Chapter 7

Winterfell and the surrounding land have grown substantially in the past 4 years. From its original size of almost a hundred thousand square meters to a staggering area of almost 900,000 square meters. While the castle itself occupied only 200,000 square meters of the area. The rest was occupied by private farms within the castle itself in case of siege which held a lot of land, the Northern Temple of Knowledge and the Factory covered almost as twice the castle at almost 400,000 sq. meters.

Wintertown was now a proper city that had a large population of 190,000 and has changed almost entirely. Almost all the neighborhoods were built of concrete with supporting steel beams with several institutions and hospices owned by Lord Stark. Wintertown was divided into several neighborhoods each with a completely different design, emulating each of the different Kingdoms and even the Free Cities. The city was remarkably well kept and clean, no beggars or cripples anywhere, the smallfolk were dressed in different designs of wool instead of the traditional rags.

The castle lying at the top of the hill it is situated upon was protected by a moat and a 90 feet high, 10 feet thick white circular wall of fused white stone like the rest of the castle that shone in contrast to the grey of the North and looked as if it was carved from marble with not a single trace of stone. 4 wooden retractable gates connected the keep to the second section which held the factory. Six round towers that were designed to give an unobstructed panorama of the countryside around a fortress, so lookouts could spot oncoming attackers, armed with large ballistae were built at intervals and placed strategically on the wall rose at almost 130 feet high with Wolf banners on top of them.

Some of the buildings; the armory, the glass gardens, the kennels and the library were relocated to the second section that held the factory and the Temple. A section of the innerward encompassed the Godswood which was trimmed and taken care of by a contingent of gardeners that maintained their beauty and planted different kinds of trees and flowers as well as the weirwood trees.

The kitchen, almost as large as the old castle's great hall was located next to the gate connecting it to the food storage for easy access was connected to the main keep, the brewery and contained bakehouses inside solely for the castle. Winterfell had almost 35,000 head of cattle and growing, 80,000 sheep and pigs. The old stables were torn down and a new stable complex was built to accommodate for almost 1000 horses, leading to a large rectangular riding ground surrounded by the stables and carriage house.

The inner courtyard was expanded and paved with concrete and rock and surrounded by arched porticoes that divided the courtyard into several sections clearly with a large direwolf statue made of silver standing proudly on its hind legs in the middle. Several other buildings surrounded the walls since most workshops and smiths were relocated to the factory. The Keep stood in the middle of it all, looking as majestic as it could be, with a thin layer of snow adding to the gleaming white of the castle. It was pentagonal, with each side facing a tower. Fifteen lean, round towers were attached to the keep, growing in height from the first tower as large as the walls, to the last and largest almost twice as high with large snarling direwolf gargoyles atop each side that were pitched black with wings stood imperiously looking down on the castle.

Looking at the castle from distance, you could admire the symmetrical three circular walls that encompassed Winterfell, going upwards the hill until you could see the beauty that was the castle. All in all, the castle was a combination of beauty and power. Providing protection for the north and deserved the title 'The heart of the North' and signifying doom for enemies, making even the bravest of soldiers quiver in its sight.

The castle held 700 rooms and every corridor was littered with ivory and marble busts of Winter Kings and Lords of the Old and Direwolves , marble columns towered on both side and alcoves filled with magnificent tapestries from all over the world, portraits of famous battles.

All of that was achieved because of a young man who was slightly egotistical and vain.

You didn't really expect a former dark lord, leader of the world to rule in a medieval hovel, did you?

Training Courtyard, Winterfell.

Brandon remained firmly on defense as Rodrick Cassel, The Master-at-arms of winterfell continued to attack with his sword trying to find an opening. He wasn't really expecting to beat me, did he? 'Training' with swords from the age of five and having a natural talent should've probably made Rodrick realize that he didn't have any chance against the 9 year old that stood almost lazily parrying his slashes.

I dipped and weaved right as Rodrick took an opening and tried to end it which I quickly parried with my Valyrian Steel sword. I was slightly too young to use Ice so I had to fight with a bastard sword that I found down in the vaults. I brought down my sword to the side and attacked the sudden open spot, but Rodrick managed to shuffle away and counter attack which I blocked. He tried to strike forward and I only managed to evade it with my superior reactions.

