Finders keepers
"So your village was raised, and looted and everyone not fuckable or semi useful was killed, did i about sum that up?"
".....yes m'lord"
"....Well that's not good"
I'm currently speaking to a mid 30s bear island captive who looks like she's been through the ringer of the 60ish people I found below the decks of the acquired ships, turns out they were from a coastal village on bear island and were raided a few days ago and the iron born were feeling extra blood thirsty that day and killed everyone except the ones they took as "not slaves"
Mostly women and a few teenage boys and children , there were a couple of mid 20ish men as well but they were craftsmen so they got a ticket to board the boat still alive….
The boats had a decent bit of loot in them as they were out raiding for about a month and the bear island village raid was their last stop before they set sail home with with their plundered booty….until they got greedy and thought one more little raid couldn't hurt…
" so….. I know this might be awkward but how do you plan to get back home….because those are my ships, and I don't lend them out for free, and apparently everything you own was looted…."
I know it's a bit of a dick move, but I don't know these people, and I owe them nothing…I already saved them from a lifetime of "not slavery" so as far as I'm concerned we're square… even with all of their worldly possessions that weren't destroyed being loaded into my warehouse/Willhouse….finders keepers and all that….I'm sure they understand
I would like to recruit them here but I'm not really ready for more people yet….I would have to help them build a home and keep them fed, and I just have so much shit to do….if this was a few months from now I'd probably be laying on the charm trying to get them to migrate….
"We don't have anything to go back to m'lord, the raiders burned everything and killed everyone we knew….I don't know what we're supposed to do…"
Really leaning in that victim thing and trying to make me feel bad…. Which is kinda working….sorta…..well fuck it, I suppose I can put off some of my plans to build some shelter or something for these people…
You know what? This might actually work out….
" hey how many of your people know how to farm and or sail?"
Most of the women and teenage boys put their hands up….
"Ok farmers stand to the left and sailors to the right….if you can do both, sailing takes priority…."
Around 30 women stepped to the left with a few of the teenage boys and about 9 women stepped to the right…
" alright, how much sailing experience do you have?"
" we lived in a small fishing village m'lord, our only sailing experience is in sailing small fishing boats.."
" would you be able to sail one of those iron born ships to go fishing if I lent you one?"
They looked a little hesitant to answer, as they don't seem to want to look me in the eyes…
" it would take a bit of time to figure it out, but I'm sure we would be able to manage m'lord"
On bear island women do pretty much anything men do, and after the countless years of raids from the iron born the women had to adapt….most women from bear island are hard as fuck…..but I'm sure this would be the first boat crew of all females in westeros….
"Well I'll help rig up another ship and you can use that boat to fish, same deal as the other crew…a percentage of the fish is mine and you split the rest amongst yourselves….I want you to know I believe in equal rights for women….but if any of you even have so much as a passing fancy to pinch one of my ships….you'll be getting those equal rights with a mix of equal lefts….just fair warning"
Some paled a little at that, while most were pretty cheerful while trying to avoid heavy eye contact….maybe some thought once they had my ship they could take off, but the warning seemed to carry over well enough…..but I guess it's hard to not take a man seriously who's standing with as much confidence as i am completely naked while covered in blood…
It's definitely making people uncomfortable but doesn't seem like a me problem…
500 hundred years in a grim dark future fighting impossible odds day in and day out really grinds away at your sense of modesty and shame…
The iron born certainly didn't appreciate being massacred by a naked bare handed giant I'm sure, which made my victory all the sweeter on top of all the loot..
People have tried to offer me clothes multiple times…even just a cloak to cover my log and apples….I know the saying is normally twig and berries but I feel twig and berries seems like it would convey the wrong message for an 8 foot something space marine with a working pecker…..…
But sometimes you just gotta let your cock'n balls breath….the cool breeze really feels great…
" alright….I'm gonna assume the rest of you want to set up a life here yeah?"
Pretty much unanimous nods across the two groups….the timing isn't great, but is there ever a perfect time for anything really? I'll just bite the bullet and take these people as my own…
" alright here's what we're gonna do…the sailors will be fishing on one of the ships for work….the rest of you will be farmers or working the kiln I plan on building, besides the two craftsmen….I'll figure out what you guys will be doing later…you will be supplied with food temporarily to keep you fed, but you will be working for it….I have more land then i know what to do with at the moment….I'll build you a few houses over the next week or two as well as….and as far as that's concerned….you are now small folk under lord Fenris…."
They seemed pretty relieved at that….being under the protection of a lord is normally a good thing….but they were under the mormonts protection and still wound up on a ship to be brought to the iron islands as "not slaves"… so they kinda lost faith..
But their new lord?…..he swam dozens of kilometres out into the sea to fight off 3 entire ships filled with iron born alone while naked…..and it's not some fictitious and exaggerated rumour, they were there and saw it happen….so they seem to have some confidence in me…..
We made a little small talk as more people silently tried to pressure me to wear some clothes….using excuses like, it's undignified and you'll get sick….the majority of those people was just Will nagging me…so I just ignored him and pawned off the people onto him so he can sort out their sleeping arrangements and some food for their bellies..
I've just decided to mentally readjust my plans moving forward….I'll spend the night running through the Mountains and around my territory to see what I can see….I'll also pick out where I want these new farmers to relocate to….I'll have to make sure they have water for crops and all that business…it won't be hard though, there's freshwater rivers everywhere in the north from all the snow melting practically all year round..
The barns can wait for now…I'll just and build them closeish to the farms so they can work together and synergise off each other….get a brick kiln going at some point so I can plan out some new houses and teach some people to build properly….some more farming equipment would be solid, plows and what not….hmmmm…..once food, water and bricks are sorted….I should be able to set up a mine if I can find something….which I'm fairly sure I can….from what I know the north is packed with all kinds of mineral veins
It's just the randomly long winters and extremely poor lords just can't do anything with them, fighting just to survive and keep their small folk….I won't say looked after, as most lords are pretty shit at that….but they at least try to keep them alive….if only barely so they can tax them…
But that's my basic plan as long as there's no more random events….which there will be, I'm sure of it…
The iron born aren't much of a problem for the moment, but I'll have to keep my eyes out for bandits during my night time power sprints around my land….
And with my mentality readjusted again I make my way back to the docks where the fishermen have already unloaded their catches for the day, it's already about to hit night time so everyone is getting ready to either get pissed at that tiny shit shack they call a tavern, or turn in for the night to get up early for tomorrows work..
Me though, I'll have to make another run for more lumber and whack up a few more pulleys and cranks in the new workshop for the 2nd fishing load out…
But that will only take a few hours….the rest of the night will be spent power sprinting across my lands to see if I can find anything kinda interesting….
With that said I guess it's time to get these ships rigged and ready for tomorrows fishing…
———-
Mini time skip next chapter.
I know it seems slow at the moment and it is, but that's mostly because people are readying chapter by chapter as they realise.
I hate in got ffs when they skip EVERYTHING, and give no basis of how they made any progression…like they show up, wow people with a little knowledge and time skip to 5 years later to where it's prosperous….I'll spend a little while building the town up from nothing before moving into the Greyjoy rebellion.
Also if your enjoying the story so far shower me with some stones and possibly a review of you have the time :)