The Journey of Death's Chosen

by ThePhantomMedjay

One can serve at Death's whim, but understand you can never control it, nor will you ever have the pleasure to be it... This is the tale of the unfortunate man that served Death at her whim, yet became far greater than ever imagined. - Halo - Mass Effect - Avengers - Assassins Creed - Star Wars - DC - Twilight - and much much more...

18. Chapter 18: The End for Now

The largest army to ever assemble in the mouth of the Neck, began its dreary march towards Rivia, as over four hundred thousand souls continued to follow the orders of their Kings and Lords.

Enough members of the army worried about their misfortune in failing to capture the Riverlands, meaning they were far from excited for the battles to come, especially if the outcomes weren't any different than the failed crusade so far.

Majority of the army came from Dorne, Vale, and the Reach, while those from Essos easily trumped the numbers of the Westerlands and Stormlands combined.

Warlocks, Knights of the Seven, and the Faith Militant easily numbered close to eighty thousand souls, each bringing a sense of safety and reassurance to Merle and Artys, though both had long learnt to temper their minds after it was constantly rattled by the forces of the North throughout the march.

At times, they argued with one another to no end, shouting over various topics, plans, and even tactics for the war against the Northern Realms, yet they also had moments of clarity, peace, and wisdom.

Sadly, it wasn't enough to stop them from continuing with the war against the Northern Heathens, a lie Merle couldn't accept any more to the same degree as Artys simply because of his ancestral heritage.

Though it wasn't enough to stop him from continuing the crusade against the Northern Realms, even after smallfolk and poor fellows numbered in the tens of thousands during the march through the Neck after the Crannogmen mercilessly tormented the host.

Many died from poison and starvation when supplies began to find themselves rationed amongst the poor fellows and smallfolk, though it only increased the number of escapees from the grand host.

Thankfully for those to remain behind and steadfast in their support of the Great Alliance's plans had gained some sort of relief after making camp on the far outskirts of Rivia on the southern side of the Wolf's Canal.

But it wasn't for long as they quickly began to set the stage for the battle to come, as it was unlikely for House Stark to kneel and accept the Faith of the Seven.

Merle's own thoughts began to replay as the host began to mark on the walls of Rivia, carrying colourful banners marked with the shields of their Houses and Kings, which all seemed so small in front of the grand walls of Rivia on the Neck side of the Canal.

In that exact moment, Merle finally understood what his father, grandfather, and their forefathers had said, 'Never dare wage a war against the North, as it will not just be the death of your ambitions, but the lives of all those sent to war will have died for nothing.

Worse yet, the wrath to come from the North will have far reaching consequences that don't just end with the action upon their lands…'

Merle had long stuck true to those words but the rewards on offer through the Great Alliance only pushed him ahead, while ignoring the small voice in the back of his mind.

Now though, he felt like it all came back to haunt him, even if they hadn't struck steel at one another.

.

Soon Merle broke away from leading the host since Artys had disappeared with a portion of the host to implement his strategy that'd be of use later.

The Septon still believed he'd talk the King of Winter to accept the Faith of the Seven in his lands, and slaughter the heathens who'd dare oppose, however Merle knew it wasn't going to happen, and worse yet, he suspected the Septon had joined him at the front of the host so he could participate in the first meeting with the Northern Realms authority.

Seated atop his valiant steed, King Merle stopped before the main gate leading into Rivia, only to speak out in the Old Tongue as bravely and eloquent as possible through the aid of his own loyal magicals since they allowed his voice to reach the forces at the top of the walls.

"I, King Merle of the Reach, and House Gardener, have come forth to parley with King Thenar of the Northern Realms Kingdom, and House Stark."

It wasn't long before one man walked forward for all to see and witness, with the magic built into the wall giving the exquisitely dressed and mannered man the space to address those below.

Staring down upon Merle with his cold grey eyes that sparkled with power emanating from his erratic but controlled emotions, "In one hour, we shall meet where none can lie in their presence beyond the walls of Rivia."

Nothing more to say, Thenar turned and left, leaving the guards stationed on the wall to watch Merle leave along with his close advisors, and Knights, including a Septon.

Sadly, the latter became the first one to speak, "If I may, what did he have to say?

I can well and truly admit my expertise is not focused on the Old Tongue, but even after spending so much of my life here in Westeros, I have yet to understand the language, only aware of a handful of words and praises."

The Septon seemed smug, as if to say the Old Tongue was not worth his time and effort to learn, yet it truthfully displayed a lack of understanding from not just the man, but his faith as well to those struggling to still accept the change, even if they weren't as drawn to the Old Gods like their parents and grandparents.

Sighing heavily, Merle simply replied, "The King of Winter wishes to meet in the only place where none can lie in their presence…"

"And where might that be?" replied an eager Septon hoping to know the answer, yet it only brought a frown to his face once it was said.

"… A Godswood."

…

..

.

Long before the first meeting between Merle and Thenar, the King of Winter began to overthink the decisions made not just by himself, but his forefathers to have led House Stark and the Northern Realms to their current state.

Such thoughts ran through his mind nonstop as he strolled through his home, the seat of his power which only rose in strength and influence due to the war with the Great Alliance.

Currently, it housed more than just House Stark and their staff, as Magnars arrived from all over the Northern Realms to gather under the protection and safety of Winterfell and the Kings of Winter.

The reason for their sudden arrival had a lot to do with Thenar and the war against the Faith of the Seven, one that now extended beyond the borders of Westeros.

Thenar should have been seated in the Great Hall, talking about the current state of affairs for their Kingdom and what this meant for the future, yet the King walked the halls of his Keep, only to find himself drawn to a part of his home he'd never seen or visited in all his time within its walls.

Much like the Great Library of Winterfell, the room consisted of countless shelves stacked with books and tomes of various natures, if not fields, had left Thenar somewhat stunned since he could tell there was far more to see than he had already become privy to.

While exploring through the vast space, Thenar stopped several times to grab hold of a book that caught his attention, typically one he'd never read before, but Thenar wouldn't spend his time in the unknown portion of Winterfell to sit down and read.

Instead, he took note of the different books and tomes that caught his interest, including several dozen artifacts displayed in transparent glass cases.

Some weapons, armour, and even cultural outfit ensembles had been safety sealed in the glass cases, much like the Great Artifact Hall of Winterfell, but some of the goods present held a whole different class of elegance.

One even felt dreadful to stand nearby, or even gaze upon as it'd cost his mind to throb uncontrollably in pain.

Thankfully, Thenar chose to remain away from the damaged robes and cloak, only to find a young, but utterly stunning beauty with an icy cold radiance of refinement a royal possessed.

Dressed in a dark shade of a vibrant green and black that stuck to her body without opposing her movement, yet her ice blue eyes, and golden hair truly encapsulated her whole presence.

Without having to turn, she simply waved her hand away from the book and instantly a seat fit for Thenar to sit in had formed out of thin air.

The magic at play was far different than anything Thenar had been taught throughout his youth at Hogwarts, and even after at the University, so he immediate felt on edge that someone of strength and power would take root in his home without the wards ever alerting him.

Just as he began to think of something to say, the golden-haired beauty spoke as her demeanour somewhat lessened from her icy exterior currently on display after turning to face Thenar once she placed her book down on the table beside her classy yet modernly refined seat.

"I can still see parts of her coursing through the blood of the Starks…" a wistful voice escaped the beauty's plum and rosy lips, while her eyes exude grief for a past long gone.

Thenar, unable to think of anything else to say, simply replied "Who?", only to find himself being pierced deeply by the ice blue eyes of the woman seated before him.

"My daughter,… Queen Jasmine Iris Stark née Potter."

The answer alone staggered Thenar more than normal, causing the King of the Northern Realms to question his sanity and that of the woman seated before him, yet her face and demeanour soon helped the King settle on an answer for his weary mind, and a question to ask.

"… You hold the same prestige and respect in the hearts and minds of the Northern Realms even to this day…

I have met your husband, have I not, My Lady… or do you go by another name and title…

Perhaps, the Ice Queen of Skagos, or simpler Queen Daphne Potter née Greengrass."

A brief smile crossed her face momentarily before the icy demeanour of royalty and nobility returned, though lessened to an extent due to the familial blood ties.

"I prefer you address me as Lady Potter or Greengrass, either is fine, though our conversation will not require such formality."

With a click of her finger, the room began to alter itself slightly as the two were position around the new table to have formed between them.

Also, an Aelflyn arrived to serve some refreshments before leaving, however Thenar took note it was a member of the Aelflyn staff of Winterfell.

Pocketing the information in his mind, Thenar focused on Lady Daphne Potter as she waved her hand to alter the table in a way it had yet to truly display anything.

"Before you begin asking about this place, I will say it is not relevant currently for discussion as I wish to know what exactly troubles you, child?" Daphne's cold gaze simply made Thenar comply and not go against her word as if he was being disciplined by an elder family member or even a grandmotherly figure, though the Ice Queen appeared no older than someone to have aged up to their twenty-fifth name day.

So Thenar began to explain all the troubles on his mind shortly after with Daphne closely listening to everything said.

The King of the Northern Realms spoke of his anxiety regarding the plans against the Great Alliance, including those of Andalos, since the rise of the supposed 'Warlocks' of the Faith began to pose a threat.

He was troubled by the fact they weren't aware of the Warlocks origin besides that of Andalos, even with the vast network managed by the Kingsmen out searching for the answer.

Worst yet was the possibility of Valyria supporting the Great Alliance as reports suggested they supplied gave their aid in the form of ships to have come over from Essos.

Managed mostly by a group of influential Freeholder Houses of Valyria, his Kingsmen reported they might be working against the Northern Realms in the hopes to see House Belaery and others breakaway from their alliance.

It'd open the opportunity for others to forge ties and begin further reducing the strength of House Belaery's and their allies, yet nothing was proven outright by Kingsmen operatives as they only heard rumours so far.

Right now, their main objective had been locating who sent the ships, all without any exact answer, though it wasn't long before they knew where the support came from.

But the most stressful issue on Thenar's mind was leading the war against the Great Alliance, easily guaranteeing a long battle against the rest of the Westerosi Kingdoms that'd extend beyond his own lifetime and that of his son, and their own children.

Daphne never said a word while Thenar spoke of his troubles, only ever moving or making a sound when offering Thenar a glass of water to help his parched mouth from speaking for who knows how long without ever stopping.

Thenar didn't know it yet, but the whole time he spoke out aloud without anyone judging his actions and position, immensely helped reduce, if not outright eliminate, his stress and anxiety that'd greatly built up since before the events of the Northern Games even began.

All of it first started to bare down on his mind and body when the first report from his spymaster Munin spoke of the Westerosi Kings gathering under the roof of Casterly Rock while protected by the rights provided by House Lannister.

However, by the time Thenar finally stopped speaking, he somewhat came to understand part of his stress came from the simple fact his own father, King Brandon the Bloody Blade, and his uncle, Prince Edward Darkstark, refused to lead the forces of the Northern Realms to repel the Andals from Westeros completely.

He never knew the answer as to why, even after his father passed on the throne without ever saying a word on the topic, Thenar never expected Daphne to provide the reason.

"You are not to blame your father and uncle for their inaction,… as my dear husband and I asked the two from seeking any justice for those slain.

Such restraint bothered many of the magical kind, but they understood soon enough after it was all made clear."

"And what exactly do you mean by that, my Lady?" replied Thenar, naturally letting the conversation flow, not really thinking about the words to have left his mouth in a haste.

Sighing heavily, Daphne began explaining a field she knew had the possibility of affecting the world at large if it were to ever be known beyond those made privy.

"Above those considered amongst the Old Gods, there are deities of Higher State, whose power does revolve around Faith from believers but from the natural cycle of Life and Existence.

Some are more commonly known yet acknowledged under another's banner of Faith, such as the Stranger of the Seven, while considered an aspect of a sole deity, serves Death, a Higher State to exist where there is life.

However, the far lesser, yet just as important, are the Higher States called Fate and Destiny…

Some say they are one in the same, but truthfully, it'd be wiser to call them twins, as they work often in each other's domain far more than any other."

Thenar simply nodded his acknowledgement for Daphne to continue, having understood what she'd said so far, however he took this moment to say his piece, "What does this all have to do with my father and uncle not pursuing a war against the Andals?"

This helped Daphne evaluate the depth of the subject she'd discuss with Thenar, but cursed to herself knowing it might not be enough to convince the man.

Either way, she continued after adjusting her message, "Well, Thenar… if I told you Fate and Destiny decided your father and uncle ended their campaign before it ever truly began so another could begin it in earnest at a later date."

Thenar narrowed his eyes at Daphne, not saying a word as she said, "They were stopped in earnest from continuing their crusade south, whereas such a duty has fallen before you so evidently by the plans you have made for the southern most Kingdom."

"So, the Gods left many of their faithful to suffer, only so they may ordain the war I wage against the Faith of the Seven." Spoke Thenar in earnest about his situation, just as the stern tone of the Ice Queen followed his words.

"Do NOT believe more a moment the Gods and especially those of the Higher State care for your victory in the war to come or your being, or the actions you have taken so far.

You are nothing but a small insignificant being that is part of the grand machine that must continue forward, even without your existence in it.

Fate and Destiny willed it so that your father and uncle would have no hand in a war against the Andals, so their will stands no matter the acts they've conducted in the name of their Faith,… up until the throne passed over into your hands."

Her sharp words, yet the clear message at the end, helped temper Thenar's mind and emotions for Daphne to continue once more, "Now… the reason I have advised you of this all, in part may help alleviate some of the troubles weighing you down.

I can say this with certainty, but you are more prepared than any other King of the Northern Realms before you for this war against the Faith of the Seven, however I caution you to remember the words of the First Stark to form your House of nobility in the Old Lands of the North.

'The man who commands the sentence shall swing the sword.'" Daphne couldn't help but grin internally like a proud grandmotherly figure after Thenar caught on quick to her words.

"In the case of Valyria and Essos as a whole, besides Andalos, shall be handled by the forces under the control of my husband," Thenar simply nodded, noting his conversation with 'Dante' at Hogwarts with Grandfather Elmer, "as those to have conspired against the Northern Realms hold more power and sway in Essos than originally suspected.

It'd be wise to make preparations for fleets to leave for Essos eventually, though after the conclusion of the war against the Great Alliance.

I will advise you of more details later, but for now, all you should be aware of is a possible colony of the Northern Realms beyond the lands and seas of Westeros.

By this point in time of House Stark's reign I would expect someone to have launched some sort of campaign for more land, but here we are with no such crusades."

Thenar couldn't help but feel somewhat relieved by what he heard and utterly ecstatic to hear of a possibly colony outside of Westeros.

It'd long been discussed by past Kings of Winter as a feat their Kingdom should achieve, but nothing came of it beyond plans on paper.

Yet Daphne spoke of its possibility, all the while dealing with the Great Alliance and their crusade against the Northern Realms.

.

Conversation continued from Daphne's side, since she helped Thenar adjust and accept the weight on his back as of late due to various events and situations.

Though it wasn't long before Daphne concluded her small therapy session for Thenar to help the King of the Northern Realms adjust to the grand undertaking of the war to come, and the tasks to be taken right afterwards.

It even helped him accept some of the rasher, but necessary strategies offered by certain Magnars to deal decisive blows against the Great Alliance and their allies.

Yet, Thenar still had something bugging him deep in his mind, so he spoke up in hopes for an answer, "I have one question that has bothered me for some time now…

Helping ease the weight of my burdens cannot be the whole reason for your sudden appearance, Lady Greengrass, even if it involves the Northern Realms the matter of the counterattack against the Andals.

So I must ask, why have you made yourself known to me, including this hidden space within my home."

Daphne sighed once more, only to complain, "All of this was supposed to be covered by my husband, but unfortunately the powers in Essos were stirring too much for his liking to be left alone.

Therefore, I came in his stead, though now I somewhat believe my husband intended this all along…

*Sigh* very well…," instantly Daphne's demeanour changed enough for Thenar to notice, easily evident by the regal seated posture she'd taken.

"Have you never wondered how I can still be alive while maintaining my youth?

Or how the 'Wizard King' can roam around the world under his current identity as Dante without anyone the wiser.

Even my own presence in the world is hidden away in shadows, not to be known by the grand populous of the world…"

Having come to a decision after experiencing a small attrition of viewpoints in his mind, Thenar said with a heavy sigh, "After meeting Formaðr Dante, I returned home to scour for any such information in the Library of Winter, however nothing granted the answers I sought out from the written history of past rulers until I came across the Family Grimoire."

Daphne couldn't help but smile after hearing of the artifact she'd specifically designed a couple years after settling in this world beside her husband, Harry Potter, the High Magnar of Skagos.

Granted by magic, the Stark Grimoire was designed to not just note the thoughts of each King and Queen to rule from the Winter Throne, but to also file away personal magical discoveries reserved for House Stark, including any delicate plans for the Northern Realms.

So, there was no doubt in Daphne's mind that Thenar had come to certain conclusions of his own, but she sought out to hear his thoughts, "Many of my predecessors have spoken of their own thoughts on your extended life, however Queen Andromeda has truly been the most insightful on the matter.

She believed the actions of House Flamel have granted the Wizard King, and yourself the gifts that allow you to live, but I suspect there is far more to this matter.

Much like how you have remained away from the Northern Realms continued development from the days of Bran the Builder's era."

"Of course, child," grinned Daphne, "but I must applaud you first for taking the initiative to find the answers to ease the pressure on your mind.

In saying that, the Flamel's have long ridden themselves of the infamous stone to grant such abilities long ago, even before the era of Bran the Builder, but I must grant Andromeda praise where it is deserved.

Of course, in the current era, the Flamel have used their knowledge over the stone to maintain the metal resources of the Northern Realms from ever running low.

But that's besides the point, it isn't the answer, which I have to say is far from the truth…

If you remember, I spoke of Fate and Destiny, Beings of Higher States," Thenar nodded to Daphne in confirmation to continue, "well they are known to select individuals from time to time as Avatars in the world considered 'mortal' by the higher beings.

Gifted with strengths and attributes of the Higher State to make them an Avatar, the individuals carry out specific tasks assigned to them, typically focused on enforcing the Being of Higher State's law or rules.

Now most will happily complete what is asked of them since they wish not to lose the power gifted to them.

Others try and conduct war for the hell of it because they believe it's not their responsibility.

Yet only one has been given freedom… only to be confined to specific rules due to his immense strength and power that could easily turn the tide of the world power in an instant."

"… The Wizard King holds such power, am I right?" Thenar asked without waiting for Daphne to let him ask his question, though she confirmed his suspicions with a nod.

"He is, but also so much more…

As I said before, Higher States select Avatars of their desire, and my husband has long been in service to one, though they are also such an eternal being that it increased the restraints and orders my husband must complete… even if this world is considered 'freedom' away from their grasp."

Thenar absorbed all that was said but remained silent for a few moments as his mind came to unravel the message Daphne tried to get across.

"You are unable to take action in this world… for whatever reason imposed by the Higher States, yet you may live in the world and act… quietly… have I understood your message, my Lady?"

Smiling at Thenar, Daphne replied, "Some of it, yes.

You see, my husband has certain gifts that allow him to keep others alive much like himself, granting them immortality, but without the bad effects that are known to bother those to have achieved such a feat.

Instead, those granted such a long life are allowed to forfeit their life when they have had enough and wish to pass onto the next Great Adventure.

Many have not taken up such an offer, though it is available to all, however they are too confined to the same rules as my husband, meaning they cannot interfere with the development of the world beyond their own time.

It is why my husband goes by the name and identity of Dante, and not his own True Name, but going back to what I said earlier, we may be unable to act in the world publicly but that doesn't mean we cannot aid our people in their time of need."

Daphne then began to explain the true purpose of their meeting and the grand room they remained seated within, "Before we were declared to have passed on from this world during our era, my husband spoke with Rickard at the time to create another facility in Winterfell, but one wholly created to serve Starks during tough times.

It'd hold various answers and gifts that the individual Starks would have to search and find to aid in their time of need, though if the situation was truly dire, then we would appear in some sort of capacity.

In the past, other Starks have failed to make their way here, as my husband would find them well before they reached here as he felt they were not ready for the information stored away here in their time of need, since greed can rise in such events.

However, I do not subscribe to the same thoughts as my dear husband in this regard, which is why I am here while he is out as his true self battling the source of the power wielded by the Warlocks of the Faith out in Essos.

He has long gained certain stipulations to act in the world from the Higher State to have connected their will through him, which leads him to travel to the further corners of the world, while others remain behind to enforce his will.

So, I have the pleasure of entertaining you in these walls, after they have finally accepted a Stark since the days of King Rickard the Unifier, son of Bran the Builder, and a fierce King of Winter to have ruled over the North.

Even if you are on the cusp of war, this place and I, shall help you and the Northern Realms succeed, in what shall be their first true trial."

.

And she couldn't be more right about the course of events against the Andals in their campaign against the Northern Realms, led by the Great Alliance.

Thenar ended up spending the rest of his time with Daphne exploring the hidden room that was known simply as the Repository.

It held knowledge far ahead of the current time and era of the world, mostly discovered and noted by those unable to live a normal mortal life and must bear the rules of such gifts.

Thenar left with some knowledge pertaining to crafting in various fields, engineering, and even magic, before leaving the Repository with the blessings of Lady Potter, his ancestor.

A few more words were said between the two, but Thenar left with his mind clear and sound regarding the war to come, and how to make full use of all the resources and power in his grasp.

In the coming days, Thenar organised all the gathered Northern nobility staying in Winterfell after the end of the Northern Games, to begin gathering their levies and prepare for war, even if the various Orders of the Kingdom and Military were more then enough for the battles to come.

However, the levies called upon would stand on guard and take up some of the tasks left behind by the Northern Orders sent out for war.

Thenar also passed on the knowledge he'd taken from the Repository after reading through it all first and creating the necessary copies to store away in the personal library of the family.

The written knowledge would eventually grant the Northern Realms greater strength in the coming years, but for now, it was all meant to be learnt and understood before being applied practically.

Though it mattered little for Thenar when he met with King Merle and his entourage in the Godswood outside the walls of Rivia on the southern side of the Wolf's Canal.

The King of Winter did not back down at the glares sent his way by the Septon and nobles accompanying King Merle, as they all entered the Godswood of their free will, fully aware of the laws binding men to speak the truth and honour the Gods in such a holy place.

Unfortunately, the memo hadn't completely reached the Septon, but that was yet to be seen, since King Merle began talking of peace and prosperity between all the Kingdoms once the borders of the Northern Realms were opened up to the Faith of the Seven.

"I'll say this now to end the discussion once and for all…

We, the Northern Realms, are the Champions of the Old Gods…

The last safe haven for those who believe in the Old Gods, their culture, customs, and laws.

No matter what you can offer, I, nor any other Stark, will ever allow the Faith of the Seven to enter the lands of the Northern Realms.

Now you best leave, Coward King Merle, for I have no patience to deal with men like yourself who have dishonoured their ancestor King Garth the Green Hand, the only High King to be recognised by First Men outside of my House."

King Thenar's words only riled up the Septon to burst out aloud that he'd ordain the slaughter of every man and child, burning of every Godswood, and the rape of northern women so they could finally be bathed in the blessings of the Seven.

These were the wrong words to say, which King Merle knew immediately as they left the Septon's mouth because he tried to leave but could not move without his entourage.

They had unfortunately become pious men in front of the Septon, so none left with Merle, or allowed his exit, while the man of Faith spoke of ghastly acts, he'd advised the grand host to partake in.

Fortunately, none of Merle's own men attacked King Thenar as he left the Godswood and returned to the safety in the walls of Rivia.

However, his small peaceful journey was cut short after the words of the Septon reached the loyal men in service to the Faith, as they began to attack King Thenar and his entourage on their return back to the safety of the boundary walls made around Rivia.

The group largely consisted of Wintersguard specifically in charge of protecting the King, but others of their order had increased the number of Wintersguard as a couple Stark cousins accompanied Thenar to the Godswood along with other Northern nobility.

Now though, they'd found themselves fighting for their lives as the devout Andals broke the short peace King Artys and King Merle declared before the Old Gods in the Godswood.

They struggled on the small journey back to Rivia, however once they came in sight of the guards stationed on the wall, they began to assist in the defence of their King and his entourage.

Sadly, the Northern Archers couldn't save everyone through their interference as the younger brother of Magnar Ryder positioned himself in the way of several incoming arrows directed towards the exposed back of Thenar as the group came close to an Andal group sent out by the Septons.

His fatal injury wasn't noticed until the group entered the bordered lands of Rivia, and moved of their steeds, only for a Stark Guard to notice the blood-soaked tunic.

Yet as the healers began to work, they realised serious internal damaged had long ensured the man's death sentence.

In under an hour, the younger brother of Magnar Ryder passed onto the next Great Adventure, which followed with a quick funeral the next day at first light to not just honour the sacrifice of the son of House Ryder, but to thank and remember all those to have made similar decisions and choices so far in the battles against the Andals to ensure the safety of the Northern Realms.

The King of Winter raged at the loss of his childhood friend, but reminded himself to respect and honour the choice of his friend since he made it of his own freewill while being sound of mind.

But it didn't lessen the pain his felt, and guilt weighing down on his heart, so Thenar declared to himself he'd enact justice against the very men to have taken his life.

.

Right after the funeral came to an end, Thenar started to prepare his men for a gruesome battle bound to leave them all heavily exhausted and mostly injured in some shape or form.

Somewhat out of grief and anger for the loss of his friend, several Special Forces units were sent to strike at the heart of the grand host all throughout the night to ensure none gained a minute of rest before the clash of faiths.

