Chapter 4

The people at Winterfell seemed to have mostly calmed down from yesterday's draconic visit. During breakfast, Lady Catelyn was berating Arya from skipping her lessons with septa Mordane, while his father's ward Theon Greyjoy was telling some kind of story to Robb. Judging from the blush on Robb's face, it was probably about his latest 'conquest'. However, the sudden hurried entrance of Maester Luwin ended the façade of normality.

"Milord, I just received missives from Deepwood Motte and Torrhen's Square! Both of them reported that a flying creature arrived from the west, circled above their keeps and flew back." Master Luwin told while handing over the missives to Jon's father.

While Lord Stark was reading, Jon's trueborn brother Robb, no longer interested in Theon's stories, moved to sit down next to him. "Jon, does this mean that there are even more of these creatures flying around?!"

"I imagine so, Robb. There is no way one creature could have flown to Deepwood Motte, Torrhen's square, Winterfell, and back to the west in a single day. The books said that even dragons had to rest after flying for a thousand miles. What is even more worrying is that their masters seemed to know the location of the three greatest keeps in the northwest."

"Damn the Others! Jon, that means they are part of a large group. Worse, they must already have interrogated the villagers in the west. Gods, I hope they are not invaders!"

At the same time, Lord Stark had just finished reading the missives and opened his mouth to make an announcement. However, before he could say anything, he was interrupted by the barking of direwolf pups.

"The dragon is back again!" Arya shouted happily before running out of the great hall.

Jon, Robb and the others quickly followed her outside, accompanied by a few very agitated wolves. Still running, Jon entered the courtyard to see the flying creature in the sky, again arriving from the west. However, unlike yesterday, it flew right over the castle before immediately turning around and carrying its unnatural noise back to the west.

"Look, it dropped something!" Arya exclaimed as she pointed to a small object attached to a big white sail that was slowly falling down from the sky.

Lord Stark was alert immediately and ordered: "Everyone, get back inside the keep now! Guards, check where the object falls and surround it immediately upon landing!"

Jon, like his half-siblings, was immediately ushered inside. As Jon still wanted to know what the creature dropped, he ran after Bran and Arya towards the nearest window. Luckily, he found a good spot just in time to see the object land and get covered by its gigantic white sail. By orders of Lord Stark, the object was immediately surrounded by all the guards who were warily watching it for any suspicious movements.

A minute of silent watching later, the sail was still lying over the object in the exact same way. As it didn't seem that the object would attack them, Jon's father ordered the guards to remove the white sail in order to uncover whatever had landed in their courtyard.

It appeared that the sail was attached to the object with thin ropes, which were very easy to cut. One minute of removing the sail later, and the mysterious object was uncovered. Almost disappointedly, the mysterious object proved to be just some kind of chest with a letter attached.

Not finding anything else under the sail, Lord Stark ordered the chest to be brought to his solar, grabbing the letter for himself.

His younger siblings then decided Lord Stark's warning wasn't valid anymore and ran back outside to see the sail, followed by their wolves and Jon himself. While the chest was taken away, the sail itself still lay inside the courtyard. More importantly, the sail was no ordinary sail at all. It's fabric appeared to be extremely smooth, comparable to Sansa's best dresses, and unlike any other material he had ever seen.

Jon marveled at the amount of gold the possible invaders had spent on just this sail, which they knew they would lose after using it. However, as Jon thought a bit longer, he realized this invention could also be used in other ways by those people. Instead of just a chest, they could even have dropped an armed person from the creature, letting him land without risking the creature.

However, his half-sister Arya didn't think the sail was that interesting and walked back into the keep. Jon, having known Arya for years, realized she was going to look for the chest and immediately moved to follow her.

They arrived in his Lord Stark's solar to the sight of his father reading the letter with wide-open eyes. The now opened and oddly-shaped chest stood on his father's desk. Looking inside it, Jon saw a few brand new books, as well as two bottles containing some kind of drink. Shockingly, both of these bottles were made of the clearest glass he had ever seen by far.

Jon's father had not even noticed them entering his solar which, judging the look on his face, was almost certainly due to the letter he was still reading. Arya saw that and decided this was a golden opportunity. She quickly walked up to the desk and grabbed one of the books.

