The North, coldhorn village, near Dreadfort, AC 274.

"Yakuza, YA KU ZA. 893, the unluckiest hand in an old card game, funny enough, I've never been lucky my whole life, even in this one I am still at the bedding of murderers and monsters" Jero thought, but he wasn't Jero anymore, He was Eddard of house Stark second son to the Lord paramount of the north, "an empty land filled with empty headed people, we have so much land and so little soldiers, it's no wonder the wildlings can jump over the wall and raid as they please, that's the price of xenophobia I giuse", Eddard looked blankly at the tree line as the horse he was riding trotted into the village.

"Cheer up Ned!" the six foot tall twelve year old beside him said, "if Robert says anything out of line I'll knock that shit eating grin right out off his face" Willis busted loudly, he would say something like that, he was also perfectly capable of doing it, although he would suffer the consequences of striking a Lord Paramount, even if said lord paramount was asking for it.

"If only you could, Will" Eddard responded, he hated Robert, not only had he dishonored the betrothal, he had boasted about it freely for all to hear, "the loudest man in the room is the weakest man in the room", he thought to himself "I'll never understand what the original Ned ever saw in him.

"Alright little lord" the man who was escorting them said, they had arrived at the village in the afternoon and would need to wait till morning to continue as there were bandits and robbers in the woods, that was why Eddard had twenty men with them, not including Willis and himself, "hop off the horse and will camp here for the night, alright! lads get a fire going, sam! Take three men and buy us some food" the men went about what was ordered, the night came fast as it was nearing winter.

"Willis could I have a word with you?" Eddard said as he walked past the boy, he then stood just outside the village and waited for Willis to come to him

"What is it Ned?" Willis asked from behind him,

"I'm leaving for Essos" Eddard said just above a whisper, "I'm leaving tonight and I want to know if you'll come with me?"

"Your lord father will not like that, he'll search high and low for you, he won't ever stop" Willis says after he looked back at the men escorting them, making sure that they were far enough away to not hear them

"Then we'll never stop running" Eddard leveled his eyes at Willis, the boy was the first thing he change about this world, at five name days Willis was near as strong as someone twice his age, it was an absolute waste to let him be a mentaly damaged as he was in canon, so Eddard befriended the boy at a young age and showed him the basics of boxing and Kendo, the small training sessions they had would bind Willis to Eddard in loyalty, he would need him for what was to come "I cannot stay here, Will"

"Why Ned?" Willis had to earn the right to call Eddard by his nickname, Eddard had required him to defeat five men at arms in single combat in order for them to be on a first name bases "Lord Rickard would disown you,"

"I'm tired of being told what to do" Eddard said with a sigh, he placed his hand on Willis' arm, as his shoulder far too high, "well you join me Will, would you protect me from harm as I build my own kingdom?"

"Would you truly abandon your Family?" Willis tried to talk some sense into his friend, but he knew there was no changing Eddard's mind once he declared his intention.

"You will be my family Will, as I will be yours"

"It can't be helped" Willis drew his axe from his back, a gift from Eddard after earning the right to call him Ned, and kneeled before him "I shall follow you to the ends of the earth, Eddard of house and defend you from all who would do you harm, I swear it by old Gods and the new" Eddard smiled and gestured for Willis to stand.

"You shall always have a place at my table and my council, I shall never ask of you any act that would bring you dishonor, I swear it by old Gods and the new"

Two days later….

Dawn had broken but freezing temperature of the night had yet to yield to the sun, Lord Roose bolton was hunting alone in the forest outside the Dreadfort, usually a noble would have bodyguards to accompany him as well as a horse to carry them, but Roose was not like most nobles, he was a bolton and heir to the legacy of the red kings of old, the only house to rival the starks in strength, or at least they were, now their nothing more than vassals to the starks who are themself vassals to the Targaryans, the state of the north had declined after Torren Stark bent the knee to Eagon, a man with as much military prowess as a child with wooden sword, the only difference was his wooden sword could burned armies and castles to ashes,"but someday" Roose thought "someday I will-" Roose was pulled from his musing when he heard a rustle in the woods, he crouched down and followed the sound, slowly he weaved through the trees and bushes trying to stay hidden, when at last he saw what was the comotion, a boy resting at the riverbank of the weeping water with two horse tied close by, his clothing looked to be expensive, too expensive for any low born to afford, perhaps he was a high born like himself, but then why was he alone, "perhaps he stole them and used the horse to flee scene", then the boy appeared to turn quickly as if called by someone, he looked close and saw he was now talking to someone else, another child in a green patchy cloak, together they pulled a boat out of the river and rested it far from the water, then the boys remove items from the sable bags and place them in the bout, after they finished they embraced and laughed, Bolton realised that they were bandits and so he decided that he would stop them, his father would be so proud of him, capturing two thieves on his own and bring their heads to him, his father would surely be proud of him then.

