AN:

Note that in this chapter, two different languages are used, namely:

"German"

"English/common tongue"

Chapter 2

Patrik Mertz was a happy man. After years of slaving away as the so called assistant of the German Ambassador in Nigeria, while doing most of the work that ambassador should have been doing, he finally had a chance to lead a diplomatic mission himself. He, along with a Dutch diplomat, a representative of the European Union and the military escort were going to have the first contact between earth and the inhabitants of the other planet. An interpreter who could understand more than a dozen common languages was also brought along in the hope that they could partially understand what the inhabitants were saying.

A common theory at this point was that another portal had opened hundreds of years ago and brought the humans and animals to the other world. Patrik agreed with that theory, because how else would you explain all the practically identical animals and humans on the other side?

As soon as the aid supplies were loaded in, Patrik and his fellow diplomats entered the helicopter provided by the German army. One minute later, the helicopter rose from the temporarily confiscated farmland and flew through the portal. Patrik was immediately amazed by his surroundings, the environment here seemed to be almost entirely untouched by humans. Even in the more rural parts of Germany, you could almost always see traces of civilization. Here, there was nothing, except for the small hastily set up research facility next to the portal. When he looked back through the portal, he could see the perfectly arranged farmland on the North European Plain, which formed a huge contrast with the wilderness on the other side.

Within an hour, they could see the fishing village along the coastline. "Wow, the villages in the poorest parts in Nigeria looked cleaner and more developed than this!" Patrik blurted out after seeing the shacks and poorly maintained dirt paths throughout the village, "It seems that our standards of living have improved immensely in the last few hundred years!"

The helicopter landed a few dozen meters away from the village as the villagers watched open-mouthed. Some of them started running towards the hills or boats and a few others picked up some makeshift weapons. However, most of them just stood still and watched the helicopter descent in wonder.

Upon landing, a few soldiers walked out and quickly scanned the environment. When the clear was given, the aid packages were brought out, followed by Patrik and the other government officials. The group walked over the small, poorly maintained dirt path along the coast in between the helicopter and the native village. As decided before, they stopped some distance from the villagers who were looking either frightened or amazed, sometimes both. A few soldiers continued walking with about half of the aid packages and dropped them in between the villagers and the diplomats. After opening them and making signs that would hopefully be correctly interpreted as 'This is a gift for you, please take it', they walked back and waited.

The villagers seemed to discuss amongst themselves what to do. They were too far away to hear what kind of language they were speaking, but it at least confirmed that they were speaking some kind of sophisticated language. Then, a young man armed with a spear walked forward to the supplies.

"By the gods! What is this stuff?!" Patrik heard him say loudly. The whole group was flabbergasted, the man was speaking English! Admittedly, it was heavily accented, but it was clearly English. After being the first to recover from this shock, Patrik walked forward a bit and started improvising.

"Good day sir! Excuse us from not speaking earlier, but we did not know the language of your people. My name is Patrik Mertz and I am an envoy of the Federal Republic of Germany beyond the portal. My colleagues here are envoys from the Kingdom of the Netherlands and the European Union. We are here to establish favorable relations with the people living around the portal and to ask for information about this world. The boxes laying before you are gifts for your village, which you can use as you see fit, and we'll give your village another set of those boxes when we leave."

The villager panicked a bit before he regained his composure. He then quickly bowed and answered: "Thank you for your generosity M'Lord! I will pass this to the elders, who are better equipped to help you M'lord!"

The youth then ran back and began another round of discussion with the villagers. The locals seemed to mostly lose their fear, but some wariness remained. A few people ran off during that discussion, probably to reassure and bring back the villagers who fled early.

A few minutes later, a group of older villagers walked towards the supplies. One man then took the lead and spoke after bowing: "Welcome to the Fishing Village M'Lords! My name is Jimmers and I was a traveling merchant until I settled down in this village with my wife. I have worked here as a fisherman since. I would like to invite you over to my house and offer you bread and salt, but I fear my humble abode might not be good enough for your lordships."

