Skagos, The North, 7th Moon of 278 AC
The city of Winterhold changed a lot in the last seven moons; the city had officially passed the mark of 100000 citizens; a few moons ago, there was a massive arrival of immigrants from the Eastern part of the north, most of them coming from the Boltonlands in search of a better life. Three moons after the Lord's children arrived, Durin, the shipwright, told Ragnar that he and the 100 shipwrights had finished training 1000 men as Ragnar demanded and that now they could begin to work on building new ships; Ragnar agreed and told them to build only warships for now. Ragnar told Durin to get 100 of his best shipwrights and build a three-mast massive ship, Durin told him it would take at least two years to get it done, but Ragnar said it wasn't a problem. This led to Skagos opening new trades agreements with Ibben and House Umber for timber; the trade agreement made House Umber extremely happy as it brought an additional income for their lands.
Another thing Ragnar did was help house Crolw to mine the iron on their lands. The Iron was to be stored and later on used to make armors and swords; Ragnar planned to get Marwin the mage to help him on making a Blasting furnace, which would make Steel production significantly cheaper. Ragnar would sell this steel to the mercenary companies in Essos and help House Crowl.
Ragnar was at the moment in the training grounds of Jorrvasrk, which he had summoned a few weeks past. He was observing his three foster sons battle each other with wooden swords and shields.
Benjen Stark was a prodigy in swordsmanship as he was in magic; Harwin Crowl had a decent talent but lacked the strength to back it up, Theon Stane was a strong young lad and a smart one as well; his skill and talent with the sword were lacking, but Ragnar thought that something havier would suit the boy better, a Battle-axe maybe.
" Benjen, for the last time, raise your fucking shield. Being good with a sword doesn't mean you can forget about your defenses. If you were fighting with someone a little better than Harwin would've lost three moves ago." Benjen nodded and continued to fight; the two Skagossi were trying hard to win against him, they were failing miserably.
" Harwin, what are you doing, boy? Are you attacking or defending? Look at your feet, boy! You are attacking Benjen with your swords, but your feet are in a defensive stance. If this is a strategy, you must constantly fight with a raised shield. If you fail to transition your upper body to a defensive posture, the shield will help you to deflect a fatal blow. " Harwin looked confused but then nodded; apparently it wasn't a strategy he was just afraid of Benjen's prowess, but he corrected his feet' position. They continued the fight; to the guards watching, they were legends in the making; no children of one and ten, like Benjen, or ten, like Harwin, could fight that way, Benjen and Harwin, who had been training under Ragnar for the past 4 moons, were extremely good for their ages. Theon, who only arrived a few weeks past, was slowly but surely catching up with them. The new rumor in Skagos was that anyone Ragnar trained would become a legendary warrior, as Benjen and Harwin could already beat boys of five and ten. This rumor spread so quickly that by the time the Lords arrived for the marriage, the whole north would be aware of it.
Unfortunately for the boys, Ragnar didn't share the guard's opinion; for him, they had potential but it was hidden under pounds and pounds of failure and flaws.
" Good, Benjen good work! But if I have to remind you to keep your shield up tomorrow, I will glue it to your head and make you swim on the Redwater for a whole hour. Understood?" Ragnar asked
" Aye, Archmage!" Benjen said as he nodded.
" Harwin… I don't know what is going on with your legs, but you need to make them work with the rest of your body. Tomorrow you do synchronization exercises, spin your hand to one side and your feet to the other, and stuff like that. No sword for you for a whole week; you can't die in battle because your feet didn't change from defending position to attacking." Ragnar said, Harwin looked sad about not being able to use the train with a sword for a whole week, but he nodded in the end.
" Theon, if you plan on using a sword you better take this plan, burn it and throw it away as soon as you can. You have no talent for the sword; I've been trying to show you this ever since you got here. It would help if you had a heavier weapon, your legs are smaller than your upper body, and you will be able to make powerful swings. I recommend you a battle-ax. You will see what I'm talking about in a few moons." Ragnar said and Theon just nodded stoically; Ragnar liked the young man
" Aye, my lord. I will ask father to send me battle ax." Theon said.
" You don't have to. I will get you one. Just as long as you understand that sword is not for you." Ragnar said
" Benjen, go back to the college and study self alteration for the rest of the day. I don't trust you will keep your shield up in a large-scale battle. You will learn to make your skin harder, so I don't have to go to your funeral before my sons go to mine… if I die, that is" Ragnar joked, and Benjen laughed.
