Huntsmen of Winter.
288-AC Greywater Watch
A fortnight after defeating the Three-Eyed Raven and meeting the Children of the Forest, Harry found himself once again at the Godswood of Greywater Watch.
Harry spent a few days after meeting the Children purely on learning the potion recipes that the men in Greywater Watch were knowledgeable about. Learning the recipes wasn't very difficult; there were only a few of them and most of them were basic compared to what he was used to. The actual techniques they used to make the potions was remarkably similar to what he learned at Hogwarts, if not very outdated. They didn't have proper cauldrons or spoons to mix with and instead seemed to use whatever they could get their hands on. Harry even saw some men stirring potions with dirty sticks!
After learning how to make their potions, he found himself spending almost all of his time in the Godswood. He would be there from morning to night constantly delving into the past, looking for secrets and hidden mysteries.
It wasn't easy.
There were countless Weirwoods that had seen countless moments that were all connected in the Astral plane that was The Green. Majority of those moments were unimportant. Inconsequential. Finding something useful was difficult. He had to spend hours looking just to find some slightly interesting moments that weren't just the Weirwood tree sitting there. Never mind something actually useful.
So he decided he would start with something broad. Something he could find a lot of examples of and something he could use in his plans.
First Men Runes.
The First Men were known to carve these runes on rocks, weapons, statues and structures that they built and used. Most Maesters believed that they used these runes to describe their history and culture but there are other stories that hold more interest to Harry. They were said to use the runes for magic. There are stories of the Royces having bronze armour carved with runes that was said to protect the wearer from harm and other stories of knives carved with these runes to increase sharpness or the runes being used to ward structures such as Winterfell or Storms End. Harry isn't sure how much truth there is to these stories but he's hoping where there is smoke, there is fire.
The problem with the runes lies in the fact that nobody in recent times really knows how to read the runes correctly. There are those that can speak in the Old Tongue, but reading it is a different story. There some Maesters who are said to have some knowledge of the meaning of some of these ancient runes, but according to Maester Luwin, these translations are still heavily debated by the Citadel making them almost useless for Harry's purposes. Most runes that are left on structures today are also very degraded by time, making it difficult to discern the correct patterns and outright impossible in some cases.
The only real way for him to learn runes without having the Children of the Forest help him, is to do it the hard way. By going through the past and looking for runes that haven't been degraded by time. By comparing all these different runes and trying to work out a meaning for them by cross referencing them. He has to basically rediscover the whole runic alphabet on his own.
So far it was slow going.
He had managed to figure out a few basic symbols so far but hasn't learnt how the First Men even went about charging the Runes yet. Never mind how the structure of the rune scheme works. In other terms, he has started learning the First Men alphabet but hasn't learnt how sentences are structured. Or gotten into the more complicated meanings of the symbols. It would take time to get proficient with the language. The only reason Harry even had any confidence in succeeding was due to his experience with Ancient Runes. The languages are different now, but he hopes the rules are similar to what he was used to.
Harry knows he would probably have more luck asking the Children of the Forest to teach him how to use runes but he is hesitant to rely on them. He would learn all he could from them when the time comes, but in the meantime, he would work out what he could.
It was giving him the chance to get better at Greenseeing and besides, he never knows what types of secrets he could stumble onto during his search for ancient First Men runes.
Right now Harry was looking into the past, examining a scene that brought out some interest for once. Instead of constantly stumbling onto scenes of quiet forests.
It was about 400 years into the past and was the furthest back that he had looked so far. The Lord Reed of the time was repairing and improving Greywater Watch in several places that looked to have been damaged by rot. Harry stumbled upon this scene because he was looking at the history of things the Weirwood he was at had seen. He looked back a year further into the past each time and was seeing if there is anything noteworthy. The scene really caught his attention when he saw some of the builders carving runes on pieces of wood. He was also curious because Greywater Watch is a castle on water made of wood. Wood rots. But somehow Greywater Watch has never been rebuilt after this period, 400 years ago.
For Harry this was an interesting curiosity. Learning how to make wood last longer without rotting would be very useful for shipbuilding.
He hasn't been able to figure out what any of the runes mean yet but he has been memorizing them so he could draw them later for use as a reference.
He memorized the sequence of runes that he watched an old man carve onto one of the bigger planks before he decided to withdraw from the Green for the day.
