It was still dawn when they neared the coast of Braavos. They had been at sea for weeks at this point. Ragnar had feared that they would have to stop at a port in Westeros to restock supplies. That was not something he wanted to do.

'No use crying over spilled milk' The man knew 'The rations thankfully held. There would have been no benefit to showing my hand this early' the giant thought to himself.

It seemed to Ragnar that all he did these days was thinking. There was nothing else to do while they sailed. Though his men kept themselves busy by singing. Even from his cog he could hear the oarsmen on his longboats sing. They sang of love. They sang of tragedy. They sang of the great men that lived in the north. They sang of Legends only remembered by song. It was in times like these that the free folk really reminded him of the Vikings. Of the sagas he once loved in another life.

'But we will be better. My Norfolk will be better.' He promised himself. Ragnar took the Vikings as the model for the kingdom he would build. He took his name in tribute to his favorite character in a TV Show in another world. All that said he could admit their flaws as well. He wanted to dominate the seas, not enslave them. And while his people were still a work in progress, they did not have the cruelty nor the cunning of the Vikings. Ragnar preferred this. His people did not have their heart set in the old ways like the Vikings or their pale imitation, the Ironmen. For all the faults of the wildlings they did not practice slavery.

And yet they also fight clan against clan. They feared death. The freefolk were not nearly as brave as the Vikings in the face of death. They did not have a Valhalla to look forward to. They are a hard people that struggle with all their might to live. When they choose death willingly, it is not to sup with gods but to feed their young. When the old feel death in their bones they go to the forest and die to give their children a better chance at living. They have their own sense of morality. This is a people Ragnar could love and respect.

As the man was lost in his thoughts listening to his men sing of foreign shores, a mighty roar brought him back to his present. And the song stopped as everyone looked to the coast towards the source of it.

The Titan of Braavos was the first thing they saw. And the northerners were in awe of the warrior with his broken sword. He was large. Obscenely large. It would have been the largest manmade monument seen by Ragnar in this world had it not been for the Wall.

"They built a giant in the form of a man" one of the awestruck men muttered. "By the gods" They all seemed hypnotized by the towering titan in front of them.

"Not by Gods" Ragnar replied.

"By slaves" he said to his confused crew. "The City of Braavos was built by runaway slaves. They built it to safeguard their freedom and kingdom. That statue is a symbol of their power." Ragnar told his crew as pointed to the Titan. He saw respect enter the eyes of many of the northerners at his words. They could respect the drive it took to build what stood in front of them. It was a wonder that did not seem to mock them as the Wall did.

The Titan of Braavos stood with his broken sword defiantly aimed at the sky.

'Probably, to insult any Valyrian dragonrider that would visit or attack the city' Ragnar assumed cynically. The Titan was only observable from the knees up on that morning. The city seemed surrounded by a fog which had extended to what Ragnar knew were two islands in the lagoon on which the Titan stood with a foot on each island. It was the entrance to the city they had come to visit. As they neared, they heard another deafening roar that came from the Titan.

"Calm yourselves, it is only them announcing an approaching ship" Ragnar told the men that had started to panic at the deafening sound.

Ragnar led the ships between the legs of the Titan. And as they traveled underneath it, the men looked up and saw the murder holes that would devastate any ship that would dare invade the secret city.

They traveled into the port that they assumed was the main port, the men saw ships of all kinds traveling to and from the harbor of Braavos. Ships smaller than their longboats and quite a few larger than the Cog Ragnar was captaining. As they reached the docks Ragnar could see there were men waiting for them and indicating to his men were to dock. Ragnar knew they were probably custom officers. His men were warned about them and the inspection that would take place.

The Main customs officer thankfully spoke the common tongue, even if he had quite the accent to accompany it. He introduced himself as one of the Sealord's Custom Officers Nakario.

"State your name and purpose in Braavos" Nakario asked the Northmen

"My name is Ragnar Redmane. These are men and women under my command" Ragnar replied to the officer as he pointed to his sailors. "We are northern traders who would like to trade here in your city and take in the sights. We have lumber and fur. I was told once that Braavos is a great city that was kind to merchants" he told the custom officer while Nakario's men inspected the ships.

