Chapter 25

A short glimpse into a number of POV's as we catch up to 272AC. Baldur has yet to realize his troubles are just beggining, though he will find out soon. Thanks for all the comments, I tried to keep these POV's to a short summary where possible.

Chapter 25: Family of all types.

272AC, Erik Crowl, White Harbor.

The last five years had been insightful for Erik in white harbor. Here, he was freed from the chains of being a kinslayer, a decision he didn't regret but was fully aware of. In many people's eyes, he was cursed by the gods, and rightfully so, for kin slaying, no matter the reason, was a dark deed that the gods and men wouldn't soon forget. Neither would Erik for that matter, he would live with his decision and do his best where he could and how he could.

Lord Manderly had fostered him with a knight of the court by the name of Ser Alric Dunkle, who took it upon himself to educate Erik in the ways of the south and the history of the seven kingdoms. The man treated him quite well, ensuring Erik wanted for nothing during his stay, even if it was as a hostage. Erik was well aware of the threat of an axe hanging over his head, but he had faith in Baldur not to betray Lord Stark and Vilkas to stop him from doing anything rash.

Living in White Harbor was an experience unlike any other that Erik had witnessed. Growing up as a child, he had come to despise his father for his grasping to the old ways, things of a time that had passed. His father was truly a wretch of a man, abusive towards him and his mother on frequent occasions. His one redeeming quality was his prowess with an axe and ability to lead men, something that enabled him to rise high. In a place like white harbor though, a man such as him wouldn't have risen very far, no doubt he would have quickly found himself hanging in the gallows instead.

Lord Manderly had been well pleased to see Erik hadn't been a problem during his fostering, often taking him aside and educating him while he held court, even going as far as to ask Erik his opinion on a matter. Erik obliged, only for Lord Manderly to question why he made the decision he did, asking for an explanation. Lord Manderly didn't always agree with him, sometimes choosing a different outcome and explaining his case and rationale.

Lord Manderly, despite all of his jolliness and luxury, had a keen and sharp mind. He didn't seem to care much about his physical looks, over partaking in food and luxurious things, causing an ever expanding waist. He would often laugh and joke with the men around and while he was certainly capable of great fun, he was also equally as dangerous. Erik was never under any delusion that the jolly Lord wouldn't hesitate to have his head parted from his shoulders if called for, luckily it hadn't come to it.

Erik was often reminded of his home at white harbor, as the drinks of Skagos grew in popularity while he was there, especially in the courts, headed by the Lord of the city himself. It seemed that the drink was beginning to spread through the kingdoms and beyond, transported of course, through White Harbor. Erik often found Lord Manderly questioning how Skagos produced such wonderful drinks, though to be honest, Erik wasn't entirely sure. He told Lord Manderly a brewer of some renown from Braavos had entered the employ of Baldur, though he knew little else. 

Before he knew it, his time was at an end on white harbor. Soon he would be travelling back to Winterfell, where he would reunite with his kin and head back to Skagos. While he had enjoyed his time in White Harbor immensely, he was excited to bring some of the changes he had learned from Lord Manderly, back to the isle of Skagos. It seemed he would hit the ground running too, with all the wildlings within Skagos, he would surely be able to put his knowledge to good use.

272AC, Rolf Crowl, Last Hearth

Last hearth was everything Rolf imagined it would be and more. Life was never boring, with the training, drinking and patrolling the lands. Lord Hoarfrost was a great Lord and had many qualities that Rolf could only hope to achieve. He was fearless and strong, could drink any man under the table and could come up with a hundred different ways to kill a man with just his left hand. Unfortunately, the man had passed a couple years back, though the Umber hall celebrated it none the less.

Upon arrival to the last hearth, Rolf had been welcomed with open arms by Hoarfrost and the Umber Clan of warriors, or house as they claimed to go by. Lord Umber serenaded him with tales of battle on the stepstones when he had arrived and they spoke about Baldur and Skagos in great depth and all the changes that had taken place since the nine penny king war. Rolf told him of the battles and fights upon the island in great detail, the lord enjoying them quite immensely, along with all the other Umbers.

During his stay he became fast friends with Hoarfrosts grandson, Jon, often attending lessons with him, learning his letters and the history of the realm. Most of their time was spent in the sparring ring with the men. Jon took great joy in his martial prowess and was always up for a good fight, reminding him of Baldur in that aspect. He was very proud of his houses history and had a deep hatred for wildlings, initially distrusting Rolf himself, until Hoarfrost beat some sense into him, according to Mors Umber.

It was somewhat of a tradition at last hearth to celebrate nearly any occasion one could. Celebrations often consisted of the men gathering in the hall to tell stories, drink and partake in the fine ladies that last hearth had to offer, though Mors said there were many delicacies of other types around the realm. Rolf himself preferred a good strong woman in his bed and those were plentiful around the last hearth.