Once Harry came back into the real world, he opened his eyes and took a deep long breath of air in order to calm his mind. He always felt that he could get mentally tired if he spent too long Greenseeing . He stood and stretched out the kinks he had developed in his back from sitting still in the same position all day.
Harry groaned and gestured to Ser Rodrick, who was sitting against a rock, to follow him.
The knight had refused to leave Harrys side in the last few weeks. Apparently while his first experience Greenseeing felt like it only lasted a few minutes to him, he was out for over a full day. He believes the missing time comes from when he was first dragged off by the Raven and the time he spent pulling it back to its cave. It might have felt like a short time to him, but he assumes time feels different on the astral plane. Understandably the knight was concerned when he got back from the tavern to the castle and found out Harry was still unconscious in the middle of the Godswood, with only Lord Reed and an old woman as company.
He got understandably more upset after arriving to the Godswood to find Harrys unconscious body under attack by lion lizards and ravens, with them only being kept away by other birds and lizard lions, as well as Lord Reeds spear.
Since that event, Ser Rodrick has been Harry's shadow. Refusing to leave his side for anything. He doesn't mind it too much. Ser Rodrick is a loyal man and his family had served the Starks faithfully for several generations. Harry was initially wary about showing off his magic in front of the man, but upon discovering that Harry used magic, if anything he only seemed to become more loyal.
Harry jumped into the boat and watched as Ser Rodrick started to paddle them back to the castle. He used this time to start thinking about what his next steps were. He couldn't spend too much longer at Greywater Watch. He had been there for almost a moon already and it was getting close to the time he had to leave. If he spent too long here he would have to spend an equal amount of time at his other bannermen when he visits their castles. To do otherwise would probably upset or slight some of them.
Harry withheld a sigh when he thought of that. He would need to travel to and stay at each of his major bannermens castles in the next few years. He has to go to ALL of them. If he leaves one or two out, they would feel slighted and then would probably do something stupid later on to repay the slight on their honour. It's just better to not give them a reason to be slighted in the first place, even if Harry would prefer not to run around appeasing Lords who act more like children sometimes. At least the North is not as bad as the South in that respect.
There are advantages to travelling the through the North though. For one it would give Harry the ability to get to know his Lords better, so that he can know how to better steer them towards his plans for the North.
As much as Harry doesn't want to admit it, The North is too large and too disorganised to properly govern. For now, at least. If he wants his Lords to follow his edicts, he needs them to want to follow them. If a lord doesn't want to listen to him or wants to disobey him, there is a lot they can do to do so without him ever really knowing. A single lord can cause a lot of chaos if they so choose. It is better if he can get to know them properly so that he can guide them without giving them a reason to cause chaos. Still, he isn't looking forward to going to Lord Boltons castle. Maybe he could make an exception in his case. Have Domeric come to Winterfell.
He will think about that another time.
For now, Harry needs to prepare to leave Greywater Watch and head back to Winterfell in the next few days. Then he needs to start making preparations for the Childrens arrival and the arrival of the Giants. He needs to prepare certain lords and test how they would react to the arrival of the Children. He needs to find ways for them to properly integrate with Northern citizens. He needs to make the North stronger. Not just the military but the economy also has to be much stronger, the standard of education must be better and the laws must be clearer and more unified.
The South would probably react poorly to the arrival of the Children and Giants. So he would need to speed up his plans to strengthen the southern border. At this stage, war with the Faith is likely to happen. If he has to choose between bowing to the Faiths whims and the Children of the Forest and the Giants, then there will be war. He cares more about saving their species than he cares what the Faith thinks. Hopefully the King stays out of the issue entirely.
He hopes the Manderlys aren't a problem. They could also cause issues if they wanted. He doubts they would though. They have been trying to fit in with the other Lords of the North for centuries now. They won't undo all their progress. Lord Whitehill is likely to be a problem though. The Lord is already prickly with a large ego and an inflated sense of self-importance. His family were devoted to the Faith and are likely to be unhappy with some of his decisions in the future. He would have to keep an eye on him.
Harry came to a realisation after meeting the Children. He realised that protecting them isn't going to be simple. People are always afraid of what is different. People who are afraid often lash out. There are so few Children left, in order to save their species, he needs to protect as many of them as he can. If even one is lost it will be a tragedy. He needs to influence the North into embracing the Children, while at the same time strengthening the North against internal and external attacks, because he has no chance of influencing the people in the South.
