27

Chapter 27: Ch 18 Lord Too-Fat-to-Sit-a-Horse

Chapter Text

Robb and Jon rode together on their horses, the wind whistling in their ears as they made their way to the White Knife. "According to his last letter, they just reached the Moat Cailin," Robb said, breaking the silence. "So it shouldn't take Father that long to reach Winterfell now. And he said that all the Lords will be coming with him as well."

"Why?" Jon asked, tilting his head.

"Well, we just had the first harvest not too long ago," Robb explained. "So I think he just wanted to be done with the Harvest festival before they all go back so that the Lords don't have to make a trip again in the near future."

Jon nodded in agreement. "That is good news then. And it has been quite some time since we saw him, and he should be eager to meet little Bran as well," he said with a little smile before he noticed something and pointed it out to Robb. "Look there – you see that wooden warehouse beside the White Knife? That's our destination."

Robb looked in the direction Jon was pointing and saw a massive wooden structure standing beside the fast-flowing current of White Knife. "I see it! Whoa, I had no idea it was this big," he said, impressed.

Excitement building inside him, Robb turned his head and shouted at the party escorting them. "Ser Rodrik! Hurry up!" before he turned to Jon. "Let's go ahead!"

Robb controlled his horse and galloped toward the wooden structure, with Jon following on his heels leisurely on Pegasus.

As they came closer, the loud rushing sound of White Knife was joined by the wood-cutting noises and hammering sounds coming from the building in front of them.

"Let's go inside," Robb said, dismounting and going through the open wooden door that was big enough to accommodate any type of material or product they needed to bring in or out, no matter how huge.

Jon followed him, and as they entered, he heard Robb's awe as he looked at the view in front of him. It was a rudimentary factory, with saws and huge hammers that were moving through the use of hydro-power, making all the work faster and easier.

It was previously a small wooden water mill but it was rarely used by its owner so Jon was able to buy it cheaply from him. And when he bought it, Jon had taken into consideration that it would be very easy for them to use the existing water wheel to fulfill their blacksmithing and woodworking need with just a little bit of work on it and there was nothing around here so he could quickly expand later as required

The concept of Water mills and windmills was a concept that had been perpetuated in Westeros and Essos for quite a while, so it wasn't as if Jon had done something revolutionary. Still, he had taken some of his high school and some youtube knowledge from his previous life to have the structure constructed without needing to call an expert from outside the North who would have taken an arm or a leg in payment.

According to the books in the Winterfell library, there were similar constructions used all around Westeros and Essos. Still, they were located in areas that were a lot more prosperous than the north, like Braavos or Qarth.

One side of the wall was filled with a long line of furnaces that were made keeping in mind the production requirements for the future. However, at the moment, only five of them were burning, with different blacksmiths working in front of them.

The Blacksmiths were mainly working on smaller components at the moment, as even though the Starkhorse was mostly a wooden contraption, it required a lot of small parts that held everything together, that needed to be made from metals like iron.

In the expansive central area of the warehouse, a bustling group of over fifteen skilled woodworkers were meticulously crafting and sculpting trees into various shapes tailored to specific parts. The sound of saws and chisels echoed throughout the space, blending with the steady rhythm of the water wheel turning outside. Each woodworker was deeply focused on their task, their faces set in concentration as they expertly guided their tools over the raw wood.

Little Tom, who was one of the blacksmiths working, noticed Robb and Jon enter and came towards them. All the other workers kept on working on their respective stuff, creating a symphony of sound and movement that made the place come alive.

"M'lord," Little Tom said bowing, "I didn't know you were coming today,"

"Don't worry about us, Tom," Robb said while looking up at the man who didn't have a single thing "little" about him, "How is the work coming along,"

"It is going very well, M'lord," Little Tom said happily, "We can produce more than ever as the worker becomes familiar with the parts and more skilled at their jobs day after day,"

"Little Tom here was the one who improved the designs and came up with the idea to use an offshoot of ironwood for the base wood that made the Starkhorses a lot more hardy and easy to produce," Jon praised Little Tom who blushed with a silly smile on his face.

"Really," Robb said surprised as he never had the impression that the giant blacksmith was so talented.