Patrik, now apparently in charge of the talks, answered: "We would be happy to accept your invite, mr. Jimmers! To be honest, we are not Lords, just envoys of our nations, so there's no need to call us M'Lord. You can call me sir or mr. Mertz, whichever your prefer. I would also like to ask you if there is any significance attached to the offering of bread and salt, as we are unfamiliar with your customs."

The way the old travelling merchant was calling them lords confirmed to Patrick that there was at least still some feudal system in place on this world.

"You are correct ser, the offering of bread and salt is part of the custom of guest right. When a guest eats the food and drinks the drink off a host's table the laws of hospitality are invoked. Neither the guest nor the host can harm the other during the guest's stay. If either does so, he invokes the wrath of the gods for breaking the sacred law of hospitality and will be scorned by all man.

Sometimes it is also customary for a host to give guest gifts to departing guests. These gifts do then represent the end of the sacred guest rights. Additionally, the guests may offer their host gifts as gratitude for giving them food and shelter. You of course have already more than fulfilled the last part. Am I allowed to ask a question myself ser?"

Wondering what thoughts were going to the native's mind, Patrick answered: "Of course mr. Jimmers, I would be happy to answer any question related to our homelands!"

"Thank you ser! Yesterday, we saw what appeared to be a metal bird flying above our village. Was that the doing of your people? Or do you have any idea where it came from?"

"You are correct mr. Jimmers, that was one of our flying machines we used to check for any dangers on your side of the portal, similar to the helicopter we arrived in. You might see some of them later when we will scout the rest of the continent."

The native's eyes went wide when Patrick mentioned they had multiple flying machines, but he quicky schooled his features and replied.

"Thank you ser! We already suspected so when you arrived in that loud giant metal bird of yours. Am I allowed to ask an additional question?"

"Of course, mr. Jimmers, go ahead."

"The portal you spoke of, is that an enormous circle located somewhere to the south?"

"You are well informed, mr. Jimmers, could you tell us how you know about it?" Patrik answered, wondering how the villagers already came to know that information.

"Of course ser! Mad shepherd Myke came into town this morning talking about a giant circle appearing out of nowhere. Of course, nobody took him seriously, as he spouts out unbelievable stories all the time. However, it appears we owe him an apology, something I would never have expected myself to say!

However, it is bad manners for me to keep you sers standing. If you would follow me to my home, I can offer you a drink and a chair to sit in."

Like that, the old travelling merchant Jimmers lead the diplomatic party towards his home. Compared to the other houses in the village it seemed surprisingly sturdy and large, although still very small for the standards of the modern world. After following him inside, Patrik saw a women with two girls who appeared to be in their early teens, presumably the wife and children of the helpful native. As a show of trust, their guards remained outside the house during the talks.

"Dear Ella, could you please lead our girls outside and bring some refreshments to our guests" Jimmers asked his wife, who was staring at the group of diplomats who just entered her house.

"Of course Jimmers" she said after gathering her wits and she immediately took her daughters hands and strode out of the house.

Just before the door was closed, Patrik heard a childish voice say "Mama, can we go and see the metal bird?!", followed by a shush and a "Please stay in the village sweethearts!". This was immediately followed by the sound closing door as Ella came back in. the wife of Jimmers walked further inside the house and came back later with some ale, bread and salted fish.

"Please be seated sers!" Jimmers said in the meantime, gesturing toward an old wooden handmade table with corresponding chairs. After seating themselves and apparently invoking guest rights by eating some of the refreshments, the diplomates and the old villager continued talking.

"Thank you for your hospitality mr. Jimmers! We hope that you could tell us more about the land we have arrived in and about the people in charge of the area, if there are any."

"Well, the continent you have arrived on is called Westeros and almost all of it is part of the Seven Kingdoms. More specifically, we are in The North, which is ruled by our Lord Paramount of House Stark from Winterfell. Our surroundings are called the Stony Shore and were once ruled by House Fisher, a bannerman of House Stark, before they died out. For the last 50 years, we had no lesser Lords in the region and had to pay our taxes directly to House Stark. Every year, unless it is an autumn or winter year, a tax collector comes here from Winterfell to take our Lord's share."

Wait, did Patrick hear that correctly?

"Excuse me, were you talking about a winter year? Are you implying that seasons can last longer than a year?!"

