House Steambird of Westeros.

Hello again everyone! Here I am with another chapter for this collection of one-shots of "House Steambird of Westeros"! Let's go and see how much history is changed!

Chronicle 2: Extract about how House Steambird spearheaded change and progress after the Conquest...

Update 20/08/2020: made some edits for the sake of time context and to also add more context for the next chapter.

Update 21/08/2020: made some grammar corrections. My laptop's hardware just died also, so expect some delays...

Update 28/10/2020: renamed the "Stormtroop Vanguard" into "Peregrine Falcons" for plot convenience.

The "Steambird Ace rider" was already a creative man that influenced a lot of people in the North with his ideas and customs from his homeland. However, once he was Lord of Moat Cailin, it was there when he put them into practice and soon did what their southern neighbors couldn't do: change the North at his will. However, these changes didn't came as a strong wave of unimaginable power but more as a gentle current that shaped or eroded centuries of Northern traditions giving them new or more adaptable changes. It was even rumoured that he could have done it earlier thanks to his steam "airplane" and influence in the Northern banners but decided to follow a long term plan that would benefit all of the North, which meant that even with all his power, he recognized House Stark as his liege lord. Such self-control of power on a man was very unheard of, even though now some scholars and doctors state that some modifications to his original plan could have accelerated the progress of the North. Nevertheless, everyone agrees that in the end, his plan was a masterpiece that managed to succeed where other similar plans failed. Even though he never lived long enough to see the benefits of his work, his legacy was carried on by his descendants and his vassal lords, now called "delegates", and its success earned him the posthumous title of "the Steambird of History".

In the following essay, it will be mentioned the general impact that House Steambird had in the North in certain areas along with its main pioneers.

Educational, health, and economical area.

House Steambird soon became a synonym for the word "progress". Even before he became the First Lord Steambird, the pilot was a man who promoted education and knowledge among the commonfolk as something the lords of the North should consider a top priority. In his words: "If the commonfolk are given the privilege of having at the least a basic knowledge about the land they live and harvest from, they will soon realize that their lands are not only medium for surviving and prospering but also an unparalleled field full of untapped potential waiting for being discovered." At first his ideas were rejected, considering the cost and time it would take to bring such wanted education levels, but after the first winter of House Steambird happened, they soon would be convinced. During that winter, Lord Steambird used lots of his spare time to design and create a new contraption: the first printing press. This contraption allowed for books to be replicated at a pace faster than any writer could match for and with perfect precision and clear letters. Even if it was uncapable of copying the majestic drawings that adorned them, it reduced greatly the ammount of time to produce books from long arduous months to merely days. He also introduced paper, a cheaper and more reliable material to write that surpassed the parchment that was commonly used at the time. Soon enough, books were starting to pour out like water from a river, and were so cheap that even commonfolk could afford them. Even though many adults learned to read and write thanks to this, Lord Steambird's main target were the children. In his words: "Children are like plants; give them what they need to thrive and the fruits they will give in the future will benefit us all." He believed that a good education along with affectionate support would make this children into exemplary adults once they reached of age and will also be inspired to do the same to future generations. Even if not all of the North agreed with his point, soon enough schools started to spread in his region and when the next generation grew up with basic education, the other houses were surprised to see that his ideology was right: the new adults soon showed to have more creativity and innovative thoughts that allowed them to harvest more crops which in turn gave them more free time and resources to develop new projects that will benefit their daily lives; they also proved to be of stronger morals and more determined character, giving the Northmen educated and chivalrious warriors comparable to those of the South, but more humble and with more comradeship between them. Soon enough, the rest of the North decided to follow their example with various degrees of success. Even though it was still common to see that the commonfolk was less educated than the nobles, their basic education and grasp of writing and reading allowed them to help optimize the production of their harvests alongside their combat effectiveness and their performance at other heavy jobs like smithing, forging, etc.

With the increase in education and production in many resources also came an economical boom. Because they harvested more than they actually needed, the people of Moat Cailin decided to export some of their goods, which thanks to Lord Steambird, they soon find out that some of them were actually unique to the southern lords: maple syrup, cubed ice, coffee beans, sugar canes and other sort of goods coming from plants that, surprisingly could grow on the cold regions of the North alongside the swampy areas of the Neck. This in turn brought income to their lands which soon was used to further enhance their crops and to build silos and special buildings that allowed to preserve the harvests much longer and that also contained "reserve" seeds that would be used in case of an emergency. This also gave them funds to initiate a more ambitious project that the Lord had in mind: industrialization.