I took advantage of his momentum and slightly extended my leg to the left causing him to double over and fall face first to the dirt. "Dead," I said with a slight grin, placing my sword at his throat.

Rodrick got up with a wince, "Your skill is as perfect as always, my lord." He said with a mixture of pride, pain and embarrassment.

"Thank you, Rodrick." I said as I sheathed my sword and allowed Rodrick to return his sword to its place. I haven't been beaten at a spar or a fight ever. I could literally use every weapon that existed in this medieval world. Now you might wonder why a wizard would learn to use weapons, the Avada Kedavra was a clean easy way to kill anyone and anything. The answer was Bellatrix. Bellatrix was fascinated by the way muggles killed each other and I have to admit, there was a certain satisfaction in killing someone with your own hands, or sword. So, adamant not to allow a death eater to supersede me in anything related to general evilness and maliciousness, I copied the knowledge of Master Fighters from all around the world and every Valentine's Day we raided with muggle weapons.

I generally preferred a double edged spear but it was generally uncomfortable in close quarter combat in a real war. So I had re-forged the Valyrian steel I found in the vaults into a ridiculously elaborate bastard sword made. The blade was tinted bright orange near the crossguard and slowly turned red as you went upwards to the tip of the blade with the words 'Soul Reaper' carved on it. The crossguard was made of a black and red phoenix with ruby eyes, with a grip of red-black tinted Valyrian steel. The pommel was, of course, a snarling black dire wolf. It was perfectly balanced and had numerous charms and runes carved on it that added to its elaborate look.

I had an enormous appreciation to my new family and bloodline here. Back in my world, Purebloods could only trace their bloodlines back 3000-4000 years. Here, the Starks were an eye-boggling 8000 years old. Blood of the first men flowed in their veins and had a tiny bit of magic inside them. Not enough to use it of course, but enough to make them stronger and more enduring than the other people who lived in the seven kingdoms. With the one in a thousand that could warg. It was so… specific and limited.

It wasn't necessarily a bad thing. While I wouldn't have my Westerosi Hogwarts any time soon, I wouldn't have uncontrollable wizards as well.

Castle Black, the Wall.

"Lord Stark, it's a pleasure to have you at the wall." Jeor Mormont, 997th Lord Commander of the Night's Watch said as he met the young Lord Stark at the gates of Castle Black.

"The pleasure is all mine, Lord Commander" I said as I climbed down from my horse.

We stood in an awkward silence for a moment until a man beside Mormont said, "Please come inside, Lord Stark. The King's Tower has been prepared for your arrival."

I nodded and gestured for him to lead us there as I gazed upon the wall. It was a massive construct that reached over seven hundred feet at its highest point. What was more interesting however was that I could feel strong ambient magic emanating from the wall. Unsurprising really, it just reaffirmed my belief that the First Men had magic of their own. It had weird runes that I couldn't actually read but could sense their purposes. Spells and wards against necromancy mostly. It was built completely by men however. Nothing was conjured and magic was only used in making sure the wall doesn't fall, but nothing was used in its construction. To think, my namesake built that monstrosity to defend against the fuck up the children created.

It was not a true castle, as it has no walls to defend it to the west, east, or south. Only the Wall stands to the north. It consisted of several stone towers and timber keeps. Beneath the keeps and towers, there was a series of subterranean passages called wormwalks which connect all of the buildings. It was black, obviously. Ridiculously undermanned and barely had enough supplies to function properly.

As our rather large party settled in their apartment, I went to the Lord Commander's solar to discuss my excursion.

"Please sit down, Lord Stark." The man said gesturing to a chair in front his desk. "Now, may you explain the reason of your visit?"

"You do realize that a Stark built the wall don't you?"

"Of course I do." The man said unkindly, "But, lords rarely concern themselves with the state of the Wall and only come here to defend against a King-Beyond-The-Wall."

"Indeed, I planned to arrange transport for several mammoths and large spiders from beyond the wall. Ships have landed at the Shadow Tower and our party is here to guide them there," I told the old man. During my previous visits, I have found a large colony of Acromantulas and Mammoths in there. I was determined to use the Mammoths like the Essosi used elephants in their wars and the Acromantulas were going to be domesticated forcibly and bredand their psychology altered so their only goal in life, is reproducing and producing silk. Precious silk which was going to boost the textile industry of the North ten-fold.

