AN: Hello all, this is my first time posting a story, and also my fic, at all, and you can see from my profile that I am new in this stuff. Currently, my reason for doing this is that I've seen a lot of good stories posted here. These good stories give me the inspiration to do one of my own. My first story would be a crossover of Harry Potter and Game of Thrones as I see this area with one of the most considerable potential for storytelling. Major warning, this will be entirely an Alternate Universe. Though it will follow some events, there will be significant changes to the storyline.
Disclaimer: I do not own any copyright to Harry Potter, Game of Thrones, A Song of Fire and Ice or Fairy Tail or even anything recognizable in this story. They all belong to their respective owners. The only thing I own is the plot. I make no profit from them. Everything written is to satisfy my curiosity to see the result of this combination.
Author's Note: The story has not been betaed as posting this. I apologize in advance if you see any common mistakes that could have been avoided. If anyone has experience in beta-reading or knows someone with experience, it would be a boon if you or they PM me. Also, English is not my native language. Plus, ratings might change in the future, depends on how the story goes.
Summary: With a single vision, Brandon Stark has changed the fate of Westeros. Come, Harry Potter reborn as Torrhen Stark, the son of Brandon Stark. What changes will he bring into the game or, better yet, to Westeros? Will it be for the better or worse? Would he kneel like his namesake, or will he rise up? MagicRequipHarry.
2nd July 2008, Grimmauld Place.
It had been two months since the Battle of Hogwarts, where he had finally put down Voldemort for good. Ever since then, he had been holed up in Grimmauld Place to hide from attention and to recompose himself. Ever since the Horcrux had been removed from his scar, his mind had felt clearer and calmer. Due to this, he could grasp occlumency far more quickly than he had thought. He attributes this to the Horcrux that had hindered his mental capacity. While mastering his newly learned occlumency, he also went through his Hogwarts books. He found out that he enjoyed reading without the Horcrux interfering with his mind.
Within that two months, he had learned and mastered all the spells found in his school books and decent protection for his mind. While it had been quite an experience, he found himself suffocating. He started to plan what his following action would be. At first, he thought of joining the Aurors, but he decided he had enough of fighting evil after thinking it through. So that option was out. Another option was to go back to Hogwarts to finish up his schooling. But there were two problems with it. He had already learned and mastered all of the syllabi for the seventh year. The second is that Hogwarts would be open till 1st September, two months away. So that option, too, was out.
As he was thinking through it, a memory jogged into his mind. It was when he was still young and living with the Dursley. He remembered watching a documentary, or was it a series of a person traveling worldwide. He had a dream that he wished to travel and explore the world. Well before he had discovered the wizarding world. But now, it sounds more appealing than ever. While he had enjoyed the wizarding world, he had found it to be lacking and stagnant. With that, he had made up his mind.
He quickly wrote down the things he would need before starting traveling. First, a new trunk. While his own is still in good condition, it has limited capabilities, especially if he will tour around the world. He had remembered Moody's seven compartment trunk and decided that he would have something similar. Next would be finance. He knew that Kingsley had smoothed up the problems with Gringotts; he was still unsure if he would still be welcome in their domain. He broke in and out of the bank on one of their dragons, which he later set free. Hopefully, they will at least allow him to withdraw his money. While he had enough at the moment, it would only last him for maybe a month or so if he's being frugal about it.
Travel style. Harry knew that magical travel was quite fast. Still, he had problems with it as apparently all kinds of magical transport do not agree with him. Except for apparition. Muggle way it is then. But a problem arose with this. He had no passport or can't remember if he even had one made. He hopes this will be solved when he visits Gringotts. Or at least to see if they would know where to create one. What else is there? He knew he would bring all the books to the Black Library as he hoped to learn more spells while traveling as it had become a passion for him. He will also need to check if there are Potter books in Gringotts as he wants to learn more about his rest are minor details that he would get onto once he had done his business with Gringotts and purchased the required trunk.