While the Southern kingdoms were caught up in a series of uprisings and civil wars as the aftermath of the Conquest, the North went through a peaceful era in which they saw the mass production and development of steam engines. Using the cold of the North as a main factor for their effectiveness (the colder it is, the more efficient is a steam engine because the coal needed to produce heat is lesser and the pressure limit can be raised), Lord Steambird designed throughout his whole life a contraption made entirely of metal that works similar like a furnace but is entirely committed to the heating of water to transform it into steam. Turns out that steam was versatile and powerful for many kind of jobs, even the Lord confessed that it was the main "fuel" of its famous "Steambird"! (Even though his descendants would later claim that it was a "special" kind of steam.) As such, he designed steam furnaces that were cheap, durable, and efficient to use in many places of the North. Even if they were heavy, many of them were constructed in most of the towns and castles of the North and soon proved its value in the upcoming winter. During that winter, many villagers found out that the steam furnaces managed to stay warm for longer times than the furnaces they were accustomed to, they also proved to be more reliable and useful to "share" their heat around close buildings. Once that winter was over, the Stark King of that time was surprised to see that such winter had the least amount of losses to ever happen in hundreds of years. After that, he commisioned to the Lord Steambird of that time to prepare similar steam furnaces with lesser volume and weight, and gave him enough resources to proceed with the project. Soon enough, the first industry of Westeros was born: the "Steamers" industry. These compact steam furnaces could be transported and used everywhere and soon transformed the landscape and cities around the North and laid the base of future industries that would sprang with time. It was thanks to these new innovative industries that the now called "Northern Pax" period began.

However, it started facing a new problem that had been plaguing their kingdoms for decades: diseases. With an increase in population, the risk of spreading deadly diseases also increased exponentially, and with barely any medical knowledge, the next epidemic could be disastrous for the North. Fortunately, Lord Wallace Steambird, the second lord of House Steambird, foresaw this thanks to the education of his father, and once he retired he dedicated the rest of his life to become a healer of the people: the first doctor of Westeros. Even though the maesters were already tasked with the job of keeping everyone healthy, they were limited by their lack of initiative along with many outdated documents and books they had about the topic. In fact, Lord Wallace set out first to study in the Citadel to gain his medical prowess but returned soon after when he was disappointed once he saw that the books only contained repeated information about one same topic and no innovative nor experimental changes on them. So he had to start from the beginning and for that he founded "the Order of the Crosses", the first medical organization of Westeros that still stands today. Unlike the Citadel, Lord Wallace not only recorded and shared the knowledge of the medical books of their time, he also made modifications to those books who had outdated or wrong information, used other books as bases to discover new medicine and medical techniques, performed autopsies on dead bodies and dissections on them to gain more knowledge of the human body and made a new set of strict and disciplined rules that today serve as the guidelines for modern day medicine called "The path of the healer: a guide for men and women of the Order of the Crosses." At first, his order was frowned upon by most of the people, seeing their methods and ethics as something "barbaric, immoral and disgusting" since many of them seemed to be very obscene or ugly for the commonfolk, specially the part of using dead bodies for their investigations. Lord Wallace held firm with his organization though, and said that with time, his Order would have the final laugh. Unfortunately, he died before that happened but in the end he was right. Even though with time people was trusting more the Order of the Crosses, they wouldn't consider their methods worthy until the Great Spring Sickness struck Westeros in 209 AC. The plague tore through all of the Kingdoms with exception of Dorne and the Vale and the amount of people that died because of it is staggering even in today's standards. And such amount would have gone higher if it wasn't for the Order of the Crosses. As soon as they received news of the plague, their members took serious action for the first time, and with the backing of the Northern King, they soon issued a new set of orders and customs to make sure that the plague affected as few people as possible. It is often said that it was in this time period when it became official that the bread and the salt used for the custom of the 'guest right' were to be accompanied by soap and water for the sake of washing the hands before giving out the bread and the salt. They also applied the first modern "quarantine isolation" techniques along with social distancing protocols and the temporary abolition of some customs that involved close contact with groups of people. Not even the nobles were exception to the lockdown but in the end it was worth the trouble. Once the plague ended, the North had basically adapted into a new normality, with many customs and traditions changed voluntarily for the health of everyone and for the first time of their existence, the "Order of Crosses" was appraised by the people, specially considering that many of their brave members didn't manage to pull through the plague, sacrificing their lives and health for the sake of many others. Remembering their ancestor, King William Stark promised House Steambird that he would reward them by uniting their houses via a marriage between his son Edwyle and the current Lord Steambird's daughter and heir, Sarah Steambird. However, the children refused once they reached adulthood and their 'courtage' period finished. Nothing too bad happened between them, it was just that their chemistry was kind of disappointing between them and it was soon clear their marriage would be uneventful and unhappy. Even so, Edwyle Stark swored on the name of the Father and their "tree brothers and sisters" (the new term they came for the Old Gods) that he would see that House Stark and House Steambird would achieve such union in the future. And such union happened indeed.

Political and social changes.