"It's not that impressive, M'lord," Little Tom said while rubbing his head, "Back in our village we made most our spoons and plates from this wood and they last for decades without breaking and I thought to make one our Starkhorse with it once and it turned out to be a lot more hardy and durable,"

Ser Rodrik who had joined them inside by this point added, "I think most our spear shafts and axe handles are made of this wood too, and I can say that they are very hardy and last for years too,"

While Jon was satisfied with the benefit of having Starkhorses more durable the one thing that made him happier was that the offshoot of Ironwood used for this was only available in the North which meant that he could have somewhat of a monopoly on this.

"Umm... Where do you keep all the ones you've already made..." Robb asked after looking around and found that there were no finished products nearby.

"Oh! They are placed separately— Come I will show you," Jon said leading Robb through the side so that they don't disturb the workers toward the back where there was an inconspicuous door. Jon opened the door and gestured for Robb to go in before following him.

"So Many," Robb said breathlessly looking at the rows and rows of Starkhorses that had filled half the storage.

"We should be able to fill this up before long," Jon said proudly.

"Don't you think that these are too many," Robb asked hesitatingly while looking around, "I don't think it will be useful much in the north with all the snow we have,"

"Oh don't worry about it," Jon chuckled, "I have no intention of going village by village to sell them where they won't be much of an attraction. My main targets will be all those cities in Westeros and Esoos with their clear straight roads where it will be a cheaper and cleaner alternative,"

For the tires of the Starkhorses Jon didn't do anything new instead just used the already available method of creating wheels for carriages and carts. And while that made the Starkhorses harder to move, it wasn't much of a problem as he knew that the people in this world were a lot stronger than the ones in his previous one.

Even though he knew that there were a few trees here in the north that could provide rubber, he had no idea of the intricacies involved in its creation from the tree juices to tubes so at the moment he was keeping the design basic.

"How are you going to sell to those cities from here in the north?" Robb asked having a hard time wrapping his head around the concept of selling anything to those faraway cities he had only heard of in the books.

"You don't need to worry about that. My very first big customer is coming to Winterfell very soon and he has a city filled with roads where I am sure the Starkhorses will be very useful," Jon answered with his eyebrows dancing mischievously.

Robb was confused for a moment before his eyes widened as he understood the "big" customer Jon was talking about.

...

A few weeks later the victorious lords arrived at Winterfell to the cheers of the crowd with as much pomp and celebration as the North could stomach which wasn't very much.

The feasts the northern's throw may seem dull compared to the feasts by the southerners with their mummer shows, expensive cakes, and barrels of sweet summer wines. However, this does not mean that the feasts in the North are any less enjoyable or festive. While they may lack the theatricality and extravagance of the southern feasts, the warmth, and hospitality of the northern hosts more than makeup for it.

The scent of sizzling meat filled the hall, and the sounds of laughter and good-natured banter echoed off the walls. The tables were groaning under the weight of roasted meats, stews, and hearty breads, all accompanied by enough supply of ale and mead for the lords and their retainers to eat and drink all night; Lord Umber had every intention to do so.

As the sun rose over the Stark stronghold the next morning, the sounds of groans and muffled curses could be heard coming from the guest quarters. The maidservants moved quietly among them, offering water and Maester's herbal remedies to ease their discomfort. Even the hardiest and most seasoned of the lords and knights, accustomed to long nights of drinking and carousing were hungover after the feast the previous... except for a few.

Lord Stark had been looking forward to spending time with his family ever since arriving at Winterfell, so when Lord Umber started hollering for a drinking competition, he took the opportunity to make his exit. Since he had taken an early leave he was one of the few who was up and about and was already making his way up to his solar to catch up on the work that had been piled up in his absence.

And Lord Bolton would take an arrow to the heart before he let anyone get drunk and wasted so he was in his room telling his master-at-arms to prepare for a return journey that very day as he was very uncomfortable in this castle and wanted to go back to Dreadfort and its dreadful silence as soon as possible.

And one other such Lord was the Lord of White Harbor, Lord Manderly. Lord Wyman Manderly was a man in his fifties and while he could still ride a horse, he was fat enough that he only needed to get a bit fatter for him to be known as the Lord Too-fat-to-sit-a-horse.