The following day, he apparated to Diagon Alley, with the hood of his cloak covering his head as he didn't want to be mopped by the fans. Once he arrived at Gringotts, they had a tense silence after waiting in line at the counter. While he is relieved that the goblins did not outright attack him, they do not bother to hide their anger at seeing him in their presence. Harry broke the silence first, requesting to visit his vaults and ask if they have a way for him to take his money without going back and forth to the banks. He asked if they offered or knew someone to make him a passport.
The goblin teller was silent before answering that there was a pouch that would allow him to do that but for a fee. Regarding the passport issue, Gringotts can help with that, for a price, of course. Harry just secretly rolled his eyes at that. Goblins. The first vault they visited was the Potter's Family Vault. There was a library trunk filled with books written or collected by the family over the years, to Harry's luck. He retrieved it before leaving the vault to go to the next one. With the Black's Vault, he also found some books that were not in Grimmauld and quickly placed them in the library trunk. After that, they left for the surface, where he was led into a goblin office that handed him the requested pouch and his passport. They had taken the payment from his vault.
Once his business with Gringotts is concluded, he goes to the trunk shop. He purchased Moody's similar trunk with all the shop's security protections, including blood and password lock. He decided to visit the bookshop and buy anything that caught his attention on a whim. Once done, Harry returned to Grimmauld to drop his purchase before going out again to Muggle London. He had decided to buy new clothes to blend in when traveling. It had taken him a few hours to pack all the stuff he would need to travel.
As he was packing, he looked down at the wand. It was the Elder Wand. Apparently, it had been fixed and appeared next to him when he first started to holed up in Grimmauld Place. Along with the Resurrection Stone. At first, he tries to get rid of them, but they always return to him. Amongst his methods are breaking the wand into smaller pieces and flushing it down the toilet with the stone. Which returned to him the next day. He has given up since then. He was tempted to use the stone but controlled himself, knowing what lay ahead if he used to start using the stone. So he had hidden it inside the trunk, warded to ensure it would not tempt him with its influence.
Night approached, so he decided to settle in for the night. Tomorrow would be an emotional day as he would be telling his friends about his plans, knowing that some might disagree with what he had planned. Once the sun is up and the morning routine is done, he apparates to the Weasley home, where the matriarch had just started serving breakfast. Once everyone greeted each other and breakfast was served, there were small talks. When the good had been devoured, Harry decided to be blunt about his next plan. Everyone was shocked in silence when they heard what he had announced. Though this does not last long as everyone starts bombarding him with questions of when, where, and how long.
He answered with tomorrow, not sure where and no idea. Not everyone was happy with it, but they understood as Harry had never had freedom in his life, so they decided to support him. Harry spends the rest of the day with them.
When he returned home that night, he decided to post the world map and use a dart to determine his first destination blindfolded. The dart landed in America. And from there, it was where he started his journey.
During the first 2 years of his travel, he had spent most of it exploring everything on the land, from visiting the museums to amusement parks and, at the very least, the magical district. It was here that he met up with someone who classified themselves as technology. Apparently, the Americans experimented with trying to do technology works in a magical saturated idea. They recently succeeded in making the T.V. work. Harry had brought one and asked them if they could connect it magically to the cable, which they apparently can. Still, he would have to pay monthly or yearly for the service. Harry accepts the deal and pays 3 years in advance. He had also found out that they are attempting to do the same for phones and computers but are still in the testing progress. Harry asked them when would they think it would be completed as he wanted one for more accessible communication. They replied at least 2 to 4 years. But they did promise Harry that they would reserve him with one once they got the runes to work.
After that, he left to head to his next destination, which was Europe. There he spends 3 years exploring the whole of Europe from top to bottom. It was also there where he had also discovered another passion. Ancient muggle history. Apparently, it had fascinated him of the rise and falls of world kingdoms of all ages. After seeing what Europe offered, he decided to go to the Asian countries. China was his next plan. He spent several months there. After that, it was Japan.