Immediately after Arya opened the book, Jon realized that even the books themselves were unlike any he had ever seen. Not only was the parchment in the book thinner and clearer than it had any right to be, but the letters on it were also too small and too perfectly written for any human writer.

"Like what you're seeing?"

Both Arya and Jon were startled by their fathers voice and looked up from the book to see that he had finished the letter. In an exhausted voice, he continued. "Arya, could you put back that book and fetch Robb and your mother?"

Arya immediately complied and ran out of the door. Jon, thinking he wouldn't be wanted here, moved to follow but was interrupted by his father. "Jon, you can stay." Surprised by this turn of events and intrigued by what was written in that letter, Jon remained in the room.

"Father, may I ask who send that letter?" Jon asked after a moment, unable to hold in his curiosity.

"Of course Jon. However, I'm not sure whether I belief those people are what they claim. See, these people claim to be from two empires which exist not across the sunset see, but in another world entirely. What's even more difficult to believe is that their flying creatures are not creatures at all, but instead incredibly advanced contraptions. Here, why don't you read this letter while we wait for Robb and Catelyn to come."

Driven by curiosity to see those claims for himself, Jon grabbed the weird parchment and started reading.

Honorable Lord Paramount Stark,

As representatives from the Federal Republic of Germany and Kingdom of The Netherlands, we are sending this message to hopefully establish good relationships in the future.

Due to an unknown phenomenon, as of the 11th day of the fourth moon of 298 AC in your time, all three of our countries are neighbors. There now exists a semi-circular portal of almost half a mile in diameter in the middle of the Stony Shore. This portal connects to part of the border between both our nations.

Attached to this letter, you will find a map of the Stony Shore. Note that the location of the portal is marked in red. One of our gifts, which is called an Atlas and has maps from all over our world, shows where the portal is located in our lands with the same mark.

We also want to apologize in case you were startled by our flying machines. We call those machines planes if manned and drones if unmanned. In the foreseeable future, those machines will only be used for exploration and transportation.

Our nations hope to establish peaceful relations with the nations of this world, and with our new neighbors in particular. Outside of extreme extenuating circumstances, neither of our nations will be going to war with any country on this world. Instead, we will attempt to resolve any problems diplomatically.

We would also like to inform you that a diplomatic party will be send to your keep on the 19th day of the 4th moon. This will include representatives of both our nations, one for the European Union, which is an economic and monetary union to which both our countries belong, and some representatives of other member nations of said union. We hope to discuss trading opportunities and establish friendly relations during that time.

That day, our party will be arriving by helicopter, which is another type of flying machine. We will land on the grass field three hundred feet north of the keep.

To ease our future meeting, we have included a few gifts that help you understand our world and our history. Three books describe respectively the history of Germany, the history of the Netherlands and a summary of the general history of our world. Another book, the Atlas, shows different types of maps of our world and the individual countries within it.

Finally, we have included two bottles with drinks from our world for you and your family to enjoy. The brown drink is called whiskey and contains a significant amount of alcohol. Therefore, we advise you to only share it with people aged eighteen or older and to take small amounts of it. The black drink in the other glass bottle, on the other hand, is called cola and is well liked by children. Please make sure not to shake that bottle before pouring it into a cup.

Yours sincerely,

The federal Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Federal Republic of Germany

The minister of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of the Netherlands

Just as Jon finished reading the letter, Lady Stark and Robb entered the solar, followed by Arya. The Lady of Winterfell, refusing to look in his direction, asked her husband. "Ned, did you find out what was in that letter? And why are Arya and Jon still here? Neither of them need to concern themselves with those creatures or their masters."

"Please Catelyn, Robb, sit down. I asked Jon to remain here myself. He has grown up enough to understand our important affairs and is absolutely loyal to his family. Besides, you know as well as I do that Robb will tell Jon whatever we will discuss here.

Although Lady Stark didn't seem to like that arrangement, she didn't comment on it as she took a seat next to Robb.

Once everyone sat down, Jon's father proceeded to give Lady Stark and Robb the same explanation as he had first given Jon.

The Lady of Winterfell however, looked sceptical on their claims. "Even dragons couldn't fly that swiftly, and iron couldn't float, much less fly."

