Chapter 11: The Wall; last frontier of the living
Trapped in my house with the quarantine of the COVID-9 there is little to do other than write and read. So I will attempt to update new chapters in optimal time and quality.
In this chapter I will explain a few things about the North's technology and the lack of advances from the South; also I will give a glimpse to a possible endgame for this story.
In order to make the story a little richer and prevent the overcrowding of OCs I am exploring the addition of characters from the video games Telltale: a game of thrones and Game of thrones RPG on supporting roles.
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Kalinos Glacies, 298 AC –Castle Black, the Wall
Castle Black was not really a castle; it looked more like a medium size town with a collection of keeps and buildings built around the steam generator. Most fortresses on the Wall had been redesigned with that layout not only to ensure the efficiency of the generator's heat distribution coverage but also to ensure that the keeps could be recovered with ease in case of takeover or the commander's rebellion; as there were not walls surrounding them, they could not be hold by any hostile force for long.
Once a long time ago the commanders of Snow Gate and the Night Force went to war with one another; the lord Commander asked them kindly to stand down and surprisingly they did because they joined forces to kill him. The Stark on Winterfell had to intervene and take both of them down, which was easy since they could not defend their keeps, the enemy of the Night's Watch was to the north and to the north was the Wall.
They have arrived at the castle a few days ago; Tyrion Lannister was fascinated with the heat generator in the center of the settlement. Standing in the open, it was a giant tower of black steel and stone, a beating heart spewing smoke and ash from the chimney above, with impressive metal pipes coming out from the body of the generator and going down into the ground like the roots of a tree but resembling more to the blood filled veins of a man, pumping boiling steam into the buildings of Castle Black.
The Grand Engineer of the castle who directed to maintenance of the generator and foundries was a bastard from House Atkins also sharing the last name Glacies and a woman nonetheless, one of the few in the castle, the rest being a few servant girls who come and go from Mole Town or the few settlements beyond the Wall.
The Frostlands as most referred to the lands north of the Wall and south of the Lands of always of always winter; were not completely beyond the reach of the power of Winterfell despite the stories filling the south that nothing there other than savages and wild animals could survive there. As the North grew stronger and more populated with the terran migration so did increased the amount of control they could hold over the lands far too the north. A century after the conquest many bold or simply mad pioneers attempted to colonize the territories beyond the wall near to the Haunted Forest; the ones that survive the wildling attacks and the cold mostly retreated back to the Wall when winter came yet a few settlers remained.
They made agreements with some wildlings tribes and discovered that several sites on the frostlands were rich in coal, amber, iron and even gold and diamonds. Even though the wildlings understood nothing of coin and trade they understood barter and were capable of allowing crews of miners and settlers in the lands in exchange for food or weapons of bronze a good enough metal to hunt and kill, but not good enough to fight against the proper steel armor plating and weaponry of the Night's Watch and the Stark's legionaries.
A percentage of the profits from the mining operations was given to the Night's Watch as a tax for passage and right of protection; while a so call 'buffer zone' where limited exchange and coexistence existed in the immediate southern portion of the Frostlands next to the Wall.
Of course conflict remained with most wildling tribes the worst of them the thenns which more often than not invaded the 'buffer zone' attempting to raid, pillage and rape on the miner's settlements, yet the combine forces of northern legionaries and black rangers made quick work of them in most engagements.
Despite this, the wildling populations also strengthened in the last few centuries by adopting trade of crops resilient to frost and snow instead of simply raiding the lands of the North or fighting amongst each other.
Clans and tribes formed confederations and alliances in order to better defend themselves against the northerners and the Night's Watch but a certain level of respect existed between some northern emissaries send to parley with the tribes and the Wildling tribe leaders that met them and swore by the old gods of the forests like them that they would respect the miner's settlers and making good on their words in the end.
The mining operations on the frostlands brought new wealth to the coffers of the North, yet most of the diamonds and golden bars forged from the gold extracted from the mines beyond the Wall, were kept in coffers on the mayor keeps on the North or in the Iron Bank vaults where many rich northerner families like the Nocturnas and the Manderlys held long standing accounts. The rest of it had been inverted and spend well in order to improve the state of the North, The Wall or the Night's Watch.
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Tyrion Lannister had been reading an interesting book about the lack of advances both socially, culturally and most importantly technologically in the southern realm in contrast to the improvements and growth of the North.
The Stagnation of the Southern Kingdoms of Westeros by Scholar Sara Nocturna:
The Doom of Valyria and the disappearance of the children of the forest from Westeros sounded the apparent death of magic in the known world, yet according to many theories the magic powers used by the valyrians were nothing other than techniques like advanced metallurgy and construction developed through the use of dragon fire and knowledge.
Where some men see magic others like the scholars or the order of maesters see science and technology. Generators or foundries may look like monstrous devices of steel with hearts of coal and fire; practically living and breathing as an actual beast, yet they are nothing other than machines designed and built by men in essence no different than windmills, but there is a reason why the advances both technologicallyand socially of the Boreal Lands (the Terran name for the North) have actually expanded better to the north of the Wall than to the south of the Neck.
It may be Hippocratic to criticize the stagnation of the southern realms under andal rule while the reign of the Starks has existed for 8000 years with little change for most of its time, yet the reasons behind the lack of improvements in the infrastructure and society of the realms on the south are quite clear, it is the work of many players with power and influence refusing to change their ways in the name of a single principle: that this has been the way for hundreds of years and it should be the same for many hundreds more.
Before the conquest of Aegon a few of the southern realms like the Westerlands seek to build their own generators and other works of wonder inspired on the northern inventions. On the year 427 before the Conquest a king of the rock called northern engineers in exchange of gold and ordered the construction of a generator in Fair Isle as a test drive to see their capabilities and efficiency for keeping a keep or town warm during winter as well as powered other machines and systems.
The generator stood for less than five years after its construction however, during its first winter the keepers of the generator offered deaf ears to the warnings of the engineers and attempting to spare coal they started feeding the generator with firewood and twigs while they had the generator in overdrive. As warned by the engineers the generator began to lose containment capabilities and the pressure of steam reached a critical level causing it to blow up and burn half of the surrounding town.
