Close to Winterfell
Daeron Pov
I could see Winterfell now, but it is much different from what tales and the books I have read described. The same could be said of the North in general, there were probably thousands of books about the North and all said the North was a cold bleak place barely filled with barbarian heathens who were barely a step above those North of the Wall.
However, most of those books were not written in the last few decades, the North was now a vibrant, wealthy place that could probably be considered one of the forerunners of being the most civilized of the Seven Kingdoms.
His visit to Moat Cailin and later White Harbor quashed those tales now antiquated tales.
Flashback
His mouth was gaping open as he stared at the fortress that protected the North from invasion through the Neck. Moat Cailin was no longer a crumbling ruin that wasn't fit for a hedge knight but now a great bastion capable of slaughtering entire armies just like it was thousands of years ago when the Andals invaded.
Like the Bloody Gate, Casterly Rock and Greywater Watch this fortress has never been taken in all the time it has existed and considering its now repaired state it is unlikely it will ever be taken at all. Unless they had dragons I thought, Harrenhall revealed the folly of trying to stay behind walls when a dragon arrives while the Field of Fire revealed the foolishness of amassing huge armies and taking to the open field against dragons.
Only the Dornish figured out the proper way of fighting armies relying on dragons, never staying in one place or a single place for too long and destroy the army bit by bit, a death of a thousand cuts. Dragons could destroy nearly every force arrayed against them but to hold ground, to collect taxes, to lay down laws you need people, both soldiers and administrators and the Dornish mainly targeted that rather than the dragons themselves. Ensuring while there would be death and destruction there would be no conquest. As while dragons were nearly invincible, they still needed to be fed and by taking out the rest of the army especially the supplies and logistical part the dragons had to retreat to safe territory while without the army protecting him the dragon rider would be vulnerable and once the army was destroyed, they had to retreat.
Shaking my head, a bit, since I could bring myself back to the present, I had plans to get around the Dornish method of fighting but that would wait till I was King. I looked at the flag flying over the fortress and winced a little at the Stark Wolf with the color reversed with the wolf firmly collared and shackled.
Cregan the current Warden of the North was thirteen when his father died and his uncle Bennard Stark became his regent, however, Bennard refused to step down when Cregan became of age and Cregan was forced to launch a coup against his uncle to gain his rightful authority, imprisoning Bennard and his three sons.
Bennard was sentenced to the Wall along with his two older sons, while the youngest son Royce was "allowed" to regain his families lost honor by serving as the bastion that protected the North's land route. But everyone knew that while Moat Cailin was an impregnable castle and important to the North it was poor in resources and relied upon Winterfell and the Reeds to provide food, weapons and manpower to maintain and defend it. They only thing they didn't lack was coin as Moat Cailin was a major trade route in and out of the North. If Royce became ambitious his own men would imprison him as they were more loyal to the Houses, they came from rather than the disgraced Stark. And even if he could turn them to his side which was improbable as the men were constantly rotated in and out there were only a few hundred of them and they had no levees or other minor houses banners which they could call up and they would be trapped in Moat Cailin by the Bogmen and without the support of other housed they would starve and be broke within a moon.
This grand fortress was also a prison and Cregan once again proved his cunning and pragmatic nature, for a supposed unintelligent barbarian he was smarter than most of the Southern Lords and more than once my father and uncle Viserys dreaded the day if Cregan decided to join the Game of Thrones. As Cregan with his intelligence, deeds, goodwill he has earned, and his newfound wealth and power was more than set to be the power behind the throne. Luckily the Lord Paramount of the North wasn't interested in expanding his influence on other Kingdoms, rather he was interested in ensuring that the North prospered and the conquest of the North of the Wall.
As the gates of Moat Cailin opened and him and his entourage were greeted by Royce Moatstark he wondered whether this would be the only surprise waiting for him in the North.
…...White Harbor
The city was beautiful and put King's Landing to shame very easily, he decided to approach the city ahead of his entourage by flying to it on Scorch and he was greeted by one of the few cities in Westeros and probably the most beautiful of those cities. The seat of House Manderly, the city a symbol of the wealth of the House and the city of trade for the North.
Although the city seemed to be expanding rapidly as I noticed the construction of another set of white walls beginning to surround the city and many buildings between what was now the inner-city walls and this new wall under construction looked fairly new. While the Wolf's Den the old home of House Greystark before they became traitors in one of the Bolton Rebellions was no longer a crumbling ruin occasionally used as a prison but a rebuilt fortress. I wondered why they had rebuilt it when they already had the New Castle to retreat to. Then I looked at the size of the city and realized with White Harbor expanding another inner sanctum was needed in case the walls or harbors defenses were breached and it made much more sense to repair an old keep which was still in decent shape instead of building a new one.
However, it was the harbor that interested me, the sight of where the North's Eastern fleet was made and mostly stationed. Ten of those Ships of the Line could be seen in the harbor along with numerous Galleys and sloops, altogether I would estimate just less than a hundred warships along with many trading vessels that could also be seen. How many ships overall there were I couldn't really estimate but several hundred at least. Of course, the entire eastern fleet wasn't here, some were stationed at the Three Sisters, others on patrol while the rest were at Skagos, to protect the area North of the Wall which lacked naval defenses and were sometimes raided by Essos slavers. A similar situation was also on the west coast of the North with the majority of the western navy at Cape Kraken while some were at Bear Island, to ensure the Ironborn couldn't just bypass the main naval base and attack the North's new holdings.
