Author's Note: Hello again, dear readers. I have noticed some confusion in the comments concerning the System I am implementing as well as certain other aspects of the fanfic so far. To clear that up, I want to remind everyone that this is a crossover fanfic of A Song of Ice and Fire by George R.R. Martin and The Land: Chaos Seeds by Aleron Kong. That being said, the premise of this story is that Planetos (the world of A Song of Ice and Fire) has been 'translocated' via the Divine Regalia of Supreme Translocation (mentioned in the prologue) and integrated into the Land (the massive world that serves as the setting of the Chaos Seeds series). To those who have read the Chaos Seeds series, you are aware that the 'Gamer' system is available to everyone, even monsters and animals to some extent. The River Peninsula, the continent home to the MC in Chaos Seeds, is just Northwest of Westeros in this fanfic (ergo the weather changes). I hope that helps clear some of the issues up. If not, feel free to comment and I'll try to respond in a way that minimizes story spoilage and maximizes clarity!

P.S. I own nothing that you may recognize in this story.

Chapter 3

Winterfell, Sanren 12, 15,367 ABG

Eddard woke with a pitiful moan. Stretching under the furs on his bed, he opened his eyes and looked through the window to see the sun had risen far above the hills.

'Seven Hells,' he groaned as he took stock of his condition. His mouth was dry, his head ached, and he had an uncomfortable urge to urinate. Sitting up reluctantly, he noticed that he was still wearing the same clothes that he rode in on yesterday, though at least he had the presence of mind to take off his boots, he comforted himself.

As he went to stand, he noticed that there were several notifications in the corner of his vision. Deciding to get it over with, he willed the messages to reveal themselves. Fortunately, the most important message was both brief and beneficial.

Congratulations! You have created a bond with a creature capable of becoming your familiar. The use of blood magic to strengthen your bond has increased the chances of Direwolf, (Level 4) becoming your familiar. Other unknown benefits will have to be discovered in time.

The rest of the messages consisted of increasingly dire warnings of his health dropping to 10% from the previous day. He shuddered as he chastised himself for his stupidity. Focusing on wanting to see information on the spell he used the day prior, Eddard was surprised when he was granted with the information.

Tame-

Cost: 100 Health, Mana, Stamina

Duration: 40 Hours

Type: Blood

Range: Touch

Cast Time: 5 Seconds

Cooldown: 12 hours

Level: 1

Description: Bend the will of a creature to your own.

Requirements: (1) Creature level must be less than or equal to your rank in the Skill: Beast Bonding. (2) If you tame the same creature for a required number of days in a row, then it will be loyal to you unto death. (3) As a Novice in Blood Magic, Tame must be successfully cast on the creature each day for 6 days per creature level.

As he read the surprisingly informative description, Eddard felt a swell of emotions rising in his chest. Fear, anger, and self-recrimination battled for supremacy as he tried to come to terms with what almost happened the day prior.

'I nearly died,' he admitted to himself. The only reason he was still alive was due to his gaining an extra point in constitution during Rodrik's training.

Clamping down on his emotions, Eddard swore to himself that he would never do something so impulsive as casting an unknown spell again. However, now that he knew the risks and requirements of the spell, he would just have to suffer through the next twenty-three days, casting the spell each night.

'Hopefully, the strain of it becomes easier,' he thought as he shuddered.

Performing his morning ablutions, Eddard began to get ready for the day. As he left his chamber, he noticed a mental tug on his consciousness. Following the feeling out of curiosity, he went down two floors and toward one of the abandoned wings. As he came in sight of two of his guards, standing sentry at the door of one the chambers, the feeling vanished.

"Good afternoon, men," Eddard said as he realized he'd been staring for too long.

"Good afternoon, my Lord," one of the guards said in relief.

"What does Jory have you guarding here?" he asked curiously.

"The direwolves, milord," the other guard said. "The bitch barely fit through the door, or so I've heard," he finished nervously.

"Aye, she's a big one," Eddard said as his lips quirked in amusement. "Have they been fed yet today?"

"Not since we've been here, milord. We relieved Sigurd and Ralf at dawn."

"Carry on, then," Eddard said as he frowned.

As Eddard walked out of the great keep and into the far too warm afternoon air, he mentally organized the tasks he needed to get done today. Crossing the courtyard to the great hall, he noticed many of the guardsmen and some of the craftsmen going in to partake of the midday meal. Joining them, he went inside and saw his family eating and talking casually at the high table. Smiling despite himself, he went to go join them.

"Good afternoon, pups," he said as he mussed Arya's hair.

Arya's head whiplashed as she turned to look at him. "Father! Can we go and see the wolf pups," Arya said as she looked pleadingly at him.

