Storm's End Change

(Stannis POV)

My brother was strange. He seems to be a happy and charismatic young man unlike me, but I see his serious side, ever since we started this project. 

Improvements of Storm's End

That's what he calls it. It all started after he went to see the village and came back unhappy. I still remember the talk he had with me after coming out of Father's solar. 

"Stannis, are you interested in doing some real change?"

"What do you mean?"

"I have seen the state of Storm's End and I am revolted. The poverty and the resulting appearance and functionality are trash. We are Baratheons and the seat of the Lord of the Stormlands looks like a few blocks of shit put together at random. I asked Father and he gave me free hand to do what I want. The only requirement is that I have to show results in the next few months."

"Why are you telling me this? What do you want to do then?"

"I want to ask you, whether you are interested in changing the village, Storm's End and therefore the entirety of House Baratheon to new heights. We shall make it great and prosperous. And I want your help, as an equal, my partner. So are you in or not?"

"... Why do you want to do that?"

"Are you joking? The state of the common folk has a direct influence on the lords who lead them. If the common folk suffer, so will we. There is a linear dependency between the wealth of ordinary people and those who lead them. Besides, I want to improve the village and make it great. It just won't let me sleep and it makes me angry that the village of Storm's End is in such a state."

"..."

"..."

"Fine. Stop looking at me like that. Where did you learn to look at me like that? What are you a dog?"

"Hehehe, I knew you would come around and see reason. Very well then. Here's what we're going to do..."

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And here I am, going over the notes of the past months. We started this book to keep track of all our 'investments' as Robert called it. 

His idea was simple if not mad, in my opinion. Why he believes that 10 and 9-name days-old young boys can do something like that is beyond me. But here we are. He showed me his idea and as strange as it is, it seems to work. 

These so called investments were simply losses or gifts in my opinion. Nonetheless, I did what Robert told me and started to note everything down.

Robert granted so-called short-term loans to different people who held different positions within the city. Robert called them essential and part of the circle of wealth. I didn't know what he meant back then, but now I do.

The circle of wealth describes, according to Robert, a circle of people who pass around money to one another. They buy goods from one another. Part of this circle were the blacksmiths, farmers, merchants and other professionals like builders and guards. The reason they were part of the circle of wealth, was because of Robert.

He went ahead and used about 50 Gold Dragons of his own money and invested it into the blacksmith. He told the blacksmith, that he wanted three things.

#1 He wanted for the Blacksmith to take a few apprentices. Blacksmiths usually enjoy rather a wealthy lifestyle among the common people. So getting an apprentice is ironically not good for their business. But that had to change now. Robert threatened the two Blacksmiths who were located in the village with beatings and that he would take away the smithy from the man if he didn't stop thinking only about himself.

He quickly agreed afterwards.

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#2 The second thing Robert wanted from the two blacksmiths was the creation of farming tools, made of iron. That was also the reason, for the 50 Gold Dragons. Robert had the blacksmiths work on that project and nothing else in the beginning.

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#3 And finally, Robert wanted the blacksmiths to join his newly established ‚Builder's Guild'. That was what Robert called it. The Builder's Guild was one of three guilds, Robert had planned and so far, there is nothing that I can see is bad about the idea. There was no room for arguing and the two blacksmiths accepted to join the Builder's Guild.

This was the first stop in the Circle of Wealth. I wrote everything down. How much Gold Dragons Robert invested and to whom he gave them. He had me walk together with him to the two Blacksmiths and there they had to ‚sign' the page in the book, where I wrote about the ‚contract' they had agreed upon. It was smart, I had to admit. This way there would never be a problem with liars who claim they never knew about anything.

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The second step in the circle of wealth was the farmers. With the production of the farming tools finished, Robert went ahead and approached the 13 different farmers and their families. He was rather well received until they heard of his intentions. They didn't understand what he wanted of them. Robert explained everything to them in great detail and as many times as it took for them to understand what was going on.

They were annoyed at first, that a little ‚shit' like Robert, who was still sucking on his mother's tits was giving them instructions on how to do their jobs. When the first farmer mentioned our mother … I knew things were going to get ugly. I knew that you could say anything about Robert. Behind his back or in front, it didn't matter. He would laugh at the insult and be done with it. If you mentioned his family though … you would suffer. The farmer learned that the hard way.

Eventually, the Baratheon fury calmed down and the farmer agreed to Robert's plan. Robert gave the farmer the iron tools, which Robert had commissioned for free! That's right, Robert told them that he didn't want money as payment. Instead, he wanted to get a cut from the profits they would make. BUT … not right away. He told them that in order for an investment to flourish, you would have to give it time. And so he gave them a 5-year deadline. During these 5 years, the farmers were allowed to not pay any money to Robert to pay him back for the tools. But after 5 years, they would have to start paying back the interest of the loan he had granted them.

