AN: Hello all, apologies for the delay! I lost my phone which had the outline for this story and didn't really feel up to continuing the story for a while because of that set back. I intended for this chapter to include a more academic development for Jon but I wanted to give you guys something new since it has been a while. I hope to get the next chapter up by the end of the week. Thank you for all of the reviews and for all of the follows and favorites! You guys really helped get me back to writing with your kind words. :-) Also, special thanks to PwnerofHeroes who has agreed to Beta for me and has already been a tremendous help by going back and correcting some of the errors in Chapters 1-5. Updated end of chapter stats are available on my profile if you want to check them out. Enjoy!
As he had since obtaining the Stargaryan Ring, Jon woke up the next morning feeling much more spry than he had any right to feel after a day filled with intense labor. Anticipating another day of grinding out experience before the King and his company arrived at Winterfell; Jon got dressed, had his breakfast and proceeded to the training grounds to meet with Ser Rodrik and the recruits.
On this particular day, none of the other recruits were waiting at the training grounds when Jon finished his breaking his fast. Jon decided to do some light stretching while thinking about the words that he had shared with Lord Stark the previous night.
So the stone was originally a different color and turned black by and enchantment? How could that be? From what Old Nan had told us, magic has been gone from the world since the last dragon passed. Like everyone else, he was unable to see the ring, so he didn't realize that I was chosen to be its wielder.
Obviously, the 'boon' that he referred to was how it helps focus any training efforts. I refuse to bring dishonor to Lord Stark or to waste the gift that has been granted to me. If my lord father is worried about my safety with the coming of King Robert then I will do all I can to make sure that I can fend for myself when he arrives at Winterfell.
Jon was windmilling his arms when Ser Rodrik walked out with Robb and the other recruits following closely behind.
"Couldn't wait to get out here, could you Jon?" Robb asked with a smile on his face. "Mayhaps we will have a chance to spar again today."
"Well met, Jon," Ser Rodrik beamed. "If half this lot was as dedicated as you then they would have already joined the rest of Winterfell's guard."
The recruits fell into line with Jon to receive their training instructions from Ser Rodrik. "Right, then. You lot have done pretty well with the physical drills over the last two days. Today is going to be something a little bit different. Today, half of you will be assisting Mikken, the castle blacksmith. The other half will be assisting Drayson with leatherworking."
"Now, don't think that going to leatherworking means that you will have an easy morning. Jon, since your group won the Broken Tower challenge yesterday, you get to pick whether your group will be smithing or working leather today."
Quest Activated!
Forces of the Forge: Obtain functional knowledge of the activities that allow a blacksmith to work his craft.
Reward for completion: 2000 Experience and increased Reputation with Aiden, Darryl, Trevin, Toddrick and Mikken.
Penalty for failure: Decreased Reputation with Aiden, Darryl, Trevin, Toddrick and Mikken.
Accept?
Smithing is one of the skills that the Stargaryan Ring showed that I can level up. Better to get a start on that than to spend the morning doing something that may not help me later on, Jon thought. "We'll go with smithing."
"I thought that you might," Ser Rodrik stated with a nod. "You know your way to Mikken's forge? He's expecting the lot of you. Know that you are expected to be to your best behavior as the men you will be working with are every bit as important to Winterfell's defense as the guard itself. They make the weapons and armor that make it possible for the guard to protect Winterfell."
"Yes, ser," the recruits answered as they moved to follow Jon and Robb to their respective destinations.
The journey from the training grounds to Mikken's forge was uneventful. Though there were grumbles from Darryl about how he would have rather have spent the morning training at arms with the Master-at-Arms rather than the castle's blacksmith.
Jon knocked on the door and pushed it open at the instruction of the man inside. Mikken was a bald man with a grey beard and a strong pair of shoulders that befit his role as the blacksmith. He moved with a certainty of purpose that spoke volumes of his ability at the forge.
"You lot must be the new recruits that Ser Rodrik told me would be helping me at the forge today. For anyone who doesn't know me or wasn't able to put it together, m'names Mikken," the large man introduced himself. The boys quickly introduced themselves before Mikken continued, "Before we get started, I'll give you a rundown of the forging process."
"We forge steel for weapons and armor by heating out metals to a high temperature then pounding it into form using one of the forge hammers. With this process, we can make our armors and weapons far more effective than they would be if we simply bent the metal into shape or poured it into a mold and let it set. Our steel is made by melting iron with a small bit of graphite."
