Chapter Six
First of all, thank you Reviewers for the awesome review. I do try to update everyday but well I have a life other than writing. Though pray for me not to have a mental block. Your comments are giving me a lot of ideas. Especially about the one between Catelyn and Jon. Don't worry she will go North soon also.
I want to address also "tsourgrhs.59". Remember moron, that you are reading for FREE! You can always skip if you want. Also dumbshit, do read the premise and description well and try to fit that in your brain, if you even have any. Seeing your review, I am 98% sure that it is absent. Try understanding also the HP original verse about the mind arts before you even try making your opinion. I'm not wasting time to explain to fools. Lastly, before you criticize writers as if you're an expert at writing. Do try writing something for once because surprise, surprise. You don't even have one up to your name. So fool's on you mister!
…..
Two months before the Harvest Feast of the Riverlands
The implosion that Delianah expects takes much sooner than she expected to. Apparently the damage caused by the "turkey invasion" on the three houses was large and widespread enough that when the selling of the Delianite mineral started; immediate inquiries about it from the three desperate Houses start. Very few gold and silver mines, can be found on the Riverlands due to its lack of mountains. So when the "widespread" rumor from the pre-planned gossipers sent to the assigned marketplaces at the lands of Wode, Darry and Roote, started, the three lords did not waste borrowing as much money as they possibly can from the loan booths provided by Delianah before starting half a dozen mine on each of their hills. Delianite after all was the first of its kind and very beautiful to look at. Plus it was easy to shape and bend. They were literally caught hook, line and sinker. Of course only to add fuel to the fire, the rumor that was spread was, it was "present" on the hills of the Riverlands.
If Delianah was a decent person, she might have felt bad for the Lords desperately mining for any sign of Delianite on their lands. Delianite after all as provided by the information of her pawns stated that Delianite can only be found if you dig deep enough. These only prompt the desperate targeted Houses to borrow even more money to hire people and equipment in order to dig deeper into their hills. Mining as stated before was not cheap and required a lot of money. So the amounts they borrowed were quite substantial.
Now that Delianah thought about it though, it felt kinda poetic. Fueled by greed and desperation, they were kinda literally digging the holes for their own graves.
It only took them a month and a half before the weight of desperation and current blunders finally came crashing down on the three Houses. With no money, no investment for the next farming season, and heavy with debt, the Houses of Wode, Darry and Roote finally declared bankruptcy to the Lord Paramount of the Riverlands.
Normally the Tullys would render aid for their bannermen at this point in time either through monetary support or royal decree to at least postpone any loans that they might have made. At least that's what any competent Lord Paramount will do. Unfortunately for them, the current Lord Paramount, Hoster Tully was getting on in years and tends to leave the running of the state to his son, Edmure in an effort for the young man to learn his responsibilities.
Edmure can be a bit competent assuming that his father or uncle is there to be breathing down his neck. Left alone on his own devices though, he is a disaster in making. The poor shit for brains tends to choose what is easy instead of what is right and unforuntately for him, Delianah tends to capitalize on it in every way.
The end result is currently in her hand smugly sitting. It is basically a writ putting the Houses of Wode, Darry and Roote under judgement of their Lord Paramount. Long story short, it demotes them from being lordly houses to simply knight houses due to their mismanagement of their lands.
Normally the Lord Paramount would support his bannermen(especially loyal ones) help them find ways to get back on their feet again. However it would be long arduous hard works that require a lot of thinking and effort. Edmure chose not to subject himself to that and instead acquiesced to her counter proposal that gave him an easy way out and little to nothing to do except sign it. Delianah might be Edmure's half-sister, and he hated her due to her status as a bastard. However he preferred his comforts more rather than his opinion of disgust to her due to the circumstance of her birth.
Delianah's proposal is actually quite simple. Due to the simple fact that the three houses loaned from her a great deal amount of money, their rather impoverished lands would be her collateral instead of finding new lords for them. Of course she would not kick them out, but rather she would employ them under her as her knights. The lands however and its banners would be registered on her name as the future Lady of Harrenhal.
Suffice it to say, the territory that falls under Harrenhal now includes the former territory of Houses of Wode, Darry and Roote, thus securing the majority of her eastern borders and giving her wide river access to the sea. Plus of course she has great plans for those houses in the long run.
