"New beginnings are often disguised as painful endings"

-Lao Tzu

Chapter 2 - The Beginning

The sound of waves was loud and deafening. It was cold, wet, and rocky on that shore.

That's where it begins. Not in a bed indoors, nor in a birth of any kind. Just an insignificant wave lost forever.

A small child almost six namedays washed ashore on those rocks. His hair was tangled together with seaweed and knots, shiny and slimy, it was the color of night. It was grown out to his shoulders making it about a foot and a half long.

His face was gentle enough but seemed more like a river rock. It was gentle, but still had a roughness to it.

His clothes were threads, grey and unremarkable. A long grey shirt with grey trousers were what adorned him.

Of course he was soaking wet.

The boy sat up after a few minutes and opened his dark-grey eyes.

A chime went off in his head.

Welcome to Westeros. If you have any questions about how-to-play or want to allocate points place your hand on the pendant around your neck.

Tobius looked down and saw the clothes he was wearing and the pendant around his neck. It was a wolf of some sort that had two blue-green gems as eyes.

After looking down, Tobius looked out to the ocean's waves that brought him here. It was peaceful.

Weirdly, in front of him, was a weird cylinder thing. Fiddling with it, he opened one end and saw the mini map curled up inside.

What should I do now? Tobius thought.

There looks to be nothing here right now!

He waited. The sun was starting to set. Looking out at the water, it seemed as if a god had taken a paint brush and crafted a masterpiece. The wind was beginning to take on a harsh aspect, almost biting into your skin. What to do indeed. The cold from both the water and the wind painfully dug into Tobius.

After deciding for a moment, he kept the ocean to his right and followed the shore. After all without moving he might not get into shelter before dark.

It was about an hour later that a great big keep came into view, with a town and harbor surrounding it.

*Autosave complete*

Walking towards the city, Tobius noticed a lot of people wearing dirty clothes. In fact, only the merchants on the docks and guards had good clothing.

Why are most people wearing rags? Oh well, a problem for another day.

Coming closer to the guards to one of the towers, he inquired, "Excuse me, can you please tell me where am I? Or where a healer is, I washed up on shore but can't remember a thing."

One of the guards, who had a funny looking mustache shaped like a downwards U, asked the other guard, "Should we let him in?"

"Fine, but he should go see Maester Hethal. Lord Manderly would not be happy to be bothered with this," the guard with the oddly long nose said.

"Right. You there, you are welcome in. Go straight and then turn right into the third door on that side. Follow the stairs up and you shall find Maester Hethal boy."

"Thank you."

Following the instructions lead him to an old greying man surrounded by books, dried plant stuff, and loads of parchment.

"Maester Hethal?"

"Yes?" He replied. His voice was deep and kind. His robe was dark grey color, almost like rat's hair. A chain was around his neck.

"I need your help. I am Tobius Stark, but I can't remember much else. I washed up on the shore a little ways from here. Can you please tell me where I am, and help me restore my memory?"

"Ah…. I've not heard of you before which is strange young lord… if you are that kind of Stark. You are currently at White Harbor, residing in the New Castle Keep of the Manderly's. I can not help you with your amnesia, my lord, but I can help you get to others who are Stark. All I need is some kind of proof you are a Stark. Do you have anything on you that might help prove your identity?"

"Thank you, kind Maester. All I have on my person is a wolf pendant, a map, and the clothes I wear."

"Hmm. Might I see this pendant?"

"You may." Handing it to him, Hethal was surprised. It was indeed a genuine Stark pendant, with real gems.

"Thank you, Tobius. Now I'm sure you are tired, so why don't you go ahead and rest here for a few moments. I will be back with the Lord Manderly, and he will get you situated here until the morning."