I landed in the city before the New Castle and was greeted by the Manderly household including Lord Torrhen Manderly himself, a person that served on my father's regency council and one of the few who managed to escape that position unscathed in body, mind and land. I remember stories of the mess that my father's regency council was and father, after becoming king, enacted several new laws to ensure that such a mess wouldn't happen again.
After the usual bowing and meaningless chatter that was expected to greet a member of the royal family, bread and salt was offered to ensure guest rights and then we entered the New Castle.
The Red Keep and more particularly the throne room and the Iron Throne were supposed to convey power and authority, how above everyone else the Royal Family was, the Merman Court however was to convey the beauty and wealth of White Harbor and the family which ruled it. If the artist and designers of this marvel weren't already long dead, he would hire them himself to create something similar in the Red Keep. Though he would probably have them design dragons and battles instead of ships, the sea and sea creatures real or otherwise, I thought looking at the painting of a Merling. Although looking at the Merling again, there have been some odd reports over the years regarding the sighting of such creatures on a more common basis with more reputable people rather than the usual drunk smallfolk fisherman once every decade.
Internally dismissing the thought, I went to join his host as we waited for the rest of my entourage to arrive as I arrived only an hour before them.
Flashback end
Winterfell had another set of walls around it and a large town that was slowly expanding from all its gates and by the looks of it they would eventually connect to one another. The biggest of these towns were the southern and eastern ones, the ones that were closer to the canals and probably the trade parts of Winterfell.
I could see this commerce for myself as we passed through the southern town. The market stalls, the various blacksmiths, goldsmiths and other manufacturing shops were littered around with merchants from many places part of the crowd which was making way from him. A lot were Westeros merchants but there were many Bravos and Pentos merchants along with many other of the Free Cities, I think I see a few Summer Isle residents as well judging by the black brownish skin. Although they must be uncomfortable as they live in a very warm place that requires little clothing, moving even for a limited time to a very cold place wearing a bundle of furs would be like expecting a Dornish man to enjoy the frozen North or a Northerner to enjoy the deserts of Dorne, there was more of a chance of a Septon not asking for a "donation" then that to happen.
Keeping the crowd at bay were soldiers and I did mean soldiers, lines of disciplined uniformed men that reminded me of the tales of the Unsullied, wearing very good armor covered in runes and symbols of the Direwolf, all holding rectangle shields but also holding a variety of weapons including spears, swords, halberds and pikes. The last two weapons were fairly rare among the men at arms and levees of the Seven Kingdoms but not that unusual. Along the battlements a number of men could be seen at regular intervals holding banners, including the banners of my house as welcome though I would be willing to bet each of them were armed with bows and arrows.
Before the gate of Winterfell was the Lord of the North Cregan Stark wrapped in armor and fur with a cloak at the back, his eyes stared at him like living steel that pierced my very soul, he looked like he was ready to go into battle at any moment. Once I reached an appropriate distance to him, he and his family and entourage knelt along with the soldiers and the smallfolk. However, despite this show of submission, it was clear who held the power here and I wasn't thinking about the hundreds of soldiers that were loyal to the Stark's as even bowing one could sense some sort of... power radiating from him.
"Welcome your grace, Winterfell is open to you" Cregan said still bowing.
"Rise Lord of Winterfell and Warden of the North" I responded, with everyone getting up.
As both our entourage entered into Winterfell proper, I couldn't help but marvel at the defenses of Winterfell, with its triple walls, triple moats and collapsible bridges Winterfell was pretty much impregnable from a land-based army. Winterfell was probably now in the same league as Casterly Rock, but I noticed many runes ingrained into the walls, symbols that could possibly belong to the language of the First Men.
Winterfell was designed as a fortress while the Red Keep was designed to impress and the walls of the most important city in Westeros King's Landing wasn't considered that great a defense. In theory the several hundred men at arms and the two and a half thousand Goldcloaks could man the walls, but nobody actually believed that, the Goldcloaks while good at keeping law and order in the city are not trained to be soldiers and even combined the arms men and Goldcloaks lacked the numbers to man the wall in sufficient numbers or plug a breach. And once a breach was made, they would be overrun, and the Red Keep wasn't a defensible enough position to hold for very long in the face of a serious assault.
Dragons were the true defense of King's Landing, the real defense policy of the city was for the royal family to fly out with their dragons and destroy the invading armies and fleets before they actually reach the city. And if they failed or an enemy managed to sneak a force right to the gates of the city the royal family could escape on their dragons, cold perhaps but the royal family had to be protected.
Deciding to sate my curiosity I asked, "What is with the runes?".
"Similar to House Royce of Runestone we Stark's had great knowledge of magical runes, which we managed to recover" Cregan didn't really need to explain when they recovered this knowledge, many families including the Targyaren's rediscovered long lost magical arts with the Revenge of Magic. In fact, I thought, if rumors of that secret room that allowed the Stark's to figure out something was fishy regarding the Maesters were true they had access to magic years before anyone else if not longer.
House Royce immediately began carving true magical runes into their weapons and armors, giving House Royce not the largest army in the Vale but probably the most elite one but while he could clearly see the Stark's copying (or perhaps the other way round) the Royce with the runed weapons and armor, he hadn't heard of the Royce using it to improve their castle.
