Hello, hope everyone is enjoying themselves so far!

Since I'm going to be getting further into trading and projects that will involve plenty of financial talk, I thought I would go into detail on monetary values. First we have the copper star, of which there are 100 in a silver stag, and there are 100 silver stags in a gold dragon. Most smallfolk get paid a few coppers per day and could never hope of holding a whole gold dragon, but for the nobility it's a little different. The south is of course much richer than the North, and gold dragons are practically pennies to southern nobility, which explains why Baelish could offer a bet of 100 dragons during the tourney in the series, but even in the North where practicality trumps frivolity, a few dragons here and there is perfectly acceptable spending money for nobles despite how out of reach it is for the smallfolk.

I hope that clears the rest of this up and if not, please let me know!


Looking at the massive procession that followed him now, it was difficult to believe that just few months ago, his party had only consisted of five people, one of whom was dead. Now, there was the three carts and dozen guards from Dorne, as well as another dozen guards from Riverrun, around twenty household servants, three personal handmaidens, another wet nurse and three more carts containing food and Lady Catelyn's dowry. All in all, it was safe to say that Ned had company on his travels North, and yet once Howland had left him after crossing the Twins, he had never felt more alone. For all the people in his expanded party, none knew of his plans for the North and the Seven Kingdoms, none knew of his agreements with the Martells, and none barring Wylla knew of Jon's true identity.

Catelyn had tried to have the wet nurse and Jon travel at the back of the procession at first, until Ned had firmly told her that he was family and therefore he would be travelling with the family. What's more, any time Ned took to spend with his son, he also had Wylla drop Jon off so that they could both intermingle with each other. This had led to a hushed argument between husband and wife where Catelyn decried his decision to keep them so close.

"The bastard will corrupt my boy!" she had cried.

Lord Stark had told her in no uncertain terms that if she wanted to remain his wife, then she should do her best to adapt to Northern customs, and in the North it was not taught that bastards were perverse creatures that would usurp their trueborn family's place. Instead they were welcomed and treated like family because they were family. Jon was her nephew and Catelyn would learn to love him or she would be sent back to her father. There would be no utterance of the word 'bastard' and Jon was to be given every right and luxury that Robb was.

They didn't speak for the next week, until Ned had ordered Wylla into the same carriage as Catelyn, Robb and his wet nurse. There, Catelyn had to deal with Jon whether she wanted to or not, and she found after just a few days that she didn't actually mind travelling with the boy. At barely six months old, Robb and Jon seemed to get on like a house on fire, waving their little arms at each other and babbling incoherently. They stayed in the same carriage for two weeks before they arrived at Winterfell.

Home.

It was enough to bring Ned to near tears. The sight of the mighty castle brought a breath of fresh air to the young man who had already seen too much, it reminded him of his lost family and those who remained. Just like he had when they approached Sunspear, Ned spurred his horse into a faster pace, the party following shortly behind him as they almost raced to the great walls. As expected, the household was waiting in the courtyard for their new Lord and his family to arrive. Most had tears in their eyes at seeing the man they remembered as just a young boy before he went off to war, but Lord Stark only had eyes for his brother.

Forgoing all protocol, Ned threw himself into Benjen's arms, both men doing their best to keep their tears from falling as they whispered affectionate words to each other. Much too soon, they had to separate so that Ned could introduce the new members of the family to his brother. He greeted Catelyn like a proper gentleman and congratulated them both when he held Robb in his arms, cooing over the young child, and when Jon was placed on his arms Ned saw on his brother's face the same reverence and love that he had seen on the Martells. One last gift from their lost sibling.

Feasts were not commonplace in the North, the scarcity of food preventing any such waste for the sake of frivolities, but they still ate well that night. The cooks had roasted a whole deer that the hunters had brought back from their last trip to be eaten with roast potatoes and gravy, and a stew was available for those that wished, filled with rabbit and vegetables that warmed Ned's heart. In the south they had feasted on caramelised pork, honeyed chicken, boiled lobster and crab, stews that burned the tongue due to exotic spices and flavours, and they had even tasted chocolate deserts in Dorne, but none of it was as wonderful as Northern dishes, Ned thought.

Yes, it was good to be home, but not everything was hearty meals and touching greetings between family members.

The morning after their arrival, Ned had summoned his younger brother to the solar that had once belonged to their father to explain what had happened in Dorne and his plan for the future of the North. Benjen was just as baffled as Doran and Oberyn had been and the meeting was just as tumultuous and emotional.

"You can't go to the Night's Watch, Benjen." Ned pleaded. "I need your help here! There is so much to do, so much to manage and take care of, I can't do it all by myself!"

"Don't worry, Ned." Benjen soothed his brother. "I won't be going anywhere but remember you're not alone. There's not just me but your new wife as well."

"No! She cannot know about this! This is treason and though I have wedded and bedded her, I don't know her, Benjen. I cannot trust her with this after her family fought a war to put Robert on the throne."