The "Northern Pax" period was only partly possible thanks to the "steam revolution", however it would be foolish to ignore the political changes and efforts that had to be done to ensure that the effects of this revolution didn't provoke any more problems than they already had. At that time, the North's political and social structure, like every other kingdom of Westeros, was based upon the concept of serfdom in which the peasants or commonfolk served and answered to the orders of a noble that owned the land in which they lived who in turn answered to either a superior Lord or to another mayor authority, a good example being the king or the queen of the region. This system allowed for stability and a basic social organization with a certain range of flexibility that allowed the major house to respond to emergency situations or to develop some special projects that would upgrade the lives of their commoners. It also ensured security and trade between the many different houses that existed at the time. However, it was also very rigid which obstructed the development of reforms and progressive economics and ideas that would have benefitted more the lives of the commonfolk along with the power of their lords. It was also very prone to brake or collapse by external factors, for example, whenever a draught or a flood ruined the harvests or when the heir of a house died unexpectedly and there is no other heirs to back it up, usually creating successional crisis which in turn lead to war along with its deadly aftermaths. It also made the lords usually hostile against each other, with the commonfolk suffering the most of their squabbling politics and with no means to demand their rights or even protest against certain doctrines. The "steam revolution" along with the rise of education and the quality of life of the commonfolk soon would mark a new change without precedents in the North.

The Third Lord of House Steambird at that time, guided by the ideas and education of his grandfather, was the first to spearhead the change of the system. The generation of commonfolk people at the time, having more free time thanks to the new methods of agriculture due to their higher education, started to take note with more detail the policies and social system in which they were raised and compared their quality of life to those of the nobles. They weren't satisfied with the abysmal differences between them and the ones on the higher social stages, and soon demanded to be given some benefits or guarantees about their rights to make them, at least, more relevant to the nobles so these couldn't do arbitrary or unjust things against them like overcharging taxes, randomly arresting innocent peasants, inefficient leadership, and, most importantly, being sent towards wars that most didn't even wanted to participate in. At first, their lords either ignored them or gave them little consensus that were enough to satisfy them, even though they neglected pushing for such demanding reforms. However, when the Dance of Dragons began and refugees from the South started to move towards the North and told everyone about the hell that was unleashing in the South, the Northern commonfolks began to press harder on their demands, fearing that something similar may happen to them in the near future. Things began to grow more and more tense when more refugees began to arrive with more dreadful tales of the civil war, along with most lords still neglecting to proceed with the demanding reforms that soon some of the commonfolk started to riot. Things calmed down once everyone saw the Cregon Stark went to support King Viserys I Targaryen to put an end to the civil war alongside the current Lord Steambird, whom took the honor of flying again the "Metal Steambird" to battle like his grandfather before him. However, tensions still remained even after his return and, eventually, an angry mob of "intellectuals", as some of the most educated commonfolk were named, started causing trouble at Winter Town, were they set on fire 5 grain silos and almost blew up one of the main steamers. Fortunately, the Starks reacted quickly, sending troops to arrest and control the rioters and soon regained back order just before the steamer was about to reach critical pressure. After dispensing justice with the main leaders of the riot, King Cregan Stark decided to call upon a meeting with his major bannermen to discuss about the situation. During the meeting, it was clear to all the nobles that from that point forward, more riots would spread around the North and would not be stopped unless the nobles conceded or all the rebels died. King Cregan wanted to avoid unnecesary bloodshed with his people but at the same time, he couldn't concede to all the demands of the commonfolk or he would gain the distrust of his bannermen. Fortunately, Lord William Steambird came to their rescue.

Just like his grandfather before him, he prepared another plan that was more focused into the political and social area. He suggested that the nobles should concede to the commonfolk's demands but not without first having their agreement to comply to the new obligations that will come with the new rights they will gain. Such obligations were summarized into a new edict called the "Three Whitecards". They stated that in exchange of gaining their new rights, the commonfolk, regardless of status, house or condition will have to perform military service under the house they served to, comply to pay new taxes that were bigger than the ones they use to pay but with their price fixed, and to also obligatory send their children to school. Most of the nobles signed the edict, House Stark and Steambird included, published it in the "Northman messenger", the North's first official newspaper, and waited for the "intellectuals" response. They were satisfied with the document along with most of the commonfolk with exception of one point: the commonfolk demanded a leader of their own to represent them and their interests in court. The King had agreed, but stated that only someone of the royal family could be chosen for that role. The problem was that the only candidate disposed at that time was Rickard Stark whom was still a child. Many peasants soon protested that this last condition was a trap, until they received the help of someone unexpected: Sara Snow, the bastard half-sister of Cregan. Even if she had only half-royal blood, she was a grown woman by the accounts of that time, and loyal to both her King half-brother and to the realm. Even if she was a woman, the commonfolk elected her and after that, Sara Snow became known as the first "People's Hand", a position still retained in today's politics which is given by the people and for the people. Even though this event had small effect because many things still remained the same, it set the first steptstone towards the transformation of the North from an absolute monarchy to the constitutional one that is still in use today.

