Raventree. 6 years later. 237 BC,
He smiled as he watched his daughter's eyes light up in wonder. She was five years old, a sweet and beautiful young girl, Sara her name was, after his dear and deceased cousin who had born a healthy daughter herself before she passed. He had been heartbroken then and when his wife had fallen pregnant a few months later both had easily agreed on a name for their child should it be a daughter. He was now the father of three children. His heir Brynden was 13 years old and was much the same as he had been before the six year long winter. Quite yet not shy, proud yet not arrogant, decisive yet not brash. He was the quietest of his children. He sat and watched everything, taking everything in before he did anything and yet he never let anyone disrespect him or try to take advantage of thim. He had a keen mind for strategy and politics and while he somewhat struggled with administration and matters of coin he was a brilliant warrior. And recently Lucas had started to tutor him in the ways of war and ruling.
Louis was different and yet the two brothers, along with young Callum Ryger were as close as could be despite the small age gap. Louis was absolutely in love with the world and especially books. He spent countless hours reading anything he could get his hands on, he was supremely smart, much smarter than Lucas was, and would most often be found in the library or in his room, reading. That was not to say he could not fight, this was the Riverlands after all and he was the son of Lucas, a warrior king if ever there was one. The bow was his weapon and he was an expert marksman and while he was still too young to be using a longbow at ten years old he was well on his way to getting there. Louis was more outgoing than his brother or indeed his parents which was weird considering a lot of boys who spent their time reading books often found their social skills suffering. Louis however took one of Lucas's quotes and ran with it. "A wise man knows he knows nothing' Lucas had told him once and Louis had took that as a challenge, to him everyone was a source of knowledge that could be learnt, from the maid that could teach him how a castle was managed on a more grounded level to the Lord or Maester that could answer most questions he could come up with about their respective fields.
His daughter, Sara, who also had the raven locks, grey-blue eyes, angular face and healthy pale skin that all the siblings held, was the darling of the family. She was a mix of her brothers in personality, curious, passionate, intelligent and though she was not as calm or patient as either of her brothers, taking more after her mother in that aspect, she was not spoilt or pampered and much like her brothers adored the bow for which she had a tiny little training bow that only shot blunt arrows a couple of yards and she often needed help to use it.
Her supreme interest however was held by horses. She adored them and demanded to go riding on a pony everyday much to her mothers joy and Lucas's despair. Sure he liked riding and was a very capable rider but leading his curious daughter who was frankly a better rider than he could ever hope to have been at even double her age and was prone to bursting off and trying to go as fast as her pony could possibly go in the winter snows that she had known for her entire life.
And that was the reason she was so enchanted by the view from the castle walls. For the snows were melting and the spring sun was making up for its long absence by blaring down with vigour.
"Wow." She muttered staring out across the fertile fields of the Blackwood Vale that were once more the lush green colour that made them extremely fertile even in comparison to the Riverlands.
Lucas laughed at her wonder and gave her a grin. "Do you want to go for a ride?" He asked her and she nodded rapidly squealing in happiness. When the others heard about it they all eagerly joined and soon a party consisting of him, his wife, his children, his ward and a few guards were all mounted and leaving Raventree towards the ironically named Black Wood that was around three kilometres from Raventree. Alara and Sara led the party, the two of them were as close as could be and while some might say Sara was a daddy's girl it was obvious to all that knew her mother that in nearly every other aspect of personality the fierce little girl took after her mother. The three boys went next with Brynden in the centre, laughing and joking in a way he would only ever do when surrounded by those he loved and trusted and it was in those moments that it became clear that he was not a cold, unemotional prince as some thought.
Lucas trailed them all, more than happy to just observe his beautiful family, he could not imagine being happier then he was right now and, not for the first time since his children were born, he sent a thank you to whatever form death may take in the old gods. He was, to an extent, unsurprised when a raven descended, swooped down and landed on his shoulder, he had seen a lot of shit in both lifetimes not much could surprise him anymore. It then jumped to reach up towards his ear and give a small musical caw that made his horse shuffle.
