Chapter 2: Uncle Ned

 Few weeks after my mother breaks down about Elia Martell a servant enters the room while my mother feeds me.

 "Lady Ashara, Lord Stark has come to Starfall he is in Lord Dayne's solar. Lord Dayne has asked you to come with Lord Cregan." She says in a respectful tone.

 "What does he want with Cregan?" My mother asks with a concerned voice.

 "I don't know my lady." Servant says.

 When i hear this i realize why my system become active this morning. My journey to power starts today. My mother gets up after she cover her breast and pick me up. 

 You know when ROB explained system to me i just thought of it as powerful but simple but now i know he really undersell this system. One of the functions it actually tells you what someone thinks about you and where their loyalty lies. Also it functions in cooperation with a minimap that actually has people with different color regarding their opinion and thoughts on me. For example my mother is green in map while servant is blue which means my mother is positive towards me while servant neutral towards me. 

 My mother walks corridors with steady steps but i can tell she is nervous. But i can't subjugate her it is too risky if she thinks she is doing me a favor by giving up my claim i can't tell her not to after all i am a baby. My best bet if thinks start to go wrong is to subjugate Ned. He will look at me and my system needs eye contact to work. If conversation starts going bad i will cry to attract his attention for atleast a moment and immediately use my powers. I can take the North by force but it will delay my plans significantly and make dealing with ice zombies harder. 

 Guards in front of solar does not stop as we enter inside. There is 3 man inside. Lord Dayne, a short man and a young man with grey eyes. When Ned Stark sees me his eyes locks on to me. First thing i do is to check his loyalty.

[Name: Eddard Stark

Loyalty: House Stark, Crown

His Thoughts About You: He sees you as his rightful lord and last thing left from his brother. He will do everything he can to make sure you become a good lord paramount and he will die to protect you if need be.] 

 Jackpot. He is like in the original work atleast enough that i won't have to fight for the North. 

 "Lady Ashara my condolences for your brother Ser Arthur." Says Ned. And i can see the horrible pain in my mother's eyes but she compose herself after few moments. And turns to Ned Stark with a glare that might actually kill the dude. 

 "Why are you here Lord Stark" My mother ask with a venom that proves she is dornish.

 "I have come to return Ser Arthur's body and ancestral sword Dawn. Lord Dayne told me about Cregan. May i hold him?" He ask without caring about my mother's harsh attitude. 

 My mother thinks about protesting but Lord Dayne gestures her and she gives me Ned with reluctance. When Ned holds me i can see a few tears in his cheeks. After a minute. He turns other occupants of the room.

 "Before i came here i did not know about Cregan's existence but i did know about your marriage. If i had known i would've make sure Cregan takes his right. But that is not important anymore he now can come with me to the North to takes his place as rightful heir of my brother. " He declares with a bit of pride and relief. 

 "If you think you can take my son, think again Lord Stark i won't leave him! " My mother immediately shouts at my uncle. 

 "You don't have to my lady. As Brandon's widow and Cregan's mother you are Lady of Winterfell until Cregan marries in the future. You will come with us too." Ned says in his usual respectful tone. 

 "What about your goodfather Hoster Tully? When he learns his grandson won't be heir in the future he will be furious and act against my son. I don't want him to become lord paramount if he is gonna be a target of House Tully's." My mother's tone is less venomous and more concerned now. 

 "Hoster Tully does not get to a say in this and if he tries to harm Cregan he will regret the day he is born." My uncle says.

 That is suprising but then again this is not 40 year old something Warden in the show. He is a man who lost almost all his family so i can't imagine he will be too keen on letting me get killed. 

 "You don't have to worry my lady i will be his regent and will do everything in my power to keep him safe. It is his right to rule the North and i will make sure nobody can steals his right. After Ser Arthur's funeral we shall take a ship to first King's Landing then to White Harbor. " Ned Stark says with finality and i relax.

 Well atleast this Ned is not an au version even if he turns out to be in the future he atleast will be loyal until my next birthday where my subjugation ability will get renewed and i can make him absolutely loyal. I hope in King's Landing i can see Jon Arryn or Robert. With Ned supporting me Robert will support me to and Jon Arryn won't be obstacle in my way at first anyway. 

 What i really hope is to see Varys. He is much more valuable if i get him as my first subject. He will make sure any innovation of me stays secret to South and he can influence information flow to my benefit even without my orders. I can always subjugate Robert or Falcon Lord in Greyjoy rebellion. 

 After my uncles declaration my mom relaxes a bit and nods her head then we exit the solar. I am happy this worked out this way. Now i have to plan first five year in detail so i can start uplifting the North. 

 First order of business would be increasing food production with good old Crop rotation. I need to make sure a vital source like food is not depend on whims of a hostile Hoster Tully or a Olenna Tyrell trying to 'Grow Strong'. With an independent food production we can even export food to other kingdoms considering Reach and Riverlands basically robs the North and other kingdoms with price of food. If i am lucky i may even find other type of food plants like potato or if i found any we can plant things like sugar beet and make some money. We can always use classic produce new alcohol like vodka and whiskey for quick coin but i need to make sure i can tell Hoster Tully to fuck himself before i go into alcohol business. 

 When i start walking by myself and after subjugated Ned i will use my magic compass to find mines in direct territory of House Stark. If Lannisters can mine for thousands of years i am sure the North too is filled with gold, silver, iron and any other valuable materials. I just need to find it and mine it. Now that i think about it i might wait before opening all gold mines until Greyjoy rebellion so i can prevent Tywin from lashing out in fear of losing gold advantage. If i can subjugate him i can even make him give me some miners. 

