WINTERFELL 294 AC

Eddard Stark was having a busy day with all the construction work that is going on around Winterfell. While he was happy his home was getting renovated and a huge wall being built aroud Winterfell was for the best he had to endure so many boring hours of complaints by the smallfolf and even the builders. Then there was the whole expense of all that was going on that is still mind blowing for Eddard. Atleast his wife seems to be in her eement as she helped in pointing out the necessary modifications she wanted for the interior part of the castle. Eddard knew he was no good in politics of the seven kingdoms as he never recieved any training for that as he was only a second son but atleast his son had turned out to be a smart one. The Manderlys were literally worshipping Robb as a god by this point as he increased the northern trade ten times from what it was before. Somehow the smiths in Barrowton managed to deliver the secrets of glass making and that too just after Robb took control of Barrowton. Eddard is not someone that believed in coincidence so he strongly believed Robb had something to do with it.

Anyway, the glass works along with some of those fancy alcoholic drinks seems to have picked up the attention of many merchants across the continent and trade was booming like never before. While his son was doing the best he can to empower the North, Eddard himself was not staying idle. As he once said to Robb he restarted some of the abandoned mines in North. The North did not have many gold mines but it had many silver mines and Iron mines. With the weather being favourable to work in the mines slowly silver and iron flow into the market began to increase. While this was all good the North is a large place and it has vast unexplored lands. Eddard began sending some men to find any more mines. Unfortunately they couldn't find any gold mines but they did find something else entirely, Diamonds. While there was no great diamond market in Westeros that was not the case in Braavos. Lord Manderly has assured him that there is a big market in Braavos for Diamonds. While none of the Nortgerners have worked with Diamonds before they were willing to try. It was a very hard process to cut and shape the diamond crystals.But after months of hard work some of the men began to pick up the art and improved considerably in designing Diamond studs. At lord Manderly's advice they began to export Diamonds to Braavos in very low quantities and most of the pieces they sold there were small ones.

As months began to fly by the Braavosi merchants took note of steady supply of diamonds from the North. Diamonds were a rare commodity in Braavos and only very few can be even found in Essos. Several offers began to arrive via the Iron Bank of Braavos for purchacing uncut diamonds. Several negotiations took place until finally the Braavosi merchants agreed to open their own Diamond processing units in the North with equal shares from Braavos and North. In the end this deal would ensure the people of North would have a steady job and become more experienced with their exposure with Braavosi workers. Everything was moving smoothly for once and North was prospering. If only his father, mother, Brandon, Benjen and Lyanna was here to enjoy this he would have been more happy.

"Lord Stark may I come in." Maester Luwin asked from the door side of the room.

"Come in maester. What is it?" Eddard asked

"A raven from Barrowton my lord." Maester Luwin said as he handed over the message.

"Robb asks that I send Jon over to Barrowton. Something about teaching Jon to play Cricket and Football. What is he talking about maester?" Eddard asked confused

"Ah I was about to inform you my lord but I thought it was some wild imaginations of travellers." Maester Luwin said with an embarrassed smile

"Rumors from travellers about Barrowton. What is Robb doing there?" Eddard asked in curiously

"It seems dear Robb has taken a fancy of hosting horse racing competitions and then if rumours are to be believed he seems to have created two games and is now a regular player himself. It is attracting a lot of attention from the small folk as well as the winning teams usually get rewarded by Robb. Ofcourse these are just rumours that I have heard. We don't know the truth behind it." Maester Luwin said

"This message seems to agree with the rumours maester. Mayhaps we are looking this in a wrong way. Everything Robb does have a purpose. He wouldn't just do something like this unless it somehow benefits the North. I can understand the purpose behind horse racing as we lack mounted soldiers and it is a perfect way to train the men without any loss of life. Do you know anything about this Cricket and Football." Eddard asked as he thought about this matter.

