148 AC, Lands Beyond the Wall, Hardhome
"Open fire" a captain ordered as a several hundred to a thousand Wildlings charged at the wooden wall that he and his men were positioned on. The men with him released their arrows and they flew through the air towards the charging mass.
Wildlings were great warriors and tougher than the average human, but their greatest weakness was always their lack of technology, especially metalwork. A fact made abundantly clear when the arrows began hitting their unarmored bodies. Dozens fell, some dead others injured.
Despite the losses and lack of protection from the torrent of missiles they kept charging determined to reach the wall. By the time the Wildlings reached the wall and began trying to break it down with their weapons or set it on fire about two hundred of their number were down. A horn was then blown, and the gate of the walled camp was opened, and fifty armored horsemen charged out surprising the wildlings and began running them down, scattering the ones near the gate. This distracted the other Wildlings at the other sections of the wall allowing the defenders to take them off guard when they began to lob stones at the Wildlings right beside the wall. This broke the Wildlings, and they began to retreat, while the Northmen kept firing and the horsemen chased them to bow range before returning to the camp.
"They will be back and probably have more friends but that is the plan" said Hother Umber, a cousin to the current Lord Umber and commander of the men in the camp. When he was told how the Stark's planned to conquer the North of the Wall he was astounded. It was a very unique way to conquer an area and as far as he was aware hadn't been done before, but it was necessary as the Wildings would be impossible to conquer conventionally. They had no keeps, towns or cities that you could conquer and if you kill or capture the enemy leader, they would choose a new one in less than a day since the position wasn't hereditary. Ironically enough despite being inferior to everyone South of the wall in terms of everything such as organization, farming, social structure, metalwork etc they would be able to resist Aegon the Conquer a lot better than the Seven Kingdom's did during the Conquest because of that lack of sophistication and civilization.
The first phase of the plan was what they were doing now. They would build forts along the coast and major rivers and man them. The point of this was to attract the Wildlings, to make them attack the various forts. The Wildlings would attack the forts and because they were inexperienced in siege warfare they would most likely fail or at least have high losses. The reason why the forts were built with access to water was because thanks to the Northern fleet they had complete control of the water ways and easily sink the Wildlings rafts. This way they could resupply their outposts at will, bring the wounded back and send fresh men to replace them. And if necessary, retreat from those forts at will, so if the Wildlings do begin to overrun them the men could get away by ship, ensuring that even with a Wildling victory, casualties would remain low for the North.
The Wildlings clans at these places seeing the fort would attack and would most likely be repelled. Those clans depending on their numbers and the number of times they attack would be severely weakened and realize that they couldn't take the fort, they would then move inland. Where they would either make alliances with the inland clans and return to attack repeating the cycle of weakening the clans and seeing that victory or at least total victory wasn't possible, or they would fight the inland clans to gain new territory and it didn't matter who won since the survivor would be weakened.
The only place that was not receiving this strategy was the cannibals of the Frozen Shore which were wiped out, with only the children spared and brought South, a term he would have never thought of for the North. A fate that was guaranteed to happen to any cannibal tribe should the conquest succeed and would probably be the only act the other Wildlings would thank them for since the 95% of the Wildling population that weren't cannibals hated them and regarded them as true savages.
Hother went into the log cabin that was his quarters and headquarters of the fort and went to a bronze mirror that had runes on its edges. This mirror, however, wasn't intended for someone to just look at themselves with, it was a contact mirror that allowed one to contact someone with the same type of mirror.
"Winterfell" Hother said as the runes began to light up and the surface of the mirror began to ripple like someone throwing a stone into a pool of water. Soon an image of a room appeared and there was someone in the room. Clearing his voice to gain the attention of the man.
"Commander Umber" the man said.
"Get Lord Stark, I have a report to make" Hother informed the man.
"Yes sir" and the man left to find Lord Stark, ten minutes later Cregan Stark appeared.
"Commander Umber I heard you have a report for me?" Lord Stark asked/stated.