All throughout the mayhem and chaos, Merle's own agents of intrigue discovered the Septons had in fact purposely acted against the North, especially after they swore peace before a Heart tree of the Old Gods, simply because those of the Faith's Council wished the end of First Men and their identity.

This greatly angered Merle, as the King of the Reach still somewhat considered himself and his family of First Men origin, even if he ensured the Faith of the Seven buried deep into his lands and made a strong foothold.

Hell, the small bit of information his agents gathered included action discussed to remove the Ygg-Heart-Atkaye tree planted in the courtyard of his ancestral home and Seat of Power.

That particular point infuriated Merle to no end, so he ignored the pleas of a couple desperate Septons as they found themselves facing the brunt of the attacks enacted by the Special Forces units.

Merle in particular ignored the Septons to have plotted the removal of the Ygg-Heart-Atkaye tree planted by High King Garth the Green Hand before he left the Reach Kingdom for good.

They were hounded all night long, but survived the night after suffering countless cuts, and scars from the consistent attacks that saw their tents up in flames, and whatever valuables they owned, outright stolen by the Northerns.

Sadly, the following day wasn't any better as Northern Archers ensured they never had a moments rest against the onslaught of arrows, as they continued to block out the light in the sky from their tight grouping.

This was only possible due to a couple youthful craftsmen coming across a short video and report detailed on the designs of the man's artifact that'd been inspired by a series of fantasy films.

The 'Legalos', as it was aptly named, allowed archers to essentially increase their fire rate by creating a magazine of arrows that could be rapidly fired in quick succession.

Early into the battle between the two sides showcased the efficiency and effectiveness of the Legalos Rapid Fire attachment, as it saw its first real world application in the heat of battle, a place considered perfect for such innovation.

The front lines of the grand host had the unfortunate experience of surviving against the horde of arrows continuously fired in their direction, causing countless deaths to the point fallen bodies began to make up a small mound all over the terrain.

Those apprenticing as young priests for the Faith had unfortunately been present in the front line, and fell under the constant fire of arrows, which in turn led the Septons to raise the hopes of the grand host to enact revenge for the Seven Gods.

Yet, the large open clearing for the battle rather helped the Northern Archers shoot away at their enemies with ease and safety, as they remained on the walls of Rivia.

It was the Northern Forces on the ground that had the greatest freedom of movement during the battle, even if their safety was constantly in peril.

As the grand host charged against the Northern Forces for the first time after waves of arrows brought down many of the grand host, it quickly became clear to the commanders stationed above on the wall and on the battlefield that the Great Alliance had strength in numbers.

The vast number of smallfolk and poor fellows mixed in with capable Knights, and Warriors placed a great deal of stress on the Northern Forces frontlines, since the rushing horde of men could only be held back for so long.

Giants, and their cousins, the Half-Giants, served at the forefront of the Northern Forces, taking the brunt of the attack posed by the Grand Host, but even their size and stature couldn't forever bat away the charging enemies.

Dwarves fought beside them to ensure they were guarded in the tough and odd situation, but even so the Dwarven Warriors could only support their magical brethren only for so long before they too behand to wane under the constant pressure of the Grand Host.

Wolffolk, Druids, Wizards, Witches, Satyrs, and the Goblins helped support the shield of the Northern Forces by the Giant Blooded, however even they were struggling under the constant attacks.

Majority of the Grand Host had no magical gifts or items on hand, so they attacked with brute strength and skill, if they had any, but a minority could wield magic, and something 'more', which caused the magical beings to have a harder time throughout the battle.

Warlocks of the Faith utilised not just elemental magic in their attack but threw various artifacts that most exploded upon contact or had a delayed reaction which often saw a silvery poisonous haze being released.

Countless fell victim to the poisonous haze from both sides, though the Northern Forces seemed somewhat prepared for this eventuality, since the magically gifted used the aid of magic to turn the back on the Grand Host.

A great many still fell to the poison or became seriously incapacitated from its paralysing effects, yet it meant nothing to the Grand Host when it came to manpower, whereas the Northern Realms began to bleed faster than ever.

Most of the injured whisked away to the hospital tent managed by magical healers who apparated into the battlefield from time to time, all in the hopes of saving the unfortunate.

Yet as the Northern Forces began to feel the strength of the Grand Host, allies kept in the shadows finally emerged.

Zaldrīzes Azantys, or more commonly known as 'Dragon Knights', rushed into battle without any dragons, yet it never dulled their ferocity and anger.

Aurion led the Valyrian Forces wielding a greatsword forged by his House, along with a shield, and armour, all of which had been made from a variation of steel House Belaerys forged a couple centuries back.

They weren't far from discovering Valyrian Steel, but for now, they had steel to compete with Stygian and Blessed blades without shattering.

Protected by his personal guards, Aurion commanded the combined Valyrian Forces of all the allied Freeholder Houses, who accepted the Northern-raised Valyrian noble as their commander during the grand battle of Rivia.

They weren't alone in coming to the aid of their allies, as the Valyrian's began to reinforce the wall opposing the Grand Host, while Farlyn led Rhoynish Water Mages and Warriors to attack from a vulnerable point in the shield wall held by the Giants.

Qhan saw how they struggled from the continued attacks, both magical and not, while ensuring none leaked through to begin overwhelming the Northern Forces.

To help push the Northern army to finally break free of staying on the defence, Qhan made precise and coordinated attacks with Sieg's own forces, well outside of the protection of the wall held by Giants.

They'd appeared out of nowhere from the surrounding jungle and caught the Grand Host several times off guard against their Cavalry and Archer attacks.

The forces of the Yi-Ti gathered by Prince Aang fought with pride and honour for their Northern allies, as they were led by Qhan into battle while the flag of the Starks flew beside their own of the Golden Empire.

Yet as the battle raged on, the tactics utilised by the allied forces began to strain under the still vast forces of the Grand Host.

Even the Ikranä Banshees couldn't drastically lessen the forces of the Grand Host via their aerial attacks after they began to fire back with siege weapons design and crafted in the North originally but began to spread out over the years to all parts of the world, but not in vast quantities.

Dozens of Ikranä were caught in the surprise attack as the Grand Host suddenly showcased the might of their Scorpio, reducing the effectiveness of the North's aerial support.

That however wasn't the worst of it, since the Septons decided to send forth the Warriors of the Faith when it appeared the Northern Forces struggled the most.

Led by Grandmaster Knight Rylan, the man jostled close to thirty thousand Knights of his Knightly Order to attack, along with Warlocks sent by the High Septon and Most Devot of the Faith of the Seven back in Andalos.

Following the strategy designed by Rylan, the Knights broke the line of the Giants shield wall, and started ruthlessly slicing and hacking at the Northern Forces regardless of their species.

Only the truly devout amongst the Knights and the Warlocks specifically attacked non-human beings, in particular the Centaurs, Goblins, and Dwarves, but such actions just brought their inevitable demise closer.

Tarius, awaiting the moment the Giants shield wall broke, charged forward from the silent formation of the Northern Forces, as they waited for the right moment to be called into battle.

Thenar wasn't leading them right now, even as the Commander-in-Chief, simply because qualified Generals and strategists could do a far better job.

Tarius just so happened to serve beside a strategist under the command of his father, who saw the perfect moment to act when the Knights of the Faith began attacking their magical brethren.

Leading part of the Magical Forces sent to serve at his side by the command of his father, the General of the Magical Forces of the military, Tarius began the ruthless counterattack against Rylan and his Knights.

The Warlocks were specifically attacked by Wizards, and Witches of Tarius' forces, as they wished to stop the continued chaos wreaked by the magically gifted of Andalos.

Since they wielded elemental magic through a language system for those without any natural affinity to an element, the spells had a broad impact zone which often left more heavily injured than outright dead from the various spells.

Tarius prayed the Warlocks wouldn't be a problem for much longer, but his own thoughts betrayed him soon enough after finding over two dozen Warlocks specifically heading in his direction.

One of his personal guards advised he retreated behind them, but Tarius never heard what they had to say.

Instead, the High Magnar of Skagos unsheathed the greatsword of his House, and held it in one hand, while the other grabbed hold of an ancestral axe, both of which had magical conductive properties.

Not bothering to say a word further, Tarius fell into a hypnotic zone his familial magic naturally created for those of House Potter and Peverell as a part of their Battle Mage magiks.

The High Magnar wasn't alone in his charge against the Warlocks to have split away from the rest of their devout order, since the closely allied Skagosi Houses, and the cadet branches of House Potter and Peverell rushed to their cousin and blood's side.

They were soon chased down by their allies; however, this only increased the mayhem of the battle that seemed more magical contended than physically against the two sides.

Warlocks often tried to utilise some of the more dangerous and deadly spells, but the close proximity of friendlies made it difficult for such actions to take place.

Goblins, Dwarves, Satyrs, and Gnomes took advantage of such indecisive action from the Warlocks to increase the ferocity of their attacks, but once the Warlocks regained their spine, the northerners had to deploy shields to save themselves and those nearby.

Centaurs on the other hand carried various people and beings on their backs, all the while equipped in heavy armour, a bow, and arrows, along with a blade or spear, just to ensure they could battle against the enemies on an equal footing.

Ever since Centaurs could alter their form to appear human, which would also increase their height and strength, they often fought in their new forms, when possible, but knew it was wiser to make use of not just the new form, but the original state as well.

As such, all the armour and equipment made the Centaurs one of the most gifted beings of the Northern Realms, and outright fearsome in combat when up against the devout Knights of the Faith.

Centaurs could easily be considered some of the most devout beings in the Northern Realms to believe in the Old Gods through their belief in nature, rivers, magic, and harmony, so their match up against the Knights of the Faith truthfully showcased a battle of beliefs.

Rhoetus, an elected Chief of a Centaur enclave, became the fortunate soul to face off against Grandmaster Knight Rylan, attracting plenty of attention from both sides.

None stopped their own battles to observe the two, however their battle prolonged for such a time that neither noticed their surroundings any longer and just continued with their own battle.

Yet Rylan's lack of direction and command over the devout Knights and Warlock soon left them to their own thoughts, quickly causing them to splinter and attack everything in sight.

Aurion soon joined up Tarius and the rest to relief the pressure of the devout Knights and Warlocks, which only secured the end for the opposing force, even if they fought to their last breath.

Even so, the Northern Forces found themselves outnumbered by the sheer size of the Grand Host, however their variety of citizens and their gifts ensured they weren't overrun by sheer size of the Great Alliance army.

.

Merle, while fighting off northerners, believed Artys would charge in any moment and help clear away a significant number of the northerners to clearly turn the tide of battle to their side.

Yet, the King of the Vale had failed to fulfil his commitment in the battle, a damning realising that began to slowly settle in Merle's mind, while having to fend off enraged northerners.

The King of the Reach wasn't aware, but Artys and his cavalry had come across the younger brother of Commander Erwin Reinhaert to have fallen at the ancestral seat of House Teague.

Darius commanded the Wolfen Riddari in honour of his brother and the fallen, having originally served in the Wolfen Order and gained a unit of his own, which he now led in the charge against the hidden cavalry commanded by the King of the Vale.

With the banners of the Starks, Reinhaerts, and Wolfen Riddari raised up high, Darius led from the front atop his Direwolf, Liberty, with the recovered Stygian Steel blade of Erwin's in hand.

"For our loved ones!

For our people!

For our fallen!

FOR THE FUCKING NORTH!"

His battle cry came suddenly for the cavalry under the command of King Artys, since they weaved effortlessly in the forest compared to the mounted Knights and lightly armoured steeds.

The Andals quickly found themselves on the backfoot as Nymphs, Druids, Dryads, Children of the Forest, and even Centaurs in their original form came out to support Darius and the Wolfen Riddari in his revenge against the Valemen.

Thus, they horses were either injured to bring the Knights down, or the efficient and precise attacks of the Northern Forces saw the cavalry crushed, securing the end of any hope for the Great Alliance to walk away victorious from the war.

Merle tried to call for a retreat after witnessing Artys escaping the forest in the distance with barely any guards by his side, compared to the great number of cavalry Knights sent under his command some time ago.

The King of the Reach wanted to send a small portion of the Grand Host to gather under Artys, but it was too late as he saw mounted wolves the size of horses racing out of the forest, only to turn in Artys' direction.

While they began to be rounded up, Merle called forth for an advisor to spread the word of their retreat but just as he began to relay his order, Giants besides those maintaining the wall, had suddenly charged, sweeping far and wide in their attacks to cause as much disruption as possible.

Worst yet, they came from the rear of the Grand Host, having some out sneaked through the thick forest of the Neck.

They were accompanied by other magical beings, especially Centaurs, who outright crushed and destroyed the siege weapons of the Grand Host, before calling on the Ikranä Banshees to once more launch ariel attacks on the Grand Host.

Merle wanted to escape badly and retreat from the battlefield but after witnessing Artys being captured, the King of the Reach Kingdom knew victory had long left their grasp.

In a heart, the knowledge his death began to settle in his mind, but without sending Merle into a panic, as he accepted his fate and started on leading his men on a warpath with a sad yet inevitable end.

While it was true for most, Merle never had the opportunity to go down swinging and fight but rather found himself surrounded and trapped by northerners after the Ikranä Banshees started exerting more support from the sky above.

Worse yet for the invading forces, House Sauyer and Thael were given free rein to attack, which saw countless Wolffolk charging out into the battlefield from both ends, striking at the Grand Host in both their human and wolfen form.

They were shielded by Centaurs for a time when they raced out onto the battlefield, but quickly split away from their support to drive deeper into the heart of the enemy ranks.

Myadan, the current High Magnar of House Thael and Great Wolf of the Wolffolk led his warriors for the sake of their homeland and faith, never once showing mercy to their enemy, like every other magical being as they knew the very existence of their species was at risk of extinction.

.

Originally, Wolffolk and many other magical beings weren't going to be called forth in the battle at Rivia, however Thenar changed his mind and sought their inclusion after meeting Daphne.

His original intentions were to leave them out of the battle since they'd attract the most attention from the devout of the Seven simply because of their appearance and nature.

Yet, their differences fuelled not just their wrath but bond to one another and the Northern Realms as a whole to exact vengeance against those to have done their homeland wrong.

Thenar became aware of this during his conversation with Daphne over the subject and came to a quick conclusion once Lady Potter vehemently stated it'd be cruel to leave them out of the war, especially when they had the most to lose.

He couldn't help but grin madly during the battle after witnessing a group of Goblins and Gnomes of the Magical Forces cooperating to brutally cripple Knights, never once giving them a chance to put up a real fight when up against their small height.

This didn't mean they hacked and sawed at the legs of their foes to bring them down, but instead employed several tactics that saw them attacking from all sides to gain the advantage.

They even employed magic as they saw fit when striking at the Knights, many of whom died with shocked expressions at the simple fact their armour so easily crumbled to their weapons.

It was bound to occur since the weapons wielded by the Goblins and Gnomes had enchantments to ensure they could cut through practically anything.

As such, they systematically destroyed their enemies, at times never giving them a moment to breath in between their attacks, much less hold a proper defence.

Opposite to them were the Dwarves, who enjoyed barrelling through all who opposed them but through their brutish strength developed from their smithing and crafting passions, and artistic mind that saw the various weaknesses in the enemy to exploit.

Often, they were found working in units of three or four, as one would shield against the attacker, only to flip them over by hooking a corner of the shield around a leg or an arm.

The other two or three Dwarves of the unit typically killed or severely injured the foe, only to move onto the next one.

At times, they would work alone but in a war of such magnitudes, all Dwarves operated in some sort of unit, never remaining alone unless they were in a battle to the death with their brethren close or already in Death's embrace.

Satyrs had the most fun however as their legs gifted them speed and strength, while their nature granted them power of plants, trees, and the earth.

They were often spotted racing through the ranks of the enemy, attacking with their legs and magic to viciously cripple their foes, but a lack of armour saw many cut down by the Knights of the Faith.

Satyrs hated to wear anything that restricted their free bodily nature, even in war, so many died in battle, or gain serious injuries, while those armoured continued to wreak havoc.

However, when it came to utter chaos, that was solely reserved for the Giants and their Halfling kin, but they still stood guard as the shield for majority of the Northern Forces, stopping the Great Alliance from reaching the walls of Rivia.

They'd yet unleashed their fury, leaving such actions to those attacking from behind the Grand Host, wedging them into an inevitable end.

Only that was really left was to determine the amount of bloodshed had to be spilt before the Grand Host yielded or began a full retreat to try and escape.

Thenar coldly chuckled to himself at the brutality and effectiveness of the Magical Forces, yet his deep thoughts nearly led to a fatal injury from the enemy, just for two magically gifted Wintersguard to save him last minute, as one attacked and the other acted as defence.

In fact, the Magical Forces ensured the Northern Realms didn't collapse under the immense size of the Grand Host, even if countless smallfolk, poor fellows, Faith Militant, and Knights died to create small hills from their bodies.

The Wolffolk truly let themselves go wild in the battle after they were unleashed, since they fought in their wolfen form and carved a huge path in the smallfolk, and poor fellows.

Those who tried to escape South came across the Northern Forces to have ambushed them earlier on and still standing strong as they continued to find themselves reinforced by fresh soldiers every so often.

First Men found by the Northern Forces were brought to the Northern Realms, with talks beginning for those capable of providing the location of their family in the South to be brought to brighter pastures.

The rest did not receive such mercy from the Northerners as they wanted blood for the actions taken by the Faith of the Seven and their believers.

Besides those willing to surrender, the Northern Forces slaughter the rest of the Grand Host still fighting for the Seven Gods of the Faith and their Westerosi Kings, including the Andalos Lords to have supported the Great Alliance.

The Giants holding the shield wall received the order to advance, which started to place immense pressure on the surviving Grand Host to either fight in the hopes of victory or escape.

Only a portion believed surrendering would secure them safely away from Death's doorstep, but they were quickly drowned out by the horde of men still fighting with devoted belief in their Lords, Kings, and Gods.

Yet the jaws and claws of the Wolffolk, the weapons and magic of the Goblins, Gnomes, and Dwarves, the accuracy and fluidity of the Centaurs, and the sheer power and strength of the Giants ensured no God of the Seven could rain down their grace and influence upon the dying Grand Host.

They made short work of the remaining warriors still fighting; however, they too gave up eventually to escape from the battlefield or outright surrender as death became to obvious and worrisome for most to continue.

So, by the time night came and passed, leading to the rising sun in the far distance that slowly crept its way up, none of the Grand Host remaining standing as the Northern Forces were finally able to resolve the battle in their favour.

Those captured found themselves locked away in cells organised by the Northern Forces, who also closely watched over the prisoners, many of whom would face justice for their actions against the Northern Realms and the Old Gods.

The nobles to have joined the Grand Host were worst off than the likes of the smallfolk, poor fellows, and some Knights, since those to have followed the two Kings had ensured the faith of the Old Gods died in their lands so it wouldn't revive in their lifetime or any down the road for later generations.

They were told of their judgement occurring in two days' time, which the Northerners required to heal the land damaged from the Battle of Faiths, before the accused could be presented before the masses.

When the day came, those captured of the Grand Host found their allies from the Stormlands and Westerlands were similarly bound, but they appeared to have long accepted their fate in comparison to those recently caught a couple days back.

Only when the Wolven Crowned Sea Serpent banner of House Greyironstark was noticed by the prisoners, did they realise the Great Alliance lost in its totality.

Hell, the banner of House Potter of Skagos already crushed their hearts to give up hope for an escape, so it quickly became a solemn and grim event for the captured to accept.

Atop the daius created for such an event were the seated nobles of the Northern Realms, from both sides of the Wall, Skagos and her isles, and the Iron Islands in their totality.

None of the nobles dared to miss such an event, especially the cadet branches of House Stark, who all came out to support Thenar and the Kingdom as a whole.

Only a few Stark cousins remained absent from the event, but they were travelling far and wide or away fostering at another House outside of the Northern Realms, so it wasn't possible to return home for the judgement upon the Great Alliance.

Thenar knew of this, and simply prayed for their safety, knowing full well those of his shared bloodline would be targeted more than any other of the Northern Realms, however he had faith in the Northern Trading Company to keep them all alive and well.

Such thoughts couldn't weigh his mind down any further, contemplated Thenar from his throne upon the daius, an artifact long created by House Makerstark during the era of its founder.

Thenar could sense the coursing magic imbued in the throne, which only amplified his own magical strength and power, making it easier to sustain an amplification on his voice to reach all present for the trial of the Great Alliance, as true judgement for all participants hadn't been dealt out yet, bringing a sadistic grin to Thenar's stoic and cold face.

His mood settled soon after as the herald began explaining the crimes committed by the Nobles, Knights, Faith Militant, but more importantly, they presented King Merle, King Artys, and King Tytos, all of whom were cleaned up and dressed to be presentable for the people.

They were worn out and still injured from their battles, however Tytos remained the most able out of three since he had the most time to recover after his battle.

He should have been killed by this point, but the High Magnar of the Iron Islands refused to swing the sword, as the honour rested with his King.

Compared to the rest, Tytos should have been the most distraught and broken mentally, but he seemed sharper than the rest and focused on his surroundings.

Thenar noted this and decided it was time to stop his herald from rambling any further and raised his right hand as an indication for the man.

After scanning the crowd, and those on trial, Thenar began, "We are gathered here for the judgement of these men who raised arms against our people, our Kingdom, our Faith,… our GODS!" roared the King, only for the crowd to reciprocate, "They believed our prosperity should instead be their own, when we have earned it all through hard work and perseverance.

Where our people have accepted the gifts offered by nature to our ancestors, these men of the Seven have driven our magical brethren and the devoted from their homelands down south to take refuge in our lands, but at the cost of countless lives shielding their escape.

The Old Gods may protect their forests from the influence of men to ensure magic is still alive in the lands down South, it has not stopped the Andals from striking at the heart of our home.

Our tale of war between faiths may have begun in the fabled Lands of the Old Gods during a momentous event, it shall end today with the spilt blood of the guilty, sacrificed to the Old Gods."

Without waiting any further, Thenar started to state out the punishment for the captured, beginning with the smallfolk to have participated and fought to the end, even when they were asked to surrender.

Thenar knew the bulk of the enemy host consisted of the smallfolk, most of whom had escaped from the battle but there still were more than ten thousand captured commoners.

Honestly, there was the option of sparing them so they could take up residence in the North to help its populous grow, however most still believed in their Faith of the Seven.

So instead of trying to make them accept the Old Gods, Thenar decided the mines Beyond-the-Wall, Iron Islands, Skagos, and the Northern Mountains would become their home as the new labour force.

Sentenced to judgements of a decade and a half, they'd remain in prisons by the mines, and work as its labour force until the end of their imprisonment, after which they could return back home to the South or settle in the Northern Realms.

Knights were sentenced to death, simply due to the fact they were naturally complicit in capturing First Men women and Witches to create Andals gifted in the magiks of the Northern Realms.

Those who weren't involved in such a large operation weren't going to die, but Thenar couldn't be bothered voicing the difference in the moment.

His own anger struggled to remain sealed away as it wished to roar forth and ravage the guilty, but Thenar knew there would be justice for the Northern Sisters and First Men blooded to be captured by the orders of the Faith.

It wouldn't be by his own hand, but it was close enough in his heart since Theon, his eldest son, would no doubt leave the Faith scrambling to recover after he expressed his wrath at their actions.

Druids, Children of the Forest, Dryads, Nymphs, and countless Satyr stepped forward to sentence the guilty Knights, however they left enough Knights alone from each of the southern Noble Houses per the orders of their King.

Thenar actually wanted to use majority of the captured nobles for ransoms, which in turn caused the need for a particular number of Knights from each House surviving, but the rest were destined for death, and I'd see their blood being donated to the Old Gods through the Godswoods across the Kingdom.

Only the Knights who served a rather savage and cruel Lord, or one to have followed through with the capture of Women and Witches with First Men blood through their lands, were killed to the very last man, but only after suffering the blood eagle.

All of this mostly occurred before presence of the nobles of the Northern Realms, and the people of Rivia, including those visiting.

But better yet, it was all viewed by Merle, Artys, and Tytos, causing the latter two utterly stunned and shell shocked by the brutality of the Northerners.

Worse yet had to be fact magic played a part in ensuring the suffering of the Knights and their guilty Lords lasted for as long as possible.

The only one to not be bothered by the scenes before him was Merle, since the man accepted his fate long before his capture and knew his time in the true home of the Old Gods wouldn't be pleasant or long for this world.

Yet he never once noticed how his own misery and silence had somehow connected with the Northerners, who all finally witnessed what could have been once of the greatest Kings of the Reach and House Gardener.

Instead, the man now remained chained and bound, awaiting the trial that see his life extinguished.

But that wasn't how his two fellow 'Royals' were willing to go out of this world, causing Artys to make a proclamation that all easily heard, "I INVOKE MY RIGHTS AS A NOBLE BY BIRTHRIGHT AND BLOOD!

I DEMAND A TRIAL BY COMBAT!" no one had to wait long before Tytos followed with his own demand for a trial by combat, believing his skill to be enough in a one-on-one battle.

An event noted down in history by Northerners was forged at this very moment as the nobles of the Northern Realms grinned maliciously, aware of the fate to befall the two Southern Kings, however none could match the evil smirks of the Starks and their cousins.

Magnar Eddhelm Darkstark had the coldest and vicious smile in comparison to his extended family, and eagerly gripped the ancestral scythe of his House, as he was its current wielder.

Some saw his terrifying smile and believed Eddhelm would be the one to battle both Kings invoking trial by combat, however the man in question knew his cousin and King wouldn't give up the chance to fight.

But he also wouldn't foolishly fight both at once and separately, leaving Eddhelm to believe Thenar already selected who'd be given the honour to fight the individual he couldn't.

"Very well.

