A/N: So a few select people have been getting their fucking panties in a twist cause of the fact that I chose to restart the story by deleting the chapters and reposting them. So here is my response to Mr. Soze and to a much smaller degree trollzor69. If you think your opinion matters enough that I will change my method you have to get your head out of your ass. The sole reason why I chose to do it this way is cause I am too fucking lazy and suck at coming up with names and titles. So instead I chose to go with this title. If you have got a problem I don't give a shit, stop reading and move on. I aint going to make you read, so don't to me bitching, cause I don't care.
And to justinmil22, I chose to use the name Artemis cause once again I suck at coming up with names. You are the person that chose to think that even though this is a completely different world, with completely different rules for the Gods, chose to think that Artemis of my world is the same as the Greek Gods. They are not. If that bothers you so much, stop reading and move on. I don't care. I will be doing that for future characters, and if it bothers you don't read.
Also since I forgot last chapter disclaimer: Obviously this isn't my own original story, hence why it is called a fanfic.
King Rodrick rode back to Barrowton and made his way to the gates of Barrow Hall. It was an hour ride at full pace. He ordered the gates to open but was shocked and very angry when the gate remained firmly shut.
He shouted upwards, "I am the king, let me in!"
The men atop the wall yelled back "You're no king of mine!"
"YOU DARE QUESTION ME! I AM THE BARROW KING RODRICK OF HOUSE AMBERSTIN, SECOND OF MY NAME! WHEN I GET THROUGH I WILL HAVE YOUR HEAD!"
Before he could continue to berate and scream at the man, a crisp but loud voice cut him off "You will do no such thing. I am King Rickard of House Stark, first of my name, High Magnar of Winterfell, King of Winter and the North, High King of the First Men, the Children of the Forest, and the Giants. My men have captured this castle and the two other important keeps in the Barrowlands. Your men have been killed or routed. They were most inexperienced at fighting the Giants. I am not a cruel man. I will not wipe out a House without just cause, so I will give you a choice. Bend the knee, give me your crown, and I will let you continue to be High Magnar of the Barrowlands, return your lands stronger than it ever was on your own, just like the Reeds are the High Magnar of the Neck, and the Numbers are the High Magnar of Last Hearth. You have till dawn to decide."
"I DON'T NEED TILL DAWN YOU CUNT. YOU UPSTARTS THINK YOU CAN TAKE MY ANCESTOR'S LANDS FROM ME! THIS IS MY BIRTHRIGHT! I AM AN AMBERSTIN, YOU BEST REMEMBER. I HAVE BEEN IN THESE LANDS LONG BEFORE YOU FILTHY SOUTHERNERS, AND WE WILL STAY LONG AFTER YOU. I DEMAND A TRIAL BY COMBAT. MAY THE OLD GODS DECIDE WHO IS MORE WORTHY TO BE KING!"
"Very well, if you wish for the doom of your entire family so be it. I accept you challenge. I will see you at the Godswood at dawn. Ready yourself Amberstin, for you are about to meet our gods."
Rickard turned around and walked out of view with Rodrick still screaming bloody murder.
Rickard sat by the Weirwood tree praying and preparing himself as Rodrick and his party entered the clearing. When Rodrick descended from his horse, Rickard stood.
"This is your last chance Amberstin. Bend the knee."
"I will never to the likes of you, Stark."
"Very well."
The two men began to shed their armour and cloak handing the items to their Bannermen to hold. Both men then carefully took off their crowns and handed it off to their Bannermen, who would protect it for their king. The Starks had a crown of copper which had a snarling wolf head surmounted with bronze spikes in the likeness of longswords, carved runes of the First Men. The Amberstin had a circuit crown with runes of the First Men carved on with an amber stone embedded.
Both men drew their weapons, King Rickard preferring to use the Celestial Bronze Greatsword Ice, whilst King Rodrick preferred a more classic longsword and shield. Clad in only pants, both men began to circle each other with men from each party forming a large arena to fight in. The face carved into the Weirdwood watching on as the two men began their fight to the death.
Rickard tested Rodrick's defences with a quick jab. Rodrick brought his shield around to block with ease, following up a sideways slash of his own. Rickard calmly tilted his head back and allowed the blade to cut through the air. With that quick encounter both fighters got much more serious. Rickard attack with strong quick attacks, using his reach and stronger build with great efficiency. Rodrick fought in a reactive style, using his shield to block his opponent's attack and immediately counter attacking. This lead to the fight being heavily speed based, where Rickard attack in a flurry of attacks to break through Rodrick's shield wall and having to quickly dodge and block Rodrick's counter attack. They traded hundreds of clashes, just waiting for the other to slip up and make a mistake which the other could exploit.
