King Brandon Stark sat upon his wolf throne listening to a dispute between two minor lords, thinking about the changes his grandfather made to the North.
King Jameson "the Eagle" Stark, brought back the Kongerons from the island which he named the Shivering Isles. All 75 eagles were brought back and under the guidance of Jaehaerys and Shraey, they had built five eagle towers, by the lonely mountain near Winterfell. It had come up at the same time the volcano had come up for House Whitestark, except this mountain wasn't volcanic anymore. It was just a normal mountain without any valuable resource. The land was repurposed to hold the towers for the Kongeorns to nest and live in.
The Kongerons would only listen to a select few people. This would make the Rider's Guild very exclusive. All riders must be approved by a preexisting rider and by a Kongeron. Their numbers have never reach higher than 200 members.
It was during the reign of King Jameson, it was discovered that outside of the main Stark line, nobody could inherit the strand of silver hair or the duel colored eyes.
House Stark was the only house in the world, to own more than a four Valyrian Steel blade. The fact that House Stark was able to improve the blades was the envy of all other houses and a sore subject with House Targaryen and House Veltigar.
Outside of the North, the power vacuum left by the absence of the Old Valyrian Freehold, was now mostly filled by the Veltigars. They had stopped what could have been an entire era of blood. The Dothraki horde still rolled over many Free Cities, burning the once highly population cities, and created the vast Dothraki sea.
While the Dothraki destroyed the outlying Free Cities, House Veltigar took the opportunity to gain back some of their strength. Unlike House Targaryen who moved all of their dragons, wealth, and weapons to Dragonstone, House Veltigar merely moved a fifth of their full strength.
When the Dothraki came, the once younger dragons had matured. They were breeding new dragons, increasing their numbers to twenty, although 13 of them were mere hatchlings or the very old dragons from before the Doom. Aemon "the Reborn" become the first Dragonking of Volantis. When the Dothraki finally reached the outskirts of Volantis, House Veltigar burned and killed their horses, precious bloodriders. The Dothraki for the first time faced true defeat and fled back to their Great Khal.
When the Great Khal was unable to breach Volantis, he was betrayed by his bloodriders, who killed and destroyed the Dothraki union.
House Veltigar expanded their lands, taking Lys through their new dragons, with hopes of creating a New Valyrian Freehold. However, it was not meant to be as the other Free Cities learned and improved. The very first lesson on dragon warfare was learnt, one could not win an open battle with dragons, without taking thousands of losses.
Astapor modified their training of the Unsullied. While most of them individually they were the same skill level as a hedge knight, together they were a legion with an unbreakable will and teamwork. They formed small groups that they made formations with. These same groups formed a larger group. They were trained to mirror the Old Ghis' Lockstep Legions, but with more versatility. They could split up apart and form back together in a blink of an eye. They could stand their ground against anything and were trained to be fearless. Their main weakness was their inability to take initiative. The Unsullied would never make a move unless commanded, unable to take advantage of any weaknesses that might appear, unless ordered to. With a skilled commander the army could respond quickly to a dragon's sweeping fire attack. While they lacked the ability to kill a dragon, a large force could march in the face of a dozen dragons and manage to capture the commanding officers.
The large fields of Essos allowed this type of fighting to be a viable move, as the fields allowed for great mobility. Cover while helpful, it also prevented mobility and no cover could stop the dragon fire for long.
The other Free Cities learned guerrilla warfare is the best way to beat them. Braavos refused to fight in an open battle with the New Valyrian Empire, facing them in the field of economics, destroying supply lines and fighting proxy wars. Whenever the Veltigars turned their eye towards Braavos or their allies, they faced uprisings, much larger and well-equipped bandits, skyrocketing prices, and recalling of loans.
This does not mean the New Valyrian Empire did not expand. Tyrosh fell to the New Valyrian Empire, followed by Elyria, Ghozai, and Velos. But the other Free Cities, when fighting against the New Valyrian Empire had cut off supply lines, burned down camps at night, and never engaging them in an all out battle.