Another change House Steambird brought into the political landscape was the concept of political marriages and heirs. While most marriages between houses were based more for convenience rather than for genuine love, House Steambird was well-known to be an exception. The family members of the House believed that an union between Houses could only be successful if the couple's feelings were taken into consideration and were actually genuine towards each other. As such, the First Lord declared to his descendants to only marry if the union gives actual love and affection for the involved and only after a proper period of courtage. Up to this day, they are still the only house whose marriages have been always done for love and with the highest successful ratio of all the North. However, what made them redefine the term of "political marriage" was the set of rules the First Lord wrote in an edict directed towards his bannermen and their families; it stated that political marriages would have more requirements in order to validate it with his authority. Apart from the previous statement, another requirement that was needed was that both candidates were above the new legal age of 16 and that the future couple has to prove that they had enough interaction with each other to take into account their opinions. This rule made him unpopular with older and conservative lords but gained him the respect and loyalty of their heirs that they did the same once they were the heads of their houses. In another rule, Lord Steambird also stated that only heirs of noble houses, either be a woman or a man could marry the heirs of other houses and not commoners. Those who weren't heirs could marry anyone they wanted either be it a commoner or a noble and from any region. More important was his work about the issue of heirs; Lord Steambird declared that the heirs of their House would still be the first-born, no matter if it was a born a girl or a boy. Also, if his people felt that the heir wasn't good enough or wasn't interested in being the heir, then a new one from the family would be selected peacefully. This avoided successional crisis and that uncapable rulers never take the seat of Moat Cailin.

And lastly, House Steambird was the first to implement a change that was the most important but also most daring they have ever done: for them, both women and men deserved to have the same opportunities of working, learning, and fighting. Once Sara Snow was named the first "People's Hand", very few realized the real implications about it: a woman was in a position of power that was usually given to men. One of such people to realize about it was Lord William himself, who soon started making new plans to exploit this opportunity. Unfortunately, he was ordered to stop instantly by Cregan and Sara explaining to him that implementing another change as radical as that one could be the last straw for many lords and put the Starks and Steambirds into trouble. William reluctantly agreed to it, but it didn't stop him of trying to do it in his land. In the end, it would be the job of his brother Wilson Steambird and sister Elizabeth Steambird (now famously known as "the Queen of Wings") to spearhead the new change. Fortunately, Wilson and Elizabeth were more subtle about it, and by the time Rickard came of age, many women at Moat Cailin were doing work and activities that were believed to be only for men before. Needless to say, everyone soon saw that production, education and trade had nearly doubled with House Steambird when the women started to perform like men, but even with that evidence there was some fierce resistance to it. In the end though, everyone had to concede when the winter that came along with the Dance of Dragons ended and everyone saw that their food supplies were dangerously low and realized that they needed more farmers to tend the new cropfields that were opened as an emergency issue. By the time King Daeron I died, women in the Northern society were now treated as equals to men, although there were still some faults in there.

Military.

Ever since House Steambird arrived to Westeros, the balance of military might suddenly shifted in favor of the North. Not even the Targaryens with their mighty dragons that allowed them to bring the Southern kingdoms to kneel before them, were able to shift the odds in their favor in the few battles they fought against Northern forces. Not only was this because the "Metal Steambird", the same legendary plane that allowed the First Lord to defeat the Conqueror and his Sister Queens, was still being used by their House (with rumours being told about how there was more of them inside the family castle) but also because the Northern army received a very peculiar reform, courtesy of House Steambird. Lord Steambird was accostumed to another kind of pace and style in battle, which to the joy of many captains, could be applied into the Northern army. Because of the new political reforms, the North now had a profesional army that doubled that of the army that was once used by Torrhen Stark when the "Duel of the sky rulers" happened. Lord Steambird took a one half of such army and then split that half in two more halves and later on gave them a special training that was very different to the ones the Northmen were accostumed to. He assigned the first half of that army as the "Stormtroop vanguard", their training was the harshest and the most complex but when it was over, their men were the nightmares of the Southern armies. Their general role in the Northern army was to be the first one to strike and the first one to break behind enemy lines and had many unorthodox ways to achieve it. This "Vanguard" of 15000 souls was split in 3 different groups that had similar numbers of troops called "legions" which consisted of 5000 souls; this "legions" then splitted into 10 more groups called "cohorts" and then the "cohorts" splitted into 5 more groups called "centuries" named after the numbers it contained (100). This organization of the "Vanguard" force allowed them to be more flexible and mobile than their Southern contemporaries, being rivaled only by the Dornish. Because their job is to be the first ones to arrive towards the front they are given special steeled armor alloyed with titanium: the rarest and strongest metal of all time alongside Valyrian Steel. It is still not clear how the process to obtain it is or where exactly are their mines but it is clear that it was thanks to Lord Steambird that this metal was soon used on the Northern army. The new bulky armor that the soldiers of the vanguard used was surprisingly light and more resistant than it appeared to be. However, many believed that he was wasting time, as a heavy cavalry charge could easily disrupt the formation. However, Lord Steambird forsaw that and soon introduced its solution: the pike. This weapon had a very large pole made of ironwood that made it heavy and larger than most of the lances that were used at the time; in fact, it was just a larger version of the lance with a bigger spearhead in the top. In a demostration, Lord Steambird soon showed everyone the efficiency of the pike when the cavalry that was supposed to "attack" the formation of centuries ahead of them stopped dead in their tracks when they saw that such weapon was literally larger than their lances and that the way the vanguard hold them made them the impression they were running straight towards a spiked wall. However, they soon realized that they could easily flank the formation and attacked them from the sides but Lord Steambird also foresaw that and deployed his next weapon: the janissaries. They were fast, lightly equipped cavalry units whose job was to perform "hit 'n' run" tactics against the enemy and to guard the flanks. Rather than facing the enemy head on, they would keep their distance harassing the enemy with crossbows, bows and javelins. Eventually, the lords were convinced even though the only thing left was to know what he did with the other half he trained. That's when he revealed that the other half was trained, not for combat but to support the combat. He quoted: "Battles may be won by the quality of the armies that fight it alongside the bravery and tenacity of their soldiers and knights. However, wars are won when such armies make sure to stay in shape to keep fighting at any moment and that only happens when they are well fed, in a healthy state, their blades and armor are in a pristine state, and their warrior spirit is in a good mood. That's the work of the logistics crew." He literally trained the other half of the army he grabbed to handle supplies, medical care, morale, and equipment maintenance. Everyone again, thought he had wasted resources and time for that kind of training but soon enough they would be proved wrong.