This disastrous experience and the cost of building and maintaining such advance machinery (especially considering that coal and iron ore are not as abundant or at least as not as exploited as they are in the south as they are in the North) convinced much of the southern realms to avoid undertaking such projects, perhaps believing that they were of little use to them as the cold seasons in the south were far less severe than the northern winters.
With the conquest the Targaryens took great interest in the works of engineer and advances of the North. During the reign of Jaehaerys Targaryen first of his name known later as the Conciliator or the Wise engineers of the North were hired to build the King's road and improve the buildings and sewers of King's Landing. Under the oversight of the Hand of the King Septon Barth northern minds and hands worked in the infrastructure of the unified realm, plans were even drafted for the funding of a University in the Capital. But the death of Septon Barth and King Jaehaerys shattered those plans, the order of maesters in collaboration with the high septon of the faith and many southern lords worked to eradicate the influence of the northern scholars and engineers from the capital and the south.
The intervention of many influential factions sealed the stagnation social and technologically of the south:
It is fair to assume that the Order of maesters wanted to keep their hegemony of intellectual matters on the realm or at least in the southern kingdoms as well. The faith of the seven was fixed on preventing the growth of the religion of the old gods through the influence of the northern scholars. And finally many lords of the realm were disturbed by the terran ways the northerners meant to expand into their domains.
The blood of the andals was old and filled with pride yet through their brains stood an even older and prouder belief, that blood mattered; for long they had despised Septon Barth as Hand of the King as they could not tolerate that at the front of the realm was a man who possessed nor noble blood nor skill in arms as he was of common birth yet men like septon Barth were in possession in something rarer than both blood or talent in combat: a sharp mind.
While many lords were eager to see the same advances and efficiency of the North in their own lands they were completely against allowing the same level of changes in society like the abolishment of serfdom or more troubling perhaps the birth of a 'middle class' of scholars, healers and industrial craftsmen; which would forever change the 'sacred and ancient bond between the peasants and noble lords' that should forever remained undisturbed.
Smart literate people were much harder to control than illiterate peasants after all.
In the end the andal realms have remained the same as they had since the andal invasion avoiding northern influence as much as they can, yet through the Targaryen dynasty no one could deny that the North was the main military power in Westeros and the central base of support for House Targaryen. The victory of Queen Rhaenyra through the support of Lord Cregan Stark on the Dance of the Dragons and decades later the short civil war known as the Feeble Crusade during the reign of Baelor the Blessed where the northerners achieved victory after victory against Baelor's poorly equipped faith militant and few noble supporters were clear proof of that.
There was perhaps no greater intellectual tragedy in the south than the Bonfire of Frivolities, during the reign of Baelor the Blessed or Baelor the Feeble as historians later described him. In order to 'cleanse' the realm of heretical ideas Baelor and the High Septon ordered the destruction of thousands of valuable books of many subjects from engineering, natural philosophy, biology and history; many of them written by northern scholars and respected maesters. A massive bonfire in King's landing was the site where the faith militant priests burned a mountain of books as well as other objects of northern origin from machines, mirrors, alchemical concoctions and even medicinal potions brewed by healers and scholars. Soon innocent men and women followed in the burning as well.
That act of madness earned Baelor the enmity of the Oldtown Citadel and the Northern University and Port Rapture's Academy. The Feeble Crusade as was called the short civil war that ended Baelor's reign further severed the intellectual ties between the North and South; maesters and septons were expelled out of the University as healers and other scholars abandoned the southern realms as well.
The Riverlands which through all ages have been the center of every war between the great houses of Westeros (as they have no natural defenses and are located bordering all major kingdoms) eventually became an unofficial protectorate of the North in the recent decades, as they had hired the services of the engineer guilds and scholars to teach the children and act as healers for their villages; marriages between the river and northern houses like the Tullys and the Starks sealed this alliance resulting in a renewed return of the religion of the old gods in the riverlands, weirwoods being planted near town and woods as a result.
In conclusion progress both technological and social may come some day for the people and infrastructure of the southern realms but as long as there would be those who would seek to stop change and progress it would come slowly and through hardship that would provide dire need, after all it is necessity the mother of invention and perhaps change as well.
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The book had been interesting and very rich in anthropological analysis of the peoples of Westeros, the author even displayed a certain level of respect for the Iron Born who despite being little more than thieves, raiders and slavers were intelligent enough to choose king through popular vote in the assembly known as the kingsmoot instead of simple birthright. As the iron born spend their lives on the sea and if the captain of a ship is foolish, mad, coward or weak the result is only one, his men drown and the king of a people of sailors must be capable of guiding them through a storm and an angry sea.
History aside Kalinos had taken the day reading the book trying to distance himself from Tyrion Lannister who was clearly troubled but the secrets kalinos had confessed to him regarding his sister and her unknown lover. Yet he had not lied, he actually believed that the dwarf despite his nickname 'the imp' and manners was a decent good hearted man. Of course he was loyal to his family despite having little love for most of them, particularly his eldest nephew, father and sister.
Telling Lord Tyrion his findings also served two purposes: he had cemented a certain level of trust and respect with the imp, something which could be used to his advantage and second he could now observe the course of action taken by Tyrion and his family in the case he would inform them on Kalinos' investigation.
From the edge of a balcony of the main keep Kalinos watched the main courtyard of Castle Black where the new recruits were training in fighting with Jon Snow his grandnephew amongst them, all of the recruits were older than Jon but they were no match to him as the Stark bastard had substantial training and talent they did not.
The first day they arrived on Castle Black Jon looked eagerly at his next to be 'sworn brothers' while keeping his hand next to his belt holding the pommel of his sword clearly eager to fight them and make a show of his skills; so Kalinos intervened.
