c2

277 AC

Rickard Stark the Lord of Winterfell, Warden of the North and the head of House Stark was currently praying to the old gods in the godswood of Winterfell. He was praying to them for guidance in resolving the dilemma he was now facing. His son and heir Brandon had secretly married and impregnated Barbrey Ryswell the daughter of one his vassals and close friend, Lord Rodrik Ryswell. This wouldn't be a problem if his son hasn't already been betrothed to Catelyn Tully the eldest daughter of Hoster Tully, the Lord Paramount of the Trident, the Lord of Riverrun, and the head of House Tully.

Many think that he has some grand southern ambition since he betrothed his eldest son Brandon to Catelyn Tully of Riverrun, his only daughter Lyanna to Robert Baratheon of Storm's End and his second son Eddard he sends to the Vale to be fostered. However he didn't have any ambitions in the South except for trade. The North his home and kingdom was the largest of all the Seven Kingdoms and can fit the rest into it. But it was also among the least populated and poorest of them all. This wasn't always the case since before the dragons came the North was self-sufficient though not quite rich.

They survived for eight thousand without the help of the south and for eight thousand years they thrived. It wasn't until the dragons came that they started to lose their power. Their great fishing fleet was destroyed by pirates and Iron Born raiders. Their trade center beyond the wall Hardhome was destroyed by fire five years before Aegon the Conqueror came. The Targaryens like to preach that they brought peace and stability to the continent of Westeros but the only thing that they brought to the North was death and destruction.

The North was forced to participate in several of their wars in exchange for promises, promises they never kept. A good example was 'The Pact of Ice and Fire' which was forged between Cregan Stark and the Blacks of Rhaenyra Targaryen during the Dance of Dragons (a Targaryen bride in exchange for the support of the Starks and the North).

Suddenly he feels drowsy and tired like he hasn't had any rest for days, he tries fighting it but he loses and slowly enters a deep trance.

He didn't know what happened but went he open his eye again he was in a dark and cold place, suddenly there was bright light and scenes started to flash in front of his eye, and as he watches he comes to the conclusion that he is dooming his house with his choice. His choice would shape the future but it wasn't the future that he dreams his family have. He saw the destruction his choice would bring both to his family and the north. He saw his and Brandon's deaths at the hands of the Mad King, Aery II. He saw his daughter die after childbirth. Then it started to flash forward again as he saw his second Eddard but much older looking, being beheaded with the banner of a crowned Stag behind him. He then saw his house being betrayed and killed by the Boltons and the Freys at a wedding. He was then shown the last vision of a man with the classical Stark features fighting against an opponent made of ice with unholy glowing blue eyes. As he watches the man was overwhelmed by the creature before being pierced by the icy blade of the creature.

Suddenly the scene disappears and the darkness and cold started to return, there was another flash of light and the feeling of cold and dread started to grip him ever so tightly. A hooded figure then appears in before him. This being then spoke to him with a voice that was both inhuman and ancient.

''Rickard Stark descendant of Bran the builder, the gods have deemed it that the first men shall rise again and to make sure this happens the gods have decided to send you a helping hand'' the entity said.

Rickard wanted to ask what the gods would send him but before he could give voice to his thoughts there was another flash of light and with it another vision. This however wasn't the first vision which showed him the destruction of his family, but a vision of raven-haired green-eyed man called Hadrian who wielded power that can make even the gods envy. He then watches as this man began his rise to power from the very beginning till he conquered his home world.

The vision then stopped abruptly and he was flung back into his body, the force of it his re-entry almost caused him to drop into the pond in front of the Hearth Tree. He clutched his chest and try to regain his bearing. After finally regaining his breath, he then started to process what he just saw and what it meant. He knows that what just happened to him was not something that often happens since the old god has been silent for a long time.

The god has given him the chance to change the future and he would not waste it.

'' My lord, the lady Barbrey has delivered a healthy babe, a son and lady Stark has asked for you to be there when lord Brandon names him''. One of the servants of Winterfell said to him. Snapping him out of his musing but when he processed what the servant had said he quickly left the godswood and strode towards the birthing chamber.

When he arrived at the birth chamber he was greeted with the sound of a crying babe and the sight of his family surrounding the bed.

''Father''. Brandon said to when he noticed him enter the birthing room.

''Brandon, have you named him yet?''. Rickard asks his eldest child and the father of his first grandson.

''No, we haven't found the right name yet''. Brandon said

'' May I see him?''. Rickard asks Barbrey who is currently holding the babe. The babe who has the classic Stark looks of brown hair and grey eyes with a long face. His wife Lyarra sat next to her.

