The next day after the King and the Prince boarded a ship to Kingslanding, The Stark party rode back towards the North. They decided on a sedate pace, it will take them twenty days to reach Moat Cailin at the pace they were setting, but his Father decided that there is no need for haste, Father and Ned had sent letters from Duskendale to Winterfell and Eeyrie about their trip to Duskendale and rescue of the King, they obscured the facts a bit by saying that Father recieved the word while he was at Moat Cailin and he decided to come support House Targaryen and that Ned joined him at the Inn and that rescue of the King was a happy coincidence due to Ironeyes stumbling on the hidden passageway. And they gave their estimated return dates.
Most of the ride Ned spent with Howland. Asking about the Neck and it's people. From what Howland said while the swamps were unsuitable for growing crops, The Neck has plentiful fish and other wildlife to subsist upon. The Crannogmen are resilient and self sustaining people. Once Ned took over lordship of Moat Cailin, the Crannogmen will be his most immediate neighbours and learning about them is a necessity, but that doesn't mean he didn't enjoy his time with Howland. While Ned won't have any authority over the Neck, the lands north of the Moat will be Neds responsibility.
Ned didn't know what to do with that land yet. But as more Howland described it the better picture formed in Neds head. There are a few villages, which are sparsely populated along the tributaries of the Fever River, the soil is rich and freshwater plentiful, the land is suitable for cultivation, but it isn't used to full potential. Not having a lord for protection there are very few who brave to farm there and even those brave few suffer Ironborn raids, who travel through Saltspear and up the Fever River and raid the villages. Ironborn scum, there needs to be a final solution to the Ironborn problem.So an outpost needs to be built at the mouth of the Fever River and a chain of signals fires to notify if there is ever an attack. Only then can those villages be developed. There is a need for ships to patrol Blazewater Bay and Saltspear, perhaps stationed at Flints Finger.
But once Fever River is secured, the farming that could be done there is enormous, the northern edge of the swamp could serve as grazing grounds for horses, cattle and sheep,the river itself is a food source with plenty of fish, with easy access to water hundreds of hectares could be planted with a variety of crops, if further canals are dug, it will only increase the farmland. All Ned needs to accomplish this is to secure the Saltspear against any Ironborn raid. And people, of course Ned needs more smallfolk to do the farming and herding. And Ned has to construct a town outside Moat Cailin for all those smallfolk to take shelter during the worst of Winter. Fuck, to truly develop Moat Cailin I need ships, people and gold, if only the Ironborn aren't such a thieving ,pillaging, raping and pirating scum. No matter, they will give me a chance to raze their castles to the ground by doing something stupid. Once I get that chance, I will put an end to their ways once and for all.Ned spoke of all he hoped to make out the lands north of Moat Cailin to his Father. He spoke of the need for ships and how once developed those rich soil lands have the ability to turn into the breadbasket of the North. How that could in turn decrease their need for imported grain.
His Father listened and promised to think on it.
Ned went back to speaking with Howland and learnt that Crannogmen make their own medicine and often times those medicines are more effective than the ones prescribed by the Maesters. He even admitted that they regularly send Crannogmen to Citadel to learn whatever they can and copy however many of the books they can before returning without swearing their vows.
At that Ned mind started racing, Fuck, I am idiot, I suggested to Rhaegar to search for hidden knowledge and magical items at Dragonstone but didn't think to suggest the same thing to Father. The abandoned First Keep and disused Broken Tower and the crypts, they are the oldest parts of Winterfell, what guarantee is there that they don't have secrets waiting to be discovered. Even if there is nothing there, The First Keep and the Broken Tower need to be repaired or rebuilt and the Crypts need to be cleared of any debris from collapse.
Ned shared his thoughts with Father, and he readily agreed and promised that the repairs of Winterfell will begin as soon as Father returned home. That eased Neds mind. Ned also pointed out that just as there is a secret passageway to Dun Fort there is a very real possibility that there are secret ways in and out of Winterfell, there is a possibility of a strategic weakness like the smugglers way which opened Duskendales gate and secret passage way into dungeons of Dun Fort that made King's rescue possible, if Winterfell has such weakness thay need to be found and secured, and they can't use others for this work either. Starks will have to find them themselves, if they are an easily exploitable weaknesses they need to be fortified, but if they could serve as true secret escape ways then those secrets need to be kept in Stark Family. Father and Son duo spent avail discussing that and other ongoing projects. Father admitted that even with all the money they have been spending, Winterfells coffers have remained filled and that House Stark is wealthier now than they have been in past two centuries. That news made Ned happy.
After all the hard rides Ned recently did this sedate pace was a boon and Ned is going to enjoy it as long it lasts.