"Cat, had you asked this before these items arrived, I would have completely agreed with you. However, just one look at these books should be enough to tell these cannot be made by normal human hands. Just take a look at one of the maps from their so-called Atlas. They are created with far more detail and beauty than the best mapmaker in the Seven Kingdoms could ever hope to reach. So, either they have some kind of magic we have never heard of, or they are telling the truth and actually have contraptions leagues more advanced than anything on this world. Even their map of the Stony Shore is far ahead of even our best maps of Winterfell's surroundings, and we know for sure they have been there for only two weeks at most."

Jon's father then showed them the map of the Stony Shore, which showed all settlements, rivers, forests, farmlands, grasslands and mountains within that region in vivid detail by using all kinds of different colors. A red stripe marked the supposed location for the portal, which was approximately sixty miles south of the Fishing Village, the largest settlement on the stony shore. Jon realized this location fit very well with the appearances of the flying machines and the direction they came from.

While Robb and Jon were still staring at the beautiful map, his father gave Lady Stark the letter to read. Immediately after reading it, she exclaimed.

"By the seven! They could not have chosen a worse moment if they tried. Ned, we already have to host the enormous King's party here for who knows how long. Now, not only do we have to do that, but we also have to provide a feast and accommodation for who knows how many foreign dignitaries and their escorts. Even worse, if they aren't lying through their teeth, they are from multiple fabulously rich and powerful realms."

"I know Cat. However, I'm just happy they are not interested in conquering us. I don't want the North to face the kind of weapons they carry if they are using flying machines of all things as just scouts. Even better, this might actually be an opportunity for the North. For one, I'm certainly interested in their special parchment and the glass they used to create those bottles."

At that moment, Jon noticed that Arya had snatched the letter from her mother. Proving she had read through the whole thing, she asked. "Dad, those otherworlders say that Cola drink is well liked by children. Can I have some?"

Jon's father suddenly seemed to realize that Arya hadn't ever left the room during the discussion. After thinking for a moment, he nodded in agreement.

"Fine. Arya, you can drink it. However, there are some conditions. First, you first have to let a kitchen boy take a sip from the drink to test for any poison. Secondly, you must share it with Bran, Rickon and Sansa."

"Thank you father!" Arya happily exclaimed before immediately grabbing the black bottle and running away.

"Ned, you should be more strict with her. Arya still needs to be punished for skipping her sewing lessons yesterday."

"Cat, these days are very exhausting for all of us, with all those weird things happening just as we are preparing for the King's visit. I promise to keep it in mind and will punish her after the King and the representatives of the other world are gone. However, let's get back to the problems at hand. Do you think you can manage to arrange accommodation and food for our foreign guests?"

"I suspect it won't be easy, and we will have to hire some temporary servants from Wintertown, but we should be able to manage it."

"Very well. I will start writing letters to all of our bannerman, informing them about the nature of the flying machines and our new neighbors. I will state that unless they are attacked first, they should ignore the flying machines. Under no circumstances should the North be the one to instigate a conflict against empires with those kind of weapons. I still stand by my decision yesterday to send a team of riders from our western bannerman. However, the main goal should now be to investigate the so called portal and see if the claims of the foreigners hold true. Additionally, they should report what the foreigners are doing around the portal and in the neighboring villages.

Robb, Jon. I want you to start reading their books. Me and Catelyn will be too busy to read through them in time, so I trust you two to search for the most important information. Try to finish the day before the King arrives and present it to me that evening. You can, if necessary, enlist the help of Maester Luwin for this venture.

Oh gods, that reminds me, I should send out another rider to the King's party as soon as possible. I hope this letter will be enough proof for Robert to realize the seriousness of this situation."

Jon, realizing the dismissal for what it was, said: "Of course, Lord father", grabbed the Atlas and left the room. He was quickly followed by Robb, who had grabbed one of those history books.

"Robb, the library?" Jon asked his brother, who agreed with the location. No more words were spoken during the walk to the library, as both brothers thought on the contents of the letter and the upcoming arrivals of not only the King, but now also the mysterious foreigners.

AN: I hope you like my idea here, with the Westerosi obtaining information about the Europeans before they first meet/negociate. As always, I want to thank everyone who favourited, followed or reviewed me.

Edit 1 (06-09-2021): Massive edit made to this chapter. Dialogue often completely rewritten, and some details are changed.