During the reign of Baelor "the Blessed", also known as Baelor "the fanatic" in the North, the Faith of the Seven along many other Southern Lords weren't happy to hear that the "barbaric and primitive" Northern kingdoms were more advanced and prospering while all of them were just recovering from the previous wars that shook them to the core. They eventually "convinced" the Targaryen king to organize a new Andal Crusade to "liberate" the Northern kingdoms from their heretic beliefs. Baelor agreed and in his religious fanatism, restored the Faith Militant who soon forced people to join their "righteous" crusade or face excommunication. Soon enough, a force was gathered at King's Landing and soon the most fanatical of the Faith of the Seven marched towards the North. However, they were stopped at Moat Cailin and in the ensuing battle, House Steambird showed again to the South why even the dragons weren't enough to defeat them. The campaign was a disaster for the South and the army they sent was entirely annihilated, their leaders taken prisoners and leaving the South defenseless against a counter-attack which came faster than they expected. Lord Steambird' military reforms allowed them and the Starks to make war at a quicker pace than the Southern kingdoms were accostumed to and their new formations of pikemen along the janissaries and the higher organization of their armies made the southern armies cower in fear and shock. The Northern army marched all the way towards King's Landing, with the famous "Stormtroop Vanguard" arriving there first and preparing to siege the city. Fortunately for everyone, Baelor passed away due to his fasting and King Viserys II Targaryen soon went to parley with the King of the North. In the end, the northern king demanded that the Faith Militant was to be banned permanently and their followers arrested and executed along with the lords who supported them. They also forced him to name the heir of the current Lord Steambird as Hand of the King for the moment and to let their troops to stay in the city until their demands were met. During two whole years, the young Hand of the King dispensed justice and made sure to put the kingdom back in order with the cooperation of King Viserys until he died and was succeeded by his son Aegon IV. He then returned towards Moat Cailin where he then became its Fifth Lord and renamed the now-turned-city into "Praefecture city". The war was later known in history as "the Winter Storm War" due to the intensity and fierceness the Northern army, specially featured by their "Stormtroop Vanguard" fought against the Crusade army with an unprecedented speed and efficiency. It wouldn't be until the reign of Aegon V Targaryen that this force would later be separated as its own professional peacekeeping force and be renamed as "The Peregrine Falcons".

Culture and religion.