Sighing to himself, Eddard sat and reached over to squeeze his wife's hand.

"Good afternoon, Lady wife," he said softly to Catelyn.

"Good afternoon, my lazy husband," she returned with a smirk.

Smiling, he turned back to the table and noticed that all his children were still waiting to hear his answer to Arya's question.

Mulling over his answer, Eddard nodded cautiously before saying, "Aye. I need to talk to the kennelmaster to see how much meat each of them need, but I want all of you there to help feed the pups."

"Yes! I knew he would let us," Eddard overheard Arya brag to Jon.

Chuckling, Eddard dipped his bread into the ham and bean soup. Savoring the taste of the simple northern fare, Eddard let the conversations and noise of the hall wash around him as he finished his meal. As he went to finish off the rest of the ale in his cup, Robb called out to him.

"Father," he began nervously, "what happened between you and the mother wolf yesterday?"

Wincing at the reminder, he looked at his family's curious faces.

"On your status page," he said slowly, "do you all have the ability called Wolf's Blood?" He asked.

All of his children nodded with varying degrees of excitement on their faces and young Rickon actually let out a loud, "Awhooo!"

"That's enough, Rickon," his wife chastised as she moved the young boy over to her lap. Rickon squirmed a bit but eventually settled.

Looking back at Robb, Eddard said, "Aye, well, I saw that she was injured on the riverbank and thought I might try to use the ability to Tame her.

"But that's blood magic," his daughter Sansa blurted out as she looked at him in astonishment.

"It is," he admitted. "Before any of you get any ideas of doing the same," he said while looking at Arya and Bran, "I nearly died using the spell. Had I a constitution score of 10 instead of 11, I would have done so," he finished honestly.

His children looked shocked and scared at his admission.

"Well, I hope this is a lesson to all of you," his wife said firmly as she looked over each of her children. "I trust you will no longer be thinking to use magic to solve your problems, Eddard," she finished as she looked at him with a face that looked to be carved from stone.

'She's really not going to like this next part,' Eddard thought sorrowfully.

Sighing into his mug, he said, "Children, why don't you go down to the kennels and ask Walter about food for the direwolves."

As his children left to do as they were told, he looked at his wife with regret.

"What I did was reckless and impulsive," he began as she nodded her head, liking where this was going. "However," he said, and she narrowed her eyes, "now that I know the risks involved with the spell, I can mitigate them. The cost of the spell is clearly outlined, and if I use it each night then I can be done with it and never use it again after twenty-three days."

"Twenty-three days," she echoed back at him with a flat voice. "Do you think me a fool, Eddard Stark?" She asked with rising volume in her voice.

Quickly denying her claim he said, "Of course not, wife."

"Then tell me," she began, "do you intend for our children to use this spell of yours?"

At that, he winced. "I would never force our children into doing something, especially using a spell, if they were uncomfortable with it."

"No, but you would use it yourself in front of them, and then let them bond with their wolves before giving them the opportunity to do the same," she said as she looked at him accusingly.

Massaging his temple to calm himself, he said, "You make me seem a villain, wife. All I want is for our children to have a capable protector devoted solely to them. Besides, I wouldn't let them use the spell immediately. You heard what I said about the cost. Until their health, mana, and stamina are at least at 150, I wouldn't allow them to use the spell."

Catelyn just looked at him like she had never seen him before.

"Do you even hear yourself?" She whispered with tears filling her eyes.

"The honorable Eddard Stark, champion of blood magic," she half scoffed and sobbed as she viciously wiped away the tears from her eyes.

"If you continue with this sacrilege, do not expect me to perform my wifely duties while you pollute yourself and our home with your magic," she spat as she stood and walked off.

Eddard exhaled forcefully as he looked at the table that was filled with levity and laughter only minutes prior. Pushing his half-filled mug away disgustedly he stood and stalked off toward the kennels and his children.

'All I do is for my family and the North,' he reminded himself. For some reason, the thought didn't ease his worries as it used to.

After speaking with Walter and picking up the meat from the kitchens, Eddard and the children went to go feed the wolves. As he watched his children play with each of the pups they had chosen, he could feel his own wolf's amusement. Stroking her fur, man and wolf met each other's eyes and Eddard was shocked when a screen materialized between them.

Name: ?

Level: 4, 21%

Health: 140 Mana: 100 Stamina: 160

(Unused level points: 3)

Abilities:

Howl- Level 1, Points until next level: 1

Pounce- Level 1, Points until next level: 1

Rend- Level 1, Points until next level: 1

Resistances:

Water: 10%

Race: Direwolf

Somehow he had opened his wolf's status page, though it was much different than his own. Instinctively he tried to spend her unused level points but was rebuffed with a system message.

