Plans beginning

I had met with Lord Umber shortly after the other lords had left. My soon-to-be-good father was actually much different than what I had expected him to be. While being large and strong, his demeanor was different than what I had thought would be from an Umber. He was calm and collected during our conversation. It was a rather pleasant surprise, I didn't want to have to go through meeting one like Greatjon Umber, with how he was portrayed in the T.V show, I was sure I wouldn't get along with him very well.

I didn't get to meet my betrothed though. Unfortunately, she didn't come to the meeting with the Lords, not that it surprises me. Women, even in the north, were restricted in what they could do and what they couldn't. Although there are some families like the Mormonts who give women much more freedom they are one of the few to do so. Westeros, north and south restrict women quite a bit. It is not as bad in the North compared to the South, but it is still a part of the society here.

My wedding with Jenna, as I learned her name to be is scheduled for 4 moons from now. After the wedding, I will join King Eyron in the invasion of the Three Sisters so for now, I am rather free and can begin my plans for my territory.

After I had said my goodbyes to the king and Winterfell, I had left for my new lands.

It was rather easy to arrive with Kaisel, taking maybe an hour. Flying over my new land and getting the first look at it, I could deduce that it was in fact very fertile. The lush fields would be perfect for growing many crops but there was one main problem I could see, population. From what I could see from up here if my population was spread this thinly, I had maybe 25,000 to 30,000 people in my lands total, this was nowhere near the amount I needed.

I figured I would have a smaller population due to my location but this was less than I had thought. You see, as my land is right next to the wall, it is an easy target for wildlings to raid, causing not many people to live here. Although this does pose a problem, I could easily fix it. The raids from the wildlings will stop, I will make sure of that. Even if I have to kill thousands of the bloody bastards I won't have them raiding my lands.

Increasing the population also isn't much of a problem, there are millions of slaves in Essos after all. Freeing them and bringing them back to my land would be easy for me. The Essosian slaves would also be thankful to me, granting me their loyalty.

(A/N: I don't know what they call people from Essos, I know people from Westeros are Westerosi but I don't know Essos so forgive me if I am wrong.)

Although this might cause unrest amongst the northern lords, I could easily just tell the lords as well as the king that it is a tribute to the Old Gods whom I recently started 'worshipping.' This would make it not only acceptable but it would also boost my favor among the northern lords which is something I need right now, judging by the gazes I received from them during the meeting. It was quite easy to tell that apart from a few, most weren't very accepting of me. Most likely seeing me as nothing but a foreigner.

Flying down towards the ground, I landed before dismissing Kaisel. My hand went into my pocket before taking out the map that I was given. Looking over it, my keep should be just in front of me. Looking forwards, I saw it. My castle, if you could even call it that was not only very small but also in ruins. The walls crumbled, windows missing, I could barely even tell where the entrance to the god damn thing was!

"Igris."

"Yes, my king?"

"Get my shadows to start building a temporary shelter, you could demolish this castle for stone and cut down nearby trees for wood. I will not live in this filthy hovel."

"Understood, my king." After his confirmation, I summon my shadows allowing Igris control over them. It was quite an amusing sight, seeing 400 shadowy creatures built for war with battle armor and weapons, simply collecting wood and stones and assembling them together.

With my shadows, I was sure I could get a small castle built within a couple of weeks, they needed no sleep or rest and were much stronger than normal men, being able to lift many tons of rocks at once. I could also speed up the time, by getting more shadows. As far as I could tell, I didn't have a limit of shadows I could store and there was a rather generous amount of wildlings just north of me. While grinning, I motion Igris to come over.

"Igris."

"Yes, my king?"

"Go up north maybe 20 paces, you will find a large ice wall. Cross it stealthily and on the other side, there will be natives living there. Kill a hundred fit young men and bring them to me. Make sure to not be seen by anyone during this mission understood?"

"Understood, my king." I sent him and 20 more shadow soldiers to do the job. 100, while seeming like a small number, is enough for now.

One thing I was curious about though was if my shadows could still level up. I would have to test that later. If they could, the 100 wildlings who will be joining my ranks and the many more who will join afterward can become much stronger.

While waiting for Igris to return and for my soldiers to finish building my temporary home, I began to draw a design for my future castle.

I already knew what I wanted my castle to look like, I wanted it to be rather tall, maybe 25 meters for the walls and 20 for the castle itself. I took quite a lot of inspiration from the castles from Lord of the Rings. They were not only beautiful but were also very effective. I particularly liked the Dwarven strongholds.

As I was finishing up, Igris had arrived, and following him were the 20 shadows, each carrying a varying number of dead young men on their shoulders.

Arriving before me, my shadows dropped the dead on the ground before kneeling. Igris, in the front speaks up.

"I have completed what you ordered of me, my king."

"Very good Igris, leave me."

"Yes, my king." With that said, Igris and the rest of my shadows had left. Leaving me alone with the 100 bodies in front of me. Each of them looked between the ages of 25 and 30, their physical prime. The clothes they are wearing being nothing more than animal furs and rags. They were exactly what you would expect from wildlings.

Even while seeing their lifeless eyes and fearful faces they had shown before their death. I could say I felt no remorse for these people, wildlings would rape and kill innocents without batting an eye and while I am no saint, these people deserve no remorse after their sins.

While smiling, my hand was outstretched towards the bodies in front of me. Although there was no longer a menu informing me I could make them shadows, I still felt the souls inside of the bodies. They would be the first of thousands who would have the same fate, they will be reborn anew, as my soldiers.

"Arise."

.....

(Sorry for any mistakes in this chapter, I wrote it rather quickly as I didn't have much time today.)