The Revolution of Westeros: How an Engineer Views Plebeians

Mended Paths and an Engineer's Glass

Catelyn knew it was irrational. The boy was a child, why should he be treated with disdain? Yet, every time she looked at him she saw how much more of a Stark he was than her own children.

She feared him. More than that, she feared this mystery woman that was able to move her husband to break his vows. This child, this stain, was the proof of broken vows. How could she not hate him, then? He was the culmination of every broken word, every failed promise. Was it his fault? No. Did she still despise him for it? Yes.

She had tried, though not extensively, to at least be indifferent to the boy's presence. It was taxing, having someone that you knew, logically, wasn't to blame around you. Yet, they were the proof of everything that went wrong. And so, even though it was irrational, she hated the child.

In a way, his presence wasn't… totally deplorable. Her children loved him, though she didn't understand why. Robb had taken to him from the time they were in cribs, and they hadn't separated since.

It was telling, she guessed, of the boy's attitude, when she reflected on how his first movements had always been to teach Robb. The boy was unnatural. He had begun crawling at four moons and walking at six. Yet, for all of his unnaturalness, he had done it all to reach Robb. His only companion during those times, it was as if the boy, Jon, was trying to teach Robb how to crawl, walk, and do all of the things that Jon was doing.

It was these actions, not their ages, that caused the boys to be so close. Though Robb was older, he admired his younger half-brother. This closeness, though it should have been a balm to her nerves, only caused her fears to deepen.

'They are close now, but what will happen in the future when you aren't present?' whispered an insidious voice that Catelyn knew was wrong. Yet, what if it was right? Could she really allow Jon to get close to her children if he was going to turn on them? Would the pain of not knowing their brother be more than the pain of feeling an impending betrayal?

For this reason, Cat had tried to put a wedge between the children. Even so, Robb stoutly refused. How could she have expected anything different?

Robb and Jon were together most of the time. If Robb went exploring, Jon was behind him. If Jon stayed inside, Robb stayed with him. If Robb wanted to play a prank on his siblings? Jon would play whatever role to make all of them laugh. They were closer than any brothers Catelyn had ever seen. Certainly, they were closer than her and Edmure.

So, in a way, she knew her fears were unfounded. It didn't stop her from bringing them to Eddard, but it did make those occurrences less prevalent. He was her husband, why shouldn't she confide in him?

That's why, when Eddard came to her in the night and told her the truth, she was shocked, relieved in a way, and fearful in a different way. Shocked and hurt because Ned, her Ned, had lied to her for years. How could she trust his word after this? Shocked, because honest Ned had pulled the wool over the eyes of the entire realm. Fearful, because if this secret were found then their entire family would be in danger. If King Robert were to know… well, they would just have to endeavor to never allow the information to be spread. The truth would stay with those affected, and no one else.

Guilty. That was the only thought that fleeted through Lady Catelyn's mind. 'Guilty, guilty, guilty,' her mind screamed in betrayal. 'How could you treat an innocent child, a boy without anything, so indifferently, with such disdain?' she thought to herself in a self-deprecating manner.

Yet… if the child really were a bastard? She would have continued in the same manner, and she would have felt justified. But now… she needed to apologize to the boy, to Jon.

So, that was where she found herself now. She was stood outside of his door, waiting, building the courage to knock on the door to his room.

'Gods,' she thought to herself, 'he is a child, just knock on the door, woman.'

As she reached up to knock on the door, she never had the chance to hit upon the dark wood to signal that someone stood without. Jon had opened it.

How… typical. She couldn't even find the nerve within herself to have this conversation, to apologize to this child who acted so much a man grown around his peers. Instead, he opened the door to this conversation. He was the one allowing her to say what was needed to be said. Gods, how could she have done this to this boy?

"Lady Catelyn," Jon began, obviously perplexed on why she was standing within his doorway, "is… is there something you need?"

