Jorah Mormont

His brother had been king in the north for fifteen years now, and whilst at first the thought of kneeling to his little brother had grated on him a lot, Jorah had now become accustomed to doing so and was also very thankful that his brother had seen fit reward his experience and their familial ties with command over training the northern army and the various subdivisions that were part of it. Jorah had suggested to his brother that it might be good to have some small groups of standing forces that would be able to respond to a threat that could emerge to the north at quick notice whilst waiting for the rest of the northern army to fully mobilise, that had been an idea Barth had latched onto and so the standing armies were created and Jorah was given supreme command over them. The regiments that made up the standing northern army were the War Stallions commanded by the formidable Ser Mark Ryswell, The Winter Wolves commanded by Ser Rodrik Cassel, the Black Bears that Jorah himself commanded, the Shadow Cats commanded by Prince Theo Wull and the Forest Blades commanded by Ethan Glover. The regiments had bases at the Stony Shore, the Wolfswood, the Fever River and within Winterfell itself and as such trained and practiced daily, with skirmishes being organised amongst the people of the various parts of the north to give them combat practice.

The regiments had proven their use during the wars with the south, the last time the southerners invaded it was the Black Bears and the Shadow Cats that saw to the destruction of the outriders that Rhaegar Targaryen had sent in, and it was the Forest Blades and the Winter Wolves that wreaked havoc on the forces that came from the Fever River and led to the dragon king being captured. Such feats had won them a lot of praise and had made them seem like something worth wile and worthy of time, and as such they had attracted the attentions of second and third sons and those were simply hungry for glory, and so their standard of fighting continued to rise and the north remained secure, the southerners were still reeling from the various pains and hassles that their king had inflicted on them.

But with his professional life being so good, it seemed the gods had judged it only fair that his family life be less then peachy. Jorah having spent most of his son's childhood in Winterfell training the men and women that would defend the north had not really been able to spend time with his son training him or teaching him the ways of life, like his own father had done with him and Barth. As such he did not really know his son all that well, and whilst Rickard was a big fellow and was much like Jorah's nephew Jeor, Jorah knew there was a lot of residual anger within his son that was directed at Jorah for being not present for his son's life. Whilst Jorah regretted that, there was not much he could truly do about it, for he had a duty to do, and he intended to carry it out to his full ability, if his son did not like it then he would just have to suck it up and deal with it like a real man.

The rest of his family seemed to be living quite happily and dealing with their own problems they way Mormonts had been dealing with them for centuries, speak about the problem if it was serious if it was not move on with your life and deal with the other challenges life had to offer. His brother Barth and his goodsister and nieces and nephews were all quite happy and there was a general feeling within the north that should Barth pass on, his son Brandon would do a very good job in keeping the north as peaceful and secure as it was at present. His aunt Maege and her own brood of Bear cubs, were fast growing up and doing their part to make sure Bear Island remained safe and secure, what with both Jorah and his father spending most of their time in Winterfell, Jorah's Aunt Maege was essentially the de facto ruler of Bear Island for now. All these thoughts of family made Jorah think of why his brother could have called a meeting of both Jorah and their father Jeor as well as of his sons Brandon and Jeor the younger, he had asked his father as to why Barth had called this meeting, but his father had been none the wiser and so they had simply decided to see what it was that Barth would decide to speak to them about.

The doors to his brother's solar opened and Barth walked in accompanied by Maester Luwin, Jorah's brother seemed very tired, his brown hair had started going grey as had his beard, still he seemed very imposing. As Barth sat down and then asked them all to be seated, he spoke and his voice seemed very tired. "Father, brother, sons, you must all be wondering why it is that I have called you here today. As it is, I am not one for many words but before I speak in full about why I have asked you here, I must first tell you that there was a raven from one of our sources in King's Landing, Rhaegar Targaryen is dead."

There is silence and then Jeor the elder asks. "Did this source say how the dragon king died?"

Barth is silent for a moment and then he says. "He died in his sleep from the after effects of the wound he took during the last war with us. It seems that though the wound did heal in some aspects, in others it did not and as such he died from an infection that had slowly been weakening him. His son Aegon has ascended the throne, and as such will soon be wed to Myrcella Lannister. The source in King's Landing reports that there are some at court who whisper that Rhaegar Targaryen might have been helped on his way to the grave by the Lannisters or perhaps by his own wife Elia Martell. But that is not the true reason as to why I have asked you here."

"So then why have you asked all here father, if not to speak of Rhaegar Targaryen and his death?" Jorah's nephew Brandon asks.

Barth looks at his eldest son then and says. "There has been word from the Wall. It appears Lord Commander Qorgyle has died and as such the black brothers it seems are considering naming Donnor Stark's grandson Cregan as Lord Commander, and that man means to let the wildlings through the wall and settle them on the gift. Such a thing would cause a huge storm, especially considering what happened the last time the watch tried to work with the wildlings. Though we cannot truly interfere with the watch and its affairs, I have sent a man there to oversee the elections, and also to see just how strong the watch is, should the wildlings invade once more."

"Do you think the wildlings will invade father?" Jeor the younger asks, his voice seemingly excited. "After all they have not done so since the times of Raymun Redbeard, I had thought they were still so very disorganised and that that was something that would keep them busy and away from us?"

Jorah's father, Jeor the elder speaks then his voice gruff. "Aye, they will. The Wildlings are a stubborn people. They might war with one another more frequently than with us, but they know one thing that will unite them unlike anything else, a belief that they should live south of the wall. There is some former brother of the Night's Watch Mance Rayder I believe his name is, who has been gathering the different wildling clans together and winning their allegiance. If I remember correctly he was quite a good friend of Cregan Stark's before the man abandoned his post. As such this move could be what finally gives the wildlings the way to move through the north and break and take the south as well. As such they cannot be allowed to do so."

"What do you suggest we do then grandfather?" Brandon asks. "We cannot interfere with the Watch's election process nor can we claim the gift from them. We either have to have someone in the Watch who will do as we ask or we must have someone kill Mance Rayder."

That is when Barth looks at Jorah and says. "Well, then we know what course of action we must take. Mance Rayder cannot be allowed to move beyond the wall and the Watch cannot elect Cregan. We must deal with the threat, and the Shadow Cats are the ones most suited to the job. I want them sent out at first light tomorrow."