Torrhen Manderly - 132 AC

He had never hated the cold more than this moment. Before him lay the reason why; the cold corpses of his father and elder brother. They had died, from the cold of winter fever. He had learned about their deaths only a week ago when he jumped on his fastest ship and sailed as fast he could back home. He has arrived just in time to witness their burial, those that were there were close family, Lord Edgar Hornwood with his family, their closest captains and Lord Cregan Stark.

He mourned his father Deveron and his brother Medrick for a week, remembering all the good times of their youth and lamenting the times they fought or were apart. He gave a countless prayers to the Stranger and Crone in the Sept of Snow, begging for only warmth and sweetness for their souls in the next life. His pride would never allow for such a debasement of himself in such a public viewing. He tried to talk with some other of members of his family but were they too consumed with their own mourning.

He consulted with Maester Godwin at the New Castle; he was bored and need somebody of intellect that wasn't crying their eyes out. The conversation with the Maester was short but it was extremely revealing. He had learnt of his new status as Lord of the White Harbour, the current situation of the 'White Fleet' as it was being called.

Torrhen had no want to stay in White Harbour for the rest of his life and so quickly went about looking for a castellan he could trust to look after his home. He didn't hate White Harbour, but felt he was better needed in King's Landing to manipu- no, look after the King.

The entirety of his close family were too busy adding to water volume of White Knife and made themselves evident of being completely useless. He didn't trust most of the captains at the port to not usurp his house and make themselves lords of White Harbour no matter how short lived it would be.

His best bet would be to have on one of his extended family; cousins, uncles and the sort. After interviewing all the ones that would be found on short notice he found that; some of them were too grasping, some were simply inefficient but after a week of sifting through the shit he found a man that he could trust with the position.

Bartimus Manderly, a son of captain and a very minor Manderly both of whom were dead. He had no children or wife mainly keeping to whores, this to Torrhen meant that he wouldn't try better his family by usurping him. He was experienced at sea, and knew ships like the back of his hand.

He had been the one to captain the ship to take Medrick and his men back home. He said had sailed beneath the mighty stone pillars that served as legs for the Titan of Braavos, sneaked behind the ominous Black Walls of Volantis and even dared to slip through the Smoking Sea, to witness the ruins of Old Valyria.

Torrhen very much doubted most of this but the man was still an experienced captain and seemed able to command the Tridents (city guard) who would be essential to ensure the keeping of the King's Peace while the city expansions and fleet would be constructed. As for managing the normal day-to-day affairs of White Harbour; politically, financially and everything else he planned to dump-, no entrust those crucial jobs; to his wife Jeyne and Maester Godwin respectively. He believed that the three would balance each other out and manage the city far better than he ever could.

After informing the aforementioned trio of their new roles and getting them prepared to do, he decided to give his wife a souvenir to remember him by before he left. That took up most of the remaining day, so he thought he'd kill some time in his study; reading a book while drinking some Arbor gold sounded perfect. As he went on his way, he was stopped by his Lord Paramount.

"Torrhen! Wait, I have need of you!" Cregan's voice echoed all around the hall way they were walking through. Meekly he replied; "Yes, my lord. What would you have me do?" Starks had always scared him with their large frames, valyrian steel eyes and seemingly forever apathetic body language. They seemed as unmovable and invincible as the Wall itself; he could easily understand how their ancestors were able to conquer a land as great and large as the north.

He spoke bluntly and quickly; "Walk with me lad. I need men loyal to me and mine to go around the North ensuring that rules on the fleet sizes are kept. I have already sent my cousins out on the survey and Jonos is busy with organising the taskforce. And even if they were available they wouldn't be nearly as skilled as Manderly for this job." his words were so fast that if I didn't give him my full attention I would be sure to miss something important.