He gave Jon advice on being patient and friendly with his fellow recruits, as to gain their friendship and respect in the long term, other than their fear and resentment on the short time. His sister's words sounded on Kalinos' head:
The strength of the wolf is not in its claws and fangs, it is its pack, the Alpha commands the pack and leads them into the hunt and the fight; through plenty and hardship; through summer and winter.
"Wei hold your sword up; keeping an upper guard is better than a lower one" Jon Snow said to his opponent in the yard, a silk terran about twenty years old named Wei, the slanted eyes young man nodded to the bastard of Winterfell.
"I will" Wei answered smiling as he shifted his stance holding his sword higher and adopting an appropriate on guard stance.
"Just fight!" bellowed Allister Thorne the master of arms of Castle Black. "It is my job to teach them how to fight, not yours Lord Snow".
Jon laughed at his new nickname, it was clear that Thorne was trying to taunt the bastard of Ned Stark with it; but Jon had taken Tyrion Lannister's advice and try to deflect any mockery of his condition of bastard that they could use against him. Wear it like armor and it will never be used to hurt you.
Both men moved against the other, Jon was taller than Wei even though the first was older, yet both of them were fast and danced around the other, the sound of steel clashing with steel sounded across the yard, the blades were dull nevertheless, simple practice swords.
Jon finally took the upper hand by faking a stab to the left and quickly switching to the right, hitting Wei on the chest, knocking the air of him even through the training armor. As Wei stepped back trying to take distance from Jon, Jon rushed forward and slashed his sword at Wei's face but stopped mere inches from hitting the nose; ending the fight.
"Good" Thorne conceded. "But next time go for the hit, boy; hesitation will cost you in a real battle" he added with ruff voice.
"Next" the master of arms ordered.
Now it was a farmer boy named Grenn, big and strong but also slow, Jon had little trouble fighting him, but the bastard of Winterfell took great care not to hit the young recruit too hard, something easy considering just how fast the farm boy got exhausted with Jon running circles around him. At last it was a young man named Pippar who also did not lasted very long against Jon Snow.
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The next day Kalinos Glacies and Lord Tyrion were invited to attend a meeting in Castle Black's conference room, Lord Commander Mormont had assembled the rest of the commanders of every active castle on the wall.
The conference room was warm heated by the steam of the generator, a large table covered with detailed maps of the lands close to the wall both north and south stood in the center of the room. Lord Commander Jeor Mormont sat at the head of the table on his right were Maester Aemon and first ranger Damian Nocturna; on his left were First Steward Bowen Marsh and First Builder Othell Yarwyck; Tyrion and Kalinos sat on the opposite side of the table while on both sides were the other night's watch commanders: Tohren Maluk of Sabre Hall; Xiu Ying of Hoarfrost Hill; Ser Denys Mallister of the Shadow Tower; Cotter Pyke of Eastwatch by the Sea and finally the commander of Westwatch by the Bridge, Mors Westford who was known as the Butcher and had been once a disgraced warrior from the Westerlands, former banner man of Lord Tywin Lannister who eyed Tyrion with contempt.
"You all know why we are here" Lord Commander Mormont began. "This has been the longest summer in recorded history yet reports from the observatory in Winter City and from the Citadel in Oldtown informed that days are getting shorter, winds and climate signs are changing. In conclusion as the Starks are fond of saying winter is coming, a long winter is coming" he ominously declared.
"So are we ready for a decade long winter?" Commander Xiu Ying asked. "Do we have enough supplies?" he added.
"According to our last inventory we have about enough food stores to feed four thousand men for about six years, perhaps eight if they are carefully rationed" Bowen Marsh answered. "We will need to request further supplies from Winterfell and the lands of the Gift and New Gift" he added.
"Yet the most critical topic we must discuss is the movements of Mance Rayder, our new King Beyond the Wall" First Ranger Damian Nocturna declared. "All reports confirm that the wildlings tribes are joining together on the Frost fangs from the Thenns to the hornfoots and even the giants if the rumors are true" he added.
Tyrion and Kalinos raised their brows at the mentioning of giants.
"Giants, real giants?" Tyrion asked. "Are you serious Lord Nocturna? There are still giants beyond the Wall?" he added.
"Yes, believe Lord Tyrion there are giants in the Frostlands; they mostly live near the mountains using mammoths as both mounts and cattle" the first ranger explained. "They are an old and proud race, old as the Frost Fangs and just as tough yet they are not the monsters you southerners think" he added.
"With respect Lord Nocturna there are more important matters now that stories about the giants" Ser Denys Mallister declared. "It is very likely the wildlings know that winter may come sooner or later, such a long winter in the Frostlands will be the death of most of them, that could be the reason why all of them are joining forces, desperation and a common enemy uniting them for once" he suggested, most of the table nodded at that.
"In any case the reason why we summoned the two of you my lords is to require further support for the Night's Watch" Mormont said looking at Tyrion and Kalinos. "Winterfell has always been our greatest source of aid, supplies, equipment and weapons we have a plenty and of good quality thanks the gods. But we need greater manpower, we have less than 4000 men, we are in dire need of more recruits and qualified ones at that" the old bear explained.
"I doubt that my words will get through the king's shallow ears much less those of my sister's; yet I have little doubt that Lord Stark may be able to convince the king to provide a greater number of prisoners and other more willing recruits to the Wall" Tyrion answered as the lord commander nodded in understanding.
"Lord Tyrion speaks the true, my nephew the new hand of the king will do everything he is able to help the Night's watch" Kalinos declared.
"Very well then" the lord commander said. "Yet for now information is our greatest weapon, we need to increase our patrols and the size of them in order to avoid the danger of ambushes; I receive a letter from the garrison commander of Frost Haven, Lord General Frederic Calraca he intends to increase the guards on the outposts at The Skirling Pass. We will withdraw our auxiliary forces from the most northern forts on the wall buffer zone and reassembled them on the southern forts guarding the most important mines and ally villages" he sentenced.
"One more thing Lord Commander" the first ranger interrupted taking the word. "I will like to organize an scouting mission to find any clue about the fate of our latest missing patrol. Waymar Royce is MIA so is Garred, while Will was found deserting his post and was beheaded by Lord Eddard. If the wildlings are ambushing our patrols we need to find which of them are leading and organizing those attacks" he explained.