You both shall be released and equipped to fight your trials; however, none shall follow in your footsteps.

Your judgement shall follow the laws of the Old Way, as the trial will be presented before the Old Gods."

Tytos wanted to argue, but Artys beat him to it and aggressively replied, "I do not believe in HEATHAN GODS!

I will NOT be judged by them!

NOT THE BLOOD OF HOUSE ARRYN!"

Tytos' eyes bulged out from shock at Artys' actions, rattling his mind enough to leave the man standing dead still and unable to take any action that'd save him body from being cracked open like those judged earlier.

Thankfully, Thenar's blooming laughter lifted much of the sudden anxiety off his back, but it didn't last for long.

"Scream and shout all you want, but all it ensures… is a cruel… and torturous end for you, and your barbarian Andal kind.

I will enjoy breaking you, not with my blade, but my bare fists, like those of my forefathers to have claimed the Throne of Winter."

Nothing else was said between Thenar and Artys, as the King of the Vale was grabbed from the cuff of his tattered robes and dragged away to be equipped for the fight to come.

Thenar left as well, leaving Tytos to wonder if he'd face the King of the Northern Realms as well, causing a wide smirk to reach his face, but it was quickly extinguished when he noticed several people he knew very well, and never once hoped to see them again.

He first noticed the odd but new banner of a noble House which contained a white lion with black stripes and a golden mane distinctly the colour of Lannister gold but contained slight hints of snow white.

Yet it was the words of the House that caused him to draw back a breath.

'Feel our Claws,' while odd to some, left Tytos burning with anger ready to explode at the House daring to mock his own.

Yet when he looked down from the banner to see who sat on the throne beneath it, Tytos' mind went blank after witnessing his sister seated beside a young man with Stark colouring far too much for him to not be born from the Blood of Winter Kings.

Tytos got his act together but far too late for his own liking as it snapped into place after noticing his own father standing beside his sister who sat upon her Ygg-Atkaye-Weirwood throne, carved to include the white lions of the House sigil.

His own sister appeared imposing and stronger than she ever seemed like back home in Casterly Rock, much to Tytos' annoyance and curiosity.

While his father seemed far more at ease and comfortable by acting as the Knight Protector to his sister, a fact he wasn't pleased with at all.

After all, his father was the King of the Westerlands for a time, even if he refused to deal with Andals unless absolutely necessary.

"Don't worry… you won't need to gawk at your father no longer from a distance…

After all, it is a father's duty to discipline his wayward son…no?" Eddhelm's sly comments to Tytos as he led the man away from the daius left the bound King furious but aware there was no point in scabbling with the man.

All he could do now was to wait and see what happened, but going off first impressions, Tytos felt the large forest clearing within Rivia on the southern side behaved more as an arena simply by the number of people gathered together to see the trial.

None dared to say a peep, except for the Children of the Forest, Dryads, Druids, Nymphs, and Satyrs, who began chanting in True Tongue, causing the air to become heavy due to the pooling magical energy that naturally seeped out from the luscious environment around them.

They became silent after the High Priestess Leaf finished marking the body of the King in the golden crimson sap of the Ygg-Heart-Atkaye Tree.

Tytos, Merle, and the remaining captured nobles, including their bound knights, watched as Thenar walked into the open clearing around the trunk and roots of the largest tree in the woodland park, which just so happened to be a Ygg-Heart-Atkaye Tree.

However, as it was available for the public masses to visit freely, statues and symbols of other religions had made their way to rest around the roots of the Ygg-Heart-Atkaye Tree.

Such actions were allowed in the harbour ports and large trading hubs around the Northern Realms to help foreigners feel at peace during their visit.

On this day, it helped Artys make peace with his Gods in front of the Seven Star Cross resting atop one of the large roots, which had slight decorations to honour the Faith of the Seven.

Yet it still failed to ease the tension rumbling through his stiff body, since he was only given a sword, his very own in fact, to fight against Thenar.

No armour could be given when trial by the laws of the Old Ways was enacted, and in this case, the King of the Northern Realms declared as such, so Artys felt rather naked without any armour, even if he wore a simple cotton shir and pants produced by the Northern Realms.

There wasn't a whole lot of time either to adjust either for Artys after witnessing Thenar make his way into the clearing, ready to begin the trial.

Soldiers of the Northern Realms moved into place around the clearing to stop anyone from interfering and were instructed to defect away Artys and their own King if either tried to seek their aid or weapons.

Seeing the enclosure forming, Artys frowned and turned to face Thenar, only for the King of Winter to comment before his question could be asked, "They will not interfere in the trial, and will behave as a neutral party, ensuring neither of us leaves until one is victorious over the other.

I shall warn you, they will strike to kill if you dare try anything against them, that I can assure you.

Now come!

It is time for your final judgement to begin in the ways of our forefathers."

Thenar drew his greatsword from its sheath, causing Artys to do the very same with his longsword to have come from the main House back in Andalos.

"You carry yourself with too much pride, Barbarian!

The war may have been won by your kind, but the battle between us will silence all those to have judged the blessed children of the Faith." Artys tried his best to taunt Thenar while gauging the man's intentions to strike first, yet instead he found himself enraptured by Thenar's snarky reply.

"I have trained and killed from the moment I could sprint and wield a knife in my hand to defence myself at the very least.

No matter what, I can assure there will only be one victor between us, and his blood carries the ancestry of Winter Kings, unlike an upstart false King such as yourself, ya fucking Andal cunt!"

Artys rushed at Thenar, surprising most who'd never seen the man fight, especially for his older age, but it mattered little since his speed came with years of experience in swordsmanship and one-on-one duelling tactics.

Unfortunately for the King of the Vale, Thenar had long trained in the art of weaponry from such a young age that practising the blade on a daily manner became part of his daily schedule,

As such, Artys' failed in his overhead strike and quick jabs, only to succumb to Thenar's odd style of fighting which incorporated punches, kicks, and grabbling holds, much to similar with the old Greco-style from the Terra Dimension.

Pleiades, and other Basic Magical Sentience's throughout the Northern Realms had long taught the artform to students since the days of the Wizard King.

Having been engrained into the minds and bodies of Northern men and women, they could easily match up against those from the lands down south, and abroad.

Therefore, Artys didn't put up much of a fight for Thenar, who stayed on the defensive in the beginning but slowly began to exert his strength and skill to a point his foe understood the battle had not gone in his favour.

At that exact moment, Artys lost all sense of reason and fought like a madman, forsaking his injuries he'd accumulated throughout the fight.

Yet, it wasn't enough to overcome Thenar, leading to a battle of fists, kicks, and wrestling, again in the favour of the Northern King.

Even after a thorough beating to the face, Artys continued to try and fight back, only to fail miserably.

"Here you lay… so-called King of the Vale, yet such a claim will fade away after you perish, as its time for those harmed by your actions to take back what you stole, burned, killed, and pillaged to obtain the honest lands of First Men.

You attacked our culture, our religion, our magic, our people, our fucking history!

House Arryn, and its loyal vassals have made this war personal from the moment you stepped onto the shores of Westeros in the name of your Gods.

Never once forsaking those innocent to the machinations of your Faith, you and your Andal kind slew all you could in a bid to eradicate what is considered part of nature and the very existence of this world.

Be glad your end will be swift, unlike the magically blessed your people burned along with the sacred Ygg-Atkaye-Weirwood Trees of the Gods."

Thenar reached out his hand and magically summoned Ice to his right hand, only for it to swiftly swing down and clash off Artys' head.

.

The crowd watched in silence, none daring to say a word in the moment, only for Thenar to break the silence, "Bring forth the Lion King…"

Tytos wasn't given a moment to rebuttal or stiffen his body in the hopes of going against the orders spoken, as the Northern guards in charge of his security and capture began to drag him over to their King standing victorious over the corpse of Artys, the dead King of the Vale.

Forced onto his knees, soaking his pants in the blood-soaked ground, Tytos tried to look on defiantly at Thenar, yet the swirling grey eyes of House Stark coldly stared back at him as if it could see the taint marked on his soul by his own actions in life.

"Tytos Lannister, King of the Westerlands, and the so-called Sword of the West by the Church of the Faith of the Seven.

Born to a Green Knight of the Old Gods, you as his son have forsaken all that your father has accomplished not just for his Gods, but those who seek shelter, safety, and peace from the very same beings.

Changing your name to align it with the supposed 'Sword of the Faith', a man who was cruel and vindictive, has only tainted your own soul and actions to justify the rebellion against your true heritage.

I do so very wish to enact judgement on behalf of the Old Gods; however, they have chosen another to settle the debt you have so eagerly accrued."

Thenar looked towards the crowd watching the proceedings, only for it to part, allowing two men to walk freely into the enclosed circle.

Tytos noticed the elder of the two was his own father, Podrick Lannister, the Green Knight, yet the younger gentleman errily reminded him of the supposed Stark seated beside his sister under the banners of the Northern House with the words, 'Feel Our Claws'.

"Your judgment will come at the hands of the man chosen by your father, who in this case happens to be my very own son, and the husband to your sister, King Tytos.

May I introduce, my third son, Duncan Lannstark, successor of the Faithful Green Knight of the Old Gods, Podrick Lannister."

Tytos ignored Thenar as he moved to the side of the encirclement to watch the battle, and instead focused on his father, who handed over the fabled Sword of Lann to Duncan.

This act before his very own eyes infuriated Tytos who believed the sword to be rightfully his own to wield, yet it laid in the hands of a savage Northerner, and one from a House he truly despised.

Not bothering to wait, Tytos began to make his way towards Duncan and his father, tightly clenching his right hand over his unsheathed Blessed Steel sword, however as it came over his head to strike down heavily on either man, the golden sword of Lann intercepted his blade.

"*Tut*Tut*Tut* Far too eager I see that you ignored the command to commence battle.

You truly must wish to be named guilty, my dear brother-in-law," Duncan chose to taunt his opponent, which only brought a frown to Podrick's face since he knew how easily his eldest son could be riled up by some selectively chosen words.

The elderly Green Knight watched from the side of the encirclement as his son-in-law fought against his eldest child, and his daughter watched on from a short distance away.

Long aware it was pointless to help his son steer away from his stray path, Podrick could only pray the Old Gods imbued strength in their champion to walk away from the battle victorious against the rightfully guilty.

Judgement did indeed come at last, but it took quite a while for Tytos to finally befall Duncan's Stygian Stell longsword, ending the life of the Lion King to call himself the Warrior Reborn.

It was a harsh scene for the Westerland Nobles to witness, but they had no other option to witness the brutal end of their King, who died much similar to Artys.

The two first fought with their blades, countering each other's strikes and jabs, only allowing small cuts to make their mark, but one began to tire far faster than the other, causing Duncan to begin leading the flow of the battle.

He didn't go straight for the kill, however Duncan didn't play with his foe either, rather he gave Tytos plenty of time to regain his strength and stamina to continue.

In the end, it just wasn't enough for the Lion King to continue, and as soon as he fell onto his knees, Duncan began to stride forward against his prey to end its suffering.

Another decapitation followed as well, leaving two corpses at the roots of the Ygg-Atkaye-Weirwood Tree, yet another remained to be added.

Merle, without anything bounding his arms or legs, walked into the open clearing where Thenar stood along with Podrick and Duncan.

He noticed the grief in the eyes of Podrick at the loss of his eldest son and heir, yet the Green Knight had the resolve to stand proud at the actions of his son-in-law and the future of their House in the Northern Realms as an example of their strength was displayed.

This only reminded him of the decapitated bodies lying at the roots of the Ygg-Atkaye-Weirwood tree, Merle understood how his death most likely would occur, which in no way helped ease his anxiety and fear, but it made him accept it some small way.

"There is so much I wish to say and do against your family and House for giving up your heritage and culture just to equip yourselves with fucking steel to call your own and lord over the rest of Westeros.

Now look where those actions have led not just your House but yourself, King Merle, the so-called Meek King, yet on the battlefield I saw a man willing to put everything on the line as any veteran commander would oversee the conflict.

Sadly, your might in numbers still failed up against the diversity of the North's strengths and faith in our culture.

You knew of our beliefs, of our culture and faith, all that we hold so dearly, yet the lineage of High King Garth 'the Greenhand' grovels before the likes of foreigners and their ideals.

Worst yet, betrayer of First Men blood, you organised the capture of women, young children, and Witches for the sole purpose of aiding the Septons and Lords of Andalos in breeding a generation of magicals loyal to their faith and laws.

Maybe, just maybe, you could have been a great King of the Reach, yet here you rest on your knees Merle, the third King of the Cowardly Trio."

Thenar didn't bother to ask Duncan to enact the punishment, and instead wielded Ice, "I, Thenar Stark, High King in the North and the Iron Isle, embodiment of Storm, Winter, and Seas, High King of First Men, and Magical kind, sentence you to death.

May the Old Gods judge you for your sins…"

The sword swiftly came crashing down on Merle's neck, causing a clean decapitation, which saw the body resting beside the other fallen Kings at the root of the Ygg-Atkaye-Weirwood tree.

"Take the armour, blade, and helm of the Falcon King to the Grand Hall of Artifacts.

Do the same for the Lion King but send back what remains of Merle's equipment that can be salvaged from the battlefield.

The Northern Realms will not be known for breaking the laws of nobility, however we do not stand idly by when injustice befalls the land and masses…

We have failed already in the past to defend the First Men of Westeros during the Andals Invasion.

NO MORE!

Now we shall seek out justice for our fallen First Men brethren to have fallen to the powers of the foreigners and their faith.

Those oppressed and held captive by the Andals will suffer a fate worse than death by the wrath of our hands.

Westeros will soon understand what it means to face the wrath of Winter, while bracing against the Storms and Seas upon their doorstep.

For the North Remembers!"

Immediately, soldiers stepped forward with the Children of the Forest in tow, only to begin spreading the entrails of Artys and Tytos' bodies across the branches of the Ygg-Atkaye-Weirwood tree.

It was rather barbaric to witness for the foreigners visiting Rivia as they happened to stumble upon the trial event in the southern city by chance.

Yet for those native to the land, the trial event was in some part justice for all the crimes committed by House Arryn before, during, and after the Andal Invasion.

However, it only fanned the flames of their wrath, for when the Northerners began to enact their revenge, they ensured none would ever forget their actions or reasons.

…

..

.

Having successfully raided Storm's End and ensured the execution of King Maron the Kinslayer, Crowned Prince Theon Stark chose to sail the navy under his command to begin their return home.

They left Storm's End in the care of the new Storm King, one Crown Prince Theon respected and hoped to establish trade with later in his own reign.

For now though, Theon sent his youngest brother, Rodran, to take the loot and smallfolk they'd gathered to return home ahead of the rest, while he waited until the very last ship left the damaged docks.

Since the fighting force under Theon's command had been split up into various groupings to help manage all the loot heading up north, there was more than enough space to begin gathering smallfolk in the southern lands for their own Kingdom.

Only those of First Men blood were made aware of the call to make the journey up north, which was simply made easy by the countless number of ships returning to the Northern Realms.

Under orders from Theon, the crews of the ships raided the southern lands of crops, timber, and anything else of value, which unfortunately saw the sacking of numerous castles and their respective towns.

The Reach saw over sixty percent of its land burning under the fires set by the raiding Northerners who dearly wanted to exact revenge on the Kingdom to have easily accepted the foreigners.

Theon especially wanted to make an example of the Reach Kingdom after utterly ransacking Old Town, and other seaport towns in retaliation for the crimes committed by the Faith.

Theon actually decided to lead an attack on the Sept which acted as the religious centre for the religion in Westeros, only to ensure its destruction after witnessing the brutalisation of First Men blooded women, children, and Witches left destroyed by the vile actions of Andals, and 'Yes' men.

Dwarves, Goblins, and Gnomes were called to arms for the battle in the halls of the Sept, which also saw their aid in the brutal execution of the guilty so none throughout the Reach and rest of Westeros ever forgot about the actions of the Faith, but more importantly the wrath of Northerners.

Theon also made sure to send the harmed and damaged to the Northern Realms immediately via the Transport Doors, so they received the necessary medical attention right away instead of it being delayed due to travel time.

In the meantime, the naval forces under Theon's command sacked Evenfall Hall, Bronzegate, Blackhaven, Mistwood, Nightsong, Sharp Point, Greenstone, Longbow Hall, Ironoaks,l Runestone, Gull Town, Old Anchor, Grassy Vale, Longtable, Cinder Hall, Ashford, Bitterbridge, and Goldengrove, taking plenty of hostages as well, so they could further increase the benefits for the Northern Realms.

The only Kingdoms to not face any sort of retribution from the Northern Realms was Dorne, but that wasn't for long.

Upon his return to the North, Theon and his commanded crew were seen as heroes for their actions, and as such they were more than eager to head straight back out to war.

Theon 'the Hungry Wolf' wanted to leave a mark on the southern kingdoms that'd forever be remembered as the fury of the Northern Realms for the actions committed during and after the Andal Invasion.

Thankfully for him, Thenar agreed as well, and already had the Northern Forces temporarily stationed at the port of House Whitetree, and Frostfang.

Magical Forces were also included in the planned battle to come with Merfolk helping enhance the speed of the ships travelling down south, as well as ensuring none could dare leave by sea and escape the war to come.

The King of the Northern Realms would in fact be leading the Northern Forces during their attack on Dorne, whereas Theon was sent to Andalos to wage revenge and save what remained of the captured First Blood women and children taken away to raise a magical force of their own.

Within the week, three naval fleets left the Northern Realms, with Theon leading one to attack Andalos, whereas the other two left for Dorne, along with their King.

Half-brother of King Morgan happened to be aboard King Thenar's personal warship, having survived the Battle of Rivia, even if majority of this Dornish Andal forces were slaughtered by the Northern Forces.

In fact, this was done on purpose and organised by the Kings of House Martell and Yronwood to remove as much of the Andal influence within their lands so they could fight back against the Faith of the Seven.

The two Houses decided to take such a definitive action against the Faith of the Seven once they began to notice the degradation of society, they had cultivated so strongly over countless generations before the invasion began.

Sporting events began to see a sharp decline of importance amongst the Dornish society nowadays, as the newest generation wasn't overly interest in sports considered 'heathen' and not respective of the Faith's laws considering such acts that went against decorum.

Mind you, Andals utterly loved the sporting games and events to the point Andalos made sure to send a team to participate in the Northern Games on a bi-annual basis.

It wasn't the only cultural change brought about by the Andals, but it was obviously the most known and discussed by the masses, which led the two Kings of House Martell and Yronwood to begin planning on how to remove the Andal influence in their lands.

Planning began when they left Casterly Rock and returned to their homeland to begin gathering as many Andal fighters, Knights, and Warriors to take part in the Great Alliance.

To their delight, more than enough people joined the large host, leaving Dorne vastly weaker as majority of its fighting force left for the war.

So currently, the Northern Forces had the advantage, which they didn't take for granted and invaded the most southern kingdom of Westeros.

Thenar led the attack on House Yronwood and Martell, only for both to happily parley and come to terms of surrender and alliance within a couple of days, which only helped secure the understanding of the local Dornish, who began to understand why they were being attacked.

Even then, the attacks weren't to harm the innocent but only those to have come over from Andalos during the invasion, especially those who continued to spout hate against the Old Gods and First Men just to strengthen the influence of the Seven within their new homeland.

The Northern Forces made sure to inflict as much suffering and pain upon the Andals willing to fight, regardless of their age unless they were children, elderly or women, just to ensure the Faith of the Seven wouldn't dare to try another invasion upon Dorne.

Those saved were taken to be raised under the influence of First Men culture and religion, much like how the Andals treated First Men women and children during their invasion, however no Northerner dared to touch any of the women or children inappropriately as it'd see to their immediate execution according to the laws of the North set long ago by past Kings and Queens.

Most were sent to the North so they could begin a new life, even if they held resentment for their lives being destroyed, they understood this all began because of the actions committed by their fathers, husbands, and distant family.

In the case for many elderly women, they were in fact First Men blooded and had no option but to accept the Andal invaders into their homes and beds after their first husbands and children were slaughtered in the past.

Many hated the Dornish nobility for this, which saw a couple smallfolk women daring enough to spit in the faces of King Morgan and King Desmond for allowing such crimes in the first place, but more so to allow it to happen once more.

Worse yet, they were furious to see it happen once more, causing most to view King Desmond in a terrible light over King Morgan, but the former man in question accepted their scorn and hatred while overseeing many Dornish leave their homeland for the North via Transport Doors.

Plenty hated the two Kings since one caused the death of his own brother for the throne and crown, while the other gave up his culture and religion to appease invaders instead of accepting aid from outsiders beyond their Great Kingdom.

Neither man dared to fight back at the actions of the masses, as they realised their own actions had caused so much suffering in the first place.

The only saving fact they had this time around was the actions and steps taken by the Northern Forces to ensure the transition of power largely didn't affect the masses beyond moving to another Kingdom of Westeros.

The only one to find themselves in a better light nowadays were those of House Dayne, who still remained a solid pillar of First Men culture and influence in all of Dorne.

They were viewed by surviving Dornish First Men as the Guardians of the Old Gods in all of Dorne, raising their status to slowly be viewed much like the Starks of Winterfell and the Greater North, as it'd soon be recognised by the world.

To repent for the actions committed by House Wade during the recent Northern Games held in Avalon, King Arthur made sure all his bannermen, and vassals were ready to provide the necessary support in the war to cleanse Dorne of Andal influence.

The Dawn King left a deep shadow in the hearts of the zealous and devout followers of the Seven-Who-Are-One after leading his army and the Northern Forces to sweep through neighbouring region of Dorne to his own Kingdom.

Besides the safety of children, elderly, and women, anyone else who dared to oppose the forces of the Dawn King and Northern Realms quickly fell by the blades of enchanted and inscribed weapons.

A great number of people tried their best to escape Dorne for another Westerosi Kingdom receptive of the Faith, however another option quickly began to rise up as few tried to return back to Andalos in the hopes of having to not suffer such reprisals from the First Men.

Sadly, they came across the naval forces under the command of Theon the Hungry Wolf, which only ensured their end at sea except for those worth saving.

With the Three Kings of Dorne working together to remove any and all influence of the Seven in their lands, it wasn't long before they had completed their task with a great deal of assistance from the Northern Realms.

Even the Stepstarks and House Martell of the Stepstones participated heavily in the removal of the Faith of the Seven throughout their lands before aiding the three Kings in Dorne.

Most harbour cities were left alone, since it wouldn't portray the Kingdom in a good light to visitors, but that didn't mean there weren't any Andals equipping themselves to fight back against the local powers.

A few skirmishes occurred between the foolish gathering of Andal forces and local powers, but they quickly fell under the raw power and strength of the three Kings and their northern backing.

Yet as one faith fell, another began to rise up per the suggestion of a certain individual of high esteem to the Starks of Winterfell.

In an effort to safeguard the Old Gods in Dorne, Thenar decided to call upon the Nyx Gambit, a travelling circus to have performed not long ago at the Northern Games, to settle in the sweltering desert lands of Westeros.

They'd actually come into the service of House Potter and Stark, which saw to the establishment of a few bases throughout the Northern Realms, but never were they given the opportunity to create a temple until now, however it was in a foreign kingdom.

None knew it yet publicly, but the Nyx Gambit were in fact the last vestige of the ancient Faceless Men order to have long operated before the Valyrians rose in power and status to lead a war against their organisation.

They worked actively to remove the Faceless Men from the world, and believed they'd been rather successful, but in truth, the Valyrians only divided the last remaining cells of the ancient order, causing countless splitter groups to divide themselves across Essos and the rest of the known world in the hopes of rising back up once more to the heights of the past.

Either way, they began to quickly ensure the security of port harbours and their cities around Dorne, while serving House Stepstark indirectly as they were the closest blood kin to House Stark in the surrounding region of Dorne, besides House Dayne.

Rodran Stark, the youngest son of King Thenar, stayed back in Dorne to help oversee many of the new projects being established to help improve the state of the Great Kingdom so it wasn't as lacking as the other Kingdoms of Westeros, excluding the North and Iron Islands.

…

..

.

Over in Essos, Crown Prince Theon began his charge against the Hills of Andalos, starting with the razing of several small villages and towns leading to the greater cities.

Numerous Andal Houses found themselves begging for mercy as the Northern Forces pillages, destroyed and outright destroyed the homeland of the Seven.

House Sevenstar and Arryn weren't spared during the attacks since the Northern Forces and Theon were out for blood after all the suffering First Men had to go through during the Andal Invasion and afterwards.

In total, just over a dozen Andal Houses found themselves dying at the hands of a furious Northern Army, which only saw women and children surviving above all else, except for those willing to surrender.

More than enough men chose to not fight against the Northern Forces, but still fought to protect the innocent from savage and barbarian actions.

Thankfully nothing of the sort occurred, which helped the surrendered accept the will and law of the Northern Forces when many of their brethren fell to a blade.

At one point, the High Septon and Most Devout from the Sept built atop the tomb of Hugor of the Hill sent the Faith Militant, Knightly Order of the Seven, and Warlocks to raid the camp of the Northern Forces during the middle of the night.

Theon had been accompanied by much of the noble youth around his age and from the same generation for his attack on Andalos.

This was done to ensure they witnessed the actions of the next High King and forged closer ties through war, combat, and survival, which drastically strengthened once the forces of the Faith made their move one night.

Countless humans, Dwarves, Goblins, Gnomes, Giants and their Halfling kin, Centaurs, and Wolffolk were caught unaware from the attack that they suffered serious injuries or became fatalities.

Having witnessed the death of their brethren, Theon and the future leaders of the Northern Realms became utterly enraged to the point they burned the Sept atop the Hill of Hugor, only to raid it in the beginning so they could take away all the valuables held dear by the Faith of the Seven.