"My lord, you commanded me to ensure the north was not forgotten in King's Landing. I can expect that such a... diplomatic venture is over?", surely not as Stark would want to attract as little attention as possible to the North and weakling yourself politically would definitely do the opposite. "For you perhaps but don't worry about that. I need you ensure the quality and quantity of the northern navy, do this for me and will make you Warden of the Shivering Sea." Torrhen had never heard of such a title and knew not its powers it would hold.

"You will still be sworn to me, but in peace-time all northern trade on the eastern coast will be controlled from White Harbour and directed by you and your descendants. In war-time, you will have the power to rally all warships on the eastern coast from Skagos to the Bite; they will be yours to command. And I'll double your fleet limit from fifty to a hundred"

Such naval power was never heard of in the north. He'd be the northern equivalent of Redwynes and the Hightowers combined. Nothing bar the Royal Fleet could dare challenge him and even then he had more than a fair chance of winning. Stark obviously saw the look of wonder on his face and continued; "What say you lad?"

But if there could be a Warden of the Shivering Sea, then there could surely be a Warden of the Sunset Sea. It made him wonder who it would be. As for the current offer made to him he had no other option but to accept; it was best kind of deal as he would lose nothing all he was doing was ensuring that the right number of boats were being built and to a decent enough standard.

It wouldn't even be difficult as he knew all there was to know about boats and the building thereof, there would be little to no danger as he'd take a number of his personal guards and it gave him the chance to meet and get to know his vassal captains all over the North. Although there was a slight problem that did came to mind, but he could deal with that in his own time.

"I would be deeply honoured to receive such a position, my lord. May the gods bless you for such a boon." his answer was strong and confident worthy of a Warden. "You must understand with this great power comes great responsibility, I need you to start sending diplomats to the Free Cities, Slaver's Bay and beyond to secure trade deals not only for White Harbour but the rest of the eastern coast.

Don't just have them be your own relatives mix in a good number of Skagosi, Flints, Woolsfields and Karstarks as well." It irritated him to allow those savage stoneborn in his harbour but he understood why. He would see his family to be more powerful under the wolves than they had been under the green hands.

Elric Stark - 134 AC

Their job was finally done; mapping and charting the north. The back-breaking search and digs for natural resources, the long journeys into areas that hadn't been seen since the days when children of the forest still walked the land, fighting and remote clans in the wolfswood and icy wastes then fighting all manner of beasts that killed men as easily as they had a shit. But they persevered and came back home to Winterfell, they were met by the new guard; the Winter Wolves a five thousand strong force. Their banner was a snow white direwolf on a field of steel grey.

The Wolves were led by their Lord Commander Jonos Cassel a man loyal to House Stark; it was captained by the second and third sons of various northern houses. Their strength was varied; it had two thousand infantry, fifteen hundred horsemen and fifteen hundred archers.

The infantry were all thoroughly trained in their weapon of choice mostly being longswords. They wore grey cloaks with grey plate and mail armour embossed with a white direwolf on their breast plates, most were also equipped with thick circular shields.

The horsemen were split into two groups; heavy and light. The heavy numbered five hundred, they and their steeds were armoured in heavy steel plate and mail. Their standard weapon were that they normally wielded were long steel and wooden lances with a large kite shield bearing either a white direwolf on grey or their own personal sigils, they were also equipped with a two handed greatsword or two handed great axe which they would use when they had broken their lances on their enemies. They also wore the grey cloaks and white direwolf on a breastplate. There were large contingents of barrowknights, Manderly knights and even the occasional southron hedge knight in their number also.

The light horse numbered a thousand strong and wore heavy grey dyed leather with fur coats to keep themselves warm with the grey cloaks. Their horses were lightly armoured to preferring speed over strength. They had a wooden kite shield like the heavy but it was significantly less thick and durable than the ones used by the heavy horse but it was considerably more manoeuvrable as a result. They used spears and longswords over lances and greatswords. They were mostly made up of squires and young men.

The archers were also lightly armoured with leather and split into two groups; short bows and longbows. They had the same armour; light leather with fur coat, no cloaks. There were five hundred short-bowmen; the remaining thousand were longbow men.