The old Mormont nodded. "Take a dozen of your best men for the mission; find everything you can yet retreat to one of our forts in the case of an attack by a superior force" he added.
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After the meeting Kalinos found Tyrion drinking and talking with the wandering crow Yoren who was one of the Night's watch main recruiters. Yoren described his work with gusto; he was always dressed in fine clothing as to show the 'wealth' of the black brothers. In his travels he was always accompanied by a troubadour that played epic songs of the Night's watch's feats and a young and beautiful silk terran woman who served as a recruiter for the auxiliary corps.
Kalinos listened to the tales of Yoren the wandering crow describing the recruits he got from dungeons, forgotten villages and slums on the southern realms' major cities. As expected most recruits willing to take the black from the south were criminals, destitute people, beggars, desperate folk or simply bored idiots who had nothing left to lose and were willing to trade anything for a stable job, a plate of food and more importantly perhaps a purpose in life.
For the south the Wall was little more than a penal colony, which served a dual objective: guarding the realm against the wildlings and being a haven for all outcasts and troublemakers of the realm to keep them far away of the 'civilized people'.
Tyrion and Yoren were later joined in the table by Kalinos and the blacksmith of Castle Black Donal Noye who to the Imp's surprise had a peculiar contraption in replacement of his left arm. A prosthetic arm made of thin hardened steel and iron wood, its design would never make up for a real lost limb yet it was capable of easily manipulating simple objects with remarkable precision, like a hammer to bang steel plating.
The blacksmith was a former Baratheon man he had lost his arm during the siege of Storm's End, some say that he was the one who forged King Robert's war hammer which killed Prince Rhaegar Targaryen at the Trident.
According to other tales amongst the black brothers the old blacksmith was in a relationship with the grand engineer that was slightly against the oath of the Night's watch yet no one cared as the smith was a veteran member and did his job very well.
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A few days later his true-born older brother Damian Nocturna had departed for his scouting mission accompanied by a dozen battle hardened rangers, their mission was to find the tracks of the previous lost expedition which the deserter beheaded months ago belonged to.
His brother and Lord Commander Mormont were eager to find the truth behind the disappearance of the expedition and the truth of the words of the young ranger Will, that white walkers had killed his companions.
The Wall's elevator of Castle Black creaked and shook as it rose above, the cage made of solid wood with joints of black steel, two passengers inside: Lord Kalinos Glacies and Lord Tyrion Lannister. Tyrion was eager to cross off the list one of the goals he had spoken in Winterfell.
Compared to the top of the Wall on the middle of the night, Winter City in summer felt as warm as Dorne. Kalinos accompanied Tyrion to the guard post high above in the Wall, the outpost which was connected to the elevator and main structure of stair was warm thankfully, a wooden house built over the ice, braziers keeping the cold away.
Yet opening the outer door of the antechamber into the Wall's ramparts, felt like going into the top of a mountain with howling winds hitting you like a wave of sharp knives and the cold reaching down into your very bones. Tyrion got near an open brazier and warmed his hands, looking into the dark vast unknown of the Haunted Forest and the Frostlands; the land stretching far beyond the horizon, the true North as the wildlings called it.
"So ready to piss on the edge of the world Lord Tyrion?" he smirked and asked with humor.
Tyrion released a short laugh and answered. "It's a shame that no wildling may see it and even a greater shame that I cannot see the expressions on their faces" he laughed.
"Better hurry, with this cold your piss will freeze before it touches the icily ground" Kalinos laughed in response. "And don't forget to avoid pissing against the wind nor fall off the edge" he added with a smile.
"Sure, my lord" Tyrion answered as he approached an opening in the ice battlements, Kalinos stood back as the dwarf opened his breaches and allowed for a stream of liquids to descend from the Wall.
Tyrion's peaceful moment of pissing off the edge of the world was broken when in the vast dark immensity of the Haunted Forest a light emerged followed by another and then another. Torches held by riders, returning rangers from an scouting mission, soon horns and shouts erupted from across the Wall, a single horn sound to signal the return of a rider. Two horns were for a wildling attack and three were meant for the others, the white walkers.
As Tyrion released the last drops of piss and hastily closed his breaches Lord Kalinos moved to the door of the guard post, yet he stood next to the door waiting for the dwarf. Tyrion nodded and approached him as the golden eye warrior opened the door to him; the warm air of the outpost received them.
They took the lift and descended into Castle Black, where in the courtyard dozens of black brothers had gathered to receive the riders, Jon Snow was among them.
Finally they reached the ground, entering the courtyard, his brother Damian was at the lead talking with the old bear Lord Mormont. Kalinos's sharp eyes saw corpses loaded on the supply horses, two of them looked to be death black brothers, Kalinos even recognized one to be the young Waymar Royce, the green recruit from the Vale. To Kalinos surprise the eyes of the valeman were of a bright blue even though he was sure that he could swore to the old gods that in Winterfell's feast when the boy first arrived on the North they were of a dark brown. The other ranger had his head cut off cleanly in a very peculiar way…
"Kal come here, please" Damian Nocturna called.
"What is it Damian?" he asked his brother with the Lord Commander next to them.
"We found the corpses of Waymar Royce's expedition, his and Gared's corpse" his brother explained, before adopting an inquisitive expression. "Notice anything unusual about them?" he asked.
"Besides the fact that they are almost frozen solid" he began taking a deep breath. "The fact that both of them had their chain mails and tunics intact, their carry their daggers and the corpses had not a scratch besides the wounds that killed them. The Thenns and the hornfoots are cannibals they eat any corpses they find, all wildlings are scavenger bandits they would have jumped and taken every piece of equipment the rangers were in possession" kalinos carefully explained as his brother and Lord Commander Mormont nodded.
There was a short pause as the three men exchanged gazes, Maester Aemon the old blind maester of Castle Black approached
"I will have to conduct an analysis of the corpses, yet my eyesight is not what is use to be" the aging maester said half-joking. "I will call on one of our auxiliary healers Harold Reiner who is well versed and experienced in forensic practices" he added.