''Of course my lord''. Barbrey said with nervousness in her voice. She knows that he didn't approve of her marriage to Brandon and was afraid of what he will do to her baby since he could well declare him a bastard.

''Hadrian, his name will be Hadrian Stark a name fit for a king''. Rickard said to the people in the room who rightly looked confused having expected a more traditional Northern name like Edwyle for the child's paternal Great-grandfather. This name Hadrian however wasn't one they were familiar with.

''Hadrian isn't a Northern or First Men name''. Lyarra said stating the thoughts of practically everyone there.

''No it isn't. I believe that for the future of the North and our house a new name will be fitting rather than the more traditional names''. Rickard said to the people who seemed to agree to his statement. What they didn't know was that Rickard named the child that because he knows that this child is the person the gods has sent to him to aid in the rise of the the First Men.

284 AC

It's been seven years since he was reborn in this new world and Harry can say without a doubt that he loved every second of it. The reason for this was simple, in this new world he was able to experience something that even with all the money and the power he accumulated during his first life he was never able to experience. A parent's love that is. Now he knows that his original parents, James and Lily loved him since they did sacrifice themselves so that he can live. But during his childhood, he didn't experience any of it since he was raised by his grand-uncle, grand-aunt, and his godfather. He sometimes wonders how his life would be if his parents survived the night Voldemort attacked. But he never truly gave it any serious thought since he had loved his life then and wouldn't want any of it to change.

He would spend the first few years of his new life playing with his new family who from the moment of his birth already spoiled him since he is their first grandchild and their first nephew respectively. His new family was interesting, to say the least. His father Brandon was known as the "Wild Wolf" since he liked fighting and chasing maidens rather than doing his duty as the heir of Winterfell even though he had stopped doing the latter after marrying his mother. Both his uncle Benjen and Ned were more subdued than his father but he didn't need to know if it true in the case of his uncle Ned since he mostly stays in the Vale and barely came north. His uncle Benjen acted more like a big brother figure to him rather than an uncle. The same could be said about his aunt Lyanna who acted more of his big sister than an aunt. But his aunt Lyanna has the same attitude as his father since she would rather ride a horse or practice swordplay rather than doing her duty.

His grand-father Rickard was kind but hard man, something that he had to be as Warden of the North which was a harsh place indeed. His grandmother Lyarra, on the other hand, was a kind and gentle woman that liked to spoil him in everything.

Of course, he couldn't just spend his time with his family no matter how much he wanted it since it would be counterproductive to the reason death sent him here. So with that in mind, he would divide his time between his family and learning about this new world. Since even though he couldn't do anything major to change the north at his current age, it didn't make it impossible for him to learn everything to know about this world. Since the first step to defeat your enemy is to know them. It was quite weird for his family at first seeing him spend his time in the library the moment he turned four. Since at that age most noble children were still being breastfed by their mothers or their wet nurses. But his family accepted it since he was what they deem as a once a generation prodigy with him learning how to read when he was only three.

It seems that he should be grateful to Death for being reborn into the Stark family since other than giving him a caring and protective family Death also gave him the key to one of the richest families in the world even though they didn't know the wealth that they had. Most of their wealth was still beneath the earth. He was able to discover this went he was four after he casted a spell to found out what untapped resource the north have. Since it didn't make sense for him for the north not to have any natural resources in their land. Most of the wealth was located in the northern mountain but some resources were located close to Winterfell. But the Starks weren't just rich with untapped resources since they had one of the biggest collection of books in the entire world. This made it easier for him to learn about this world since some of the books were made before Andal Invasion. They were also written using First Men runes; something that was still use in the north and the beyond the wall. Since most northerners speak two languages with the old tongue being used most frequently since most of the smallfolk speak it. Rather than the Andal tongue which is used only by nobles and only if they were talking to Southrons or for trade.

But even though the north is rich with resources most of the populace was scattered throughout the vast entirety of the North. After using a spell to carry out a census to find out just how many people lived in the North he discovered it was roughly five hundred thousand give or take a few thousand. Quite a good number to start building the North into his base of operations. The other thing the North needed was a steady supply of food since even if the lamd held many resources it would be meaningless if they couldn't feed themselves.

He was able to fix this problem when he turned five and created a ritual that enabled him to soften the hard northern land. The ritual wasn't that hard and the ingredients were plentiful in the wilds of the North, making it one of easier rituals he performed during his childhood.

The major reason the North couldn't grow their food in large quantity was because most of the land is hard. But this wasn't the end to his problem since even though he was able to fix the food problem they still had one problem left, that of funding.

