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As the sun started to set behind the mountains of moonsong, bathing the valley below in an eldritch gold, Rand Al'thor Blademaster of Norvos and Teacher to the Heir of the Vale, sought out his Lord with his eyes, looking past the many farmers that were moving about in the mud.
His Lord had changed. He knew this was to be expected, all boys grow up, but to see how his charge had stood upright when the weight of leadership was passed to him was gratifying. Seeing him slowly lift the weight until it was non-existent was awe inspiring. It had been four years since the disastrous rebellion which ended with another boy Rand had known as King.
Whilst the Vale had put its self-back together with the return of the men, he knew it had only come this far by the hand of Lord Harald. Looking passed the muddy farm Rand tried to spy the end of the farms within the Valley but could not. Farmland rife with food spanned the fertile soil as far as his eye could see. He imagined it stretched from one side of the valley to the other.
The long strip of land that stretched from the bottom of the Eyrie all the way to Longbow hall was collectively known as the Valley. As a natural valley between the huge mountains of the vale, it was a sinkhole of water and mud. That was the way it was at least, until his Lord came through talking about flood prevention and water management.
Great wide canals were dug out and paved with stone within the valley, designed to carry water from the top of the Valley near the Eyrie, all the way down and out to sea past longbow hall. It was truly an impressive effort that took two full years to complete, even with the massive force of small folk that were more than pleased to have work. With all this water now redirected, the swampland was more usable, and the extremely fertile mud and soil was used to plant crops of all kinds.
But that was not where the surprises ended. Harry had then gathered all the farmers and farmer's wives in his lands. Then, he gathered everyone who would want to be a farmer. He told them the land in this Valley will be theirs to farm, much to everyone's surprise. They will farm it, they will work, and if a portion of it is given in tax, then the Houses of the Vale will buy the food from the Farmers.
This just wasn't done anywhere the Norvosi knew. Peasants worked the land yes, they even got to sell what they make sometimes. But never have they been given ownership of the land they work, nor promised coin in return for the food they harvest. Many of the Lords were angered and hateful at the prospect of having to pay for food from the peasants. But Harry pointed out that the land the Valley is situated in has always been the property of House Arryn, and therefore his to do with as he pleases. Harry also pointed out that the rates at which the food will be sold will be substantially smaller than ever before and therefore with so many farms being worked, the lords are still making a profit. He asked them to trust him on this. Surprisingly quite a few decided to do so, while the clear majority were waiting for him to fail, and reap the benefits for themselves.
And now, several months after starting, the land was rich with produce and the Vale was going to be fat and well fed for the first time in a long time. All thanks to his Lord.
Spying the Blue Falcon of the House of Arryn off in the distance Rand knew that was where Harry was likely to be. He had taken to having his aide carry it around so that if anyone was searching for him in all this mess they'd just have to come to the banner. Turning his horse around, Rand rode down the bluff that led into the Valley, making sure to stay on the makeshift road between the farms.
Approaching the destination, a group of men came into sight standing around the banner. They seemed to be listening to the shortest one giving instructions avidly as he waved his hands about in gesture.
Rand was close enough now that he could see it wasn't a short man that they were listening to but a very tall boy. His lord had thick brown hair which he usually parted at the front, which at present was caked with mud and leaves. He was also very tall for his age, being only fourteen, reaching the top of Rand's chest, however Rand knew he possessed none of the ungainliness and awkwardness a tall teenager can suffer from, having trained him in the art of the blade for some six years now. Apparently hearing the horse come closer, the men turned to Rand and he saw his Lord give him a small smile before finishing up whatever he was explaining.
"So, if you cycle the crops every harvest, the soil will remain fertile and the land will not erode. And over time even more shall be able to be harvested as the crops become richer and richer." Harry finished excitedly as he gestured to the large two lines he had asked to be made through the field, sectioning them off into four squares.
"I' not sure bout this ma lord" one of the farmers grumbled. "We've always farmed one way and now ya want us to do it differently" a few of the others nodded their head.
"I just want what's best for the Vale. I know this method works, I know it's going to make farming for you all much easier, so please, for me, would you try this just for one season to see if it will work?
"Aye ma lord, I will try it for you" one of the farmers in the back said firmly. At his declaration, more and more agreed to try the new method of farming until the last remaining was the outspoken one from before.
"You'll pay us if it don work?" he asked with a frown.
"Murl this is his land anyway!" one of farmers cried out outraged.
"The Lord gave us these lands, they be ours to farm as we please" he disagreed, "Now he wants us to farm his way. Using his tricks. If he wants me to farm to his liking, he better be ready to pay up when it doesn't work" the farmer Murl spat.
"You insolent cunt, I should cut you for that" one of the Vale guardsmen watching shouted as he went to draw his sword.
