Lord Benjen Stark
Benjen Stark was an old man, he had been born when the Conqueror still reigned as King, that long ago time when it seemed as if the Targaryen dynasty might very well end with the Conqueror himself. Of course the dragons had not gone when the Conqueror had died, and Benjen had fought alongside Maegor to see the end of the foolery of Prince Aegon and the Faith, he had fought alongside the old king against the barbarians on the coast of Cape Wrath, and in reward for some service he now forgot the old king had wed him to his own daughter Princess Vaella. Vaella had been a sweet woman, kind and gentle hearted and Benjen had been an idiot, he had not deserved Vaella he had mistreated her and abused her kindness and trust, and yet somehow he had kept his head. He supposed she had prevented her father or even her brothers from finding out about how he treated her for their daughters, they had had four daughters: Berena, Alysanne, Dacey and Lyarra before Vaella had died of a fever giving him a stillborn son. His daughters all looked like him and were all fierce and devoted to the north, Benjen would have named Berena his heir had he not fallen in love with Robyn Ryswell a woman the same age as Alysanne, they had wed and Robyn had given him the son he had always craved in Rickon, she had then given him another son Bennard, whom he had named after his younger brother who served on the Kingsguard. Rickon was full of life and was very headstrong a good warrior his son had just seen his sixteenth nameday and would soon be wed, Bennard though had shown no inclination for martial pursuits and instead seemed fascinated by books and other such unmanly pursuits, something that had worried Benjen a fair amount.
Bennard though had proved useful in suggesting solutions to deal with the wildling threat that had been lurking at their door for many years now. Upon his son's advice, instead of calling the banners, Benjen had spent time negotiating with and writing to the King Beyond the wall's right hand man, and had managed to successfully bribe said man with offers of land for him and his people. The man had written back sometime later accepting the deal and had proceeded to have the King Beyond the Wall as well as some of his closest followers killed in the dead of night, before having the wildlings disband before they had even come close to passing the wall and so another headache had been solved before it had even become one. Seeing how his son's suggestion had paved dividends, Benjen had resolved to include both of his sons in his councils from now on, and that was how when Lord Sunderland had written to him requesting that in exchange for Winterfell's protection, they would get half of what the three sisters made from taxing trade on the narrow sea and other such ventures, Benjen had spent some time debating the issue with his sons seeing what both had to say on the matter, and though they were both aware that it would likely mean war with the Arryns, they were willing to go ahead with it, if it meant more gain for the north. With both his sons and his leading bannermen behind his decision to ally with Lord Sunderland, Benjen had begun making enquiries across the narrow sea and had since hired pirates and cutthroats to do the main bulk of work against the Vale. Their payment would come from whatever they did to Gulltown during its sacking, so long as they took no slaves.
That had been a little over six months ago, and since then the pirates had launched an invasion of the Vale attacking the Paps and then moving in from there, attacking Coldwater, and other castles along the eastern coast of the Vale. This had drawn a retaliation from the Eyrie as Benjen had known it would, and once the Vale had attacked the pirates and then the sisters, he had mobilised his men from White Harbour and had attacked the Vale host commanded by Ser Jon Templeton and had won a victory at the battle of the Ridge, soon enough there would be reaction from the Eyrie itself and there would be more battle, something Benjen hungered for. The north had been quiet for too long and needed to be stirred into action once more. They were currently camped on the Ridge Hills awaiting more news, Benjen had called a war council, including his son Rickon as well as Lords Umber, Ryswell, Dustin and Manderly and the pirate commanders Saan and Alequo to discuss what they should do. "Well my lords, you all know the situation. We have essentially weakened the strength of the Vale, with Gulltown soon to fall Jonnel Arryn will have nowhere to turn to and will need to reach a compromise if he does not then we shall need to make him see the sense in doing so."
Rickon spoke then his voice laced with uncertainty. "But how would we do that father? After all the man has not even truly stirred from his castle even after we defeated Templeton, how can we be sure that he will move from the Eyrie even once Gulltown falls? How do we know that he is not simply waiting for the throne to send aid to him and that we shall have to fight four or five dragons?"
Benjen was silent for a moment and then said. "Because the Targaryens are far too busy dealing with the Triarchy, they have not yet managed to weaken the defences of the Triarchy nor completely ensure the safety of the Stepstones. It is likely they will be preoccupied for another six months, by which point we shall have achieved all we needed to achieve here. Besides, King Aemon cannot afford to leave King's Landing to come and deal with us, he needs to keep himself and his hand in King's Landing to deal with the Hightowers and the Dornish."
"My lord, whilst we all understand the necessity of seeing this through to the end, I must ask has there been any word from Lord Sunderland since the battle with Templeton. If the man has changed his mind in that time, then even our own reasoning and the previous letters will not hold up against the king." Lord Manderly said ever fearing for his life.
Benjen sighed feeling his age beginning to creep up on him. "Aye there has been word my lord. Lord Sunderland is mobilising more men from the Sisters and soon enough he shall join us for the final push. Though he did advise that we make that push whilst the Targaryens are busy elsewhere."
Lord Umber spoke then. "I dislike all this sneaking and creeping my lord. I would prefer an open and honest fight. Arryn refused to accept that his bannerman wanted a change, and that we had offered a peaceful solution to the problem. He started the whole issue of when he raided the sisters, Lord Sunderland asked us for help. We have no reason to hide, why not fight him in the open instead of all this sneaking and creeping?"
Benjen sighed and said. "Aye, I do not like either my lord. But it is necessary, the Arryns are close to the throne and if we were to face dragons right now, we would die. We must sneak and creep to make it as if there was never any problem and that it was just an honest discussion that was had, that escalated because of Arryn stubbornness."
Lord Umber looked like he wanted to say more, but Lord Dustin spoke then. "Aye that does make sense, the Arryns could call upon the hand and his dragon or perhaps even the king if he felt so inclined. Though I do believe things are tense between the hand and his wife, so it is likely that Arryn might not wish to see a Targaryen in his domain for a while yet. That could yet play to our advantage my lords. If we move soon enough, we could strike hard and fast and weaken Arryn to the point that he could not think to strike back without his lords killing him first."
Benjen was intrigued. "What do you suggest we do my lord?"
"The pirates shall be attacking Gulltown yes?" Benjen nodded and Dustin went on. "Then why not send a force under Saan and Alequo up the bend and towards the Snakewood and other coastal locations and have them torched. If Arryn should complain, you can say that it was the work of pirates who had gone rogue. I am sure Saan and Alequo and their crews would not mind a bit of pirating and looting besides that which happens at Gulltown?"
Benjen thought about it for a moment and then nodded his consent. Before he called an end to the meeting he said. "I have written a letter that will be sent to Princess Rhaenys, in it I have given her a sworn oath from Winterfell and all of the north to support her and her heirs against any other great house, and that the north shall always support her in the event of a civil war and that we shall pressure the other kingdoms into accepting her policies and heirs as well. That should give us a leg to stand on should this backfire."