He tilted his head somewhat then. In his old life the raven was associated by most cultures with loss and an ill omen but in Ireland a raven meant death or in other contexts warfare. Did death take the form of a raven here much like the Morrigan did in his ancestors' tails? He highly doubted it. Did the raven have some significance with death in this land? He was nearly certain of it. It was fitting then that he, a man who had been reborn after sending a prayer to death itself, would be born into a house that was associated with the freakishly intelligent animal. Taking into account that his house's words where literally 'All that lives must die' it was highly probable that his house was in some way linked to death.
Then, one after the other ravens swooped down and landed on the startled shoulders of his children. The one on his son's shoulders were of even height and looked nearly as similar as the brothers did while the one on Sara's shoulder was noticeably smaller. His children all seemed shocked by this and halted their followed soon after by the guards, Lara and Callum who were all glancing at the Raven on each of the born Blackwoods shoulders with confusion and a slight bit of fear. His wife shot him a searching glance as though looking for an answer. He did not have one. He held out his arm which his own raven jumped onto. He turned his gaze from his children who were now also looking at him for an answer soon followed by everyone else onto the raven who merely tilted his head as if telling him to draw his own conclusion. And so he did.
"The Starks have their Direwolves, we have our Ravens." He said simply and the Ravens all gave caws of seemingly agreement.
—-
News soon spread of the Blackwoods Ravens and what they might mean. Some were adamant it meant he and his children would all drop dead in a few weeks. Others were certain it meant they were blessed by the Old gods and a few whispered that they were skin changers and sorcerers. Lucas however was much less certain about the matter but was sure it was not the first option, the Gods had mentioned that he would have descendants at the very least and he was therefore inclined to believe it was as simple as he had told his children. Nonetheless the ravens had quickly become an everyday normality, they were often found with their chosen partner, on their shoulders, standing on a surface beside them like a table or most often in the case of Sara flying above or beside her as she rode.
His own was currently, as he often was, perched on his left shoulder as he sat in his solar working through managing his recovering Kingdom. The winter had been harsh and while his lords had been prepared for a long one it had still been harsh and damaged his economy and while food had been fairly easy to come by in the fertile Riverlands the cold still hit hard and disease still spread. The roads became near impassable and trade ground to a near halt. As a result his treasury while still sufficient to maintain the kingdom and help it to recover it set back any plans he might have had in investing that money in new projects or expanding old ones.
It would also make war nearly impossible, men and camp followers needed to be paid and fed and the horses needed even more feed then the men. More than just food was the supplies. Steel, tents, armour, weapons, tools and an abundance of over things that even he would not be able to list without missing something important. It was expensive to first of all raise an army and secondly to keep it going for a long amount of time, the same could be said for the navy. As such it gave him time, time before the Vale would be able to muster any force capable of facing him and therefore time for him to continue as he had been before the long winter. But first the realm needed to recover.
—-
The Eyrie, five moons later, 237 BC
Winter had hit them like a bull, it was long and impossibly hard. Food had become scarce towards the end of it as the lowlands froze and were covered in snow. It, by itself, was one of the worst winters in recent history and it was only added to by the clansmen. They had apparently gone to war with each other in the first year and the second year was fairly quite with only the usual, granted more organised raids, but by the third year they began to come in large groups, down the mountains sacking entire towns and even a few knightly holdfasts before they retreated up into the mountains. Sending a force after them was suicide as the deep snows of the mountains would result in that party going missing, ambushed by the clansmen. He had no doubts as to where this organised and equipped Mountain clansmen had come from, it was the Raven's revenge on his raids into his lands. Of course his own raids had been far less effective as the heathen king was able to actually do something about them while he and his knights were stuck in the snow.
Now five months later winter was truly gone and his kingdom had recovered enough to deal with the clansmen. His cousin, Jamie, would lead two thousand knights of the Vale to kill the Mountain clansmen and their king who was rumoured to be a giant man they called the Eagle King, eagle of course because they were known to hunt Falcons.