"Hold!" Harry cried out, putting himself in front of the farmers, "Hold good man, do not draw your blade." Turning to the farmers he glared at Murl "My guard is right, for your insolence you should be cut, however what you say has merit. I have given these lands to whomever will farm them, and you are free to use whatever method of farming you so choose. I will pay personally for any failure of my crop cycle method for this first cycle, you have my word as Heir of House Arryn." Harry said solemnly.
The farmer clicked his tongue and started to walk off "That's all I asked" he said in a surly voice.
As the group broke up Harry walked over to Rand with a tired smile. "Can you believe that's how just about every meeting with the farmers has gone so far?"
"Aye, I imagine people will resist your new ideas. Tradition is an important thing to the small folk, and they've been doing things their own way for centuries" Rand sighed.
Harry laughed and moved onto the road proper beside his horse. "Yes, that's true. But how did traditions come to be that way in the first place? Someone thought of something wonderful and new, and others decided to use it" he grinned. "This is the same. They will resist, but when the crops come back in a few months laden with produce, just like all the others so far, they will have no choice but to change their traditions." He said surely.
"Aye, if you say so little falcon" Rand said teasingly.
"Yes, I do" Harry quipped as he mounted his own stallion. "Was there anything in particular you wanted me for Master Rand?"
"Aye, Old Nestor said there was something you needed to see back up at the Eyrie. He said it was important" Rand stated evenly.
"The last time he said that, there had a raid by the mountain clans on a noble house." Harry said solemnly, "They're becoming a real issue of late"
"It's all the movement in the Vale recently my Lord." Rand said, "They're used to a sleepy and quiet Vale, not this new and energetic one. All the farming and your exploration into the wild has stirred them up" he reprimanded.
Harry turned to his mentor and frowned. "I know you think my excursions are a waste of time and childish fancy but I promise you they serve a purpose. I need to be alone when I survey the mountains, to have anyone with me would defeat the purpose." He finished.
"As you say little falcon. I just don't like you being alone in the wild where the clanmen can ambush you" Rand said with vehemence.
"Rand, friend. You have personally told me there is no finer blade in this part of the world other than yourself. That last year I had surpassed adept and made way into the world of Blademasters myself. Yes?" Harry asked firmly.
"Aye, you are a master of the blade now. But master or not, one cannot stand before twenty and come out alive. They are simply too much and you too few." He said gravely.
"Then I shall run and hide. I have been exploring the mountains for months now and not once have I seen a clansman in all that time. I'm safe Rand, fear not." Harry said with finality.
"Doesn't mean they haven't seen you" Rand grumbled as he followed his chuckling lord.
Reaching the Eyrie by sundown, the two entered the keep searching for Nestor.
"Milord!" an old voice called. Turning, the two spied Nestor Royce ambling towards them with Maester Colemon beside him. "Grave news milord, the Black Ears have been reported attacking a caravan coming from the river lands, the men were left mutilated and the women taken. The guard that went out to find them returned claiming they had vanished into the mountains."
"Damn!" Harry cursed, "That is the third this month!" he cried out in frustration.
"Lord, perhaps it is time to dismantle the clans for good, the Vale is fed, and the army is still well stocked and tested from the rebellion, some of them at least." Maester Colemon suggested.
"No, a war inside our kingdom would be costly and ill advised, at least at this time." Harry paced, "Order a battalion to patrol the highroad, they are to offer protection to any travellers they see. Any clansman is to be put down on sight."
"That will upset the soldiers Harry, patrolling a road for however long you will leave them there" Rand disagreed.
"Not if they know it is their own mothers and sisters and wives that could be taken. But men do work better with compensation. A silver stag to each man for every week they patrol. That should persuade them yes?" he asked the Maester.
"Certainly, my lord, it is small enough not to harm the House, but large enough a sum to entice the soldiers" the Maester praised.
"Then it is settled, the soldiers will patrol the roads and towns. We need to be in a stronger position before we attempt to cut out the clansmen. The moment we open retaliation the clans will mount a counterattack in true force. While we out number them severely, we cannot know where they will attack. I will not have my people harmed due to my own unpreparedness." Harry said firmly.
The three men around him bowed, "We're with you my lord" they chorused.
With the larger number of soldiers patrolling the roads and towns the clansmen had gone back to being quiet, the raids had stopped. As time passed, the crops grew nicely and Harry was expecting the first rotation of crops to grace their tables very soon.
It was quiet nights like this, when most of the household was asleep, that he would sit in his rooms by a fire and reflect on what he had achieved. When he was younger, just after the war, he was still shocked by the depression and the famine. He'd never been truly hungry before then, nor seen people starving. It was a horrible fate and he'd wish it upon no one. That was why he pushed for the farms so vehemently. If he could feed his people he would be truly proud.