They even left with the Seven Starred Crown of King Hugor of the Hill, along with the buried treasures secured within his grand and luscious tomb which still contained the skeletal bones of its crafters as they were buried alive along with the tomb.

Theon returned home to a legend forming around his name and achievements as the most dangerous, ruthless, and strategic Stark in all of history so far, and much later onwards.

For the Northerners, Theon became the perfect example of a Stark and Northern-born, while for the Andals and most kingdoms below the Riverlands, Theon became a boogieman of sorts who'd see to the end of Andals, their culture, and religion.

…

..

.

Elsewhere in Essos a couple weeks earlier, events were taking place that'd not just benefit all of the Northern Realms but cause them plenty of headaches to come far down the road, however it'd matter very little to the Kings of the Northern Realms in the long run.

When Thenar became aware of the events via his four loyal spymasters, the King immediately thought back to Lady Greengrass and a point she raised of being the replacement for husband as he was away trying to find out who began to support the Faith of the Seven to suddenly have Warlocks of their own.

Well, it turned out the answer to Andals gaining magicals had everything to do with the Jade Gates, more specifically Qarth, since the House of the Undying forged an alliance with the Faith of the Seven, House Sevenstar, and Arryn to see the rise of magically gifted humans in their service.

The alliance and promise were forged by sacrificial magic, a practise greatly hated by the devout and zealous of the Faith, yet they happily participated in the practise of such atrocious magic by procuring the necessary slaves required for the contractual ritual to work.

A couple students from Hogwarts and Ancalagon had unwillingly been captured by the Warlocks from the House of the Undying to help improve the nature of the sacrificial ritual magic, a fact that didn't please the husband of Lady Greengrass one bit.

Hadrian, or the name he currently went by, Dante, couldn't help but feel rather angered that the House of the Undying could capture and enslave graduated students from either of the magical schools, all so they could employ some dark rituals even condemned by Magic and Death themselves.

Further investigation led by the Kingsmen and White Night led to the discovery of a niche market revolved around the capture and enslavement of magical graduates from either of the premier schools, including the countless others to have opened up throughout the years.

There weren't many other schools besides the two premier magical schools, but they had enough students graduating each year that it wasn't a longshot for Dante to guess majority of the enslaved magicals came from the smaller schools and institutions that began to settle around the known world.

As Dante Romulus of House Heiðran, and the current Formaðr, it wasn't difficult to find out how the whole magical slavery network operated over the two continents.

No direct order had been sent to end the network just yet as Dante wanted to first make landfall in Qarth to deal with the House of the Undying.

Upon his arrival though, his mood worsened immediately after sensing the misery, death, and rampant raw magic seeped through the entire city infrastructure, affecting the environment heavily to appear rather dreary.

"Franklin… *Sigh*… send everyone to spread out and gather information on the House of the Undying's activities throughout the city.

We need to know more about their capabilities and influence amongst the locals before we can begin acting against them."

The man Dante had commanded happened to be Neville Longbottom; however, he'd accepted a new name to live another lifetime beyond his original past, largely due to his personal desire to spend more time with his godbrother, Hadrian.

Dudley and Blaise accompanied the two in their new forms but left along with Franklin (Neville) to begin the deeper investigation into Qarth and the power of the Undying Warlocks.

Reports left Dante on edge as the Warlocks were known to be one of the leading parties for purchasing Blood Crystals in all of Essos and Westeros.

Now besides the countless people being bought as slaves for use in various means, the report detailed all the atrocities continually committed by the House of the Undying, all of which were considered nothing more than false reports by the governing body in charge of the city affairs.

Even so, the specific note detailing the continued purchase of Blood Crystals left Dante quite alarmed and worried about the potential of their might in the battle to come between the two sides.

He wasn't wrong to have such thoughts in this world as trips to Sothoryos had often led the whole group into skirmishes and battles capable of ending their lives as long as one slip up was committed, a fact they believed wasn't possible here.

So, the knowledge of Blood Crystals, known for their stored magical energy, being in the hands of the Warlocks and House of the Undying led Dante to revise the plan of attack to ensure everyone was protected as much as possible against any specific counters using the Bloody Crystals.

Soon enough, Dante's sudden changes to the plans based of the reports on Qarth and the Undying Warlocks saw to the arrival of certain individuals capable of drawing the attention away from their own activities until the moment of attack.

As such, two legendary figures throughout the Northern Realms stepped foot onto the docks of Qarth after their personal ship, the Flying Wolf, decided to make port in the city to attain some resources from a Trading Hub of the Northern Trading Company operating on the western side of the Jade Gate.

Covered up by a hood attached to the rich fabric cloak, a strikingly noble wise man with a greying trimmed beard stopped to look out at the city while surrounded by the hustle and bustle of the Qarthi harbour.

"*Sigh* That brat has quite the balls to ask us here after knowing what we've done to their pesky Order of wannabe Merlins.

Honestly, I'm surprised we haven't been attacked already by those so-called sorrowful cunts that love to suck the blue cocks of the Undying."

"… It's likely they want to capture us instead of causing our deaths, so the attack will come within the borders of the city itself, instead of the bustling harbour where the chances of our escape are higher than normal.

Sadly, the current predicament leaves them plenty of time to prepare for our arrival, Brandon…"

The two cloaked and hooded figures were dressed in the finest fabrics that their Houses could afford, even if they long stopped participating directly in the affairs of their noble Houses.

Instead, they now focused on greater world matters that remained untouched by the silent powers of the world for whatever reasons, leaving the duty in their hands during this generation.

None could have possibly known of their arrival at the docks, much less the city if it weren't for the proud banners of their Houses flying in the rushing winds of sea to pass through the narrow passage.

The sigil of House Stark and its cadet branch, Darkstark, could be seen by all in the harbour and far from the city simply due to the size of the ship masts.

Brandon the Bloody Wolf and his brother, Eddard the Stranger Wolf, knew their unique Northern ships and bold sigils were going to attract all sorts of attention, much of which would try to seek out their immediate deaths.

Regardless of that, neither cared for such worries as they trusted their own fighting capabilities to defend and survive any sort of surprise attack or dire situation.

Further yet, they knew of the 'Shadows' in their favour located around the city, so the brothers strolled around carelessly until they heard the magic words, 'I'm so sorry," leading to Eddard simply unsheathing a knife from a hidden pocket before it ended up square in-between the eyes of the Assassin.

"Great!

It hasn't been more than a couple hours and already we've killed off one Sorrowman… *Sigh* fuck knows how many more to come." Briskly commented Brandon before he removed his blade from the sheath at his waist just as two guards of the city patrol moved to attack, but only after pronouncing the creed of their order, 'I'm so sorry,'.

"We need to move before they start assigning blame on us for this nonsense!" shouted Eddard as he caught a sword heading for his neck, only to strike back with his dual swords in hand.

He wasn't carrying his Scythe since it was in the care of the current Magnar Darkstarks after receiving the weapon as part of his rule over the familial Seat of Power.

Eddard carried a uniquely crafted scythe made by Goblins and Dwarves working for the Northern Trading Company after serving in their ranks once he'd left the North for Essos, however he'd long found it rather troublesome to use while travelling discreetly.

Today they evidently weren't as concealed as they originally thought, evident by the numerous foes racing on their position, never giving them a moments rest from the onslaught of assassins.

As much as he wanted to equip his scythe, Eddard instead let loose with his dual swords that he once used to wield in his youth while travelling across Essos as a Pit Champion by fighting in arenas around the continent to establish a name and legend.

Even now, Eddard found plenty of people in each Essosi city, town, and village hoping to get the chance of some teachings or instructions to better their lives, if not at the very least help them survive in the cruel world.

Brandon often fulfilled the role of his dear younger brother and educated those willing to put in the effort to make full use of the training.

He even educated those gifted in wielding a Scythe, however they were taught basics, while leaving the rest for Eddard to personally teach.

Therefore, it was often to find the graduated students of the Stark Brothers heading over to the Northern Realms to serve as members of House Darkstark's household most of the time, unless both brothers approved their admission into House Stark, which was rare.

Only the best of the best ended up serving as part of House Stark's household, but that never stopped them from first working for the Northern Trading Company because of the vast range of opportunities available to them across the whole known world.

The only problem they found so far throughout their operations abroad was the lack of a secure and safe home base, but the two brothers knew an issue would soon be solved once the Qarthi problem was resolved.

However, all their mental assurances about future circumstances couldn't help in the present as they focused on fending off the attackers who continued to grow in numbers.

The attackers believed by overwhelming the two Stark brothers they'd come out victorious in their battle, unfortunately, this was far from enough to truly stop the rampaging duo.

They never once faltered under the relentless attack, having countered each of the strikes until they could launch fatal counters of their own to quickly end the lives of their foes, before moving onto the next.

Yet before the last few assailants fell to the blade of the brothers, they made their escape from the battleground since City Watch guards began arriving in large droves to stop the one-sided brutalisation of their countrymen.

The Qarthi were proud people who loved to exaggerate their history as the birthplace of civilisation largely due to the architecture, wealth, and location of the city, including all of the grand gardens throughout the city.

This all added more wealth to the lands of not just Qarth but the rest of the Jade Gates which rested in the controls of the Undying Warlocks and their associates.

Over the course of countless years and generations the native Qarthi from a young age were indoctrinated to heavily believe in the might of their 'kingdom, culture, and people'.

Therefore, City Watch guards couldn't ignore the battle any further within the borders of Qarth, even if they were told to ignore the actions of their countrymen.

Sadly, none of the City Watch guards could stop either Stark man as they made a successful and clean escape with none capable of following their trail.

Only a handful could follow the trail until they also became lost and succumbed to the growing Shadow over the entire city and region in the wake of the two Starks arriving at the Qarthi harbour.

The man responsible for such turbulence throughout the region of the Jade Gates had in fact taken a few moments to sit back and view the sunset in the distance.

.

A light sigh of peace suddenly led to a conversation about the events to occur later in the night, "I can say for certain… our actions tonight will leave a mark behind on the world that will stir fear into the hearts and minds of many… but it will fade over time as ambition and greed rises.

I wish to leave a mark… a statement… one that'll ensure none in the future dare harm this land… well at the very least until it has developed for long enough, unimpeded by external challenges to at least put up a decent defence against the invaders."

A reply came only moments later by the second figure cloaked well enough to not be noticed in the darkness, "Quite an ambitious goal you hope to achieve, old friend…

Yet I find it laughable to confidently state our actions later tonight will have a devastating effect to protect the region for long enough to not see any contenders for power and control.

The most they will have truthfully is three consecutive generations of safety before they begin to face hurdles that'll test the governing power's control over the city and region.

There is always the possibility of support from the homeland, which I don't doubt would ever stop, however it doesn't compare to the dangers our actions may have on the world economy once we have conquered the region."

Dante realised the underlying point his old friend Franklin was trying to make concerned the affect their actions would have on the slave industry and market of Essos, and Westeros to a point.

He had his own concerns regarding the influence of the slave industry in the known world, but they were accounted for, to a degree, "Honestly, I understand it'll disrupt the two markets divided by the Jade Gates, which no doubt will cause some sort of reprisal from the slave Masters and nobles of Essos out of frustration and anger,… yet… I know with the end of the Qarthi Warlocks, those willing to rise up won't ever hold a real chance at success.

By the time they can muster any real challenge, the city and Jade Gates will be well and truly in our control, making it near impossible for anyone to try and take it for themselves without incurring heavy losses and costs to make most instantly reconsider."

Franklin, also known as Neville, could only grin as his stern and deep eyes tempered by countless years looked out over the city that'd soon begin to fall under his blade's wrath for the crimes committed not only against the Northern Realms, and her allies, but the world and magic itself at large.

Qarth was the beginning of their wrath to befall the world in the hopes of bringing about change, and the man once known as Neville, couldn't be more pleased by the fact since the world would soon become privy to the rise of new legends and heroes forged during this era.

…

..

.

As the darkness of the night befell Qarth and the Jade Gates, Shadows began moving into place per the orders of their Formaðr, ready to unleash havoc upon the enemies of their homeland and people.

No direct action had yet taken place since no order was given to commence the attack, but they stalked silently in the dead of the night, and removed any necessary obstructions to their goals, while Dante and Franklin began the slow journey to the gold-plated Gates of the Undying compound.

Dressed in the hooded cloaks and armour of the Ancient Peverell's from the Terra Dimension, all proudly wore the sigil of the Deathly Hallows above their hearts, etched bold enough for anyone to notice.

Dante and Franklin soon began to approach the compound gate just as the group increased into five, before the rest started to slowly walk out of the darkness laid over the city.

The three individuals to join Dante and Franklin were known by the names Dudley, Blaise, and Ronald in the far past, but in this day and age, they had long given up their past identities for a new one per the laws of being an Acolyte of Magic and Death.

They weren't the only ones bound to such laws, yet they had the pleasure to begin the assault on the Warlocks of the Undying, since the laws didn't restrict taking action in such matters, so all three chose not to hold back in the assault, and freely wielded their magic.

Splitting up to attack from three directions, they launched heavy siege magic at once to break down the runes safeguarding the Warlocks for now.

The three gold-plated gates leading into the Undying compound were attacked relentlessly by the three wise Acolytes, causing the earth to shake as the magic spells and attacks caused the inscribed runes to come alight as a blue hue tint.

But as this occurred, similar colour flames came to life in large lantern pits atop the great wall protecting the compound.

The lanterns quickly highlighted the numerous Warlocks standing ready and equipped for battle with non-magical forces armed to the teeth, ready to fire the first wave of arrows.

Before they could release the first volley, Dante spoke, "No mercy…" at barely a whisper, yet they reached all the Shadows clearly as if their Lord stood right beside them when he gave his order.

Everyone understood the order to spare no one, but it was still a harrowing task to complete, no matter how cruel and vile their foes were.

Thankfully they wouldn't be focused on the non-magical forces as the two elderly Stark brothers came forward with their travelling mercenary company, the Wolfen Brigade, to take on such a duty.

Chosen sons and daughters from across the Northern Realms, and Essos had created and registered the mercenary company with the Mercenary Guild of the North once the two elderly Stark brothers began their journey abroad.

Many cities, Masters, even countless Valyrian Governors and Rhoynar Royalty had asked for a long-term contract from the company in the hopes of securing the aid of Brandon the Bloody Blade and Eddard the Stranger Wolf for a time.

But they never once accepted the proposals and mountains of gifts since they didn't wish to tie themselves to a city or ruler who might challenge the Northern Realms or their allies in some manner or another, for some foolish attempt at growth and expansion.

Tonight's events definitely would increase the notoriety of the Wolfen Brigade, yet they needed to first survive the battle which immediately saw them rushing forward to shield against the waves of arrow fire.

The Shadow Wizards protected by the darkness shrouding the city began wielding their magic to safeguard their Wolfen Brigade comrades as they faced brunt of the current attack.

This small reprieve helped other Shadow Wizards in their attack against the Warlocks of the Undying, who fought by utilising elemental magic, as well as unique magic attuned to their order and its ritualistic practises.

One brazen Warlock decided to showcase him strength and unleashed a torrent of elemental attacks, as large blocks of the earth ripped from the ground before being surrounded in blue flames from the large lantern pits freely spaced atop the wall.

Brandon and Eddard waited patiently for the signal to lead majority of their warriors against the House of the Undying, which soon came in the breaking of the compound gates.

They watched from afar as three Shadow Wizards tore down the gates of the compound, which just so happened to be significantly saturated by magical energy, making them forged artifacts of magic.

In fact, they helped endow magical energy onto the other materials making up the whole wall, strengthening the structure immensely over the centuries and millennia to truly become impenetrable.

Sadly, that all changed once the gates of the compound fell after the three Shadow Wizards couldn't care less about holding back.

The one known as Ronald by those near and dear once upon a time, had finally punched through an entrance, literally, by shaping his magic to reinforce itself around his limps to provide plenty of power to his strikes.

Each punch thundered into the wall and gate, sending those nearby crashing onto the floor, and at times straight off the wall by sheer force and pressure.

The other two Shadow Wizards weren't far behind Ronald's success which saw Dante raise up his right hand in a fist, informing one eager but stoic young man to reign true terror into the hearts and minds of the foes.

Shaped with the head of a raging wolf, a Carnyx war horn rose up from the darkness of the night and began its trumpet that not only reached the ears of the Warlocks and their allies, but spread far and wide across the whole city, awakening many as they believed demons had finally risen from the home of the Undying after all these years.

When they looked out at the compound of the Warlocks, many felt their thoughts were the honest truth and began to brace for death, while the clever, detail orientated, and social outliers took note of the foreign armed forces moving throughout the city.

Straight away they noticed the difference in the armour and colouring of the foreign warriors to realise they were in some way connected to the Northerners who arrived earlier in the day.

News spread through the city fairly quickly, especially the news of the famous Bloody and Stranger Wolf's arrival, however no one expected to see the home of the Warlocks under attack by foreigners.

The more knowledgeable began to hear whispers suddenly of the actions leading up to the attack on the Warlocks by the North, which found itself spreading fast enough to reach all the citizens of the city throughout the night.

By the following morning, everyone across the city and Jade Gate would know of the horrendous actions enacted by the House of the Undying in the past and now, including the reason for the ruthless attack led by the two Stark brothers.

For now though, Qarthi citizens and visitors watched from afar as the old home of the Undying struggled to survive against the siege onslaught, while the magical forces under Dante's command and the Wolfen Brigade began their final charge.

.

After all, three entrances into the compound fell, Dante gave the command for his Shadow Wizards to lead the charge ahead, whereas the two Stark brothers had free reign to sack the compound while ensuring none escaped, a job the Wolfen Brigade made sure of, thoroughly.

Their duties also included saving any and all innocents they could possibly find, which sadly meant quite a number of men and women, including children as young as infants born within the last fortnight.

Franklin (Neville) came across the sealed chambers imprisoning the unfortunate victims, causing the experienced Wizard to sigh out of frustration at the cruelty of this hellish world.

He already had to mercifully end the lives of several dozen young men who'd tainted their souls by ingesting the Shade of the Evening, a magical poison that should be avoided at all costs for its disastrous effect not only on one's soul but their magic.

Even if the taint wasn't as prominent as the older Warlocks, it was more than enough to cause the Acolyte of Magic and Death to end their lives as quickly as humanly possible.

Only those to have cheated Death's embrace purposely to live beyond their natural existence without the blessings of Lady Death, were immediately treated to ensure they survived for later judgement, and execution.

He soon came to find Dante battling around twenty or so ancient Warlocks, each of whom survived by extending their lives via sacrificial, blood, and ritualistic magic, latter of which was uniquely crafted by the Undying Warlocks and refined by the ancient order for generations.

Seeing his dear friend and godbrother challenged by so many powerful ancient Warlocks, Franklin moved without thought and unsheathed his sword along with his wand as his magic screamed to fight by Dante's side.

Catching the ancient Warlocks by surprise with his sudden attack, Franklin gave Dante plenty of breathing space to move more freely in battle as the foes began to split their focus on the two.

Several overcharged Bombarda spells from Dante quickly ended the lives of several Warlock as they exploded parts of their body in various directions, much of which had the bluish taint from drinking the Shade of the Evening.

This became the signal for all hell to break loose as the Warlocks fired off various spells in Dante and Franklin's direction, choosing to not hold back any further in regards to the wellbeing of the compound's foundation.

Yet, their wide area spells were far from enough to catch either Wizard off guard by the continuous attacks.

They operated on their own majority of the time, but every so often, they were required to work side by side to shield and fight back against the ancient Warlocks who'd realised it was pointless to keep holding back their power.

Sadly for them all, Dante and Franklin were far from ordinary magicals of this world, so when the Warlocks unleashed a forbidden ritualistic magic even their order deemed dangerous, they were left staggering back by the sheer shock it had done nothing to affect the wizarding duo.

They stood beside one another as the smoke cleared up, revealing their unscathed figures, which only further ignited the raging fear that'd long started to build up in the minds of the ancient Warlocks.

A few tried to distract Dante and Franklin to make their escape as they realised it was futile in continuing a losing battle, however they were stopped by the wizarding duo, who sent powerful cutting charms in their direction, turning them into mincemeat.

It wasn't long before they had ended the miserable existences of the ancient Warlocks, ensuring none of the 'Undying Ones' were left behind to fight another day.

By morning, the order to spread out far and wide to search for the remaining embers of the House of the Undying scattered across the known world, had reached each of the Shadow Wizards.

Those to remain behind were strictly commanded to aid Brandon the Bloody Wolf and Eddard the Stranger Wolf in governing Qarth and the Jade Gate temporarily until it was recognised by the Northern Realms as an overseas colony.

So far they had the aid of Clan Heiðruind and the Northern Trading Company to rebuild Qarth and the Jade Gates as they saw fit, but its true redevelopment couldn't beginning until region was claimed by the Northern Realms Kingdom.

…

..

.

'The Judgement of the Shadows', as it became known by all across Westeros and Essos, was the night when the House of the Undying perished, and Qarth along with the Jade Gates fell under the control of the Northern Realms as its first overseas colony outside of Westeros.

Both the Akaydrazel and Northern Trading Company ensured the news of the Undying Ones end spread far and wide, which eventually led to it reaching Winterfell in due time, but the late confirmation of Qarth and the Jade Gates capture as a colony, saw to the rise of many questions regarding their rule over the valued lands.

Soon, wealthy merchants, slaver masters, nobles, and countless other forces of power from across Essos began to organise themselves to capture the newly disputed region, if not a piece of it at the very least.

Unfortunately for them, Clan Heiðruind provided plenty of initial support to set up Transport Stations for the Akaydrazel and Northern Trading Company to bring over resources as well as labour and new residents willing to try their hand at a new life abroad.

They came from all over the known world, so it wasn't long before Qarth and the new settlements throughout the Jade Gates had a unique diversity of people and cultures.

This could have been a costly strain on the two Stark brothers as they oversaw the region as the acting rulers, however Formaðr Dante ensured such costs were managed by his own personal account.

While this gave the two Stark brothers plenty of leeway in their budgeting plans, and objectives, they knew it wouldn't be long before the Formaðr's account managers decided enough was enough and made a semi-permanent move to the region.

They weren't wrong in their thoughts coming true, however they never expected to hear the Forever Winter Bank would establish a branch in Qarth to support the region.

It came at the perfect time to help authenticate their rule over the region, but it wasn't enough to cool the greedy minds of the rich and influential, who all happily awaited news of a successful battle and beneficial outcome.

Sadly for them and their forces, the Qarthi region was well protected by the Northern Realms and surprisingly, the House of Black and White.

They had taken the opportunity to settle back in Essos when the Stark brothers offered them space to not only create a temple but a compound to train future 'priests' and 'guardians'.

Truthfully, they would use the space to train future assassins and the new knights order of their faith per the command of Death's Herald, who just so happened to be involved in the first battle against the invaders seeking to claim Qarth for themselves.

The Shadow Wizards decided to fight beside the Faceless Knights during the first invasion over the region, which only renewed the legend and myth of the Death's Reapers and their return to the world.

It still wasn't enough to dishearten others from attacking the region since they couldn't believe the Death's Reapers had arisen once more, so they were ceremonially cut down until none dared to try again.

The Death's Reapers vanished once more but only after marking the compound of the Faceless Men with the symbol of the Deathly Hallows.

By this point, the aid sent from the Northern Realms drastically increased to begin various construction and redevelopment projects throughout Qarth and the Jade Gates.

Dwarves, Goblins, Gnomes, Giants, Children, Satyrs, Centaurs, and Wolffolk were just some of the magical beings from the Northern Realms to travel abroad so they could work on the various projects.

With their support, the rebuilding of Qarth to fit the Northern Renaissance Architectural design went full steam ahead, starting from the reconstruction of the city layout so a sewage and water system could be laid out to support the inhabitants.

Once this was complete, the remaining projects began in earnest, which also included the various smaller ports throughout the Jade Gates, and the larger settlement at the eastern end, so a twin city of sorts to Qarth could be established.

Both would remain in the hands of the Northern Realms but through a Seat of Power that King Thenar decided to reward House Qin with as per the directive of Lady Greengrass.

His decision wasn't immediately accepted by the nobility of the Northern Realms, but they eventually relented after realising they were heavily ill prepared to take on the responsibility of overseeing such a large region without a great deal of support from the rest of the kingdom.

House Qin on the other hand understood such responsibilities since they oversaw a similarly large region in the Golden Empire for countless generations until their banishment.

Of course, Jadestark, the cadet branch of House Stark to settle in the Golden Empire eons ago, had spoken with the Indigo Emperor to ensure there wouldn't be any issues pertaining to House Qin ruling over the Jade Gates region.

In fact, the Golden Empire sent materials to support the construction of the new city on the eastern end of the Jade Gates but held off from sending a labour force and specialised workers as the Northern Realms had sent over plenty of people.

Everything wasn't solved immediately to turn Qarth and the Jade Gates into a true colony of the Northern Realms, but in the following decade it turned into a new home for citizens of the Northern Realms Kingdom to call home.

House Qin, and their vassals made sure of this fact by heavily incorporating the culture and customs of the North into the region, yet over the decade it instead created an abridged version which better suited the way of life in Essos.

It couldn't be understood right now, but historians were no doubt going to record the differences between the homeland and its colony as the years would go by.

…

..

.

The next few thousand years saw the North, Iron Isles, Dorne, Qarth and the Jade Gates prosper to new heights while improving the very lives of their citizens.

In the case of the latter two, a short period in the beginning saw countless challenges imposed on the region, but House Qin and the Northern Realms defended themselves while also striking back hard at the instigators.

Eventually, contention for the region was settled and accepted by the Essosi as a colony of the Northern Realms Kingdom, but strife over the area lasted for centuries after Death's Reapers and the Wolfen Brigade conquered it.