After a few minutes the healer arrived, Harold Reiner was a young man in his mid-twenties; he used a pair of finely crafted glass spectacles on his eyes, perhaps as a solution for poor eyesight or a way to see in greater detail. The young recruits were curious about him as they had never seen a man wearing glasses perhaps.
The corpses of Waymar Royce and of Gared who was missing his head were neatly deposited over stretchers in the ground. The healer examined both of the corpses adjusting his glasses as he moved around them.
"The wound of the older ranger is the cleanest cut I have ever seen; only a blade of hardened steel wielded by someone of remarkable strength or a blade of valyrian steel in skilled hands would be able to through bone and flesh so cleanly. Most disturbingly however is the fact that there is not a single drop of blood around the wound; as if the blood was frozen in an instant after the cut. Even a cold winter blizzard would have left marks and progressively freeze the blood" the scholar declared.
He made a pause then looked at Lord Commander Mormont, Maester Aemon and Lord Nocturna.
"The corpses are too frozen to permit a thorough examination nevertheless, we can put them on the hot room on the bathhouse, allow steam to enter the room and slowly thaw the bodies so as to allow an autopsy for either" he explained.
The old bear nodded. "I will make the arrangements; the engineers and stewards shall prepare the hot room of the bathhouse" he explained.
"I will aid Healer Reiner in his examination; I have experience overseeing autopsies before in my post on Winter City" Kalinos declared.
The lord commander nodded in agreement; yet when looking at his brother through on the yellow eyes of Damian Nocturna that Kalinos had known all his life, he saw a sense of uncertainty and fear that he had never seen before in the White Bat of House Nocturna a veteran of a dozen wars, and a hundred scouting missions beyond the wall.
Damian ordered his men to huddle and whispered a few orders to them; the expression on his face betrayed no emotion, yet his eyes frenetically moved between the men and the corpses as if awaiting something to happen.
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The next day Kalinos accompanied Healer Reiner, Tyrion Lannister and Jon Snow to the hot room of the bathhouse, the healer and Kalinos were to conduct the autopsy while Jon and Tyrion were curious about the fate of the two rangers and wanted to see the operation, at least until their stomachs were capable of holding the disgust of the smell and gore of the bodies being examined. Ghost the white wolf of Jon Snow was following them closely keeping his master company.
Damian had ordered the hot room closed and watched on all times for reasons that escaped Kalinos's knowledge; it was as if he was scared that someone would try to steal the corpses. There were rumors among the guards that animal squeals and strange sounds had come from inside the hot room yet the first ranger had ordered no one to enter until the time for the autopsy.
"Glad to have you with me Lord Kalinos" the healer Reiner declared looking at Kal with a smile on his face an oil lantern was on his hand. "Your track record as commander of Winter City's guard is well known and respected through the North" he said.
"Thank you Healer Rainer and please call me Kal when we are alone" he answered. "Although I have to admit that my experience on forensic science is very limited, I have tracked serial killers and rapists operating on the northern capital but nothing of this sort. Yet there was a time when I was called to investigate a number of disappearances and gruesome murders on the lands near the Dreadfort" Kalinos added.
"I heard about that from my father and Ser Rodrik, all those missing were women, the main suspect was Lord Rose Bolton's bastard wasn't he?" Jon asked.
"Yes, he was" Kalinos answered. "But we couldn't prove anything, Lord Bolton never allowed us to interrogate either of his sons; much less taken his bastard into custody. In the end we caught a servant of House Bolton red handed in the forest near the body of young woman that apparently defended herself stabbing her attacker and managed to call for help yet died because of her wounds. They called the servant Reek as he had some kind of disease that made him smell like a pile of shit even though he was very clean; he had even attempted to drink an entire bottle of perfume belonging to the wife of Lord Bolton in order to wipe out the smell. Everyone said that the reason for his smell was his rotten soul and they weren't joking about the name…" he made a pause.
"We charged him with all the murders and disappearances and after we hanged him the smell was so bad and lingered for so long that we had to burn the corpse in a generator furnace" Kalinos told with disgust on his voice.
Jon and Tyrion exchanged looks clearly disturbed by the story, as the healer was finding the key to the hot room giving the lantern to Jon Snow; Kalinos raised his hand in a sing of stop, the other hand grasping the pommel of his sword.
"Shhh" he whispered, approaching the door. "Listen" he ordered.
Placing his ear to the door, he could hear footsteps, scratching and some kind of inhuman whimper inside; by the expressions on his companions it was clear that they have heard it too. Jon was also holding the pommel of his blade putting himself in front of the unarmed dwarf.
"Do you have the only key?" he asked the scholar in a voice barely above a whisper.
"No, the lord commander and the first steward have the other two sole copies" answered the healer in a low voice yet nervous fear lacing his words. "But the first ranger ordered no one to enter the room and posted guards guarding it on all times; no one is supposed to be inside and this is the only door" he explained.
"Are there not windows?" asked Kalinos.
"Too high and too small for anyone to enter into the room through them, I ordered them opened nevertheless to allow the flow of steam from slowly thawing the bodies without risking excess of humidity" the healer answered.
Kalinos had a bad feeling on his gut; his instincts were proven right when they heard a growling coming from behind them. All of them passed from scared shitless to relief in a second when they looked at the end to hallway to see the white direwolf Ghost being the one growling.
"Ghost come here" Jon ordered, the wolf obeyed approaching his master yet once on the side of the dwarf and the bastard he continued to growl in the direction of the door; the wolf white fur was on its end, bristled in a clear a sign of being scared and angry. Kalinos have a pet artic fox on winter city and he knew when his pet felt threatened so he knew how to read the manners of Ghost even though the direwolf was ten times the size of his pet fox.
"He is nervous" Jon declared noticing the slight shacking of his pet.
"Is more than that, he feels threatened" Kalinos declared as he ordered everyone to stand back and took of his sword.
