunno, if we are going to change it, might as well change it. Not translate it." Donovar nodded his agreement.

"Alright, how about Stonefisk? Unique, and a blend of Common and Old Tongues."

The two men agreed, so I continued outlining my thoughts. "So, we build a castle at Stonefisk over the next few years. It will have to wait until Sunset's Rest is done, but perhaps on the tour, Donovar, you can start to train up some men-at-arms and form the core that will be there for the castle."

"That's going to take a lot of time and money. More than we want and more than we have, respectively," replied Donovar.

I nodded and let out a sigh. "Yes, yes it will. I will focus on the money aspect, Donovar if you can get these boys trained up."

Donovar took that as a dismissal and left after giving a short bow.

Koryn waited placidly, while I gathered my thoughts. "In order to make money, we need goods, services, and people to tax. We need to attract more people to live here while making sure those that already do, live." I stared at the map and said, "I need you to go along the coast, Koryn. At every house you see, try to convince them to form a village. Get them to congregate as best as you can; let them know that they now have the safety to live in a village. Teach them the things you know; the things I've taught. Lye soap, pasteurized milk, boiling water, and general cleanliness. Make up a program – something you can teach and reteach, over and over again. We need to start reducing deaths and improving health."

Koryn nodded his understanding and replied, "I can do that. It'll take me a few days to come up with a good, reusable teaching method, but I can do it. Where do you want me to get the people to gather though?"

I looked at him and said, "People can walk, what, 25 miles in a day on a good road? That's about eight hours of walking. Now fishers can live in a village easily, and people who provide services, like blacksmiths, can as well. So, ideally, we would want larger, trade villages every ten miles. Farmers are going to live in the village close to their fields; they also want to be within walking distance of a trade village. So, if a person walks say ten miles each way that's about a three-hour trip. That gives them time to stay in the village for a few hours, then walk back home. Focus on getting them to congregate in these larger trade villages, that are no closer than ten miles apart. It's not a big concern, yet, as we don't have the population for it, but if you notice two villages that are only a few miles apart, try to get them to merge or make note of it. I don't think there are any off the top of my head, but I never really paid attention either. If they don't merge, we can choose one of them later to serve as the trade village."

"Aye, I can do that. What about the other things, goods, and services?"

"Well, brandy and vodka production will have to be expanded. Damn, that reminds me! As you go along, teach the farmers about crop rotation! Tell them I will buy potatoes. I'll probably need to have two men-at-arms go with you for legitimacy. Would probably help if I had a banner made, and an actual sigil designed in the first place! Anyways, root beer will also be a good product to sell, I think. Using the sawmill for planks will also be a boon, especially as new homes are needed. I will need to think on other things as well because the markets for those products don't exist, so it will need to be created, which means that money won't start flowing in at the start. I honestly, don't know if any fish on this coast would be in demand on the east coast. Something to look into I suppose. Garum might be though! Leave it with me; I will deal with the goods and services, you just focus in on the people in the region, okay?"

"Aye sounds like a plan! Oh, by the way, my family agreed on our house words and sigil! The house words are: Protect and Serve."

"Very fitting!" I said. "It suits you and your family very well."

Koryn gave me a big grin. "Now you need to decide on yours, or all the good ideas will be taken. Donovar is still undecided on his sigil, but for his house, Armstrong, the words are Witness. My sigil is an orange shield, with a hammer and sickle! You are going to have to top that!"

"Bah," I waved off his teasing. "I'm not worried, House Ragnar will have an amazing sigil, with powerful words."

Koryn laughed and replied, "Going to give into your wife then? 'Reap what you sow'"

I chuckled. "I'm not giving in just yet. It still seems unnecessarily provocative. We will always have poor relations with the Ironborn if we use that since it takes a shot at the Greyjoys. I prefer either 'All That Glitters' or "Who Dares, Wins.'"

Still laughing, Koryn said, "Bah, we were never going to get along with the fucking Ironborn. Might as well get what shots we can in. Might even make them think twice before attacking."

"Thinking twice with no brain isn't any better than thinking once." Koryn started laughing uncontrollably, so I said, "Get out of here you man-child! Some of us need to work!"

Koryn stood up and said, "I can't wait to tell that one to Nyra, she will love it!"

I rolled my eyes. Great, another reason for her to make me pick her house words.

"Go on, then. Go make your teaching program and stop torturing me with these house words!"

With a final laugh, Koryn left the area.

I facepalmed when I realized that he left in the direction of my house.