"Not entirely my lord. The football is played by men running around a field chasing a ball and kicking it between themselves. As for this Cricket I am told a wooden weapon is used to smash a small ball thrown by someone and there are some strange sticks placed behind this hitter on the ground. Frankly I am confused my lord. I am sorry I am not much of a help." Maester Luwin said helplessly

"No, it's alright. Perhaps it is better if Jon is in Barrowton. Jon has more influence on Robb than anybody else. I will speak to Jon myself. Call him maester." Eddard said

Maester Luwin nodded and left to inform Jon. Meanwhile Eddard was deep in thought. On one hand he knew Jon was miserable here in Winterfell and he can easily see Jon was missing Robb's company. But there was also his own promise to Lyanna to keep her son safe and if he send Jon to Barrowton away from his protection he was afraid Jon would get hurt. Jon was the only living memory of his sister Lyanna and he had failed to save her. The moment he took the promise to protect Jon he meant what he said as he did not want her son to fall before his eyes. Still it would be better for Jon to stay away from Winterfell and Robb would never let anything happen to Jon. Besides Jon himself was skilled enough with a sword like his father not that it did any good against Robert in the Trident. Perhaps it was time to put some trust in Jon to take care of himself.

"Lord Stark. You called for me." Jon said as he entered the room

"Take a seat Jon." Eddard said pointing at one of the chair. As Jon sat there looking at him Eddard felt like he was seeing Rheagar for a moment.

"Did I do something to displease you lord Stark." Jon asked a little troubled

"No nothing like that. I was just thinking about something else. The reason I called you here is because Robb sent a raven from Barrowton asking for you.". Eddard informed casually

"Robb asked for me." Jon asked

"He asked me to send you over to Barrowton. It seems your brother is of the opinion you would enjoy yourself more in Barrowton rather than staying here." Eddard said looking for any reaction from Jon

"Do you want me to go." Jon asked

"It's entirely upto you. It seems Robb has started playing these strange games called cricket and football. I am also told that he is hosting a horse racing competition every month. So tell me do you want to go?" Eddard asked

"If you wouldn't mind I would like to go." Jon said

"Very well. You can leave today if you like and Jon stay safe and keep Robb out of trouble as well. Also send a raven the moment you reach Barrowton." Eddard said to Jon

"Thank you father. I will go and pack then." Jon said in a hurry

At Eddard's nod Jon left the room with a smile. Eddard stood from his seat and looked out the window watching some of the men working on the wall.

By noon Jon became ready and after saying farewell to the rest of his siblings Jon began his journey with some of the guards his father lend him to Barrowton.

BARROWTON 294 AC

After Robb dreamed about playing Cricket the thought would not leave his mind. In the end he decided to hire some carpenters and began making the bats and stumps while he himself concentrated on creating the Cricket ball. Thankfully corks were readily available in the north so he had no problem in creating the Cricket balls. After that he wound the cork with several layers of leather and stitched it tightly. So now he had the necessary tools for playing Cricket but he thought, why stop there. This thought led him towards football. Now this is a game that needs extreme stamina, agility, flexibility, speed, analytic and tactical abilities. This sport can be very useful for keeping the men in shape. Unfortunately for Robb there was no Rubber trees in the North for him to create a football. Leather can be used to create football but it would be wierd for him to play in that so he began the hunt for rubber trees. In the mean time Robb promoted Cricket as well as Tennis.

Now Tennis equipment was easy for him to make and the sport developes upper body strength at an alarming rate which was very much needed for a swordsman. Robb regularly played Tennis with his soldiers in Barrowton. It also helped him to bond with many of them and it was a favourite sport of his to pass time. That doesn't mean he abandoned to train with his sword. Everyday early morning he would train with his sword in the yard and then test his archery skills as well. After that he would go for a ride upon the horse around the tracks and even the forest near his castle for a small hunt.

Finally after weeks of searching Robb manged to find some rubber trees along with Sandalwood trees in the island Skagos. He brought them to Barrowlands and began planting them. While he needed the rubber in small quantities the sandalwood was another matter. Sandalwood can be used as fragrance and oils. Sandalwood oil can be used as medicine for treatment of common colds, skin disorders, heart ailments, general weakness, fever etc. Then there was a mountain of gold can be made by selling fragrance especially in a dirty smelly place like Westeros.

