Skagos, The North, 6th moon of 275 AC

It's been a moon since Ragnar summoned Castle Volkirar at the Plains. He announced to all that Castle Volkirar would be the seat of power. Ragnar knew the castle wasn't that great, but it was the only one he had; it was also the only woman he ever loved's birthplace; he planned to rebuild what was broken and build extensions, he wanted to make the caste as big as Winterfell, and to do so he would need help from a builder who MASTERED his arts. It was one of the reasons why he would go to Mereen after IB.

Ragnar was preparing his ship to sail to IB, he thought about flying that, but in the end, he decided to go by ship and let Midstinul take care of Skagos; Ragnar let his steward, who was the same steward for late Lord Magnar, in charge of his land, Ragnar used the Bend Will shout on him to make him loyal. He would've felt bad if not for the crimes the man had committed during his time as Lord Magnar steward.

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A/N:

This character only exists because I didn't want to leave Skagos without "supervision."

"I will sail for IB in a few hours; my dragon will stay and protect the Island." Said Ragnar, his hair was braided as if he was one of the Dothraki; he wore a red gibbon with a leather vest on top of it, black trousers, and an ice bear fur cloak, which gave him the appearance of true Lord of the North.

"Yes, mi'lord, do you have any instruction?" Said the Steward; the man was old; he wore some heavy clothes to protect him from the cold and looked as ready to receive the sweet touch of death as any other person with a terminal disease.

"Yes, I want you to get as many builders as you can from all around the island and begin to build houses on Castle Volkiras surroundings, but only to the north of it. I already sent a raven to Lords Crowl and Stane ordering them to send the builders… pay them 70 silver stag a month, here's coins I left for this task," Ragnar said as he handed the man a massive sack of silver coins

"When I get back from my trip, I want to see at least 100 houses.. if you need any advice, ask Midstinul; he is thousands of years old Dragon after all," Ragnar joked. The old steward chose to remain silent and simply nodded.

The last person Ragnar needed to talk to was the Maester.

"Drem yol Lok, greetings, joor! Before I depart for IB, there are some things I need to clarify and delegate." Said Ragnar, his face held a contemplative expression; some would say it didn't match his character, brute man don't contemplate, after all, these people would be wrong, Ragnar was one of the greatest scholars his world has ever seen, his domain and mastery over magic was legendary, feared by his foes and welcomed by his allies.

" Midstinul will hold court during my absence," Ragnar informed the man

"The… the Dragon, my lord? Are you sure this is wise? " Inquired the not-so-old but still past his time Maester.

"He's as old as human civilization itself; he is probably the wisest of us all." Answered Ragnar, and he genuinely believed it; his time in Soul Cairn was a humility lesson for the dragon; he was now keen on judgment, and his time by Ragnar's side in Skyrim taught him of the ways of man.

"If you wish so, my lord," the maester said…

"One more thing… If I get summoned to Kingslanding because you informed your order of my magic and might, I will kill you in the most painful way possible and imprison your soul in a world of nightmares and profanities… I WILL burn the Citadel to the ground and erase it from history. you have seen what I can do… the time for the south to know about my power is coming, but it has not arrived yet." Ragnar said; his whole face had changed, and so had the air inside the room; it was heavy; it was as if they were on the top of the world's tallest mountain.

"Are we understood, maester?" Asked Ragnar after the Maester's lack of answer…

"My Lord I… I already…" before he could finish his sentence, he was interrupted.

"No, you haven't; I intercepted your ravens, all of them. I hope you haven't forgotten about the contents of your oaths… " Ragnar said; he then left the room and headed to the docks.

When Ragnar got to the docks, people were waiting for him; they wanted to send him off and pass on their good wishes. It was a surprise for Ragnar, he underestimated his popularity, but he welcomed them regardless.

Ragnar then got to his ship; there would be only one more man with him, a sailor who would navigate the vessel.

"M'Lord…" said the sailor as he slightly bent his head. Ragnar nodded at him but said nothing.

"My name is Dig of Kingshouse and…" the sailor then talked about their trip and asked Ragnar if he wanted to set the ships' course; Ragnar denied it and just told the man to do what he usually did when he sailed to IB.

They departed from Skagos to IB a few minutes after that.

Ragnar's trip was rather dull; Clean Skies and Cyclone ( only the first word) made the trip as easy as possible, and they got to IB in the record time of 5 weeks.

Dig would never forget the time his Lord made the shivering sea yield to his voice; this would later on become a legend among the sailors and pirates of the world.