Direwolf (Level 4) is not your familiar. Continue to deepen your bond for increased system access.

Frowning, Eddard wondered how he would increase their bond outside of using Tame. "Hmm, I'll name you Winter," he said to her. She chuffed in acceptance before looking back to her pups once more. Pleased, he did the same. For the next hour or so, he and his children carried on in the same manner. Eventually, there was a knock on the door and Maester Lewin came in.

"My Lord, I thought I might find you here," he said with a small smile.

Returning the smile, Eddard nodded and said, "I wanted to thank you for patching up Winter, I can't imagine it was easy."

"No, it was not," the Maester said with a chuckle. "Though she is healing much quicker than even I thought possible. She should be ready to move around again within the week."

Eyebrows raised, Eddard looked at the Maester in disbelief.

"Believe it, my Lord," the Maester smiled. "Direwolves are hardy creatures, and I imagine access to this system has only made them hardier."

Nodding his head in understanding, Eddard asked the Maester whether he would be amenable to watching over him as he cast Tame again later that evening.

"Of course!" the Maester enthusiastically said. "As you may know my Lord, I studied Valyrian magic at the Citadel, and even earned a Valyrian steel link, but no acolyte or Maester has been able to work magic since the Doom."

"Until then, though," the Maester continued, "I have a number of reports for you to go through."

At the mention of work, his children piped up, wanting to take their direwolves to play out in the courtyard.

"Fine," Eddard obliged. "Just make sure to stay in sight of your guards," he reminded them.

As the children left the room, he and the Maester looked over the familiar reports regarding crop yields, tax reports, and building quotas. Hours later, they finished the mundane reports and Eddard noticed that Winter had fallen asleep.

"The rest of the reports focus on what many people have figured out about the system so far. If we meet Mikken by the forge, he can explain and show you what he's discovered."

Eddard nodded in acquiescence as they left the room.

Walking toward the smithy, Eddard heard the familiar sound of metal striking metal and could smell the distinct, acrid tang of molten steel. As Mikken saw him and the Maester approaching, he carefully instructed his apprentice on what to do before relinquishing his position at the anvil.

"Milord, what can I do for ye today?" Mikken asked.

Eddard nodded politely at the blacksmith before saying "The Maester says you have discovered something new about the system. What can you tell me about it?" He asked.

"Hmm," the smith said as he scratched at his patchy beard. "Better if I just show ye how to do it yourself, milord," he said.

Perplexed, Eddard watched as the old blacksmith opened a barrel filled with recently finished swords and reached in, grabbing one. Coming back toward them, the smith held the blade out to him and asked him to hold it. Obliging, Eddard did so.

"Now, what can you tell me about the blade, milord?" Mikken asked.

Eddard studied the blade, noticing a few imperfections but altogether seeing a decent steel longsword. As soon as he had that thought, a notification popped up in front of him.

You have received: Soldier's Steel Longsword

Attack: Damage 12-16

Durability: 50/50

Item Class: Common

Quality: Above average

Weight: 1.5 kg

"Well, that is certainly useful," Eddard murmured thoughtfully.

"Aye, it certainly is at that," Mikken agreed. "My steel may not be the equal to that Valyrian steel ye carry on yer back, yer lordship, but it gets the job done."

Wanting to test out this new ability on Ice, Eddard unsheathed the blade and brought if before his eyes, studying it intently.

You have received: Magic Steel Greatsword

Attack: Damage 72-90

Durability: 500/500

Item Class: Epic

Quality: Masterwork

Weight: 1.2 kg

Traits: ?

Eddard blinked and then looked again.

'Nope, still the same,' he thought astonished. Everyone knew that Valyrian steel was superior to regular steel, but seeing the numbers quantified before him made that reality hit home for him in a way that it never had before. Seeing the blacksmith gawping at the sight of his sword convinced him to sheathe it rather quickly.

"Was there anything else that you discovered, Mikken?" He asked.

Recovering himself, Mikken said, "Not as such, milord. I did level up to level two after getting my Blacksmithing skill to level ten, but I've heard others have already done the same."

Eddard nodded as he heard that. Many of his skilled workers received 2,000 experience points from leveling up to ten in a skill. From what he had heard, it took 1,000 experience points to get to level two and then another 2,000 to get to level three.

"Keep up the good work, then," he said as he clapped the man on the shoulder.

"Where to next?" He asked the Maester as they walked toward the east gate.

The Maester shuffled his papers before saying, "Winter town, my Lord. We have a bowyer, a horse breeder, and a woods witch to meet," he said matter-of-factly.