"I…" Catelyn began in a voice that wavered slightly, "I have come to apologize." At this Lady Catelyn swallowed the lump in her throat, "Ned has told me the truth. I… can't say how sorry I am. Words, cannot excuse what I have done to you, but I will work to show how truly, deeply guilty I feel."

Jon looked at her for a long moment. "When I was a child, you prayed a prayer when I fell sick. A prayer that stated that you would change… I know, Lady Stark, that you would have continued to treat me as a blight on this House if you were uninformed of the realities that be. Yet," Jon paused as he smiled in a mirthless manner, "I find it exceedingly harsh to lay all fault at your feet. If it were that things revealed were not the reality, then you would have to some extent felt justified. After all, how could you go against the will of your lord husband? If I were made to stay here, then you would have to find some way to unleash the anger held within you. I do not fault you for your past deeds. And, in some manners, I hope your actions, publicly, do not change drastically. For, even in Lord Stark's blatant disregard of your mental acumen, I find that my greatest defense yet from those that wish death upon this House is the disdain that has been bequeathed to me by actions outside the realm of my control. Thus, if the armor I currently wear shall be the means with which I shall keep myself and those precious to me safe, then this dreadful armor I shall bear. If, by divine will, I am called to shed this false skin for the skin of a higher calling, then I shall do so happily. All that I do, I do for my family. For surely, if realities were made known to those with less than honorable intentions, then this House, this family, our family wouldst surely suffer."

Catelyn was, quite truthfully, pleased with Jon's forgiveness. "Jon," she began with a hopeful look on her face, "I hope, truly, I hope that this can be a new start. While I will continue to do what I must to keep all of us safe, I hope that you, in truth, understand that I hold no more ill will toward you. I know that I am a prideful woman," she said with a reflective expression, "I have faults of mine own. Yet, I would hope, that in private and with your siblings, for truly they are still your siblings in everything but parentage, we could mend this divide and be the family that we ought to be," Catelyn finished with a hopeful expression that showed how much she genuinely wanted the child to now be more included.

"Lady Catelyn," Jon said, " I would be happy to bridge this gap so that our family could, as the Tyrells are oft to say, grow stronger. I hold no ill will toward you, and for all that I love Robb and Father, I would be glad to start anew with you."

Time passed, and changes within the family unit were indeed fortuitus. Robb, noticing the way that his mother now treated his brother, had expressed an even more exuberant attitude that had seemed to plaster a permanent smile on the child's face. All of the children had noticed, but only Robb, who Jon could trust to be smart enough to not run his mouth to others, was informed as to why these changes had happened.

"So," Robb said as Jon and he were laying in his room. It used to be that the two had shared rooms, but his mother had, when he reached the age of five, forced room changes upon both of them. Sadly, in her move of pettiness Jon was moved to outside of the family wing. Even with the recent changes in relationship between Cat and Jon, the two had decided that it would behoove them to keep it that way. If less people noticed any goodwill towards the Bastard of Winterfell, then all the better. "You mean to say that Father, the man who raised you, is not truly your father but your uncle? That we are, in truth, cousins?" This thought seemed unacceptable to Robb. In his mind, it was always Robb and Jon against the world. Jon was like a rock in his steadiness. Any questions Robb ever had? Jon had an answer. "Why do things truly fall Jon? Surely, it is more than a law given by the Gods." "Gravity, Robb. A force that pulls everything downwards." "Why does it really rain Jon?" "Water evaporates, or becomes a gas that can't really be seen, as they come together and form clouds they become water droplets again. When those droplets get too heavy, they fall from the clouds, and thus it rains Robb." Jon always had an answer. Robb was convinced that no one was smarter than his brother. So, it seemed foreign, and like a terrible trick in Robb's mind to consider Jon anything else than his brother that he loved.

"Aye," Jon said as he sat up from Robb's bedding area where the two young bows were sprawled out upon, "Father, for he is in truth the man that raised me, and I refuse to call him anything else, felt uncertain on whether or not to inform you of the truth. I insisted, I knew that it was something I could trust you with."

