To say Castamere castle was a ruined swimming pool full of still water and skeletons was an understatement. He had to destroy one of the castle walls to rid the place of the standing water. Everything inside was ruined the silverware was tarnished to the point of uselessness. What gold once existed was excavated by the occasional thief. Sometimes those thieves died and joined the corpses in the castle.
Anna glared at the ruins with enough distaste to spoil milk. His uncle Tyrion simple watched the skeletons fall out with the brackish water. His eyes were unreadable. Even his rangers looked at the ruins with an air of disappointment.
Jack saw potential in this place. It might be in ruins, but it could be rebuilt. He was strong and he had all the tools he needed to restore this place. Even if he preferred not to use magic unless necessary this task would require it. He would have to do something obscenely magical if he wanted to get this place rebuilt in a timely fashion. His treasury wasn't as full as it could be. He had enough to pay the salary of his now 1,100 rangers for three years. Before that time passed, he needed enough income to keep them paid. So, Jack would have to cheat. It pained him to cheat he hated it. A bit of magic to light a forge was different than burning down armies with fire.
It had been mana years since he had touched earth elemental magic. Such magic was dangerous to the uninformed. Earth magic was toxic to the users mind it made them less adaptable, slow to react, and down right stubborn. All magic influenced the user's mental state. The more magic used the greater effect it had on the mind. Doing something like creating an army of earth golems to rebuild the castle would be costly.
It would have been easier to hire stone masons, builders, and architects than to use earth elemental magic. Unfortunately, he didn't have the coin nor the time. So, Jack decided to give out orders and test the skill of his own rangers.
"Ventus go with 100 of your men and draw this symbol on the west wing of the castle exactly like what's on this piece of paper. Make it large enough for a man to lie down in." His captain nodded his head and rode off. He turned to his other captains and gave similar orders. 600 men each went to a different side of the castle and drew their symbols.
"Uncle Tyrion once I finish this spell, I will have to rest my mind for a week. Take over leadership while I'm out of it." Tyrion looked at Jack in confusion.
"I understand that magic exists but what are you doing to need a week of rest. If it is this taxing, then why use it. For that matter. what is the purpose of your spell and the preparations from your men?" Tyrion asked.
"They are going to make this spell much easier for me. Magic is all about the trading of resources for an effect. The better you are at bartering with the forces behind magic the greater the effect. In a way, I'm locking magic into a contract. In exchange my effect is certain." Jack said.
Tyrion looked at him doubtfully but nodded his head. "I don't know how magic works and will concede to your superior knowledge. But what is the effect exactly?" Trion asked. "What are you getting for a week of inaction?"
"The rebuilding of Castamere." Jack said.
He heard the pounding of hooves signaling the completion of their task. Jack walked within the bounds of the runes and clasped his hands together as if he were praying. Jack opened to the earthly elements within his body and expressed them through mana. Yellow light glowed around him as streams of energy left from him and connected to runes scratched on the ground. He held on to his desire even as his mind slowed and thoughts became sluggish. Jack could feel the magic backlash from using so much earth mana in a world starved for mana. Other forces stole from his pool even as he gave every bit of mana he had to the runes.
Tyrion watched as his nephew glowed with golden light and then watched as that energy was stripped away from him and taken to separate locations. He waited and watched his nephew for what seemed like hours before the flow of what he guessed was magical energy stopped. The ground rumbled and shook as six massive creatures rose from the earth itself. Tyrion froze as the saw the massive sentinels walked towards the castle and began to take it apart. Smaller golems rolled out of their bodies and handled smaller labors. These massive humanoid stone giants paid no mind to the small humans they merely worked.
He looked at his nephew to see him still frozen. His body completely still not even his chest moved to breathe. It had taken them months to get here now in a week those giants would rebuild Castamere perhaps better than before. Smaller golems walked through, some ripped trees up and began processing them.
"Our Lord is he a god." One of the rangers asked. Tyrion didn't think so, gods rarely paid for the consequences for their actions. Another thought came to mind. If this was the price for simply rebuilding a castle what price did old Valyria pay?