So he immediately started planting Rubber trees and Sandalwood trees. After extracting rubber from the trees he had to use his magic to manipulate the rubber to form into the necessary ball as he envision. Frankly he have no idea how the football is made. All he knew about it is that rubber is used in it. He was lucky enough as he had once seen a plantation worker extracting rubber from the trees in his previous life. After forming the ball he introduced the game in Barrow lands. This one got more popular than Cricket as it involved more physical activity than ever and the Northerners were a rowdy bunch.

As for sandalwood let's just say that he had a history with this tree before he got entangled with drug business. So he knew how to make the oil and fragrance. The heartwood of sandalwood was the part it had fragrance. After rapidly growing many sandalwood trees using his magic he had people extract the wood and use it to create cosmetic products. This caused another industry to sprung up in the North as there was a huge demand for such a product in King's Landing alone. The medicinal oil became famous and well sought out in Essos as surprisingly it was found out to have the ability to cure Greyscale within a month of continuous application upon the affected skin. After this was found out the price and demand for sandalwood oil skyrocketed. Thankfully with his magic Robb was able to rapidly grow more Sandalwood trees faster in Barrowlands which enabled them to maintain a steady supply of the product.

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Jon neared Barrowton upon his horse. He watched the streets getting filled with more people as time moved on engaging in trade. Children ran around the roads happily playing with eachother. It was a similar sight in Winterfell as well nowadays. He can still remember there was a time when this was not the case. Stone built buildings now surrounded the castle of Barrowton. It felt like Jon was stepping into a city and the roads were cleanly paved with stones. Moreover the streets smelled like those new Sandal perfumes his sister Sansa uses noiwadays. Jon guided his horse through the open gates of the outer wall of the castle. He tied his horse near one of the stables and the guards that came with him untied the packs they were carrying from their horses. Some of the Stark guards in Barrowton moved closer towards them.

"Lord Robb is expecting you. He is in the training yard. Follow me." one of the guard said while the others helped to unpack

Jon found Robb in the training yard practicing archery with some men and even some women were there. Arya would have loved to come here, Jon thought. Robb turned around and saw him stanfing outside the yard.

"Well look who has come. Everyone meet Jon, my younger brother." Robb said as he embraced Jon in a hug and showed him around to everyone.

"Father said you were playing some games here in Barrowton. He is concerned." Jon said

"Ah no need to be concerned. The games helps to train the men. The southerners have their tourneys while we have our games. Come we have much to discuss after you have some food." Robb said as he led Jon towards the castle.

"So why do you want me here." Jon asked

"I know my mother would be hard on you in my absence. It is better if you are with me here. Then there is another reason as well." Robb said

"What reason?" Jon asked

"As of right now, Barrowlands can call upon six thousand men consisting of two thousand mounted men and the rest of them are foot soldiers. I need to increase the number of men I can call to battle and I need to train them. So I am breaking off the men into different groups under a captain. I want you to become a captain in the army. You will be paid ofcourse along with the men." Robb said

"I am honoured. How many men are you planning to raise." Jon asked

"More than ten thousand." Robb said

"But that is too many men. You will have to feed them, pay them and arm them. It will be very expensive brother." Jon said

"Don't you worry about that. I have the resources. What I need is skilled soldiers. Along with all this there is the fleet we have to consider. I am planning on establishing a fleet near Saltspear as well." Robb said

"It's as if you are preparing for a war." Jon joked

"Maybe I am." Robb said as he walked forward leaving Jon behind. Jon quickly caught upto Robb .

"You were joking right." Jon said

"It never hurts to be prepared brother." Robb said seriously

"In that case I will join. So when do I begin." Jon said

"You will be assigned to a group of 300 men. From there we will see." Robb said with a smile

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After assigning Jon to a platoon Robb returned back into the castle. Robb sat behind his desk and thought about what he should do in the coming years. There were three options before him. Option one entails that he allow the events to unfold and become the King in North and declare independence bfrom the Iron Throne. Option two was to remain strictly neutral and watch as the southern armies weakened themselves and then he can conquer them forcibly using the Northern army abd Starfyre. Option three was to stay neutral against the Lannister - Baratheon war but to actively destabilize the seven kingdoms and make them so weak that they have no other option but to beg the help of North at any cost.