He first found and fell in love with both manga and anime in Japan. Ever since discovering them, he had brought a whole host collection. One of his favorites was Fairy Tail, especially with the variety of magic used in the story. The one that genuinely interested him the most was the Requip magic. Since he thought it was similar to how the magical trunks and pouch worked, he decided to try to recreate the magic. Imagine how much stuff he could carry with him without being weighted by the items.
He had to consult books on dimensional space as he would need that knowledge before he started experimenting with unknown magic. It took him several months of failure before he finally succeeded. Though it was at first small, smaller than the size of his cupboard, with practice, he was able to increase it until it was the size of a small room. From there, he tries to connect the magic of the Requip to the trunks so that he doesn't have to keep bringing out the chests whenever he needs something. The whole thing took him about a year and a half, as that was a side project he did whenever he had free time from his travel in Japan.
While visiting the magical district of Japan, he came across a magical blacksmith. He was fascinated with how the blacksmith was molding the sword as if it was alive. Harry had made up his mind when the blacksmith was done with the sword. He wanted to learn and try on his own forging. The blacksmith, an elderly man, was happy to see such youth take an interest in what was a dying art. Though he couldn't take him as an apprentice for now as he did have some work to be done, he had promised that if Harry was still interested in forging to come to the shop in two weeks. Harry happily agreed to it, still enthusiastically happy that he was about to learn how to smith his own works.
While he was waiting, he called the technology he met up in America to ask for the news. He was told that they had succeeded and would send his phone and laptop to him once they knew where he currently was. He told them his address and eagerly waited for his package to arrive. It took about a week for it to arrive. Harry quickly opened the box as anticipation filled him. He was greeted by the latest touch screen phone and laptop (2014, any type of model you want) and their manuals. He spends the whole night reading both manuals before he feels confident that he can operate both technologies without any help. The joys of the internet and computer games. He was ultimately into his laptop for the whole week, playing games or binge-watching a new series that was not available on cable.
By the end of the week, he was addicted to his laptop and almost forgot the blacksmith deal. The blacksmith was not disappointed when Harry arrived. So the first 3 months of the apprenticeship were spent learning and forging theories. He was not allowed yet in the forge until he ultimately passed the theory test as it was crucial if there was one small mistake when forging could ruin the whole thing. Harry managed to pass the test on his first try. The first thing the elder instructed him to forge was a small primary blade before they could advance to bigger stuff. It took him multiple attempts before the master was satisfied with the product before they moved on. The whole thing took him 3 years before his master was confident in him to forge without any assistance.
Before finally graduating, the last test he took was to forge a weapon of his own choice and design it without any help. He had already an idea of the weapon. It took him about two weeks before the product was done. When he showed it, his master was very impressed by it as he had only basic details of the sword from the internet. It was Glamdring, the sword wielded by Gandalf in Lord of The Rings. There were also runes embedded in it, but it was invisible to others except for the wielder's eyes. There was a subtle glow on the sword when Harry held it. To make it look like a holy object.
The runes were put there so that only he and his descendant could wield the sword fully. It was permanently ever sharp, impervious to rust, and nearly indestructible. If any other picked it up, the blade would grow heavy every second the person holding it unless given willing permission by the owner. It would not strike the bloodline of the carrier. Also, those with malicious intent would not be able to even lift the sword. The runes would also prevent it from being reforged without the creator or descendant's consent. And should they be able to bypass that, the moment the sword melt, it would destroy the materials. The runes were not written on the steel but enchanted when the ores were in molten form. The sword and any other forged items that Harry would make in the future would be instantly connected to his Requip magic. As he was molding the metal, he would let the magic flow into it as he hammered it.
After he graduated, he and his master had a last drink as a farewell as he would be leaving Japan to continue traveling the world. Before retiring the night, his master gifted him a trunk containing a forge and a few raw ore supplies. Enough to forge a dozen of weapons if he fancied. Harry thanked his master for his thoughtful gift. The next day Harry left Japan and continued journeying across the world.