It was during the year 269AC, when out on patrol with the Umber men that Rolf got his first taste of wildling raiders when they came upon a group of them attacking a village. The Umber men and warriors wasted little time in rushing forward to kill them to the last, proceeding to root them out from the area afterwards in relentless pursuit. Rolf had offered valuable aid in that regard, interrogating the prisoners, as he was the only one that spoke the old tongue required to do so. From the prisoners, he was able to get locations of where they were coming through and the Umber clan was able to set up ambushes to stop them.

It was during one of these ambushes with wildlings that Gorm Umber, Jon's father, was killed by an arrow to the neck, an unlucky strike. They had mourned his death with a celebration, each vowing to kill ten wildlings in the dead man's name in tribute to his death. Jon had taken it hard, but his father had died defending his people and thus it was a worthy death.

Rolf had written to Baldur during that time, the best he was able, needing some help from the Maester to do so, telling him of the occurrence. Baldur had replied by a messenger from east watch sometime later, promising that he would speak with the king and the Stark about aid in rooting out the wildlings as things had calmed on Skagos and the men were looking for some conflict. Along with his reply, he had sent a good many cases of Skagosson beer and other spirits, something that would be a hit at last earth.

Over the next two years, they had continued to take the fight to the wildlings along the wall, stopping the wildlings. Word had reached them that the king had granted funding for taking care of problems along the wall and better reinforcing it, something that was met with much fanfare among the Umbers. It wasn't long after that the Umber lands became increasingly problem free along much of its lands as the Skagosi warriors of Skagos swept through places beyond the wall. The Umbers though, weren't problem free, as many of the most dangerous wildlings clans were difficult to root out and located in the frozen shore and frostfrangs, far from where the watch was on the offensive.

The Lords of last hearth had thus began focusing in that area, working with big wull buckets of the mountain clans and a number of other clans to take care of raiders where they could. Rolf had enjoyed his time, fighting in the wilds against raiders and slaying a number of enemies. Jon had entrusted him with leading some of the men on raids, and he had taken the task well.

Hoarfrost passed away on a midsummer day at last hearth, upon his great throne and in his hall, with drink in hand. The Maester claimed that it had been rather quick, a problem in the chest that had been persisting for some time. With Hoarfrosts death, Jon would ascend as Lord of last hearth, though the man was up to the challenge. In last hearth, martial prowess and bravery was significant to the people, things Jon had in spades. Many had taken to calling the man Great Jon Umber for his size and strength, and he certainly led them well, stepping up to the challenge.

Under Jon, the house would continue to prosper as wildling raids were lessened and with many people working their way north, some began to settle on the Umber lands as well as the gift. This had provided last hearth with business as the lands were more secure for farming than they had been in recent memory. It also didn't hurt that the only large settlement for many miles was last hearth. His father Vilkas had also began increasing trade with the Umber clan for food, granting them some more business to thrive on.

It was with much sadness that Rolf finally departed the last hearth and he had been sent off in style. Through his stay, he had made many fine friends in the Umber household. He was to journey south, in the company of Jon Umber to Winterfell, where Jon would swear his service to Lord Stark and Rolf would be reunited with his family while there. Jon Umber claimed that he would enjoy Winterfell and that the Umbers were among the greatest supporters of the Starks in the north, and an important vassal house.

272AC, Ingrid Crowl, Castle Cerwyn

Ingrid had cursed the day that her father managed to get the idiot that was his brother into her mother's womb for many moons after she had arrived at Castle Cerwyn. The Lord and Lady Cerwyn had been welcoming enough though, for jailors and headsman. The castle was nice enough and the people treated her fairly, though Ingrid did miss her own people.

She had been assigned as a handmaiden to the lady of the castle, lady Melissa, a young woman who had recently given birth to a daughter, whom she named Jonelle. The woman was nice enough and polite and she shared many common interests with Ingrid in sewing and crafting. Ingrid could say that she was a lucky woman, her husband cared for her and obviously dotted on her, something that Ingrid would like to have, plus her husband wasn't born with a rock for brains, like that of her own brother.

Ingrid had taken to learning to be a lady well, attending lessons with the Maester and learning to run a household. She had no desire to be a warrior, such was uncommon amongst Skagossi women, but women were none the less respected. A strong woman looked out for her family and a great woman truly ran the house, including her husband, something that Melissa seemed to lack the drive to do.

From the moment Ingrid arrived, she searched for a way to secure her own future; it was never good to rely on her brother on matters of anything but war, something he was exceedingly skilled in. She wouldn't doubt though, that he had never given a thought towards her future, probably planning to simply award her hand in marriage to his greatest warrior and friend. Ingrid had no intention of letting that happen, as she would have a husband that cared for her wishes more than all, not the wishes of her oaf brother.