"Most people believe them to be a myth," he said with a raised eyebrow, "But I don't think you'd send a trading fleet and a large party believing they were a myth."

I remained silent, waiting for him to get on with it.

"Very well, my Lord," He said tiredly as he saw that I wouldn't budge. "I, however, can't spare that many men to accompany your large party and protect them."

I waved my hand dismissively, "I will only need 3 rangers to guide us through the land beyond the wall. A larger party is sent aboard the ships and will take care of the transport."

He nodded, "Alright, that's acceptable."

"In the future, we will also provide steel weapons and armor to arm the entirety of the Night's Watch as well as provisions and smallfolk who would occupy the Gift to produce food so that the Night's Watch could focus on manning the wall." I said to sweeten the deal.

His eyes gained a gleam of gratefulness and satisfaction and began stuttering thank you's and praises that looked out of place on the old man's face as I waved them all off.

Our party moved a week later and begun our excursion. I had already gone back and collected colonies in the same place, applied calming wards and non-aggressive charms on all of them so as to not waste time. It took almost a month to round up almost 200 adult Acromantulas and 80 mammoths and by then, they could deal with it on their own and they would find the new breeding facility available back at Winterfell when they returned.

There were whispers of a King beyond the wall gathering clans together but it was so small that it was of no consequence and could be dealt with at a later time.

For now, I had to go to Braavos.

Braavos, Essos.

I had to spend almost 2 weeks travelling to Bravoos on my personal ship, the Great Wolf. Six masts and 350 feet long and 60 feet wide beam. The wooden frame and hull was strengthened by steel, chords, arches, and also was diagonally strapped with steel. With charms and runes to keep the interior dry, reduce weight, reduce resistance from waves and a perfect balance. The ship achieved almost 30 knots average. While the other ships in the Northern fleet had their own charms, they could travel at a maximum of 14 knots. This was the perfection of ship making in this world. It was armed with Scorpios and ballistae for extra protection, not that it needed it. It could outrun any ship this medieval world could ever make.

I couldn't help but feel jealous when I saw the Titan in the distance. The Titan rose at least 500 feet. The Wall was taller than the Titan, yes. But this was an entirely man made creation. The feet of the statue laid on two separate islands, each set upon a mountain. The islands were covered in soldier pines and black spruce. The legs were made of the same black granite that formed the islands upon which it stood. One hand rested on the top of a ridge, its bronze fingers wrapped around the stone. The other hand thrust into the air holding the hilt of a broken sword. In its eyes burnt large fires and its hair was of hempen rope dyed green. Its head was crested with a bronze half helm and its breastplate was made of bronze and filled with arrow slits. The Titan's hips were encased in an armored skirt of a green bronze hue, the bottom covered in murder holes instead of brass bollocks as I expected.

It looked like Venice from my old world. The city is spread across hundreds of tiny islands in the lagoon, connected by arched stone bridges and a network of canals not unlike the land under Ramsgate in the North which I planned to grant to uncle Benjen.

They had some trouble docking though, as many stared gawping at the sheer size of his vassal. Instead of docking at the foreign merchant's dock like any other did. We had to anchor next to an island and go to mainland with small boats.

I quickly made my way towards my goal in the same place while hiding any interest I had in the city behind a cool mask of indifference.

The Iron Bank; the most powerful financial institute in the Known World with clients across Essos and Westeros and most importantly one of the loaners to the Iron Throne. It had a fearsome reputation when collecting debts. When princes or kings default on their debts or are foolish enough not to honor their agreements with the Iron Bank, new princes and kings appear with the Iron Bank's support. These new princes and kings then honor the previous debt along with paying back the money the bank loaned them in claiming their new power, lest they suffer the same fate as their predecessors.

I gazed upon the golden doors of the building that had carvings depicting different scenes and buildings in Braavos, with two golden triangles crossed in the manner of an hourglass, with two hands extending from left and right of the point where the triangles meet, their palms held upwards above as its symbol.