During his travels, he encountered a dwarf when he visited the Alps for the second time. Through the dwarf, he began to enhance his own forging technique. The dwarves had apparently mastered multiple forging techniques, different from what he was taught by his master. Not only had he learned a few of their style, but also a few spells from them. One of them was a survey type charm that would scan the Earth surrounding the caster to detect if there were any precious materials or not. This truly helps him, especially after leaving the dwarves and running out of materials.
By the time he returned to the U.K., it had been 30 years since he left. He sometimes returned to attend his friend's events, such as their weddings and childbirth, including Teddy's birthday. He had written to his friends and family that he would be returning. They replied that they would have a celebration at the Weasley household.
He decided to surprise them with one of his armor and weapons forged. He wore the Nightingale Armor and Glamdring on his hips and Vortex Vanquisher on his back. All of this he took up from games and movies he watches or play on his laptop, which he obviously upgrades when the old one is starting to be left behind by the current specs.
There was a mixed reaction when the guests saw an armored figure apparating outside the house. All were surprised by his presence; some were scared and shaking when they saw the glowing eyes from the figure's hood. Others started to form a defensive line in front of the guest, determined to at least protect and give them time to call for backup. The armored figure stops a few feets away from the defenders. There was silence before the figure laughed. Some flinch at the laugh while others start shaking. The figure flipped down the hood a few seconds later. The helmet retracted into the armor, showing Harry's smiling face.
There was silence for a few seconds before a shouted profanity came from one of the guests. Then others joined in and laughed. Harry put back his armor into his requip space, which took the others by surprise at the magic shown by Harry. Harry just laughed. Shakes and hugs were exchanged before Harry started his tales when others had wanted to know what he had been up to. It was nighttime when Harry finished his story, so the others bade goodbye before leaving. Harry stays to talk some more before leaving for Grimmauld Place.
After his return, Harry feels a pull from a direction a few weeks later. At first, he ignored it, thinking nothing of it, but it became more substantial and harder to resist as days went on. So Harry just let the pulls direct him. Once he got near the Ministry telephone booth entrance, he started getting suspicious about why the force was leading him here. Harry followed it until it led him to the Death room, specifically the Veil of Death. Once he arrives there, he concludes that someone from the other side must be calling for him. He decides to ignore it for now and head back to his place.
He started thinking about how the pull was coming from the Veil. The Deathly Hollow. There must be some kind of connection between the Veil and the hollow. He doesn't believe the hollows come from Death or that uniting one would be the so-called Master of Death. No one can master Death as Death comes for all, no matter who or what, as it is only a matter of time before it claims you. No, what Harry theorize is that the Peveralls had to do with the hollows and Veil. Being the descendant of the youngest Peverall, Harry probably had to do something with that. But in any case, if things go south, he had to create a will in which he leaves everything to Teddy and names him heir to both Potter and Blacks House.
Once he had his will done and everything prepared, he quickly apparated to the Ministry and went into the veil room. He took a deep breath before stepping into the Veil. He appeared in never-ending whiteness.
"Hello, Master"
"Master? Who are you? Why are you calling me that?" asked Harry, tense as the figure appeared out of nowhere.
"Me? I am what you people called Death. As for why I called you master, isn't it obvious?" replied the now identified Death.
"The Deathly Hollow," breathes out Harry in surprise.
"Yes, the Hollow. Whoever unites them becomes the Master of Death."
"Bullshit, I don't believe that. Why would you give mortals the power over you?" retorted Harry.
"I guess you can. It was my ego that led me to that. But you are mistaken if all it takes to be my master by just uniting the hollows. Some conditions also need to be fulfilled before one can be my master, which you certainly did," said Death.
"And what would that conditions be?" asked Harry sarcastically.
"The person uniting the hollow must be a Peverall. They must not fear Death but rather accept that Death is not just the end but also the beginning, as it is the cycle of life and balance. Lastly, one must not carve for its power," answered Death.
"The Forbidden Forest when I accepted my death and rejected the wand power when I first broke it after the battle," concludes Harry.