Rickard made the first slip up, not being able to pull back fast enough to fully dodge a slash at the cheek and ending up with a cut on his cheek. Rickard quickly made it up as Rodrick moved to attack with a follow up. Rickard sidestepped and return a jab of his own and cut the Rodrick's thigh, comboed with a punch at Rodrick's jaw forcing him to reel back, giving Rickard some room to wield Ice. Rodrick attempted to close the distance by using the shield to charge at Rickard but Rickard saw it coming, side stepped out of the way and slashed at Rodrick's back landing another blow, leaving Rodrick to scream in pain. The men that surrounded the arena began to chant, making deep war cries and smashing their weapons against their shields or the ground, starting of very quiet at first but building to a very loud war chant.
Rodrick bit through the pain and gets back into his fighting stance. Both fighters looked like ethereal warriors, as their steam could be seen rising from their bodies. Rickard charges Rodrick and attacks in a flurry of blows attacking from all angles. Rodrick performed admirably for fighting with an injury on both the back and leg, but for every attack he blocked and for every hit he absorbed the force travels straight towards the wounds, slowing his body and reaction time. In the end, Rodrick was unable to react fast enough to block the slash to the gut. The chanting stopped and Rodrick fell to his knees.
The clearing which was once full of life and noise was deadly silent except for the deep gasping for breath of the two warriors. Rickard then swung his arm back and beheaded Rodrick leaving his blood to soak the Weirwood tree. Rickard then turned around to the men and found them all on their knee, even the Amberstin Magnars and men.
Rickard retrieved his cloak and threw it on, as well as putting on his crown, before turning to the Amberstin Magnars and saying "I am not a cruel man. You are loyal bannermen who just followed your liege. That is completely understandable. I will not have you executed, sent to the Wall, or take you titles and land. As long as you swear fealty to a High Magnar of the Barrowland, who will then swear fealty to me. I will even allow you to choose your new High Magnar."
The three Magnars look among themselves and the choice was obvious. House Dustin was the second most powerful House in the Barrowlands, with Magnar Dustin also being the most intelligent and capable commander.
Magnar Downwood stepped forward and bent the knee to Magnar Dustin and swore his vows, which were followed by Magnar Howl. Magnar Dustin then turned to King Rickard and kneeled.
"I, Magnar Brandon Dustin, first of my name, pledge myself and my house to Winterfell. We pledge the faith of Barrow Hall. Hearth and harvest and I yield up to you, your grace. Our swords, spears and arrows are yours to command. Grant mercy to our weak, help to our helpless, and bring justice to all, and we shall never fail you."
"I, King Rickard Stark, pledge to grant mercy to your weak, help your helpless, and give justice to all. I accept your oaths, rise as High Magnar Dustin of the Barrowlands."
"Your grace, may I ask what will happen to the Amberstin line. King Rodrick Amberstin had a son and two girls."
"You will most likely want your heir to marry one of the Amberstin girls another girl will be married into the Stark line. Although, you have the closest blood relation to House Amberstin it is not very close. All males of House Amberstin, shall join the Night's Watch and take up the honorable task of watching for the Night King's return or face Ice. The other girls will have a happy marriage granted to a noble vassal of House Stark. Your family line will need to be added into the Stark family line in the next four generations."
With the Dustin's as their vassals, House Stark was recuperating. House Stark was not the only that went to war. House Bolton, the Red King of the North, attacked the Hornwoods and vassalized them. With House Stark at war they had not needed to worry about a surprise attack from the west. The Glovers were raided by the mountain clans after fighting the Greenwoods and Blackwoods, and the Warg King and the Ryswell went to war. It ended with the Warg King Gaven Greywolf capturing the entire Stoney Shore declaring himself King of the Stony Shore.
House Stark kept their promise to House Dustin by fortifying Barrow Hall adding new towers and strengthening the walls. Then with the aurochs, they feed their men meat and leaving behind salted meet so they could bring their populations up. This would lead to House Stark having the most amount of men compared to all the other Northern Kings.
Five years have passed since the assimilation of the Dustins. House Stark once again brought up their levy numbers to near max capacity. The Dustins has also recovered with most of their levies back up. The Reeds had recovered the few crannogmen that they had lost and the Umbers did not lose a single men whilst guarding as they were not attacked. King Rickard Stark was no longer doubted by his bannermen as being weak. He has proven himself in battle and conquest of the Old Way. King Rickard Stark married Lyanna Amberstin to bring them fully into the fold. This would start the Stark tradition of wedding the daughter of conquered Kings, and talented men and women into the Stark line.