Within Westeros, almost a century had passed since the fall of Old Valyria, before House Targaryens made their move. Unlike House Veltigar, House Targaryen had nearly a century to breed their dragons. Their 10 dragons were bred and grown to be 30 dragons. It was very lucky that dragons felt the effect of incest to a much smaller degree. A dragon could not breed with their own parents or siblings, but could be bred with their cousins. Only in truly desperate situations were siblings bred together.
House Targaryens were planning their invasion of the Seven Kingdoms, with their newfound strength with the dragons. Dragonlord Aerion stood in the battle room. Where they had the view out to the sea and the most detailed map of Westeros in the world. On the large board, there were pieces to symbolize all of the Great Houses of Westeros. The crown of the Mudds spanned the Riverlands. The falcon of the Arryns crowded around the Vale. The lions of the Lannisters covered the Westerlands. The hand of the Gardeners were the most numerous of them all and covered the Reach. The stag of the Durrandons lined the Stormlands. The sun and spear of House Martell could be found over Dorne. The direwolves of the Starks were all over the Iron Islands and on the North. And finally the shields of the Darklyns were nearest to them, covering the Kingdom of the Claw.
He watched as his son Aegon plan the destruction of House Darklyn. A rich house, saved from the raiding of the Ironborn by House Mallister, unlike House Mallister and by extension House Mudd.
House Darklyn called themselves the Kings of the Claw and built the supposed greatest castle in history. House Targaryen knew in actually it had barely matched Moat Catlin in shere size and took twenty years longer to build and had costed far more gold and lives. Winterfell was incontestably one of the greatest castles in the world.
Aegon said "These people don't know about dragon warfare as the Ghiscari or the Free Cities does. If we burn down the supposed greatest castle ever constructed, we can set it as an example. It will strike fear upon them. They will know that they can not hole up in their castles. And the only other method they know how to fight is with a group of men in the center, a group of men as the vanguard, and a group of men as the flank. A dragon can destroy that formation easily."
"I agree with my brother" said Orys. "By doing so they will be scared to shit. I believe that House Lannister, House Gardener, House Durrandon and House Arryn will ally together to attack us, like they did to the North. Send me a small portion of the army and I will stop House Durrandon from joining this alliance. I hear the current King is extremely arrogant. He will most likely believe that his superior numbers will be enough to win the battle, allowing their men to meet us in battle, in which would let our dragon to burn them to a crisp."
As he talked he moved the small dragon head towards the stag. He then pushed the stag piece by Storm's End, tipping it over.
Rhaenys said "Yes father, while Orys is preparing his army, I can fly to Rosby and all the castles of the Kingdom of the Claw and make them swear allegiance to us. Then I will join him before his attack. While this is happening Visenya can go to the Vale with our navy and attack from there."
Visenya snarled at her and said "Don't presume to think that you can order me around!"
"Please, stop being so petty. Get over it already!"
"Just because I don't sleep with-!"
Dragonlord Aerion yelled "Silence! House Targaryen has been planning this for a century and I will not have that plan ruined by your squabbling! Your generation has the perfect opportunity to expand the lands of House Targaryen, I will not allow centuries of careful and intricate planning be ruined by your inability to pay attention!."
They said at the same time "Sorry father, we apologize for disrupting you."
Dragonlord Aerion continued, "We have discussed this already. By destroying the Durrandons and burning the Arryn fleet, they will not be able to join forces with the Lannister and the Gardeners. All three dragons meet on a previously thought out date, then attack the Lannister and the Gardeners burning them alive. House Mudd still remains a wild card. But it does not address our main problem. What the fuck are we going to do about the damned Starks and the Martells.".
As he said this, he was moving pieces on the board, knocking the hand and the lion down.
Aegon said "Why can't we deal with them the same way? Won't the Starks and the Martells surrender after they hear about the destruction of the Lannister and Gardener armies?"
"No you fool. If you paid any attention to your classes, you would know that the Starks rivals the Old Valyrian Freehold and the glory days of the Golden Empire of Yi Ti, before they fell under immense corruption, betrayal, and civil wars. We have not nearly enough forces to take them, by the sea or the land. Not to mention their natural defences."
"But even if they fight, won't they will hide in Wolf's Guard?"