"Aye," Robb said as he sat up to look at Jon, "I'm no dullard, Jon. I speak for us both when I say that you've certainly seen to that." Jon and Robb both gave a chuckle at that. It was common for Jon to try and make Robb to have a broad perspective and think creatively. It was one reason why Jon loved his siblings as he did, they were the masterpieces that he was creating in the North. People who were creative, could think multilaterally, and were well informed on what they should do. While not foreign to Westeros, it was certainly not common to find highborns who were able to be as multifaceted as Jon was shaping his siblings to be.

"A dullard you are not," Jon said as he stopped chuckling. "I trust you Robb, you're my brother. And, while we may not be brothers through our parents, you're still the one I choose to be both my brother and future Lord."

"A good decision by Father to grant you Moat Cailin," Robb said with a thoughtful look. "With you at the Neck, the North would never have to worry about a prissy Southern army if the realm ever faced such a threat. You're bloody smart, brother, and I know as my bannerman you might just be the most important of them all if even half of your ideas come to fruition."

"Well said," Jon said as he took on a thoughtful expression. He was always driven to put out more and more ideas for Lord Stark and Maester Luwin now that the crops had become more and more plentiful throughout the North. Lord Stark had even promised to allow the extra coin that Winterfell received, while not an exorbitant amount for all his many projects, to be, at least partially, set aside for Jon's innovations. This was a boon for Jon, and it made his mind run with all of the things he planned to introduce.

"Together, brother," Jon said as he stuck his arm out after raising himself up from. "We shall make the North prosper like no other realm has ever been able."

Robb took Jon's arm as he also rose up, "Aye, together we shall make the North more powerful, and strong than any other kingdom in all of Westeros."

"Sand from the closest river, m'lord?" one of the workers in Winterfell that had a wagon that had pitched seams between the boards that made up the wagon asked as Eddard inquired of the man's services.

"Yes," Lord Stark said as he placed his hand on Jon's shoulder who stood next to him in front of the man and his wagon. "This is something that needs to be done quietly. The sand will be useful in the plans that we have. You need only bring it to the location we give to you, and we will pay you for your trips."

Jon and Ned had decided together that it would be prudent to ensure that the glass making remain secret. Unlike Myr, this glass would only be useful for the glasshouses that the North would be receiving. Skilled glass blowers weren't needed to make panes of it, so that profession would take more time before it cropped up. However, it was decided that the project would remain secret until enough glass was made to create glass garden for each of the Northern houses so that the effects of it would be too widespread before the Myrish discovered that someone had uncovered how to make glass.

Thus, Ned and Jon had talked extensively about how such a project should be setup. After a few days of planning, the two decided on a course of action.

The project would remain on a small scale until enough glass was made so as to diminish the possibility of the Myrish sending assassins into the North. Every day one wagon would go the nearest river and come back full of sand. The same trip was made three times daily. One cart could carry around one ton of sand, from one ton of sand, ten panes of glass could be made. Thus, there was enough sand for thirty panes daily.

Obviously, this needed to be kept out of sight, so Eddard and Jon decided to keep the glass making process closer to the nearest river, Acorn Water, which, luckily, was small so not many were near to it, but also had enough sand so as to be useful to the glass making endeavor. While close to the land of Lord Cerwyn, they were still within Lord Stark's domain, so the operation began to run at a smooth rate.

Indeed, between 15-20 panes of glass were made each day, and Jon estimated based off of his measurements of the glass gardens in Winterfell, that around 150 panes of glass would be needed per house. It was a boon that the men that did the work required little to no gold due to how small the operation was. While not small in the vast need of the glass, the amount of people who actually worked were minimized due to the mechanical set up that ran the furnace. A boon indeed because Jon had plans for the coin at his disposal.