Prince Torrhen married Alyssa Reed, a skilled in fighting with a trident and net, and very proficient in shooting blow darts. As the land near the White Knife was unclaimed, he went to where the White Knife met the river coming from the Wolfswood. This would serve as the last stronghold defense against pirates coming up North through the White River all the way to Winterfell.
He settled there as a small volcano had erupted there and using the newly created hots springs. He created the House Whitestark and raised a moderate sized keep named Whitehall. The sigl was a white direwolf running across a black field. He brought settlers over with the promise of new land to farm and allow cattle to graze. Because of Prince Torrhen's gift in economics and trade, he immediately capitalized on the volcano trading away the dragon glass, using it to warm his castle, and to warm the glasshouses. The volcanic heat would later be used to forge metal better and more efficiently.
In retaliation, House Bolton settled near the unclaimed lands on the south coast of the Bay of Seals. The settlement was in land by a small river, in the wood. It was not a great castle but it allowed the Bolton claim on the nearby land, thus colonizing another part of the North.
King Rickard planned another invasion but this time attacking the Ryswell. They never fully recovered from the Greywolf's attack. Although the Warg King was also hurt from the war, they were not as hurt as the Ryswell were. Once again the Umber men were used to man the borders, with the Reeds providing assistance this time due to the assimilation of the Hornwoods. With the combined forces of House Giantsarm, Dustin, and Stark the weakened Ryswell quickly gave up their crown. There was no noteworthy battle. Once seeing the superior numbers and the Giants atop Mammoths, House Ryswell knew they were out matched. To keep their family line safe, they gave up their crown after hearing about the fate of House Amberstin. In return House Stark raised them to the High Magnar of the Rills.
House Stark began to invest in House Ryswell's horse breeding, gifting them strong mounts and money to allow them to grow to be one of the best horse breeders in the world. They then began work on Castle Rills, strengthening it and making it much harder to take.
House Glover meet the same fate as House Ryswell. They had just beaten the Greenwoods, wiping out the mainline and only allowing a small offshoot House survive, expelling House Blackwood from the North, who would go down to the Riverlands and conquer a piece for themselves, but doing so left the weak. Just strong enough to go into revolts or lose control of their lands, but definitely not strong enough to fight the Giants and waves of Stark men. Especially after being raided by the mountain clans for so long. House Glover also lost their crown and became the High Magnar of the Wolfwood.
For their crown, House Stark revamped Deepwood Motte. The wood walls and keep were torn down and replaced with stone. It would be made into a major castle of the North. The hill was made steeper with a moat being added. They doubled the strength of the keep, earning the gratitude of House Glover.
King Rickard traded away furs and food for the land of Wolfwood containing the largest forest of Ironwood. He then gifted it to House Forrester, who seeked refuge and seeked for protection in return of becoming their vassals. They were the branch House of House Greenwood and they had mastered the use of Ironwood. A special type of wood as hard as iron, could deflect bronze swords with ease and it was very difficult to burn. Only a Forrester knew how to burn Ironwood and when it lit, it would light into a bright blue flame burning hotter than normal wood. House Forrester would guarded this secret to their death, protecting the wealth and secret of House Forrester. House Highpoint will spend generations attempting to steal the knowledge but will never managing. With the monopoly of the Ironwood, House Forrester grew in power and used the wood and money earned to raise Ironrath. A castle made from stone and Ironwood, it was a testimony of House Forrester's skill with the hardest wood in existence. They traded away items made from such as ironwood shields, furniture, and etc.
Another 2 years has passed and King Rickard Stark used the time to prepare for what would be their greatest challenge yet in their conquest of the North, the Warg King Gavin Greywolf. He was the most human powerful warg, controlling a great bear and was a renowned fighter. He was undefeated in single combat and has successfully won a war against the House Ryswell, proving his salt as a battle commander. His keep was in Sea Dragon Point and he held the title, the King in the Stoney Shore. He had the strongest human wargs within his army and would control many animals to fight for them. When a warg enters the mind of an animal, the mind is strained, but the body is at rest. So they could fight as animals then switch out and fight as a man. This gave the Warg King a major boon, as it greatly increased their fighting number without risking men.
King Rickard was greatly aware of this fact and was considering different methods to conquer the Warg King. He was in a war council with all his High Magnars discussing the different possibilities. Not one person could come up with a decent solution. They had more men, better equipment and the Giants as well, but the Warg King had the ability to constantly harass and attack their men. This would greatly lower the moral of the soldiers and lower the amount of men that would reach the Warg King.
As the different High Magnars were arguing, High Magnar Whitestark spoke up, and said, "Why don't we ask the Children of the Forest to help us. They might have a way to help us."