"That's easy enough," Darryl dismissed. "Give me a week and I could take your job, if I wanted it, old man."
"We'll just see about that," Mikken chuckled. "For the 'Old man' comment, you can work the bellows to keep the forge hot. Let's see how long that attitude keeps up when you are next to a temperature that burns hotter than anything you've felt in your short summer life."
"We will, won't we," Darryl countered while moving to grasp the handles of the large bag-like instrument that forced air into the forge and forcing the handles together experimentally. "That wasn't so hard."
"Tell me how you feel about the bellows in an hour or so, if you last that long," Mikken instructed. "I feel it likely that you will change your tune."
"What about the rest of us?" Toddrick asked while watching Darryl working the bellows. "It seems that there won't be much for us to do."
At that, Mikken let out a deep, belly laugh. "'Not much to do,' you say. Well never you worry, boy. Two of you will be loading the forge with iron and granite while the other two of you will be learning to use the forge hammer."
Jon and Trevin took positions near two anvils, leaving Aiden and Toddrick to load the forge.
"Right, that's decided. You two," he motioned to Aiden and Toddrick. "It is 98 parts iron to every 2 parts of granite. I'll show you how much of each I expect to be added each time then I expect you to stick to it. We are in the North. We don't have materials to waste."
Mikken moved to Jon and Trevin. "You two will be pounding out the sword molds that I have cast. Each blade will require 100 strikes evenly across its surface on each side to reach the point where it can be sharpened. If the hits are not even then the blade will be wider at some points than others which will cause the blade to be unbalanced. An unbalanced blade is a danger to the man wielding it in combat as well as every man who stands with him."
"We'll do as you instructed," Trevin answered while picking up one of the forge hammers. "We aren't exactly earning chains at the Citidel."
"Right you are, lad," Mikken agreed jovially while grabbing two blades from a rack near the forge and laying them on the anvils in front of Trevin and Jon. "It's none of that fancy book learning that the maesters are so fond of, here at the forge. Just good old fashion blood, sweat and tears."
"Hopefully not as much blood and tears," Jon mumbled while lifting his forge hammer and bringing it down on the blade that had been laid before him close to where he imagined the handle would eventually be set. "There will be plenty of sweat though."
"It's what separates the lads from the ladies, Jon Snow," Mikken agreed with a nod. "See to it you do that blade justice."
Jon nodded and aimed the next strike of his forge hammer just a bit further away from where he had landed the first blow. The rest of the group took their cue from Jon and got to work. Soon the forge was filled with the ringing sound of hammers pounding on unfinished swords, the billowing of the bellows, the tumbling sound of ore being loaded into the forge and the heavy breathing of those that were hard at work.
Jon was very happy to find that, since smithing was not a combat situation, his SP regenerated at the boosted rate provided by his breakfast. Still the process was far from easy for Jon. He found himself out of breath regularly as, even with the boosted SP regeneration, he was forced to take several breaks in the process of hammering out three swords.
"Well done, all of you," Mikken congratulated. "Now it's time for you to rotate. Hammers move to load, loaders, one of you will take the bellows and the other will take up a hammer, bellows to hammer. Move."
The boys moved to follow Mikken's instruction. Toddrick moved to the bellows, Aiden and Darryl moved to the anvils and picked up the hammers that Jon and Trevin had been using, Jon and Trevin moved into position to be able to load the iron and granite into the forge. It was Darryl who started off the next round of activity.
The trips seemed to blur together as Jon was now closer to the actual forge than he was when he was working at the anvil. He stopped counting trips early on and directed his focus to how Mikken would remove crucibles of red-hot, melted metal from the forge and pour it into casts that he had set up near the forge.
The glowing liquid flowed into the casts and took on the shapes that they would hold until they were either broken or melted down again in the future. Jon couldn't help but be transfixed by the process and was slightly taken aback when Mikken called for the boys to switch again.
Wanting to make sure that he got the most experience out of his time at the forge, Jon took his place at the bellows. This allowed Trevin another chance at the anvil with Toddrick while Darryl and Aiden took their turn loading the forge.