While most of the rich and influential to attack Qarth early in its conquering realised it was well outside of their power to control, there were plenty still biding their time until a situation deemed it best for them to act came to fruition.

Some were more patient than others, so they waited for centuries to attack, whereas others became impatient and moved to strike once rumours reached them of the regions supposed weakness.

After a while, things eventually settled for House Qin, their vassals, and the Northern Realms, but it never stopped the ambitions from still trying.

This included the nobility from Valyria, Rhoyne, Old Ghis, Golden Empire, and even the Dothraki, a large band of nomadic horse lords, so in the case of the latter, their means to take control of the region typically revolved around a large horde of warriors attacking all at once.

It happened to catch House Qin by surprise at first, only to quickly recover by sending the standing army to wreak havoc upon those to have believed them weak and unfit to rule over the region.

The Dothraki never dared to attack the region again, and instead chose friendship over constant fighting, however they secured a means to test their might continuously against the Qarthi army.

Valyrian and Ghiscari nobility tried their hand at taking the region, but neither could secure land against the might of House Qin and those supporting them.

A handful of nobles from both kingdoms still tried to conquer the Greater Qarth region, however the fierce defence and counterattack led by House Qin quickly saw to further plans to wither away.

The Akaydrazel Trading Company 'convinced' the Valyrian nobles to return home to face judgment from the Dragonlord Council, once House Heiðran arrived with its Patriarch leading the armed forces of his household to ensure the words of the Akaydrazel officers were accepted.

For a House considered so young and new to the Valyrian Freehold, none could afford to face their wrath since they had greater support beyond their own household.

Regarding the Ghiscari in particular, the Greater Qarth region became the ideal location for the Ghiscari to claim as their new home since the kingdom was struggling to survive against the onslaught from the Freeholders and Dragonlords of Valyria.

Even the famed Lockstep Legion failed to conquer the Greater Qarth region, as the might of House Qin and her allies ensured none could claim a piece for themselves.

Yet this invasion went a little different than anyone else had imagined for the Ghiscari forces, and it all came down to once single person.

A young son of an Octarch fostering with House Qin came forth and pleaded for the mercy of his people to not just his dear friend, the future High Magnar of the Greater Qarth region, but also the visiting Crown Prince who'd long ago served half a decade in Qarth to study at the local university.

The Heir of a Ghiscari Octarch knew better than most his homeland wouldn't survive against the continuous attacks from the Valyrians, so after being made aware of the invading Ghiscari, the young heir desperately sought out his friends for aid and support.

He trusted they could help in his time of need, and that is exactly what they did.

The Heir to the Greater Qarth region called for parley between the invading Ghiscari, while the Crown Prince of the Northern Realms returned home immediately via a Transport Chamber to speak with his father about intervening in the plight of the ancient civilisation.

Similarly, the son of a Octarch spoke with his father to ask for his aid in finding their people a new home as part of another kingdom at the very least.

At first the Octarch wasn't convinced of the plan, but he relented in the end and accepted the choices of his son and heir, so he too began working in the shadows gathering all the resources and people possible to leave the dwindling empire.

In under a month, the Northern Realms, and the Old Empire of Ghis came to an agreement which saw four Octarchs kneeling before the King of Winter and House Stark, as he gave them refuge and safety from Valyria's push for expansion.

None expected House Stark to offer refuge, which included many Northerners, but they came to accept the decision of the King after witnessing the positive change they brought to the kingdom.

The four Octarchs had in fact split themselves away from the other four Octarchs who remained behind to broaden their power by taking over the lands and businesses of their former counterparts.

Those remaining behind in power believed it'd be possible to achieve a ceasefire with the Valyrians, not knowing the Council of the Freehold desperately sought to end the Dragonlords since they'd discovered a means to kill Dragons.

An improved version of the Scorpion Ballista designed by a young Ghiscari daughter studying abroad had the power to pierce the scales of the Dragons, even if they wore armour but the range of lethality dropped marginally.

The Old Empire of Ghis went overboard in equipping their cities and homes with the improved Scorpion Ballista, making it significantly more difficult in conquering the region.

The young Ghiscari noble daughter was sent away to the Northern Realms to ensure her safety from the Valyrians, which surprisingly ensured her family did the same.

This greatly helped draw more people and resources to the escaping cause of the Ghiscari, which saw to a mass exile off the natives who once called the Old Empire of Ghis, home.

The Northern Realms soon found themselves inundated with skilled workers of all sorts, from blacksmiths, stonemasons, tailors, cooks, carpenters, and so, however this was far from what they brought over.

Trained warriors and soldiers quickly found themselves joining the ranks of the Northern Forces but only after going through intense training, while former leaders of the Ghsicari Legion were quickly educated on Northern tactics and military operations.

Plenty of former slaves came to the Northern Realms and immediately received before being educated on their new lives in the North, along with all the possibilities.

So for the first decade of living life in the Northern Realms, majority of the former Ghiscari citizens moved between the Iron Isles, Skagos, Dorne and the Stepstones freely to pursue their renewed ambitions in life.

Of course, the former four Octarchs now part of the Northern Realms was also given a new lease on life after being made to handover the rulership of their Houses to the chosen heirs.

Due to the blood on their hands from the actions committed as Octarchs, the King of the Northern Realms couldn't accept them as his new Magnars of the kingdom, but willingly offered them positions as part of his council.

All four former Octarchs accepted and gladly passed on their responsibilities of the heirs, which surprisingly included the young lady who designed the improved Scorpion Ballista.

The newest Magnars of the Northern Realms quickly found themselves overseeing their new fiefs and people, taking over the responsibility their fathers had managed for so long.

They received land in various parts of the Northern Realms, which included the Greater Qarth region as it claimed a large number of Ghiscari refugees escaping from the Old Empire.

For the Ghiscari who'd long resided in the Northern Realms, the King nominated them to help their former countrymen and women adjust to the kingdom since it'd become their new home.

Dorne even came to the aid of the Northern Realms in saving the escaping Ghiscari, causing countless to end up in the desert kingdom, and since they didn't leave for the Northern Realms to join the rest of their people, they eventually settled in Dorne and contributed to the culture and customs.

For example, the Ghiscari sailors and captains to settle in Dorne greatly contributed to the trading options reserved to the desert kingdom, who currently shared shipping lanes and ports with the Northern Realms to ensure they both could capitalise on such trade.

Ever since Dorne was purged of the Seven-Are-One faith, a trade agreement between the Northern Realms ensured the southern trade routes were managed by the three Dornish Kings, while the Northern routes remained in the hands of the northerners.

The Stepstones helped facilitate trade between Essos and Westeros, but mostly for Dorne since the Northern Realms had the Wolf's Canal to support much of their merchant endeavours.

This ensured by the passing of the first millennia after the Battle of the Faith at Rivia, both allied Kingdoms were far better off than they originally were.

In the case of the Northern Realms, this was certain no doubt.

.

After the conclusion of the conquering of Qarth and the attention it began to draw, King Thenar decided to increase the number of raids on the southern kingdoms knowing full well they couldn't gather the forces necessary for another war without endangering the lives of the captured nobles.

This went on for at the very least, half a dozen years, after which the southern Kings convened together at the lake of God's Eye, daring not to travel over to the Isle of Faces as they believed in the Faith of the Seven.

King Thenar arrived a day or so after the southern Kings, joined by his impressive entourage of Wintersguard, Wolfen Riddari, and Ikranä Riders, though most remained hidden as to not spook the other Kings and their forces.

The southern Kings and nobles pleaded with King Thenar to stop his forces from raiding the southern kingdoms, as they struggled heavily during the last winter season which saw a great deal of their smallfolk either succumbing to the harsh weather and rampant sickness and dying, or leaving the lands they'd call home for generations, only to move up north for a brighter future.

The stop the gaping wound in their kingdoms, the southern Kings chose to accept any terms deemed necessary by the Northern Realms for now, since none of them believed it was possible to try and fight back for what they'd lose.

"My forces shall continue to reave your lands without question as you all deserve such ruthlessness from my people for the crimes of your fathers and their fathers.

However, I am willing to make amendments to my command if you can accept my terms.

To begin, we shall demand two dozen chests of precious mined gems, gold, silver, bronze, and iron, even if it means you must smelt down those accursed Blessed Metal Blades your Holysmiths are so smug about.

Next, my kingdom requires food so you shall send eighty carts of standard northern measurement, full of wheat, barely, corn, and other foodstuff.

The Northern Realms require a great deal of food to feed our large populous, so that demand will not be rediscussed or addressed any further.

It shall simply be done.

Last, but most importantly, for the murder, rape, and utter disregard of the First Men, Children of the Forest, Giants, Centaurs, Druids, Dryads, Nymphs, Goblins, and many more to have called Westeros their home for longer than your foreign barbarian blood, I require the Shield Islands, Fair Isle, Arbor, and Estermont.

I will give you no more than half a year to comply, during which I will hold my men back from raiding for three moons, after which they will begin to slowly attack once more.

If the half year deadline passes, then I shall give them free reign to do as they please.

Oh, let me just remind you now… if any of the Houses in your kingdoms dares to attack my people, regardless of not being told to do so by yourselves, I shall seek far greater retribution than I have demanded today.

This is all just the borderline minimum to keep my people appeased for now.

Do not take my demands lightly…"

…

..

.

In less than two moons, King of the Stormlands, King of the Reach, King of the Vale, and King of the Westerlands agreed to the demands of House Stark, signifying to the rest of Westeros that the Northern Realms were the undisputed High King of the whole continent, a sentiment agreed upon by majority of the smallfolk society.

As such, the noble society didn't have much of an option but to comply once House Estermont, House Goldenwreath, Blackgrimm, and Redwyne swore fealty to House Greyironstark and Stepstarks.

House Estermont was the only one to swear fealty to House Stepstarks due to its location, which helped secure a deep friendship with Dornish nobility who wanted nothing more than to be protected against the savage barbarian Andals that desperately wished to infiltrate Dorne to spread the message of their faith in the Seven-Who-Are-One.

Soon, countless fortifications were built across Estermont to not only protect the interests of the Northern Realms, but more importantly the residents of the island which held numerous fiefdoms of vassals loyal to House Estermont.

They were particularly incensed King Durran willingly gave into the demands of the Northern Realms, yet the Lord of House Estermont eased the growing anger by stating how the King had journeyed to Estermont and personally spoke of King Thenar's requirements for peace.

In that moment, the Lord of Estermont faithfully accepted what was required of him by his King, even if it meant abandoning the Stormlands.

House Estermont and her vassals weren't overly pleased by joining the Northern Realms at first, yet such thoughts quickly found themselves drowned out by the astonishment of the prosperity brought to their lands.

On the other hand, House Redwyne left the Kingdom of the Reach infuriated by the Gardener King who demanded they, and their vassals, all abandon their ancestral homes to seek out new land on the mainland of Westeros.

House Gardener never once advised of which region to take or if they would help with the construction of new Keeps.

This all further angered Lord Redwyne, especially after news from his old friend, Magnar Thaddeus Manderly, reached and spoke of the demands set by King Thenar.

Not knowing for a time if he should be angered with the Northern Realms or the Gardener King, Lord Redwyne replied to his friend and asked for advise regarding the actions he should take next.

It wasn't long before House Redwyne left the Arbor and sailed for Old Wyk, only to find themselves greeted personally by High Magnar Greyironstark who happily accepted House Redwyne and her vassals as his own, and that of the Northern Realms.

House Blackgrimm had it tougher than most since they partly originated from the Shield Islands through a third son exiled by House Grimm after being wrongly accused of his own brother's vile crimes to a young smallfolk couple.

The third son of House Grimm found himself situated in Essos trying his hand as a mercenary for a time, only to join the Wolfen Brigade for a time until he came to save the heir to House Whitestark during a battle.

That one moment in battle surged forth the third son's life to a height he never imagined as a marriage to a daughter of House Black saw to the rise of House Blackgrimm on Skagos.

Once the Greater Qarth region became a colony of the Northern Realms, the current Magnar of House Blackgrimm sought to make the move abroad in the hopes of raising the strength of their House, however King Thenar planned to instead give them reign over the Shield Islands.

House Stark wanted to see a magical House in charge of the Shield Islands in the hopes of turning it partly into a military base ready for any possible incursions into the Reach if war was to occur later down the road.

House Blackgrimm accepted the order of King Thenar and left for the Shield Islands with haste, taking along all the support and aid provided from House Black, Potter, Pottarius, Peverell, and all the other magical Houses associated and related to House Blackgrimm.

In a handful of years, the magical forces to have left with House Blackgrimm and to have come later saw to the Shield Islands turning into another wonder in the grasp of the Northern Realms Kingdom.

House Goldenwreath received the Fair Isle from House Stark and Greyironstark who both wished to award the land to a faithful warrior of the North and Iron Isles.

Leon Goldenwreath, a half Northerner and Westerner solider, served as part of the Northern Forces, specifically the Special Forces division and led his team as Captain which just so happened to include a son of House Umber and daughter of House Greystark.

Leon didn't expect much in life as a citizen of the Northern Realms, having emigrated in his youth with his mother after his father brought them over from the Westerlands.

His father was part of the navy and served for most of his life, only to retire once he'd attained the rank of Commander and further served a dozen or so years.

At that point in his career, Leon's father had multiple ships serving under his command, but majority simply protected merchant ships as they travelled between Westeros and Essos.

As such, Leon's childhood was better than majority of the smallfolk situated around Westeros, simply due to the improved measure of lifestyle across the whole of the Northern Realms.

It still didn't mean he could measure up to those of noble birth, even if his mother was of noble blood, but one to have escaped from home to seek a life of love with her beloved.

Leon knew from his youth that his mother risked a whole lot to be with his father, so he sought out the best way to keep them safe, which happened to be the Northern Armed Forces in his mind and heart.

After serving as part of the Special Forces division for close to a decade, Leon found himself being dragged to various noble classes of politics, management, business, trade and so forth for a couple years.

His mother enjoined many of these classes, as well as his younger siblings and father, but for a long time none of this made sense to Leon until his own two soldiers under his command invited the whole family to Winterfell for dinner.

The invite came from House Stark itself but at the request of House Greystark and Umber, so it could not be refused, which Leon knew wasn't possible in the first place.

It wasn't long before he found out the reason why, after gaining the last name Goldenwreath, partly due to his mother originating from the Westerlands, and for his father's own actions early in his military career that awarded him the nickname, 'Iron Wreath'.

As the joy of receiving a noble status and last name directly from King Thenar spread throughout the family, the awarding of the Fair Isle left them all catatonic.

Leon thankfully recovered after a few seconds, followed by his mother, father and his younger siblings, much to the amusement of the nobles in attendance, yet it largely only from those who knew his father from the Armed Forces, or were of his own acquaintance.

In all but a short few months, Leon and his siblings were taught how to sail and manage the gifted fleet provided to the House Goldenwreath in the hopes of protection the Fair Isle and to stop the Lannister fleet if it ever dare to sail up north.

…

..

.

A decade passed and the funeral of the High King Thenar 'the Warmage' Stark passed away in his sleep by the side of his loving wife, Queen Arya 'the Stormy' Stark née Durrandon.

Crown Prince Theon 'the Hungry Wolf' Stark soon found himself crowned as King, while his mother became Queen Mother of the Northern Realms and further dove into her beloved personal projects to improve the Kingdom.

Seeing this as an opportunity to do the very same but to a greater extent, Theon received the current state of the Kingdom, and found everything seemed well until his eyes fell on two issues.

The small settlement on the eastern entrance of the Jade Gates remained largely unsecure from raids, even if House Qin and the Northern Realms were providing plenty of resources to the region.

The intelligence network of the Northern Realms revealed most ships avoided the settlement simply due to its small size and lack of valuable goods, but more importantly it held nothing of any significance to draw visitors and merchants.

Not sure at first on how to deal with this issue, Theon sought out his mother, which only led to an enquiry into the works archived by Queen Andromeda 'the Farsighted Wolf'.

After many days, Theon eventually came upon a file labelled 'the most magical place in the world,' and found himself utterly amazed but the design blueprints for a grand city unlike any other in the known world, a fact he could attest to after spending part of his youth travelling.

He commanded the files review by the Bastion of Knowledge and the Universities of the Northern Realms so they could begin its construction hopefully within the year.

.

The other issue he found nagging at his mind happened to be the idea to develop the rest of Westeros which fell under the control of the Northern Realms, in particular the islands his father earned for the Kingdom, in return for the nobles alive captured during the War of Faiths.

Theon looked back on past reports pertaining to the projects funded in Dorne after the purge on the faithful of the Seven and noticed the initial investment had started to bring back certain returns that already started to fill back the very same coffers emptied to help the desert kingdom.

A large part of the money came back through the Gaming Houses scattered throughout Dorne, but the exclusive products manufactured by House Stark brought greater returns after they became a staple of each household.

However, the amount of business occurring down south wasn't enough to please Theon, so he made the executive decision to empty several vaults to develop Estermont, Fair Isle, Shield Islands, and the Arbor.

The Forever Winter Bank also found itself urged upon by House Stark to heavily invest in the newly acquired lands of the Kingdom, yet the range of options began to dwindle as House Potter and her vassals found themselves rather generously opening up their vaults in this dire time for the kingdom.

King Theon couldn't help but smile at the news when it finally reached him through the newspaper his father established during his reign, the Westeros Weekly.

In an effort to not anger the magical avian society of the Northern Realms from continuous daily work, King Thenar created two newspapers, reserving one solely for the Northern Realms, and the other for the rest of Westeros.

The Northern Daily served the Kingdom each day with the magically trained avian creatures delivering the paper far and wide, whereas to support all of Westeros, the decisions for a week-by-week schedule made it much easier on the avian creatures assigned for such long delivery services.

King Theon decided it was time to service Essos as well and chose to empty another vault to kickstart the production of the business, even if the vast majority of news came directly from the intelligence network of the kingdom.

They only ever published the news deemed safe to spread, however from time to time, major reports found themselves on the front page, ensuring everyone knew of the deed around the world.

…

..

.

5000 Years After the Wall

Besides the constant development across the Northern Realms, Dorne found itself to have truly changed from its past once the allies up north started to invest their wealth outside of the kingdom.

This also meant the ties between the nobility of the two kingdoms became far closer to one another to the point First Men culture started to bloom throughout the desert kingdom to heights many didn't think possible.

First, the reintroduction of the Ygg-Atkaye-Weirwood trees throughout Dorne saw to the Children of the Forest returning along with plenty of protection for their new enclaves.

They were given the duty of helping revive life in the Weirwood trees poisoned by the Dornish Andals after they started dispensing the waste from Blessed Steel production at the root of trees.

It was one of the few methods known to kill off the Weirwood tress outside of the areas blessed early on by the Northerners which saw the trees turn into Ygg-Atkaye-Weirwood variants.

Once the saplings from the North arrived in Dorne after the purging of the Seven-Who-Are-One, the Children of the Forest worked beside Druids, Dryads, Nymphs, and Centaurs to quickly see to the healing of the land left largely destroyed by the Children in their war against the First Men so long ago.

This also included the healing of a certain leyline left partially destroyed by the Children in their destruction of the Arm of Dorne.

Some believed it might be possible to heal the Arm of Dorne, but High Priestess Leaf and High Magnar Chit of the Children stated such as task was far from possible for at least several thousand more years.

In the end they oversaw the spreading of the Ygg-Atkaye-Weirwood saplings, even in the desert but only after they spent the time to introduce new water sources to the specific areas.

This eventually saw to more rural communities rising up where new water sources became readily available, but it was far from the only addition to Dorne by the Northerners.

As the Weirwood trees healed and evolved into Ygg-Atkaye-Weirwood trees, the rise of the First Men culture bloomed like it during the early days of Bran the Builder and Wizard King.

Though the effect of the Andal invaders lasted a generation or so, it'd greatly harmed the First Men culture throughout Dorne except for the lands under the control of the Dayne King.

However, the sight of countless Ygg-Atkaye-Weirwood trees growing freely while also healing the land and 'creating' new sources of water quickly saw to the revival of old traditions, beliefs, and customs.

Furthermore, the sight of magical beings, especially the Children of the Forest sent the masses into frenzy as they felt loved by the Old Gods to see their favoured children living amongst them once more.

This ran truth for majority of the elderly who believed dearly in the Old Gods and their wicked desire for revenge when wrong, such as they felt for the actions committed against their people by the Andals.

Now it was all resolved, in the most part, leaving them to live the rest of their days in relative peace as they educated the next generation of the history of their people.

They on the other hand deeply fell in love with the Northern Sports and Games that helped elevate the people of their kingdom to greater heights of peace, and serenity whilst they lived in an unjust world.

Thankfully Dorne could revel in light that kept the Northern Realms alight with passion for a brighter tomorrow such as the introduction of festivals like Fashion Fortnight, Festival of Lights and Colour (Diwali and Holi), Oktoberfest, and the Floating Lanterns.

As the years went by, the festivals became deeply seeded into the Dornish culture as they weaved their own touch to differentiate its similarity to the Northern equivalents.

Dorne also created several festivals and holidays of their own which better helped define Dornish culture as the years passed by, but it wasn't until much later that Dorne finally settled on its identity that made them a unique part of the greater machine known as Westeros.

.

For now though, they'd gained a continuous source of income from the Northern Realms once the Children of the Forest advised to the three Kings of Dorne, all the desert wouldn't run out even if they continuously shipped it out for thousands of years as it would simply replenish as part of the lifecycle of the world.

Therefore, the North gained a continued source of ships for their glass foundries so the Glassmiths could create their renown pieces of artwork along with daily use items for sale en mass.

Dorne found itself creating their own financial institution after several centuries of continued shipments of sand brought mountains of wealth to the Dornish nobility.

The Desert Oasis Bank became the premier financial institution for Westeros in regions the Forever Winter Bank refused to operate such as the Reach, Vale, Stormlands, and Westerlands.

It might appear rather foolish when factoring business operational factors into the equation, but the Forever Winter Bank executives understood it'd be dangerous to open and operate in kingdoms hostile to the Northern Realms.

Therefore, the Desert Oasis became the middle party for the Northern bank, for the rare few cases where a noble considered an enemy by the North asked for a favourable loan to help in the dire time of need.

The Dornish bank quite enjoyed receiving the large commissions for operating in part as a third-party negotiator as it helped strengthen their bond with the Northern Realms while broadening their own connections and network.

Yet, the Dornish mostly took advantage of the close bond to increase trade of wood to the desert kingdom as a whole.

Originally, large orders of wood to Dorne went towards the upkeep of ships, the building of new ones, and repair around the various ports and settlements throughout the dry kingdom.

This eventually led to the Children of the Forest, Nymphs, Dryads, Druids, and the Green Rangers to increase the woodlands growing throughout the desert kingdom.

It came at a ripe time when the Dornish desert began to see a rise in wildlife along the rivers created through the interconnected lakes.

All man made but via magical means, Dorne found itself exponentially better off currently than past iterations of the kingdom since the rise of a network of rivers and lakes meant a credible naval fleet could finally be achieved.

It wasn't the only point of value contributed by the river as it opened up a whole new avenue for merchants and traders to make full use of in spreading their goods and wares.

Sunspear, Starfall, and Yronwood grew to new heights as the river network enabled the mass movement of people in a shorter time than if they travelled by foot, carriage, or horseback.

Other innovations from the Northern Realms made their way south to Dorne such as roads, sewage systems, water filtration and much more, but the river network truly turned the desert kingdom into an oasis unmatched by any other kingdom simply due to its climate and environment.

This also saw a huge rise of Magnars throughout the desert kingdom as more people rose higher in life through hard work and dedication to help improve their homeland.

Houses Dayne, Martell and Yronwood could only gleefully smile at all the wealth and security their lands had obtained over the last few millennia, though it remained far from what House Stark had obtained so far.

.

Around this time, all of the propaganda Ignotius began in his time had deeply rooted itself into Northern Culture and Customs, as the Starks became known as Heroes to the smallfolks and noble alike of the Northern Realms.

They were fair and just rulers, always looking to improve the state of the North for the people, when they could simply refuse and spend their vast wealth on themselves along instead.

There valour reached out to the children of the Northern Realms as they reenacted battles and other victories of the Starks with their friends, while the scholars from the Bastion of Knowledge and numerous Northern Universities helped spread word of House Starks generosity to enable them all such freedom and growth in numerous fields and crafts.

This all ensured the North was unified, which they were simply by the fact people addressed themselves as Northerners, regardless of their location such as those from the Iron Isles and the Greater Qarth region.

Their identity became a collective single cultural group, while ingroup cultural division allowed for regions like the Iron Isles and Greater Qarth to create slight variants due to the political and culture environment around them.

As such the Qarthi people began to call themselves Norqarthi, a status they acquired after learning of the Iron-born addressing themselves as either North-born or Northern Iron-born.

All knew they were part of the Northern Realms, and had the status of Northerner, but within their own Kingdom, the citizens knew how to recognise their own, even if they'd originated from outside of the North of Westeros.

This was only a case in the Northern Realms, which in fact had plenty of scholars detailing how it all came to be from the days of King Ignotius.

They realised only the Northern Realms had such a refined culture in comparison to the other Kingdoms, as the smallfolk knew of their Lords and King, but wouldn't proudly consider themselves of the Stormlands, or Reach as they had no such identity to hold onto.

.

..

…

Up until the fifth millennia had passed since the rising of the Wall in the North, the kingdom continued to develop in various fields and subjects, many of which came straight from the Terra Dimension and now had advanced to a state they were better than the original.

Yet they weren't willing to openly flaunt what they had achieved, even if they had already left a mark on the known world that couldn't be smudged or forgotten.