After thinking about the pros and cons Robb decided to discard the first option. Achieving independance is all good when one says it but it will inevitably bring him into too many wars and they will not be able to get any help in the war against the White Walkers. But one of the main reason for discarding the first option is because he didn't want to sacrifice Eddard Stark's life. Over the course of many years somehow he had started to identify himself as a Stark more and more and started to think of them as his family and he did not want his family to shatter because of his greed.

Option two has potential but the rest of the kingdoms will not accept a Northern king to rule them. Inevitably a rebellion will happen even if he succeeds in conquering them all. Besides he would have to spend the resources of North for something that will be temporary because there is no platform for him to build a royal house in all of the seven kingdoms. The Abdals will never accept a first men king.

Option three was the most desirable one as it has more of a potential to succeed with minimal risk. But it is a plan that will make him a king maker or perhaps the apt term rould be Queen maker and frankly he was fine with that. This plan will also allow him to pick off his enemies one by one and will ensure the complete collapse of Andal faith. But for the third option needs a fall guy to spark the fuse so to speak and it can't be Eddard. So this thought led him towards one person and that was Jon Arryn. The perfect fall man for his con.

Now that he has selected a path he need certain tools for his plans to succeed. Some of the resources are already in his grasp but there are two major tools he need. One is Wildfire and the other is Opium. Wildfire was not needed for him to destabilize the seven kingdoms but he needed the substance to fight the White Walkers effectively. That was the easiest target but he wanted the knowledge behind the creation of Wildfire. That is why he had to go to Kings landing.

Unfortunately Robb had never travelled to Kings landing before so he couldn't directly apparate there nor could he create a portkey. But he has been to Riverlands before. So one night Robb apparated directly to Riverrun. Once he reached there Robb waved his wand and a black smoke consumed him and lifted him into the sky. With a thought he flew in the direction of King's Landing.

Within hours he was able to reach King's landing. He carefully landed behind a building and then used the 'point me' spell to locate the Alchemist guild. He then put four random strangers under imperious curse abd sneaked them into the guild. From the guild he picked best four alchemists and put them under the imperious as well. Robb made them take the necessary tools and bioks that would help them from the guild and placed it all safely in his expanded trunk along with the Alchemists.

After securing the alchemists and there gadgets Robb took a small bottle of wildfire and led the four imperiouised men into an abanded room. He made the four sit in a circe and made one of them to slowly pour the wildfire into the ground. After he made sure the liquid spreaded evenly Robb placed a magical shield infront of him and threw a burning torch into the Wildfire. Green flames spread up quickly consuming the four men and it tried desperately to spread into the walls. Robb managed to contain it as he expanded the blue magical shield concentrating the flames among the four men and they screamed in agony as their flesh and bones melted away. Robb apparated away with his trunk as he heard people rushing into the room. He waited outside the alchemist guild for sometime. After he made sure the flames never spread into the rest of the building he portkeyed away to Barrowton and fell asleep on his bed.

The next morning he began sending some builders to a remote part of the Barrowlands which is conveniently away froma any population. He asked them to construct a building to house the new Alchemist guild. Unlike the one in King's landing this one would have underground tunnels and dungeons to safely store the Wildfire with necessary precautions and wards. It will take time for the building to be completed so until then the Alchemists will be working inside the trunk and he had already assigned some aids and the materials that they requested inside the trunk. So for the time being they will have to work inside the special dimension in the trunk.