I was directed to a meeting room to wait for the representatives.

Three people quickly entered and sat upon their elaborate chairs and gestured for me to sit on a ridiculous simple chair on the other side of the table.

I swallowed my pride and sat down without a word just meeting the man's gaze until he said, "How may the Iron Bank serve you, Lord Stark."

"I would like to establish a partnership between the North and the Iron Bank." I said bluntly.

The man looked not impressed and replied, "The Iron Bank could loan the North without the need for a partnership."

I barked a laugh and said, "I most definitely don't need a loan. What I want is to establish the first proper partnership between the Iron Bank of Braavos and a Kingdom of Westeros."

The man's facial expression hasn't changed as he replied, "And why should the Iron Bank partner itself with the North and not, the Lannisters or the Crown directly perhaps?"

"Because the North has mountains as large as the entirety of the Westerlands full of gold, is considered the new trading center between Westeros and Essos and is currently the richest Kingdom of Westeros."

"Really now, the North may have rose remarkably in the past few years but do you truly expect me to believe that you're richer than the rest of the Seven Kingdoms?" the man said incredulously.

"If the Iron Bank agrees for a partnership with the North, House Stark is ready to take care of the entire expenses of constructing a bank as large as your own in the North in addition to a base investment of 50 million dragons." I said in a strong voice. Winterfell vaults didn't have that much money of course, but a Philosopher Stone took care of that small problem.

The man's eyes widened, the first reaction he made from the beginning in the meeting.

"Fiff- Fifty million golden dragons?" He asked, trying to regain his composure.

I nodded.

The man straightened and asked, "And why partner with the Iron Bank? You could establish your own Northern bank in the North without any help from us."

"The North and Braavos share their location in the north of both our continents. We were the first kingdom that outlawed slavery, we are both the largest trading hubs of both our continents and linking your city to our kingdom in an alliance would be far beneficial than making a rival bank. Also, the Iron Bank integrity and reputation would be hard to match."

He nodded shakily as he still looked shaken, "And the terms of this partnership?"

"The Iron Bank of the North would have a council made of a mixture of Northmen and Braavosian, allowing deeper relationships. Also, a percentage of the council in Braavos would be open for lords and merchants of the North. A Great council would conclude for general matters regarding the Iron Bank every 3 months and each bank would be concerned solely to its continent to allow better and deeper influence on both sides. Braavos and The North would have a military alliance and no taxes on any Braavosi or Northerner ships entering both our ports and harbors."

"That matter concerns the Sealord not the Iron Bank," He interrupted.

"I'm sure if the Iron Bank endorses it the sea lord would be amiable to accepting the alliance." I said with a dismissive wave of my hand, "Lastly, a Northern Trading center would be established in Braavos and the same at the group of Islands that were created due to the unfortunate earthquakes that hit the North beneath Ramsgate."

The man looked to the men to his sides and he replied after a moment of furious whispering, "Unfortunately, I can't answer you in such a large matter. We would convene a council and answer you. How long are you staying in Braavos?" The man asked.

"For as long as it takes to establish a partnership with the Iron Bank." I said simply.

"Excellent, we will send a representative to you by the end of the week with our answer and hopefully, a contract."

I nodded and strode out of the room with a serpentine grace.

I realized I had little to do and set out to explore the city.

The palace of the Sealord was a beautiful thing made up of domed marble structures. It housed the Purple Harbor where all local ships docked. I passed through numerous bridges and canals walking around distractedly while admiring the beauty of Braavos. It was unlike the North in its architecture and buildings but shared the same blasted weather although a bit lighter.

I soon reached the Drowned Town, the oldest part of the city. Only domes and towers of the buildings were visible above the surface of the water. Some poor people lived in some of the half-submerged buildings. I passed the Isle of the Gods in the center of the city. What stood out the most was the Temple of Moonsingers, who led the original Braavosi refugees to the islands. Theirs was the biggest temple, built of white marble capped with a silvered dome, milk glass windows showing all the phases of the moon, and a pair of marble maidens flanks its gates. A Red Temple that was dedicated to the Lord of Light, a small sept and other unkown gods and temples were the shrine of the Weeping Lady of Lys, the Gardens of Gelenei, the wooden hall of the Lord of Harmony, the house of the Great Shepherd, a three-turreted tower honoring Trios, the Stones of the Silent God, the Patternmaker's Maze, the temple of Aquan the Red Bull, and twin temples honoring Semosh and Selloso, and the temple of the Cult of Starry Wisdom. Even gods that have no more followers are honored in a temple called the Holy Refuge.