"Indeed, when you had accepted your own death and rejected the wand, the hollows had accepted you as their master," said Death.
"Well, can you take them back? I don't want to be anyone's master, let alone Death," asked Harry while offering the wand, stone, and cloak.
"Very well, but you would have to do something for me for you to be fully released from the title. Handling the hallows is just one part of it. The other is that you would need to be reborn and die again, as that will truly release the title from you. I just have the place in mind for you to be reborn," said Death while accepting the offered items.
"Alright, so where is it?" asked Harry, curious about Death's proposition.
"One of the world I overseer, the Old Gods, has requested my help deal with the Cold Ones."
"There are other worlds besides this one? And who are the Old Gods and Cold Ones?" now fully curious about the place he will be reborn into. He felt calm, knowing he had just died when he entered the Veil and was now reborn.
"Yes, but that does not concern you. The Old Gods or The Old Gods of the Forest are pantheons of gods that ruled that world. The Cold Ones, or as the mortal called them, White Walkers, are a walking abomination that should have not been created. You'll find out more from the family that you'll be reborn in as they have records about them," answered Death.
"Very well. Is there anything else I need to know? Also, would I be able to have any access to my magic?" asked Harry, now accepting his new fate.
"Oh yes, make the First Men rise again or whatever. Anything else you can find out yourself. As for your magic, yes, but not the quality on Earth. Magic there will be quite chaotic. You won't be able to do any precision magic much unless you learn how to perfectly control your magic. However, ritual magic will work quite strongly here. Also, you won't be able to access your magic for a while, and your Requip magic will also be locked for a while until the Old Gods unlock them. They wanted to create a spectacle of it," answered Death casually as if talking about the weather.
"Alright, I'm ready."
"Very well then, goodbye, master," Death said before a blinding white light blind Harry.
Winterfell Godswood, 276 AC.
Lord Rickard Stark of House Stark was kneeling and praying to the Old Gods for guidance. As he did so after he had received the news. His son and heir had apparently married Barbrey Ryswell secretly and begotten her a child. He would have no problem with this as it would cement the Rsywell loyalty to the Starks. The problem is that he was in talks with Hoster for a betrothal between Brandon and Catelyn Tully. Luckily for him, the agreement was not yet signed. As he was praying, he was suddenly enveloped in darkness. He couldn't see anything, and as he was about panic, he suddenly heard voices, all speaking at once.
"Rickard Stark of House Stark, the descendant of Brandon Stark the Builder, we the Old Gods had awakened and foreseen the future. Dark times lie ahead. The North has forgotten. We have sent a helping hand that is being born as we speak. Make the First Men rise once again," ominously intoned the voices who had identified as the Old Gods before he was jolted back to the living.
As he pulled himself together, he started to think back to what the Old Gods had said. While he is happy that the Old Gods have awakened, he is also afraid of what this would mean. But what had clearly shaken him was what the Old Gods had said about the helper being born right now. He could not keep that thought out of his head. As he pondered who precisely the helper was, he did not notice a servant approaching him.
"My Lord, Lady Barbrey has given birth to a healthy son. Lady Stark has requested your presence when Lord Brandon would name his son," said the servant.
Rickard had almost jumped in surprise when he heard the servant's voice. The only reason he didn't was that he could quickly compose himself. The words of the servants reverted in his head before it finally dawned on him. He had a grandson now. He thanked the servant before walking back towards Winterfell.
When he arrived at the birthing chamber, he could see his family crowding around Barbrey, who was holding what clearly was his grandchild. Brandon noticed him first before the others parted to let him look at the babe.
"Father," greeted Brandon.
"Have you named him yet?" inquired Rickard as he looked at his new grandson before asking to hold him. Barbrey gently handed him their son as nervousness and anticipation filled her. This was the man who would determine the status of herself as Brandon's wife and their child. That feeling went away when she heard what he had said; relief crossed her face at the news.
"Not yet; we were thinking about it when you arrived," answered Brandon as he looked towards his father, who was holding his son.