"It is most likely critters draw to the smell of decaying meat, raccoons or northern bats perhaps" Kalinos declared to his companions. "But better to be safe than sorry, Jon with me" he sentenced as the bastard of Winterfell drew his sword as well giving back the oil lantern to the healer.
"Lord Tyrion, Healer Rainer please stay back" he finally ordered as he took the keys of the scholar's hand and carefully opened the lock.
He signaled for Jon to cover the door as he took the handle, opening the hot room.
Inside after the hot and wet air of the room received them yet upon laying their eyes on the table surprised flickered in both Kalinos and Jon's eyes. The body of Garred the beheaded scout was still on the table but the one of Waymar Royce had disappeared, leaving only a stain of humidity and wet blood on its place.
"What in the seven hells?" said Jon as he looked back between Kalinos and the table.
Soon they heard a noise coming from the corner of the room like the breathing of someone choking with a chicken bone. As Kalinos and Jon raised their swords in a guard stance a figure came into view.
A man dressed in black clothes, walking slowly towards them as the light coming from the windows touched it they noticed the long marks of blood on his chest deep deadly wounds that would have killed any man; his skin deprived of any color like the one of a corpse and his short black messy hair.
As the figure raised its head to look at them they saw his bright blue eyes, looking at them with malicious intent, a wave of coldness went through Kalinos' body that made him feel as if the very warm of his blood had been removed. Both Kalinos and Jon recognized that the person who was in front of them was Waymar Royce and they knew what he was now.
Their thoughts were confirmed when the walking corpse of Waymar Royce lunged at them releasing a shrilling growl.
Instinct kicked in for Kalinos who unleashed a round house kick at the attacking frozen zombie who was thrown into the ground yet immediately began to rise to his feet. That brief pause gave the change for Kalinos and Jon to exchange looks and return to reality, understanding each other the two bastards moved to fight the creature that ran towards Jon.
The bastard of Winterfell eluded the attack and slashed his sword at the attacking wight, cutting its left arm, yet the creature did not so much as blink when reacting to his missing limb.
Jon stood back pinning his back against the Wall as the creature lunged against him; the white shape of Ghost crossed the room in an instant and jumped on the wight defending his master. Grabbing the wight's remaining limb between his fangs Ghost trashed the fighting corpse and with a strong bite and trashing he snapped the arm and threw the body across the room. The arm the direwolf had just chewed was thrown as well and to the disbelieve of everyone on the room it was still moving, its fingers trying to grab something and crawling through the floor as nightmarish snake.
"By the old gods…" exclaimed the scholar in the entrance, blood having completely left his face, he was as white as fresh snow. The dwarf of Casterly Rock stood next him looking between Kalinos Glacies and the creature without arms that somehow was still alive and still trying to kill them; his face was filled with terror.
It was in that instant that Kalinos noticed that the oil lantern was still on Healer Reiner's hands; looking back on the undead Waymar Royce who despite having both of its arms missing had managed to stood back to his feet and was apparently ready to lunge again on all of them.
Kalinos made a quick choice and grabbed the lantern from healer Reiner's hand to the surprise of the scholar and threw it at the wight as an incendiary grenade.
To the relief of Kalinos the glass of the lantern broke on impact and it fuel and flame covered the walking corpse who was engulfed in fire; as it burned the zombie made a final lunge on Kal who threw a swift kick on the creature's chest throwing it to the floor where the flames finally began to consume it.
As the fire finally died down, Kal looked back to his companions all of them shaken beyond belief after what they have just seen. To his surprise the cut off arms of the walking corpse had stopped moving it was as if the 'death' of the 'main body' had 'killed' them as well. Soon the sound of footsteps came from the hallway as dozens of men led by the first ranger came attracted by all the noise.
How in the seven hell are we going to explain this? He thought.
-.
Gathered in the personal office of the lord commander, Jon Snow, Lord Kalinos Glacies, Healer Harold Reiner and Lord Tyrion Lannister presented their report to the Old bear, Maester Aemon and the first ranger Damian Nocturna.
"So the others have returned" the lord commander exclaimed, as if physically exhausted looking at the four guests on the other side of the desk. "In any other moment I would think that you are all lying, that you are all crazy and that you are spilling children horror tales because of a long drunkenness. Yet for all of you to say the same thing and in such detail, not to mention that not one of you looks like a liar or a crazy person besides the fact that evidence supports your claims. I would have swear to all the gods that Waymar Royce was death the moment they brought his corpse to this castle, but all we found in that hot room was exactly as you described" Lord Mormont finally sentenced.
"Then now we know what is driving the wildling tribes to the south and forcing them to unite under Mance Rayder" the first ranger Damian Nocturna interrupted. "They are fleeing from the white walkers and the arrival of winter" he sentenced.
"If the wildlings and then the white walkers attack; I doubt that the Night's watch alone would be able to stop them" Maester Aemon added.
"So what now?" Tyrion Lannister the imp asked, the first thing that Tyrion had done when entered the room was drinking a cup of ale in one sip as if trying to drown his memories of the undead creature which he had seen with his own eyes; a memory that would forever haunt his nightmares.
"Now we should leave" Kalinos declared bringing the shock eyes from everyone in the room. "Lord Tyrion and I will leave for Winter City and then King's landing; talk with Lord Robb and then with Lord Stark and perhaps even the king, bring as much support as we can for the Night's watch whatever it takes" he said with conviction, as everyone in the room nodded in turn.
"Lord Commander with your permission I would like to speak with my brother alone" the first ranger said looking at Kal.
The old bear nodded, and then looked at the young scholar who was still very disturbed. "Very well Maester Aemon and I will like speak with you Healer Reiner" he said as the healer nodded.
"One more thing" the old bear interrupted. "Jon Snow we received a raven from Winterfell yesterday, your brother Bran has awoken" he said to the surprise and joy of every one of the room even though Tyrion's expression held a great deal of uncertainty.
"Thank the gods!" Jon nearly shouted.
"Yet we received troubling news from the King's road related to your sisters" the Lord Commander said somewhat reticent on souring the mood as he handed Jon the parchment.