While his cousin was gone he began to prepare for war. Orders were given to his lords to prepare for a war in whatever way they saw fit and to expand their men at arms and knights should they wish. These orders were basic ones but the Vale was a kingdom of men as hard as the steel they wore in battle, the Lords knew what to do, god seven worshipping men all of them. Though Lord Royce still caused some problems, proud men that they were, and he still wore that accursed heathen runic armour as his house has for nearly a thousand years. 'We remember' the words of the Royce's where, he hoped for their own sake they remembered their oaths and remembered the result of Battle of seven stars where the first men were crushed beneath the heel of the pious Andal knights on the seventh attack beneath seven stars. If that did not prove the power of the Seven who are one he did not know what could.
His son burst into his room then, a slightly worried luck on his face.
"Cousin Jamie was ambushed, father, he and his men took many casualties but they managed to break the clansmen, slaughtering thousands of them. He broke their strength but only 700 remain, cousin Jamie is in serious condition." His older of two sons said. Hugh Arryn smiled at that, 700 hundred men, he had no doubt that was no coincidence. When his armies descended on the heathens he would make sure that those men were the ones who led the charge.
—-
Runestone, a month later, 236 BC.
Lord Robar Royce listened to his brother, his best friend since childhood and the man he respected most in this world.
"King Lucas presents an opportunity we haven't had in the thousand years our people have been under the thumb of the andals. He is by all accounts a great king and a better warrior, his lands are richer and more fertile than ours and his armies stronger, larger and better equipped. His border is secure and even the towns and significant settlements have permanent garrisons along it thanks to the foolish raiding of King Hugh, instead of weakening the border he strengthened it and made the inhabitants despise him. He's a fool half septon who would rather dress up in his plate like a pompous fool, laughing while his nephew is fighting for his life in bed because the man couldn't be bothered to actually gather intel on what he was marching his inexperienced nephew into." His brother said harshly, glaring at the falcon banner that could be seen at the gate house from his solar.
"Calm brother, I admit that King Hugh is incompetent but his heir shows some promse at least. Besides we have rebelled three times since the Andals came and all have failed costing us sons, land and power. We must not be too hasty to rise in rebellion." he responded.
"I am more than aware of our failed rebellions, Robar but never before have we had an opportunity like this before!" His brother continued. "King Lucas would support us easily and powerfully, my wife is a Redfort, our mother is a Belmore and your wife is a Hunter whose brother is married to a Waynwood!"
"And as such we have a powerful block but on its own it is not enough to threaten the andal houses and those of us who have forgotten our ways and abandoned our gods!" Returned Robar. "The Great and his armies lie behind the bloody gate and the mountain clansmen have been shattered despite the losses of the knights, the Greats fleet may be of help to us but after that we are alone and outnumbered!" He said just as harshly.
"The falcon will leave his nest to march on the raven and then we will rise again as kings, all that is needed is a single raven to King Lucas, that would be all it would take and then we can rise again as the kings we once were."
"And how do you suppose we do that? Our own men, and our allies men will be in that host and none of us lack so much honour as to stab the andals while they sleep!"
"We do not march in full strength. We, the Waynwoods, the Hunters and the Redforts are close enough to the sea to keep pack the majority of our men claiming we fear a naval invasion while the Belmores could claim they are still dealing with the mountain clansmen and as such still need a lot of their men. Simply asure King Hugh of our allegiance and tell him we will follow him through the bloody gate not long after, the fool will eat it up if we do something pious, say send 777 men to begin with or something like that and then we are alone in the Vale."
"And what about these men who will march with the Falcon?"
"They will defect, along with the others and march off into the night or disappear in smaller droves of 'deserters' . It will not be a problem for me to organise while you stay here 'ill'." His brother replied "We will be kings once more."
"I remember," said Robar, nodding in reluctant agreement.
"No. We Remember."
—-
Raventree, 236 BC.