He had recalled the method used for centuries on Earth called Crop Cycling, and how it was used efficiently. It surprised him that something similar had not been developed here in Westeros, but he had concluded that very little had changed in the past four thousand years on this continent since his Andal ancestors invaded. For whatever reason, the people of Westeros were stuck in this age, unable to progress beyond the culture and means they already had. It was this conclusion paired with other little instances that fed Harry's obsession. He wanted to progress his Kingdom. He wanted it to move forward into the light, into a new age of wisdom. Schools, Hospitals, Arts and Technology. He remembers all these things from his life as Harry Potter and he dearly wished to bring them to his people.
However, it wouldn't be easy, change never was. Even as the Lord Paramount of the Vale, he could not just force his will upon the lords and the smallfolk. He would have to entice them, enrapture them with his ideals. That was why the farms were important. Not just to feed his people, but to get them used to new ideas and accepting to change.
Staring into the crackling fire Harry let himself daydream of the Vale, decades from now. Farmland grown as far as the eye could see. Roads paved with smooth stone allowing carriages and horses easy travel. Great canals moving clean water all about the Vale. Town and cities built around the concept of Knowledge and Health. Statues and paintings and all sorts of art promoted and created, songs of great deeds and deeds to come. That was his dream. That was the world he wanted to create for his people.
Resting back into his seat, Harry closed his eyes and let himself drift.
The next day Harry had left as the sun was just rising, having grabbed a horse and rode out of the vale heading north. He understood why Rand and the others thought he was foolish for exploring the mountains alone, even he thought it was rather stupid behaviour, but they didn't know what he knew. They couldn't speak to the animals.
When he had discovered he could hear falcons as a young boy, he had secretly tried growing the ability. He kept a small hound as a pet, and would listen to it chirp happily and demand food and play. Over the years the ability had progressed to the point where he can actively communicate and even command animals! Whilst it was an amazing ability to possess, its significance would take him a while to truly realise. Animals were creatures of the wild, they knew more about the rocks, rivers and tree's than any human being could. And he was able to converse with them. For a couple months now, he had been riding into the mountains disguised as a hunter, and conversed with the local animals about unique geography that the Valemen would never find. Glades, rivers and hidden ponds had been faithfully recorded onto his detailed map as he moved about the northern mountains.
The reason he was so eager to ride out today was due to his last trip a week past. A particularly grumpy burrowing owl had complained vehemently about not being about to dig his burrow any deeper due to the useless yellow shiny rock blocking his way. Yellow shiny rock could mean gold!
He had asked the owl if there were any other such rocks and the little bird swore loudly and viciously about the uselessness of the surrounding area for burrows as it was riddled with the stone.
If his suspicions were correct and there was a deep deposit of gold, then he could have the area mined eventually. He had always wondered why the Westerlands were the only kingdom to have mined their mountains. He knew the north men had attempted it decades ago but only found silver and iron in theirs. But Harry was convinced now that the Vale was riddled with gold deposits, sitting under the earth just waiting to be found. And he had a way to find them.
Hopping off his horse, he tied the animal to a post and moved into the wilderness. Travelling for several minutes he came upon the secret glade.
"Useless, useless, useless! How am I supposed to get a mate without a burrow!" a tiny voice yelled out in frustration.
"Why not simply move to another place?" Harry called out in greeting.
"Ah! The pink thing is back. What do you want pink thing?" the little bird grumbled.
"Well little one, I need to borrow you for something" Harry said quietly. Before the bird could protest, he locked eyes with it and felt his mind slip forward.
Senses bloomed in an array of colours and sounds as he settled into the mind of bird. He could feel the burrowing owls consciousness dormant at the back of his head, like something tangled in his hair. The thing would be fine once he left, assuming he didn't harm the creatures body by accident.
Stretching his wings, he hopped into the air for the first time as an owl. The sensation was amazing. He had always loved flying and the feel of wind beneath his wings was indescribable. However, perhaps due to the nature of the bird, he did not feel the all-encompassing urge to fly like he had expected, instead he felt drawn to the ground and the earth.
Gliding down several metres from where he left his body slumped over, he landed on the earth and started burrowing. Using his talons and beak, he pushed mounds of dirt out of his way as he dug deeper and deeper. The further he went in the harder and more compact the ground became. It was after several metres where dirt gave way to stone that he met the yellow shiny rock. Gleaming like veins of dirty sunlight, the precious metal spread wide and deeper still into the ground. Satisfied having found it, Harry travelled back up the tunnel, moved several metres away and started tunnelling again.
Several times he repeated this process until after several hours he finally returned to his body, letting the owl's consciousness back in.
"Burrows! So many! Ah why am I so tired" the owl complained as it sunk into one of the deeper tunnels probably to sleep.