Roose notched an arrow and began to draw, "I should aim for the shorter one, he might be faster and escape after his sees his friend getting shot, I have to be quick", Bolton took a deep breath and steadied his arm, "then after that I'll rush in and provoke the other to attack, if he runs I'll shoot him down, if he charges I'll just cut him down, none of these hayseeds really know how to fight anyway" before he could lose his arrow he felt something large and heavy hit his head, the blow catches him off his feet, losing the arrow far from his target, he stagers up to see who interrupted him only to feel pain shoot from his chin and spread out into his back of his head, he didn't even feel hitting the ground as he slipped into unconsciousness.

Howland watched Willis drag the unconscious assailant from where he knocked him out, he dropped him before Eddard's feet along with his bow and quivers, Howland then bent down and started rooting around the figures clothing for anything useful, after seeing his face, howland realized he just a boy and not just any boy "he's a Bolton" Howlnad said as he flipped the hood open to reveal the boy's face and the sigil on his leather armor, "he must've been hunting in the woods", Howland said, "or sent here to capture us, Ned!" Willis suggested, "what do we do? if we leave him here he'll wake up and tell everyone what he saw" Howland said, "should we kill him?" Willis asked weighing their options, "we're not going to kill random people in the forest" howland argued, "he tried to kill you a moment ago" willis answered, "we don't know that, we don't know what he was about to do" Howland ensested, "listen to your self Reed, what the hells else was he about to do?, he had his arrow drawn"

"we'll take him with us" Eddard said silencing them both "we have no time to bury him anyway" Eddard continued, "Will, take him to the boat, Howl, help me with the horses"

Hours later…

"Mmhh-mmhh" Roose struggled to speak with the rag in his mouth, it reached all the way to the back of his tongue, he heard water splashing, birds and trees rustling in the distance, Roose began to stir and struggle with his bindings, the noises attracted the attention of Eddard who quickly propped him up.

"here's the deal" Eddard said just below a whisper, it was now med day and the sun blared from on high, "I'm gonna take off the gag and we're gonna talk" Roose took a moment to compose himself and calmly nod at the boy, "if you scream, if you try and fight us, we'll throw you off the boat and let you drown" the gag came off and Roose looked from side to side and saw that they were on the weeping water now, going down stream from the looks of the passing trees, the tall boy was rowing and the short boy was setting behind him, Roose nods again and Eddard takes a step closer to Roose "so, what's your name?" Eddard asked, tossing the gag behind him.

"Roose" the large boy was rowing but kept his eyes on Roose, the smaller boy was behind him manning the rudder, Roose weighed his options and decided his only course was to comply

"I am Roose of house Bolton, son and heir of Lord Domiron Bolton, Lord of the Dreadfort" he says with calm and confidence, "who may I say are my captors?"

The boy seemed to mull over the question, a moment later he decided to answer "I'm Eddard of House Stark, Second son of Lord Rickard Stark, Lord paramount of the North, Lord of Winterfell and Warden the North" he gestured behind him with his head, "This is my sworn sword, Willis of Winterfell, that one there is Howland of house Reed, son of Lord Jojen Reed, Lord of Grey Waterwatch and Lord of the Neck" 'Eddard' then bow slightly "it's honor to meet you Lord Bolton"

The boat kept moving further down the river while 'Willis' paddled steadily and Howland steered, the forest was now giving way to the ocean, soon they would pass into the sea, the difference in the shade of salt and freshwater that created a border between the river and the sea was now visible, "if you are 'Eddard Stark' as you have claimed, what may I asked are you doing all the way out here" Roose asked with a steady voice, "shouldn't you be in the Eyrie, among the andals of the south?"

Eddard could discern nothing from Roose' face nor his tone, so he smiled a bright smile and said "I am running away, I've decided to start my own sellsword company in essos, my two companions here have decide to join me on my venture", the sudden shift in 'Eddard's' behavior made Roose flinch, but only 'Eddard' saw it, "you, my lucky friend, now have a rare and lucrative opportunity to join us and be a founding member of my merry band of murderous marauding malefactors?"