Ib, the Ibben Isles, 7th month of 275 AC

The island of IB was cold, not colder than Skagos, but cold still. Their geography was interesting, to say the least; they had mountains and Forrests as well as plains. Ragnar found the Island extremely pleasant; the forests made him remember Falkreath.

"The Port of Ibben" was one of the Largest cities Ragnar had ever seen; when he docked the in the port, before he could even leave his ship, some man of the city guard came and asked some basic questions; Ragnar answered them to the best of his knowledge. He said he was the High Lord of Skagos and was there to buy whalers ships and convince some men and women to immigrate to Skagos.

The guards allowed him entrance and gave him some instructions to follow; they even recommended some shipwrights and inns. Ragnar thanked them and walked away to one of the shipwrights the guards recommended

The Port of Ibben, The Ibben Isles, 7th moon of 275 AC

The people of Ib, the ibbanese, were a welcoming people, or so Ragnar thought; they would talk to him with EXTREME respect. Ragnar's theory was that they feared him; to them, he was a giant; the ibbanese were small people, most of them were shorter than 5'5 ft, and none of them was taller than 6 ft, and because of that, Ragnar stood out like a lighthouse on a stormy night. Ragnar was stopped more than four times before he could get to the Shipwrights, all of them by children; they would ask him if he was a giant or if he was two men… one girl even asked if he was a Tree. Ragnar would have a full belly laugh every time he listened to one of their "theory" of the reason why he was so tall.

Ragnar got to a massive warehouse, there were many docks inside it, and thousands of men could be seen working. Ragnar marveled at all that.

"So this is the place where the best shipwrights of Ib work. The guards said that more than 2000 shipwrights currently work here; if I play my cards right, I'll be able to get a least 100 of them to go to Skagos ." Ragnar said to himself; he had high hopes for this whole "operation" getting the ibbanese to Skagos would be the turning point for their economy.

"Greetings; I'm sorry for getting in your way, but who should I talk to to get some business done?" Ragnar asked a random worker he saw passing by. The man was short like all his countrymen; he wore simple fur clothes, like most people on this island.

"It's no problem, tall man, you should go talk to Durin; he's the boss here. You can find working in that big ship over there," the man said as he pointed towards a massive ship in the middle of the warehouse. Ragnar thanked the man and went to talk to Durin. Ragnar walked for 4 minutes inside the warehouse till he got to Durin. When Ragnar first saw Durin, the first thing he thought was, "A fucking dwarf" the man was even shorter than most and had a beard worthy of respect. He was inspecting the work of his subordinates; he seemed satisfied even though he had a "no-nonsense" face.

"Greetings, I'm Ragnar Dovahkiin of House Dovahkiin, from Skagos. One of your works told me that to get some business done, I would need to talk to you," Ragnar said; his voice was neutral, and so was his demeanor.

"Greetings, giant lord from Skagos. My name is Durin of the wood hand. What kind of business do you want with us?" Replied Durin, his voice was a rasp one, and although he called Ragnar by a nickname, his tone showed nothing but respect.

"It seems bluntness is a characteristic of all Northern people, I appreciate that... There are a few things I want to discuss with you." Ragnar said; his eyes were cheerful, as was his mood, and his face had a small simile to it

"I'm all ears, m'lord" replied Durin

"I have a proposition for you; I want you and a few of your men to go to Skagos, I'll pay you twice what you get paid here, and I will even add some bonus for each ship you build for me…"

Ragnar and Durin spent the whole day discussing terms and conditions, Ragnar noticed the man was reluctant about something, but he didn't press the matter.

"Mi'Lord, your offer is fantastic, but I'm afraid that the council will attempt to kill me if they find out about your plan, and if they fail to kill me, they will begin a naval war with your land... " Durin said; his face was sour; it was as if he had spent the last two hours kissing a lemon.

"You don't get to worry about the Council; I'll take care of them, I just need you to agree to my terms, so do we have a deal?" Ragnar CALMLY replied; his face held an even larger smile than the one he had arrived with, and his plans were working.

"Aye, we do, m'lord; I will need a few weeks to get a few things done; I'll try to convince as many of my boys as possible; I believe the seconds or thirds sons will be easily persuaded... they are not the best, but they can manage.." Durin said. He was more than satisfied with the deal; it was an excellent opportunity to rise in this world. He would be getting paid trice as much as he did before, he would be getting a bonus for each ship he builds, and he would be given a house. The only bad thing about the deal was that Skagos had a somewhat gruesome reputation, but Ragnar assured him that the Island had changed.

" Good. I expect you to be able to depart for Skagos as soon as you get your things done. We will talk about details later on… My day was a busy one, and I need to rest a little," Ragnar replied as he got up and shook Durin's hand.