"Torrhen. Torrhen Stark will be his name," announced Rickard with pride.
The others were surprised by this. While Torrhen is a Northern name, they thought he would name the babe after his father, Edwyle. Especially as the last Torrhen Stark was the King Who Knelt. Rickard's cryptic words left them befuddled when asked why he named after the previous Winter King.
"Then he shall be known as Torrhen Stark, the one who will rise."
They didn't know that Rickard knew that his new grandson was the helper the Old Gods had sent. Hence, he named him after the previous King, as it would befall him to call him after the King who knelt to save his people. Now he would also raise them back.
The next day, Rickard was at his solar, deep in thought. With Brandon now married and a son, he doubts Hoster would agree to change the agreement to Eddard marrying Catelyn Tully. Rickard was lucky that the betrothal was not signed yet. While people assume that Rickard had big southern ambition, he really did not, as all he did was ensure the survival of his people. The purpose of the betrothal intention between Brandon and Catelyn was to ensure that the North would be able to buy foods at a reduced price.
The fostering of Eddard to Jon Arryn is a different story. Jon Arryn had asked him if he could foster Eddard as he had a foster son at the same age as him. His reason is that his foster son, Robert Baratheon, the heir of Storm's End, would have someone to be friends with his age. Rickard initially suspects that Jon had a different motive. He couldn't really deny his old friend as they fought and bled together at the War of the Ninepenny Kings. So he agreed with the request.
Back to the betrothal situtation. As he ponders on the situation, a knock on the door shakes him out of his thought. A servant had informed him that Lord Heward Reed had arrived in Winterfell and requested a meeting with him. Rickard was surprised as he did not receive any missive from his old friend but was intrigued by what he wanted to discuss. So he told the servant to escort his guest to the solar.
Once his friend had arrived, he offered him bread and salt, which was accepted, and guest rights were invoked. Before he could even start asking, Heward quickly spoke.
"I presume the Old Gods had spoken to you?"
Surprised was evident on Rickard's face at his friend's words before he asked how did he know about that?
"I've had been receiving visions over this past year. They each have shown me a glimpse of the future. At first, I did not believe it, but then few moons ago, I received more than a glimpse. What I saw was horrible, Rickard. I immediately woke up, but I could never forget the sight. And before you ask me, no, I could not tell you. The Old Gods had forbidden me to tell anyone, let alone my family. Some traces of the Old Gods magic lingers around you to answer your question," answered Heward with a wiry smile and apologetic face.
"Ok, so if you cannot tell me what the visions are, why are you here, Heward? Not that I don't appreciate it. Besides telling me this, there must also be another reason," asked Rickard, now truly curious about why his old friend had come.
"Magic is back" was all Heward said. That completely took Rickard by surprise. Magic was the subject that the maesters completely disregarded and said it had died out when the last of the Targaryen dragons died. Brandon had built The Wall with the aid of the Children of the Forest and their magic.
"Truly?" breathed out Rickard.
"Magic had been coming back alive for the past year. The same as when I had first started receiving my visions. The fact that your grandson had been born when magic had just started coming back alive. I don't believe in coincidences, Rickard. I know your grandson's birth had something to do with magic coming back alive. A few days ago, I dreamt of a silhouette of a figure that was a mix of a wolf and a horse, surrounded by Heart Trees," answered Heward while narrowing his eyes at Rickard.
Rickard ponders over this revolution that Heward had just delivered. First was the talk with the Old Gods, his grandson being the helper they sent, Heward's dream, and now magic. He couldn't help but think this was all connected to Torrhen. What was the connection between Torrhen and magic? It couldn't have just been that the Old Gods wanted the First Men to rise. If they wanted to do so, magic would not be needed. So there is probably something that only magic could solve. The big question is, what is it?
Heward could see the questions running around his friend's head, but he is clueless here and has no idea why magic is suddenly coming back. He was shaken out of his thought when Rickard voiced his opinions and agreed with his assessment. After a few minutes of thinking it through, both decided to put it on the back burner for now. Instead, they would first focus more on the Old Gods' demand of rising the First Men.