"I presume you can already guess their function, preservation, strengthening and something fairly new, resistance to fire" I and nearly everyone else in my entourage who was within hearing range nearly stumbled at that announcement and more than one had shock on their faces. Although Cregan's eyes and expression didn't change from the frozen but polite business face he was showing I swear I could feel him smile at that statement.
It was clear to all who heard it, the implication that Winterfell was now nearly impossible to turn into a second Harrenhall, a statement that slyly announced if needed the Starks could hold out against the Dragons, reducing the Targyaren's already low influence in the North. Another way of announcing that it was the Wolves not the royal family who had true power up here. I nodded my head slowly to show I understood the message and the smile I was feeling now felt predatory, so I understood Cregan got my message.
Luckily while the reception was frosty the feast was anything but, it was rowdy, loud and kind of fit the stereotype of the barbarian feast rumors that made their way across the halls of Westeros, but it was much more enjoyable and fun than the formal feasts in the Red Keep. I could see several of my men join in the merrymaking, happy to be not travelling for a little while.
It was after the feast that business began as I had arranged a more private talk with our hard-faced host in his solar. Many people saw Solars as little more than storage rooms for whatever documents the Lord needs on hand but in truth, they were the heart of the castle and the Lord's power. It was in those rooms that messages were written, and decisions were made that changed the Kingdom's, oh the Great Halls of Westeros maybe where those decisions were announced but it was in the Solars where they were made.
Looking around Cregan's solar I noticed that it looked quite stark, fitting I suppose of the conservative Northmen, even with their newfound wealth they didn't seem to like showing it off like southern Lords. There was a plain desk covered in parchments and maps, with ink and quills on the side. A fairly comfortable looking chair which lacked decoration and many bookcases with books and scrolls filling the shelves.
I sat in one of the other chairs, while Cregan poured and offered a goblet of wine, which I accepted as I foresaw a long and hard discussion trying to convince Cregan not to seek revenge for the planned attack upon his Kingdom and people.
Deciding to test the waters "Do you know why I have come here and doing the first Northern tour done by the royal family in over a hundred years?" I asked and I certainly hoped this Northern Tour wouldn't end as badly as the last one, which almost caused a revolt thanks to the New Gift. The North always has and likely always will respect the Night's Watch and would do many things to support it, however the stealing of their land by royal decree and transferring it to the Night's Watch saw the Targaryen family unofficially banished from the North for decades and even now most Northerners hadn't forgiven them for that decree, The North Never Forgets.
"Well, I had heard rumors both savory and unsavory. Officially you are here to strengthen the relationship between the North and the royal family, unofficially you are here to spy on us as we can hardly refuse a prince. Yet I believe that both those stories are only partial truths, there is another reason why you have come here, the main reason" Cregan said staring intently at me, as if searching for something.
Well, this will make the conversation somewhat easier as he already suspects something, I thought dryly, deciding to be as blunt as my host (who else but a blunt man would call a prince a spy to the princes face) "You are right those are only partial truths, we do want to have closer relations to the North and we do want to know what the North is capable of, what resources it can call upon but the main reason is the inevitable invasion of the North by entire Iron Fleet backed by the Westerland's, Reach and Dorne" Daeron admitted.
However, it wasn't Cregan that was the surprised one as I beheld his cool, calm and collected face with his eyes betraying no sign of surprise, outrage or shock about an invasion of his Kingdom I realized something "You knew" I said wide eyed with a measure of disbelief in my voice.
Cregan nodded "I knew, the eyes of Winterfell are not blind and I have expected an assault ever since I cut off the Ironborn's source of wood, I have also been expecting some revenge from many lords when I made their coin pockets a bit lighter, honestly those bandits they sent were pathetic and it was even more pathetic when they came to beg for marriage contracts" although his face didn't change you could hear an internal sigh, like why I am dealing with these bunch of idiot's sigh.
"Then, then why didn't you attack, a preemptive strike?" he asked still fairly baffled.
"Because then I would be the one breaking the King's Peace and you would have no choice but to attack and punish the North, allowing the various Kingdoms to achieve their goals, the Ironborn's goals are very clear they want access to our forests and we would probably have to pay them compensation if we did preemptively attack them as part of our punishment" Cregan explained and I nodded my head reluctantly as if that did occur, we would have to punish the North and the "victim" the Iron Island's would have to be offered compensation.
"The Westerland's goals are to regain their monopoly on precious metals, if we are either punished or damaged as much as they hope they plan to create a long-term contract with the various mints, major merchants and the royal family to only use Westerland sourced precious metals. Like the Westerland's the Reach hopes that our resources will be diminished enough to force us in a long-term profitable for them contract. With all our wealth being used to repair the damage and many of our food stores along the west coast destroyed they hope to fill the gaps the Westerland supplying precious metals to the realm and the Reach supplying us with food and then legally ensure that it will continue in perpetuity" now I realized that this wasn't just a revenge plot or trying to slow down the North's rise but a plot to return things closer to the pre-Dance of Dragons situation.
"What about Dorne? I asked as I still tried to bend my head around the truly massive and nearly unimaginable conspiracy, I found myself knowing.