"And if I refuse?" Roose was unconvinced, but he didn't know Eddard Stark personally to know the difference between an imposter and the genuine Eddard nor any who could, so he didn't bother contesting this 'Eddard's' claim.

"Then after our business with this boat is done, you may have it all to yourself, so you may return to your father's care, with our sincerest apology for the initial kidnapping" 'Eddard' said in a tone that women use on dull children.

"And how will you be done using this boat while still in the middle of the sea" Roose asked, wondering what they had in store for him, but as he pondered the situation, a shape rose from the horizon, slowly it became visible and a few moments later there was enough of it for Roose to recognize, "a ship?"

"Yes, an unnamed, unregistered ship" Howland answered him, speaking for the first time, "even if you did see it, I doubt you could describe it well enough to tell your father or Lord Stark for that matter, anything useful"

"What do you say, Lord bolton" Eddard asked him without the cheerful tone he used earlier, "are you in, or are you out?"

The choice was simple but difficult to make, refuse and be returned to his father in shame, and the rest of the North would laugh at him and his house, or 'join' and wait for them to trust him enough to fall asleep in his presence.

"What would you call this company of yours?"

"Lucky for us it already has a name"

The Neck, 297 AC.

Lord Tyrion was slowly regaining consciousness after last night's feasting, he's had hangovers before but never this bad, his head felt like it was pulsating, his gut was just about ready to empty out and his skin was dry as fingernail, the few memories he had of the night before were hazy, looking at his surroundings he came to a conclusion that, "I must have wander out of the castle" he thought, "best be on my way, hopefully I haven't embarrassed the Queen too much", he struggled to left the thick fleece sheets off himself but managed it, he saw that he was naked as well, the inside of the room is very luxurious, thick drapes, a wardrobe, a table with fruits in a bowl, bear skin rug and in the corner a steaming copper bathtub, "must be in very expensive brothel again, some madam must have stolen me off the streets and shacked me up in their most expensive room so she could bend me over with the bill", it wasn't the first time it had happened nor would it be the last, "nice to know that even with the spider unable to gather any information about the north and King Eddard making so many reforms and improvements to his kingdom, at least the brothels have stayed the same" moaning with pain as his head felt like it was ready to burst, he sat up and attempted to find his feet.

"Would you like me to help you into the tub, Lord Tyrion" a sweet soothing voice caught his attention, it had come from a young girl in a green tunic with floral designs, she had rolled her sleeves up to her elbows and tied her long black hair into a bun, her skin was like snow with freckles and full pink lips, she was sitting beside his bed and she seemed to wait for him to respond, so Tyrion did.

"I'm sorry good lady, but what is the name of this fine establishment I've fallen asleep in, again?" Tyrion tried to ignore his headache and desire to vomit to be pleasant to the girl, "don't make it difficult for her, it's not her fault you're here, naked as a babe and sick as a sailor" he thought. "I would like to make it back to the castle before my absence is noticed"

"No, My Lord, you're still in Greenguard" she said as she approached him, then she knelt down at his feet and pulled a miniature staircase out from under the bed, Tyrion flinches as her face was now inappropriately close to his exposed cock, but she seemed not to be bothered by it, "this is one of the guest rooms provided by Lord Reed to the King's companions, we've placed all your belongings here" still knelt, she then looked up at him and gestured to the tub, "I am Talia of the school of the cat, I am to be your helper, I've been assigned to assist you during your stay within my liege's domain"

Tyrion takes the hint and uses the steps to reach the floor, barely managing not to fall on his face, he then walks confidently but sluggishly across the room to the tub in all his naked glory, "assistance could mean many things my lady" he says as Talia carries the miniature steps to the base of the tub, "might we be more specific, I wouldn't want to offend 'the Lionlizard who waits' and have my head added on his wall" Tyrion jokes, he slowly climbs the steps and peers into the steaming tub, he sees that she had placed a little stool at the bottom for him.