Realizing the potential of what his brother was suggesting, King Rickard Stark called for a messenger to retrieve the High Priest of the Children of the Forest.
The Children of the Forest are humanoid, but when grown to adulthood most were no taller than a human child. Their facial features are very rounded and soft. They have disproportionately large and expressive cat like eyes, which are set wider in their face than would be normal for a human child of the same height. Ironically they can live for much longer periods than the average men. The High Priest Tree was already 205 years old. He was made the High Priest, due to his gift in magic and his connection to the Old Gods. His real name was not Tree, but he was called that by the First Men as they can not speak the True Tongue.
King Rickard asked "Could the Children of the Forest help us fight the Warg King? I am a powerful warg, but he is even more powerful than I. Once they are in their animal, the only way to cut the connection is to kill the animal or kill the warg."
"That is not true. A warg could enter an animal being controlled by another warg and rip the connection away from them. You would need to be a far more powerful warg. However, this is not a concern, as currently even the weakest Children would be more powerful than a human warg. Although, that will most likely soon change as the First Men are becoming more connected to the Old Gods. Your families affinity to magic will most likely increase the most, as House Stark is already been touched by the Old Gods, judging by your gift in the elemental magics. But either way, we can take control of the animals and prevent them from attacking your men."
"Good, that will make things far easier."
High Magnar Whitestark replied, "So we have a plan."
"I hope so. However, I can't have the Starks attacked by the Boltons behind the back. Which brings me to my next point. You shall rule in my stead. You are to take control of half your men and most of the Umber men. Guard our borders, keep the small folk happy, and put down any revolts."
"Again? I am being left to guard again! This would be the fourth time!"
"I know Tor, but you have done a great job before and not only that but your skills aren't in battle. Mine is, yours is in the administration aspect. Remember what our father said, we must stick to our strengths and work together. I need you to trust me."
"Fine Rick, I will do this for you. But damn you to hell, for making me do this."
"Don't worry Tor, I will have this war finished in no time."
King Rickard lead his army toward the peninsula of Sea Dragon Point. There he saw the Warg King's army. This was to be the strangest fight in all of Westeros. The battle was to be between the First Men, Giants, Children of the Forest, and many different animals. House Stark opted to not bring any beasts with them, in case the Warg King ripped the control of them away.
Both armies set up camp and King Rickard Stark rode out under the banner of truce to King Gaven Greywolf to discuss ending the battle before it even starts.
King Rickard spoke first "We can end this without any bloodshed. You only need to bend your knee."
King Gavin Greywolf snorted and replied "Why should I bend the knee to a weak wolf like you. The Greywolves is more powerful the Stark."
"I have more men, I have the Giants, and the Children of the Forest backing me. While you have less men and only animals on your side."
"Blah, don't act like you have a massive advantage over me, Stark. You know that we are evenly matched. No matter how strong the Giants are, they cannot fight five bears at once. I see you were smart enough not to bring the mammoths."
"I see, does this mean that you won't be surrendering?"
"No, I will not bend the knee."
"Very well." said King Rickard, who got back on his horse and rode off.
The following evening, King Rickard gathered his Magnars and said "We are going to attack them just before the animals to go to sleep. Surprise their beasts. Shoot flaming arrows, make loud noises. The more the animal is scared, confused, or angry, the more difficult they are to control."
High Magnar Umber then said "Why do we have to do that? The Children are here to combat the wargs, why not use them right away?"
"If we show all of our tricks too quickly, we will have no surprises for the Warg King, while he will have all the surprises for us."
High Magnar Ryswell said "But if we capture the Warg King here, wouldn't the fight be over? We have an opportunity here!"
"No! We will not be betting on a single trick. If we don't win the war will drag out for decades. They won't face it an open battle once they know that they can't use the animals openly."
With Torrhen Whitestark gone, the after morning the parley, House Stark attacked the Grey Wolf in surprise, starting the legendary War of the Wolves. The Starks rained fire down upon the men and the animals. The animals immediately freaked out rampaging across the camps. Half of the powerful wargs were able to control their animals but the other animals trampled and killed many men.
King Gaven realizing the threat shouted "FORM RANKS! THE STARKS ARE COMING!"
As soon as he said that, men charged through into their camps. The very first ironwood shields was proving useful for the front ranks in deflecting arrows. The men broke through the barely formed ranks like a knife carving meet. King Gaven commanded his bear to attack the Stark men, obliterating many.
King Rickard's plan worked a little too well. The crazed animals started to attack all men, not being merely focused upon attacking the Greywolves but the Starks as well. The giants focused on the big animals like bears and boars while the men focused on the small animals like eagles.