Jon quickly regretted his decision as the heat from the forge was unlike anything that he had ever experienced. While he was pleased that his skin was not blistering the way that Darryl's and Toddrick's had, it was a far from pleasant experience to be next to such a scorching heat. Jon dutifully worked the bellows and kept the forge going strong.
Like with the loading process, Jon eventually lost himself to the repetitiveness of the task. There was something about the manual labor that he found deeply soothing and he appreciated the strain on his muscles while secretly reveling in the fact that he knew he would wake up without feeling the soreness that the other boys would have to deal with in the next morning.
"Alright, you lot. That's enough for today," Mikken announced while moving to stand amongst them. "You did yourselves proud today. I expect you to beat this effort the next time that you come to help with the forge. Be sure to drink plenty of water over the rest of the day and get a good night's sleep. The forge takes much more out of you than most expect and it is very easy to find yourself bedridden the day after if you don't take the proper steps to recover."
Quest Completed
Forces of the Forge: Obtain functional knowledge of the activities that allow a blacksmith to work his craft.
Reward for completion: 2,000 Experience and increased Reputation with Aiden, Darryl, Trevin, Toddrick and Mikken.
Skill Level Up: Smithing +2,000 Experience
Skill unlocked! Apprentice Smithing: Craft beginner weapons and armor that are 10% more effective than standard weapons and armor.
Jon and the others nodded their agreement as they filed out of the forge. They trooped to the guards' mess hall to have their lunch after their strenuous morning with Mikken. The lunch was uneventful and Jon parted way from the recruits, intent on finding Ygritte.
I missed her yesterday but she was the one to suggest seeking her out to practice archery," Jon thought as he equipped the Hawksflight Bow from his Inventory and slung it across his back while making his way to the performer's camp. He wandered for a while and consulted with several of the other performers before he was forced to admit that Ygritte was not in the camp. Well, I've come this far. I may as well still get some practice with my new bow. I'll head into the Wolfswood and get some practice there.
Jon followed the same path into the Wolfswood that he had taken when he followed Ygritte into the Wolfswood and was greeted with the same message.
Warning: You are about to enter the spawn zone, Wolfswood. In the Wolfswood, you will encounter various creatures capable of causing physical damage. The unwary traveler will find himself falling prey to the numerous predators large and small that claim the Wolfswood as their home. It is recommended that characters below level 10 travel in parties to better combat the various enemies that will be encountered.
Jon pulled the Hawksflight Bow from its place on his back and nocked an arrow to be ready if any creatures spawned.
He was not disappointed. Jon had taken less than 100 steps before he heard howling and a trio of wolves jumped into his path and began rushing at him. He took aim and let the first arrow fly, confident that it would find its target as he nocked another arrow and let it loose at the same wolf.
The wolf crumbled to the ground in a heap but its companions were unperturbed. They continued their sprint towards Jon who began moving sideways through the trees to give him something of a barrier to prevent the wolves from closing in on him too quickly.
Seven seconds passed, two more arrows were fired and the second wolf fell to the ground.
The last wolf was almost upon Jon as his first arrow found its mark. The wolf lunged at Jon with saliva dripping from its bared fangs. He rolled to the side to avoid its attack and came up with his bow ready to fire and loosed the arrow at the beast. Like his other shots, it found his target and dropped the wolf where it stood.
Archery +600 Experience
Jon was able to retrieve five of the six arrows that he had shot. The momentum of the first wolf caused it to roll onto one of the arrows and break it. That seems like a small price to pay considering I was able to get three wolf pelts and thiry-six wolf teeth. Now I just need to figure out what I can use the pelts and teeth for and I'll be all set.
Jon resumed his journey to the clearing where he had found Ygritte, that first time in the forest and was surprised that he did not encounter any more creatures that desired to attack him.
When he arrived at the spot that he had first taken down the cavebear, Jon paused to look into the clearing. I can't see anything that looks dangerous but I still don't know what's in the cave beyond the rock formation that Ygritte had climbed when I had to save her. I'll aim to keep it between me and the cave for as long as possible then climb up to get a better point of view to see if there is anything in the cave that I need to worry about.
Jon nocked an arrow as he moved slowly towards the rock formation. His caution proved to be unfounded. He made it to the rock formation without incident and relaxed the tension from the bow string before putting the arrow back in its quiver and slinging the bow onto his back. The climb to the top of the formation was pretty easy for Jon as he thought about how much harder Robb had it when he climbed the side of the Broken Tower when trying to get the drop on Jon in Ser Rodrik's challenge.