"Aye." He said.
" Hardin and Theon, today you will follow Davos around, he is my best friend, and he is the one who talks to the smallfolk. You need to learn how to listen to your people's claims and manage those claims. Davos will help you with this. I hope I won't hear any complaints from him. If I do, boys, you will spend a moon in the mines training your arms strengths." Ragnar calmly said and both boys nodded.
" Now go. I have a few things to do." Ragnar said.
Ragnar went inside Jorrvaskr and found Dacey seated at the great table talking to her mother who had arrived a few moons ago to help with the wedding. Maege Mormont, the she-bear was a strong woman; she was proud that her oldest daughter found a husband like Ragnar, a strong yet intelligent man. There were other people in the Nordic hall, most of them were servants or lords of minor houses of the north that came for the wedding; there were twenty men of the Dragonguard guarding the hall and preventing any trouble from surfacing.
" My Lord!" The two guards at the entrance saluted!
"At ease," Ragnar said and walked to the table, and sat on Dacey's side.
" Ragnar. Did you finish the training of the boys for today?" Dacey asked after Ragnar kissed her.
They didn't love each other, but they wanted to fuck like there was no tomorrow, and that was ok for both of them; Ragnar was from Skyrim, they married people they found attractive; rare was the time a long courtship took place before people of Skyrim married, and Dacey was a woman she was lucky she felt attracted to the man she would marry. They were sure love would come later on.
" I did. Benjen Stark is a exceptional young man. Harwin Crowl is good with the sword. Theon will grow up to be a strong man. I guess they will be ok." Ragnar said, and Dacey smiled.
"That's, good. What are your plans for the day? You have to teach at the college and then what?" Dacey asked.
" I plan on going to the Port to check on the them. The fishing trade is stoping right now as now is the reproductive period of some fishes. I banned the fishing this time of the year, they want to go up the shivering sea to fish there. I asked my students to crave some heat runes on some stones, I have 200 of them, I will distribute them to the sailors to help them with the cold up there. Do you want to accompany me? It won't take long." Ragnar said as he put a hand on her tight.
" Aye, I can acompany you if you wish. We can train later as well. It's been a few days since we trained together." She said and Ragnar smiled
" Aye. It seems the she-bear wants to show her claws… dangerous" Ragnar joked.
Ragnar and Dacey did as they planned, the port was full of live even with the fishing market on it's lowest. Ragnar had two unicorns pulling a wagon with the stones, once Ragnar and Dacey arrived at Kingshouse Town the citizens gathered to welcome them. He gave them the stones and talked to them about this plans. Ragnar told them to be careful and to avoid getting far away.
Skagos, The North, 7th Moon of 278 AC
Lord's "POV"
The Lords of The North had arrived for the wedding; the first to arrive were House Karstark, followed by House Manderly and Bolton. The last House to arrive was House Mormont, as they were on the opposite side of the map. Most Lords wanted to go and check on their sons and daughters at the College of Winterhold. They wanted to know about their progress in magic and if it was a real thing. Lord Rickard Stark wasn't so worried about it as Ragnar had kept him informed on everyone's progress, including Benjen, who, according to Lord Dovahkiin, was a genius. Rickard had heard about how the people of Skagos were saying that Benjen was going to be a great warrior, all thanks to Lord Dovahkiin's guidance. Both Lord Crowl and Stane shared this feeling; they both heard their heirs would be the greatest of their family.
The Lords were all mesmerized by the sight of Kingshouse town; it was a town the size of a city. According to Davos, a close friend of lord Dovahkiin, more than 30.000 people lived in the town, which surprised the Lords as the town didn't have an awful smell; Davos then explained that the town had an efficient drain and cistern system that avoided the bad smell so common in other cities. Rickard asked Davos why Kingshouse Town was a town and not a city; Davos told him that although Ragnar had a charter for the whole Skagos, the town would need to have 50.000 inhabitants before it could be called a city and have all the benefits.
Rickard was surprised by how fast Skagos had developed under Ragnar's rule; he noticed that most young people were able to read, which was confirmed later by Davos. Rickard saw a large board with papers right in the center of the town; written on these papers were news about the realm, some projects to be done, and job offers. Rickard saw a child reading these notices to her parents, who nodded and walked away. Another thing Rickard noticed was that the Skagossi children seemed to respect him and his house a great deal.