"Dorne is hoping with a successful Ironborn invasion combined with the damage of some of our canals if the Ironbron can penetrate their defenses will convince merchants that it's too dangerous to use our canals with the Ironborn on the other side as at least the Stepstone pirates can be bribed to ensure safe passage while Ironborn can't. They hope that the merchants will sail around Dorne again as the safer route" Cregan finished explaining revealing everyone's motivation and goals for this mess.
All I could do was sit in silence for several minutes absolutely stunned, I doubted I would notice the entire Kingsguard enter the room in feminine clothing dancing around me as I tried to comprehend the massive conspiracy I found myself in.
After a few minutes "I get why you have not attacked, since I have no doubt, you've been preparing for it since the day you discovered the plan" Cregan nodded at that "but why haven't the Ironborn attacked yet?".
"Simple" Cregan replied "magic, when the unearthing of all that lost knowledge in the Citadel was discovered everyone began either denying it or trying to learn how to recreate their ancestors magic, the Ironborn embraced it wholeheartedly, their Drowned Priests began relearning the magic of the Drowned God. The Ironborn will only attack when they believe enough of their priests have gained enough competence in using magic before they attack as they believe with the blessing/magic of the Drowned God they would be invincible upon the seas and only a grand battle or campaign would be worthy of revealing such power to the world" Cregan finished looking completely unworried by the fact that the Ironborn were training sorcerers.
Unknown to Daeron the North was years ahead of everyone else in the training of magic, along with a proper magic instructor instead of reading from a book and hoping to recreate the effects written in it. Also, while most limited this knowledge to family members or specific organizations such as the Drowned Men the North was more open. So not only did the North have better trained, more experienced magic users but they also had a lot more of them, along with more variety than only ocean going magic. The so-called advantage of magic that the Ironborn believed they had was nothing more than an illusion.
Well that certainly answered my question, the reemergence of magic was still a slow process and many still didn't think of it as a factor in most things, so for the Small Council not realizing it was the reason why the Ironborn were holding off their attack was understandable.
"However, I do believe there is one more question that you haven't realized that also needs to be asked" Cregan said catching my attention.
"What question is that?" I asked.
"What's going to stop the Ironborn from heading South and attacking the other Kingdoms if they succeed in burning down the North's west coast?" Cregan answered.
That was a good question! I thought, I would like to say my family's wrath would stay any further attacks but considering their brazen enough to attack a Kingdom and risking said wrath then that wasn't the answer. Then it clicked, how could the Westerland's and the Reach ensure that the Ironborn navy would never threaten their kingdoms, how could they with no navy?
"The Lannister Fleet and the Redwyne Fleet are going to intercept the Iron Fleet on the way back to the Iron Islands, when they are tired, drunk, unprepared and taken casualties in battle after a campaign against the North with their ships laden down and slowed by having holds full of goods and thralls!" I exclaimed when this realization hit me.
"Indeed" Cregan said nodding his head with approval "then once they deal with the Iron Fleet, they would sail to the Iron Islands to punish them for breaking the King's Peace and by happenstance certain people and documents that prove they were supporting the attack would unfortunately disappear or be killed in the attack leaving all the blame on the Greyjoy's who tricked the poor Lannister's and Tyrell's into investing in their fleet", Cregan said leaning back into his chair.
This, this, this was the Game of Thrones in its most extreme form, most of the time it just led to the disgrace or perhaps death of a single person or family, occasionally some more, however this level of the Game led to tens of thousands dying, this was the level that led to the Dance of the Dragons and saw the Realm devastated. All I could do was slump into my chair in shock and drink the wine to wet my suddenly dry throat.
Finally finding my voice "You'll win that's why you are so calm, everyone else believes that they are advancing their own plans and agenda's while in reality they are sheep being led to the slaughter by wolves" a vicious and predatory grin was the only response I received, as I suddenly realized that the greatest and most powerful player in the Game of Thrones was this man.
He knew how the other Kingdoms would respond to the changes in the North and he knew how they would respond, he planned for this to happen, perhaps years before the thought entered any southern lord's head. He knew how the various pieces would move and now as I sat in this room, I realized that there was only one piece left, that was about to move into position before this game was truly set and match.
The Royal family's piece, me "What do you want in exchange for stopping or limiting your revenge to stop the Realm being engulfed in another civil war?" I asked with a hint of acceptance and surrender in my voice.
Cregan with his face again presenting a polite, cold business look "Two things, one charters from the crown, allowing settlements to be recognized as town and cities and I think you can understand why" I nodded at that, with the rising population of the North it would make sense to petition the crown for charters for those settlements. While with the conquest of the Winterland as it was now officially named, new settlements were formed and needed to be recognized according to their current population and growth potential. However, this had the potential to truly change Westeros for nearly two centuries. There had been only five cities in Westeros, King's Landing, Lannisport, White Harbor, Oldtown and Gulltown.
"Which settlements do you want to charters to recognize them as cities?" I asked.
"Barrowton, Torrhen's Square and Cerwyn" Cregan answered.
I had yet to see either Barrowton or Torrhen's Square but I had seen Cerwyn, it was in the center of the major canal cutting across the North, becoming a major trading center, it already nearly had a population of fifteen thousand and it was still growing. It would probably within my lifetime equal White Harbor old population before the North's rise. While Barrowton and Torrhen's Square were already noted population centers in the North before the population increase, now they were also part of the river canal system that spread through the North and were on the two main ones, making them trade centers as well. If Cerwyn was a borderline city despite its smaller population compared to the other two towns then those two must already have the necessary population to be considered a city.