"The local Wildling tribes reacted faster than we anticipated and formed an alliance to attack us. Luckily, we had built the walls, but we didn't have time to dig a moat around us or finish the roofing for the walls or all the cabins, but they were beaten back with about four hundred of their about thousand strong force being killed or injured" Hother reported.
"Hmmm then you are the unlucky one as the others only report small raids at most just over a hundred strong. Do you think you will be able to complete the fort in time for the next attack, especially if they make an alliance with more tribes?" Cregan asked.
"I believe so, with the defeat today it is likely that they will back off for a while and limit themselves to small raids if they do anything at all, but we will keep up our guard" Hother said confidently.
"Very well, if there are no new developments, I will hear your daily report at the end of the day along with the others" Cregan said, and the call ended.
The North, Winterfell
"So, with the exception of a few minor problems the plan to conquer beyond the Wall is going well" Cregan said turning to Ranma.
"How did your subjection of the Merling's go?" Cregan asked clearly curious about the mysterious species.
"The twelve Sea King's now bow to me and I only had to kill one of them as they have longer memories than humans it seems. I'm now Queen of the Deeps again" Ranma replied with a sigh, she would have never thought she would be actively searching for a crown or position of power and authority.
"What happened?" Cregan asked.
"Well," Ranma said.
Flashback.
Ranma was swimming through the Ocean heading to the Capital of most powerful of the twelve Ocean Kingdoms and the Capital of their Empire which she destroyed in her war with them. She remembered the battle that happened just in front of the city. The Merling's desperately trying to stop her with their weapons and magic but nothing could stop her. She broke into the throne room and faced their King of the Deeps whose name translated to High One which she firmly believes wasn't his birth name but something he gave himself when he became the King of the Deeps. Like Octavian changing his name to Augustus when he became Emperor of Rome. He was a skilled warrior and a component magic user but compared to her it wasn't much of a contest.
Now she was swimming towards it not with the intent to destroy but to conquer, she hoped that the current King would realize he was outmatched and submit without any bloodshed, but she was willing to bash some heads together and bruise some ego's if that was what it took.
The city was a made of several gigantic spire mountains with thousands of glassless windows or in reality doors that went through the various levels and covered in coral that painted it with many colors like an undersea rainbow. The "City of many Colors" the name of the place translated to, a fitting name she admitted to herself.
She swam towards what was the main entrance during her last "visit" to the city. The moment she came close enough to be spotted guards began to swim towards her but when they came close enough to identify her, they stopped in their tracks. Expressions of astonishment of their faces.
Swimming up to them with a cheeky grin "Hello" in perfect Deep One tongue.
That seemed to shake them out of their stupor.
"Who are you and what is a surface dweller doing down here?" one of the guards asked clearly confused by the situation he found himself in.
"I am Ranma and I'm here to see the King" she replied enjoying their confusion.
The name Ranma sent a ripple through the guards and more than one backed off with the mention of the name.
Another one however laughed "You Ranma? The legendary destroyer of our Empire and later ruler of our kind. Ha, she is just a myth".
Ranma didn't say anything and simply held up a fairly large silver conch shell covered in strange markings showing it to the guards. They paled at the sight of the shell.
"Thhhats the Conch of the Sea whoever holds that is the ruler of the oceans, last held by Ranma, taken from the High One" one of the guards garbled.
"Yes, it is, will you show me to the throne room, or do I have to enter it like my last visit to this city?" she asked eyebrow raised and a face that said, "just try and stop me".
The guards looked at her and each other, finally the oldest one of the bunch saluted "Enter Queen of the Deeps" surprising the younger guards but then again, she held the conch and whoever held was their ruler and a higher authority than their King and that was the traditional title.
She then followed them to the throne room enjoying the shocked and gawking looks as they saw a surface dweller at the bottom of the Ocean something that should be impossible.
The Throne room was large and decorated with numerous shells and mosaics that reminded Ranma of the Merman's Court in White Harbour. The throne was made of white stone and sitting upon it or rather floating on it was King Trident (translated).
Ranma had to give Trident credit he didn't go into shock at the sight of her like everyone else, but it was clear he was surprised.
"May I enquire how a surface dweller is down here and who she is?" looking at the guards who escorted me.