"It is my duty to answer all your questions, help you with your activities" she helps the little man into the tub, Tyrion hisses at the sudden heat but calms as it spreads throughout his body, he dunks his head under the pleasantly hot water and surfaces she continues , "and lie with you if you so wish it"

The last part of her explanation stunned Tyrion, "that's a first" tyrion thought, he dunks his head again and rubs the water from his face, Talia meanwhile had removed the steps Tyrion used and placed a wooden plank across the tub and then placed a clay mug of steaming broth with a spoon on the plank, "usually the lord of the castle forbid any whoring within his walls, or at least be discreet enough about it"

"You are not in the south anymore my Lord" she knelt beside the tub and brings a spoonfull of the broth near him "the king has decreed that prostitution is honest work for honest people, it is recognized and protected by all the fources of the Northern kingdom" Tyrion eyes the broth and rializes that she's waiting for him to allow her to spoon feed him

"I'm not a child" he says as politely but firmly, tyrion was not used to someone being so familiar with him, growing up a dwarf ment that he had to do things himself as to not look helpless in the eyes of his father, not that Tywin observed Tyrion all that much, "and I will the breaking my fast with my family"

"I'm not your mother" she says back with warm smile, "and this is for the hangover" Tyrion eyes the broth again for a moment but relent and opens his mouth, Talia gently touches Tyrion's tongue with the spoon and pours in its contents, the taste was soothing like the bath itself, it seemed to lessen his headache and settle his stomach. "I could get used to this"

Braavos, [The pig's cunt inn], AC 275.

"What do you think that sign means?" howland Reed heir to the Neck asked as he, Roose, Willis and Eddard sat at a table near the door, the possession of the table and the setting arrangement allowed Howland to spy the sign outside, it was written in a foreign language and feature a pig bending over and spreading it rear to the viewer, "it seems to explain what the pig is doing"

"I'm going to kill you Eddard" Roose calmly said where he sat across from Eddard, like the rest of them, he had not eaten in three days, thought, they drank beer at several establishments along the dock, they had not had any solid food for three days, "I'm going to wait for you to fall asleep and press my knife into lungs so you don't wake the rest of them, as I flaye you inch by inch down to your teeth"

"Don't make idle threats, Bolton" Willis said with his arms crosses, he was already six feet tall and muscular despite being ten and two years old, same age as with the rest of companions except for Roose who was a year older, his was mostly bullied for his size and strength until Eddard had convinced his Lord father to allow Willis to be trained by him with a wooden club, with one odd 'exercises' and the gift of 'giant's blood', Willis quickly learned and grew, he was now able to hold his own against all of the men at arms in winterfell, even ser Rodrik needed to use his experience to win, as the boy of twelve was stronger than him, "you will not-"

"Then after I cut out your heart, Deaddard" Roose continued without emotion or delay, smoothly interrupting Willis' warnings with his calm tone, Roose then looked at Willis and addresses him directly "I'll come into your room 'witless', and slice off that baby faces of yours, go back home to your gran and see how long it take for that old bat to tell that it's me and not you"

"Keep her name out your filthy mouth, Bolton" Willis warned, both his hands were now on the table and gripping so hard the wood beneath his fingers creaked.

"Make me" Roose dared, palming the barb he hid up his sleeve.

"He's here, the dothraki with short hair" Eddared cut through the tension with a calm voice equal to Roose', he was indicating to a group of five men that had come down from the second floor, WIllis continued to glare at Roose' expressionless face, while Roose looked at Eddard who was sipping his drink, Howland looked directly at the ornaments on the wall, there was a lion's skull with a spear head in its mouth and a similar more 'detailed' sign hung beside it, the man Eddard spoke of walked passed the wall as he and his companions headed for the door, Howland caught a glimpse of the man, he had short black hair, brown skin, a missing ear and a scar on his chin.

"Roose, Willis" Eddard said calmly keeping his eyes on his drink, "you'll help me kill the four his with"

"What about me" Howland asked from beside Roose, he had figured out what the sign was emplaying and returned his attention to his companions, he had joined Eddard for a slightly different reason than Willis who joined out of loyalty, he wanted to see the world beyond the mangroves of his home and find some meaning to his life, and so when Eddard sent him a raven, the two boy began a correspondence and planned their escape from the north, he bribed a parete ship from the sister islands to wait out near the coast of the Neck for him, Eddard and Willis' to rondevu, after that the ship would ferry them to Bravos.

"Who the fuck cares about you frog-fucker" Roose said, still maneging to sound calm but itemedating, they had spent a month in Bravos looking for what Eddard refered to as 'start up money', they didn't tell him what it ment or why they were looking for someone called 'the dog', they simply said it was a job and that he had to earned the right to be in the 'know', so Eddard and his three-man sellsword company spent the last three days drinking at random bars on the warf trying to find 'the dog', whom as it turned out was a dothraki.