Being a Skagosi, it was hard to find a suitor, despite the rise of House Crowl in recent years. Many still mistrusted her people and it didn't help that she was a hostage, truly the cards had been stacked against her in that aspect, none the less, she encouraged Lady Melissa to host the various landed nobles of the area whenever she could. Lady Melissa was a bit shy to do so, but Ingrid talked her into it, encouraging her to reach out and make friends, inviting the various families.

Ingrid met a great many of the nobles in the surrounding area, even Lady Stark on multiple occasion. From what Ingrid saw, the woman cared greatly for her young children, Brandon, Eddard and Lyanna, often spoiling them a bit and telling them grand stories of adventures. While Rickard Stark was rigid, stern and someone one would be wise to fear the wrath of, Lady Lyarra was quite different. She had a wild spirit to her that she claimed came from her mother's side, when she told stories to the ladies. She was also a bit of a dreamer, though she did her duty well and was easy to get along with.

The ladies on occasion talked of happenings in the realm, including the watch. Ingrid wasn't surprised to hear about the fighting beyond the wall. Her brother was always reliable to stir up some sort of excitement where he could. She was surprised, that he managed to get the King to support him, no doubt Vilkas had been speaking in his ear the whole time to make it a success, else the king was truly a man to gamble. Though to be fair, Baldur was certainly good at maintaining order, having a certain talent for inspiring obedience through his will. Ingrid never held it against Baldur that he had their mother sacrificed to cannibals, though it certainly made a statement to the people of Skagos. If a man was willing to feed his own mother who crossed him to cannibals, what would he do to those that crossed him that weren't his kin?

It was four years into her fostering when she met a young man at a feast in Castle Cerwyn, just outside the doors as she stepped out for some air from dancing. She had no shortage of men chasing after her for her looks as she grew to be tall and quite pretty like her mother, though likely few would seriously consider her in marriage and none she had liked. Ingrid though, would continue her search, House Crowl in recent years had been on the rise, somehow her brother managing to not screw things up.

As she walked out of the doors, she spotted a young man fumbling through his horse saddle, speaking to himself in a low voice as she approached quietly behind him. "You can do it Cedric, just keep your aim steady, and for bloody sakes don't fall off your horse this time, the last hunt was bad enough." He spoke to himself. "Ugh, who am I kidding, there's no way I will catch something tomorrow on the hunt, no matter how much I ensure my saddles are ready." He muttered with a sigh, before slouching onto a bench within the stables.

"You're going on the hunt tomorrow with Lord Cerwyn are you?" Ingrid asked, approaching from his back, making him jump in surprise to his feet, before turning. He was a young man of her age, with short brown hair and blue eyes, she recognized him as the young heir to house Waterman of the knife river, his uncle was Lord Starks steward at Winterfell.

"My Lady…" The young man said, obviously floundering at not knowing her name.

"Ingrid" Ingrid supplied with a small smile.

"May I offer you a seat?" He said, standing up before motioning towards the stable bench. It seemed he realized what he had offered as he then looked up horrified at her.

"I-I mean…" He fumbled, desperately trying to come up with the words.

"It's quite alright, I would love a seat." She said taking his offered arm.

"Tis not proper." He protested to her

"It will do just fine." Ingrid insisted as the young man complied, guiding her to the seat.

"Oh right, well I am Cedric Waterman." Cedric informed her.

"Wonderful to meet you Cedric." Ingrid responded to the nervous looking man. "Take a seat beside me, I'd like company and you can tell me about your hunt." She bid, motioning towards the seat.

Cedric did as she bid, taking a seat beside her with a sigh. "You heard all of that did you?" He asked after a moment.

"Yes, though you shouldn't be worried, so what if the others get something and you don't." Ingrid argued, it wasn't a crime to be a bad hunter after all.

"Yes, well… it's just… I really shouldn't trouble you with my issues my lady." Cedric replied with a shake of his head.

"It's quite alright, we're both here, let me hear them out." Ingrid asked of him.

"If I'm to be Lord one day of House Waterman, it would do well for me to impress the other lords of the area. Embarrassing myself in the hunt isn't likely to make for a good start." He admitted.

"Lord Cerwyn doesn't care much for hunting, you likely wouldn't impress him much even if you killed a mighty buck. Just hang back and enjoy the ride, let the others do the hunting and talk with Lord Cerwyn." Ingrid recommended.

"About what though? He doesn't seem very much of the talking type and I'd rather not get on his nerves." Cedric explained. Lord Cerwyn did enjoy a conversation, he was just soft spoken, generally preferring one on one conversations, not much for rowdy scenery.