From his new vantage point, Jon was able to make out a large furry shape that seemed to be rising and falling as a deep rumbling sound just made it to Jon's ear. It seems like another cave bear found the cave that had been left empty for a few days. It looks like I'll be getting my archery practice in after all, Jon thought. This one should be much easier to take down than the last since I should be able to fire at it without worrying about what it will do to anyone if I fail to take it down quick enough.
Jon nocked an arrow, took aim and fired his first shot. The bear woke with a fierce roar, announcing its rage to the world. It lumbered to a standing position and roared again, taking another two shots to its upper body before falling to all fours and lumbering out of the cave with its vision locked on Jon. Jon struck it twice more causing another enraged roar before its mighty form slammed into the rock formation causing Jon to lose his footing and fall flat on his back to the ground, knocking the wind out of him.
He had a few seconds until the bear was upon him. There was not enough time for Jon to nock another arrow so he followed his first instinct and blocked the bear's lunging bite by shoving his bow upwards and bracing it with both hands. The two were in a stalemate, the bear couldn't bite Jon but Jon was steadily losing ground to its immense strength. As the seconds passed, Jon began to doubt his ability to maintain his hold on the bow as well as its continued ability hold up to the bear's mighty jaws.
Just as his arms began to fail him, an arrow struck right between the bear's eyes causing it to let go of the bow and whimper in pain before collapsing onto Jon. Jon struggled for all he was worth and was able to dislodge himself from under the fallen bear.
Sneak + 300 Experience
Archery + 300 Experience
Blocking +300 Experience
"This makes us square, Jon Snow," a voice proclaimed. Jon's head snapped around and he saw a mane of red hair blowing in the wind. "If you know what you're doing with a bow, it should only take one shot to take something down."
Jon was incredulous but found himself responding in the same confident tone that Ygritte seemed to favor. "It couldn't have had anything to do with how I had already weakened it?"
"Course not. When you shoot something in the head it goes down and it stays down."
"Alright, alright."
"If you're done letting your bow be used as a chew toy, let's see if we can teach you how to use it the way it was meant to be used."
"Er, Camen gave it to me because I saved you from a bear. It was originally supposed to go to you. Since you saved me, shouldn't it go to you after all?"
"You know nothing, Jon Snow. If it was given to you, the bow is yours. No matter what may have happened just now."
"If you say so…"
"I do say so. Let's go into the cave and check it out."
Jon picked himself off the ground and quickly transferred the bear claws and bearskin to his inventory. It's strange that I get a bearskin in my inventory but the bear does not look like it has been skinned. Oh well, no time to dwell on that now.
"Thank you, Ygritte."
"Just do what you can to avoid finding yourself in that position in the future. I may not be feeling so generous."
"I'll keep that in mind," Jon agreed while making his way toward the cave. "I doubt there will be much in the cave now that the bear was drawn out."
"We'll know soon enough," Ygritte countered while walking beside Jon. "I've heard of caves that go much deeper than you could imagine. Caves that are said to connect to each other far, far under the ground."
"I've never heard of such a thing," Jon mused. "Are you sure that you aren't making that up?"
"You know nothing, Jon Snow. Living in your fancy castle, you wouldn't have heard about those caves."
"Maybe you are right," Jon admitted reluctantly. "Let's see if that cave is one of those deep caves that you were talking about."
"If it is one of the deep caves, it will be dark. We should make a torch before going in," Ygritte reasoned while moving away from Jon with her gave firmly upon the ground. After a few minutes, she found a fairly think tree branch that would serve the purpose well. "This will do."
"I hope you have a flint on you. Otherwise, that won't do us a lot of good," Jon said in an even tone. "I didn't think to grab one."
"Course you didn't," Ygritte admonished while producing her flint and striking it against a stone that she picked up off the ground. "You know nothing, Jon Snow."
Jon frowned but did not reply as he followed Ygritte into the cave. The two entered the cave in companionable silence and it quickly became evident that, without the torch, they would not have been able to explore the full expanse of the cave. It didn't take long for Jon and Ygritte to leave the section close to the entrance where the bears apparently took up residence behind them.