"You should care about me, I saved your life" Howland said amicably, the captain was none too pleased when they had arrived with one more person, their food supplies were already low, which was why he had accepted Howland's bribe, but with the addition of a fourth person they would need to ration carefully as to not starve in the month it took to reach bravos, however with the help of Eddard's coin purse, Roose was allowed to stay on board, albeit seething in anger at the embarrassment at being given only half rations the whole trip.

"Howland, make sure the dothraki is alive enough to talk" Eddard looked at Roose directly and asked "did your father teach you how to make men talk?"

Roose studied Eddar's eyes, looking for any proof that his calm demeanor was all a sham, but in the end all he could do was answer "I haven't done it to a man, yet" he kept his gaze and kept studying, but still Eddard did not flinch.

"I'll help you then"

A few days later.

There were only two jobs you could depend on in braavos, not everyone could fight and be a bodyguard, not everyone could read and be a scribe or a scholar, not everyone could sail much less navigate, and not everyone could be a builder as many brovosi didn't like random people knowing what the inside of their homes looked like, but what everyone could be is useful, the best way is using your body, for men it was working the docks, everyone needed strong backs to haul and carry their stock to and from the docks, for women, everyone needed to feel welcome and nothing made a men feel more welcome than a woman.

So it stands to reason when something is so simple that anyone could do it, a lot of people would be doing it, therein lies the problem, when there is too many people and not enough work, it makes it hard to earn what little there is to be had, and so a man named Doali hired other men to keep the supply low and therefore keep the demand high, or in the case of whore, keep the supply 'steady'.

But after certain disgruntled captains and a few dissatisfied business owners were overheard by a certain short westorsi, Doali disappeared, as will as his right hand man and the cache of gold he kept in his house which inexplicably burned to the ground, no one ever found either men but then again, no one ever looked in a latrine pet, they did however find four dead bodies and someone's roughly flayed skin hanging in an ally behind the pig's cunt inn, no one everfound who the skin belonged to.

Somewhere in Essos, Company of the Rose war camp, three months after Eddard arrived in Braavos AC 275.

Eddard and his companions had ridden on horses from Braavos and ate food they brought in neighboring villages, Willis kept up his training and Eddard taught Howland a simple sword technique that involved drawing his sword as quickly as he could to instantly kill an enemy, while Roose honed his hunting and flaying skills, until they came upon a village that told them of a sellsword company that set up camp near them, after learning of the sellswords company name, they set out to finds them, three days later they arrived. The camp was a mismatch of tattered rags and worn clothes, however the horses appeared to be well feed and were tied near the tents of their riders with food and water near them, the sellswords that occupy the camp were all looking at the boys curiously, but when they saw that one of the captains was escorting them they all went about doing their own business, each tent was placed strategically to surround the captains tents, they in turn surround the leader's tent, which also double as a council room, that was where the four northerners found themselves standing, flanked on all side by veteran sellsword, with worn out armor but razor sharp swords, their leader sat on a high chair behind a disk with wine and fruit, Iggar was a white haired old man with tired yet sharp blue eyes that seemed intent on burning holes into Eddard's eyes, he wore a tunic and leather pants, beside him was his second in command Edmyne Reed, a thin short man with black hair and full beard wearing a green tunic, the tent itself was meager in terms of trophies or ornaments.

Iggar was surprised when he had been told by his second in command Edmyne, that four northern boys had asked for an audience with him, he was even more surprised that among them was a Stark of winterfell.

"Well?" The leader asks in his deep gravelly voice, the boys flinch slightly at the sound of the old man, except for Eddard, "out with it!"

"My name is Eddard of house Stark, I have come to ask for a moment of your time" Eddard calmly said, Roose Howland and Willis remained silent, Eddard had asked them to 'let him do all the talking' "I would like a moment of your time, sir, there is a kalasar a weeks ride from here-"

the leader snorted in laughter, "just as I thought, a green boy so eager to prove himself to his father that his willing to die for some honor" Iggar laughed out loud, he was joined by his men who laughed so hard they nearly doubled over, "you don't need any help finding death, boy" he shouted harshly at the boys, the men around them stopped laughing and returned to staring at the boys, they knew what would happen next.