First and most immediate though is the problem that arose out of nowhere. The Turkey population that she had penned up North in three great warehouses were causing a ruckus.
The thousands of turkeys apparently did not appreciate being put into close proximity with one another with very little space of freedom to move freely. It resulted to fights that left hundreds dead of the birds. To alleviate this issue, Delianah had most of her people working there separate the temperamental birds to different groups to prevent their impromptu civil war into escalating even further. Even then she had to drug most of them with sleep potions since they were so many and the lands North also had farms and homesteads of their own who did not appreciate the rather large amount of avian intrusion.
Now however that she got the lands of the three other Houses, she can slowly trickle the large birds into those areas and give them the space they need. She makes a mental note to only let her people from Harrenhal be the only ones to take care of them though. She bets that the small folk populace especially the farmers of those lands had already forgotten the rather damaging impact that the turkeys did to their crops and livelihood. The last thing that she needed was for some hot-headed fool trying to murder her new source of income and reputation.
That reminds her, she needs to increase her supply of loyalty potions more. The Green Men in charge of potion making at her own private labs re surprisingly efficient on their work thankfully.
She had tried teaching them some basics of her magic before to check if they would be capable of doing it also. Unsurprisingly they are not. Maybe it's because of the land or this new world having a different form of magic source, but the sad fact is, they cannot perform the same feats as she does. She did not waste time thinking about it though. Finding out mysteries and answers was more Hermione's thinkg than his.
The Green Men took this roadbump way harder than she expected. Thus she introduced them to arithmancy, rune carving, transmutation, and potion making. After all one only needs skill, a bit of magic on your blood, a powerful medium and sacrifice (at least for transmutation and runes) to be exemplary at it. They almost jumped into the aforementioned fields with zealotry. They apparently did not really appreciate that they shared nothing with their aforementioned Messiah.
Now here they are, some of the best potioneers and transmutation talented men and women she has ever seen. In her personal opinion, they even put Snape to shame if judged by the quality of their work. Dozens upon dozens of potions are being shipped off from her personal laboratory every day. Most of these are loyalty potions which is a mandatory thing for everyone, from small folk, guardsman to the common hedge knight to drink once a month. As said before, the last thing that Delianah does not want to expect from her subjects is betrayal.
Coupled with the loyalty potions are the usual Strengthening, Nutrition and growth boosters that are reserved "only" for the populace of Harrenhal. Frankly it is a spur of the moment brilliant idea from her if she does say so herself. To be recognized as "The Great" once more, she needs to stand apart from the regular random lord or lady in this world. While she can do that easily enough with herself, she can be more than before. To be more precise, if she lifts up her loyal subjects to higher heights, then she can be put into a pedestal higher due to her being their ruler. Yes, she can work on that. Never in the entirety of Planetos would there be a people like those who are ruled by Lady Delianah Tully directly.
The world will know the name of Harry the Great! I meant Delianah the Great!
…..
Viktor or rather Lord Viktor as he is now known by the majority of the populace breathes in the serene air as he looks down on the budding town that was once Hold's Hamlet. Things are in schedule as far as he is concerned. Gone were the muddy tracks that were the substitute for roads before. Delianah had specifically mentioned beforehand that each of the new towns be all stone and concrete when it comes to their road system; something about faster trade and transport. As usual their benevolent Messiah was right alongside her other reforms about the rather new designs required for the settlements.
The people of course at first had been rather skeptical of the changes around them. It was practically demanded of them after all to demolish their old homes. Anyone would be upset and angry at that. However they were smallfolk and it was their duty to obey their lord.
Suffice it to say that two weeks later and all sorts of protest about the order for the settlements died down. Why should they continue protesting after all? Each family had a house of concrete of their own. No more thatched roof or barely standing walls that could be broken down by a strong gust of wind with enough space for five children. No more muddy dirty ground full of shit and mud that goes into your feet no matter how thick your boots were due to the new stone paved way roads. Each house also had a "toilet" of its own, a marvel of engineering made by pipes introduced by their new Lady using a design interconnected by popes. That means no shitting any more anywhere on the road or throwing your shit outside your homes via bucket. Anyone caught doing it was assigned on dung patrol. The farmers after all on the surrounding areas always loved it when someone was shoving dung on the ground instead of them.