House Steambird since the begining of its fundation had been surprising the North with the unorthodox policies and customs their Lord Steambird had implemented in his people, family and vassal lords. However, there is no denying that such "queer" habits soon were adapted into the Northern ways and its people. One important impact was about a new religion: Christianity. Unlike the Southern kingdoms who mainly followed the Faith of the Seven, the North was more religiously tolerant and allowed their Houses to follow the religion they felt was best for them, House Manderly being a good example. To the surprise of everyone, it turned out that Lord Steambird was already a loyal catholic christian, the religion of his homeland. It was a monotheistic religion on which their main belief was that there was only one God out there that created the world and everything that inhabited it in a matter of seven days, and then created the first human couple whom, disgracefully, committed sin and were exiled from the Paradise He created for them. Because of that "original sin", the whole of humanity now suffers for it, but He was the one who suffered the most, because he loved his creations as a wise father would do with his children. So, He sent a saviour, his Son to the land, conceived in a virgin woman known as Mary, and born in a day that is now referred to as "Christmas Day". The Son grew as a mortal man; he was humble, wise, capable of doing miracles and delivering mercy and pardon to everyone who has faith in him, even those who were heretics or the worst sinful souls to exist. Unfortunately, the wise and religious authorities of that time grew jealous against him, specially because his teachings were threatening their power, and decided to get rid of him. The Son was arrested and soon charged with crimes he didn't comit. The judge in his trial knew about this but because of the peer pressure, he condemned the Son to death by crucifixion. The path towards the crucifixion of the Son is now an important narrative about how the Saviour sent by his Father, God himself, suffered for our sins without hate nor remorse and hwo we should all value His sacrifice. He lived as a mortal man and died as one in the end. After his passing in the cross, his body was removed, given to his virgin mother and buried on a cave whose entrance was later sealed off. This is when the miracle happens, because three days later, He appeared again, in the flesh, to his followers, as if death couldn't even stop Him. He reunited with his inner circle of folllowers called "the Twelve Apostles", gave them His blessing and a mission, and then, returned to Heaven towards his Father side. The mission? To spread his message and teachings to the far limits of the world they lived in. Lord Steambird would later say that Christianity was one of the most powerful religions to ever exist in his home and his statement soon proved to be true again. Some of the commonfolk people were lured towards his religion, as they saw it more fit for their humble lives. However, it wouldn't gain popularity until the "Omen" happened. In the year 172 AC (After the Conquest), when Beron Stark was born, his father King Brandon Stark had a mysterious dream: he was walking through the Godswood of Winterfell when he encountered a humble man dressed only in a white rob sitting at the base of a weirwood, with a three-eyed black crow. Surprisingly, the weirwood had the face of a woman carved on it and 'she' looked very alive. The three of them seemed to be talking between themselves and that's when Brandon saw the face of the robed man. The description he did of him surprisingly matched with that of Jesus, the Son of God, even detailing the two holes that were in his hands, however this was never confirmed. The robed man invited Brandon to a walk, to which he accepted. Then both of them took a path that was densely filled with more weirwood trees along the way which seemed to bend towards the robbed man, who acknowledged them. To his surprise, the more he walked with him, Brandon Stark seemed to see the past of their kingdom, going all the way from the Conquest directly towards the Long Night. It was when they arrived at the place where the wall would later be constructed that the robbed man warned him of a bad omen. Not much details are told about it but it certainly had to do something with the future of House Stark along that of Westeros and, if what little info could be gathered from the "declassified" archives, another "Long Night". Needless to say, after that dream, he called for Lord William, who was an retired elder now, and some time later, with the help and aproval of some allies, Brandon Stark converted into a new religion called "natural catholicism", a fusion between the beliefs of the Old Gods and Catholic Christianity, still respecting the weirwoods along the Old Gods, but believing them to be the messengers of the Holy Trinity (the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit) and therefore, meaning they were not as powerful as they were. Some people were conflicted about this change in religion, but as a proof to convince most of them, Brandon showed them something unique: right there, in the entrance of the Godswolf near Winterfell, a weirwood carved with the face of a beautiful woman was suddenly visible to everyone. And it wasn't the only one; soon many commonfolk and nobles starting seeing more femenine faced weirwoods appear everywhere. Eventually, many soon converted to this new religion, House Steambird included and King Brandon Stark was then known as "the Profet."

Along with the change of religion, also came the unavoidable change of the North's culture, even though this one was already on effect even before King Brandon Stark received the "Omen". Apart from the addition of the holidays and traditions that christianity included, the inmigration of Southerners along with the social changes that kept progressing throughout the North soon brought new identities and traditions to enrich the daily life of the commonfolk. One of the most notorious examples being the "Festival of the Jians and the Razgriz". Every year, on the day the harvest season starts, House Steambird would celebrate it along with their vassal lords and their people with a fest among the commonfolk. This fest was a humble one but it was done to commemorate the work of the farmers and the accomplishment of keeping the people fed and alive after all the harsh elements of life, nature and weather. Back in 129 AC, just before the start of the "Dance of Dragons", during one such fests, the people and the lords were witness of something unique: right in the middle of the night, just when Lord William Steambird called for the traditional toast, a pair of twin comets, one bathed in red light along another one bathed in blue light streaked across the sky together, showing for a few hours before disappearing into the dark embrace of the night sky. People had already seen those two comets before: the red one was, unsurprisingly, known as the "Red Comet" and was marked as a portent of the beginning of catastrophic events whenever it made its presence in Westeros. The blue one was quite the contrary, it was called (unsurprisingly) as the "Blue Comet" and its presence marked the beggining of a period of prosperity and peace. However, this was the first time in recorded history that they were seen flying together and many were skeptical about what that meant. However, Lord William interpreted it as a lesson of life: a message that one can find peace and order amongst the forces of chaos and destruction. But it was his first-born daughter, Marienne, the one who will discover the real meaning of the two comets in the form of a tale. Marienne Steambird was a talented woman of high inteligence, graceful skills and a respected teacher. Her favourite subject was about history and she was so talented on it, one could ask her for the whole history of just one house and she would recite it through memory from the start to the end. She gained a lot of recognition thanks to her books that detailed all about lost segments of history along with using different perspectives on one same event, letting the readers see them from many angles to expand their knowledge. However, this wasn't enough for her, she wanted to find a lost tale, one of those that only very few remember, from which records of it no longer existed, those kind of tales that were so ancient that the only proof of their existence being that they are still passed through generations by memory and oral retelling. After the two comets appeared for the first time, Marienne set to work to try and seek if there was a story behind it. It took her 10 years, and she travelled throughout the whole of Westeros, from it's most southern corner to even the northern side of the Wall. Surprisingly, she succeeded, and the tale she brought back with her is now one of the most popular legends of the North.