Finally, Robert also invited the farmers into the Builder's Guild. To make sure that both the blacksmiths and the farmers could do their jobs, Robert scouted for orphans and widows who were looking for jobs and had them help where help was needed. He warned everyone, that should the children and women not be treated with respect, he would come personally and smash a Warhammer on their heads.

As payment, Robert gave the widows and orphans both a home and enough to eat. He also promised them one Silver Stag every month, should it go well.

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I wrote down everything. After three months, we had made 82 Gold Dragon in losses and I was getting rather anxious about Father stopping us and ruining all our hard work. I came to believe in Robert's vision. His ambition to improve Storm's End and the village around it was infectious.

After everything was set, for the blacksmiths, farmers and helpers, Robert and I started the three Guilds he had planned. Those were: The Builder's Guild, The Security Guild and the Merchant Guild.

When Robert started to explain to me the scope of his idea, I was left gasping for air. I was very surprised, to say the least. The vision Robert had not only for the village or Storm's End but for the entirety of the Stormlands was impressive. He was barely 11 name days old and yet he was already thinking so big. I felt misplaced as the ‚Partner' in our project. But Robert dismissed my concerns, which he could read off of my face. Robert was the only one who could read me and get a rise out of me.

He told me his idea.

The three guilds would serve as his form of control over the business in Storm's End in the beginning. The Builder's Guild involves any work which involves creation and building. He even created a new official job, the construction workers and the architects. He gave them titles and positions. And the leading architect among them was … Robert of course. He gathered a small group of experienced architects and construction workers and took them under contract so that they would join the Builder's Guild.

They agreed since they hoped for favours from the Baratheon family. Little did they know, that Robert was dead serious. He had them create buildings and renovations and then went over it since he had the last say in all the projects. He evaluated the projects and then either approved or refused them. In the beginning, they were angry with him, since he told them their work was trash. Of the three architects two got angry and stormed out, the third one wanted to hear why Robert thought it was trash and Robert explained it to him.

Both the architect and I were surprised at the knowledge Robert possessed. He told the architect how it would work better and changed a few things. The architect was more than impressed. He accepted all the changes and pledged to Robert and me. That was a surprising twist.

The Builder's Guild was Robert's way of taking control over the rats in the city who wanted to exploit others. Using the guild he created camaraderie and loyalty to both him and me, since I was the one keeping track of everything and usually settled disputes. Robert placed a lot of trust in me and I was all the more glad that he did.

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Finally, after 6 months of planning, working, talking and pushing money around, there were the first signs of improvement. The initial batch of crops was ready to harvest and it looked like it was bountiful. The farmers came to Robert and me, especially me to report their harvest. Robert had asked the workers whether the amount reported was true and was positively surprised when all of the farmers told the truth.

The harvest was amazing and when all of the farmers had been here to report it and I noted everything down, Robert sighed deeply. I could see that he wasn't certain things would work out as he had hoped. He was unsure initially but put up a strong front to appear as strong in front of everyone. But I knew he was just worried about Father taking away the reigns and ruining all of our hard work.

"Hahahaha, Stannis. We did it! It worked!! Can you believe it?!", he eventually smiled and laughed loudly, just like I knew him. And as usual, his laugh was infectious, making me smile as well. 

I vowed on this day, that I would help Robert in any way I could. I know that he will inherit Storm's End one day, but I will stand by his side to help him make our house, the village and even the Stromlands great. If it's Robert, I know that he can do it.

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(Steffon Baratheon POV)

I am sitting behind my desk and look at Robert who is sitting in one of the chairs. 

"So ... the deadline is over.", I start. 

"Indeed.", he says and simply looks at me. I get annoyed at that. I feel like I'm dealing with an adult here.

"How was it? Tell me your experiences.", I tell him. I want to hear his thoughts. 

"Well, it all started with my first trip to the village. I was disappointed with the way things looked. The people were poor and in need of help, while the rich were getting richer and more pompous. 

I saw the buildings and was embarrassed to call it a part of Storm's End. That had to change. I could not allow things to go on that way, and so I did ...", he started his tale. 

I listened to him and felt myself immersed in the story. He had a true talent for telling stories. Even though this shouldn't have been that interesting, I felt myself feel happy when something went well and angry or sad when he had to find different approaches. 

Truly, Robert would grow into a remarkable man in the future.