"Well, sers, of course they can. This summer has already lasted for 9 years and will almost certainly continue for at least another one. Although I can remember a summer a few decades back that lasted only a year. Luckily for us, the winter that came after it was the shortest I have ever lived through. The twin lakes didn't even freeze over that season, I heard."

The whole party was baffled at that point, what they were told went clearly against everything they knew about the climate on earth. The astronomers and meteorologists would be very happy to know this and would probably come up with all kinds of explanations, probably including extreme rapid Milankovitch cycles or something.

"Sorry for us phasing out here, we are unused to seasons being longer than half a year, and our seasons also always have the same lengths."

"How is that even possible?! Are you fellows from another world or something?!"

Patrick found it amusing that the villager's wild guess was actually right on the mark.

"That is exactly where we are coming from, mr. Jimmers. We know for a fact that the portal does not lead to anywhere on our own world. Therefore this must be another world."

"Why, it sounds like your people did not make the portal. It must be a gift of the gods then!"

"We too were as baffled as your shepherd when the portal suddenly appeared. Even more surprising was that it appeared on the exact border of two different countries.

However, let's move on to another topic. You were speaking about your gods. Could you tell us about them as we are unfamiliar with the religions of this world?"

Knowing the religion of the natives was as important as learning their customs in order to not accidently insult them.

"Certainly ser! The gods, which are called the old gods by those Southrons, are numerous and are everywhere around us. They watch our people through the trees and one can feel their presence the most around weirwood trees. To talk to them one must pray silently in front of a weirwood tree, and one can possibly hear their answers in the whistling of the leaves. One such weirwood tree is in the old godswood in the ruined keep. Me and my fellow villagers go to that tree if we want to pray or to hold a wedding in sight of the old gods. Those trees are sacred for any follower of the old gods and I must bid you and your fellow countryman to leave those trees alone, save for prayer!"

This was exactly why knowing the peoples customs and region was important. Just by leaving one type of tree alone, they wouldn't permanently alienate the natives.

"Thank you mr. Jimmers, we will make sure that those on the other side of the portal know of this. Do you perhaps know of any other religions practiced on this world?"

"Aye ser, when I was still a travelling merchant, I went to the southern part of Westeros, where their cursed ancestors burned all weirwoods thousands of years ago. Those heathens worship seven so called gods, claiming that they are all important aspects of human live. They build big, often lavishly decorated, buildings to pray in and have priests saying loads of empty words. That reminds me, I have heard that Lord Stark's wife is a Southron who somehow convinced him to build such a building, which I think is called a sept, in Winterfell. Preposterous if you ask me, as the old gods are the only gods here in the North and she should accept that!

Of course, there are also those freaking squids living on the iron islands who worship some kind of water demon, just because he gives them an excuse to go raiding where they please!"

Realizing that the man was starting to go on a rant, Patrik decided to quickly change the topic. "Thank you for your information mr. Jimmers, shall we return to our original question? You were talking about how the North was a part of the Seven Kingdoms, could you tell us more about them?"

Calming down a bit, Jimmers answered: "Of course ser. 300 years ago, there existed 7 different kingdoms on this continent. Then, House Targaryen invaded using 3 dragons and conquered them all. Until 18 years ago, the Targaryens ruled as kings over the Seven Kingdoms. However, after the mad king murdered our liege Lord Rickard Stark and his heir, The North, the Vale, the Riverlands and the Stormlands rightfully rebelled against the throne. In the end, when the Westerlands also joined in, they prevailed and overthrew the Targaryen dynasty. Now Robert Baratheon, former Lord of the Stormlands and an old friend of our liege lord, rules the seven kingdoms in their stead."

Wait, did he hear that correctly?

"Pardon me mr. Jimmers, but did you just say that the Targaryen family used dragons? As in, giant fire breathing flying lizards?!"

"Aye ser, that is what the Southrons said. They are all dead now though, the last one died more than a hundred years ago. If they were alive, the Targaryens would still be in power."