"I happen to know that Lord Cerwyn has taken a liking to a certain spirit called the Skagosson, no doubt he would appreciate a quiet word and a few shared drinks of the spirit, as he's run out of it himself and the merchants aren't due with a shipment of it for another moons turn." Ingrid advised.

"I'm afraid I don't have any either my lady." Cedric told her with a sigh.

"Not to worry, I have a bottle I'd be willing to part with, if only you promise to take me riding tomorrow after your hunt." Ingrid told the young man.

"I would be honored to take you riding after the hunt and certainly would be a fool to need to take your drink to do so." Cedric exclaimed, blushing as he looked at her, much to Ingrid's satisfaction. This one was certainly moldable and would follow her lead, and he was good looking enough, if a bit timid, but she could work with that just fine.

"Then I will come up with some other form of repayment later, we can talk about it on our ride. Now come, let us return to the hall, I wish for a dance and you can escort me." She said, pulling him to his feet. 

Over the course of the next year and a half, the two grew quite close, Cedric being amiable to taking her suggestions and following her advice. He visited quite frequently, taking her for rides and had been clearly taken with her. As they traveled to Winterfell at the end of her time being a hostage to meet her kin, Cedric rode beside her. She had long talked him into entering negotiations with Baldur over her hand, though clearly he was terrified at the thought. He would make a fine and loyal husband, Ingrid had grown to care for him quite a bit, he had a good heart and was a good man, despite his confidence issues.  

272 AC, Baldur, Skagos

Upon his return from beyond the wall, Baldur had moved quickly to put rebellion down among the free folk clans that had settled on Skagos. According to Vilkas, some had not taken the threat of following the law quite as seriously as they should have. Reports of women being abducted by men from the neighboring towns from where several clans had settled, alerted him to this fact. Baldur would however, quickly restore order, capturing the raiders and making an example out of them by executing them for their crimes.

During the execution, a number of wildlings had tried to rescue the condemned men, resulting in a battle and the near death of Helena Whent, which likely would have not been good for his standing with Lord Stark. Baldur had been admittedly furious at the woman for her actions, personally seeing her returned to her residence within the town. She had been resentful towards him for the actions, but Baldur cared little. He had only agreed for her to come because she had promised to aid him in getting him contracts for his brews through her father. He should have listened to his gut instinct at the time and ran the other way. Tygett wasn't far off the mark on the girl, she was truly a plague.

Her uncle had spoken with her at great length following the ordeal, explaining what had truly happened. She had offered apology to Baldur over the matter, which Baldur had accepted, though he couldn't be rid of her soon enough. She seemed to have taken her actions with some embarrassment, pushing to make amends by working with his uncle on a few ideas to better settle the rebellion and help the Skagosi people. 

Vilkas had praised her help in settling the wildlings better with the free folk by dispersing them among the population to assimilate, rather than placing them in one spot, not breaking up the clans or their former way of laws. It had seemed to work much better, as the number of incidents began dropping as Vilkas worked with her to do the actions. They also began an endless stream of organization of things within the island of Skagos, creating meetings on numbers, tax percentages and processes that Baldur could care little about, but was forced to give his consent to carry out.

Another thing of note that happened was a Maester showing up on one of the trade ships. The man was interested in likewise, studying the Skagosi people and the wildling clans that had come along. Baldur wasn't sure what the sudden interest in his people was, but it was causing him nothing but trouble. Vilkas convinced the Maester to stay on in service of house Crowl for the remainder of studies and the man seemed to take well to Helena, the wench who had taken over his former solar. It wasn't long before Baldur's own long house was completely occupied by the Maester, Wench and his own uncle, all doing their damnedest to take up time with demands and actions he needed to take. It was no wonder Lord Stark was so uptight, if he had to deal with people like these day in and day out. Baldur was an idea man and a warrior, not some type of book keeper. The Maester was suppose to alleviate his work, not make it worse like he had. 

In the free moments Baldur could escape, he spent them hidden with Varicho in the brewery or in his own work shop, tinkering with projects for the future as more trade ships began being built. It was a sad state of affairs when Baldur had to hide out like a coward and in company of one in his own town. He did accomplish much, making plans for the ice trade, something he knew to be potentially profitable and a number of improvements on farming tools and water mills. All would be revealed in time though, once he finished his projects. It was just a matter of releasing them in secrecy at this point, he had a reputation to maintain.

Good news finally had arrived, Baldur had been summoned by Lord Stark to Winterfell, according to the Raven that had arrived, courtesy of Maester Glenns work in establishing them on Skagos. It would seem, it was time for his kin to return home to Skagos. Lord Stark also wished to speak of a few other affairs, bidding him to take his guest Helena Whent along with him to Winterfell. Baldur would rather of not spent any more time in proximity with her, but he had hope that he could get rid of her on the road in some way, perhaps even convince Lord Stark to take her in.