They knew this would be a difficult task, but it was not impossible. To rise, the North would need to secure finance first before they could do anything, as, without the required gold, they won't be able to start any future projects. It was well known the North was the poorest of the Seven Kingdoms. Most of their hard-earned gold was used to buy food from the Southern kingdoms, as the hard soil of the North made it difficult to have a proper food supply. As Rickard was thinking of a solution, the detailed map of the North spread out on the wall got his attention. It was not the map itself that got his attention but rather the geological details. He approaches the map and traces his fingers on it. Heward, who had noticed that Rickard had stood up, was about to ask him what he was doing. Before he even could ask his question, Rickard murmured.
"These mountains, north, and south of Winterfell, have they been surveyed before?"
He quickly went to the bookshelf where all the past records of the past Starks Head were kept. He asked Heward to help look at all the documents to see if there were any survey reports here. Heward, confused by Rickard's behaviour, decided to follow along. Though he has an idea why Rickard wanted to find those records.
For three hours, they looked over the records. Nothing. Not even a single survey was done on the mountains. Except for the population census. Which has not been updated for the past 2 decades or so. This gives Rickard a glimmer of hope that some precious minerals could be found in both mountain areas. He made a note to hire some surveyors after this. Until then, they would have to be patient. This was the only thing they could do until the report came.
Moving on to another topic, roads. The kingsroad would need to be repaired as it had gone into despair over the years without proper maintenance. Not only that, a new road system would be implemented. The new road would connect all the houses in the North, with Winterfell acting as the centre point of the road. This would decrease the transporting time of delivering foods, especially when winter comes. Their forces could be quickly gathered and transported to any North parts with less time during wartime as an added benefit.
Another topic they discussed was rebuilding the Northen fleet. Brandon The Burner had torched the Northen fleet after his father disappeared in the Sunset sea. Ever since then, the North had not a fleet of their own. Any sea invasions were usually dealt with by the coastal lords. While this is a decent strategy, its problem would be the damage done to the cities where the invaders land. Buildings burned, resources either taken or burned, the civilians either killed or taken. This could have been avoided if they had at least a decent number of ships to repel the invaders on the sea.
The North has an abundance of resources to build the necessary fleet. But there exist a few problems. First is the experienced crew needed to maintain the ships. The North doesn't have much of them, discounting the Manderly. But even then, it won't be enough. It takes time to train them plus finding someone trustworthy to commandeer them.
Another problem is the financial aspect of building a fleet. In fact, all of the discussed plans relied on what the surveyors would find in the mountains. The roads are doable, Rickard thought to himself. Winterfell could burden half of the cost needed to repair the kingsroad. For the rest, he would need to have a compromise with all the other houses. He knew that it would strain the coffers, but he hoped that the coffers would refill in a few years if his hunch was correct on the mountains.
As they were finalizing the basic plans for the North, a thought suddenly occurred in Rickard's mind. Spies. How could he forget about them? He knew his actions would attract the South attention. Whether it was good or not, he had no doubt that some would try to sabotage it to keep the North desolate and dependent on the South. As he voiced his thought to Heward, the man himself shifted uncomfortably in his seat before speaking in an unsure tone.
"I might have an idea on how to deal with the southern spies."
Rickard rose an eyebrow at his word, curious about his friend's plan to deal with the problem, before asking, "What is it?"
"As you know, magic had awakened. Some crannogmen had awakened a new or rather lost gift we had from our past intermarriage with the Children of the Forest. Skinchangers or wargs as we like to call them," answered Heward hesitantly. Seeing Rickard's question glance, he explains what skinchangers could. Rickard ponders over this. It was a significant advantage if used properly. As a bonus, nobody would ever suspect a bird or small animal of being a spy. Sure the South liked to call their spies based on their house sigils or something, but now they had the animals literally as a spy.