With a simple nod from Benjen, the matter was put to the side and the younger Stark began advising his brother on all that he had missed: the state of their coffers and granaries, letters that needed to be read, disputes among the lords and any additions or losses in their vassal Houses. With most of the men off to war, it was not surprising that there had been few births or pregnancies in the past year, though hopefully that would change soon. The reserves of coin and food were also low, another consequence of the war, but shipments of copper had begun to arrive from the Mountain Clans as Ned had instructed and Benjen had already asked the smiths to begin fashioning pipes as indicated in the letters they had exchanged. One letter that brought a true smile to Ned's face, however, was one that had arrived just a week before from the Martells: the first shipment of ice had arrived just a month and half after his departure and they were more than pleased with the results. As promised, it was a boon in cooling and preserving food and could be used by maesters to heal less severe injuries or sicknesses. Additionally, a whole ton of it had been passed on to the cooks so that they could devise new and luxurious foods to enjoy.

Needless to say, they were more than happy to make their trade alliance official.

More letters were sent, first to the Northernmost Houses of Umber, Karstark and Mormont with instructions to continue harvesting the ice in the Bay of Seals and the Bay of Ice near their domains, and to set up permanent encampments with workers to make their efforts less gruelling in the future. Then a letter was sent to Sunspear to begin the negotiations on pricing. Ravens flew back and forth between the two kingdoms as the communications took place, and merely a month later it was agreed that the Martells would pay five gold dragons per ton and that three cogs containing the product would be sent per month. Since one cog could carry up to 200 tons at a time, Ned considered it a great first step towards their plans.

Of course, this increase in wealth was not just to the benefit of the Starks, as Ned had also had to negotiate with the Umbers, Karstarks and Mormonts what their share would be and it was decided that each House would receive 10% of the profits, and another 10% to go to House Glover who would be providing the sawdust which would keep the ice from melting on the journey, as well as House Manderly who would be transporting the goods south. That was six major Houses of the North that increased their wealth greatly thanks to this new trade deal.

While these negotiations took place, Benjen took care of the copper piping, having himself sent a raven to to Sunspear and receiving in response the plans and instructions for the copper irrigation technique. He was now in charge of overseeing the construction of many miles worth of copper piping, which would be sent to all of the Northern Houses for free in the hopes that it would improve their harvests and help them come winter. He seemed to greatly enjoy himself, the deaths of his family no longer weighing him down as it had during those first few days and he could often be found in the fields outside Winterfell stalking around a group of young men and eyeing them critically as they assembled small pieces of piping together to make a larger network.

Despite this new influx of wealth and activity, not all was great in the castle and Ned found himself struggling to get to know his new wife. Despite them already having shared a bed and having conceived a child together, Catelyn was unusually bashful and prude around him. They slept separately, and the times Ned visited her in her chambers, she would stand and begin to disrobe silently and solemnly until he stopped her.

"We have done our duty," he would say. "and you have given me an heir. I would now get to know my wife."

Naturally, he wished for nothing more than to feel the pleasure of her flesh again, but he hated the way she would look at him with a blank face whenever she thought he had come for her, as if it was a duty she had no choice or desire in doing. He would have her enjoy him as he enjoyed her, look upon him with some slight hint of affection rather than just obedience and submission. It took him almost a full week to get her to call him Eddard rather than 'my Lord', and that was not even counting the time they had spent together on the road! It took longer for her to give him a genuine smile or to call him Ned, as many others did.

She did however take to being Lady of Winterfell like a fish took to water, immediately familiarising herself with the various household members and meeting with the steward whenever she could to discuss how the keep was usually run so that she could take over eventually. Another thing that endeared Ned to his wife was her newfound affection for Jon, as it seemed even Catelyn was not immune to how close her son and nephew were. Whenever she visited Robb in the nursery, she made sure to take some time for Jon as well, sitting in an arm chair in the corner while she sewed and watching the children with a smile on her face when she got tired of playing with them. The same could not be said for all those that came North with her from Riverrun, however. One of the servants had been dismissed on the spot when Catelyn had entered the nursery one day to find her occupying Robb and ignoring Jon's screams as he was left in his crib, which had been pushed to the far corner of the room near the window where a slight draft of cold Northern air was hitting the poor boy.

The southerners' treatment of Jon had led to a slight disagreement one day when Ned and Catelyn had been speaking and the Septa that she had brought with her came up in the conversation.

"I will not have my children educated in the ways of the Faith." Ned stated firmly.

"But Eddard! Religion is one of the most important things to me, please!" his wife pleaded.

"The Faith of the Seven preach lessons that have no place in the North." the Lord continued, unwilling to back down. "On the matter of how women should behave, for one. And the North remembers how the septons burned our weirwood trees and drove the First Men North. You know how the Faith sees bastards and I will not have my children be lectured on how their cousin is naturally sinful and inclined to deviousness and greed. I see how your Septa Mordane looks at Jon and I will not allow her to spread her prejudices to our children, and I'm sure even you can agree with me on this considering how you love the boy."

