Eddard

The Lord of the North set aside the ledgers. Everything has been going as Eddard planned. He managed to improve the North's old defences, Moat Cailin already had two fully manned towers, the third soon to be. It will take a long time to rebuild the fallen ones, but Eddard always had the ambition of returning them to their former glory. Winterfell's profit has grown steadily, as of now by a quarter compared to last year's. Eddard has found good partners with the Braavosi.

Tycho Nestoris and Antonio Ormolis, representatives of the Iron Bank, had come to offer a contract to the Lord of Winterfell. Braavos was in dire need of Ironwood and furs. With that, the North finally has that economic stability that many Starks before Eddard tried to achieve. He was truly proud of his accomplishments.

There was a knock on the door, "My Lord, it's Luwin. May I come in? Some important ravens arrived today."

"Aye, you may enter." Ned said, "Leave the missives on the ledgers, I'll read them now."

Luwin left everything and exited the solar. The first one was from Lord Manderly, a strange host from the Far East has disembarked in White Harbour. Wyman said they were heading towards Winterfell. Well, this is peculiar. I wonder where they came from, and most importantly, why. Nonetheless, it would be good to have some help against the Others.

Eddard picked another letter from the pile. It was from Jeor Mormont. "Lord Eddard Stark, I wish to thank you for the supplies sent North, Castle Black will surely prosper with your help. We believe two forts can be remanned if the flow of volunteers continues like this. The Fall has been a blessing to us, the Night's Watch has grown to four thousand members, it appears some can sense the danger beyond the Wall. Benjen is preparing a great ranging. He intends to capture some more concrete proof, possibly one of their wights. Again, thank you for the supplies, and the Night's Watch patiently awaits the next convoy. Lord Commander Jeor Mormont."

This is excellent news for Eddard. It is good that the Night's Watch is slowly returning to its former glory. He hopes Benjen's ranging goes well, they would need to send proof south as soon as possible.

There's another matter that complicates the situation: the Wildlings. Eddard doesn't like the idea of letting them south, but considering that Others can reanimate the dead... The Wall would be overrun with wights before the Kingdoms had the possibility to move against them. Eddard thought that with competent diplomacy, it would be possible to make them bend the knee. The next course of action would be resettling them in some barren land...

The gift is out of the question. It would only complicate things further for his northernmost vassals and the Night's Watch. Perhaps Skagos could be a good option, or maybe dispersing their clans across the North. If they are divided, the Wildlings wouldn't be able to organise any rebellion or takeover.

Eddard opened the last message. It was from Highgarden. It appears the price of foodstuffs has decreased, and the Reach shall increase the quantity to send North accordingly. Good! More food is always welcome. I wonder what caused this sudden change of value. Perhaps the Tyrells refined their crop rotation? A sudden influx of new goods in the market could explain everything.

A sudden knock broke Eddard's train of thoughts, "Ned? Are you free?" It was Catelyn. After this Fall business, he wasn't able to spend much time with his love. "Aye, come in." He said.

She entered and kissed him, "My love, luncheon is ready. The children are already in the dining hall." Eddard nodded and followed his wife. "Ned... Robb, Bran and Theon are uneasy today. I believe they want to talk."

"Don't worry, I will take care of that." He said. They entered the dining hall, and Eddard sat at the dais. They started eating as usual, but he could sense some uncertainty coming from Bran. "Bran, my son. Is everything well?" He suddenly stiffened. Yes, he is probably hiding something. A broken vase? Did he scale the walls again?

"Ehm, Father... There is something I must show you in the Godswood, alongside Theon and Robb... Perhaps Mother, Arya and Sansa should come too." Eddard reluctantly nodded. What happened in the Godswood? Have they discovered something more of Brandon's hammer there? Luwin was having no luck in deciphering those runes. Perhaps he should bring him too.

They finished eating their meal and left the dining room. Now everyone was at the Goodswood's entrance, Luwin included.

"Come, follow me." Robb said. They reached the Heart Tree by the pond. Eddard couldn't see anything off, so he naturally asked, "Well, what is wrong? What did you find?"

"More like... WHO did they find." An unknown voice said. A man with strange garbs appeared behind the Heart Tree, "It is an honour to finally meet you, Lord Stark." Before he could do anything, Catelyn asked, "You are no ordinary man... Who are you? A shaman?"