At the feast the previous night he had partaken in the ale as much as the next lord but somehow he was right as rain even though he knew that Lord Umber next door was still nursing a headache. He didn't know why though, he had never been one of those who could drink as much as they want without a hangover.

'Maybe his capacity was increasing without him knowing,' he thought with a smile.

After breaking his fast in the great hall Lord Wyman was moving toward a smaller courtyard in the castle that was a bit out of the way because he was promised that he would see an astonishing thing if he went there.

What had happened was that when he had just woken up and was half asleep, he heard the maids whispering to each other and gossiping about a wondrous invention that they had seen in the castle.

They said that it was a horse that was made of wood and that didn't need feeding and that it could move very fast too. And that they didn't need to spend to learn like with horses and that anyone can learn it easily.

So Lord Manderly's curiosity was around and he immediately asked the maids politely if what they were talking about was true or not. The maids swore that they were talking truly and even pointed him towards the place where he could see such things and that was where he was going right now.

As he reached the courtyard, even before going in he could hear hoots and whistles from inside, and as he went in his attention was immediately attracted as he noticed that some kind of race was going on.

An auburn-haired boy which he knew to be Lord Stark's son from last night's feast was racing on a wooden contraption that the maids had been talking about. The boy's competitors were two girls, one of which was the boy's sister Sansa and the other was a blonde girl he didn't know but he heard someone yelling 'Faster Becca,' so he guessed that it was her.

The one shouting and cheering them on was a black-haired boy standing just in front of him. The boy seemed a bit familiar to him but he hadn't seen him at last night's feast so he had no idea who he was.

Lord Wyman approached the boy while watching the race curiously, "Do you know what this contraption is called?" he asked the boy who turned around to notice the large lord who had joined him.

"It's called a Starkhorse, My Lord," the boy answered with surprising politeness and elegance. His manners and his way of speaking made Wyman suspect that he was highborn or at least had the same education, "Go Arya," the boy shouted turning back.

It was only then the Lord noticed that Robb wasn't only racing two girls but three as he looked at Lord Starks second daughter paddling on a smaller similar Starkhorse way behind her Brother and Sister with a gummy smile with a brown-haired following behind closely on her feet and making sure that she didn't fall down.

"Can anyone learn to use that?" Wyman asked after a few seconds, his merchant senses were tingling violently in his head at the prospect in front of him.

"Yes, Anyone can," Jon answered easily, "if they are good they can learn it in under an hour and if they are bad at it then they may take a day or two but anyone who is able to can easily learn it,"

Now that he was looking at him from up close Lord Manderly suddenly realized who the boy looked similar to and asked unconsciously, "Are you Lord Stark's bastard?"

"Yes," He answered with a smile, "My name is Jon Snow,"

Wyman didn't see any bitterness in the boy's smile at being called a bastard, it was as if he wasn't at all bothered by his birth which the lord knew was a rare thing among bastards, he just attributed it to Lord Stark's teaching.

"Do you know where these Starkhorses could be bought from and how much they cost?" Lord Manderly asked going back to the topic he was interested in.

"Why? Do you want to buy them?"

"I am thinking about it,"

"Then come with me," Jon said gesturing with his hand and walking out of the courtyard, "I will lead you to the one who can sell them to you,"

Wyman took one last look at the race that had ended with Robb's win and followed the boy out. Jon walked through the hallways of the castle and took a few complicated shortcuts that only the people who lived in Winterfell would be able to use and before long they were climbing the steps to a room that Wyman had visited more than a few dozen times in his life.

"Are you taking me to the..."

"Yes, My Lord," Jon replied with a cheeky smile before knocking on the door to the Lord's Solar. Almost immediately a voice came from inside, "Come in,"

He opened the door and gestured to the lord inside, "Ah... Lord Manderly, I was expecting you," Lord Stark said while looking at the huge Lord entering his solar.

"You were..." Wyman asked confusedly.

Jon didn't enter and instead closed the door behind the Lord of White Harbor and went back. He knew that he looked too young someone to take him seriously in a negotiation so he enlisted the help of his father in dealing with the sale of his very first batch of Starkhorse.

Lord Stark had been very surprised when he learned about the things Jon had accomplished while he was gone and had told him multiple times that he was very proud of him and he had happily accepted the task to be the face of his business.