They displayed a great deal to the world freely but held much more than anyone could ever truly tell.

However not all were like those of the Northern Realms.

House Belaerys quickly accepted their recent discovery of Valyrian Steel forging as its premier product and service it could offer not only to their own kingdom but to the world at large… for an exorbitant fee.

They knew of Wintersteel and its magical capabilities as well as its lightweight flexible material, yet it wasn't sold freely to the world but only ever gifted from the fabled smithery of Winterfell.

Therefore, Valyrian Steel entered such an open market without any real opposition and started increasing production of the material not only for themselves but future clients.

Valyrian Steel ingots became the easiest means of production for the Dragon House as Valyrian Steel forged weapons were personalised rather than mass produced.

Armour too could be bought though it wasn't cheap by any means and could only be afforded by the richest and elites of the world.

House Stark ended up receiving two Valyrian Steel blades as gifts eventually since they were given two Wintersteel blades long ago as a sign of friendship and cooperation.

Both weapons ended up being heavily studied by scholars before they went into storage within the Weapons Vault, once they were enchanted further by magicals in service to the Royal Family of the Northern Realms, awaiting the day a Stark found themselves worthy of wielding the blades.

…

..

.

Several centuries later, Queen Aniya the Generous Wolf chose to freely spend the enormous wealth held by House Stark, while also encouraging the nobility to do the same in the hopes of revitalising the economy.

Everyone wasn't really receptive to follow in Queen Aniya's footsteps, especially the younger Houses of the Northern Realms to have migrated to the wintery kingdom, but they gave into the demands of their Queen and spent their wealth openly.

However, none would stupidly waste it on luxury items they could easily obtain, but rather spent the fortune on improving the land under their control and overview.

Many chose to improve infrastructure of their lands to ensure better living conditions for the smallfolk, but plenty realised they needed to focus on the security and wellbeing of the people.

As much as the various martial orders of the Northern Realms protected its citizens and visitors, there was far too much land requiring management, so the Magnars understood they had to contribute to the safety of the kingdom as well, rather than leaving the weight of problems on House Stark to resolve.

Already countless Northern Houses understood this reality, yet plenty of the newer Houses to have made the Northern Realms home remained ignorant until news spread of House Wilson, a cadet branch of House Wade from Dorne, fighting off a surprise siege from well-armed bandits all of a sudden.

The bandits were annihilated in the end, yet not before they caused plenty of damage to the lands of House Wilson, much to the anger and frustration of its Magnar.

Due to that incident, House Wilson strongly invested in establishing their own standing militia to protect the lands and smallfolk from banditry, while also expanding their Household to accept Rangers, Warriors, Druids, and Knights.

Soon, the Houses originally keeping a tight hold on their wealth, now freely gave it away to improve the state of the lands under their control, but to also develop a standing militia to fend off against those who wish to cause them harm.

The Northern Armed Forces were ordered to help train and educate the Household militias across the kingdom by Queen Aniya, yet very few would ever face a true challenge since banditry near impossible to manage when the chances of capture became increasingly high.

…

..

.

Towards the end of the second millennia, Houses Redwyne and Estermont adapted to the First Men customs and culture once again, completely discarding the teachings of the Seven-Who-Are-One they were forced long ago to accept.

This shift in faith and behaviour largely came about due to the numerous Northern women who married into the two Houses, educating the reigning and future generation about the Northern lifestyle, and teachings.

House Redwyne couldn't help but silent thank the Old Gods for steering their ancestor towards the loving arms of the Northern Realms since it made them far richer than they had ever imagined.

Ever since they migrated to the Northern Realms, House Redwynes first 'Northern' heir underwent a stringent but thorough education that saw to stabilisation of their power over the Arbor, while helping them adjust to the advancements of the Kingdom such as the Transport Stations, Data Slates and so forth.

Yet they couldn't ignore the knowledge on refinement of alcohol, specifically wine and how it could be better improved.

They adapted many methods originally from the Terra Dimension to enhance the flavour of their Arbor Wines, however it wasn't until the fourth 'Northern' generation that House Redwyne finally across magical wine, and their fabled producers, the Aelflyn and Eldari.

Several Eldari families chose to make the move over to the Arbor once they were convinced by the reigning Magnara at the time to join the Redwyne Household.

This ensured Arbor Wines soon became one of the most valued wines in the world for their flavour, texture, and refinement, quickly filling their coffers to levels they could never have expected to achieve whilst serving the Kingdom of the Reach.

The Northern Trading Company, as well as Akaydrazel, sold Arbor Wines across the entire known world, so it wasn't unexpected for House Redwyne to gain so much wealth, but no one from the former southern House realised how quickly it'd fall into their hands.

.

House Estermont similarly drew in wealth like they never had in the past, and started many projects held back in the past due to a lack of funds.

Besides infrastructure fit for the smallfolk to utilise, House Estermont looked togethers House Stark's own actions to help elevate Estermont to a state it could be viewed as important and valuable to the Northern Realms beyond military purposes due to the island's proximity to the Stormlands.

Investing heavily in sports, leisurely activities, inns, bars, and restaurants centred around their seafood industry, House Estermont soon learnt how to store marinated fish for long term transport and storage without spoiling the food.

It'd also keep the fish fresh, including the marinade, which could only occur due to magic, however none ever complained as it allowed for those located mostly inland and far away from any shoreline to enjoy fresh seafood.

House Estermont found themselves expanding their naval fleet to keep up with the demands of the consumers, an act that nearly led the King of the Stormlands to believe an invasion was coming.

The air was cleared up once House Estermont sent a messenger with news of their prosperity and demands of the masses, much to the chagrin of the King who cursed his own blood for breaking the close bond with the Northern Realms established long ago by the first King Durran and Bran the Builder.

The latest king at the time to be named Durran decided to forge a strong bond with House Estermont in the hopes of maintaining the once close bond the two Houses shared, while attempting to reconnecting with House Stark in the long run.

However, others believed King Durran gave such an order after learning of the Mermaid and Merman city located close by to the island, and worked closely with the seafood industry.

None would dare voice such a thought or write it down until long after King Durran had passed onto his next Great Adventure, much to the delight of historians.

.

House Blackgrimm had a unique history due to its origin from House Grimm and House Black, so they arrived at the Shield Islands to a lukewarm reception.

The four ruling Houses of the four islands had no choice but to accept House Blackgrimm as their High Magnar, even though any one of them had a greater claim to the region, so they weren't exactly pleased by the sight of the grand Northern fleet.

All manner of beings were contained in the ships awaiting to disembark upon their new homeland, yet as they knew none of the four islands would accept them willingly, King Thenar, Druids, Children of the Forest, and the Dryads thought of a way to demonstrate the power of the new High Magnar of the Shield Islands.

Drawing part of the soil required for the island from the seabed itself, the magic ritual created by the Children of the Forest, Druids, and Wizarding-kind, utilised a great deal of magic to ensure the creation and stabilisation of the new island as it weaved itself into the region of the Shield Islands.

Over a thousand Blood Crystals went into powering the ritual while several Children of the Forest worked alongside the High Priestess Leaf and Arch Druid to nestle the sapling of a Ygg-Atkaye-Weirwood tree at the centre of it.

Very few knew the exact reason as to why they were planting a sapling in the middle of the ritual, however it wasn't long before they realised why.

As the High Priestess sung the last words of the ritual in the True Tongue from safety abroad one of the many ships of the fleet, Arch Druid Erys released the bound magic to interact freely with the ritual circle laid on the makeshift island placed together by Wizards and Witches.

In that very moment, all far and wide across the Shield Islands noticed a shift in the region as the very earth of the world created another island from the depths of the sea, resting in the centre of the Shield Island formation.

At the very centre, a large Ygg-Atkaye-Weirwood tree could be found stretching easily over several hundred metres into the air with a tree trunk wider than several dozen metres.

Its thick branches stretched out over thirty metres at a minimum, with its shrubbery of blooming silver-tinged Blood Crystals casting a unique coloured shadow that left the inhabitants of the ships to awe at its otherworldly beauty.

Those of the other four islands could view the enormous Ygg-Atkaye-Weirwood tree from a distance, leading them to realise they were nothing much mere ants in the face of power capable of raising an island from the depths of the sea.

This one act secured House Blackgrimm's control over the Shield Islands as they underwent a collective change to better suit Northern customs and culture as the revival of the Old Ways across the five islands quickly brought the people into the 'Northern' fold.

All the amenities available across the Northern Realms quickly found themselves spread across the Shield Islands including comprehensive Transport Stations to help the masses travel freely throughout the region.

As time stretched on, Wizarding-kind and many magical beings found the Shield Islands to be peaceful and chose to settle in the lands, eventually turning the whole area into another magically rich region for the Northern Realms to be proud of.

This led to House Blackgrimm becoming one of the largest suppliers of medicinal plants and humanly harvested magical creature materials, since countless methods existed already that didn't require the slaying of the animal.

However even with their status of High Magnar, they could not rival House Black of Skagos as its ancient history from back in the Terra Dimension helped ensure it remained at the very head of all the noble Houses to contain its powerful magical bloodline.

.

House Goldenwreath happened to find itself practically under siege from House Lannister continually trying to undermine their power over Fair Isle.

In the beginning, House Goldenwreath requested aid from the Northern Realms and received the protection of House Lannstark for close to a century as their ships shielded the island from the Lannister fleet.

The fleet of House Lannstark also infuriated House Lannister to a point they chose to not hold any sort of relationship with the newly established Northern House, even for basic niceties.

This made it especially difficult for House Goldenwreath to trade for a time, until the ships exiting the western end of the Wolf's Canal started docking at Fair Isle over Lannisport.

Within the first century of its existence, House Goldenwreath could easily equip their entire Household with their namesake, made from the finest smiths of Rivia and Winterfell.

As the first port after the Wolf's Canal, Fair Isle saw plenty of business come their way as the wealth spread across the whole island, improving the lives of every individual as the years went by.

This helped House Goldenwreath create a standing militia of their own, trained by the Northern Armed Forces, as well as a fleet to square up against the Lannister fleet in a hurry, if need be, yet it wasn't until its third century of rule that they felt safe and content with the power and wealth in their grasp.

…

..

.

Combining the fleets of the Shield Islands, Arbor, Estermont, and Fair Isle, the Northern Realms Navy could single handedly cripple Westeros in a coordinated attack, yet they remained steadfast in their desire to become the very best navy.

They were beat unsurprisingly by the Kingdom of the Rhoyne, Golden Empire of Yi-Ti, and surprisingly the Old Empire of Ghis, which had seen to a sudden revival of power as magically gifted Ghiscari returned to their homeland in an attempt to beat back the Valyrian Freehold.

The Northern Realms Navy only lost out due to the lack of naval engagement experience outside of Room of Requirement Training rooms since their ships happened to be the fastest, toughest, and meanest bastards out at sea, sparing none from their wrath.

.

Many languages were taught to children across the Northern Realms from a young age as part of the schooling curriculum.

Terra Dimension languages such as English, French, Spanish, Latin, and countless others including the magical kind were taught alongside the First Tongue of the First Men and Common Tongue of the Andals down south.

All Lords, Magnars, and Kings had to know the First Tongue and Common Tongue at the very least, including the Northern Realms and Dorne as it helped the mental development of young children.

As such, the nobility of Westeros knew two languages at the very minimum fluently, whereas Dorne and the Northern Realms had citizens with multilingual capabilities, each of which could be spoken fluently.

The Northern Realms never hid all the knowledge they had on other languages foreign to their world, so it wasn't difficult for Dornish citizens to receive such knowledge for their own libraries and schools to educate the future generations.

House Stark and its cadet branches at the very least taught their young First Tongue, Common Tongue, High Valyrian, Rhoynari, Dothrakhi, Ibbena, Summer Tongue, and Ghiscari.

English, Russian, German, Spanish, Italian, Arabic, and French were extra choices for the children to take on, which they often did, but more often than not, they would focus on the more magical languages as they best resonated with their blood.

Therefore, House Stark and her cadet branches had some of the best language foundations in the known world, making them one of the best equipped people when dealing with foreign ambassadors, emissaries, and messengers.

The three Royal Houses of Dorne followed in the footsteps of House Stark and her cadet branches after all three sent their second born children to foster with House Stepstark at Bloodstone.

They returned home far different than they left, as their mental development progressed far differently than the rest of their siblings simply by the high focus on education and mental training during youth.

It wasn't long before they followed House Stark's actions and began to elevate Dornish society to greater heights than their neighbouring kingdoms were doing for their people.

…

..

.

After the start of the third millennia, the Silk Road started in Novigrad by Queen Sansa Stark finally stretched throughout Westeros and Essos, creating a trail through all the known kingdoms and empires as well as discovered land to help merchants trade their goods along with assisting the general public in navigating to civilisation.

Unsurprisingly, plenty of challenges came along this path but it also came with great rewards and benefits.

Several new cities were raised at various points along with Silk Road throughout Essos and Westeros that otherwise would not have risen.

Within the region known more commonly as the Grassland or the Green Sea, later being the Dothraki Sea, a named Zineera rose into prominence due to the hard work of a young couple seeking a new home.

An exiled son of the House Zi from the Golden Empire, and the third daughter of the reigning head of Clan Neera from Mahraj, met in Volantis upon arrival and soon began to travel together until they eventually wed.

After creating a new name to represent their family and new beginning in life, they began to trade along the vast Silk Road by working alongside young 'adventurers' seeking more from life by gaining it through hard work and a resilient peace of mind.

Funnily enough, their actions eventually led to the creation of a protection mercenary group whose specialty revolved around the transport of goods and people along the Silk Road.

The Northern Trading Company along with Akaydrazel, offered something similar already but for trade via the seas and rivers, but none could measure up to the same quality on land, leading to the creation of the Zineera Protective Service.

Within a decade, the security business created by the newly formed Clan Zineera, enabled them to create plenty of connections to eventually take up a portion of land in the Green Sea to build their base of operations.

However, just under a century later, the land turned into the city of Zineera as it now housed more than just Clan Zineera, but all those who came to call it home or simply were visiting for a time.

Several other cites went through similar tales that led to their creation, yet Zineera remained one of kind in a way since it strategically remained centred between several kingdoms opposed to one another due to various issues.

It surprisingly cooled the minds of several leaders hoping to expand the borders of their kingdom since none wished to go against the mighty force of Clan Zineera, who'd not even failed against rogue Dragonriders hoping to seize transported goods.

Sadly, as the tempers relaxed in one part of the world, another saw them rising at the lack of progression forward in their expansion of dominance.

.

The Valyrian Freehold remained a relatively new civilisation in comparison to the Northern Realms Kingdom, Golden Empire of Yi-Ti, the Old Empire of Ghis, Patrimony of Hyrkoon, Kingdom of Sarnor, and the Kingdom of Ibben.

However, the might of their Dragons and magic allowed the kingdom to rise into great power and strength rather quickly in comparison to their counterparts.

Some might see it as sign of their power to rule over others, others might believe the Gods themselves have spoken, whereas some might see it as a right to further their conquest of the known world, yet the wiser few already knew they were far from stable enough as a kingdom, let alone ready to expand into an empire.

They knew of the might necessary to claim the title of empire and the Valyrian Freehold just wasn't their yet.

Countless cracks in the foundation of the Valyrian civilisation were evident in their eyes, and they only worsened as time passed by.

Sadly, the voice of reason and wisdom would fail to reach the others, furthering the damage to the backbone of the civilisation in its infancy of stabilisation for long term growth and development, instead of stagnation.

Instead, the right to challenge the strong and mighty pushed forth the Valyrian Freehold, who'd for some time now, focused solely on ridding the Old Empire of Ghis from this world.

Yet a few Freeholder families felt the Northern Realms Kingdom had grown far too strong for their liking, especially one particular Dragonlord who voiced his rising anger at the Northern cunts for daring to infringe upon Essos, even if it occurred centuries ago.

"I say, the Northern Savages have taken enough from our kingdom to feed their greed and hunger for the lands that are rightfully ours to conquer and claim!

With the combined strength of our dragons and magic, including our Magei to have graduated from Ancalagon, we can seize Greater Qarth for ourselves.

None would dare stand against us once we have claimed the Jades Gates for our growing empire, since there is not a fool daring enough to challenge a mighty Dragon and its rider!" shouted aloud a zealous Dragonlord who wanted nothing more than wealth and power to satiate his greed, fuelled largely by the mental influence of his bonded dragon.

"Have you first investigated those you wish to wage war against, Valeryn?

I can say with confidence right now, you will face the harsh judgement of the Northern Forces if you dare seek a war against one of our oldest and strongest allies." The Dragonlord to have spoken against Dragonlord Rhaxes Zahqaerys tactically chose not to voice all the intelligence he knew regarding the Northern Realms, especially their fighting capabilities.

Honestly, he feared what might happen if the Valyrian Freehold dared to attack the Northern Realms, as they were the homeland of refined magic lore, they all now practised day to day, instead of the more brutish and raw magic drawn from the world.

Born of House Vaelgyreon, the middle aged Dragonlord had spent much of his youth studying at the University of Alexandria and understood the kingdom far better than others of his kingdom expect for maybe the few Valyrian Houses with ancient ties to the Westerosi Kingdom.

Another Dragonlord of the council decided to call on House Umbagras for their knowledge on the Northern Realms Kingdom to determine if Dragonlord Rhaxes Zahqaerys spoke words of wisdom or false truths in his claim.

Sadly, Valeryn didn't receive the response he had hoped for, "Through various means to seek out intelligence against the kingdom, we have found a significant population of Giants, their halfling brethren, Mammoths, and countless other creatures of immense size that don't just provide sustenance to the people, but act as beasts of war.

That's not all.

As we all know, the Northern Realms has an extensive and proud history of magical beings and nations serving as part of the kingdom.

Yet in all the time they have served the Northern Realms, their fighting prowess has rarely been seen, however when they fought for their kingdom, no quarter was given.

We have failed to truly understand the capabilities of the Goblins, Gnomes, Dwarves, Centaurs, Dryads, Wolffolk, and countless others inhabiting the kingdom, but we can say for certain, they are not to be trifled with.

Moving onto House Stark, a linage close to four thousand years old, our own kingdom is nothing in comparison when we take into account all that they have accomplished in their time ruling the Northern Realms.

Our accounting methods, the measuring system, calendar, mathematics and so much more have all originated from this one House, and we have yet to focus on their military capabilities.

Each Winter King, and their kin, which means the cadet branches, possess Direwolves the size of horses equipped with their own armour, much like the Ikranä many of their House have bonded too as well.

All of this still doesn't take into account the magical power they wield, as well as the formidable Magical Corps capable of being deployed.

We have only found one instance of them taking action and it occurred during the Battle of Faiths against the Great Host of the Andals.

Our informants suggest the Magical Corps wasn't employed to its fullest might during the war, but they still caused more than twelve thousand deaths on their own in a single day when the Great Host made its march against House Teague's ancestral seat in the Riverlands."

The Household member of Umbagras bowed and left the council to deliberate after his Lord had wave him off to leave after completing his report on the Northern Realms Kingdom.

"As you have now all heard, my forces have found much from what little they have gained in recent years.

I have gone further and based the current reports against past ones saved by my ancestors… and I have to say what I have discovered… is disturbing…" grimly stated the elderly Dragonlord of House Umbagras.

Magical copies of the report he complied was quickly made available and spread to each member of the council, including the Archon who had not said a word on the subject so far, much to chagrin of the other Dragonlords.

They all spent a small amount of time of time reading through the well-detailed and straightforward document made from the finest Valyrian wood, only for the Archon to break the silence first.

"This… Jörmungandr… what sort of dragon… has House Stark wielded to their lineage?" The middle aged Valyrian man with all the known features of a High Dragonlord noble at display, asked of Dragonlord Umbagras.

"It is not a 'true' dragon of sorts, Archon, rather it is a Sea Dragon saved from the brink of death by King Brandon the Shipwright Stark.

Rumours suggest it has been strengthened through various rituals by House Stark's Magic Council, and I have found reports from spies serving on the Iron Isles, that the creature partly resembled a Basilisk.

I cannot say for certain now, but I wouldn't ignore such a report since it came from spies who diligently served the Freehold till their elderly death.

They happened to witness the arrival of Jörmungandr when it had been gifted to House Greyironstark as part of the bridal gifts since a Stark daughter wed into the cadet branch.

From the day that marriage conceived an heir, Orion the Sea Dragon Greyironstark helped elevate the image of Jörmungandr in the hearts and minds of the Iron-Born who now see it as a Herald of the Old Gods, serving its chosen champions in the mortal plane.

We could be regarded as the same if we were to go by the thoughts of the Iron-born, but I very much doubt anyone could see us in the same light as we are many, and there is one Jörmungandr."

Archon seemed somewhat pleased by the answer he received but it was hard for the Dragonlords in attendance to understand his truth thoughts.

The silence continued for a few moments before the next string of questions were asked by the Archon, after which the floodgates were opened for the rest to gain some clarity.

…

..

.

The Council of Dragonlords of the Valyrian Freehold finally decided it was best to continue their alliance with the Northern Realms since the war against the Old Empire of Ghis had started to take a turn in favour of the enemies.

Houses Targaryen, Belaerys, Vahnaeris, and Calgyreon were tasked to lead an envoy of peace to the Northern Realms in an effort to strengthen bonds with the ancient kingdom.

House Ragarehrys too found themselves part of the envoy group as they were known to have close ties to House Eldar of the North due to their heritage relating back to the Kingdom of Gaesle.

The Archon believed it was time to forge a closer relationship with the Northern Realms as the Freehold had been rather lax on the subject and chose to not take any one side in the Council of Dragonlords.

Up until now, the continued efforts in the war against Old Ghis had largely occupied the council, yet as they saw the war reach its near conclusion, they sought for peace to not only stabilize their power of the conquered land, but to build closer ties with foreign powers.

To the Archon, House Stark had the strongest foundation in comparison to any other ruler around the known world, including the Golden Empire of Yi-Ti, since they'd experienced multiple changes regarding the leading power in charge.

Also, it was hard to admit but the capture of Qarth and the region under its control, as well as the Jade Gates, continued to leave the Archon breathless as many of his predecessors from before attack had thought of taking the region over from the Undying Warlocks.

Yet the Northern Realms acted first and turned the whole region into a colony significantly influenced by Northern customs, culture, and way of life.

…

..

.

Advised well in advance through the Kingsmen and White Night, House Stark prepared in advance for the envoy fleet of the Valyrian Freehold.

They weren't aware of the exact reason for the large envoy, but House Stark wasn't going to refuse the generosity of her allies when they made the arduous journey from across the Narrow Sea.

Crown Prince Bjorn met the Valyrian Envoy as they ported in the otherworldly harbour of Winterlake, having made the journey via the White Knife River on houseboats led by Giant Turtles bred and raised in the North.

Mermen were actively involved in the transportation of the houseboats, and security of the Northern rivers and shoreline, so the Valyrian Envoy had plenty of opportunities to associate with the magical beings.

To the Valyrians, Mermen weren't anything new to see while in the Northern Realms, however the magical beings couldn't often be found wondering the kingdom since they rather enjoyed spending time underwater unless they had to stay above water.

Yet the simple show of power displayed by their presence told the Valyrians they weren't even safe on the surface of the sea.

That was evidently made clear by the Stygian Steel equipped, as well as the Ikranä Steel for body armour, however a handful of Valyrians noticed each Mermen wielded a spear made of unknown materials.

None could outright question the Mermen, sadly many still tried but failed to gain any answers.

After meeting with the Crown Prince, many Valyrians pined for the truth regarding the spears, but knew gaining any real answer would be next to nigh impossible.

A couple loudmouth Valyrian Freeholder nobles actually voiced their anger at having to gift numerous Valyrian Steel items without gaining anything valuable or of significance in return.

Crown Prince Bjorn just so happened to hear one of the envoy members while he guided them through Wintercity on the way to Winterfell.

He wished to say retort the rude Valyrian noble, but his stature as a Crown Prince wouldn't allow it so, which led to his dear cousin, Vorn Umber, to speak on his behalf and that of the Northern Realms.

"Shut it ya ponce fuck!

We never asked you silver head goats to bring those nick-nacks so you can proudly shove them back up your ass and continue on back to your mighty spiral towers.

Clearly, the thin air up so high has dulled your fucking brains!

Might want to clean up the shite in those godforsaken pits of misery you call cities."

Neither side knew how to respond to Vorn Umber for a time, yet the daring heir of House Belaerys and Targaryen helped ease the tension after they started to cackle aloud, causing the others to respond as so.

It helped ease the growing tension between the two sides who had long considered the other a reliable ally.

Of course, the few loudmouth Valyrian nobles' part of the envoy group quietened down and became meek shadows, whereas the rest became boisterous and relaxed as they were swept up in the calming and peaceful nature of the North.

Yet this only lasted for the short time they journeyed through Winter City, the grand jewel and heart of the Northern Realms Kingdom.

The first gated entrance of Winterfell left the Valyrians breathless by the sheer size of the ancient keep, as well as the magical enchantments set into the structure of the castle.

Past Valyrian visitors to Winterfell always spoke of the strong presence of magic seeped into the castle and land, yet to experience it in person confirmed one thing.

'No description in a book could ever measure up to the actual experience…'

…

..

.

King Haeron Stark, the Crafter Wolf, shared bread and salt with the Valyrians inside of the Godswood, right in front of the towering Ygg-Heart-Atkaye Tree as the High Priestess Leaf recited the oath of guest rights.

Once the ceremony was complete, King Haeron gave the Valyrians a day to collect themselves before they met to understand why they had journeyed to Winterfell, especially with the sizeable convoy of Valyrian ships in tow.