"We did not come here for honor, sir" Eddard said politely, not acknowledging insult, "We came here, for a moment of your time"

"very well, you have until my men drag you out of my sight and out of my camp!" the leader said as he motioned for the guards to apprehend the boys, four of the guards came forward to obey their leader, Iggar had done this before to several eager young lordlings in the past, fools who've never seen a battle thinking they could hire an army to go and kill some band of outlaws or bandits and get their first taste of blood, the men wouldn't kill them or steal their money, even in exile the North remembered it's honor, they would simple beat them bad enough that they won't forget the lesson.

"Will" Eddard said with the edge of his mouth, Willis then steps forward and delivers a devastating straight punch the closest guard, connecting with his jaw, the second received a hook to the chin that felled him instantly, the third lounged at Willis and subdued him with a head lock, Willis drove an elbow to the man's ribs that brought the him to his knees, the last guard did not take any more chances and drew his sword, Willis came face to face with him, the guard thrusted his sword and immediately missed as Wilis dipped below the sword and raised the guard's chin with an uppercut. Iggar watched the whole affair with his brows furrowed in confusion and curiosity, Eddard stepped towards the high table not wasting any more time, he brought out a map from his person and placed it in front of Iggar, "the dothraki are here" Eddard fingers a point in the map and drags his finger across it "they will come by this village in four days, this path here is the shortest way and will save as at least days ride"

"So what of it?" Iggar said as he showed his open palm to the men that came rushing in after they heard the commotion, "that army is almost ten thousand strong, all on horses bred for war, not including all their slaves and children" Iggar then gestured to the men outside his camp "we are but three thousand including the washer woman and camp followers with only a thousand cavilry"

"They will be enough" Eddard said confidently, he took out a few more papers with drawings on them and placed them over the spot where he pointed earlier, "all you need to do is to fight them where they can't fight back"

"You're some kind of master of war, are you?" Iggar asked after glancing at the boy's rudimentary drawing, he knew the path that the Dothraki were using well enough to know that a sizable army could ambush the Dothraki and easily slaughter them, but they were barely enough of them to cause any real trouble, neither were they equipped to attack such a force as large, "if you have any true sense, you'd go back to your father and his castle, little cub" Iggar stood from his chair as more men came to the tent, they were now armed and armored "your moment is up, take your friends and get out!" Iggar gestured with his chin for the men to compel the boys to leave, and so the men with drawn swords walked over to the boys, Willis put his hands up and prepared for a fight while Howland and Roose chose to be calm, all three of them had already been briefed on what Eddard was about to do to garner the company of the Rose to follow his mad plan.

"There is a cache of gold buried in the ground an hours ride from here" Eddard raised his voice, the men stopped in their tracks, their eyes turn to Iggar to see if they should ignore the boys proclamation, Eddard then pointed to a specific point on the map and dug his fingernail into it leaving an 'x' imprint.

"what is gold to dead men?" Iggar challenged, he stood to his full height and towered over Eddard "I will not send my men to their deaths no matter how much gold you throw our way!"

"It's not for you" Eddar said, Iggar's brows contorted in confusion "it's for buying out the villagers"

"What?"

"Your payment will be the loot the Dothraki bring with them, if you lend me your strength, I will give a victory" Eddard announced confidently to Iggar, he did not flinch or fold under the aged warlord's gaze, Iggar looked at Edmyne who appeared to nod slightly, then Iggar returned his gaze to Eddard's unreadable face then to the other three boys before his eyes finally reached his men, they had worn down and tattered armor, there weapons were thin from constantly sharpening out the cuts and grove, the tent fell silent, only the soft breeze outside could be heard, Iggar felt the calluses and scars in his hands, then with a sigh he answered,

"take you friends and wait outside" Eddard bowed his head and gestured for his companions to follow, Willis put his hands down and followed behind Roose and Howland. Hours later several sellswords were digging up two burlap sacks filled with gold while Iggar listened to Eddard explain his plan to butcher ten thousand Dothraki with roughly two thousand men.

A week later…

Khal Goron was now at his wits end, he was heading to a village where his friend and bloodrider met his end, a month ago he was riding with the full strength of his Khalasar, they had been traveling from Pentos to Vaes Dothrak by staying near the border of the Dothraki sea, cutting a straight path through would require too much food and ran the risk of encountering another Khalasar, so they stayed near the coast, they had sustained themselves with the blood and bounty of coastal villages and complainant, cowardly cities along the road, it was far too easy to reap the spoils of these places as their fighting men would travel to distant lands to earn decent pay as sellswords, those that did stay were