"I am no shaman, Lady Stark. But it is not that far-fetched from the truth." He cleared his throat, "I am the Old God of Knowledge. I have come to advise the Lord of Winterfell and raise his progeny, so that the lost knowledge of the Age of Heroes may be passed father to son again."

Eddard was frozen in place. "G-Gods... we truly live in legendary times..." he managed to mutter. Arya suddenly spoke up, "What is your name?" The God chuckled, "I do not have a name, little wolf. The Old Gods do not bear them."

"That's stupid! We will give you one!" Arya exclaimed. Eddard felt the urge to bang his head on a table.

The God surprisingly laughed, "I believe that's fine. It would be quite difficult addressing me in case the other Gods join us."

Luwin spoke up for the first time, "Then a name in the old tongue may be fitting, perhaps... Jorund. The root word signifies "The Man who Reads", what are your opinions?"

Everyone nodded, "Then Jorund it is. Now, I see you have many questions, I'll do my best to answer them all." The God said.

Catelyn was the first to speak, "If the Old Gods exist... Are the Seven False? Did I believe in nothing all these years?" She sounded strained. Ned could understand her feelings, to doubt the existence of your Gods... When his father and Brandon were killed, he almost lost his faith.

"Nay. Do not worry, they exist. The Seven do not meddle with the affairs of man too directly, but they're always present." Jorund said, "For what we Old Gods can see, the Seven Faced God has already changed the course of some important events."

Catelyn nodded, and Luwin decided to ask, "My God, we have found an inscription in the crypts, but I still can't decipher its meaning. Would you know what it says?" The Maester handed Jorund a sketch of the runes.

"Hmm... They have truly outdone my expectations..." the God said, "See, during the First Long Night, I've instructed Brandon's descendants to hide the hammer's true use, so that no one could've abused it before the time came. Apparently, they have decided to use an old local dialect of the Barrows, but they may have complicated things too much."

"The most important excerpt narrates of Brandon's father, the original holder of his hammer."

Jon spoke up, "Are you talking about Brandon of the Bloody Blade? The Gardeners claimed that he was the father of Brandon the Builder. Do all the houses of Westeros truly descend from Garth Greenhand?"

The God shook his head, "Nay. It may be true that many lineages descend from the Greenhand, but house Stark had different origins."

"Then is he the First King? Or a Child of the Forest?" Bran asked excitedly.

Jorund shook his head once more, "Nay. He was the son of a humble blacksmith: Starke."

Now everyone had confused looks on their faces, "A blacksmith? So how did the Starks become Kings of the North?" Asked Theon, "It would be quite hard for a peasant to rise so much."

"Starke was truly only a blacksmith, and was known for being one of the best. When the Long Night came, countless men were dying at the hands of the Others, as at the time, they did not know how to kill them. Starke pleaded the God of the Great Forge to give him a hammer capable of crafting a weapon to kill them, and he blessed him with the hammer you have in hand. Starke discovered that dragonglass is effective against the great enemy, he then forged swords, axes, and maces from it."

Eddard spoke up, "Then it explains how the weapons that Lord Umber and Bolton have found are still whole. They had all a signature, that's Starke that forged them."

"Aye. Thanks to his work, mankind was able to fight back against the Others. They elected him as leader after the First King had died without a grown son, and guided the First Men to battle. He fought alongside the Greenhand, Loreon Lannister, the Grey King, and Durran Godsgrief, but he died at the hands of the White Walker. His son Brandon succeeded him, and finished the war. The White Walker was repelled, and Brandon built the Wall to ensure he never invaded the realms of men again. Now the White Walker grows bold again, and he's attempting a second invasion." Jorund said.

Eddard grimaced, "So, I need to learn to forge the same way Starke did?" He sighed, "It seems we have no choice. In a quarter of a moon turn, I will announce the return of the Others. We will need the might of the south to endure."

Robb stood up, "We will need furs. Most of the fighting will be beyond the Wall, we can't risk letting our soldiers die of Hypothermia. Logistics will be an issue too, there are no roads in the Lands of Always Winter."

"I'll send a raven to the Glovers. We must intensify hunting in the Wolfswood, perhaps the Mormonts too could help with their bear cloaks." Eddard said.

Jorund looked like he remembered something, "Speaking of wolves... Eddard, the Direwolf is in labour. Go check her, we have discussed enough."

He nodded, "I will. Children, follow me. You may have new pets."