Reports from his Spymasters spoke of nothing but honourable trade between the arriving merchants from Valyria, and their conquered cities of the Old Empire of Ghis.

King Haeron wasn't overly ecstatic by the arrival of foreign merchants in the heart of the Northern Realms since they weren't going to rival the income brought by the Northern Trading Company to his family vaults or that of the whole kingdom.

Still, he wasn't foolish or brash enough to turn away the merchants when they would help the kingdom earn slightly more than usual, creating an unexpected surplus he no doubt believed the accountants would appreciate, before cursing the lizard riders for giving them more work.

The following day, King Haeron sat down with the chosen spokespeople for the Valyrian Freehold while joined by his trusted personal council to hear the offering proposed by the foreign visitors.

Unsurprisingly for continued peace, the Valyrians wished to strengthen their ties to the Northern Realms Kingdom and wished to start through trade since it already existed between the two kingdoms but not at a state where either could call the other an important trade partner.

For example, the Greater Qarth region, while a colony of the Northern Realms, also acted as one of the most important trading partners for the kingdom since they brought countless goods, minerals, and trained individuals to the widespread kingdom.

It wasn't the only connection shared between the two kingdoms as the athletic games, and sporting leagues often saw them compete against one another.

During the era of King Thenar the Warmage Wolf, House Potter along with Hogwarts, Ancalagon, and Rhoynia, introduced the Tri-Wizard Tournament to the world in the hopes of creating closer bonds between Valyria, the Northern Realms, and Rhoyne.

Not the sole reason for the tournament, it still attracted plenty of attention of the years since House Potter stated firmly the event would be hosted much like the legendary Olympic games, every four years.

Instead of a single champion from one school, three from each would be chosen to represent them throughout the tournament, which split its hosting upon a school before moving onto the next four years later.

A member of the current champions just so happened to be King Haeron's eldest child, Crown Prince Bjorn, who represented Hogwarts and House Ignius along with two other schoolmates.

The tournament ensured a great deal of trade between the three kingdoms throughout the year, though it would quickly return to normal at their conclusion.

Kingdom of the Rhoyne Rivers continued to improve relations with the Northern Realms and surprisingly Dorne as of late, but the Valyrian Freehold stay rather neutral, allowing the noble Houses to instead trade freely while forging alliances of their own.

The Archon took note of this issue during his earlier education and had long sought to fix the issue ever since learnt of his right as Heir to his freeholder lineage.

He planned to suggest a marriage between a High Valyrian and a Northern High Magnar House, but the Arch didn't believe it would be accepted so easily by King Haeron.

Several Northern Houses within the current and past generation had sought out marriages to Houses outside of their kingdom's nobility, so it wasn't difficult for the Archon to deduce the unlikeliness of the marriage proposal being accepted.

King Haeron wasn't aware of the marriage proposal possibly being offered, so the opportunity for greater trade between the two kingdoms was readily accepted, though not without certain conditions and stipulations in place.

For the next decade, Valyrians, and Northerners became increasingly familiar with one another as trade grew between the two kingdoms to a point Northern influence within the Valyrian Freehold gained a strong foothold to be recognised by the Archon.

A ruined peninsula long left to ruin from the natural effects of an underwater volcano, was revived by the Children of the Forest, Druids, Dryads, Goblins, Gnomes, Centaurs, Wizarding-kind and Dwarves.

Through a combined ritual along with countless Blood Crystals from the heart of Camelot and Winterfell, they recreated an improved version of the magic employed to create the fifth island of the Shield Islands.

With the rise of a grand Ygg-Heart-Atkaye Tree in the heart of the Valyrian Pennisula, a region of land close to the capital of Valyria began to attract the native Dragons to the magical rich area.

It was the cause for the Archon to deem it part of the Valyrian Freehold but under the charge of the Northern Realms which saw the rise of a new House in Valyrian Noble Society with foreign blood.

King Haeron thought about sending his fourth son to take rulership over the newly raised land by magical means, however the potent nature of the raw magic in the area caused the High Priestess Leaf to inform her High King of the dangers.

In the end, House Eldar was chosen by King Haeron to protect the interests of House Stark and the Northern Realms, yet the High Magara of the Eldari ended up selecting one of her many great grandchildren.

A Halfling of Human, Aelflyn, and Eldari blood was given the prosperous and dangerous task of ruling over the Winter Pennisula of Valyria, situated off to the southeast of the Freehold's southernmost city.

House Eldrys quickly rose in power and influence throughout the Freehold and beyond as the Greater Qarth region found itself allied closely to the only other Northern colony in Essos.

House Qin found the alliance brought more goods, and tourists from the Freehold to their lands, while they offered protection of sorts to House Eldrys from many of the angered Valyrian Nobles who weren't happy seeing their Dragons roaming in the new lands, making their nests in such a place over the sacred fourteen flame volcanos.

Yet none could say a word against House Eldrys or commit any sort of action to harm the Winter Pennisula without facing the wrath of the current elected Archon.

Though as the years passed by, House Eldrys faced some strife from elected Archon's not pleased with a Northern House part of their 'sacred' society, but none would dare lead a war against them out of fear.

After all, House Eldrys had gained many allies through their connection to the Northern Realms and even brought Valyrian blood of House Belaerys into their own, as well as extended their own to others.

As such, they gained the strength to create a political alliance that existed beside the two dominant sides reigning over the Valyrian Freehold and Council.

They gained a political foothold during the reign of the first High Magnar of the Winter Peninsula and House Eldrys, which grew over the years as their magical potent land became the home of Dragons since it offered the best environment for them to flourish.

Several new dragon breeds, and variants spawned from the Winter Pennisula eventually, rewarding House Eldrys with their own unique Dragons capable of wielded certain elements.

Such strength ensured they remained at the forefront of the new political faction, which allied heavily with the faction skewed slightly 'left' since House Ragarehrys stood in their ranks.

The strong alliance held with House Stark also gave them plenty of power and influence to stand opposed to the other factions, though it was in their nature to remain neutral since they could earn more while working with either side.

…

..

.

The second century after the emergence of the third millennia, saw to the Second Andal Crusade against the faith of the Old Gods.

It all started once the southern kingdoms aligned to the religion of the Seven-Who-Are-One learnt the High Septon and Most Devout received word from the gods to raise an army in their name against the heathen barbarians situated in the northern lands of the sacred continent.

They weren't going to spare Dorne in this crusade, largely due to their betrayal during the First Crusade, yet none of the Kings aligned with the Seven-Who-Are-One expected to learn of the 'Summer' Wall as it had been coined by the Dornish.

Stretching across the whole land border separating Dorne from the Reach and Stormlands, House Dayne greatly supported the project since they had built a similar wall to divide their land from the other two kingdoms within Dorne.

Built originally to keep the last of the First Men native to Dorne alive, the wall separating the Dayne Kingdom from the rest of the great kingdom now served as more of a landport for the governing departments serving the region to protect the interests of House Dayne and their allies.

House Dayne trusted Houses Martell and Yronwood, but later generations weren't as closely tied such as the time during the reign of King Thenar the Warmage Wolf and King Theon the Hungry Wolf.

.

The Kings of the Reach and Stormlands combined their forces to lead a united force against Dorne by land, while their naval fleets came for blood by sea.

Similarly, the Kings of the Vale and Westerlands worked together in the hopes of eliminating First Men blood, culture, and religion from their lands, even if they were largely fueled by greed.

Both heavily desired the North for themselves and wanted to leave a legend behind that spoke of their conquest, so they both pushed for a war on two fronts rather than focusing on a single kingdom.

First, they started with the purge of First Men Blood from their kingdoms, completely ignoring the status of those not native to the land, which saw the death of numerous Dornish and Northern First Men.

The women and children were captured of First Men origin; however, they were freed rather quickly by the magical forces of the Northern Realms invading to safely whisk away the last few survivors.

This act throughout the Reach, parts of Vale, Westerlands, and the Stormlands ensured none of First Men blood would remain behind as it became perfectly clear none but those of Andal blood and beliefs could call the land kingdoms home.

Dorne and the Northern Realms found themselves suddenly accepting the last of the First Men blood outside of their kingdom's, just as they prepared to defend against the Andal Forces.

The Western and Eastern shores of the North found themselves guarded by the Northern Armed Forces, but far from the extent of soldiers left at Rivia, the Wolf's Canal, and the Three Sisters.

They were the likeliest points where the Grand Host of the Crusade would lead their attack against the Northern Realms, so the King of Winter chose to ensure the Armed Forces were greatly number in the specified areas.

His firm decision on the matter only happened after the latest report from House Goldenwreath of Fair Isle spoke of their continuous battle against the forces of the Westerlands under the Lannister King.

Fair Isle military bases of the Northern Armed Forces were the first to alarm House Goldenwreath of the impending clash against the Lannister and Westerlands fleet, so they were able to save many from the initial onslaught.

Thankfully, the Transport Stations weren't harmed, especially those for military purposes, so the Fair Isle was quickly reinforced by the Northern Armed Forces per the command of the King.

This only increased the number of soldiers stationed on the western end of the Wolf's Canal, much to the anxiousness of House Romyn, who worried about the clash between the two sides and the damage it could inflict upon the innocent.

They weren't against making preparations for the battle to come, but rather the lack of attention focused on the locals and visitors who would witness the part of the war.

Magnar Romyn believed this war due to his King's plan to spread the word about the Northern peoples resolve and heart, but he felt it to be rather a dangerous and foolish thought.

As such, Magnar Romyn enacted several measures to protect the innocents of his port city by making shelters outside of the city through the use of temporary shelter homes that could easily be built.

By the time a foreign fleet could be seen in the far distance, the majority of the port city inhabitants had moved partly outside of the city and now took shelter within the temporary safety zone designated by House Romyn.

In an effort to not appear indifferent to the plight of their vassals, House Makerstark sent over plenty of workers to help with the management of the temporary safety zone until the battle had come to a conclusion.

Romynia, the port city of House Romyn, sadly saw a great deal of damage from the naval battle as the Lannister and Westerland fleet failed to beach, so they committed a suicidal attack instead.

Equipped with magical bombs crafted by the magical society loyal to the Faith of Seven-Who-Are-One, Romynia's docks, and port saw a great deal of damage, even if it had been reinforced magically long ago.

This helped clear somewhat of an opening for the remaining Westerlands ships to launch their suicidal attack, which often saw more parts of the city closer to the canal being destroyed, yet the loss of life only affected the defenders of the Northern Realms, rather than innocent civilian life.

The Three Sisters saw similar damage, including the Southern side of Rivia as man-made shells full of magical explosives had been catapulted by the siege weapons of the grand host of the Andal Crusade.

No matter how much they scorned magic and its 'demonic' capabilities, the Faith of the Seven-Who-Are-One could not survive in the current climate of the world without incorporating magic in their strengths.

It, however, failed against the might of the Northern Armed Forces within a month of the coordinated attack which only survived for so long simply due to the incredible size of the Grand Andal Host.

White Night couldn't provide an exact figure regarding the number of soldiers serving the Grand Andal Host, but the best estimates ensured the Second Crusade was the largest battle in history to date.

…

..

.

By the start of the seventh century of the third millennia, a divine act took place in the lands of the North, with its echo reaching the furthest corners of the Northern Realms Kingdom.

The merging of the Many-Faced God with the Old Gods, an act noticed by the Children of the Forest, Druids, Dryads, Nymphs, and countless other magical creatures and beings, brought much of the kingdom into a festive but somber mood throughout the whole year.

The news first reached House Stark through High Priestess Leaf, who learnt of the forging of bonds between the Many-Faced God and the Old Gods through the harmony True Song spoken by the Ygg-Heart-Atkaye Trees.

They spoke of the agreement created by the Old Gods and the Many-Faced God, since the practitioners of the Faith entuned itself heavily with the Northern Realms customs.

For example, the Temples of the Many-Faced God located at the port cities throughout the Northern Realms held Ygg-Heart-Atkaye Trees, with its roots even soaked in the poison alcoves, though now the Old Gods had the wisdom to choose if those to have drunk from its water were worthy of their 'gift'.

Druids, Nymphs, and Dryads even served in the Temples of the Many-Faced God as long as a grove was built around the Ygg-Heart-Atkaye Tree, which required a Priestess of the Children to manage.

None of them took on the duties of the House of Black and White as they felt such tasks weren't of their nature, yet Wolffolk, Goblins, Gnomes, Satyrs, Dwarves, and Humans, naturally, took on such a role without fault.

Such adaptions by the Temple of the Many-Faced God eventually led to the agreement between the Gods, leading to another joining their ranks, while simultaneously increasing the strength of their domain and aspect.

Knowledge about the happenings of the Gods wasn't relayed in its entirety, so High Priestess Leaf knew a partial amount of what occurred amongst their ranks for the Many-Faced God to join them.

It had to do with a Greater Being suggesting the cooperating as a means of safety since its followers in the mortal plane were being exploited by another.

Only a few could surmise what the Old Gods stated about the union, yet a single person knew of the whole truth.

He wasn't able to take action against the perpetrators to have caused the Many-Faced God to join the Old Gods but knew there would be a day when he could move without the 'world' stopping him.

.

By this point in time, The Temple of the Many-Faced God and the House of Black and White had spread far and wide across the Northern Realms, but their strongest holds were back on the mainland of the kingdom.

Novigrad, the start and end of the Great Silk Road of the known world, was considered one of the main strongholds of the Faith, but it failed to compare against its holding in Asgard, built during the era of King Thenar the Warmage Wolf.

Faceless Men were trained beside Green Rangers, Wolfen Riddari, Ikranä Banshees, and the Winter Legion to turn them into one man army machines in the heat of battle, but their skill rose to new heights once the White Night became involved in their training and education.

As such White Eyes were called to assist in the education of assassinations through various means, including the use of several devices only reserved for their craft to protect the Northern Realms and her interests.

They even gained their own Basic Magical Sentience from House Potter; however, it had certain abilities unlike its 'cousins' scattered through the kingdom, that helped the Faceless Men in controlling the strength offered by the Many-Faced God to its diligent and loyal followers.

With the Many-Faced God joining the collective known as the Old Gods, the strength on offer increased substantially, unknowing certain abilities and skills the Order of the Faceless Men and the House of Black and White had long forgotten or outright lost after their defeat by the hands of the Valyrian Freehold.

Therefore, they began to gain back much of the lost power, along with artifacts somehow recovered by House Potter, but remained far humbler and more dedicated to their role as servants of the Many-Faced God, along with the Old Gods, while serving the interests of the Northern Realms.

House Stark gained an educator for each generation born into its House, helping them learn the capabilities of an assassin, in the hopes they could extract the teachings to suit their own style and form.

…

..

.

Just under several centuries before the beginning of the fifth millennia, House Stark and House Belaerys celebrated three thousand years of friendship.

House Targaryen had long recovered their friendship with House Stark and the Northern Realms, but it was far from the extent House Belaerys had forged.

The latter Dragonlord House even went as far during the celebration of the three-thousand-year friendship to propose a marriage between the two Houses.

Crown Princess Dayla the Sharp Wolf would be engaged to wed Aegalus Belaerys, the second son of the Dragonlord Gaeron Belaerys, presented a whole armour made of Valyrian Steel along with a sword, and magical crossbow made of Dragonbone, as an engagement present, much to the shock and awe of the known world.

It wasn't the only gift provided to the Crown Princess, much less House Stark as they received three uniquely crafted Valyrian Steel swords, along with matching armours, each of which were forged by students graduated from Ancalagon who then went on to study at Gauntlgrym.

The underground city of the Northern Realms mainland, nearby to Novigrad, had long become a home to the Dwarves of the kingdom, among many others, though this was more publicly advertised.

Since their wares sold along the Silk Road quite freely, Gauntlgrym took in countless students from around the world, but only after they had completed several daunting trials to ensure they would never betrayal Gauntlgrym.

None had so far, who had taken the magical oath before the Old Gods via a planted Ygg-Heart-Atkaye Tree within the depths of the city, and the students to have left, only to later serve House Belaerys, were also part of the gift offered to House Stark and the Crown Princess.

Both were prodigal smithing geniuses born into the Household of Belaerys, sadly it didn't necessarily translate to the same prowess in other fields.

Yet it mattered little to them since they were part of the lucky few to know of the production of Valyrian Steel.

House Belaerys wasn't willing to give the knowledge out straight up, but as House Stark had once taught them the secrets to better steel, and forging techniques to improve their trademark steel by leaps and bounds, they too wished to return the favour, but subtlety.

To no one's surprise between the two Houses, the two smithing geniuses created a unique type of steel by utilising the creating technique of Wintersteel, and Valyrian Steel.

They revealed eventually to their Queen and King Consort, that the three uniquely crafted Valyrian Steel swords and armour that were gifted by King Consort Aegalus Belaerys, were failed experiments while working to recreate the Wintersteel forging process.

Queen Dayla the Sharp Wolf couldn't help but chuckle at the efforts of the two Mastersmiths, aware they had long ago begun the arduous journey to reach a greater state in their craft, one that would gain them the title of Grandmaster before even realising their dream.

She soon found her support of their actions would help her kingdom outfit itself with more steel than it could ever imagine as they came to realise the true power of the fabled Winterfell Forge by activating what Grandmaster Hephaestus left behind.

Combined with magic of Dwarves, Goblins, Gnomes, Druids, Centaurs, and the Children of the Forest, the two smithing geniuses succeeded in passing the trials of the legendary Grandmaster, as they gained access to his private knowledge and teachings.

In their lifetime, the two geniuses helped upgrade the road network of the Northern Realms mainland, on both sides of the wall.

Magical steel runically enhanced and linked together ensure the roads weren't ever clogged by snow and could clearly be seen by any travelling party using them.

Hardholme, along with the half a dozen other settlements throughout the lands Beyond-The-Wall saw an upgrade in the fortification of the wall protecting them, as well as many of the buildings designated as long-term shelters.

However, a significant portion of the magical steel went into the refit of the entire naval fleet as they gained an improved body frame and underlay at the very minimum.

The shipyards throughout the Northern Realms first underwent renovations to be capable of refitting the ships into their new improved state, which thankfully came at the right time.

The Andal Kingdoms of Westeros began building their own magic schools once the High Septon and Most Devout spread the gospel of the Seven-Who-Are-One, who wanted their followers to wield the powers of the world to further the Faith.

Much to the surprise of the Northerners, numerous Houses refused to listen to the words of the Starry Sept, as their devotion to the 'Old Testament' trumped those of the mortal leaders of the Faith.

Obviously, those of wealth, influence and power quickly rushed to build their own school of magic in the hopes of turning it into the next Hogwarts of their kingdom.

Some Houses already had magical capabilities so knowledge on the subject wasn't difficult to release for the schools, but none had reached the level of Hogwarts to truly help the kingdoms beyond what they had slowly developed in comparison to the Northern Realms.

In time this would change, however, they currently lacked a great deal to truly educate the next generation into powerful 'Warlocks', a status and title coined for those to have graduated from school.

So far, there weren't a vast number of graduated students, so the Northern Realms wasn't threatened by them, or their magic since it was leagues behind that of the Northern Realms, yet it didn't stop the two Mastersmiths from ensuring the safety and progression of the kingdom.

…

..

.

5200 Years After the Wall

To kick off the new year, House Targaryen and House Stark celebrated their renewed friendship of two millennia, each gifting the other extraordinary goods to mark the occasion.

An exchange of weapons and armour occurred as part of the gifts, but they were not Wintersteel or Valyrian Steel, since House Belaerys only gave such items and found such returned during their third millennia celebrations.

They were rather extravagant however in their festive celebrations throughout the mainland of the Northern Realms, but it all came to an end after a week as news reached the kingdom of the Ghiscari War ending in favour of the Valyrian Freehold.

Ever since the Old Empire of Ghis began to see magical children being born, the last of the Octarch to remain behind after the division, heavily focused on the training and education of the future protectors of their reign.

Surprisingly, they fought back, inch by inch, to retake much of the lost land to the Valyrians since they never sent more than a dozen or so dragons into the war after they suffered heavily under the artillery sieges weapons of the Ghiscari.

This was well before the introduction of the Magical Ghiscari, who only increased the lethality of the conflict to greater proportions.

Magical artifacts crafted for war became a speciality of the Ghiscari after they adapted certain techniques Northern Scholars recognised to have originated from the Terra Dimension.

This launched an inquiry to find how such knowledge reached the Octarch for them to educate the magicals, and soldiers, though the result was somewhat expected.

Men and women seeking knowledge from the Old Empire of Ghis had long travelled to Winterfell to learn everything possible to better their homeland.

This had lasted for quite some time until the empire closed itself off for a time to focus strengthening its cracked foundation with the Division between the Octarchs.

Plenty of support came from the Essosi Kingdoms, and noble Houses of power who wished to further draw out the war between the two sides in the hopes of further swelling their own vaults full of wealth.

Completely aware they could face the Dragonlords soon enough due to the drive for expansion of the Freehold, many of the current powers of influence throughout Essos threw their support behind the Ghiscari.

Even those to have found refugee in the Northern Realms Kingdom often helped the resistance left behind to continue the battle against the Dragonlords and their army.

Therefore, it wasn't difficult for the Ghiscari to equip themselves with the necessary materials to continually wreak havoc in the continued war that seemed to not end until the Dragonlords finally chose to invest themselves in the conflict.

This occurred around a century after the beginning of the third millennia since they decided to stay their hand against a conflict with the Northern Realms.

As such, the focus became to end the Ghiscari conflict, however the arrival of Dragonlords atop their mighty mounts did not have the expected success in winning the war.

Rather they themselves struggling to survive against the brutal onslaught of the Ghiscari magicals and all the war siege weapons employed to protect the struggling empire.

Wixen, coined by the Octarch to describe their magically gifted citizens, were greatly celebrated by the struggling empire as they brought down several Dragonlords who decided to strike with their mounts to inflict the most amount of damage upon the enemy.

The first renewed attack led by the Valyrians saw the deaths and capture of numerous Dragons, while their riders were slaughter more often than not, with only a few exceptions made to turn them into slaves serving the remaining Octarchs.

Those surviving in the Northern Realms sent graduated wizards and witches from amongst their ranks and people to help back in the motherland, but as the years went by the amount of assistance reduced but never completely ended.

That was until the beginning of the fifth millennia when the elected Archon decided to caved to the influence of the rather aggressive faction of Dragonlords and Freeholders, to begin a purge of the Ghiscari.

Calling forth the leaders of the Akaydrazel Trading Company and House Heiðran, the Archon sought to wield the great strength of the merchant company and the Valyrian Noble House of great repute to fuel the war machine of the Dragonlords to vanquish the Ghiscari.

The Akaydrazel Trading Company agreed to provide resources to feed the marching army as well as the travelling Dragon horde, since over fifty riders and their mounts were selected for this final battle.

House Heiðran on the other hand, after losing the title of Formaðr of Clan Heiðruind to House Ignius of the Rhoyne, were far from the height of their power during the reign of Dante Romulus, however after his 'death', a great deal of the power they once wielded reduced with each passing generation.

Still, they were closely tied to the Valyrian Noble Society, and often found members of their House being elected as Archon over the years, so it wasn't difficult for them to fund part of the war and provide warriors in the conflict to come, yet with stipulations in place.

Unlike the rest of the Valyrians, they were not planning to enslave the surviving Ghiscari since it would spurn a detrimental change in their society and kingdom, one they did not wish to see.

The Akaydrazel Trading Company voiced similar concerns and even added them into the conditions of their assistance, causing the Council of Dragonlords to reconsider the plan for the surviving Ghiscari.

No matter what, the knowledge of the Wixen had to be seized for the betterment of their kingdom, however such a feat wouldn't come without great losses, a fact looked over by the Archon or Dragonlords, only to come back and haunt them later.

In their final attack upon the last stronghold of the Ghiscari, home to the Wixens from their childhood to adulthood, close to forty Dragonriders dove from the sky above, out from the shadows of the cloud to reign fear and terror upon the surviving masses by unleashing the monstrous rage of the legendary mounts.

Yet as they came closer to the borders of the last standing city, the Dragonriders began to narrow their focus on the stationed artillery upon the grand walls, who started their defence just as the signal came from the Wixen.

They also joined in the artillery fire, but through siege weapons specifically crafted for magical use and employment, making them far more deadly to the Dragonriders, one of which already faced a fatal injury from the piercing attack to the mount's wings.

Another saw a portion of its body explode off as it wasn't covered entirely by the Valyrian Steel Dragon Armour, leading to a few more to similarly crash out of the sky as they neared the city walls.

Thankfully, they weren't the only attacking party of Dragonriders otherwise the attack would have surely failed.

Even so, countless Dragons fell and were lost before they could be recovered, an act that left the Valyrians puzzled well after conquering the last city and stronghold of the Ghiscari.

They too had to begrudgingly accept their own hubris saw to the destruction of the Wixen Library of the Academy, though in reality the last of the survivors who chose to escape the attacking Valyrians were responsible by drawing the rage of a few Dragonriders to the school.

But even if they had not destroyed the Academy, they would have found nothing of worth to salvage since it was all removed by the escaping party of Ghiscari.

They ended up eventually reaching the Greater Qarth region and pleaded for asylum from House Qin to shield those they had saved in the great escape.

By the command of the King, House Qin sheltered the last survivors of the Ghiscari Empire, while their counterparts to join the Northern Realms several millennia ago were called to Essos in the hopes of helping their distant brethren adapt to the kingdom.

…

..

.

5318 Years After the Wall

Before the fall of the Old Empire of Ghis, a large part of the world economy had been controlled by the Octarchs as they were heavily involved in the underground and black markets spread across Essos and Westeros.

However, this all changed with the fall of the Ghiscari Empire, as various Houses, Clans, and groups fought tooth and nail to take over the markets left without oversight strong-arming the decenters.