 Now that i thought about it i need to decide what to do after Greyjoy's ill attempt at glory. I don't want to destroy them because i can't really annex them into the North because we don't have neither funds nor population to assimilate Iron islands. And while i can subjugate few powerful people this is a feudal society with powerful minor lords that can make things very difficult for me if make a mistake. They need to rebel again so when i am old and powerful enough during War of the 5 Kings i can attack with a reason and justify my annexation. I can always yoink their thralls aftermath of their first rebellion to use as labor. Ironborn are a pirate culture that thrives on raping and stealing. So i imagine they make use of thralls for less glorious things in their eyes, like mining, blacksmithing or anything that makes them useful members of society. Thralls probably know shipbuilding even if it won't be on the same level of a Ironborn i can make use of them when we start building a fleet in both West and East shore of my kingdom. In west i will either use Sea Dragon Point or if i get rid of Barbrey Dustin or if Tallharts become loyal enough i might build to the mouth of river that leads to Saltspear from Borrowtown or lake by the Torrhen's Square respectfully. 

 In the East i will build on Weeping Water that in the lands of Boltons after i make Roose Bolton my subject. This action will also curtail power of House Manderly by taking away their monopoly on east coast. I am planning on being antagonistic towards Seven and even if i subjugate Lord Manderly his people or other members of his house will still might become a problem if they are powerful enough to turn into a headache. I thought about building on Broken Branch river but that means i will have to deal with 3 houses that sits on top of that river and Bolton is already a target that i will control. 

 There is also the The Gift and Moat Cailin i need to deal with. I can get The Gift easily Robert or Jon Arryn won't object and i can convince Lord commander with actual supplies instead of unreasonable sized lands that they can't actually rule or tax.

 On the subject of Moat Cailin at first i thought about making a canal between Fever River and The Bite but i don't think it can be feasible in near future considering Suez Canal itself took ten years, thousands of workers and a lot of money but we shall see i don't know how much distance between Fever River and The Bite. If it is not long as Suez Canal i can maybe build a canal that would make Dornish very angry considering that would make a significant trade from Reach and Westerlands to flow using canal in order to reach Bravos and Pentos. If i had any sort of magic that can help me it would've been nice but i won't complain. I can survive without the canal but i must rebuild Moat Cailin and give it to Ned so i can have a trusted bannermen that can stop any attack from South if my actions trigger and invasion attempt. 

 Three Sisters and pirates from it has long been a plague but they are ruled by Eyrie and i don't want to make enemies with Jon Arryn. If i do decide to subjugate him he can deal with them for me.

 But i can't just subjugate anyone without a thought he is old and will die after all and if a subject dies i won't get a new charge for my ability. It only gets a new charge at my birthday and it won't stack. It is more than fair for a broken ability like this but still i need subjects that will live long enough to be actually useful and not die after 1 or 2 decade. Well either that or they need to be important figures like Robert or Tywin. 

 Then there is also the question of Dany and her mad brother. I mean i will probably kill Viserys first chance i get to kill without backlash. But Dany can be useful, very useful considering she can hatch and ride dragons and even if i live forever i still can make use of children that can ride dragons after i start conquering outside Westeros. Also she will be useful against Night King and to top it all of she has a claim that can be mine if i marry her. I don't really need a claim considering i have a dragon and big ass one at that but still a claim will make lesser lords shut up. 

 If i decide to take Dany as wife i might need to subjugate her after all she has a powerful personality and she might challenge my rule if she thinks it is her right to be ruler and decides my position is to be a mere consort. That means i must subjugate her after her journey in Essos or if i can get her before Viserys gives her mental trauma i can make her see me as a better ruler and i won't have to waste a charge. 

 If Lannisters prove a problem and i have opportunity to benefit from their demise i can instigate a Lannister-Crown conflict by using Robert.

 I will try to influence Vale and Riverlands to slowly take over them. Riverlands is simple i need to kill Edmure before he gets a heir and Hoster will have no choice but make Robb Stark heir or any other child of Catelyn.

 If there is a war and Jon Arryn and Robert is dead i can always just conquer Riverlands and Vale by force and declare independence. I don't think taking over Iron Throne directly will be logical. I don't need entire Westeros to deal with Night King and slowly chipping away Andal Kingdoms and assimilate them into First Men culture and Old Gods religion will provide a much more solid powerbase for me when i start conquering rest of the planet starting from Essos. After all if i take Iron Throne i need to deal with petty bullshit of small lords of South and their fragile egos. Also the King's Landing is an actual shithole so before it becomes my capital i need to make it actually worthy becoming my seat of power.

 While i am lost in my thoughts couple days quickly passes and after funeral of my uncle Arthur, my mother and i get on a ship with Ned and Howland. I also had the pleasure of meeting Jon Snow my uncle brought him to me after he met me first time in Lord Dayne's solar. He is a regular baby that cries a lot, obviously not every baby has an adult mind in them that makes them atleast a bit more quiet. But while i am start to get sleepy in a ship i can't help but think about King's Landing. Will it be better looking than show counterpart? Or a shithole awaits me in Crownlands. Whatever awaits me with the powers i have i am quite sure it will be just fine. 

-----------End of Chapter--------------

- I don't own ASOIAF, GOT or anything related to it.