"Was I wrong?" Ragnar asked as he noticed the custom officers seemed to be very thorough in their search of his ships.

"Not at all my lord. But I can't help but notice all your traders seemed to be armed with fine steel and most even look lightly armored" Nakario says in his sly tone to Ragnar as he looks over to sailors that looked more like a fighting force. "We are not unfamiliar with northern traders, few though they are in Braavos. Yet your sigil is one we do not recognize." the braavosi said as he looked to Ragnar for a response.

"That is because we are from lands even more north than those of the lords which you met. This is my people's first trade voyage to your city. This is why you do not know us." Ragnar stated to the custom officer. Ragnar was calm as he replied. He did not want the Braavosi to be suspicious of his people. It would just complicate his plans.

"And my people do not have lords, Officer Nakario. I am the Magnar of Hardhome and Keeper of the Haunted Forrest" Ragnar stated to the customs officer as he looked the man in his eyes. His men who were all behind Ragnar for the inspection, stomped their boots on the ground in unison.

Nakario looked behind Ragnar and stated, "I See". Nakario thought about the implications of Ragnar's statement. "I was told that the wildlings Beyond the Wall do not sail, and they do not trade." He says to the redhaired giant stood in front of him. Ragnar could never claim that these Braavosi weren't brave.

"My people have always traded" Ragnar states "But I do admit, I believe us to be the first sailors of our land. It is why we had a sigil made for Hardhome. To remember. And we are not wildings Officer, we are the Norfolk" Another round of stomps and "ayes" accompanied the air after Ragnar's words.

The Officer was once again silent as he contemplated this knowledge and one of his men came to him.

"Nothing suspicious, they only brought that which they stated" The man says to Nakario.

"We are done here Magnar, thank you for your cooperation. This is the first harbor of Bravos for security measures, this is not the main merchant harbor. You may enter Ragman's Harbour with your ships. The Harbormaster will inform you of the costs of docking in the harbor for the duration of your stay. The Sealord will be informed of the arrival of an unknown foreign leader and may summon you. Your people may carry their weapons on them in the city but know that doing so will invite bravos. Openly carrying a weapon at night is to agree to duel a Bravos." He says the last part warningly to Ragnar. Ragnar knew about the roaming bravos at night and had warned his men beforehand, but they were First Men and they never cowered or ran from a fight.

"Thank you, officer. Your advice will be taken to heart," Ragnar replied to Nakario with a bright smile and a look in his intense piercing blue eyes that made the officer know the man would take his advice no more serious than the laughing men behind him.

"Ragnar? Cower from rogues in the night! Hehehe" Nakario heard as one of Ragnar's men giggled at the thought. It was quite strange to Nakario to see a grown man with armored fur and a Great Axe strapped to his back with actually giggle. 'Strange people' he tought to himself.

Nakario watched as the men entered their boats and sailed to Ragman's Harbor. They sang as they rowed their ships from the Chequy Port to Ragman's Harbour. Their voices could be heard from the port which Nakario was watching them from. He heard their song. It was not sung in the common tongue, yet it was beautiful to Nakario's ears. He didn't know what the words meant but he knew they sang it with conviction. The Norfolk sang it over and over till they could not be seen nor eventually heard by the harbor men anymore. Through it all Nakario was enthralled. He started humming along at the beginning but at the end Nakario himself started singing the words he did not understand.

Þat mælti mín móðir,

at mér skyldi kaupa

fley ok fagrar árar,

fara á brott með víkingum,

standa upp í stafni,

stýra dýrum knerri,

halda svá til hafnar

hǫggva mann ok annan,

hǫggva mann ok annan.

When he stopped the singing one of the men next to him asked the question, they all knew the answer to "Do you think they will be trouble"

Nakarios scoffed at the question. "Of course, they will. Hopefully just for the bravos and the taverns. One look and you can see these Norfolk are a rowdy bunch. But that will thankfully not be our problem" Nakarios says as the Titan roars again reminding him his work is not done. "Besides I like them, they can sing like true sailors" Nakario says this with a laugh to his men that seemed to infect them.

"Prepare for our next vistors men" The Officer told his men.

Their job was never done.