He listened silently as his father explained to him the pros and cons of a static shield wall such as was used at Lucas's ford.
"If I were to use something like that on an open field, where I could easily be outmanoeuvred, it would have had nowhere near as much effect as it did." His father said and Brynded nodded, seeing what his father was saying.
"The mud and the river made it hard for anyone to do any sort of manoeuvring and so the key weaknesses of the shield wall where negated, whereas at the Twins, Teauge formed his own shield wall and was outmanoeuvred, forcing him to put his back to the river and therefore putting him in range of the Longbows." Said Brynden and his father smiled proudly at him, nodding in agreement.
"Exactly, well done my son." smiled his father. Brynden tried to keep his face from beaming at his fathers compliments. His father was not a stern man but he did not give compliments for the sake of it and when he said something he meant it. He was who Brynden tried to replicate, strong, kind, intelligent and measured it was extremely rare to see his father angry. The last time he had seen his father show any type of negative emotion was when aunt Sara died. Brynden adopted his calm and observant side he used when he was ruling and dealing with non-family members. But Brynden always found it difficult to replicate his fathers more outgoing side and while he knew he was a shy person he often remained silent even when there was something he could say, unless it was important of course or he was with family members and close friends.
"Now, tell me, have you thought about what I asked you last time?" his father asked and Brynden nodded. His father often gave him something to think about for the two days between every lesson and would ask him to give home what he thought about it, he would not speak and instead just allow Brynden to make his point and only after that would he give his opinion on the subject and Bryndens answer. Last time the question was a more serious matter, who did he wish to be betrothed to and why.
"Yes. I have thought about it. I am one of the most eligible bachelors in the realm and amongst the main options outside the Kingdom are Rebbeca Darklyn, Emila Lannister, Hollie Durrandon, my cousin Joanna Stark, Nymeria Martell and Celia Massey, all of whom would come with strong alliances and strategic bonuses." Brynden began and his father nodded in assent, though Brynden knew from experience that did not mean that was all there was to it. "But, a match within the kingdom would be much better. We are first generation monarch whos Vassals all bowed of their own free will, but they did not bow to the Blackwood dynasty, they bowed to the famed warrior King, they bowed to you and while most would not even think of rising in rebellion, the houses connected to us by blood are to strong and others have loyalty to their oaths or to the rewards you granted to them, but still it would take me years to gain their complete loyalty and cooperation, especially should the gardener's try to play them against me."
"Mhm, and yet we are connected to most of our vassals by blood in one way or another." His father said though his voice did not hold disagreement, instead his father was just pointing something out.
"Yes, We have the complete loyalty of the Mallisters, Redwoods, Darrys, Rygers and Adler's and that alone would be enough to discourage, if not completely eradicate any faction that may oppose us. However there are houses which we do not have links to, or at least not strong ones. Charlton, Smallwood, Harlton, Mooton and Hawick being the main ones. But of them only the Charltons, Mootons and Harltons have daughters of age with me. Barbara Charlton, Alys Mooton and Tracie Harlton."
"And which of these would you favour." His father asked.
"Alys Mooton, her mother is a Charlton so would link us to them more firmly and the Charltons owe us their current rank and position, they are loyal."
"And Alys Mooton is known to be a pretty girl." Said his father flatly.
"And Alys Mooton is known to be a pretty girl." Responded Brynden unashamedly making his father laugh and both their Ravens copied him, their laughs where frankly disturbing imitations of a humans and made his friend Jon and all other non Blackwoods who heard it shiver though both Blackwoods merely grinned fondly at the cackling ravens.
"A fine choice, and the one I would also have picked were I in your position. Well done my son, you have impressed me greatly today." his father said before turning back to the map of the Riverlands. "Now tell me, what would you do if the Lannisters were to…" His father said and so the lessons continued, his father making up scenarios and forcing him to deal with them, it was a good way of learning and he truly loved his fathers lessons and the time alone he got with his hero. But he did not fail to notice his fathers constant usage of the Vale and the Blackwater houses in these scenarios, almost always as enemies, making sure he was aware of everything he could about these Kingdoms and their lands, roads, rivers, castles, men, ships and everything else he would need to use where he to go to war with them. No he saw what was happening and knew it would not be long yet before he was marching in the army with his father, perhaps he was too young to fight yet but he would be coming along to learn, he knew that.
