Major Steps

290-AC The True North: Just beyond The Wall

The journey to The Wall proved to be quiet boring for Harry. He was used to spending the entire day rushing between different projects and ideas. Used to seeing progress every day. So for Harry, spending weeks travelling at a sedate pace by horse and carriage up the kingsroad was quiet …difficult.

Unfortunately, he wanted a few different Lords to join him on his journey to The Wall and Lord Manderly was one of them. Hadrian never told anyone the true reasons for the visit to The Wall. Convincing the Lord to go at all was a chore. He was under the impression that they were going to look at the farms and speak to Lord Umber about subduing the wildlings. Not exactly an important reason to drag him out of the castle. So Hadrian had to allow him his comforts.

So they were travelling by carriage.

In the end, it took them two weeks to reach Last Hearth. Two weeks of travelling at an agonising pace, feeling every bump in the road, trapped in a confined space with nothing to do to pass the time but talk.

Harry found it agonising.

When they finally got to Last Hearth, Harry wasn't sure whether to laugh in happiness at finally getting there, or cry that they still had to go all the way to The Wall.

He spent a night in the castle speaking to Lord Umber and Lord Karstark, who he summoned from the Army. In this time he convinced/ordered both Lords to join him on his procession to The Wall as well. Both were understandably confused about why they were asked to join his journey to The Wall, but they agreed to come anyway.

Not before they spent a night in the castle, with Lord Umber trading outlandish stories and drinking the other Lords under the table.

Lord Umber was under the impression Hadrian wanted him there to inspect some of the farmlands and give advice where he could. Lord Karstark was under the impression Harry wanted to talk to him about the army. That he wanted his advice on assessing The Wall. Both reasons were true. Neither were entirely correct.

Hadrian did spend some time looking at the growing farmlands. He studied the geography and the climate as much as he could. Harry didn't know much about farming, but he did notice one or two places he could create some lakes from rivers coming from some of the mountains. A few places some streams might be able to be diverted to make ponds or dams. He made a note of those places.

He also had a discussion with Lord Umber about laying the foundation for a couple of huge grazing grounds. He hinted to the Lord that those would be for the mammoths and Giants. Lord Umber looked amused when Hadrian said that. Even more amused when he told him the mammoths would be allowed to roam the Gift and graze and the Giants would be allowed to roam the North unbothered. Hadrian didn't think Lord Umber believed him. The Lord seemed to be under the impression he was joking and that he wanted those fields for something else.

Hadrian didn't mind. He let the Lord believe whatever he wished. When the mammoths do graze on the land, he will make sure Lord Umber gets to sell mammoth fur and meat to make some profit.

After that conversation, Hadrian spent even more time looking over the farmlands for lack of anything else to do on their journey. As their procession was moving even slower with the additional lords and their men.

He came to several conclusions about the farms. They were at a decent size and probably wouldn't grow too much more in the next few years, unless they get an influx of people. It was best to start focusing on cash crops soon before they ran out of people for those industries.

That problem seemed to follow him everywhere these days.

There were plenty of farms and fields that were springing up, there was just a lot more space and nowhere near enough people to make a dent in the land. Not for many generations at least. That's part of the reason Hadrian believed it would be a good spot for some of the Giants and their herds of mammoths to roam. At least until he can get them somewhere more permanent. Possibly back beyond The Wall once he has conquered it.

There were also growing issues with wildling attacks. They were increasing in number. When asked, Lord Karstark promised to place two hundred men from the Army in the Gift for protection in a few moons. The first batch from the army training should be ready by then and this will make a decent first assignment for some of them.

When with the Lords, sometimes they asked Hadrian about some of his plans. For the most part, he talked about fixing and improving the Kingsroad. He talked to them a bit more about how he plans to subdue the Wildlings and the plan he has to do that. He informed them he would most likely start doing that within a year. He spoke to Lord Manderly about some of the work he was doing on designing new ships.

He spoke to Lord Karstark about how the training of the Army was going. Harry told him more about the plan to trade with and subdue the wildlings and informed him of how those plans would affect him.