Spread out across the North, there were 20 houses, as well as the Night's Watch, that Ned intended to receive these gifts. Thus, 3,000 panes of glass would be needed. Jon estimated that, provided that they maintained an area with sufficient space, they could have that amount within eight moons. It would be difficult to have such a vast space, so Eddard decided that, as the space within the buildings near the contraption they had set up to make the glass, the one made from the windmill doing more work than Eddard ever thought possible, it would begin to be taken to the nearby houses, silently, so as to begin construction on glass gardens for the nearest houses. From there, the glass would continue to go to the nearby houses until each house in the North had the sufficient materials to have a glass house that could help alleviate the burdens of the winters that would come in the future.

It was enough to make Eddard weep tears of joy. Jon, truly, was a blessing upon the realm. Already, he had impacted the North in a way that the rest of the realm would see in due time. It filled him with immeasurable pride to see his son, in all but blood, improve the lives of every man, woman, and child that lived in the North. He was from another world, and such knowledge could be the way that Ned's people attained better lives. He vowed, again, to listen to all that his son had to say.

It was shortly after they had enough for the first glass house, the one that was meant to go to Lord Cerwyn, that Jon came to speak to Eddard. As he knocked on the solar and entered, Ned grew interested in the conversation to come. 'If anything,' Eddard thought wryly, 'this will be a talk where much progress will be made.'

"Father," Jon began with a serious expression on his face. "You have granted me part of the gold that was gained from the sale of the excess of grain that we had this last harvest, and I know exactly where I would like to begin to put this coin."

"Oh?" Eddard asked with a raised eyebrow as he gestured for Jon to continue.

"Roads," Jon said simply without any preamble.

"Roads?" Ned asked in slight confusion.

"Aye," Jon began as his voice took on the tone of someone about to give a lecture. "Roads are pivotal to all trade within the North, and it is deeply concerning that there is a major lack of roads throughout the North. Roads, above all, will allow the North to have more mobility within its borders, and can cause great growth. Trade will blossom if roads were made that could connect the houses and major villages and "cities", a term I use loosely, of the North to each other. While the coin from the harvest will, surely, not be enough to fund such a grand connection between the houses of the North, it would definitely be enough to begin construction."

"A road of such a great length would be nice, but construction of that magnitude would take a long time Jon," Eddard said as he sat in contemplation. "And what of the route and barriers we would have to go through?" Eddard asked as he tried to see how well Jon had thought this through.

Very well, it seemed as Jon pulled up a map that he had drawn on to show his thoughts. It was, in fact, a good idea, and the mapped-out road made Eddard feel more comfortable with the idea. "Well," Jon began as he pointed at the barriers that would make the construction of the road difficult, the Wolfsroad, Jon had decided as the name. "Everyone knows that it is difficult to tunnel through mountains and the like, but that isn't what we will do father. No, with the exception of the Wolfswood and bodies of water, we will go around," Jon said as he traced around the line that visited each house in the North. "First, we will create the loop that causes travel to be much faster through the heart of the North, from there we will expand the road to reach each house by including the Kingsroad as an already made avenue for the east. The loop will circulate from outside Winterfell, through the Wolfswood and the Barrowlands, out towards Hornwood and the Last River near the Last Hearth. However," Jon said as he looked up into Ned's eyes. "By this point, the Lords will have seen that this is expedient to them, and we should expect them to help in this endeavor. By blunting the costs by using my own coin for the main road over the next few growing seasons, this main road should be able to be built. By that time, I find it highly appropriate to call upon the remaining Lords to pave their own pathways up to the Wolfsroad. When I am ruler of Moat Cailin, I will also help my neighbors in their construction in whichever ways I can. I would argue to make the main loop reach slightly passed the Neck to make this endeavor easy on the majority of the Lords including the Flints, but I fail to see the immediate need to go anywhere further than Moat Cailin. We will have to build bridges in places, but the construction will be worth it to have faster travel in the North. This road will make trade easier due to better transport conditions, help with the time it takes for the raised levies to come together, and allow for internal migration. In all," he said. "Furthermore, I know that I can help in creating a cheaper stone so as to minimize cost. If my experiments prove fruitful, then I might just be able to make a substance that will be cheaper than stone but be nearly as strong. In all, this will be a complete boon for House Stark and the North."