"Not if they are smart and trust me they are. House Stark's line is responsible for the currency, calendar, maps, mathematics, and god knows how many more items that we use. They are trained in sword fighting from the age of 5, where they receive their own battle training from their father and battlemaster. From the age 14, they lead a group of men dealing with bandits to get battle experience. All first born sons are expected to join their standing army and rise to the higher ranks. Their spy network is legendary and yet no one has found or caught a single spy. They will hear about the fact that staying within their castles would be a suicide and will have prepared for it, if they haven't already. House Stark was worried about an attack from the Valyrian Freehold for 6000 years. Besides any army will have a hard time marching through the Neck. The Crannogmen and the Reeds will attack our supplies and kill the guards. We can not feed the dragons with the game found in the neck, especially if our hunting party gets attacked every turn. The force that reaches Wolf's Guard will be too weak. This isn't even considering the Giants, Mammoths and the Children of the Forest."
Orys then said "Then burn down the Neck."
"So you want your brother to rule the ashes, do you Orys?"
"No father."
"Besides they have the Kongeorn. We can't risk flying our dragons near the North without heavily risking the death of many dragons. Not to mention their mages."
Aegon said "But father, I thought the dragons were unbeatable in the air?"
"That is completely inaccurate. While the dragons are bigger, stronger, and can breath fire, the Kongeron are far faster and far more maneuverable. Besides their Riders can supposedly could shoot you down even before you can burn them. Their archery skills are legendary, matched only by the Order of Green Rangers. Their weirwood bows are one of the greatest bows in the world, only beaten by the Goldenheart bows."
"But the Dornish should be easy. Right father?" asked Rhaenys.
"No, because their fighting style is very different. They are the nightmare of the Dragonriders, and are descendants of the Freeholds greatest enemy. The Rhoynar are known for their non direct confrontational manner. They will hide, only attacking in surprise and fleeing as soon as the shock fades away. Dragons never have time to burn them and their vast desert is a nightmare to keep men hydrated and fed. Even worse for dragons. They are the perfect counters to our fighting style. We must count ourselves lucky for the fact that the Andals purged the water mages from the world, a task not even the Valyrians could do."
Orys stepped up and said, "Father, I doubt we will be able to come up with a solution in a day. Give us time. Our plan to conquer all but two of the Kingdoms is sound father. Once we have these lands. We recuperate and make new plans to attack the North and the Dorne."
"Very well. Orys for your plan to work you need to train. Aegon, you will join him. Visenya you need to find the boats that you will take. Get to know their captains. You are to command them and for them to follow you, a woman, you need to earn it. Beat them or out play them, it doesn't matter as long as you earn their respect. Rhaenys, you can just go fly on you dragon."
The siblings nodded at their father and left the battle room.
Aegon was standing in front of the open window of the battle room in Dragonstone. His father had died a year ago. With his death and Aegon's ascension as the head of the Targaryen family, he moved forward with the invasion of Westeros. The Targaryens have been planning this for a century, perfecting their plan but no Targaryen except him, wanted to move forward without a strong plan for all Kingdoms. He, unlike his ancestors, was confident in their dragons. The Old Valyrian Freehold the greatest power in the known world because of the might of the dragons and he believed that it would be the case here as well.
Aegon looked up from the map and spoke to his bannermen, "The day has finally come. The day of reckoning is here. Old Valyria has fallen! But it shall start anew! We will rise from it's ashes. We are the blood of the Valyria! These great houses a merely dirth compared to the Targaryen lineage! We must move quickly and dismantle these weak lords and false kings! Our dragonfire will destroy the unyielding lords and leave nothing but fire and blood! WE ARE THE CHILD OF VALYRIA! Move out! I want to make our landing in two moons."
Visenya was very angry. She was forced to marry his brother out of duty and tradition, yet she hadn't broken her vows. However, it has been four months since she got married to Aegon, and he has not touched her. Her bitch of a sister slept with countless other men, yet Aegon loved her more. She was a better fighter, a better strategist, and she looks just as good as her sister did, yet he chose to love her cheating, useless sister more than her.