Still a Kingdom with four recognized cities may cause some protests from the other kingdoms, charters for towns were no problem, cities? That was a different matter entirely, however they were in the corner with little options, if I didn't want another civil war to wreak the realm from the North's revenge, then I had to agree to their demands.
"Fine" I said with a bit of force behind my word, Cregan actually smiled a little as if pleased I hadn't lost my spine in a situation where someone else could dictate terms at will.
"The second thing is the return of the New Gift" I froze at that, considering that it was my family who created that situation. Creating charters and doing stuff that changes a situation by enacting laws and making rulings are one thing, but a complete reversal of a previous decision was quite another. It was like admitting you or your predecessors were wrong and that is something that no Lord let alone a King likes or would do if they had another option.
Trying to think of a way around it "Surely you wish that the Night's Watch gets the necessary support to continue its mission in guarding the Wall" hoping that that will at least make the Warden of the North reconsider his demand.
"Even at the Night's Watch height with over ten thousand black brothers to their name they only needed Brandon's Gift, the New Gift simply stretches their time and resources for very little return" Cregan informed the young prince who unfortunately had to bow to the Lord Parmount of the North greater knowledge of the subject at the moment.
"I will see what I can do" I said, using a noncommittal language in order to buy time for my father and uncle to figure out what to do, I lacked the necessary knowledge and experience to think of a way to stop it or at least lessen the blow to the Targyaren reputation if we had to give back the land.
Cregan simply kept his eyes on me, his eyes showed that he understood the way I worded my response, but I could see no worry in his eyes, likely knowing that he was going to get the New Gift anyway.
Seeing as this conversation was over, I bade a farewell and exited the room, realizing that father and uncle were right to be wary of that man
…...Cregan Pov
As the young Prince exited the solar, I stroked my beard, I thought the child would break and give in, the moment he realized that I held all the power here and could dictate my terms at will, but Daeron managed to keep his spine and mettle after the initial shock wore off. Even managed to buy himself some time to try and think of another solution, perhaps he would be a good king in the future.
However, it was unlikely that the royal family would come up with a way to stop the return of the New Gift, the only legal way was if the Night's Watch refused to hand over the land as technically, they were a sovereign nation separate from the crown, so the crown couldn't just order them to do something. So, if the Lord Commander of the Night's Watch refused to hand over the land the royal family could wash their hands of the issue and say, "They tried". But he already talked with the Lord Commander, so that wouldn't be an issue.
Still, as a prince he had the right to visit virtually anywhere in the North and I could hardly refuse him, so that's why during the prince's visit I had more of our mystical stuff in hiding. The House of Knowledge stopped the training of the mystical arts for the week the prince was here, keeping it to the more mundane training, such as normal healing, history, reading, letters and other normal things Maesters would teach. To distract the royal entourage, I still had my men training as normal to showcase how better trained and equipped my forces were compared to other Kingdom's, to let him think that was my reason for being confident against the Ironborn.
Of course, I ensured he wouldn't run into any Giants or Children of the Forest, after Winterfell Daeron would visit Last Hearth and then move East to the Karstark's and back south again, recircling the southern half of the North before heading to Barrowton and Torrhen's Square, completing the tour. The Children lived deep in the Wolfswood while the Giants lived to the west of Last Hearth so the royal party wouldn't run into them. While the Targyaren's were unable to visit Winterland as the place was still being developed thus unable to support a visit by even a royal visit.
Speaking of magical creatures "I wonder how Ranma's conquest of the East is going" I muttered wondering how many of the tales I had heard about the Golden Empire were true. I suppose Ranma will tell me when she ensures the area was under her control.
Taking a quill, I began working as while the North was united there were some issues I had to sort out. With the increasing population and the discovery of so many resources it led to border skirmishes, the major houses of the North owned vast tracks of land that for the most part were much greater than most other houses in the south. House Umbar by itself owned land nearly equal to a fifth of the entire Westerland, for the Old God's sake!
However, despite owning such vast lands they were easy to control and manage thanks to the low population of those lands. So, they only needed a handful of minor Houses to rule the land and most of the borders of these lands from both major and minor Houses were a bit undefined. With a handful of exceptions like Whitehill's and Forrester's they rarely skirmished over the borders as there was nothing there worth arguing about so the boundaries of where one houses lands begin and end were shaky to say the least.
However, with an increasing population and the discovery of numerous mines, new farmland, new villages and canals, roads and trade routes in general there was now a need for clear borders to settle the arguments of who owns what. There was also a need for more Minor Houses to properly run these lands as Lord's were beginning to find themselves slightly overworked trying to run such large territories with an ever-growing population.
This meant taking land from Houses to create these new noble families, he managed to lessen the protest by ensuring when possible that it would be the second or third son of the original owner of these lands who were elevated and if not, their daughters would be married into the new minor house as they still swore to the major Northern Houses. He also needed to make sure that these new territories were economically viable and could at least operate semi-independently once the new House takes over, so they weren't just puppets. He also needed to ensure that these new houses had holdfasts, castles and other accommodation that were fit for a lord to run their new territory from, as there wasn't always a handy castle in the lands that didn't currently have occupants and weren't in dire need of repair after being abandoned for centuries.