Now the north is rich with resources but most of it was still in the ground He needed funding to open those mines and he didn't want other people knowing about the untapped resources the North have. But it seems luck was on his side, when he was six he was able to discover the Lost Vault of Winterfell. The vault was created to hold the wealth of the Winter Kings but the location of it was lost when Torrhen Stark's son died and didn't have the chance to tell his young son the location of it. After the original vault location was lost, the Starks would build another vault to hold their wealth. But unlike the original vault, the new vault wasn't filled to the brim with gold or gems. Since after the North joined the Seven Kingdoms most of their trade with the East was forced to stop, making them dependant on the south for their essentials, especially food.

The only good thing the Targaryen did for the North and the Starks was that because of the Targaryens the North became one of the most feared regions in the world. Since even from the beginning of the Seven Kingdoms, the North always participated in all their wars and in all those times the North was the only region that was united.

How he found the vault was easy since from the moment he was reborn in this new world he was able to detect the magic in Winterfell. Not as powerful as in Hogwarts or even the Black family ancestral house. But there was still magic in it, which he concluded was from when his ancestor built Winterfell and would explain why the Starks have magic in their blood. The vault was where the Hearth of Winterfell was located and the magic that was in Winterfell. But the vault isn't just where the heart of Winterfell is since it was filled with gold, jewels, weapons and even books.

Of course after finding the vault he told his family about it since he knows that they needed the money to build his future empire. He had already started doing it by putting some ideas into his grandfather's head that would help the North. Using the money form the original Vault his grandfather was able to repair Winterfell, many parts of the castle haven fallen into disrepair in recent years.

Lord Rickard would also use the money to lay the foundation of making Wintertown into a proper city. He would also use the money was to start to open some of the Northern mountain mines. Of course, at first there was quite a bit of resistance to this from the North Mountain clansmen, but they were able to be sway them to their side with his grandfather's promise to send food, weapons, and clothing to them for a price of course. That price being that they would protect the mines from thieves, bandits and their like. With the mines now open, they were able to get back much of their investment and were able to use that money to start filling both the Starks' and Norths' coffers. His grandfather would use the money they were able to get from the mines to build the northern Wolfs road. A long stretch of road that started from the neck and then branches to the entire north with Winterfell as the center point.

His plan was to build the north into his base operation and an empire that would last for a thousand years. It would take some years or even decades to achieve but he was in no rush to achieved it since he was enjoying life right now. But like they say life isn't perfect and after just a few short years of having a taste what he always wanted, it was taken from him and it was all because of the Dragon in the south. His father Brandon and grandfather Rickard were killed by the Mad King Aerys Targaryen after he demanded the return of his aunt Lyanna who was abducted by Crown Prince Rhaegar Targaryen. His grandfather would be killed when he got to Kingslanding to request for the released of his son and the whereabouts of his daughter.

The Mad King would also order both his uncle Ned's and Robert Baratheon's heads from Jon Arryn their foster father. Rather than obeying such a command he would call his banners with both Robert and his uncle Ned doing the same. His uncle Ned would then go back north to summon the banners but his grandmother had already done that. He would then march the Northern Army south, but it was already too late. The Stormlands had already surrendered to Rhaegar after the death of Robert Baratheon at the battle of Ashford where he was outnumbered by the Reach army that was reinforced by Crown forces led Rhaegar.

The death of Robert Baratheon didn't just cause the rebels to lose the Stormland but also the Vale since they were fighting to put Robert on the throne as claimant to the throne through his grandmother. This left the North standing alone and forced his uncle to bend the knee to Rhaegar since he was severely outnumbered. Rhaegar would then march his combine army to kings landing and overthrow the Mad King.

After overthrowing the Mad King, Rhaegar and his uncle Ned would go on to the Tower of Joy to retrieve his aunt. But when they arrived there they discovered that his aunt Lyanna had died from the complications during childbirth.

The child that Rhaegar had with his aunt would be declared a bastard making his uncle furious at the new king since it was him that cause the death of thousands and his sister. But Rhaegar didn't care since he said that he didn't need another son but a daughter. His uncle would leave the Tower of Joy and go to Starfall where he hoped to board a ship to take himself, the baby and some of the northern lords who had joined him back to the North. It was here that his uncle discovered that Ashara Dayne the woman that he loves already bore him a daughter. It would seem during the Tourney of Harrenhall his uncle slept with her and got her pregnant from. His uncle took both Ashara and his daughter to the North but before that, he would marry her in front of the weirwood in Starfall.

After returning to the north his uncle and his family would make their way from Whiteharbour to Winterfell.