In order to do that, he needs to gather more power. He needs to start centralising power to his House. Even more than it already is. House Stark might rule the North but they don't have any direct power over their vassals' lands. If House Manderly or Mormont decided to cheat House Stark, there are many ways to so without House Stark knowing.
Harry knows those lords are loyal to house Stark and that they have been for years, but the North is changing and will continue to change for generations if he has any say. He needs to set strong political foundations that not only will be able to support that change. The foundation needs to give him and future Starks the tools needed to guide that change correctly.
He had several ideas for how to model his new form of government, but isn't sure how he wants to do it yet. At first Harry had the idea he could model his new form of government after the old one. Give more power back to the lords and to the people. He could make it so that future generations of Starks don't have absolute power but there are a panel of lords. With the Starks only holding a majority of power to balance votes in certain circumstances.
He doesn't want to do that.
He knows that even a proper democracy isn't a perfect government. A lot of it is just a popularity contest and lots of politicians are corrupt. It's often how they got to their positions in the first place. There probably isn't a perfect form of government and never will be. The last thing he wants though, is for the Starks to become nothing more than puppets.
Harry Potter might have had some issues with giving all power to one person. That it is too much power for one person.
Now, he isn't sure if it's because of the complete collapse of his old government or because being reborn gave him a new perspective, but Harry wasn't sure if one person having all power would be a bad thing. If one person ruled the world, would there be less war?
If there was a King of the world, and he unquestionably ruled everywhere with no challengers. If no one could challenge him. If no one really wanted to. If his Dynasty was built on foundations so strong it could last and grow stronger for generations. Could he keep the world stable? Allow for open borders between nations? For peace and prosperity? Would there be fairness? Could mankind put aside their differences and interact and mingle among each other without fighting?
If someone was born to rule a nation so large. If they were given all the tools they needed to rule. Given all the advantages. The training. The education. If they were given all the power they needed. Beyond all the power they needed. If they were virtually untouchable by the rest of the world. Would they be able to rule well?
Or is it too much for one person to handle?
Westeros, Essos, Earth….Everywhere had so much war.
This place isn't Earth. It's much more brutal.
Democracy didn't work before. There were too many people scheming for too much power. All trying to be at the top. All getting in the way of each other, and in the way of the progress of humanity.
If there was already a person at the top. Could they control the rest? Guide humanity without being driven by a lust for profit or power, because it all already belongs to them? Or would they inevitably go mad with power?
He didn't know. He believed it could be possible for them to use their power fairly though. He had to believe that, because that's probably the form of government that he is going to end up making. If there is a King on top of the world controlling and enforcing laws fairly, with a good administrative system behind them and unlimited resources backing them, they would hopefully be able to make the world a much better place. As long as they were half decent people at least.
Harry isn't planning on rebelling against Robert Baratheon. He doesn't even particularly want to be king. The issue is that he's going to be changing the focus of power so much in the next few years that war is practically inevitable. He isn't going to hold back on the development of the North for much longer and there are those in the South who would have an issue with the new balance of power. They will try and disrupt the Norths power as much as they could. They probably won't have much luck while Robert Baratheon is alive, but once he is dead, it might be a different story.
So for now, Harry was planning for the worst. He won't rebel against The Crown as long as Robert Baratheon is alive, just like he promised his uncle Ned, but if Roberts son decides to try and curb the Norths power, then he wouldn't really have any other choice but to do so. The lords would probably demand independence at that stage.
There were a few moments over the last few weeks, where he contemplated the idea of making Jon King of the Seven Kingdoms. In the end he decided it probably wasn't a good idea. The lords of the North won't be happy with the outcome and neither will the lords of Dorne. The Riverlands, Vale and Stormlands would also be a problem. Most would be reluctant to accept a Targaryen King. While the Westerlands would be hostile through his entire rule. In the end Harry decided that it was probably not a great idea to make Jon king but he would keep an open mind in the future.
The boat landed at the docks. Hadrian stepped off the ship and made his way to Lord Reed. It wasn't a big walk and before long he was sitting in Howland Reeds solar.
Lord Reed was sitting with a piece of wood in his hands that he was shaping with a carving knife. Harry was getting prepared to propose an idea he had a while ago. If he was going to make the North strong and build infrastructure for it to last and continue growing stronger, then he has to make sure it has strong institutions supporting it.