The battle lasted the entire morning with the Starks slowly gaining ground. The crazed animals were killed by the first hour. The other animals were killed by the third hour and the Greywolf men were pushed back by mid day. It was not to say the Starks had an easy battle. High Magnar Reed gained a battle scar with a dozen giants and thousands of Stark men dead.
King Rickard himself slew many enemies. He fired blast, waves, and shards of ice, as well as slashing with his greatsword.
King Gaven was no slouch either. He was able to switch between his weapon and kill many men with his blade, then warg back into his bear killing many in his bear form. He could switch back and forth nearly instantaneously. He and his bear alone killed a giant, a feat not many can boast. But at the end of the day, the men and the element of surprised won the battle for House Stark. But King Gaven was able to escape and part of his men escaped as well. The battle was named the Battle of the Beasts.
The War of the Wolves was not a quick affair as the Starks hoped. The Starks marched their army towards the Stoney Shore. But they were harassed the entire way. The Starks put faith within the Children of the Forest's ability to stop the animals from attacking them. However, when they were attacked by fast moving birds, the Children of the Forest could do nothing. The birds and the animals attacked too quickly and moved too quickly for the Children of the Forest to take control of. This resulted in a continuous harassment. It was during the War of the Wolves, King Rickard's son was born. King Rickard named him Benjen after his mentor.
King Gaven refused to give up. He would make sure that taking every single keep was a challenge. 14 battles was fought in the War of the Wolves and 4 sieges took place over the course of 10 years. But slowly by slowly he was pushed back all the way to his keep at Sea Dragon Point. The keep was called Dragon's Watch. It was said that the first Warg King took control of a sea dragon, also known as a sea serpent. After he took the caste, he conquered the land by destroying navys and spitting boiling water at castle and men, killing and destroying anything in its path. Any invading force was wiped out by the serpent. When the first Warg King died the sea dragon went back into the ocean, never to be seen again.
Now King Rickard was before the Dragon's Watch he saw that it was not nearly as grand as Winterfell, in fact it was not even close. But it had the potential to equal in size to his High Magnar's castle. His men were tired of this war campaign. It has taken ten years of his life, the longest war he ever had to fight, but they were winning and House Greywolf would either be forced to bend the knee or be exterminated.
King Rickard sat in his tent pondering over his dilemma. The Starks had enough provisions to starve out King Gaven's men, but the longer they stayed here the weaker they would get. the problem were the fucking Boltons. There was no way that they would not capitalize on House Stark's weakest point. Should the Boltons attack them, House Stark would have done all the work for House Bolton in conquering the North and he was not about to let that happen.
The only solution was to siege the castle. Hopefully with the siege towers and the giants, taking a castle of this size should be easy. They currently had made 10 siege towers with the surrounding wood. The plan was for the Giants to push the tower, both simultaneously moving the tower forward and using it as a shield from the arrows. The men will then make their way to opening the gate and once that happened the battle should be over.
In very early in the morning the Starks launched their attack. The guards seeing this quickly sounded the alarm and called for reinforcement. By the time the enemy got ready to shoot, House Stark had covered half of the ground. Soon a wave of arrows rained down upon the siege towers, but the arrows could not sufficiently damage the siege towers. The men faced minimal casualties due to their ironwood shields.
The men had made it to the wall relatively unscathed, but their problems only began. Animals began to come out of the forest to attack them. Rocks were dropped, birds attacked men, and bears attacked the Stark men. Even through all of this harassment, the Stark men carefully went up the siege towers and began to attack the walls.
King Rickard was one of the first men on the wall, creating an opening for the rest of them. He slayed men left and right, carving a path on the wall. He allowed more and more towers to reach the walls. Soon the men were on the wall, and he made his way down to open the gate.
King Rickard lost count on how many men he killed during this battle. He fought five men at a time, cutting, jabbing, blocking, slashing, and then going back to jabbing. It soon became like a trance, as he fell into a familiar pattern. He made his way to the gate, undoing the blockade on the gate opening the gates for the men to come through. Slowly by slowly the Greywolf's men were being put into a corner.
King Gaven knowing the hopelessness of the situation said "STOP! I surrender."
All of the Stark men immediately stop attacking, but they did not put away their weapons. They were ready to start the fight again immediately, not letting down their guard.
Two men stepped away allowing King Rickard to approach and he said "You can lay down your crown and become my vassal or will you face Ice, it is your choice."
The wargs of the Warg King army looked ready to retaliate with their familiars and the Stark men were about to start attacking again.
Just when the tension became almost unbearable, King Gaven spoke again and said "I will…"