Reviews.
A few things came up multiple times and I will endeavour to answer them. The Greenmen are NOT the people who will form the 'clergy' if you wish to call it that, the Green Mens only change to their role is that they now train the new order but will only do so for the first few groups to get the order on its feet. As for the temples, they are not temples really, they are not places of worship like a sept or something, as someone said the entire point of the Old Gods is that they are seen in nature and worshipped in it. The 'temples' are instead just gathering places for the order where their members can rest and study, they will also serve as charities and provide men trained in medicine to those in need. Think of them kind of like Jedi temples in star wars, the members of the order do not stay there and instead just return there every once in a while. As a reviewer said they are more like the druids of old Britain and Ireland, they are nomads who travel the kingdom teaching and instructing and helping those in need in any way they can, relying on the kindness of the people for shelter, food etc. Also these order members will not travel beyond the kingdom's borders, they would be killed everywhere except the North and it would just be a waste of trained men for an order just taking its first steps.
As for the war with the Vale, a lot of people are making suggestions and their observations which I appreciate but unfortunately, for you lot, I will not be spoiling the story by telling you how it will happen. All I will say is that not everything you read is bound to happen. Take that how you will :)
To Kristoff Umber who suggested dealing with the faith in future conquered territories like the Muslims in Iberia, that is a damned good Idea and one I had not thought about, thank you.
Education and the development of technology. I will say that something may change but I want to make it very clear here, I want the world to stay at least similar in tech to how it is in the books. Of course some basic changes and improvements will happen but other things will NOT happen at all. For one thing Gunpowder is absolutely not happening. What's the point of a Mediaeval world if you are just going to make it modern? Of course in the latter periods of the Mediaeval times gunpowder was CRUCIAL but not here, there is no mention of its existence at all as far as I can tell and I do not want to change combat from what it is in the books at all. This is ASOIAF, a story, it is not real life and it will remain that way. Sorry if you don't all agree with these things but I just can't see myself enjoying writing a story like that at all. There are many brilliant fics like that and I would recommend you check them out if an industrial revolution is more your thing.
High Fantasy- I really appreciate everyone's views and suggestions on this topic however as mentioned before I do want to keep the story closer to the original story, I appreciate that some people prefer the more fantastical aspects of ASOIAF however personally I prefer the more low fantasy/Alternate history parts of the world. So apologies but things like Merman and deep ones rising up are just not something I wish to write, really sorry about that but again I just can't see myself writing that. I have a clear Idea about where this story is going and that type of thing isn't really in it.
Rangers. That is fucking cool! I really like that, thank you very much Cam. I really like that concept and will definitely use it in some way though with some small changes, the usual things like fitting it to my story and needs but I really like that Idea, thank you.
Aegon, I really feel like there is not much I can say here without spoiling the story, and I really don't want to do that for everyone here, so can the person who asked (Rebornandlost) and anyone else who is absolutely desperate for confirmation or response please DM me instead so I can tell you privately. Thank you, I just don't want to ruin it for everyone here.
And last but certainly not least, Lucas being Reborn again in one of his descendants. I will be frank here, I don't want to do it, but I can see the appeal of it in some people's eyes, but I want you to really think about it here, Lucas has lived two lives, filled with people he loves. Can you really imagine him wanting to be reborn? To miss out on meeting his loved ones who have passed? I can't imagine anyone doing that. Lucas is Lucas, he is a man, not a player in a video game with no emotional connection to the people all around them. Please take that into account but if there is overwhelming support against me not doing it then I might do it.
Thank you all very much, keep the support and advice coming. See you on Sunday, hopefully.