The first thing he needs is an information network. Luckily he was in the perfect place to get a start on creating one. "My lord. The North is going to be changing in the future. I'm going to be doing all I can to promote the Old Gods and bring magic back. Now obviously, that is going to create a lot of enemies. I need your help my lord."
Lord Reed looked up from his carving. "How can I help, Lord Stark?"
He resisted the urge to smirk. "I need information about my enemies. Who they are, what they are planning and how to counter them. I need spies my lord, a lot of them. Obviously you can see why I came to you."
Lord Reed frowned. "Skinchangers."
Harry nodded. "Skinchangers, my lord. They would make the best spies. What's more is that magic is going to get stronger. There are going to be more skinchangers born in the next generations. I need to create a way to control them. A way to stop them from causing chaos. So I want to create an organisation sworn to the Stark of Winterfell. A secret organisation that will be compromised of the best skinchangers that can be found. They will be well trained and their main purpose will be to gather information for House Stark, but they will also be used to control or defeat other skinchangers that cause problems. Or used in certain situations for sabotage. Only those who are loyal will be allowed in the organisation and even then, they will be made to swear an oath in front of a Hearttree. What do you think my lord?"
Lord Reed didn't even blink at the explanation. He merely nodded once Harry was done. "It sounds like a decent idea my lord. I dislike all this talk of spying. It is not very honourable, but I can see the necessity of it. Most spies are not very honest or trustworthy even to those who pay them. Having dedicated spies who are both loyal and competent would be a great boon."
Harry smiled. "So you agree?"
Lord Reed nodded. "Aye, I will start to put this force together if that is your wish. I will need more details. How many men do you want? How will they be paid? Who will command them and how will the force be structured? Where will they be based?"
Harry couldn't be happier. He was afraid Lord Reed might fight him on this. He knows his uncle Ned will probably have a problem with having spies. To his relief it looked like the Lord of Greywater Watch was nothing if not practical.
He let out a small sigh of relief and started discussing some of the particulars. "I think for now one hundred people is a good start. If we can get one hundred skinchangers as spies, that should be able to cover most of Westeros."
Lord Reed stilled. "A hundred? That is a lot my lord. There are perhaps only half that in The Neck. Skinchangers are still rare my lord."
Harry nodded. "Aye. I expect we will struggle to fill those numbers. That's why I settled on a hundred. It will be the work of years to get all the skinchagers we need, but that will allow me to build the organisation properly. I would also prefer it if the ones we recruit are young. Sixteen to twenty namedays would be best. They would swear to serve for a number of years, perhaps fifteen years, before being released into retirement after swearing to never speak of what they might have learned. They will also need to be taught some skills such as fighting, reading and writing. For now we will choose the most trustworthy person to command but future Starks will pick someone out of the best recruits when a new commander is needed. For now they will be based out of Greywater Watch but in the future I will move that to Winterfell. Perhaps ten gold dragons a year would be a good pay. It is a lot, but their jobs would require them to travel and be on their own a lot. All information will be passed from each individual spy to their commander and from there to the Stark of Winterfell."
Lord Reeds lips twitched. "I see you have thought this through."
He snorted. "I think through everything I do, Lord Reed."
Lord Reed smiled. "Aye. I am beginning to see that. What will you call this group?"
Harry smiled back. "I'm thinking of calling them The Huntsmen. It seems like a good name."
The lord looked back to the wood he was carving. "Aye. It is a good name. I will do this for you my lord. I have no doubt it could be a boon if done right. I will start by speaking to the skinchangers who are-"
"Lord Reed! Lord Stark!" Lord Reed was interrupted by the sound of shouting and banging on the door of his solar.
Before Harry could comment Lord Reed had shot up onto his feet and towards the door. He pulled the door open to reveal a small man standing on the other side. "What's wrong?" He asked with more force than Harry had ever heard in his voice.
The man stuttered. "S-Sorry to disturb you milords. We thought you might want to know as soon as possible."
Harrys eyes narrowed. "Know what?"
The man looked at him before looking down. "The Ironborn have invaded. Some of their ships have just been seen sailing on the Fever River towards Moat Cailin."
Harry sat up straight. Instantly alert. "Tell me more. How many ships? How long ago were they spotted?"
As always criticism is welcome as long as it's constructive.
Next chapter Thursday 23 March 2023.
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