Personally, this felt like overkill just for a city watch. Thankfully it wasn't then. Five hundred swords and three hundred longbows would guard Winterfell itself and serve as personal guards for the Starks, a thousand swords, three hundred short bows, two hundred longbows and five hundred light horse would serve as the city watch and add as its defenders, the remaining five hundred swords, five hundred heavy horse, five hundred light horse, eight hundred short bows would be keepers of the peace. Their job would be to find and kill bandits, support the nights watch, aid northern lords and in times of war march to Moat Cailin and aid in the defence of the north.

They were given the rebuilt First Keep (renamed Wolves Keep) and the broken tower (renamed the Great Fang Tower) for their use. The Wolves Keep served as a headquarters for the Winter Wolves and the tower would serve as comfortable accommodations for the captains and commanders of the Winter Wolves. The courtyard surrounding the Wolves Keep was a re-made into a tiltyard for training and a new stable for the horses.

Elric took the thought of the warriors out of his head and continued onto Winterfell's Great Keep where his Lord Paramount waited. His brother Benjen led from the front as he always did. He looked around and saw the half-done city, the veritable army of work men that operated around it; they looked as if they came from Essos. They spoke in a multiple of tongues none were decipherable to him. He gave them little mind and merely daydreamed, he heard his brothers talking animatedly to one another talking about their wives and their new keeps. They had been told beforehand of what they would get while he on the other hand was a third son and was simply fine with being with his family, that was reward enough for him. He remembered miserably when his mother and father had leaving him alone, his father in the Dance of Dragons a few years back and his mother of winter fever and a broken heart just before they left.

They enter through the South Gate docking their horses in the stables and from there entered the Great Hall, where Cregan Stark sat upon his pale throne his courtiers stood solemnly whispering and murmuring . He was an imposing figure he was older than Brandon but not as old as Benjen. "Kneel", he spoke with such authority that anybody listening would be bound to do whatever he had said. Elric and his brothers, as well as everyone else in the room knelt to Warden of the North.

"My kin, you have served me well. You have proven your loyalty to the North and to me. I would have you all rewarded; Benjen, you shall be given the lordship of Moat Cailin and its lands, prove yourself more and all houses of the Neck shall be sworn to you. Brandon, you shall be given the lordship of the Wolf's Den and be given the Shield Of White Harbour. Elric, you shall be given the lordship of the Stony Shore, and and permission to build a holdfast and a fleet."

That was far better than he had ever expected, he would miss his brothers but he would have more power than he had ever expected. Life was good, and the future looked promising.

Viserys II - 136

"Long Live King Aegon Third of His Name, King of the Andals and the First Men, Lord of the Seven Kingdoms! All hail the King! Aegon! Aegon! Aegon!"

Later that same day

"Brother you are the King on the Iron Throne will be the first thing that you will do?" Aegon merely glanced at him and smirked in his melancholic manner, simply collecting some overdue debts from some thieving wolves.

AN

Thanks you all for reading. Big shout out to all who reviewed and an actual public reply to a compelling review by X59;

Thank you for your compliments and by now I've dealt with the jumping paragraphs problem. The situation of northern independence is one I'm on the fence with. To fully understand I have to tell you why I wrote this in the way that I do. I try to make my character as realistic in the choices, whilst also being as interesting as possible. Authentic but entertaining, that's my motto with this.

I could have Cregan simply declare himself independent of the Iron Throne after the northern fleets are finished building and the last dragon dies, but realistically what would that gain him... Nothing but war. He'd immediately be in war against six other kingdoms with larger fleets and larger armies.

Yes, the Moat and the Neck could probably throw back any army that tries to march up there but you don't have to take the Moat to take the north. The north-western fleet against both the Redwyne and the Iron Fleets would result in inevitable victory for the Dragon. Once the fleets have won the naval battle they can secured a beachhead where they can simply ferry troops from Seaguard to Sea Dragon's Point or the Stony Shore or the Rills or the Barrowlands.