enough to combat the Dothraki. They were ten thousand strong, blooded and battle hardened, none but another, greater Khalsar could ever hope to defeat them, or so Khal Goron thought, the problem started when they reached a burnt down village near the Northern border of the Dothraki sea, they made camp there and sent out scouts to see what was a head, then their scouts started disappearing as well as the scouts sent to find them, so Goron sent his Bloodrider Karn to lead a three hundred rider search party to find out what happened, Karn returned a day later with news, they found the scouts, all thirty of them, impaled like pigs on a spit with their hands and feet cut off and displayed for all to see, theirs hands and feet were placed strategically to form a spiralling symbol that they did not understand, while all there scalps were in another pile, one was still alive enough to speak but could do nothing else as his limbs were broken and threaded through the spokes of the wheel he had been nailed onto, Karn reported that the last scout had been told to relay a message from his attackers [we hope you enjoy the view], this went on for another week as they tried to find out who was responsible, they would find there men impaled or theirs limbs gaining two or three more joints and scalped, and they'd always leave the strange symbol that Goron had slowly become accustomed to, spelled out with hands and feet.

Angered at being attacked with impunity, Khal Goron ordered his bloodriders to hunt down the assailants, they split half of the khalasar amongst the four bloodriders and started raiding the nearby villages to see if any had knowledge of the men who killed their scouts, being the first Bloodrider, Karn had taken a larger force with him to raid the biggest of the four villages, Khal Goron meanwhile waited in his tent with his personal guard and indulge himself on his freshly capture slaves, the dothraki raised a total of three villages in a single day, only taking the women and gold for spoils and letting everything else burn, when they returned to the camp to regroup they were shocked that Bloodrider Karn had not returned, moments later a few of the riders that accompanied the missing Bloodrider came back, blood dripping from the arrows in their backs and steam rising from there burns.

Karn saw the village in the distance, it was at the foot of a tall and steep hill that provided shade from the afternoon sun, the other side bordered a wheat field that seem to stretch out endlessly, pillars of smoke rose from most of the huts and a flock of sheep grazed nearby, with a roar he ordered the charge, the ground shuddered as three thousand riders tore across the road quickly reaching the village and breaking through a makeshift barricade at the entrance, however they found not a single soul within, empty pots and burning fires were inside the huts but no people. Goats, sheep and dogs scampered about in the open trying to avoid the Dothraki's stampede, Karn told the men to spread out and bring him anyone they could find, while he set out to inspect other parts of the village, it was a strange site to behold, dry wheat hung outside on the fences surrounding the village implying that whoever lived here had just brought in the crop, the livestock were fat and freely roamed the place without any care, the men came back to him saying they found no one, Karn started to laugh thinking they had scared everyone out of there village, he was joined by his men, their laughter filled the empty streets and huts, echoing off the face of the steep hill, but when the laughter died down they heard a noise that no man could make, it was crackling sound that came from a distance, like twigs snapping under hooves and grass rustling in the wind, then their eyes gathered at a singular point in the distance, a great ploom of smoke rose high and fast, then another and another, soon the skies above them turned black with smoke, Karn commanded them to head for the entrance but they were too many and the streets were too narrow, the houses were too close to each other, the smoke had spooked the horses too much and that they no longer obeyed their riders, the mighty steeds that gave them such an advantage over the open plains of the Dothraki sea, horse that were bred for war were now panicked and disparate, they started to kick, jump, bite and bolt, riders were being thrown, toppled and trampled, many died long before the fire reached them, but most lived just long enough to feel there lungs fill up with fire.