Eddard just snorted in amusement before agreeing.

Hours later, the pair walked back through the east gate into the castle proper after several enlightening conversations.

"I still can't believe you drank that swill, Lewin," Eddard laughed as he looked at the bereaved Maester's expression.

"You saw the system message, same as I did, my Lord," the Maester said defensively. "If a potion could truly restore health, then I had to test it."

"True," Eddard conceded while smiling. "Though what good it is when you're unable to keep it down, is beyond me."

"On that, we are in agreement, my Lord," the Maester said while shuddering.

All of a sudden, Eddard could hear men in armor moving swiftly near him. Instinctively reaching for his blade, he turned and saw Jory walking quickly toward him with two familiar guards in tow. Releasing his blade's hilt, he gave Jory his attention.

"My Lord," Jory said, "these two idiots just informed me that Bran and Arya have been missing for the past hour and a half."

Looking at the guard's beleaguered expressions, Eddard coldly said, "Punishment can be levied later. Where did you last see my children?"

"The First Keep, milord," one of the guards said. "They were there one moment and gone the next. I wouldna' believed it if I hadn't seen it meself."

Ignoring the guard's excuses, Eddard turned to Jory.

"Rouse the off-duty guards. I want the First Keep searched top to bottom."

"It will be done, my Lord," Jory said.

As he walked toward the First Keep, Eddard tried to smother his fear for his children with anger.

'Incompetent morons will be lucky if they're on shit duties for a year,' he thought vengefully.

As he and dozens of other guards searched the keep from top to bottom, it soon became clear that the children were nowhere to be found. Refusing to give up, Eddard decided to start back at the bottom of the keep, deep underground, and work his way up. As he reached the bottom again, Eddard sat down on one of the stone blocks that jutted out from the wall. Resting for a moment against the millenia old foundation, he thought he heard a faint noise through the stone behind him. Curious and desperate, he sat back and pushed his ear against the wall, waiting to see if he could hear another sound. Minutes later, he prepared to push himself from the wall when he heard a wolf pup's howl.

"Here!" he shouted at the men. Seconds later, Jory materialized next to him.

"What is it my Lord?"

"They're through here! I heard a wolf pup howling out," he said.

Looking at the dubious and pitying expressions being sent his way by his own guardsmen made him furious.

"Go grab the master builder and bring some damn pickaxes back down!" he raged at those standing around doing nothing.

Immediately the room cleared out except for him and Jory.

Jory, meanwhile, was searching the area he had just pointed out with a torch when he called out to him.

"My Lord! Come look at this!"

Moving swiftly, Eddard looked at what Jory had found. Strange markings marred the stone.

'No, those aren't markings. That is the Old Tongue,' he thought as he tried to remember his lessons from his father that he received what seemed a lifetime ago.

"Can you understand it, my Lord?" Jory asked.

"Maybe," he said thoughtfully as he placed his hand against the wall. As he did so, a faint voice spoke inside his mind. 'Do you wish the passage to open, O King of Winter?'

'Yes,' he thought back.

As he did so, the ground began to shake, and he heard stone and rusted gears move for the first time in thousands of years. Eventually, the shaking stopped and the wall in front of him opened, revealing a wide passageway. Hearing a yapping sound in the distance, Eddard walked resolutely forward. As he walked, torches held in place by sconces attached to the wall lit with an eerie blue fire that seemed to welcome him on his way. After fifty or so yards, the passageway opened into a circular room with a shallow circular depression in the center.

"Arya! Bran!" Eddard called out as he saw them holding each other in the center of that depression.

"Father!" They both yelled out as they and their wolves rushed toward him.

Catching them both in his arms he held them close as he thanked whatever Gods would listen for letting him find his children. Eventually he let them go and took a good look at them. Both had obviously been crying but otherwise seemed completely uninjured.

Perplexed at the whole situation, he asked, "How did you two get down here?"

"It was Bran's fault!" Arya shouted. "He said he heard some stupid voice and we went through a doorway and ended up here," she said as she hugged him tightly again.

Sighing, he looked over at Bran who had started crying again at Arya saying it was his fault and pulled him into the hug as well.

Minutes later, Bran peeled himself off and said in a hoarse voice, "Father, the voice said the King of Winter needed to have this." Opening his hand, Eddard saw a small crystal nestled in Bran's palm.

Frowning, Eddard picked it up and was immediately greeted with a system notification.

Congratulations! You have found the heart crystal keyed to the village of Winterfell. As there are no previous owners, you may now lay claim to the village. Would you like to claim the village? Yes or No?

Eddard sighed.