"Aye," Eddard said as he agreed with Jon. "How much time do you estimate for it to take?"

"Well," Jon said as he looked back at the map. "The North is the largest of all the kingdoms, and this road will be the second largest in all the kingdoms. By my calculations, it would near 2,600 miles of road. That's without the added sections for the houses as well. Add those, and it would be nearing 3,100 miles. It will be an undertaking, but if the builders can lay seven to ten miles a day, as I know they can. Then, this can be done by my tenth nameday. Provided that the coin for this task is sufficient. It would be best," Jon said as he stepped back from the table, "if you were to find workers who can work fast so that the profits can be more easily seen in an expedient manner."

"Aye, you've the right of it," Ned said as he stood up. "The coin will be quite a bit to do the entire road, but I agree in most areas on the importance of a more connected realm. You can use the extra coin that will come from the upcoming harvest. If the reapers, improved plows, and systems that you've helped set up for the smallfolk prove to bring an even greater yield this growing season, then you may yet find more coin to use for this project. Even so, the Northern coffers have never been fuller. I'll wait to see how far you make the coin go before I add that of our House, but if you cannot fund it all through the sold excesses, then I'll help pay for the continued construction of the Wolfsroad," Ned said with a nod towards Jon as they both exited the solar towards the dining hall so that they could eat with the rest of the family. Gods, Ned had never been happier that he had told Catelyn the truth. While she was angry for a time and it was a risk, it was wonderful to have the family close without any lies or great tensions.

Two months later and Jon's efforts in revolutionizing the agriculture system proved fruitful. There was much more coin than before due to the much greater amount of land being cultivated by the smallfolk thanks to recent introduction of improved plows, horse collars, horse-drawn reapers that harvested faster, and even better farming practices that Jon expounded upon to Maester Luwin. Thus Jon had plenty of coin to begin, through Maester Luwin and his father, the road. He had been able to create a rudimentary concrete, not as good as stone, but Jon estimated that it could last at least a lifetime before it broke down. The wagons would be unable to cause great issues, and only floods could truly displace it. This easily malleable building material allowed the brick layers to work faster than expected, and so they were laying the road at around a pace of 10 miles per day. It was a welcome thing to experience. It rankled Jon that he couldn't make a better concrete, but he didn't have everything he needed for a better cement. So, he was stuck with a lesser concrete than he would have wanted.

In that same month, Maester Luwin had come to Lord Eddard with a message. On it was a stag. The King had called for the North to answer to the rebelling Ironborn of whom Balon Greyjoy proclaimed himself the king of. And so, Ned was taken from his family to war. A war where one of Jon's ideas could be tested. For truly, the Northern longbowmen would taste war with the Iron Islanders who had plagued their shores for too long.

Author's Note

Wasssssssuuuupppp my dudes and dudettes! I'm back with another chapter! Sorry it took a while, I had finals at the University that I study.

I noticed that a reviewer talked about the fact that Jon had a degree in Industrial Engineering and Computer Engineering. He didn't get them at the same time, in fact, he went back to school to get his second masters. His history of his other life will be expounded upon later. I'm making a point of not delving into that history to show that he is, for all intents and purposes, the Jon of this story. He is and isn't the man who came before.

As always, please review! Your enthusiasm makes me feel energized. Let me know if you like the story! Thank you!

Also, I'm going to try to post an update at least weekly, but we will see how that goes. It's my hope to be able to do that, but not everything works out the way we want. This chapter took me awhile to write and critique, so I appreciate you guys being patient!

Until next time!