Bathhouses were now also common on the towns. It was a measly ten pennies for anyone to take a bath. It was a novelty for many of the small folk whose bath schedule were once a month, others even less. Suffice it to say that the bathhouses were a tremendous hit. Almost everyone gather there many times a week to cleanse themselves, connect with friends, make business or even stage impromptu bragging.
Other than the bathhouses there were also many other buildings rising on the towns. There were the marketplaces where the merchants gather and where folks buy and sell their produce, there were the hundred and one businesses by the craftsman guild like pottery, the carver, the carpenters, the brewery , the inn and many more that kept the town's economy rolling. There were the mercenary guilds or aptly named adventurer's guild. Sellswords and other folk who loved the outdoors register there. Smallfolk usually or even hedge knights go there to employ them for small "quests" like rabid wolves, bears, the occasional bandit and such. The only things that were prohibited as job's by the guild though were reaving, raping, pillaging, basically the usual ones that could get your head chopped off.
Located inside the town were also the guardhouse and its training area. Its main purpose was to house the guards protecting the town in the event of an invasion. Banditry after all was the Adventurers' problem and not the soldiers. The job of the guards however in these times of peace was simply doing patrol, guard the gate and man the wooden palisade surrounding the town. Of course there was always the occasional drunk or troublemaker but it was rare. Many dread doing dung duty after all.
There are five of these new towns scattered around the Riverlands: Hold's Hamlet, Southwold, Golden Leaf, Sarcton and Kirkwall which bordered the West and the only one whose walls is made of stone instead of a palisade. Many of them are still ongoing construction for their residents' though and only Hold's Hamlet is complete.
Across the territories of Harrenhal are dozens of Homesteads, groups of farmers that own the massive farmlands that produce the rice and spices that would become the primary product of Harrenhal. It is another new order of things of their lady. Apparently she disagrees with the old practice of farmers' being solitary in their homes owning small patches of land. Apparently Delianah groaned mentioning something about "recipe for bandits to attack before enacting the new protocol.
A homestead is composed of almost fifteen farmers' families living together. By decree every one person of five, girl or boy be trained to fight at the local town to act as protection for their homesteads. Seeing that each smallfolk family in Westeros has an average of three to ten children, it is quite a number on each homestead. These groups would be entrusted by large tracts of land to be their own (for farmers) and storage houses (for miners). They would work it and they would pay the ten percent tithe demanded by the ruling House at Harrenhal. Each homestead is connected with one another by stone roads for easier transport. They would also be safe havens for the adventurers' on their extermination missions or chores or the occasional patrol group of Harrenhal men.
This is basically a fuck you for bandits. Contrary to popular belief, bandits are not well-equipped most of the time with the average wielding an unsharpened knife mostly. Homesteads are provided by the best of the farming or mining equipment which can be an impromptu weapon that is more dangerous than a bandit's. Plus those that are chosen to train by the Guard at the towns are given a shield, an axe or a sword and chainmail. More than enough to challenge any opportunist.
All in all it is a new order of things that could be found only at the Free Cities' and at King's Landing. Viktor himself was awed and not the least bit of surprised. In their founders' Holy Text after all, it says: "The One who comes before the end would uplift his followers and they shall stand a head tall from the rest of the world with no one there like," He feels privileged enough to be witnessing all these with his very own eyes. Better, the Lady Delianah had assigned him the status as Castellan. Basically he is the one in charge of everything that their lady built. It is of the greatest of honors to be chosen and Viktor would not disappoint.
Dressed in opulent robes of black with trimmed gold veins as design; Viktor looked every bit the Lord he is called. To be more precise, he looked like a vampire newly awakened to feast on his enemies. Men parted as he walked back to the impromptu management office from his quarters. It is a wide space with a large table at the center. It has little of comforts and mostly Spartan in furniture. The management office after all is where things get done and dusted as quickly as possible, not one for lounging and relaxing. At the middle of the table however is a large map of Harrenhal with smaller three ones glued to it representing the maps of the new territories sworn to Lady Delianah.
With a sigh, Lord Viktor sits himself on the wooden chair overlooking the large map at the table. Green pins mark the majority of the map of Harrenhal. These are the places where the improvements of Lady Delianah are being implemented. White pins all over the places anyhow are those that are soon to be implemented. Red on the other hand are those who have not yet been given thought.