It was certainly headache worthy, his only conciliation was that Ranma was going to have a bigger headache in trying to unite the eastern lands across the Narrow Sea, a slight grin on his face at that thought.
…...Yin, Yi Ti, Azure Emperor Pov
Explosions, screams and shouts were what I could hear, getting closer and closer. I was in my palace, the center of my power and authority, the place where I should be safest, where I couldn't be denied. Yet even as I was surrounded by my Royal Guard, I knew that my end was coming but I would face it with the dignity of an Emperor, as my well-polished and kept armor glinted in the torchlight and my sword drawn ready to fight what was coming.
I thought back to where this all began, at the Five Forts.
Flashback
I was in a procession easily numbered a thousand strong with many servants and warriors, upon my golden chariot decorated with precious metals and gems shaped like dragons, with four decorative armored horses pulling the chariot.
As we approached the Five Forts, I looked around the sea of people. My other competitors for the title of Emperor were among them, each one had their own processions with varying levels of people and grandeur, some just had a few dozen people as bodyguards and no entourages at all showcasing their level of power in the civil war that was wreaking havoc all over Yi Ti. Numerous banners flapping in the wind covering a large number of colors and designs.
However, it wasn't just his fellow countrymen but countless foreigners or as the more ignorant members of his court called them "barbarians", some of them could truly be call that but only a fool would think that despite their lack of civilization they weren't dangerous.
He could see the Zorse Chiefs of the north, the ancient enemies of Yi Ti with thousands of yurts being pulled behind the countless tribes. Thousands of their pointed skulls could be seen among this sea of people. But even stranger were the Shrykes, the lizardmen who lived between the Five Forts and K'Dath, those primitive humanoids, with green scales and poison bites. They never left their land and were hostile to anyone, even each other, often attacking on sight. Yet now they were peacefully mingling with many people from many lands.
All around him he could see people from lands and cities that should never have met, yet here they were, in a display of clothing, colors and cultures that haven't been seen in centuries if not longer. But towering over this army of people were the Five Forts, those black fortresses reaching into the sky like fingers.
However, there now seems to be some confusion, they were called, now they were here, now he was wondering what they are supposed to do. And he wasn't the only one he was confused and while plenty of people milled around talking to one another there seemed to be no clear direction or conversation steering things. There seemed to be no reason for them to be called.
Then a shadow covered him and many others, and cries of alarms and amazement began to fill the air as people began to look up. I looked up as well and immediately my face went slack from shock, there was a ship in the sky, a GIANT FLYING SHIP IN THE BLOODY SKY. Magic was fairly common in the area East of the Bone Mountains, unlike the West but it was usually more subtle, not something like this.
Then from the ship came winged humans with hands and feet that looked like bird talons. They formed a royal procession from the ship to the ground in front of the middle one of the Five Forts, their spears raised and from the ship came another winged human but he was different from the others, a red haired and golden winged one that had an entourage behind him. He was young in looks but there was a sense of something ancient about him, a great red jewel was upon his chest the size of this gemstone unequaled by any I had seen.
Near to the ground this flying procession stopped and then a great voice called out silencing everything "RANMA!" and then in response I felt a presence, an overwhelming presence that made my royal sorcerer and every other shaman, magical priest or other mystical person in this throng of people paled and shook in fear as they alone understand what the pressure was and how much greater it was than theirs.
Then I heard a sound, a great gate opening, turning my head I saw the middle Fort of the Five Forts gate open and stepping through was a red headed female, wearing silver armor, that was all I could see from this distance and then she spoke.
"Saffron", it wasn't loud, and in fact it seemed to be spoken at normal volume, yet it echoed around, and every person could hear it.
Then they began approaching one another, one walking the other hovering, getting closer and closer and with each step the pressure grew greater and greater to the point even a child could have sensed something. As they got closer there seemed to be a disturbance in the air between them like it was shifting from their mere presence.
When they were about ten meters apart a blue glow began to be emitted from the female who was obviously Ranma while a red one was coming from Saffron the SAFFRON. He had heard myths about the immortal winged god king of the peaks but that was what he thought it was myths. Yet here was proof before his very eyes complete with a flying ship.
The aura from the two beings grew and grew till they touched each other, where well the best way to describe it would be a thunderstorm without clouds as wind, lighting, fire, ice and various other elemental forces appeared where their auras met. Around Saffron the area becomes scorched somehow while the area around Ranma froze, a sheet of ice emerging from her feet and spreading.
When they were standing right in front of each other there the tension had everyone staring at them in silence expecting one of them to try and kill the other.
But instead, the tension immediately dissipated, the aura of power surrounding the two gone and the two were now... laughing?!
Indeed, they were laughing like old comrades who hadn't seen each other in years, both clasping their hands together.
"It's good to see an old face" Ranma said.
"Who are you calling old when you haven't aged a day either" Saffron responded a light grin on his face.
"I see that Kiima has joined you as expected of the captain of your royal guard" as Ranma looked around Saffron to the guard behind him on his right.
"I will always protect my Lord, Queen Ranma" the identified Kiima bowed slightly.
Ranma seemed to grimace slightly "I know I am a Queen despite wishing that I am not, but must you call me that when we haven't seen each other for eight thousand years?".
EIGHT THOUSAND YEARS?! Did I hear that right, did she say eight thousand years?!