The Legend of the one winged lovers: the Jian and the Razgriz.

Back in the ancient times of the Age of Dawn, long before the Pact between the Children of the Forest and the First Men, there lived a beautiful woman of pink hair and green eyes. Belonging to the Children of the Forest, she also had a pair of red little horns and a pair of elegant black wings, which were the pride of her parents. She had a great talent for magic and knowledge but had grew safeguarded of the war between her species and the human kingdoms. Therefore, she was curious about them rather than being hostile like the rest of her people. She grew curious and longing to see at least one of them until, at last, she heard from her fellow sisters about a village that had just settled near their nest, she made her decision. In the cover of night, she silently sneaked away and flew towards the village where she observed silently from the trees. It was there when she saw a handsome young man of black hair, blue eyes and reading a book in the side of the river. She tried to take a closer look at him when suddenly the branch in which she was standing upon broke and she fell down the river. Not knowing how to swim, she called for help and the knight heard her. Taking off his armor, he jumped into the river and swam towards her, and helped her stay afloat. However, the current was strong and both ended being dragged away quite the distance before they managed to get off. Once there, the girl was nervous that the man would do something to her considering she was one of their mortal enemies, but surprisingly, the man didn't do anything. In fact, he was also nervous he would get attacked by her too but once both clarified that they wouldn't? They then laughed for a while and took the walk back to the village.

With time, both the knight and the winged woman would met again and again until they would eventually fall in love. Knowing well it was something both their people would curse, the woman was trying to desperately find a solution to allow their love to be eternal and without worries when she was soon tipped about a mysterious but powerful man who could help her. She went towards him and the man soon told her a deal: if she gave him her pair of wings, he would turn her into a fully fledged human but with an awful curse: if his loved one died before her, she would be consumed by grief and turned into a monster. Even with that warning, the winged woman was so deeply in love with him that she accepted without hesitation. The man soon took off her wings, and then proceeded to perform an enchantment on her that knocked her out. Once she woke up, she found herself truly transformed into a human woman, still keeping her pink hair and green eyes. She was overjoyed and went over towards her lover who smiled on glee and happiness once she saw her in a human form, thinking she did obtained it thanks to a spell rather than what was just told. Both of them soon married and had their moments of happiness for a while.

But in the end, nothing good lasts forever... the parents of the woman soon became worried of her disappearance and went to search for her along with some of their people. Unfortunately, they discovered the wings of their daughter, laid down near the river that lead to the village where she lived with her husband, and they believed she was killed by the humans. In an act of rage, they attacked the village, killing many innocent souls along with those brave enough that tried to oppose them. The woman and the knight weren't in the village when the attack happened, both having traveled to the knight's lord castle so that he could ask to be humbly discharged from his service and retire with the love of his life. Disgracefully, the news of the attack reached the ears of his lord first, and determined to not let this go unpunished, he soon called his banners, the knight included. His wife, scared that his husband would likely perish in the upcoming battle, confessed her story about her transformation and made him promise that he would return to her. The knight, too deeply in love to even scold her for her foolishness, promised her that he would always be there for her, no matter how hard they tried to pry them apart. As a symbol of good gesture, she gave him an interesting pendant: it was one featuring a one-winged bird. She had one similar too and said that the bird was a jian, a one-winged bird unable to fly and forced to live in the misery until it found its counterpart. However, once it did, it would fly higher and further than any other bird had before. It was a representation of the union of their souls in love. The knight took it and soon bade farewell, promising to return soon. But tragically, that promise wouldn't be fulfilled.

The parents of the woman were tipped by a mysterious man that the responsible one for the "death" of their daughter was coming with the forces sent to stop them and that he carried her pendant that they gifted to her to identify him. As such, they prepared an ambush along their people and in the ensuing battle, the knight was taken prisoner. They then proceeded to torture and interrogate him for hours, hoping to see him confess that he killed their beautiful gem. However, the knight endured the pain and little by little, his captors started to believe him. But what sealed the deal was when he told them about how he met the winged woman, how both of them kept meeting with each other, no matter if they were from different species and how much both of them loved each other, even to the point that his wife gave up her wings just to become human like him. It was in this part that the group of Children of the Forest suddenly got worried. They asked him to whom she did exactly gave her wings and his answered soon set everyone into panic: the one responsible for all of this misunderstanding was the mysterious man! He had planned everything for something sinister! That's when the knight suddenly realized it: the mysterious man was trying to transform his love into a raging monster! He asked for help for his in-laws and they soon set him free and with the help of magic, allowed him to use the wings of her daughter to fly towards her. The rest of their group would follow him later...