"How she is down here we don't know but as for her identity she claims to be Ranma" the guard replied. This created a ripple (pun intended) and their reaction varied like the guards, some laughed, some had faces of disbelief and others looked unsure.
"Usually, I would say that Ranma is a myth but then I also believed it to be impossible for a surface dweller to be down here and the description of Ranma from the myth the red hair and bright blue eyes fits your description" he said after a minute.
"I presume other than your appearance you have more proof you are who you claim to be?" he asked.
"Yes, I do, here is the Conch of the Sea the proof that I am at least the Queen of the Deeps and the last known holder was Ranma, was it not? Ranma asked/replied. The appearance of the Conch sent another ripple through the room but this time no one was laughing. The Conch wasn't a mere decoration it was magical, and they could sense the magic on it as it was connected to them. Whoever commanded the Conch commanded them and they knew from one look that it was no fake.
The silence was broken when someone shouted "I don't care if you are Ranma that Conch should belong to us, now hand it over" the voice came from the crowd who quickly parted to reveal a fairly young Merling who had a resemblance to the King.
"Nephew do not insult our guest" Trident commanded looking slightly worried since he believed that yes it was Ranma the destroyer of armies who was in his Throne Room and she could if angered massacre them with ease.
"You should know the only way to get the Conch is to defeat the previous holder, I defeated the King of the Deeps to get my hands on it and if you want it, you must challenge me and to make it fair I will not move or attack you for the first minute if that is what you decide to do" Ranma replied clearly amused and had an expression on her face that any of her rivals would recognize. Her cocky face, the one she wore when she believed she would win easily.
"HAH, then I will get the Conch and rule as the new King of the Deeps" the arrogant brat boasted wearing a cocky grin of his own but unlike Ranma who had actual power and experience backing up her arrogance its clear this brat didn't.
"I am Lord Triton and today I will become King Triton" he said brandishing a spear made of rock and bones which all the Merling's weapons and armor were as metal rusted very quickly down here.
"Will you judge the match Trident" Ranma said now wearing a bored expression like this was a waste of her time (which it was).
Sighing "Very well, champions take your places" with that the crowd swam back creating a rough circle around the two.
"Begin" Trident declared.
Triton immediately swam forward and stabbed his spear at Ranma who like she claimed didn't attempt to move out of the way. Everyone looked on in anticipation as they expected the spear to pierce her. But instead, their jaws hit the ground and their eyes widened like headlights as the spear hit Ranma and did nothing. It didn't even puncture her clothes which was clearly not armor but cloth.
Still looking bored "Is that it?" Ranma asked who then pretended to yawn.
"You now have forty seconds before I end the duel" she said.
The next thirty seconds were a frenzy for Triton as he kept trying to stab her, but it didn't matter where he struck, the shoulder, arms, hands, legs, chest or head his spear wouldn't penetrate her. Then ten seconds before the minute deadline was up the top of his spear snapped unable to withstand the pressure of being continuously stabbed in an unmovable object.
Triton spent the next ten seconds staring at his broken spear in disbelief.
"Times up" Ranma said her entire posture changing then a wave of power erupted from her throwing everyone back. Screams and groans began to happen, but they were immediately silenced as they felt that they were in the presence of an alpha predator that could kill them with ease and the only way for them to survive was to be quiet and very very still.
Ranma was glowing blue and then like the first time she dueled Happosia some of it solidified into a Chinese dragon just above her. She moved her glowing eyes on the sprawled form of Triton who no longer had a confident look on his face, now he looked like he was on the verge of fainting.
"Did you really that was all it took to defeat me? A simple spear thrust from an ordinary weapon?" Ranma whispered yet it was still heard clearly around the room.
"I have fought armies, destroyed Kingdoms, fought the greatest warriors and sorcerer the world has to offer and fought gods themselves" her voice slowly raising.
"Did you think I lied about my identity or perhaps those myths or stories about me were just that? Stories with no bases in reality that the storytellers exaggerated to make the King of the Deeps defeat less embarrassing" her voice was now a hurricane, and everyone could feel it's force.