Yes, the Starks would have a home field advantage but remember the Reach alone can summon a hundred thousand troops, the north probably only rally some fifty to sixty thousand for a perhaps a year before going bankrupt or running out of food or winter.

Hell, the Dragon's don't even have to invade immediately, simply place a trade embargo and wait for a winter to weaken them severely. And then watch as they crawl back to them or one of their bannermen revolt and attack during the civil war. Even if the Targaryens do lose, they can attack again and again and again. The Starks are fine as Lord Paramounts, and care for their people immensely they wouldn't enter an unwinnable war for shits and giggles.

When I was reading about Aegon III, I wondered why the Lord Paramounts didn't all declare immediate and simultaneous independence after the last dragon dies. The Targaryens wouldn't have a hope of regaining their kingdom without dragons. Why not? I thought about this for a while and realised that the Lord Paramounts had no reason to declare independence while also having all reason to remain Lord Paramounts. There were smaller chances of war in comparison to before Aegon's landing, guaranteed help should there famines or winter, more alliance options should the people close to you are warlike and finally less responsibility with the same amount of power.

I say this because the Targaryens are light rulers; they don't try to change the culture of the rest of the Kingdoms or religion to make it more like that of Valyria's. No, they just ask for a small tribute of gold through taxes and leave everyone basically the same as before (mostly as the take land from the Stormlands and the Riverlands to form the Crownlands). This benefits the Lord Paramounts more than the Targaryens because when things get fucked up, they now have someone above them they can blame and leave to deal with the shit. This was shown during the Red Kraken event where the Greyjoys were going about reaving all across the Sunset Sea, the North, the West and the Reach were attacked. Did the smallfolk and lesser houses lament their Lord Paramounts for not having the proper defences? No, they blamed the Targaryens and especially Bloodraven for not having acted earlier.

Another reason why the Lord Paramount wouldn't declare independence is that the king of the time; Aegon III is basically alright. He's not insane and doesn't go to war to make his dick hard that alone makes him better than half of the Targaryen Kings. His policy was bread and circuses, meaning that he would simply ensure that everyone from the poorest smallfolk to greatest lord and everyone in-between had food and contentment. People just don't remember him fondly is because that's all he did, unlike the Young Dragon or Daeron the Good there was no major events or goals that people could identify with and inspire themselves, i.e. the annexation of Dorne.

Think about it before Aegon's Landing, when all the Lord Paramounts were kings. Was it a golden age? No, there were thousands of wars over the most petty reasons, barely anyone left their respective region let alone the continent, the Ironborn made any trade in the Sunset Sea impossible and the ruling of the Riverlands changed hands every couple hundred years making it incredibly difficult to having any of treaty or trade deal as the political stage was constantly changing.

One of my favourite fan created characters is Daeron Stark in Winter's Child. I love him due to how relatable he is, he declares war and later on independence due to the love and loyalty he had for his brother. The love and loyalty that turns him insane as he continuously fails to fulfil his brother's goals, it drives his family away from him and make him nearly hated by the northern lords.

I love that! He's a character with flaws and struggles, with love from his family and sheer strength of will he returns to sanity only weep at how far he's fallen. That is human! That is what a great person does! Struggle and overcome or fail and fall their demons. He's not some perfect puppet that can do no wrong and knows what everyone's thinking at all times and so never loses.

To go back to your review, what I can gather from it is that you are suggesting that the Starks declare independence from the Iron Throne due to their naval increase and the rebuilding of Moat Cailin. I've already gone over how both of those can be beaten or bypassed. All I'm saying that independence is not impossible just implausible.

X59, I'm not trying to be a douche and say that the independence idea is stupid; no it's a really good idea and a very possible avenue for the story to go through in the future. I just need to make it clear what my attitude towards this story would be. In fact just to victimize you less, I'll add a public response to each of my chapter from now on.

Thanks everyone for reading, hope you enjoyed the chapter leave a review if you can.