A week after his magical feat he awoke as the golems crumbled into loose dirt. In front of him lay the mighty castle Castamere rebuilt to Jack's specifications. It was completed with a aqueducts system that spanned for miles around the castle. The castle would have the benefits of running water he would need to light the furnace beneath the castle to get the hot water working.
At his feet Anna slept. "She refused to leave your side in your vulnerable state." Tyrion said. His uncle seemed to be remarkably sober for once. That or he drank all their wine already. Then again with 1,100 men the alcohol might not last very long. Away from the aqueducts were six ranger camps. At his absence they began to fortify their location and foraged for food as a ranger should. What they created was the makings of a town given enough time. Jack realized they had no peasants and wouldn't for some time. News of his presence would spread but not many would venture out all the way to Castamere just to farm.
"Is it possible to spread word to the peasants of local lords that we will tax them less if they come to our land?" Jack shook his head. "No what am I saying, I have rangers of course I can spread word." He rounded up a few hundred and gave the order. They were to go to the taverns of local peasantries and farm lands and brag about how low the taxes were in his lands.
"Do you think your ploy will work? It isn't like lower taxes hasn't been tried before." Tyrion said. "My dear father won't forgive any less than the average tax rate." Jack walked to the castle with Tyrion close behind him.
"I thought about that before I used the golems. It may be unrefined, but we have plenty of gold for now." In the treasury laid tons of unrefined gold. He might not get much when he refines it and sends his share for taxes, but it would keep his grandfather off his back.
"Why not use the golems to dig for gold instead of rebuilding the castle. I admit I'm no mage, but shouldn't that have been easier?" Tyrion asked.
"I didn't think of that. But I'm not going to lose another week just to rectify my mistake."
It took weeks for the first of the peasants to arrive. Trees were chopped down and farmlands were established and awarded to various communities. Jack introduced the concept of crop rotation and irrigation. Whether it stuck or not was up to debate. With the fact they were already working on a steam engine and already had the plans for one. Jack decided to make a plowing tractor.
It took a month and a lot of arguing with Anna but eventually they put one together. Jack used it to go through the fields around Castamere and plow them. What took him days would have taken the farmers months. Plowing the shear amount of land, they had for farming took time. With most of the plowing finished and Tyrion busy going over old chemistry tomes they began to concoct a safe poison to keep the insects away from their crops.
Farming was easier for them because Jack knew what should work. Already he began construction on a tool to harvest the crops to cut down on the need for man power. The problem was his coal reserves he needed more.
After much research he found where coal came from the iron islands. He needed to monopolize it and quickly if he wanted to have all the power in the new steam age he was constructing. The answer was simple his uncle Stannis. The iron islands were rather isolated after his father destroyed them in the last war. The question was could he do it. Well the answer is simple yes, he could. Jack had 1,100 rangers and time on his hands. As much as he didn't want to use magic and risk the land sucking it out of him. He would need it to take the iron islands. The question was would his father consider this a rebellion.
Yes, this was a complete rebellion. If he went that far he would quickly see his plans crumbling down. His only option was to trade. Along with gold his lands were plentiful in iron and yes coal. But he didn't want to use his land's resources up. It was better to get rich off the land of another rather than his own. Until he could ensure a contract with the iron islands, he would have to use what he had on hand.
The peasants weren't working because they had no work to do. So, he decided to create marines. Full time soldiers devoted to keeping his sea faring vessels safe from pirates. They were basically rangers who had no idea how to ride a horse. He trained them in hammer, axe, sword, and close quarters combat with knives and fists. In a few months his first crop had come in and his steam powered tractor harvested the fields proving he no longer needed a massive peasant population. Those peasants who mastered the use of the tractor were made foreman of planting and harvest. A fancy title that basically meant they were on the pay roll. There were no unpaid men in his lands so long as they wanted to work, he found something for them to do and earn coin. Food could be purchased many had taken to merchant life like a fish to water.
Then it happened months after creating the first tractor his first steam boat floated off the coast. It was loaded up with his excess crops and he ordered them to trade it for iron, coal, and any treasures the iron born would part with. He named the steel wrapped merchant ship the Hammer. Smoke blew from its top and Westeros's first steam powered ship made its way towards the iron islands.