Tyrion and Jon left the room with the last holding the parchment eager to read whatever good and bad news have come.
As the old bear and the blind maester interviewed the disturbed healer, Damian and Kal moved to the balcony in order to speak in private. Their matching yellow eyes exchanged gazes and immediately understood each other.
"You knew what those corpses were to become, didn't you brother?" Kal asked.
"I wasn't sure" Damian answered. "Remember the expedition Kaina and I did a long time ago with dozens of trained legionaries from our house and from the garrison of Frost Haven?" his brother countered, Kal nodded.
"Yes the one where our sister recovered those two direwolves pups and we managed to extend the buffer zone of the Wall by several leagues" Kal answered.
"In that expedition we came across wildlings, beasts and finally wights and one of their masters" the first ranger explained, the last words 'one of their masters' made a pit on Kalinos's stomach.
"You mean a white walker? A true other? I will call you a madman if we did not share a father and I haven't just seen a walking dead corpse trying to kill me" Kal answered in a hushed tone.
Damian merely nodded. "It is a miracle that we were able to survive, I have fought hundreds of men and some of the best swordsmen in the continent including Arthur Dayne and Gerold Hightower but the white walker I face was unlike anything I have ever seen" he declared.
"You could have taken one of the creatures 'prisoner'" Kalinos wasn't sure if the term was correct. "Show it to the king and all the lords, they would have showered the Night's watch with support" he sentenced.
"I would have" answered Damian sadly. "But when I slew the white walker all the wights fell broken to the ground as broken corpses" he explained.
"So you slew a white walker?!" Kal asked amazed. "How? Did you burn it with a fire; that is how I kill the revived Waymar Royce" Kal said.
Damian Nocturna's eyes betrayed no emotion and his face stood as solemn as ever. "I will tell you in due time but now it is better if you go and talk with Jon and Tyrion Lannister about what happened with Bran and with the Stark sisters in the King's road; Jon has already seen more than any man of the Night's watch would see in an entire lifetime. He may not be ready for the Wall and his family may need him if trouble and conflict were to arise so please talk to him" the white bat said.
Kalinos merely nodded and turned around to seek for Jon, with his back turned on his brother he spoke. "We will talk about this brother, later" and he moved out of the balcony, leaving the old White Bat of House Nocturna looking at the Wall with deep concern.
-.
Kalinos found Tyrion on the mess hall drinking a whole bottle of vodka trying to drown his fears in alcohol perhaps.
"Tyrion" Kal called without bothering with titles and formality. "How are you holding up? What happened on the King's road with my nieces?" he asked as the dwarf directed his gaze on him.
"Ahh Kal" Tyrion didn't bothered with titles either. "Well I am better than expected, somehow despite the horror I have just seen, I feel a sense of hope in me, I have always dream about seeing a dragon, monsters and magic yet as I grew up I realized that they were all dead and that the world was plain and sterile. Yet now I know that there are some things ancient and powerful that still remain and the world is not as simple as I expected" the dwarf said with an ironic smile on his face, yet immediately turned sour.
"As for the calamity in the King's road, apparently my nephew tried to pick up a fight with a Stark servant boy named Mycah…" kal interrupted him.
"The butcher's boy?" Kal asked.
"Yes, there was a small struggle that ended with Lady Sansa injured by my disgusting nephew and her wolf attacking him" Tyrion explained.
"My sister was furious, she ordered both wolves killed. The king and Lord Eddard refused as it was my nephew the one that hurt lady Sansa yet in the end Lord Eddard complied and had Lady Sansa's wolf killed while Lady Arya's pet fled" Tyrion answered.
For a minute Kalinos said nothing taking in the words then he looked at the ground in thought. "Do you know where Jon is?" he asked finally.
"He went to his room in the barracks" Tyrion answered.
"Thank you, Lord Tyrion" Kal said nodding. "Tomorrow morning we depart to return to Winterfell and then King's landing" he added as the dwarf nodded.
-.
Kalinos found Jon in his bunk on the barracks looking at his clothes and possessions placed over the bed next to a large case and backpack as if the boy was debating if packing his things and leave at once or not.
"So Jon?" Kal said drawing his attention. "Thinking about leaving? No one will blame you for doing so, your family and your friends may need of you in this troubling times and you haven't taken the oath yet; you have nothing to prove or to bind you here" he declared.
Jon looked at the ground in deep sadness and thought. "I know" he finally answered. "I was thinking about leaving, return to Winterfell, complete my training and stay with my family and Nisai for a few more years…" Kal's eyebrow rose at the mentioning of his niece, the beautiful Nisai Glacies. "Then return to the Wall and make the oath as a confident full grown man not as a boy attempting to flee from himself. Or maybe throw it all to hell, stay in Winter City with Nisai, having a family and building a life for myself" Jon sentenced.
"But after what I have just seen, I do not know what to do" Jon paused looking at the ground with troubled expression. "The Night's watch needs every man they can count, not to mention that if I leave what would happen with Pippar, Grenn and Wei. They are my friends I cannot abandon them to the horrors that the winter may bring and I prefer not to think about what fate will come for Winterfell and my family if the Night's watch falls" he sentenced.
Kalinos approached Jon and put a hand on the boy's shoulder in support. "Your way of thinking is very mature, surprising for a man of your age, you are clearly your father's son; always putting honor and duty above feelings and the easy path. Until you make your decision remember that the gates of Winter City and Winterfell will forever stay open to you Jon" he declared sharing a short embrace with Jon.
-.
The next day as Tyrion, Kal and the escort prepared to depart, Kalinos was summoned to his brother's private chambers.
He found his brother examining a beautiful short valyrian sword that was adorned with a large red ruby in the center of the handle and patterns on the metal like burning flames. Kal's eyes shone with surprise upon realizing what blade was and who had been its owner once.