After the surviving rider had finished their report, Khal Goron rallied all his warriors to Karns position, leaving two thousand men to guard their camp, as they raced they found that the side of the road were lined with the burnt bodies of their own, impaled on upright wooden pikes, it was morning when they arrived at the village at the foot of a steep hill, but their way was obstructed by a wall that stood taller than man on horseback and made up of dead dothraki, blackened and burned along with some horses in between the bodies, piled up and spread out forming a grotesque wall of mangled misshapen and mutilated corpses that started at the base of the hill and crossed over to the other side, connecting with the impaled bodies that lined the side of the road and hemmed in any who traveled by road to the village. Oil, blood and bile oozed and pooled on the ground, slowly spreading out in every direction, the smoking ruin of the village could be seen just beyond the wall, flies, crows and stray dogs had already arrived and started feasting on the horror lied before the Dothraki, the foul miasma of death and deyac hanged in the air, Goron and the men at the front with him could actually taste ashe in their mouth, the horses they rode would not go any closer to the steaming mass as the smell was too potent even for war horses. Goron having no idea who his enemies were or how to find them, decide to move on and raid other villages elsewhere, in hopes of replenishing his men and return to this place, bring the fury of the Dothraki with him, but before he could turn and issue his orders to his men, a noise suddenly interrupted him, at first it sounded like crunching, like two large rocks scraping against each other, then as the sound grew louder they realized where it was coming from, all the dothraki looked up at the top of the hill and saw in horror as man-sized rocks started to tumble down the hill, Goron tried to shout out orders to spread out and evade the rocks but the impaled bodies kept his men from riding out fast enough, chaos soon spread among the Khalasar as any order from Goron or his bloodriders were drowned out by the screams and curses of his panicking men, the rocks easily carved out a path of broken bodies and briefly tightening the already packed khalasar, disparate to find a way out of the claustrophobic position, the rider unharmed by the rocks spread out over the fallen and crushed them while another wave of rocks came crashing down, in desperation Khal Goron stood on his horse to see why the men behind them had not move back to relieve them, to his horror a fire was now raging from behind them forcing those in the back to come forward, all around him his men were screaming and thrashing wildly, Khal Goron's mighty Khalasar that had brought him so many victories, spoils and respect had now devolve into a wreathing maelstrom of weeping, whimpering and wailing women about to be mounted. all semblance of order had vanished, it was at this moment that Khal Goron heard a familiar sound, thousands of hooves ripping through dry rocky earth ridden by bloodthirsty warriors, the clanking swords and armor, and a single united war cry, but it did not come from his Khalasar who were at this moment completely defenceless. it came from the soldiers stampeding down the hill. It was Madness, pure and potent madness.

Iggar was born a Northerner, his father and mother were Northerners, he spoke the common tongue with no accent and fought with a longsword in the style of a knight, yet never in his long life had he ever stepped foot on Northern soil, they chose exile rather than be ruled by a foriegn king, and yet with all their sacrifice they had been forced to fight for forieng rulers. Slavers, merchants who hired them to fight their wars, against their enemies and die for their cause, the irony was lost not on him. The only thing that kept Iggar going was the dream that one day he would ride under a Stark banner, among Stark men, to be home with his people and the Northern earth beneath him, even in his old age he still believed the stories of his father, that the Starks are a righteous and honorable house that gave up their crown for the sake of their people. But the gods are cruel and contemptuous when they answer your prayers.

Eddard Stark was not what his father had told him Starks would be, when they had retrieved the cache it had enough gold within to pay for year long campaign, it would have rearmed their entire army, re-equipped their smiths and armorers and bought more horses for there cavalry, however Eddard's plan required most of the gold, they chose the biggest nearby village for its strategic position, the gold was to be used to convince the villagers to vacate their homes and leave their livestock behind, while the rest of the gold would be used to buy more horses, pitch and undiluted wine. with the village empty they barricaded the entrance so the animals within did not wander off, they hanged wheat stokes over the fences to hide the fact that they were raised higher and reinforced so they could not be overcome, pots filled with pitch and wine were placed around the village so they would be knocked over and broken when the panic started, meanwhile Eddard had sent his two companions, the Reed heir and the Bolton heir along with a retinue of Iggar's men to capture the Dothraki scouts and desecrate their bodies to provoke the Khalasar into blind rage, while Willis of Winterfell aided Eddard's preparation, after the first trap was sprung they set up the second, Iggar and his men had seen more than their fair share of atrocities done by the Dothraki so they felt nothing for their suffering, however Iggar was unsettled by how calm and unaffected Eddard was when he was helping them pile the burnt bodies and erect the impaled ones, when the Khal came they played their final card and it worked flawlessly, despite three hundred of his own men dead and six hundred more injured, they had accomplished something unfathomable. All that remained of the Khalasar were the ones that guarded the camp, they were easy enough to handle after taunting them with the bodies of their fallen and the Reed boy assassinating two or three of them every night for a weeks, eventually they're slaves revolted and handed the camp and all its loot over to the company of the Rose.

"What did the symbol mean?" Iggar asked, they had feasted to celebrate their victory over the Dothraki, the party was now in full swing in front of them, Eddard, Willis, Howland and Roose sat as honored guest at the high table beside Iggar and his second in command Edmyne "the one you insisted be left for them to find?"

Eddard turned to the white haired sellsword and smiled warmly, he then leaned forward and whispered so that none but the two of them could hear.

"It was supposed to be rose"