Hadrian informed Lord Karstark and the other Lords that the army would only be providing four hundred men for the first part of the endeavour. Those numbers may increase later on once there were more men in the Army. The men from the army would cycle in and out every six moons. They would need to get experience in other places for the army as well.

Hothar Umber would be leading another four hundred men from a few different houses who would be stationed there for a year. He would be in charge of building a small fort and creating a trade post. More men would be sent at a later time if they were needed.

Hadrian expected it to take a while for any kind of organised resistance to mount against them. By then he should have more trained men from the army to put towards stopping that.

Harry offered Lord Karstark some praise for some of the decisions he made with the Army and their training then he gave the Lord some suggestions on how to make the army better in some places. He even gave Lord Karstark a marching song he wrote that he wanted the men to learn, to bring more unity and a sense of belonging. To create a culture for the Army.

So Hadrian did accomplish some things on his journey to The Wall. He also got a proper sense of how large The North really is. It didn't stop the entire experience from being painfully boring though. He was used to being stimulated for most hours of the day.

Still, he considered it worth it when he got his first glimpse of The Wall.

He could see the structure rising over the horizon in the far distance. As he got closer, he started to become more and more appreciative of the pure size of the structure.

Harry admired the marvel from a hill few leagues away from Castle Black. He saw some of The Wall when he was a Bear Island. He could take in that the structure was large even from that distance, but he never truly understood how large it was, not until he was standing in its shadow.

The Wall stretched across the entire continent. A thin part, sure, but it was still a massive distance. It stood larger than almost any structure in this world. It was a structure that would be legendary even in his old world. Harry considers it the most impressive structure on Planetos.

That's why it was so disappointing to ride into Castle Black and see that the Castle in such terrible shape.

The walls were crumbling on the southern side. The towers were also mostly in ruins. Harry found himself slightly disappointed on the progress of the Nights Watch. He has been giving them thousands of Gold Dragons a year, he thought they would have done more with it.

Still, he was happy that they were getting some use out of the gold. He noticed some of the towers were undergoing repairs. The stables were being expanded and another castle on The Wall was also slowly being fixed up for habitation. Some of the men at the gates also had decent quality steel.

So while he was disappointed in their progress, he was just happy they were at least progressing.

They only spent a two days in the castle. A lot of that time was spent with the Lord Commander. Or with some of the more reasonable Brothers. Otherwise Hadrian was with one of the Lords or standing on top of The Wall, admiring the view from possibly the closest he will ever get to flying in this lifetime.

On the third day, they set out beyond The Wall.

"Are you sure about this lad?" Lord Umber asked as they rode through the ice tunnel leading to the wild unclaimed lands North of The Wall.

Harry spared the Lord a smile. "There's nothing to be afraid of my lord. We are only going to the Hearttree just North of here."

Lord Umber huffed. "I fear nothing! I'm just making sure you've thought this through."

Lord Manderly laughed from the top of his horse. The lord was so covered in furs, only his nose and mouth were visible. At least the man was finally travelling by horse instead of that awful carriage. Even if Harry felt slightly sorry for the poor animal that seemed to already be struggling under his weight. "I've seen you with your wife Umber. I've never seen a man more scared in his life!"

The Greatjon paused for a second before a great bellowing laugh escaped him. "Aye, you're right on that Manderly! "

Hadrian blinked the light out of his eyes as they exited the tunnel. After a few moments he turned back to his lords and noticed Lord Karstark was looking at him with a serious expression.

Before he could question it, the Lord spoke. "My Lord, you never did tell us the reason you wanted to be out here. The real reason you wanted us on this journey. I know they aren't the reasons you gave us, which could easily be discussed over raven."

The other lords fell silent as they listened for Hadrians answer.

Harry blinked at the lord for a moment before his mouth curled up in a tiny grin. "I wanted you all to witness something. "

Lord Karstark frowned. "Witness what my lord?"

Harry turned forward and kicked his horse into moving a little faster. "You will see soon."

With that, Harry rode further into the North. Leaving the lords grumbling behind him as they followed.

It only took them a few hours to reach their destination. Around midday they rode into a clearing.

It would be nothing more than an average clearing in the woods if it wasn't for the single Heartree standing in the middle of it.