Then a slightly mischievous grin made its way onto Ranma's face "Tell me have you two finally tied the knot or have you still danced around each other during the millennium's I was indisposed?", Saffron's face remained composed and impassive, but one could sense the blush and denials coming from Kiima even though she didn't say anything.
"I believe we should regal ourselves in what we have been doing since we last met after you have a meeting with the gathered dignitaries, after all you summoned them" Saffron responded his voice dignified and cool like proper royalty.
Ranma's face also schooled itself becoming dignified as well "I suppose I should" then she turned her head towards the crowd of people.
Then her voice broke through the silence it was booming yet not loud, but it spread clearly through the crowd so every person could hear it.
"I am the one who fixed the Five Forts and summoned you, I have many names among you people" her glowing blue eyes like twin sapphires flicking from each group of people with each name and title "The Great Mother, the Chief of Chiefs, the Great General, the Savior, Uniter of Serpents, the First Sorceress, the Ice Queen, the Maiden-Made-of-Light, Lord of Peaks, Great Chief of the Plains and many other names and titles I am not even going to bother to name".
There was another spell of silence although this time from disbelief rather than shock or fear.
After a while some still stared in disbelief, while others laughed, others kept themselves composed not revealing their thoughts on her claims.
I was one of them, looking at my still pale and now trembling Court Sorcerer Quon Lang "Is there any truth to her claim or is all we are seeing an illusion?" I ask.
The trembling man turned towards his emperor "Yooouurrr Imperiiiial Highness, while I cannot confirm or deny her claim to those titles what I can confirm is her power and that of the being claiming to be Saffron. Either of them individually could crush us all like insects together they are invincible! I never believed that any being could be that powerful, if I faced them, I couldn't even slow them down!" he exclaimed slightly out of breath from panic.
Now everyone in my procession was worried, you could see it in their eyes and faces, the way they shifted around, their eyes darting like they were looking for an escape route. Judging by the way there was a shift amongst the crowd, they must have consulted their magic users and got a similar answer.
"Come let us go into the Black Hall where we can discuss things" Ranma said turning around and walking back into the Fort with Saffron following her.
There was a pause and then some of the people began to follow them, while others were still unsure.
"Your Imperial Majesty should we go in?" his captain of the Royal Guard Cao Ping asked.
I looked at him and internally sighed "I don't think we have much of a choice in that matter, besides we will never know what might happen if I don't take part in this meeting" earning a reluctant nod from Ping and then I moved forward towards what sort of future I didn't know.
Later in the Black Hall
Although there were only the representatives with a handful of bodyguards/sorcerers of the various factions in the Hall it was still very crowded, with every seat taken.
At the table at the end of the hall on a dais sat the commanders, Ranma and Saffron, clearly Saffron was Ranma's honored guest which makes sense if they knew each other as long as I suspected.
There was a mix of noise and silence as the various rulers conversed yet because of the total silence from their bodyguards it was nowhere near how loud it could be, and this could be felt.
Then they felt a pressure exuding from Ranma, it wasn't forceful or scary, it was more like here I am and pay attention to me.
"Now that I have your attention, I believe that this meeting of the Lords of the East should begin" her voice carrying through the hall.
"Now I know many of you would disbelieve all those names and titles I listed off and I don't blame you, those events and titles were used in the distant past, where myths and legends walked the world, where there is little information and even less proof about what happened during that time period but what you can't deny is my power and if you need a reminder" a blue glow erupted around Ranma and a massive pressure was felt across the room like gravity increased.
It only lasted a few seconds, but it was enough to remind everyone who held the true power in this room despite other occupants calling themselves Emperor's, Chiefs or other important and powerful titles and positions.
"I don't care if you believe me or not, but I will convince you of this the enemy for which the Five Forts were built to repel still exists, the Lion of the Night, Ice Demons, the Army of the Damned, the Forces of Winter and many other names which you call them are real and still exist" she declared, certainty in her voice.
There was a pause and then chaos, they maybe rulers but their education couldn't be any more different from the Civilized Yi Ti aristocracy to the primitive Shrykes they represented everything from the stone age up to late medieval in terms of sophistication. And considering many of the representatives here were on the lower end of that scale, Ranma now had lots of barbarians shouting at her.
Ranma looked completely unruffled by the noise directed at her, if anything she seemed slightly pleased at the chaos she unleashed.
After leaving a few minutes to let the crowd run out of steam to the amusement of the rulers who kept their composure Ranma interrupted again.
"You desire proof, don't you?" she asked her eyebrow raised, this received nods and yeses in reply.
Ranma raised her right hand and then upon the floor upon the dais something began to swirl, it was like sand yet wasn't, in the middle of this great swirl various scenes began to be shown.
A great blizzard with shapes moving through it and then as the vision gets closer, they saw what those shapes were and many wished they didn't, the dead, they saw the dead marching, they saw the dead fighting, overrunning armies, fortresses and cities disregarding themselves in a way that frightened everyone (if you saw someone missing half their face with a dozen arrows and a few spears through them still coming at you would be frightened to).
Again and again, they were shown scenes of the devastation of the Army of the Damned, then they were shown their masters, the ice demons that desired to wipe out all life in the world and the Night King a creature that seemed to be a living void, a wrongness in the world that defied how the world was supposed to work, wounding it with his mere presence.