"Septas are meant to teach children the way of the world! How will they learn otherwise, without Septa Mordane's guidance? Are our children meant to bow down to trees rather than be part of the light of the Gods?"

Ned had had to take a deep breath to calm himself at that.

"Catelyn." He began, speaking calmly but firmly. "I am well aware of how the Old Gods are seen in the south, and how we are considered barbarians for considering nature sacred. But this is not the south, this is the North and Robb will one day be Lord Paramount and he must embody all of our customs and traditions."

"In that case, allow me at least to educate any other children -" Catelyn continued to beg.

"Any other children we have will also be raised in the light of the Old Gods, despite not ruling as Robb will, for the reasons I mentioned previously. Words spoken against bastards are words spoken against my nephew, and I will not allow it."

And that was the end of it. Septa Mordane was allowed to remain in Winterfell for the comfort of Lady Catelyn, but she would never educate the children in the ways of the south. If the North was going to become independent, then Ned - and Robb after him - would need to be a beacon, a figurehead, an example of what it meant to be Northern. Robb would most likely have to marry on of the daughters of his bannermen in order to keep the blood of the First Men and the Stark looks in the family, as he already looked southern with his red hair and blue eyes. But that was a matter for later, when the boy was old enough to decide.

Around the same time as their conversation regarding Septa Mordane, just three months after Ned had returned home, a party of heavily armed guards arrived from White Harbour, followed by almost a hundred men and women, escorting multiple carriages from Dorne as the first trading ships returned home. At the head of the large procession was Wyllis Manderly, second son to Lord Wendel, riding on a horse large and strong enough to carry the fat man's weight. One by one, the carriages containing what Ned could only assume was trunks of gold entered through the great gates of the castle and parked themselves to the side of the courtyard, under Lord Wyllis' instruction. The guards followed, diligently remaining close to the treasure despite being within the safety of the castle walls, but the others that accompanied the party milled around, whispering among themselves as they craned their necks to take in the view.

"Lord Stark!" Wyllis greeted boisterously, struggling off his horse before making his way over to the Starks. "I bring with me the payment from Dorne for the first shipment of ice as stated in our new trading alliance! This is of course Winterfell's 50% of the gold, and the rest of the coin is making its way to its various owners as we speak."

"Thank you, Lord Wyllis for ensuring its safe delivery." Ned responded, a slight smile on his face.

Next to him, Catelyn looked on curiously. Of course she had been made aware that there was a new trade agreement between the North and Dorne, however she had not been told of the details.

"How much gold have we made?" she asked.

"1,500 gold dragons!" Wyllis responded in that booming voice that echoed across the courtyard.

All around, any activity stopped and there was a massive gasp across the courtyard as the various members of the household heard the amount. Never before had a single shipment of gold contained that much coin in the North, the only exception being to the Forresters when they traded their ironwood, which only grew in the Wolfswood and was therefore a luxury that was in very high demand, however in order to preserve the integrity of the forest, trading ships carrying ironwood were very few and far between. Even in the south, the amount of gold they had collected for just three ships full of ice was nothing to be scoffed at, though not considered anything near a small fortune as it was in the North.

"I also bring guests that insist you requested their presence." The Manderly continued once the shock of the gold had worn off, waving a hand towards the small crowds of tanned families that were clustered together on the other side of the courtyard, the stable boy having taken their horses as soon as they arrived.

At his gesture, one middle aged man separated himself from the group and made his way over. Like the others, he was tanned with dark hair that was greying at the sides and laugh lines around his eyes. Reaching the Stark family, the man bowed once to Ned before introducing himself:

"My Lord Stark, I am Guillem DeLorne, master architect of Braavos." He said to everyone's surprise save Ned's. "My good friend Oberyn passed by Braavos a few months ago and said that you would be grateful for my presence and that of some of my workers."

It was a statement but the man's tone also hinted at a little questioning, clearly Prince Oberyn had not explained the reason he was needed in the North.

"Why would Prince Oberyn send you here, Master DeLorne?" Catelyn asked.

"He did so on my request." Lord Stark responded, reaching out a hand to welcome the newcomer. "Thank you for coming, Master DeLorne, your friend was right and I am very grateful that you have come. There will be plenty of work to be done, though I fear we will have to wait for a few more shipments like this to arrive before we can move forward with my plans." He waved a hand in the direction of the carriages that were being led away by the steward to the coffer vaults. "In the meantime, please feel free to settle your people in Winterfell and Wintertown, and if you require any aid please feel free to come and see me."

With a nod of acceptance, the Master returned to his people and began to recount what Lord Stark had told him while Ned welcomed Lord Wyllis inside the castle and to stay for the night before returning home. Though he showed a professional and welcoming façade, on the inside, Ned was dancing with glee. At this rate, they would be able to put their first plans into action within just a few months!