She walked over to her beautiful dragon. Vhagar was an emerald green dragon. He hatched at the same time as her, so when she reached two name days old, her father gifted him to her. They had bonded together, a young age forming a close relationship.
She was preparing for the attack on the Vale navy. If everything goes to plan, she could even take the Eyrie and force the Arryns and the Vale to submit to the rule of the Targaryens. Personally, she cared not for conquering the Seven Kingdoms. Even though she would become Queen of the largest kingdom in the world, she had a feeling that although her children having better claim to the throne for being the first wife of Aegon, he would forgo such ancient Valyrian traditions and give it to her sister's child.
However, no matter how angry she was at her siblings, she will not betray them. So instead, whenever she was angry at them, she went flying. She mounted Vhagar and flew high into the sky, leaving behind her worries and problems.
Crown Prince Cregan Stark was training diligently in the art of war. His training began at the age of 5, like all other Starks. He learned to rule by sitting with his father in the throne room and the Great Council meetings since he turned to 10 name days old. At age 13 he had joined the standing Northern Army, and had risen to the rank of lieutenant by the age 15. He was now 15 and he was aware of the Targaryen fleet and army assembling. The Kingsman were unparalleled in espionage. Merlin, the spymaster, knew of all the spies sent to them by the other Great Houses. They were constantly feeding them false information or killing them, to confuse and demoralize the other kingdoms.
He trained his skill with his blade daily, knowing that when the Targaryens came, he was expected to lead the army. The entire morning was spent in working on his physical combat abilities, were he was a true prodigy and through his extreme training and diligence he was near unbeatable.
He trained with a group of people he had personally picked out. They were very loyal to him and called themselves the Wintersguard. They wore part plate mail and part leather armor. There were seven members, all from different backgrounds and each skilled with a different weapon. They were of similar age to Prince Cregan, with the youngest being only 3 namedays younger and the oldest being 2 namedays older.
The first was Jameson. He was born a commoner and so had no last name. He was found by Prince Cregan, beating back bandits to protect his younger sister and her friends with a wooden stick. He fought quite well against them, seeing as though he was able to beat two out of the five, even though they had steel weapons and he had no training. Of course Prince Cregan stepped in just as he started to lose, quickly disarming them and capturing them.
They were given the choice to go to the Wall and join the Night's Watch or face Ice. They all chose the Wall, so Prince Cregan took the leader's three left handed fingers and split up the group, each going to a different fort.
Prince Cregan immediately saw the talent which Jameson was born with and offered him a chance to serve him. Jameson agree on the condition that his younger sister and friends got a place in Winterfell, whether it be handmaidens or as cooks. Prince Cregan immediately agreed and Jameson joined him. He specialized in wielding a bastard blade, training daily with Prince Cregan. By training with Jameson, both of their skills grew rapidly until they were nearly even with each other.
Then Lancer joined. He took on the name at such a young age, that he had forgotten his true name. His skill with a spear unparalleled and not even Prince Cregan could beat him. He was half Northern and half Dornish and he was taken as a pit fighter at a young age. He quickly made a name for himself. Once he got so skilled nobody could beat him, he escaped. He came North and challenged Prince Cregan in a spear fighting competition for a job.
He trashed Prince Cregan. After seeing many weak spots in Prince Cregan's skill, offered him to join him and Jameson in training. They both improved vastly, although Lancer remained unbeaten in melee.
Archer was next. She was from the Summer Isles and became known as a legendary archer. She was gifted a Goldenheart bow, after saving one of the many princes from an assassin. However, his wife got jealous and spread lies and rumors about her, till the same prince banished her. She left behind the bow and made her way to the North, where she was found after defeating a bunch of rapist, using her bow. Prince Cregan took her under his care, learning from her to become a more skilled bowman. Only Prince Cregan knew her true name, and everybody else called her Archer.
Then came Torhen Salt, bastard of a Magnar of the Iron Island. He was massive in size matching the Umbers, who is said to have giantsblood. He was a berserker, wielding a two handed battle axe, raiding the coast of southern lands. He was so well known that Prince Cregan personally asked him to train in fighting with and against axes, as well as defending from battle crazed maniac like him. Torhen Salt accepted, happy to have a higher standing in the world and be close to the legendary Crowned Prince of the North.