Then the vision changed, and they saw the Others and their Wights being pushed back, they saw many warriors and magic users rallying and fighting, great champions whom they recognized from their own legends. They saw a war engulfing the entire world but not for greed, politics, or desires for fame and glory but for life, to protect everyone in the world. Among these disjointed visions she appeared again and again till it showed the final battle and its results.
With that the swirling thing dissipated into nothingness leaving only a shocked audience. Ranma left them in silence for a few minutes so they could absorb what they had just seen.
The she broke the silence making many jump at the noise "THE WORLD WILL NOT SUFFER THROUGH THAT AGAIN, I WILL NOT ALLOW IT!" her voice bellowing and echoing through the entire Fort.
Her eyes were glowing again, and they stared through me and everyone else like she was seeing our souls.
"I will unite the world and prepare it for the second round, so I tell you this, you can submit yourselves to me so I can recreate the Empire of the Dawn, if not gather your armies, prepare your walls and call your champions, whether through war or diplomacy I will conquer everything East of the Bone Mountains" her eyes held a challenge daring them to meet her on the battlefield.
Then there was a stunned silence, and many looked at her like she was mad, she was but one person and Yi Ti by itself had hundreds of millions of people living within its borders and then the rest of the area she designated to be conquered? Impossible! They were hundreds of people and cultures with varying ideas of war and government, the idea of conquering even one of them let alone all of them was absurd!
Yet Ranma had a confident look on her face, then Saffron stood up and went around the table till he was directedly in front of Ranma "Tens of thousands of years ago we put aside our enmity to ensure that we and others in the world could survive" Saffron and Ranma shivered a little and you could see a faraway look in their eyes with unwanted memories clearly going through their heads.
"That war destroyed the world, the weapons poisoned the air, the water and the land, they hit fault lines and caused every disaster in existence, the continents were sunk or torn apart, made unrecognizable from their previous forms. Civilization collapsed and humanity was nearly rendered extinct, we survived that by working together and we survived eight thousand years ago against the Lion of the Night. I acknowledge my allegiance to you again, Ranma High Queen of the Living" then bowing.
"I accept your allegiance rise King Saffron" with that Saffron rose "is there anyone else who wishes to give me their allegiance?".
There was a burst of action at these words as the representatives from K'Dath unleashed thrown knives and several fireballs at Ranma while a dozen men drew their swords and charged at her.
Ranma proceeded to catch the daggers mid-flight, allowed the fireballs to hit her where they caused no damage, didn't even scorch her clothes and then beheaded every single K'Dathian with the exception of their leader with their own daggers in ten seconds.
Ranma was now in front of the last remaining member of the K'Dath party "You may leave and tell your city to prepare for me, to assemble every bit of strength they can muster, for I am going to accept their declaration of war and deal with that blighted city, NOW GO" shouting the last bit, with the K'Dath envoy now running out of the hall like a monster was nipping at his heels.
After he finished skittering out of the hall Ranma surveyed them all "Now who will bow and who will fight?".
Flashback End
My choice was to fight, I was an Emperor, and a true Emperor wouldn't meekly surrender their throne no matter what forces were arrayed against him. But now she was coming, having smashed through the armies he sent against her and now breaching his city and palace.
I sat upon my throne with one hundred of my royal guard surrounding me, although I knew they would do little more than to slow her down.
The massive doors to the throne room then burst open and I could see Ranma lowering her foot after just kicking the door open and strode into the great room behind her one could see in the open courtyard craters and men strewn around the place like many trebuchets launched their loads at them, but they hadn't this was the work of the person in front of him. A nodachi soaked with blood in her right hand.
"I don't suppose you would be willing to surrender?" Ranma asked as she casually walked towards him like they were on the street and not in the middle of a battlefield and a palace.
"I said in the Five Forts, and I will say it again a true Emperor would not bow no matter what the odds are!" I exclaimed, putting some steel into the spine of my guards.
Ranma simply sighed "I both like and hate men with integrity, honor and strong will, they are the best most dependable people you will likely ever meet, yet they are the most stubborn and pigheaded people who will never deviate from their course even if there is a better path".
Sighing again and then in a more serious tone "In honor of your courage I will ensure that you will receive a funeral worthy of your deeds and position, so you will be buried among your ancestors, and I will make myself clear I do not punish or harm children or others for someone else's deeds, your family will not be harmed unless they attack me first or commit a crime, I swear that upon my honor" she finished.
A little tension left me, my two son's and five daughters would be safe, they wouldn't be purged like during most hostile takeover's.
"FOR THE EMPIRE AND THE DRAGON THRONE" I shouted and charged forward with my remaining faithful, the last thing I saw was a red blur heading towards me.
Ranma Pov
I looked down at the bodies strewn around the throne room that reminded me of Bejing Forbidden City and then I looked at the Azure Emperor's body and again sighed lamenting the death of something very rare a good ruler and a good man, she wished she didn't have to kill him, but he was too stubborn to bow to her and as long as he was alive, she could never secure the city.
Then she slowly walked towards the golden throne decorated with golden dragons with various gems making up their eyes.
"I guess this is mine now" she thought and then I sat upon the throne and looked at the attendants who hadn't fled "We have a funeral to prepare, one fit for an Emperor" the city of Yin had fallen to her now there were only a couple of thousand more rulers to deal with.