The Castellan of Harrenhal frowns as he zeroed in on the white pieces at the place of Harrenhal. The red pieces of the new territories are something that he not be concerned with if his lady's memo be trusted. The problem with the Riverlands is that other than the rivers, is that it has no natural barriers other than the small rivers and the occasional keep or castle of the Lord of the land. An army can march here unopposed with little to nothing to stop them.
Add the fact that the population of the Riverlands is not as large as its side territories of the Westerlands and the Reach, it is another sombering issue. Of course Viktor's worry is only for Harrenhal and not the surrounding territories. He stares unhappily at the map. With the current population at Harrenhal, the castle can summon up to five thousand levies thanks to its significant boost. Large tracts of the land are still uninhabited and can be used. Add the empty lands also of Wode, Darry and Roote and he's got a large space with no one to work them.
The old man mentally rubs his temple in stress. The most common way of course for them to gain more small folk is to publicized even more in order to attract them from the other lands. However Delianah made it clear that they not make big moves currently. It is a wise thing too. The last thing that they need right now is sniffing lords wondering why in the world their small folk is migrating.
The second choice for Viktor to take is to send a letter to the Lords and ladies of different Houses including King's landing asking for any beggar and homeless person they have to immigrate here. He would not do that for a plethora of reasons. First of all he does not want unlearned peasants with no trade and skill simply living on the land with the barest idea how to propagate it. Secondly, majority of these would be people that are impoverished and would probably not be willing to transition immediately to a worker force that he needs.
Thirdly is the issue of spies. With so much immigration, it would not be a surprising if a fair number of them are the eyes and ears of other lords.
No, what Viktor needs is a workforce that have the skills that can automatically work without wasting time of learning the needed trade but at the same time have zero affiliation with the current Lords and Ladies. It would also be a bonus if it would not earn the ire of any Lords of Westeros. No Lord after all likes their small folk running off them.
Viktor yawns and accidentally spill some of the maps at the side of the table. Grumbling to himself, he picks them up cursing himself for being weary during work only to stop as he sees the familiar drawing of Essos and that of the bastard daughters of Valyria. He can't help the loud laugh that leaves his lips as he holds the map.
He is so engrossed of thinking of a solution when the answer is literally right in front of him, the entire time.
He stands up though with a familiar whistle bringing two of the other Green Men that have been hiding in the shadows to appear.
"Get me a Raven, we will need our Lady's permission to buy thousands of slaves from Essos," he declares with a whish of his black and gold robes,"
…..
Matthew is the Head of the Hammer and Stone Guild group of workers at Essos. They have always prided themselves on building fortifications fast and precise. Their services are mostly hired by generals as they specialize in building forts fast and demolishing them also. Building fortifications in the middle of nowhere strong enough to resist a Dothraki charge fast is their specialization.
Normally they're not into the castle making business. However thanks to the large amount of gold they are being paid alongside with bags of the new "soft diamond" as his men started to call Delianite, he and his three thousand crew traveled here in Westeros to renovate the ruins that is the castle of Harrenhal.
While designing a castle is not exactly his specialty, he is not against the idea. After all castles last for generations and the names of their first architects and builders tend to stay. Imagine that, the name of Matthew Hammercoin etched on generations. He is quite confident that he could finish the little lady's castle fast especially with that liquid rock of ehrs and on time after he finally finishes the plans and setting up the foundations for the collapse of the ruin.
However he is terribly confused when all the little lady asked of him as a new design for the foundation of the new castle is almost a rendition of a plateau mixed with a small hill look alike. He protested of course (he does not want his name to be remembered for building a random hill) that better designs can be made but she had been adamant on her decision.
However seeing that she's paying him, Matthew acquiesced to her demands. If she wants to live in a hill then so be it. He just makes a note to name Ellie, his second-in-command to be the "first builder" of this "castle". He does not want his name to be remembered for building a hill damnit!
…
Author's Note: Next Chapter will be the fast forward of the harvest feast of the Riverlands where Delianah would accept her new status as Lady of Harrenhal. Also we will have a surprise minor character guest next chapter.
Suggestions for House Words please.
Also I wanna ask. How old is Robb Stark when the Greyjoy rebellion begun? I wanna incorporate it later.