Davos told Rickard that he wouldn't accompany him to Winterhold as his duty was to welcome the Lords to Skagos and guide them. Rickard thanked Davos, and with five guards provided by House Dovahkiin, he and the 7 Lords that accompanied him went to Winterhold.
The road that connected Winterhold to Kingshouse Town was extremely broad, so broad in fact that it could have 11 wagons riding side by side, and there would still have room for people to pass by walking.
Once Rickard and the lords saw Winterhold, they were too shocked to speak. The college and the glasshouses were the things that called them the most.
Lord Stark and his fellow lords were taken to Jorrvaskr, where Lord Dovahkiin would meet them.
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Ragnar's "POV"
Ragnar was in Jorrvaskr getting some things done for his wedding; the wedding would take place at a massive Wairwood Three in Frostfall's, the castle that used to be Castle Volkihar, backyard. Ragnar had carved the face on the wairwood by himself and connected it to the wairwood three on Kingshouse. Ragnar had also made a golden statue of Mara and Akatosh and placed them by the wairwood three. Ragnar wanted to honor his gods even though he couldn't feel their presence anymore.
The party would take place at the newly reformed Great keep of Frostfall; the Great keep was twice as big as Winterfell's and had magical illumination and heating system. Inside the keep, there would be 32 rolls of great tables, with 16 on each side. In the middle of the keep was a massive firepit that went from the last table to the first. The firepit was magically enchanted to produce just enough warmth to let everyone feel comfortable.
Ragnar had recruited 200 more servants to help with the wedding, they would serve the food and drinks, clean the tables to allow more food to be served, etc.
Ragnar has also recruited 400 more guards to help on the wedding; he got the most experienced one to help on the wedding and put the new ones to patrol the cities; these 400 men would become a permanent part of the city guard. They were all equipped with steel armor, all with the Dovahkiin Dragon and name on the chest. They held shields and axes and were highly disciplined. They would make sure no lollygagging would happen.
" My lord, Lord Stark, Lord Cerwyn, Lord Poole, Lord Mollen, Lord Knott, Lord Cassel, Lord Tallhart, and Lord Harclay have arrived; the guards are bringing them here to meet with you." A man said
" I thank you for the warning, Arne. What about Dacey? Where is she?" Ragnar asked without looking at the man while writing something on the scroll. Ragnar really hated these animal-made scrolls; they were highly inefficient and tough to write on.
" She and her mom are walking by the Redwater. They discussed a way to approach you with a trade agreement with Bear Island." Arne said.
Arne was the highest-ranked man on the Cityguard, a captain of sorts, all the men reported to him and as such, he knew of many things that happened in the city. Which was why Ragnar wanted the man by his side when Davos was occupied with something else.
" I see… that will be something hard to do. Geographically Bear Island is the hardest place for us to trade with. I'll think of something." Ragnar mused.
Ragnar finished writing his orders and schedule of the next moon and put them aside to welcome the Lords of The North.
" Lord Stark! It's good to see you again. How was your trip." Ragnar said as he shook hands with Rickard and hugged him.
" Lord Dovahkiin. It's good to see you aging, my friend. The trip was uneventful; your warships protect the bay of seals strongly. That's good. Finally, someone does his job to the shivering sea and its bays." Rickard said, and Ragnar laughed.
" I thank you for your praises, Lord Stark. Come, my Lords, let us drink for the day. In three days, this bachelor will be finally married." Ragnar joked.
" AYE!" they answered.
As they talked more and more, Lords arrived at Jorrvaskr to be welcomed by Ragnar, which Ragnar would always welcome with a laugh and offer them drinks.
Dacey and Maege arrived a few hours later, they were welcomed by the amazing vision of Ragnar and Greatjon Umber on a wrestling match, which Ragnar won after a few minutes. ( Ragnar wasn't even trying. He just did it for fun)
" HA. STRONG LIKE A DRAGON!!! A TRUE NORTHERNER!!! HE RIDES ON A BEAR AN DEFEATS THE KINGS GUARDS IN FRONT OF THE KING, HE ENDS HUGER FOR HIS PEOPLE AND DOESN'T LET OURS STARVE. A TOAST… TO THE DRAGON OF THE NORTH. TO THE ICE DRAGON!" Greatjon shouted to all the lords present who reused their horns (mug) and shouted
"AYE, THE DRAGON OF THE NORTH"
The feast kept going for hours; in a determined time, Ragnar called for Howland Reed and Benjen Stark. He called Lord Stark to a corner and said
" I have a proposition for you, my Lord. I have called for Howland Reed as he is the only lord on the neck and this proposition involves the neck. This proposition will benefit the North immensely." Ragnar said
" Let's wait for them then." Lord Stark said, and Ragnar nodded. Ragnar and Lord Stark went back to the table and waited for Howland Reed.