The cave twisted and turned without any sort of rhyme or reason. After a few minutes of following the winding path of the cave, Jon and Ygritte found themselves entering a large chamber with a vaulted ceiling. The chamber was much more spacious than the path that they had followed to arrive there and was a welcome relief to the pair of explorers.
There was a frantic scratching sound and four large rat-like creatures entered the chamber opposite Jon and Ygritte.
"Alright, Jon. Time to show your worth," Ygritte stated calmly, holding the torch steady and not reaching for her bow. "Anyone with a bow, an arrow and a pair of eyes can shoot. If you want to take down your opponent, and make sure that they stay down, you need to aim for the head. Take your breath, watch the target move and shoot where its head is going to be."
"Right," Jon agreed while nocking an arrow and watching the scurrying forms at the other side of the room. Whatever those are, they seem to rock from side to side as they move. I can anticipate where its head is going to be and shoot as Ygritte said. Left, right, left, right, now!
Jon loosed the arrow, and struck true to drop the large rat-like creature. Its brethren responded to the aggression and charged. Aiming his next shot in the same way, Jon dropped the second of the four beasts. With the other two creatures closing in on Jon and Ygritte, Jon didn't have time to congratulate himself on the successful shots before he nocked the next arrow and successfully dropped the third beast as his shot was true.
The last of the creatures was upon them and lunged at Ygritte causing her to jump back to avoid the large teeth.
"One left, Jon Snow. Get on with it," Ygritte said with a huff. "If you let this mangy skeever bite me, you will regret it Jon Snow."
Sheesh, it's not as if she doesn't have a bow. Still, I wouldn't want anyone to get bit by a creature like that, Jon thought as he nocked and loosed an arrow at the creature. In his rush to prevent the creature from biting Ygritte, he was not able to get a headshot. However, the shot was true and lodged in the flank of the skeever. Quickly nocking another arrow, Jon loosed his shot and it dropped to the ground.
Skill Level Up: Archery + 600 Experience
"Forget how to shoot? The head is the part with the mouth," Ygritte teased. "It's usually pretty easy to figure out where to shoot."
"I took it down," Jon countered. "I wasn't going to let it bite you."
"Aye, you took it down," Ygritte agreed. "Lucky for me it wasn't a bigger creature that would have been able to take me down like that bear took you down earlier."
"How was I supposed to know the bear would ram the rock formation hard enough to make me lose my balance," Jon tried to defend himself. "Either way, it didn't bite you. You could say thank you."
"Oh thank you, Jon Snow," the words left Ygritte's smirking mouth. "Your green shooting almost let a skeever take a chunk out of me. How could I ever repay you?"
Jon just stared at her for a moment before walking to the fallen skeevers to retrieve his arrows and check for loot. Each of the skeevers yielded a skeever tail and the first skeever that Jon shot also provided him with a silver ring.
I expected to get something related to the creatures, Jon thought as he examined the ring. I did not expect to get something like this for taking this thing down.
"What have you there, Jon Snow," Ygritte asked while moving to his side. "Don't think that by giving me a shiny ring is going to be enough for you to steal me."
"What? Um no," Jon remarked confused. "I found this near the first of those creatures that I took down."
"Well give it to one of your castle ladies," Ygritte instructed. "I have no need for something like that."
"Um, right," Jon seemed to pocket the ring but actually dropped it into his inventory. "Do you want to continue? It's pretty likely that we'll come across more of those creatures if we keep going."
"Scared, Snow? Don't you worry your pretty hair, I'll protect you," Ygritte promised. "We've already come this far. We might as well keep going."
"Right, let's go," Jon let Ygritte take the lead since she was carrying the torch which was their only source of light. "We'll have to turn around when the torch is halfway burnt. Otherwise we'll be walking blind."
"Don't want to find yourself in a dark cave with me, Jon Snow? I ought to take offense," Ygritte quipped as she took the first step into the passage that the skeevers had used to enter the chamber. "They say that there are things in the deepest levels of the cave that would bite at you much harder than I would."
"Why would you bite me," Jon asked with genuine confusion. "You are much more wild than most of the girls that come to Winterfell but even you don't seem that wild."
Ygritte turned her head to Jon and the light of the torch allowed him to see the roll of her eyes. "You know nothing, Jon Snow."
The two fell into an easy silence as they followed the passage. Deeper and deeper the two journeyed into the cave until they found themselves in another large chamber with a large rectangular structure in the center.