Then came Shadowsong. She was from Yi Ti and she told people to call her that, as nobody could properly pronounce her real name and her name roughly translated to Shadow Song. Prince Cregan knew that she came to the North, after she and her team failed to protect her emperor. She was the only survivor of the team and she got banished by the usurper, after failing to kill her many times.
She was at best an average swordswoman, but her skill was with her prefered twin daggers. When fighting many men, she would often throw one of the daggers, fight with the other and retrieve the dagger and repeat the process. She was a masterful assassin, nearly rivaling the faceless men, not because of any skills like changing faces, but her amazing knack at blending in and disappearing within shadows. She is impossible to find if she hid and because of her advance knowledge in camouflage, she is able to spot less experienced assassins.
Ice Lion was next. He was an escaped Unsullied trainee. He excelled within the brutal training course, but his unorthodox fighting method led him to be beaten many times. One night, he escaped and got on the quickest boat he could find. Which coincidentally was a boat heading to the North. His boat was attacked by slavers, but with his unorthodox fighting style he was able to single handedly bring down all of the attackers.
When the reached the North, the boat was confiscated, the Slaver's leader and his three second in command was executed, while the rest of them were sent to the Wall. However, when Prince Cregan heard about how Ice Lion had beat them only using a round shield that was on the boat. He would parry, and block with the shield, then slam their throats, stomach or head, quickly knocking them out. Cregan would immediately recruit Ice Lion as a Sworn Sword.
Prince Cregan told him he could pick a new name and he took the opportunity to take the name Shield, for his unorthodox fighting style that had allowed him to meet Cregan.
Finally there was Sun Wong, also from Yi Ti and he was a martial artist. He preferred fighting without a weapon, only ever taking a staff. His art was meant to put down his enemies without killing them, hence the staff. Many soldiers underestimated him at first, but he destroyed such thoughts when he took on an entire squad of men with only his bare hands. He trained Prince Cregan so if he was ever without a weapon, he would never be helpless. His style incorporated fast punches, powerful finishing kicks, elbows, knees, and even grappling techniques which focused on breaking bone.
Crowned Prince Cregan trained individually with each member of the Wintersguard and as well together as a squad. On rare occasions he even tries to take on more than one of them at a time with varying success.
After lunch Prince Cregan spends his time in reading the many books in both the Great Library and the Royal Collection. He read all types of books, such as books on finance, war strategy, first aid and other such books. He would also partake in a game of Northern Cyvasse with his father once every week to grow his strategic mind. The North had heard of the Cyvasse and modified it to make it more complicated and more suited to Northern warfare.
Unlike normal Cyvasse, the Northern variant had different boards, to simulate different battlefields, as well as the ability to stimulate all types of battles to a small scale skirmish, a major battle, all the way to overseeing an entire war. Crowned Prince Cregan was very talented at the game, often beating his father, mother, and siblings.
The newest house formed in the North was House Swash. His father gifted the Shivering Island to Captain Swash. While not having much land for farming, they had plenty of woods and games. There were rich fishing grounds and all of the ships from Braavos, stopped at the by the Islands bringing much needed trade and income for the House. They married the Magnas Dustin of Barrowton, raising their status and becoming more accepted of the North.
All of the Northern Magnars knew there would be war soon. They were training their men, and preparing the soldiers. They made new alliances mostly between the North and the Riverlands, and even a few marriages were made between the North and Dorne. They were ready for battle, and for the enemies of the North beware, Winter is coming.
When the Crowned Prince Cregan turned 16 name days old, the age in which he became a man, the Wintersguard kneeled in front of Prince Cregan in the throne room and said together, "Crowned Prince Cregan, we offer our service to you."
"I offer you my sword, mind, and body" said Jameson.
"I, my spear, mind, and body" said Lancer.
"I, my bow, mind, and body." said Archer.
"I, my axe, mind, and body." said Torhen.
"I, my daggers, mind, and body." said Shadowsong.
"I, my shield, mind, and body." said Shield
"And I, my staff, mind, and body." said Sun Wong.
Then together, they said "We shall hold no lands. We shall fight for you glory, honor, and success."