Taking out a crude pencil made of charcoal and his map, Harry started etching in where the many burrows were on his map, giving him a rough estimate of how spread out the deposit of gold truly was. If his estimates were correct, this was a very large deposit that moved further north into the mountain itself. He couldn't even begin to imagine how much wealth could be taken from such a vein.
Satisfied with the days efforts, he called farewell to the owl and turned to leave. It was at that moment, he knew he had messed up. Several yards in front of him was a beast. Or, at the very least a man wearing the skin of a beast. The man gave out a cruel bark and several others rose from the bushes.
"Talken to berds littal lordlin" the mans guttural tongue mangled the language. "Wargin littal lordlin?" he chuckled as all five men left the tree line of the glade and drew rough stone swords and axes.
"I want no trouble. I was just leaving." He knew he was in trouble. These men knew he was a lord, even dressed as a hunter. That indicated they knew who he was and had been watching him. They mentioned warging, which was the Westerosi equivalent to what he had just accomplished, entering the mind of an animal.
The man barked and they all charged at once. Harry swore as he drew his blade, getting ready to fight for his life for the first time. Harry met their charge with Apple Blossoms In the Wind, striking out quickly in three repetitive jabs forcing them back. Switching into Lightning of Three Prongs, he struck out at the left most clansmen piercing his chest on both sides, puncturing his lungs and internal organs. Mind completely hyper focused Harry didn't even have time to realise he had just killed a human being before another charged him with a high overhead chop. Quickly transitioning into the Swallow takes Flight, Harry lunged with his sword aimed at the man's throat. A spray of hot red blood splashed across his forehead as the man died gurgling around his sword.
The remaining three roared as they charged Harry. Recovering too slowly, he only dodged the rough crafted axe of one of the men and the flimsy stone sword of the other before he felt a sharp pain in his shoulder as the last clansmen stabbed him on his left side. Harry shifted into The Falcon Stoops, bringing his head and arms closer to his chest and leaning forward, before lashing out with Heron Spreads Its Wings, as he slashed diagonally across the man stabbing him and the other man to his side's chest, causing them to fall to the ground screaming as his castle-forged-steel sword cut through their leather jerkins like warm butter.
With only the leader of their group standing, Harry allowed his breathing to normalise and his heartbeat to slow as he focused on the last man. Growling in frustration the leader charged once again using quick and powerful slashes of his axe to try and overpower the boy. Swaying side to side using Cat Crosses the Courtyard, Harry relaxed his stance and used minimal movement to dodge the swings until the savage clansmen over extended on a swing exposing his right side. Following the movement of his dodge, Harry turned his left side out and kicked himself closer to the man. In a split second, he reversed his hold on his blade and lashed out with Kissing The Adder, to stab backwards right through the man's heart. Harry felt the weight of the dying man settle on his back and heard the bloody gurgle of the leader as his head rolled off Harry's shoulder and he fell to the ground dead.
Adrenaline flooded Harry's veins as he looked to the five dead bodies littering the glade. Rivers of blood slowly trickled down hill in a nightmarish parody of rain puddles. Feeling bile rise to the back of his throat Harry staggered to a nearby tree and vomited violently onto its roots. He was sick for several moments before he heard footsteps.
"Are you going to eat them?" a sultry voice asked aloud. Startled Harry turned around to find a large mountain cougar staring at the dead men.
"W-what?" he choked out while wiping his mouth.
"The pink ones, are you going to eat them?" the cougar asked again as she bent down to sniff one of the corpses.
"No!" he cried out appalled.
"Suit yourself." She mocked as she bent down and took a large bite into one of the dead men's hands.
Revolted by the loud crunch of broken bones, Harry grabbed his things and quickly fled the glade.
It was a hard travel back to the Eyrie with his shoulder bleeding as it was. When it was finally insight he had never felt so relieved. He just wished to curl up and cry.
As he neared the entrance to the grand keep voices shouted out, obviously in distress of his injuries.
"Harry!" a familiar voice called out in concern. Looking up, Harry was shocked immensely to see his father of all people rushing to meet him, Rand and Maester Colemon not far behind him.
"Father? What are you doing here?" he asked tiredly.
"I came to see you boy. But I didn't expect to find you half dead" he growled glaring at his tired son.
"I was in a glade in the mountains. Some clanmen tracked me and confronted me. I killed them" he finished near silently.
Rand groaned aloud. "I told you this would happen little falcon" he sighed. "Show me that shoulder" he said as he moved around and grabbed the boy off his horse.
As the men fussed around him, some congratulating him on his first kill, others berating him for going out there at all, Harry looked to his exhausted looking father.
"Why are you really here father?" he asked.
"War, my son. Another War."