"How long does it take to train them?" asked Rickard, with a plan being formed in his mind.
"I don't know. Maybe a year or two. I'll be blunt, Rickard, we don't have any text or knowledge for this as we have lost as much over the years. We were lucky those crannogmen could return to their body after warging when they had awakened it. I now had my son, Howland, and a few others to record its process. We're doing it blindly here and by trial and error. Though I am confident that we could at least train them to a decent level in a year or so," admitted Heward.
"I understand. Do not rush it. I am willing to wait. But here is what I want you to do. Once a crannogmen has mastered it to an extent, they will start teaching another batch. This way, they could learn it faster, as the more people who had learned it, the more people they could teach. This would reduce the time needed rather than having only one teaching them. After that, I want you to put them into all the major holdings or places in the North. I would need to clear the houses first before we start sending them south. I estimate that this will take three to four years. Once we cleared the North, we would spread false information. This will be our first security. Not to mention our reputations in the South clearly help us as they would not expect we have the mind to do it," explain Rickard his plan for the spies, for now, that is.
"Also, do not worry about funding, as House Stark would fund the operation. But it would have to be discreet and off the record, if someone might look into the financial record," add on Rickard as an initiative. After thinking about it thoroughly for a few minutes, Heward agreed. So they started finalizing the plan before they ended the meeting. Heward left the next day to implement the plan.
276 AC, Brandon Stark P.O.V.
Looking at his wife and son, Brandon couldn't even describe how elated he was as his father had apparently approved of his marriage and son. So much so that he forgot to ask his father why he had changed his mind. His father had disapproved of it at first, especially as his father had been in talks with Hoster Tully regarding a betrothal between Brandon and Catelyn Tully. All he could truly focus was on his wife and son. Nothing else matters.
Some had even wondered if Brandon had grown up as he was known as the Wild Wolf due to his wolf blood being strong in him. The truth is, he has and hadn't. While he was fostered with the Dustins, images or visions appeared in his dream a few years back. His Death. He had seen himself strangling while reaching for something with insane laughter in the background. At first, he ignored it, thinking it must have been the drinks or something. So he continued his life as it was. A few days later, the dream came back more vividly. The vision keeps coming every few days. So much so that he started to believe that it wasn't a dream. The image of his Death haunts him constantly; he had done everything in his power to forget about it.
He had tried telling others of his dream. But every time he tried, no words came out of his mouth. How could you explain that you had received visions of your Death? He had even tried to write it down, but that didn't work. His hands would constantly shake violently when he tried to describe his dreams. So he decided that he would live his life to the fullest if that was his future. Hence why he was called the Wild Wolf.
But now, despite the dreams haunting him, just looking at his wife and son, he had felt that he had already achieved everything in life. A beautiful wife and son. What more can he ask.
That's it for the first chapter. Hope you enjoy it. Review and comments are most welcome. Criticism will be accepted and appreciated as long as it's related to the story writing. Chapter 2 is currently on its way. The stories that inspire me are:
Reborn into the Wild Westeros by Arkane007,
Jaehaerys "Harry" Stark and the Northern Revolution by dfwmmnidb02,
A New North by Unconventional_sucker (A03),
The Difference One Man Can Make by joen1801,
The Alpha Wolf by Wyvern03,
The Last Hero Heir(I can't find it anymore as it had been removed),
Reign of Winter by TheLittleVoid,
Harry Potter and The Land of Ice and Fire by kossboss.
A Song of Ice, Fire and Lightning by Zero Rewind,
witch king of the north by chernabog90,
Dragonlord by Dragonspectre01,
Hadrian Lannister Lion of the Rock by Sage1988,
Dragon of the North by Tellie571,
The Dragonborn by DragonsKing83,
The Winter King by Dante 2K-25,
The Rise of House Black by Carrots123,
The Travels of Master of the Death (which also had been removed),
Veiled Dimension by riyer,
Rain in the Desert and Perfect Harmony by SoulReaperCrewe,
Harry Potter: Hadrian the Wild by Traban16.