It was the last building that he came upon that he felt an indescribable pull towards. It was a simple large building with only a black and white door as an entrance. "Ahh, so this was the famous House of Black and White," I thought with a grin as I pushed the doors. "It should prove interesting to see."

The entrance hall to the large building was simple though there were various statues in the room, all of gods and even a weirwood tree.

"Valar morghulis," A voice intoned from behind me.

I spun around to find a man wearing rags and held a curious inquisitive look on his face. "Valar Dohaeris," I replied, the customary greeting of Braavosi.

"You are touched by the Many-Faced god, but you are not a servant…" he asked helplessly confused.

"So that's what you call the old fucker here," I muttered I cleared my throat and asked, "Am I really?"

He nodded and looked as helpless as ever," Some have come here to ask that you be delivered the gift, but the many-faced gods forbids it."

Someone wanted to assassinate me, how curious.

"Well, that is for me to know and for you to find out. Cheerio!" I said cheerfully as I left the man and started walking outside.

"The faceless men would be honored to deliver the gift to any you seek," The man said before I closed the door.

That was nice, but I truly doubted I would need an assassin to finish off a job for me.

A week later.

Finally, the hour has come. I was waiting for the representatives to give me their reply for my offer.

The three same men entered like the last time with a stack of parchment in their hands and sat down, "The Iron Bank would be glad to establish the Iron Bank of the North with your partnership." The man said with a disarming smile as if he was doing me a favor but I couldn't bring myself to care right now.

I finally held the economic titan of the Known World in my grasp.

"And the terms?" I asked barely restraining myself from jumping up and down.

"The Iron Bank is willing to accept 25% seats in the Northern Branch in return for clearing 25% of ours for Northeners. But…" Fuck me. "The Iron Bank wishes to pay 50% of the fees for building the Bank in exchange for establishing another branch of the Temple of Knowledge in Braavos as well as marketing the medicine and investing in its research."

That… was great actually. I held onto the medical knowledge jealously and never once thought about distributing them. Producing medicine that could heal almost most of the fevers and diseases on a wide-scale in both the continents would provide another huge source of income.

"You have the papers for that, I assume?"

"Of course," He smiled, handing me a huge stack of parchment to revise and sign. As I looked incredulously he elaborated, "You have to understand that this is a huge venture for the Iron Bank so we had to be a bit thorough than usual. This is just the agreements and investments in the Bank and the Temple as well as a 60 million golden dragon penalty if Winterfell fails to deliver. Also in the second stack of parchment you would find the proportion of…. "

I smiled weakly as he continued to drone on and on with only one thought on my head, "I really need a fucking secretary." I don't suppose I would have dreams of an office that would have a super secretary trapped in stacks of parchments and quills?

Winterfell.

I spent almost another 3 weeks in Braavos reviewing and bargaining and bantering with the representatives of the Iron Bank. Finally we reached an acceptable agreement for both sides that was highly beneficial and signed on it. I met with the Sealord and quickly signed on the agreement of military alliance and trade agreements. We agreed on trading lots on Firewood to the city as it was rare there.

We took another two weeks to specify which empty Island the Trading Center would be built upon and after a ridiculous amount of paperwork we were done and on our way to the North.

We landed at the new harbor under Ramsgate and rode to Winterfell leisurely gazing upon the grandness and vast improvement in the North and its lands.

If I knew what awaited me at Winterfell however, I would've stayed at Braavos.

"Lord Stark, Lord STARK!" Maester Luwin screamed running from the direction of the Temple looking ridiculous and out of breath.

"Calm down, Maester. What is wrong?" I asked amused.

"The Ironborn have risen in rebellion. They burned the fleet and harbor of Cape of the Eagles, my lord." He said hurriedly.

I should've really place fire-suppression charms there. No matter, I was going to make an example out of the Greyjoys.