Once the young lord and Benjen arrived, they greeted Ragnar and Rickard. Benjen hugged his father and nodded at Ragnar. Howland just bowed to both of them.
" Howland, I've called you here for a reason. I have a proposition to Lord Stark, but it involves your land and as such, I thought it would be a good idea to let you hear of this proposition." Ragnar said, and Howland nodded.
" Well, let's get it done then, my friend. What is this proposition of yours? Do you want to marry your future children to house Reed?" Rickard jocked and Ragnar smiled.
" No, my Lord. What I propose is for us to build a canal on the neck, connecting the Fever River to the bite. It would be a 97-mile-long canal, and it would have to be big and deep enough to allow my whaler's ships to pass through it. Ninety-seven miles long and 8 miles wide." Ragnar said, and Rickard's smile disappeared to give place to a pensive face.
" That… would require a lot of work, and it would give the Lord of Moat Cailin great power as they would be the ones to collect tools and taxes. Like House Frey on the Riverlands," Rickard said, and Ragnar nodded
" Aye, it would; House Dovahkiin can pay for half of the Canal and supply an invaluable workforce to work on the canal. But for that, we want a tax and toll exemption for the next 200 years." Ragnar said and Rickard nodded.
" You seemed to have calculated everything for this canal. Tell me the numbers you got to." Rickard said.
" The construction would take at least ten years, it would cost us 6 million golden dragons. House Dovahkiin is willing to pay 4 million of this value. I took the liberty to send a letter to the Iron Bank of Braavos informing them of this little plan of mine; they said they are interested in investing in this canal… you would have to sit and talk to them about the terms." Ragnar said, and Rickards's eyes went wide
"The Iron Bank wants to invest in the canal? How much would they invest? What do they want for doing so," Rickard said
" I do not know. They said they wouldn't discuss further with me as I'm not the Lord of The North." Ragnar said as he shook his head.
" Ragnar, your idea has merit. This investment of ours would benefit the North more than anything else has ever done. This would completely change the north… every ship that wants to go to the sunset sea would have to go through it as it would be better than going through Dorne. I will send someone to Braavos to get a representative of them to meet with me." Rickard said and Ragnar nodded.
" Howland, do you have anything to add? As your house would be the most affected. If you capitalize this well, you could rise as high as the House that will control the Moat Cailin. I know of a certain grain in Leng that only grows in swamps and shallow water… Rice is the name. Could go there to negotiate them. We can talk about the terms later if you want." Ragnar said, and Howland nodded
"Aye, Archmage, I would like to talk later with the rest of my House to help me make this decision," Howland said, and Ragnar smiled. Howland returned to the college as he was tired from the day, and Benjen decided to stay with his father and Ragnar on Jorrvaskrz.
" Lord Stark, why isn't Brandon and little Lyanna here? I thought you were getting Brandon ready to take over the mantle of Lord Stark." Ragnar asked, and Rickard chuckled.
" Aye, I am and that's the reason why he didn't left Winterfell. While I'm here, he is ruling and holding court there. Lyanna decided to stay Behind to help Brandon… I'm sure he promised to let her practice with the sword and ride a horse… she usually would want to travel around the North. Little bugger that one. The wolfsblood is strong in her." Rickard answered, and Ragnar laughed.
" So you will be the only Stark to prestige my wedding? That's sad," Ragnar said in mock sadness, and Rickard laughed
" No, Wyman sent a ship to get Eddard at the Vale. He will be bringing his foster brother. Robert Baratheon. They will be back to the Vale after your wedding." Rickard said
" I see… this marriage of mine is becoming a rather grand event. I know Prince Rhaegar will be coming, as will Arthur Dayne and Gerion Lannister. I just hope everything goes right." Ragnar joked.
" Aye," Rickard answered