Jack walked down the road from his castle to camp Robert. This was where new rangers were sent indoctrinated, trained, and branded. Jack hadn't ordered it, but his men took to branding their shoulders with a stag and a bow. The symbol of the rangers.
Shortly after their establishment, Jack had sent a raven to his father asking for his rangers to be made an official force of the kingdom. They weren't a standing military more a seven kingdom wide police force. Tyrion had taken the time to teach them rules of law more than enough to be considered magistrates. Those who soaked up Tyrion's teachings would be named Ranger captains and would have the honor of ranging all the seven kingdoms. With the king's seal his force was ready and best of all Jack received coin from the kingdom's treasure. This was to subsidize the cost of their training. Maesters would soon be on their way to take over teaching his rangers about the laws they enforced.
Tywin Lannister road with his entourage north to Castamere. It had been six months since he had gifted his disfigured grandson the dilapidated fortress. Rumors were abounding of what the young prince had done to it. As they approached smoke rose from above the trees and he ordered his men to hurry.
When he arrived, he saw a contraption moving through farmland stripping the harvest and leaving behind stalks and remains. These machines moved with efficiency moving from row to row collecting the harvest at speeds surpassing a thousand peasants. The machines spewed black smoke in the air as they made their passes. A man on horseback galloped to them dismounted and bowed as is custom. "I am George captain of the 5th ranger regiment trained in Camp Robert. My lord might I escort you and your entourage to the castle. My men will see that your horses are taken care of in the grand stables." Tywin was impressed. Though he had come here unannounced to see his grandson's lands at their worst it was good to see adaptable servants.
"Take me to see my grandson, you may see to our horses, but I expect to ride through these lands and inspect them today." More men emerged from the trees to guide his entourage while he followed the rider. To his surprise the castle had been renovated and looked just as imposing as it had when the Reyne family owned it. The trees that had grown up around the castle were clear.
This camp Robert was separated from the castle by a large wall newly built. Within the wall there were towers filled with archers making their rounds. They made a series of gestors that passed form one another at rapid speeds. Soon those gestors had passed through the camp and Tywin was certain they were all up to date on his arrival.
Peaking behind the castle were machines dragging stone from quarries, black smoke poured from buildings in the back, and there were so few peasants. Where did his grandson get the coin for so many soldiers?
He was led in quickly and efficiently. The walls within were sparsely decorated except by the occasional Valyrian steel weapon. Sometimes he would see a vase filled with steel roses of all things. A pricey decoration if he wasn't certain it was made here. It seemed his grandson took the secret to valyrian steel with him.
Tywin was led to his grandson's Solaris where his grandson was slowly putting away various ledgers, contracts, and receipts of payment. His grandson stopped what he was doing when his guard stood at attention. "At ease you may return to your post." Jackus instructed and the man made himself scarce at the dismissal.
"What do I owe to your visit grandfather? I thought I paid more than the average tax." Jackus said. Tywin snorted, if he had come here to wring more taxes from his grandson, he would have brought more than a simple entourage.
"Don't be foolish I've come to see if you've lost your mind. Turning bandits into soldiers, peasants into guards on merchant vessel, and trading with the iron islands. Where is my son Tyrion?" Tywin asked.
"He is currently on one of those merchant vessels to ensure trade with the iron islands goes well. I fear if I went in person, I may make a blunder. Tyrion has a way with words that I can't match." Giving his son such high praise raised his hackles despite how impressed he was with what his grandson has done. Ships that sailed without sails, a contraption that replaced hundreds of peasants, and a new guard spread throughout the seven kingdoms. All impressive alone but together dangerous. If he wasn't his blood Tywin would do away with him.
"Is diplomacy not your strong suit. Was it Tyrion who talked those bandits into working for you?" Tywin asked. Jackus looked at him calmly.
"No but the iron born need a lighter touch than my own. If they prove to need my attention, then I may break them. With Tyrion most of them will be intact if he succeeds." Tywin looked over the boy. He wasn't a pretty sight. A three eyed mutant hairless, muscular, and predatory. Yet his voice carried and edge of care that was reserved for family. It made Tywin feel special and that infuriated him.
"It is good you learned your own limits as a king that is an excellent skill to have." Tywin said, beginning his manipulation.