"Will you submit, or will I end this charade in a more permanent manner?" she asked her eyes still fixed on Triton.
"Iiii Suurender" Triton stuttered/squeaked out.
With that the aura of power ended as abruptly as it started, and the overwhelming presence was now gone allowing people to move and make sounds again. But now there was no doubt that this surface dweller was Ranma and the myths about her power were true.
Ranma on the other hand hoped for a bit tougher challenge as thanks to thousands of years Bakusai Tenketsu or Breaking Point training, her body was nearly indestructible. It would take a Valyrian Steel tipped ballista bolt fired at point blank range to pierce her skin. But Triton was all bark and no bite.
After he had recovered from being thrown into his throne and clearly relieved that his nephew was still alive Trident asked, "May I enquire why you have returned now after several thousand years of silence?".
"I'm rebuilding the Alliance of the Living and reestablishing my authority over the world" Ranma said her distaste for what she said clear in her voice and face.
"Why? As you seem to dislike the idea" Trident said diplomatically.
"It's not like I have a choice, the enemy grows strong again and it took the entire world united to throw them back and unfortunately for me the only one capable of uniting the world and maintaining its unity till the threat is passed is me" she sighed.
"The enemy? You mean those legends of Ice Demons that attempted to wipe out all life in the world?" Trident asked.
"Yes, the Others, White Walkers, Cold Gods, White Shadows, Lion of the Night and many other names and titles by all people on this world. A second Long Night will soon come, and the world is currently unprepared to deal with them although I have strengthened the Westeros front considerably, the Essos front however is still too weak" she informed them.
Although the Merling's didn't fight in as many battles as the other races since they stayed close to the sea and rivers, they too had stories about the events, their heroes and tales of the horrors that sent shivers up and down their spines.
"The stories are true? Creatures of Ice bringing an endless night, summoning the Dead to do their bidding?" a random person in the crowd asked.
"Yes, the stories are true and that is why I have come here. To bring the Merling's back into the Alliance of the Living and to do that the twelve Sea Kings must renew their Oath to me the Queen of the Deeps" Ranma said now looking intently at Trident who now felt uncomfortable at the stare.
Then he sighed "I can't stop you, if even half the stories about your power are true there is nothing, I can do to stop you, however it isn't just your power you are famous for but also your mercy. You killed very few of our people in your war with us and spared and even saved children and noncombatants if they were in danger according to the tales. I also have no doubt you will mostly leave us to our own devices instead of ruling us directedly since you will have your hands full preparing the world for the enemy?" he stated/asked.
"Your right I will have my hands full preparing the world plus I don't like politics, the stuffiness or paperwork the only reason I became High Queen of the Living then and now am trying to reestablish my rule is because I have little choice in the matter, so I will mostly leave you as you were" she replied.
Trident said nothing and floated down from his throne and went before her, then he bowed.
"I acknowledge the holder of the Conch of the Sea Ranma, as the Queen of the Deeps" he said, this was followed by everyone else in the room also bowing. The first of the Sea Kings had bowed another eleven to go she thought.
Flashback End
"Most of the other eleven Sea Kings bowed with a single demonstration of my power and one look at the Conch, only two of the Kings were trouble. One had me hunt a Kraken that was bothering his people probably believing it would kill me. When I returned dragging the entire carcass with me, he fainted at the sight and quickly surrendered after that. The last King however was extremely prideful and since the tales of my return had spread, he gathered his army and attempted to ambush me on the way to his castle" she sighed with a face that said what a pointless waste.
Cregan didn't need to ask what happened and it was likely that the Sea King she killed was that one.
"Well now the Alliance of the Living consists of the Children of the Forest, The North, the Riverland's, several other parts of Westeros and the Merling's" he said remembering the few weeks he was at the Citadel sorting through the stolen items and his meeting with Lord Tully.
Flashback
Cregan was in his room at the Hightower and feeling very tired. It had been three days and they had only gone through a fraction of the stolen items but at least the riders and boats carrying the order to arrest the Maester's that were part of the conspiracy but not in the Citadel were sent. One thing out of the way.
Then a knock on the door "My Lord, Lord Tully is here and desires to speak with you".