"You wanted to know how I killed the white walker" his brother began handling the sword. "As you have seen the wights are immune to any type of damage other than fire; white walkers their masters are also immune to fire, flames moved or vanish out of their paths as in fear of their icily presence. But legends say that they and their servants can be killed by blades or arrow points made of a black volcanic stone known as dragon glass or obsidian as the maesters call it. And by weapons made of dragon steel also known as valyrian steel" he explained showing the sword.
"Dark Sister" his brother said. "One of the two ancestral swords of House Targaryen, the blade of Visenya Targaryen, brought here by Bryden Rivers Bloodraven who disappeared beyond the Wall yet in the last expedition with our sister, we managed to recover this sword. A sign of fate perhaps or the will of the gods as the white walkers wield swords made of pure ice so strong and so cold that normal steel shatters on impact" he explained.
"But not Valyrian steel, this sword is the reason why our sister and I are alive today, yet we choose to keep it a secret until we could find a reason to reveal it" he said as he turned back to a large chest on his room.
"I have a gift for you my brother, if you make me a promise" he said handling the sword to Kalinos who could not believe what he was holding. "I want you to deliver this sword to his rightful owner, my…daughter" Damian said putting emphasis on the last word.
"You mean Nisai?" Kal asked slightly bewildered yet he knew the answer. "Are you crazy she is not ready, she is happy with her life as a scholar. You want to take it all away from her?" Kal hushed angry. "She may not be your daughter by blood but she is family" Kal declared.
"She is the daughter of ice and fire, she and Jon have a role to play in the great design of things, I do not believe in fate my brother; but I believe in recognizing the signs when one path is laid before you and the cost of refusing to take it. I have confidence in my great-nephews, their instincts and judgments" he sentenced.
"Nisai is traveling to King's landing to the lion's den itself attempting to uncover the truth about Bran's fall and the attempt on his life; our sister's messenger told you about it; didn't he?" Kal asked.
Damian simply nodded.
"And what about Jon?" Kal added. "For now Jon is determined to stay in the Wall becoming a sworn brother of the Night's watch, what about his fate?" He sentenced.
"Just like his uncle" Damian smiled a man of duty. "I will guard the Son of Ice and Fire if you guard the daughter, but not with that blade my brother" he said drawing a confused expression from Kalinos.
Damian began to open the chest and removed item after item until he finally took out a long sword of strange design wrapped around a purple cloak; Damian carefully removed the cloak and revealed the sheathed sword which was like a scimitar in shape. The sheath made of white wirewood tree wood and the handle of some kind of bone lacking any ornamentation and simple yet sharp in appearance.
The first ranger of the Night's watch unsheathed the blade and Kal's eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets. The blade was of pure ice as if made of glass so thin that when looking at the edge directly from the front it was if the blade was as thin as paper, to Kal's amazement there was also a small blue glow coming from the edge.
"This sword I took it from the white walker I slew" the ice it is made is unlike anything on this world; as to make a point Damian grabbed a simple steel dagger and made the edges of both blades to clash.
Kalinos was expecting the ice to break or to hold against the steel yet the metal of the dagger turn black in the first clash and shattered into pieces like if made of glass on the second; while the ice sword had not a scrape on the edge. His brother was right, the sword was something otherworldly.
Kalinos examined the broken dagger the steel looked strong and hard, no mark of oxidation or damage before the freezing edge of the white walker's sword shattered the metal; what kind of ice was so strong and cold that even northern steel was no match to it.
"Only valyrian steel is capable of holding against this type of ice blade and it is one of the only types of weapons able to kill a white walker" Damian explained. "I shall give you both swords; a sword forged in fire Darksister to give to the daughter of a dragon and a sword forged of ice to protect her and the wolves of the North from any foe that may stand in our way" Damian declared.
"Whatever you do never touch the blade with your bare hands" Damian warned sheathing the ice blade in its scarab. "It is so cold that your sweat and skin will freeze and give you serious frostbite marks. Only weirwood wood is capable of standing to it and able to isolate the cold emanating from it" he explained.
"But believe me, this blade is even more dangerous than valyrian steel, steel plating and armor shatters on impact while flesh and bone are like butter being cut by a hot knife; with blood and flesh freezing as the cut is made" he described the power of the enchanted or rather cursed blade.
He handed the sword to Kalinos who carefully grabbed it from the weirwood sheath and bone hilt, knowing that he held a weapon of death itself; then he handed the valyrian sword of Visenya Targaryen as well which he put it on his backpack.
"I am for King's landing then" Kal finally answered. "To that cesspit of political corruption and shit stench, I thank you for these blades yet I am hoping that neither I nor Nisai would need to use them. I will keep your 'daughter', Lord Eddard and his family safe; fighting to my last breath to protect them" Kal declared as he stood up.
"You take care of Jon Snow" Kal ordered as his brother nodded. "The son of ice and fire will have a hard path ahead of him" he declared with conviction.
"He is a dragon with wolf and bat blood running through his veins; he will be ready to stand against the incoming darkness when it arrives alongside the long winter" Damian Nocturna the white bat and first ranger of the Night's watch sentenced.
"We are bats my brother, darkness is our element" Kal said. "maiorne esse in tenebris sumus; in darkness we rise higher" Kalinos said the words of House Nocturna in the ancient terran dead language.
"Haha true" Damian laughed, yet his face immediately returned to his serious expression at once. "May the old gods guide your way Kal; good luck" he sentenced.
"I don't need luck I have swords, two of the deadliest swords in the world" Kal answered.
Then the old Nocturnas brothers shook hands and shared a long embrace both of them feeling that this may be the last time they would see each other again, then Kal walked down the stairs with two swords on his back; one born of ice and another from fire; one for the living and the other for the dead.
-.
This chapter was very hard to write, I wanted to explain much of the world, the North and my version of the Night's watch. The presence of the Nocturnas and the changes in the northerners needed new POVs, my OCs: Eldric Nocturna, Nisai Glacies and Kalinos Glacies serve as the players supporting this different world and story alongside the cannon characters.
I am sure all of you already have suspicions about the true identity of Nisai Glacies; don't worry the story will eventually divert from cannon but not in the ways many of you may expect.