Not concerned about such matters, the Northern Realms Kingdom forged ahead without any interruptions to their own economy and business until the Olympic Games, also known as the World Games, were being stopped from going ahead in Norvos.

A city supposedly built by Ancient Dwarves native to Planetos, also known as Hairy Men, Norvos exchanged countless rulers until a council of nobles and elected officials from the commoners came into existence.

This happened quite some time ago, but after the fall of the Old Empire of Ghis, many on the council found themselves free to act as they wish since the Octarchs weren't around to hold them back any further.

They were careful not to antagonize the wrong party, but as their greed grew, several council members decided to expand their racketeering, which sadly included the Olympic Committee trying to organize the facilities for the upcoming event in Norvos.

Reports eventually reached House Potter and Stark, neither of which appreciated the actions of the greedy council members.

Not wanting to simply assassinate the council members, the Northern Realms decided to invest themselves in the darker side of the world economy since they were urged to take such a step by the managers of the Forever Winter Bank, after they found much of their gold often disappeared into such markets.

Surprisingly, the offered the King of the Northern Realms to entrust the capture of the black markets to the bank due to their vested interest in uncovering the economy outside of their control.

They too promised to invest back what they found into the kingdom, so it wasn't difficult for the King to give them the command they sought, while he watched them fulfil the agreed upon conditions.

Funnily enough, he was left speechless after the Forever Winter Bank began to heavily invest in the expansion of certain Guilds to help in their work uncovering the hidden economy of the world.

This included the Mercenary and Finance Guild, the latter of which easily made sense, but the heavy invest into the former left many on edge as not only the Company of the Rose grew in size, but three new companies were established as well.

The Wolfblood, Stygian Knights, and Warriors of the Forest quickly came into existence and saw a great deal of veterans joining any of the three companies.

Without even being asked, Northern nobility also sent forth sons and daughters to join the companies, much to the King's delight as his own children and those of his siblings eagerly left to join their Northern brethren.

To the surprise and delight of many, Battlegrounds, an Olympic-recognized Battle-sport was utilized as a training program, yet they were stunned by the changes made by the Dwarves, Goblins, Gnomes, and so forth.

The Battle-sport had a deadlier touch to it after the majority of the safeguards were removed to make sure the recruits were educated enough regarding the reality of war and conflict.

It eventually gained traction amongst the mercenary companies, leading to the Forever Winter Bank creating a deadlier league of the sport, reserved solely for Essos than Westeros for now.

…

..

.

5500 Years After the Wall

Prince Arq of Ar Noy agreed to a marriage proposal for his daughter's hand from House Stark, making her the future Queen of the Northern Realms.

A marriage between the Kingdom of the Rhoyne and Northern Realms hadn't occurred for many centuries, so Prince Arq stepped ahead of his brethren to offer his daughter's hand to the Crown Prince, a young man well known for his generosity for the unfortunate of this harsh world.

This was the first of two foreign marriages for House Stark, as another Crown Prince two generations later would marry the daughter of House Vaelgyreon from the Freehold.

Both marriages were greatly beneficial for House Stark as it brought in new blood into the House, however the potency of the strong blood from the foreign mothers ensured the genetics of the Stark bloodline were altered for the better.

They gained more noblesse characteristics such as higher cheekbones, sharper jawline, and a more leaner body frame, yet the latter remained fairly muscular and dense due to the increased level of magic coursing through the blood.

A slightly tanned touch to the skin, along with the sparkling purple iris of the right eye, Starks gained slightly more traits from the marriage to the Valyrian daughter.

Of course, the Rhoynish Princess helped the Starks gain some colour to their skin, however they also turned their hair darker, which only altered once more, now containing a streak of Valyrian platinum hair stretching through the dark locks.

Scholars believed the change to the Stark Bloodline came about due to rich and powerful blood of the Valyrians and Rhoynar, however their magical counterparts instead theorised magic had caused the reaction.

They weren't sure as to why it had occurred, but nonetheless, their theory became recognised by House Stark and the Northern noble society, who couldn't help but celebrate at the strengthening and prosperity of the Realms.

…

..

.

5876 Years After the Wall

Crown Princess Genevieve the Daring Wolf decided to employ House Beowulf, and Greywolf, including House Iceriver, to lead an expedition to the White Waste in search of the fabled Ice Dragons.

Allegedly, two Northern merchant fleets had spotted the creatures in the distance hunting for prey by diving into the freezing depths of the Shivering Sea.

The captain supposedly tried to capture an image of the creatures via their Data Slates but for some unknown reason, the camera appeared hazy and unable to focus on the mythical beings.

Houses Peverell, Longbottom, Granger, Dagworth, Scamander and Hagrid joined the Crown Princess in her expedition to the White Waste, well aware of the dangers this trip could pose, but they were too damn excited to finally discover the habitat of the Ice Dragons.

Ever since the days of Bran the Builder and the Wizard King, Ice Dragons were occasionally spotted by sailors travelling through the Shivering Sea, but none could follow their journey home, so no expeditionary fleet was ever created.

That all changed once Crown Princess Genevieve learnt of the Ice Dragon hunting in the Shivering Sea after returning from Essos, having served as part of the Warriors of the Forest.

The King refused her idea of leaving immediately for the White Waste, stating it was a foolish idea to stake one's life upon, but the Crown Princess wouldn't give up and, in the end, contacted her close friends from various Houses to string together support.

All came forward to serve upon her call, though most weren't the Magnars themselves but their children and future heirs.

This caused the King to eventually step in and stop his daughter from further angering the Magnars and Magnara of the Kingdom, so he called on the Houses to have made small journeys to the White Waste for scientific and magical purposes.

For some reason, he felt his daughter planned for such actions to be taken by himself, yet there wasn't any true means of finding out.

In the end, the Expeditionary Fleet left the Port City of Kinghouse as it was easier to leave from Skagos than Wintercity, since they were taking along some magical aid via the Mermen and Mermaids part of the fleet.

With their aid, the trip remained mostly unbothered except for a wild storm that suddenly came upon the fleet.

Many would have died, and several ships were bound to sink, however the timely interference of the Mermaids and Mermen ensured the fleet remained safe and well as it neared the blizzard shoreline of the White Waste.

Only through magical telescopes were the mountains of the White Waste visible to the scouts of the trip who believed the Ice Dragons nested in the region.

Nobody could be certain of their location, yet for some reason, the Crown Princess believed for certain they were located at the centre most mountain, which happened to be the largest of the lot they could view through the telescopes, as the constant ice blizzard made it near impossible to see.

Some of the crew remained behind to manage the ships and extra supplies, including the Mermen and Mermaid, but they stayed back for other reason.

Only the Crown Princess knew, yet this simply confirmed what she knew all along.

The Ice Dragons existed, and they were nestled here on the White Waste.

For the next fortnight, Crown Princess Genevieve the Daring Wolf would lead her team through the harsh blizzard land of the White Waste, discovering all sorts of unknown facts about the forgotten region such as a city long destroyed by the freezing and stormy weather of the region.

It had been reduced to what remained of the more central districts, as the rest of the greater region of the city was long eradicated by the weather.

The magically gifted moved ahead of the Crown Princess to ensure the structures wouldn't collapse during their scavenging, though what they found in the few days of staying there, left many of the expeditionary team shocked.

The city happened to be an outpost of sorts for the Great Empire of the Dawn during their Golden Era.

Back then, the records stated the White Waste was considered one of the greatest world gardens created by the 'God-on-Earth', yet the few scholars' part of the trip suspected the White Waste came to be later on.

Unsurprisingly, their thoughts were dead right after more written scripture stated the rise of a civil war led to a catastrophic event known as the Blood Betrayal, enacted on the lands now known as the White Waste since it was the fiefdom of the Bloodstone Emperor.

Even the Long Night supposedly started in the White Waste before spreading across the world, causing the rise of Wights, and other undead creatures and beings to harm the living.

Very few left the land known as the White Waste alive before they were overcome by the undead beings, or by the rise of the harshest winter they ever had encountered in recorded history.

All this knowledge quickly was sorted and stored by the scholars so it could be taken home, along with the remaining goods they could find throughout the city before continuing with their crusade for the Ice Dragons.

Many began to fear the undead were still around and lurking in the vast lands of snow and ice all around them, but Crown Princess Genevieve wasn't willing to give up now and forged ahead to the mountains.

She had her Wintersguard and Wolfguard nearby, protecting her from possible harm even in the White Waste.

They all wore Wintersteel armour and wielded weapons made of the forged magical steel in case of the worst scenario.

Soon, all could be more thankful for their vigilance and training as a horde of Wights came barrelling into the Expeditionary team randomly, causing a few members to gain some serious injuries but none were fatally injured or turned into the undead.

The Wintersteel weapons and armour worked surprisingly well against the White Waste after the fire enchantments came alive and burned the creatures into ash, never once faltering against the freezing cold weather.

This wasn't the first horde of undead they'd come across in their journey to the mountains, but with each encounter they became better equipped to handle the undead beings.

That was only up until they came face to face with a White Walker, and one dressed in armour of the darkest stone and metal they had ever seen.

It never spoke but continued to stare at the Crown Princess who in turned locked her eyes on the fabled being.

She soon broke off her gaze and simply commanded, "It must fall for us to survive…" to her Wintersguard and Wolfsguard, both of which prepared for a battle to the end.

Dozens of well equipped and trained Northern soldiers and warriors began the deadly fight against the White Walker and its horde of undead that never seemed to end.

Losses began to pile up, but not at the speed expected by the White Walker, who started to involve itself in the battle, and brought down a Wintersguard and Wolfguard by its sheer strength, yet that was the last action it could take as another Wintersguard slayed the undead being after seeing his comrades fall.

Yet as the White Walker crumbled away, the Undead beings never ceased in their attack, causing the Crown Princess to command there was another White Walker nearby who must have taken over the command of the raised dead.

This somewhat dampened the spirits of the team as they fought tooth and nail to survive, yet their hope was quickly renewed the second White Walker came into sight, along with another, both of which charged for the Crown Princess.

They brought more undead to the fight, but they fell as well to the blazing swords of the Northerners.

Neither cared for the raised creatures since the Crown Princess held more importance to them, but they struggled to reach her while she continued to fire some odd arrows in their direction.

They ignored them for now, but quickly regretted that decision once they saw the smirk on the Crown Princess's face as her eyes flashed a unique violet purple, and moonlight silver before settling back to normal.

Before they knew it, the arrows they ignored had now exploded, each contained shards of enchanted Obsidian shards, each of which buried itself into the backs of the White Walkers.

Both shattered shortly afterwards, which actually eased the temperature somewhat, so the surviving members of the team quickly moved to secure their fallen brethren, while torching alight the bodies of the undead to have been risen by the White Walkers.

As this occurred, none were ready to witness a pack of Ice Dragons soaring over from the largest mountain a short distance from their current location.

Many were too stunned to say a word or take any action, yet the Wolfsguard and Wintersguard quickly relayed orders for everything to prepare for the worst-case scenario, yet the Crown Princess delayed such orders.

Well asked why, she said nothing but closely watched the dragons as they approached.

She watched how they glistened in the little sunlight they received in the White Waste as if they were made entirely of icy glass.

Hell, they even appeared larger than the Dragons of Valyria and those of the Avalon sanctuary, yet none could prepare themselves for the nature abilities of the Ice Dragons.

As they landed, an Ice Dragon larger than the rest, and one evidently scarred from numerous battles, stepped forward in front of the dozens upon dozens of Ice Dragons, and telepathically addressed the whole Expeditionary team at once.

"WHY ARE YOU HERE, HUMAN?"

Some members of the group fell to their knees, clutching their heads in anguish by the loud sound of the Dragon, yet the Crown Princess, her guards, and a couple others with a strong mental fortitude were able to keep standing.

All were in pain at the loud voice of the Dragon, but remaining standing as had the Crown Princess, who shortly replied, "I have come to seek your people out.

For as long as I can remember, your kind have appeared in my dreams ever since I was an infant, and to hear of your possible existence, I could not resist seeking you out."

Many of her guards, and close friends couldn't believe what they heard, but none dared to question her in the moment as she stood alone when gazing straight at the eyes of the lead Ice Dragon.

"WHO ARE YOU HUMAN?

I SMELL GREAT POWER FROM YOUR BLOOD…" Without having the chance to stop her guards, they all unsheathed their weapons and moved closer to the Crown Princess, much to the mirth of the Ice Dragon.

However, it said nothing and waited for the reply from the human, which only left it in deep thought as their discussion continued for some time.

"I am the Crown Prince of House Stark, born of the ancient bloodline of Starks who have led the First Men, Children of the Forest, Giants, Gaelsesi, Wolffolk, Dwarves, Goblins, and countless other magical beings as High Kings and Queens.

I will lead them one day in the future, as have my forefathers, and so shall my children and their children for we at the Kings of Winter."

"WHAT DO YOU SEEK FROM MY PEOPLE?"

"Friendship and loyalty for safety and freedom far from this godforsaken land."

…

..

.

She didn't know it at the time, but the deaths of the three White Walkers actually secured the trust of the Ice Dragons as they were trying to escape the undead beings searching for their nest.

This had long been a struggle for the Ice Dragons to face ever since the Long Night as it saw them escape their true homes far deeper into the lands of the White Waste.

But for more than the last five millennia or so, they continued to fight and escape from the White Walkers hoping to hunt them down to use as undead mounts.

The Ice Dragon leader, named Igvor, spoke of the countless Ice Dragons it had slayed to save the rest of its kind from the clutches of the White Walkers.

Igvor didn't believe they would survive for longer as the White Walkers neared once more, however the arrival of the living humans gave them hope.

This very same hope now offered them all life at a new homeland, far away from the struggles of the White Waste.

So, it wasn't long before the Ice Dragons returned from their nest in the mountains with all their possessions, after which they left with the living humans for the ships at the shoreline of the White Waste.

For those located on the ships, the sight of dozens upon dozens of Ice Dragons left them scattering to prepare for battle, but as they neared, Crown Princess Genevieve soon got in touch with the Commander of the fleet to alert him of their arrival.

After calming the hearts and minds of the vast sea crew, the Commander of the Fleet watched along with the rest as the Ice Dragons soared above them, roaring to the heavens above as if they had finally found home…

…

..

.

6000 Years After the Wall

Over a century passed since Ice Dragons were discovered and brought to the Northern Realms to resettle Beyond-The-Wall and upon Skagos in specifically created and further enchanted lands to best suit the mythical creatures.

Igvor, as the leader of the Ice Dragons, allowed for its child and another of its kind to enact a pact with House Stark to serve as Familiars, much like the Direwolves, who quickly adjusted and accepted its newest brethren to the Kingdom and Stark Bloodline.

The arrival of the Ice Dragons and their pact with House Stark via Crown Princess Genevieve caused quite a stir amongst the Northern Nobility before news spread further wide.

Smallfolk and Commoners couldn't help but celebrate at the strengthening of their homeland, whereas the nobility worried about the ferocity of the creatures, only to discover they were herbivores and only resorted to eating meat when they had no other option.

Also, the fact they were natural telepaths and intelligent beings ensured the Northern Nobility accepted them with no issues.

Starks soon found they weren't the only ones capable of creating a pact with the Ice Dragons, but they all came from the Stark Bloodline, so Houses Karstark, Whitestark, and Icestark secured their own mythical creatures, while rising in status.

They were very powerful Houses in the own right, so the addition of the Ice Dragons just increased the strength they could wield compared to others.

However, it still came at a large cost for the Houses in the beginning to settle the Ice Dragons in their lands by creating the ideal nests for them to rest in, but they often chose to spend time with the rest of their kind either Beyond-The-Wall or in Skagos.

…

..

.

While the arrival of the Ice Dragons in the Northern Realms helped further strengthen them closer to the state of an empire than a kingdom, certain members of the Valyrian Freehold noble society found it rather difficult to accept anyone else besides themselves could mount Dragons.

House Zahqaerys and the faction they led, had a tough time accepting the Northern Realms and in particular, House Stark, could now count Dragons as part of their strength.

Already they held too much power for the liking of the Valyrians, however the faction led by House Zahqaerys only made up a small portion of the entire kingdom's attitude to the news.

A plan of attack nearly went into action, but calmer heads of the aggressive faction stopped House Zahqaerys from leading a surprise attack on the Northern Realms, just as the entire kingdom prepared for conquest over some of the smaller kingdoms scattered across Essos.

Quite a number of these 'kingdoms' were nothing more than port cities with small settlements just outside of the city walls, yet a few actually had the strength and capabilities to actually cause the Valyrians quite a number of problems.

During the war with the Ghiscari, kingdoms and empires around the known world realised the need for a means to bring down Dragons, if not outright kill them.

The Northern Realms already had such means and sold such goods to the world but not in a large extent to anger their Valyrian allies.

However, some kingdoms were strong enough to quickly redesign what had been released by the Northern Realms to create a version of their own, such as the Rhoynish had done.

They had then sold these protections to the rest of Essos, but during a time when the Valyrians were too focused on the Ghiscari.

Now they couldn't do anything to stop the spread of such knowledge or equipment that had reached the Golden Empire as well as the rest of Westeros.

None of the Andal Kingdoms besides Andalos thought of shielding themselves from the Dragons, so they weren't popular in Westeros, however any kingdom worth their two cents knew best to protect themselves from the flying mounts of the Valyrians.

Therefore, the cooler and calmer heads eventually directed the anger of the rest to focus on destroying the smaller challenges throughout Essos before considering any possible action against the Northern Realms.

…

..

.

6256 Years After the Wall

A new order formed for those who have bonded to an Ice Dragon celebrated its first centennial anniversary as the number of riders grew.

Ever since the Ice Dragons arrived on the mainland of the Northern Realms, Dragonologists closely oversaw the creation of their habitats, diets, and training routine to bring their health up to date after being starved of protein and nutrition while on the run in the White Waste.

Their task became marginally simpler due to the Ice Dragons telepathic and evolved minds, so the Dragonologists were over the moon to learn more about the magical beings.

The new knowledge also helped them manage the other Dragons much better, though none expected the new practises to increase in populous within such a short time frame.

Of course, majority of the Dragons remained free, yet plenty were bonded to riders, some of which weren't entirely human.

An Eldari of House Eldar married into House Whitestark and birthed a child of Eldari and Human heritage.

He wasn't the first of his kind, but between Northern nobility, House Eldar had yet to marry into House Stark, so they weren't the proposal from House Whitestark.

Truthfully, the heir of House Whitestark, and the Eldari daughter from House Eldar were close friends who studied together at Hogwarts, including University, before agreeing to a relationship after confessing their feelings for one another.

The Eld-Human child showed signs of being a magical prodigy, and capable fighter, yet he surprised everyone the most when he matched the Dragon egg left in his crib on his first night after birth.

Eventually, Halarr Whitestark became a recognised Dragonrider of the Northern Realms upon his twenty-first name day and started training to join the illustrious yet new Order of Dragon-Rangers, which hosted itself in Asgard.

Often, they were found Beyond-The-Wall, serving as protectors of the cities and settlements in the freezing lands divided from the rest of Westeros.

The Dragon-Rangers had more free-range control over their day-to-day schedule, so they could be found in all parts of the Northern Realms, often serving the people, or helping in some form or another.

They dealt with the Green Rangers, Ikranä Riders, and Wolfen Riddari more often than other Orders of the Northern Realms, so the citizens of the kingdom were quite visually aware of all the protectors safeguarding their way of life.

.

Besides protecting the Northern Way of Life, Ice Dragons brought a whole new aspect to the potion, tailoring, crafting, artificing, alchemy, and herbology fields as the creatures gave off unique scales, blood, and manure.

Magical society couldn't be more ecstatic about the creatures, and what they could offer, even though it became incredibly costly and difficult to purchase, goods of the Ice Dragons quickly gained a status of their own.

Much like the Basilisks of Skane, their scales were highly desirable and costly, which continued even till now, but over time the accessibility of the item would bring its value down somewhat.

None could be certain but for now, Ice Dragons still drew plenty of attention from the kingdom and its citizens, including tourists, and allies.

…

..

.

6670 Years After the Wall

Prince Brandon, the son of the King's younger sibling, prepared a fleet to sail west of Westeros to see if there was any new land to find and explore or claim.

House Potter of Skagos even offered protections during the journey to help the fleet find land or at the very least some sort of safe place if nothing was found.

However, two months in their journey, a large storm suddenly appeared as a heavy fog set over the rough sea.

As if a painter slipped their hand while adjusting their masterpiece, a crack ripped through the air, large enough to allow anything to come through with ease.

Navigators and councillors of the Prince stopped the fleet for going any further as the storm raged, yet as they waited for the seas and weather to settle, the rip through the air released several large ships.

Analysts onboard the ship quickly identified the ships weren't heavily armoured but rather large cargo or holding ships, but nobody was certain.

While the Commander of the fleet worked to discover if the ships were friendlies, one small ship unseen by all, quietly slipped by and entered the darkness of the tear in the air.

…

..

.

To those wondering, I am taking a creative break from further building the Game of Thrones universe.

Harry will come back, but more towards Canon and it will work with the greater world I am creating.

I am going to be really relaxed when I write and release this going ahead as I am not really doing for anyone but just for myself while working on my novel and just working in general.

Peace to the reviewers, but I cannot be fucked half the time.

Love what you write and I understand the complaints.

Believe me, I do.

But hey, nobody is perfect.

Anyway, enjoy the story ahead as we continue The Journey of Death's Chosen.

…

..

.

"Well… it's nice to see you again… even though it's a little premature…

Did you perish in the battle against the Agent of the 'Great Other'?"

Seated in the garden cove of Death's Manor, Harry raised the offered cup of tea to his lips, only to stop so he could saviour the aroma of the leaves, while answering the question of his primordial being.

There wasn't only one, as another joined right after the question had been asked… or they had always been there… either way, both primordial beings invested in Harry patiently waited for his answer.

"I have not yet faced the being known as the Night King since it still slumbers deep in the Lands of Winter.

By my best estimates, there is at least four millennia till it rises once more and starts its next crusade upon the world." Harry's answer brought a frown to the face of both primordial beings, causing the recently arrived to ask, "… What happened to be the date when you left the world?"

"The year 6670 if I am correct."

For the first time, Harry saw Death and Magic visibly react from the answer he provided, yet as his eyes narrowed while mulling over why they behaved as such, Lady Death asked another question.

"What year did you arrive in this world?"

This time, Harry didn't immediately reply but closely stared at the mortal representations used by the two primordial beings before answering, "During the reign of Brandon the Builder, the first High King of the North."

Both beings instantly reeled back in shock from the answer, only to turn and face one another as they delved into the history of his actions and time in the new world.

They asked Harry to comment from time to time about his journey so far and why he accomplished certain tasks and goals over others, so he wasn't entirely aware of could have been the problem that caused the two beings to be rather surprised.

"You should not have arrived in this world so early.

Rather, we planned for you to reach this world just a couple centuries before the second Long Night…

However, it seems others have intervened for some unknown purpose to send you further back in time."

As Death stopped, Magic began to speak, "We planned for you to grow and create bonds that would transcendence Time and Space as you continue your journey through Eternity and Existence.

It appears we have been lax as others have tried to make you a tool for their own ambitions and goals.

For now, we have decided you will not return to this world but head to another where we believe you are required.

However, we cannot be certain you will arrive when we plan for it since your soul has been marked by the manipulators, so we shall aid you against their actions in a way."

Death and Magic twitched their hands slight before they settled back into their laps, after which Death spoke up once more, "You will not regain control over the Terra Dimension since a pact was made cancelling your control over it until the Agent of the 'Great Other' is resolved.

We have also sealed away the Pocket Dimension you have now moulded by the excess power sent to it over the millennia.

It cannot remain with you any further, nor can the allies that rest within, so it shall merge with the Pocket Dimension, allowing the residents to return back to your main world.

This means you will be alone in this new world we shall send you too, but all the knowledge, goods, resources, and other such items shall remain with you.

They will be found in a new pocket dimension we have created and bound to you for now, however it will not continually accept your excess power.

Rather a small portion of it will be sent to the dimension to continually power it and allow for a reasonable expansion, whereas the rest shall be sent to the expanded Terra Dimension as it requires far more energy to continue existing without outside interference.

Prepare yourself, for the world you shall enter, is far from what it appears as the dangers are not only residing on the mortal or worldly plane."

Harry understood and nodded his head in acceptance after mulling over the words of his first Patron, just as he felt the changes occurring through his body that were just proposed by Lady Death.

It just lasted for a couple of moments, however to Harry, it felt as if a lifetime passed by in an instant.

After everything settled, Harry finally decided to ask the question that had continually ran through his mind for as long as he could remember serving Lady Death.

"What is my purpose?

Am I to journey into new worlds for Eternity without rest?

Is there a quest or action I should take or do while I see these new worlds?

Can you please tell me more, because I am beginning to see no value in this… chaos."

The strain in Harry's voice echoed throughout the plush garden of Death's Manor, but it failed to affect the two primordial beings in attendance.

They simply turned to one another before facing Harry again as Lady Magic chose to address him, "Yes you are on a journey, and one we have set out purposely so far to raise your strength and knowledge about the Multiverse and Creation as a whole.

Since your True Death which saw you come into the service of Death, your existence began to evolve from a mortal to one of greater strength and power.

What we wish for is the rise of your strength as it will give you greater power to face entities who now dare to play and manipulate your fate for their entertainment.

We shall intervene to protect you going forward, but the faster you gain the strength and wisdom of others to fill the ranks of continued companionship, the earlier you shall have the power to do as you please.

So continued to grow in strength and create new bonds that shall transcend Time and Space one day, for you have the Patronage of Death and Magic at your side."