With a hidden sigh and putting on a business face that hid his tiredness he said, "Allow him to enter".
Lord Tully entered and sat in the extra chair when Cregan made a movement towards it.
Starting the conversation "Why do you want to converse with me?" Cregan asked.
"As you know I have converted to the Old Gods but what I didn't reveal to the world is that the Old Gods spoke to me on the Heart Tree in Riverrun's Godswood. They told me the Others will return and the Stark's were awake" Kermit said emphasizing the word Stark's.
"Indeed, we have also been warned as well and we are awake, thanks to an intervention many lost things which the Maester's hadn't stole had been found. We have begun to recover our magic and many other lost knowledge" Cregan said after a moment of contemplation bringing out a runed knife that began to glow when he began to whisper a few mysterious words.
Kermit stared at the knife and then back at Cregan and then his face turned contemplative.
"The runes aren't decoration at all?" Kermit asked/stated.
"It is magic, the runes serve many purposes and improvements, but its main function is the ability to kill wights and Others. Others and wights could only be killed by a few things. Wights can be affected by normal weapons but it couldn't kill them, their hands would grab you, their legs would trip you and their heads would try to bite you. The things that could kill them are fire although the more powerful the Other the more resistant to it they were, the Night King being completely immune. Being completely submerged somehow removes the magic that binds them. Dragonglass the weapon that the Children of the Forest used and magic. Magic the very force they were made from could kill them, the blades, armor, shields, spears, axes and arrowheads have magic in them thanks to the runes so that they could kill the Others. Valyrian Steel also affected them" Cregan explained.
Kermit while looking a bit bewildered at the explanation but then nodded in understanding and returned to a contemplative look. He sat there for a minute in deep thinking.
"Would it be possible to purchase those weapons?" He finally asked.
"Yes, however we have a limited supply of them since we are still arming our own people, in a few more years we could probably guarantee selling more than a handful of weapons at a time" Cregan replied.
After a few moments "I know I can make no guarantee's regarding my descendants, but I swear to you I will make sure that they are warned and prepared for the danger and when the Others do return the Riverland's will be ready and fight beside the North" Kermit declared.
"Very well" Cregan said pouring wine into two goblets, handing one of them to Kermit "To the Living" Cregan declared.
"To the Living" Kermit replied raising his own goblet.
Flashback end
"Will you show your existence to House Tully?" Cregan asked.
"Perhaps, certainly Kermit seems worthy of the knowledge of my existence, but I think we should wait a few more years" Ranma replied.
"How goes the integrating of the Three Sisters into the North?" Ranma asks after a minute of silence.
"It goes as smoothly as we can hope for, as many of the Islands residents still have a grudge against us for the "Rape of the Three Sisters" but them seem to be unwilling to rock the boat so to speak, as they don't have the power to throw us off the Islands. As long as we don't abuse them or push them to far, I don't believe they will rebel" Cregan informed her. The Vale decided to wash its hands of the pirate infested Islands and in exchange for 40% of the spoils they would cede the Three Sisters to the North.
They both then turned towards a map on the wall. It was a very detailed map of everything between the Wall and the Thenn's Valley, from the Frozen Shore and the River of Ice to Hardhome and the unnamed lakes East of the Thenn's Valley.
"The Wildling's are being pushed inwards in the East and West, while the South is blocked to them thanks to the Wall and the strengthened Night's Watch" Cregan spoke, and he was indeed right. The Night's Watch that had been dying for centuries was recovering. Now numbering 5000 men and 9 castles compared to the less than 3000 men and 5 castles a few decades previously. With so many converting to the Old Gods combined with the dreams of the Long Night it seemed that many people suddenly remembered the Wall and its guardians. And every recruit stopped in Winterfell first to see with their own eyes the proof of the Other's existence, informing them that they did have a purpose and they could redeem themselves for the crimes they committed. This had the noted and reported effect of increasing the members of the Night's Watch morale and efficiency.
"Yes, in a few years we will also have them pressed in the North and get the Giants on our side" Ranma replied both of them looking intently at the map, at the Thenn's Valley.