Now that Wildfire was being produced steadily Robb concentrated on finding the Opium poppy. It was easier said than done because the point me spell have a range it can cover. So he had to apparate around the North and Skagos but so far he had no luck on finding the plant. Already he had a separate dimension set up in his trunk aling woth all the magically charmed and animated equipment he needed to process several drugs from the plant. With no results in the North he expanded his search into Riverlands and again he could not find the plant. The next place he searched was the Vale. After months of searching finally he manged to find the plant in the mountains of Vale. Robb had to stay clear of the mountain clans of Vale and collect the plant into his trunk. After that he returned back to Barrowton and the opium farming began earnestly in his trunk's compartment.

KING'S LANDING 294 AC

Tyrion Lannister famously known throughout the seven kingdoms as the Imp drank a mouthfull of Vodka courtesy of his good brother Robert Baratheon. They were drinking buddies as Tyrion was sent to King's Landing by his father Tywin Lannister. One of the things that Tyrion and the king had in cimmon was this, a passionate love for any drinks that came from North and they enjoyed it thoroughly. They were both drunkards , they took whores to their bed and they both despised Cersei with a passion. These shared qualities would have made them great friends but Robert hated anyone with the name Lannister but he tolerated Tyrion.

Tyrion didn't mind wheather he was hated or loved by the king. Afterall he had been hated all his life by his own family for being a dwarf. But hidden behind all these faulty masks that Tyrion projects there lay an intelligent and creative mind. Out of the three children of Tywin Lannister, Tyrion was the only one with a steady head on his shoulder despite it being a small one. It was not Tyrion's idea to be in King's landing. Afterall he wanted to travel to Essos and see the different cities there and go on a grand adventure. But it was the wish of his father that brought Tyrion to King's Landing. More specifically he was here to ensure the crown never forgets the loans that are owed to house Lannnister.

Frankly Tyrion was bored out of his mind here and he would really love to get away from this smelly shit hole they call the capital of seven kingdoms. Perhaps he can get out of king's landing by persuading Robert to go North. The king wouldn't mind to pay his friend in the North a visit now will he. Tyrion filled his glass to the brim with Vodka and took a swig. The liquid burned through his throat and he sat back in comfort as his mind slowly slipped away into dreamland.

REACH 294 AC

House Redwyne of the Arbor is a vassal house from the Reach that holds fealty to the Lords of Highgarden. Their lands are located on the island of the Arbor, southwest of Highgarden. The Arbor is known for producing the finest wines in the Seven Kingdoms. Due to their island location, their merchant ships require great protection at sea, so the Redwyne Fleet is one of the three largest in the realm. They were oe of the powerful and wealthiest houses in the Reach. But that was all in the past own.

In the last few years a considerable amount of wealth has been drained from the Redwyne family and the blame rests squarely with the Starks and the North as a whole. First the North became a fertile land overnight and began exporting excess food products to other kingdoms at low prices. That left the Reachmen hanging as they had a large harvest but with no buyers in the North and Vale. This forced them to sell at a very low price to other kingdoms and even then many of the harvest simply spoiled because they could not find a buyer. The maesters of Citadel assured them the climate will soon shift in the North but that did not happen. More and more harvest began to get spoiled and the lords of Reach began to steadily lose gold each year.

As if this was not enough another disaster struck and this directly affected house Redwyne. Suddenly out of nowhere North began poducing alcohoic drinks that surpassed the tastes of wines that the Arbour can produce. Within months the wines of Arbour were discarded for the new drinks from North. Arbour wine could not even put up a competition as there were many Northern drinks with different qualities. Above all that these drinks were sold in glass bottles. All the lords of Seven Kingdoms literally rushed to buy those infernal drinks effectively killing the market for Arbour wine.

Without a steady business the men working in wine yards became jobless and merchants began to shift their business away from the arbour. Without the trade the Redwyne fleet became a liability for house Redwyne and if this is how the coming years are going to be like then their house will fall into ruin. This was one of the reasons why lord Paxter Redwyne sended a marriage offer to the Starks between his daughter Desmera Redwyne and Robb Stark. He has yet to recieve a reply from Winterfell but he was praying to the seven everyday for the proposal to be accepted. If not the imminent fall of his family cannot be avoided and he will be the one responsible for the poor state of his house. He can only hope for the best now.