King Brandon II 'The Builder' Stark, son of King Brandon I 'The Bloody Blade' Stark watched as the wall rose before him, a mastery of work, designed by man, built by giant, and warded by the Children. Next to him stood his half dead bastard brother, the son of his father and one of the Children, Asher Snow, with their father's blade in his hand, as they watched the wall rise. Brandon was not sure what to think of Asher, he was a skilled warrior, however was betrayed by his best friend, who worked a deal with the White Walkers to save himself, leading to Asher being trapped in a cave with those cursed creatures. He had died, and when he had returned, his formerly dark blonde hair was gone, as well as his green eyes, which he had inherited from his grandfather. In its place was shock white hair, and icy blue eyes as cold as winter itself. When the Night King had been close to dying, it had been Asher who stopped Azhor Azhai's flaming blade, fighting him to a standstill, allowing the night king to escape. However, when he finally delivered the killing blow to Azhor Azhai's chest, his final gift to him was a flaming sword through the heart. This had not killed him, however, and had instead reawaken the human and Children side inside him, turning his right eye red, and recreating the familiar slitted eyes that were the only proof of his ancestry.
Now as he stood next to him, he heard a low cough, and turned to Asher, who laid out a plan to make the North unstoppable. "We should invite the rest of the clans South, before the wall cuts them off completely. This way the Night King shall never again have giants or any of the free folk in his armies." Asher said this in a low voice, almost a whisper, and while Brandon's face remained the same, he silently agreed with his bastard brother's opinion, and nodded quietly in assent. Brandon told his brother "get all the clans and I will forgive you for everything, and protect you forever". Asher quietly nodded and rode off.
10 years later Asher returned, 50,000 clan members at his back, 10,000 giants and 25,000 mammoths had also joined. While some clans remained behind such as the Riverclans, Asher had convinced the majority of clans to follow him, primarily by beating their past leaders to death, including, in one memorable case, using one of the chiefs own ripped off arm to beat them to death. His antics even one him the loyalty of the Thenns, who became his own private army. With them he marched to Winterfell, passing under the now complete wall. The Clans agreed to bend the knee to the Starks, and only the Starks, and in return gained the protection of the North. Asher was legitimised as Blackstark, and left to take the Thenns to what would become his new seat, the Nighfort, which Asher had advised against giving to the Nights Watch, pointing out that the Watch had insufficient resources and numbers to hold all the castles, and had the castles Icemark, Deeplake and Hoarfrost Hill.
Icemark was settled by the last surviving Forest giants, who had been hit the hardest of all the giants by the Long Night. While being the smallest of the giants, typically only 12 ft high compared to the typical 14 ft, and owning no mammoths, the Forest Giants were the deadliest fighters as they were extreme territorialism, often going to war with each other for territory. This territorialism was almost their downfall, as many of the clans refused to leave their homes, instead opting to stay and fight it out. They became Magnar Asher's personal guards after he had saved some of their young from death, after they were attacked by one of the few surviving White Walkers. The Forest Giants became House Weg, and guarded their reforged castle jealousy.
Deeplake and Hoarfrost Hill were settled by House Giantsbane and House Rayder, respectively, while the Nightfort was settled by the Thenns, and House Thenn was created as castellans, forever. Asher looked at his houses, then looked at the North as a whole, knowing that Brandon and his descendants would not rest until the entirety of the North was conquered. With that thought in mind Magnar Asher BlackStark left the north for the east, to learn their ways and customs.
Meanwhile Brandon was planning the take over of the rest of the North. Due to the mass numbers of Clans that had been brought over, the invasion of the North could start much earlier then planned. The Crannogmen were the first target of the Starks. Their army stopped in front of the swamps, and waited. While some of the more hot headed Magnars in the Stark army wanted them to attack quickly and crush them, Brandon instead cautioned patience, instead waiting for the cold winter to effectively freeze the already legendary fortress Greywater Watch, and mounting the attack while the river was frozen, and the deadly snakes and lizard-lions were holed up in small warm holes. The Crannogmen surrendered, and the last Swamp King Jojen Reed gave up his crown to the Starks and vowed his unending loyalty. The Starks gained this loyalty after only days later, an army of Rivermen marched down the ice, in an attempt to destroy the Crannogmen while the Starks distracted them. The Crannogmen arranged an ambush, firing their poisoned bows into the midst of the Rivermen while the Stark soldiers crushed them from all sides. This earned the Starks the undying loyalty of the Crannogmen, and the Crannogmen in turn gained the respect of King Brandon, who tasked Magnar Reed with the protection of the North from outside threats, and making him Magnar protectorate of the key, which was the military name given to the Neck.
Brandon and Jojen became close friends, and so did their sons, and Jojen's firstborn daughter, Meera, was married to Brandon's second son Prince Torrhen, who was named lord of a small fort that was set up as the key to the North. The Starks prepared for another war with the Glovers, however, the day before the invasion was set to start, King Brandon, second of his name, 'The Builder' was found dead, dying of natural causes at the age of 55.