Patrik thought that those dragons were probably some kind of advanced siege machine, as a hundred years were more than enough for rumors to make those seem like actual dragons. However, he would not dismiss the idea entirely. After all, they just flew into an alien world though a portal that magically appeared out of nowhere. Giant fire breathing lizards would be less weird than that.

"Are there any cities nearby and do you know which way the city of Winterfell lies?" He asked, changing the topic to what would probably interest his superiors the most.

"The north has almost no cities, ser. We do have White Harbor in the southeast corner of the North, which is under the purview of Lord Manderly. I guess you might be able to call Wintertown, which lies next to the Winterfell keep, a city during the winter as people from the surrounding area flood in to wait out the season. Aside from those cities, we do have some larger towns in the western part of the North, namely Deepwood Motte, Barrowtown and Torrhen's Square, but they are all more than a fortnight of travelling to the east. There is to my knowledge no village much larger than ours closer than those three."

It appeared that most of The North was just as empty as the area they arrived in, which was probably a result from the years long winters the locals had to survive. Noting this fact, Patrik continued talking with Jimmers about the nearby villages and then steered the conversation towards the daily lives of the villagers. It turned out, like Patrik suspected, that most of the males inside the village worked as fisherman, thanks to the large amount of fish living in the bay and the nearby coasts. Some woodcutters and a few craftsman were also living in the area, including one master blacksmith, providing services for not only this village but also all other villages within a few days of travel.

Patrik and his fellow diplomats also told Jimmers a bit about their homeworld, but he seemed disbelieving about most of the information. To be fair, a number of 83 million people would be impossible to comprehend to villagers living in pockets of only a few hundred people without any cities nearby. Funnily enough, the Fishing Village was now closer to hundreds of European cities than to any of the larger towns Jimmers mentioned earlier.

Soon, the sun was threatening to set and the diplomats decided it was time to leave this fruitful discussion. However, before they left, they asked a soldier to give them the special gift they brought 'just in case'.

"Thank you mr. Jimmers for this pleasant and fruitful conversation! Because of your cooperation, we wanted to give you personally an additional gift." Patrik then proceeded to open the packaging. "In here we have some good whiskey, a drink made in our world. We have also included 2 small glasses for drinking it. Please be careful while drinking it as the alcohol content is very high, so you can get very drunk after only drinking a few of the small glasses."

The helpful villager was staring in wonder. Not at the drink itself, but instead at the glass bottle and the smaller glasses. It took a while for Patrik to realize that glass was not a commodity for those people. Even worse, it might not even have been invented yet!

"Thank you M'Lords for this gift! " Jimmers said once he got a grip on himself again, temporarily forgetting that the diplomats were not Lords. "If I may, I have one last question before you leave. You see, my oldest daughter has had her moon's blood a year ago and is as of yet still unmarried. I wanted to try and find her a husband outside of this village, but I have not had much luck yet. Is any of the younger man at arms you brought here honorable and available?"

Patrik and his fellow diplomats were immediately hit in the face with the enormous culture differences between the worlds. He gathered his bearings and answered carefully: "In our country, arranged marriages are almost nonexistent anymore. For a marriage, both the bride and the groom have to agree to get married, and none are held until both parties reach at least 18 years of age. Therefore, I am unfortunately unable to help you here."

"Ah, that's too bad. I will show you sers out then."

Upon being rejected, Jimmers led his guests out of the house and bade them farewell. Upon arriving back at the helicopter, the diplomats saw many village children playing in and around the helicopter, most of them looking flabbergasted at the machine. Clearly some bored soldiers had decided to show the children around the helicopter, something the children themselves had no issues with. Upon seeing the diplomatic party return, the children were immediately shooed off so that the helicopter could take off without accidently hurting them.

Within a few minutes, Patrik and the rest of the diplomatic party flew back towards their homeland, overall pretty content with what they learned today.

AN:

Thanks everyone who favorited, followed or reviewed my story! I'm happy that you seem to like this story and will try to do my best to live up to it. The next few chapters in this story will be written from the perspective of some of the aSoIaF characters.

Also note that corona is not happening in the earth of my story, as that virus only adds complications to the story without adding anything useful.

Edit 1 (24-08-2021): Made significant improvements on the dialogue of this chapter.