Prince Cregan said "I accept you oaths."
Prince Cregan stood up from the Crowned Prince's throne and nodded to a servant. Seven servants ran forward, each carrying a bundle.
He walked over to Jameson and said "You will now forever be known as Servant Saber. You shall wield this blade, Excalibur, till you pass it on to the new Servant Saber."
One of the servants walked forward and Cregan pulled out a beautiful blade. It was a bastard blade, with the top half of the grip made out of Weirwood and the rest out of Wintersteel. The pommel was a wolf's head also made of Wintersteel. The guard was made of Valyrian Wintersteel with a simple but elegant design carved with runes of the first men. The blade itself was a leaf shaped blade until the part which connects to the guard, where it went diagonally inwards. Such design was only possible due to the strong properties of Valyrian Wintersteel.
He moved on to the Lancer and said "You will now forever be known as Servant Lancer. You shall wield this spear, Gae Bolg, until you pass it on to the new Servant Lancer."
The spear was made fully out of Valyrian Wintersteel. The actual blade of the spear was colored blood red. It was a long blade with two spikes sticking out, with the blade itself coming out of the mouth of a direwolf. The spear had designs of four direwolves criss crossing over each other meeting at the end to a spike, sticking out of the end. The spear was balanced enough to throw as well.
He moved to Archer and said "You will now forever be known as Servant Archer. You shall wield this bow, Agni Gandiva, till you pass it on to the new Servant Archer. I am truly sorry, I was not able to obtain a bow of the best quality, as I have for the other servants. I shall continuously work to get you the greatest bow in the world."
The bow was a beautiful Weirwood bow. It had carvings of to had carving of direwolves and the runes of the first men, which were highlighted in the blood red of the Weirwood tree. It was an amazing bow but Weirwood bows are not as good as a Goldenheart bow.
He then moved to Torhen and said "You will now forever be known as Servant Berserker. You shall wield this axe, Bloodcrown, until you pass it on to the new Servant Berserker."
The axe was a massive two sided battle axe, made of Valyrian Wintersteel with an Ironwood handle. There was overlay designs of direwolves all over the axe itself, and there was a massive spike at the end. The entire handle, was covered loosely in leather, for better grip anywhere on the handle.
He moved to Shadowsong and said "You will now forever be known as Servant Assassin. You shall wield these daggers, Kanshou and Bakuya, until you pass it on to the new Servant Assassin."
The two daggers were the opposite twins of each other. It was pretty big for a dagger, around slightly bigger than a saxe knife. The blade was slightly curved. There was no guard, instead the blade went way over the grip, so the blade became the guard. There was a yin and yang a symbol from Yi Ti, but one half was a white direwolf, the other a red direwolf. One blade was white the other red Valyrian Wintersteel. The handle and pommel was just simple black leather, and bronze.
He moved to Shield and said "You will now forever be known as Servant Guardian. You shall wield this shield, Aegis, until you pass it on to the new Servant Guardian."
The shield was pure Valyrian Wintersteel. There was a direwolves in red swirling around with the shield and a white direwolves also swirling in the other direction. It had runes of the first men engraved all over the shield.
And finally he stepped in front of Sun Wong and said "You will now forever be known as Servant Beater. You shall wield this staff, Ruyi Bang, and these jaw breakers, Herculean, till you pass it on to the new Servant Beater."
The staff was very simple. It was as long as a Sun Wong and made of white Valyrian Wintersteel. It also had a design of two direwolves, going in opposite ends of the staff. The jaw breakers were the same, meant to be worn on the fist and amplify a man's punch.
Thus the very first Wintersguards were born. They would have to take on a trainee at the age of 40 and would train their protege until they were of equal or better skill than themselves. Then passing on the weapon and title to them at the age of 50. Only a handful of Wintersguards have ever died through another's hand, their immense skill and teamwork have saved their lives a dozen or more times over.
A/N: The standing Northern Army is the constantly armed force of the North, and is different from the levies. The reason why the Order of the Green Rangers are not a part of the army is because while they often assist in intelligence gathering due to their skill in camouflage their primary task is to be a police force, capturing criminals, etc.