"What's that? It looks to be manmade," Jon commented while moving ahead of Ygritte and closer to the structure. "Why would something like that be in a cave like this?"
As if in answer, there was a rumbling sound and the top of the structure swung to the side away from Jon. A skeletal hand grasped the side of what must have been some sort of coffin. The hand pulled up a skeleton wearing an ancient leather armor which sat up and heaved itself out of the coffin while drawing a wicked looking sword.
Jon didn't try to reason with the skeleton. He nocked an arrow and let it fly on instinct. The arrow flew with intent and lodged in the skeleton's armor where its heart would have been located, not seeming to cause any damage whatsoever.
The skeletal warrior continued its slow advance towards Jon with heavy, labored steps while raising its sword menacingly.
"Damn," Jon cursed while nocking another arrow. "Arrows don't seem to affect it."
"The head," Ygritte shouted while backing into the passageway that had brought them to the skeleton's chamber. "Shoot it in the head!"
Jon heard her cry and adjusted his aim accordingly. His arrow flew and lodged itself into the skeletal warrior's skull, causing it to stumble. He quickly nocked another arrow and fired another shot at the skeleton's head. Like the shot before, when the arrow lodged itself into the skull the skeleton stumbled again and dropped to one knee.
"Finish it," Ygritte shouted with a hint of fear in her voice. "Don't let it stand up again!"
It turned out that her words were unnecessary. Jon had already taken aim with the next arrow and let it fly. When the arrow imbedded in the skeleton's head, it collapsed to the ground and didn't move. Jon readied another arrow to be ready if the skeleton managed to pick itself up off the ground.
Archery +900 Experience
When he was able to check through its loot, Jon knew that it was truly down and relaxed slightly. He was able to retrieve two of the four arrows that he had shot at the skeleton but the other two were stuck firmly in the skeleton. He then picked up a small coin purse and the sword that the skeleton had not had a chance to use and examined it thoroughly.
"This looks to be a sword forged by the First Men. It hasn't been taken care of but I guess that isn't a surprise," Jon observed while swinging the sword experimentally. "We should probably turn back."
"'We should probably turn back,'" Ygritte mocked. "What gave it away, Jon Snow? Was it the skeleton that was somehow moving? I had heard about things like this happening but never thought that I would see it with mine own eyes."
"It could be dangerous if there are more of these waiting deeper down," Jon agreed while walking back to Ygritte. "Let's go."
The two moved back through the cave much faster than they had while exploring initially. Both were so distracted by the skeleton coming to life that they didn't speak again until they reached the mouth of the cave.
"What say you, that we keep what happened in the cave between us?" Ygritte looked uncharacteristically nervous. "I don't know about you castle-dwellers but I know the Free Folk won't take it well that the dead are coming to life in the caves near Winterfell."
"Right, I'll keep it to myself," Jon agreed while shaking his head and looking at the cave. "I don't want to think what Lady Stark would say if she heard that Ned's bastard was telling such tales."
"Why stay here if they treat you like that? Even you should know better than that," Ygritte sighed. "At least you figured out how to use that bow."
Quest Completed:
Free Folk Archery : Learn how to shoot arrows like the best of the Free Folk
Reward for completion: 1500 Experience, increased Reputation with Ygritte. Skill Unlocked: Tracking Shot: Anticipate the way your opponent will move and adjust your aim accordingly. Shots to the head do three times more damage than regular shots. Chance for instant kill based on level of opponent relative to level of Archery skill.
"All I've ever known is Winterfell, Ygritte," Jon countered. "Even if I wanted to go, where would I go?"
"There is always room with the Free Folk," Ygritte offered. "Plus our leader, Man-Camen, has taken an interest in you already. You would be welcome to come with us."
Jon's face turned grim as he considered. "My place is here, Ygritte."
Ygritte's expression turned stony at the proclamation and she responded in an equally grim tone, "You know nothing, Jon Snow."
Jon was not given the opportunity to respond as the girl who was kissed by fire stormed away.
AN2: I hope you folks got a kick out of the forge scene. I thought it was kind of different and worked well to diverge from the pattern that has been established in the previous chapters. I was going to push for a longer chapter but the scene with Ygritte seemed like a logical place to close the chapter. Please review! :-)