The knight soon set flight in a hurry, trying to reach his wife before the news of his apparent "death" arrived to her. But once he saw that the town of his lord's castle in which they resided was on fire, he realized his worst fears had become truth. He soon saw a massive creature of dark feathers, grotesque limbs and red skin with big horns running rampant on the town and he recognized that it was his love. Heartbroken and in grief, he was suddenly visited by the same man who offered him a deal: give him the wings and he would transform his wife back into her human form but at the cost of him becoming the monster. Desperate to save his love, he agreed to the deal and soon gave the man the wings. However he was betrayed and the evil man transformed him into a monster similar to his love the only difference being that he had blue skin. Both were blinded by rage and soon the evil man made them battle against each other, manipulating them into destroying and killing more of the town. Eventually, the Children of the Forest arrived, and united forces with the survivors, their lord included and proceeded to try and liberate the two raging lovers of their prison. But the evil man was more powerful and started tearing apart every brave soul that tried to intervene. Eventually, the lord made the decision of going there himself for the sake of their people along the parents of the woman. The three of them were the best indicated to face him and managed to put up a fight against him. But in the end, the evil man used the lovers turned monsters to defeat the three heroes. In their last moments, the heroes asked for his identity and the evil man soon revealed himself to be a demon called the "Razgriz", and he only lived to rain death upon the land. He manipulated the love of two young souls for his bidding and he would soon use them for his plans of enslaving the rest of the continent. However, he made a serious mistake: he forgot that the pendants of the two lovers were actually filled with magic that only activated through true love, and it turns out that even when being manipulated, their souls were conscious of what was happening. Both of them soon released a desperate cry for help, to finally reunite with their loved one and to finish the demon in front of them. Their cry for help was answered. The pendants broke but in the moment that happened, the two lovers found themselves free of the demon's control, who realized a little too late what just happened and that cost him his life. The lovers used their monster bodies to rip and tear him to pieces, everytime more painful than the last one. Eventually, realizing he had lost, the demon tried to cast a powerful spell to obliterate everyone near him, but both lovers interrupted his chanting and sacrificed themselves for the sake of the town. An explosion happened, and everyone soon saw that the two monsters and the demon were now gone. After grieving for the couple for a week, both the Children of the Forest and the humans finally made a truce, having learned first-hand how the conflict they had could have serious consequences. This would mark the first stepping stone that would culminate with the signing of the Pact that finished centuries of war between the Children of the Forest and the First Men. However the tale of the Jians and the Razgriz does not end here.

2000 years passed on, and now both the Children of the Forest and the First Men were fighting together against the White Walkers: a deadlier foe that they had never faced before. Their situation was getting desperate, with many of their people having being claimed by their enemy and now being used against them. Most of their weapons were useless against them and they had only a few magical users to use against the thousands of dead men and women. Just when things seemed to be at their worst, the alliance suddenly received an unexpected help: two hooded figures presented themselves to the Final Alliance and offered to help them in their battle against the undead. One of them seemed like a female with red skin and green eyes, while the other was a male of blue skin and blue eyes. Both of them had horns and only one wing: his was in his left and hers was in her right. The two of them soon told them they had the key to win against the White Walkers but that for that they had to follow every single command from them. Even though everyone was suspicious of their motivations, the Alliance was already desperate for a solution so they sealed the deal. To everyone's surprise and joy, the war started to turn to the side of the living and the undead were on retreat. Those few who accompanied the mysterious couple closely claimed that they had witnessed them have such an intense power that even the Walkers shivered when feeling their presence. The war continued and soon enough, the White Walkers were vanished back towards the frozen lands they came from. In the aftermath, the mysterious couple soon left instructions to the now famous First King of the North, Brandon "The Builder" Stark and proceeded to depart. However, before they went away, Brandon asked them for their names, they both responded in unison: "We are the Razgriz. Reborn now as the Jian that flew farther and higher than everyone else." And thus, concludes the tale of the Jians and the Razgriz. A couple transformed monsters by a demon of death, both of them using the power of their love to kill him along with themselves. However, after a period of slumber, the couple returned with the powers of the demon, this time to become heroes...

It was thanks to this tale that the festival soon gained its name and as such, it is usually celebrated by letting couples or lovers confess their loves to the ones they desire, and in order to prove it, they have to gift their love interest a piece of a Jian pendant carved by themselves, no matter if their a man or a woman. It is believed that the Red and Blue Comet are actually the souls of the couple that died for their love and that became demons to save their home from the Long Night. However, a part that is often overlooked is the premonition that both comets bring when they are spotted together in the sky: whenever both of them fly through the sky, it is a warning that history is about to pass through a big change. And for them to appear just when news of the Death of the Hand of the King had arrived to the North, seems that there is more than just a tale behind it...

And done for this chapter! Did you like it? Some of the ideas I wrote here were inspired by "the Legend of the Razgriz" by Ace Combat 5 along with the Jian from Darling in the Franxx. See you on the next chapter! StrikeForceTeller out...