Harry was quick to dismount his horse as he entered the clearing. The other Lords followed his example. The guards that followed them beyond the wall stayed on their mounts and were ordered to stay on the outside of the clearing.

Hadrian was quick to go towards the Hearttree. The other lords followed him in silence until lord Umber broke it. "No matter which Godswood, the Heartree never fails to bring a sense of comfort and calm."

Harry spotted Lord Wyman making uncomfortable faces besides the other Lords. He knew the old Lord would probably never convert from the Faith. Wyman should easily be able to keep The Seven worshippers in his city calm. So he wouldn't ever really be forced to choose as long as he can keep his city from rebellion or civil war.

Even a moon or two absence shouldn't make a big difference at this stage, most Seven Worshippers in White Harbour already get along with Old God worshippers and the Faith Militant has only just started gaining steam in the South. It will be a while before they can truly try something in The North

It doesn't mean Hadrian won't aim for the younger generation though. He wants more people to worship the Old Gods, just because he can't convert Lord Wyman doesn't mean he can't convert future generations in White Harbour.

Harry cast those thoughts out of his mind for now as he kneeled on the ground in front of the tree.

With a slight bit of concentration, Harry brushed his mind against the tree, only instead of entering into the tree and into the Green, he brushed his mind on some of the magic energy coming off the tree and used this energy to amplify his magical and mental abilities outwards. He wanted to see everything this specific Weirwood was seeing in this moment.

Suddenly Harry found his mind expanding. He saw everything. Every object, every insect, every root, tree and animal within a huge radius.

Harry was the forest. At least part of it. He knew every crevice, every shadow, every leaf. He saw a thousand different views from a thousand different eyes. Time felt like it was lasting an eternity but Hadrian knew it was really only a moment.

As suddenly as the experience came, it left. He slumped forward slightly and felt his vision grow black and his head start to ache. Harry groaned slightly. He figured out how to do this a while ago and the experience never got any better. The amount of sensory information he took in from his surroundings would probably fry a normal brain easily. The only reason Harry can even do this trick is because his memory is influenced by magic from being the Master of Death. He imagines a normal wizard would probably go insane or braindead from a fraction of the information. Still, it's worth it to Harry. He now knows every inch of the forest immediately around him.

"My lord are you okay?" Lord Umber asked.

"Aye." Harry sat up and wiped the blood from his nose off his chin with his sleeve.

Harry stood and turned to the lords who were watching him with various expressions of worry on their faces.

He just grinned at them. "I'm okay my lords. More importantly, they are here."

All three of the Lords tense up. Harry could see some of the guards on the outskirts tense as well.

"Who is 'they'?" Lord Karstark is the one to voice the question.

Harry just ignores them and looks into the forest. After a moment he speaks seriously and loudly, his voice carrying to all members of his party. "Keep your weapons sheathed! They are not our enemies!"

No one has the time to question him because on the other side of the large clearing a small shape starts making its way through the bushes. Harry can clearly see some men tense but fortunately no one draws their weapons. The mood gradually gets more tense until the figure steps out from the foliage and into full sight.

It was almost like a spell was put on everybody. As soon as the figure was visible, the clearing became unnaturally quiet. Like everybody was holding their breaths. The spell was broken by the gasps that started coming out of the men.

Lord Umber choked on his spit. "Is that….?"

"A Child of the Forest." Lord Karstark breathed quietly in awe. Lord Manderly just stood frozen, not moving his eyes from the sight in front of them.

Hadrian cast an amused glance at the lords and the rest of the men. Allowing for an amused smirk to be seen on his face, Harry spoke. "I ask for your silence for a while my lords. I swear I will explain everything to you in a little while." Then he turned back towards the Child of the Forest.

"Leaf." Hadrian called as he confidently walked up to the small creature.

The Child of the Forest bowed its head slightly. "Stark."

Harry could hear the lords muttering to each other behind him as they drew closer. When Leaf turned her attention away from Harry towards those lords, the muttering stopped and the clearing dropped into dead silence.

Leaf inspected each of the Lords for a few seconds. Just long enough for them to start fidgeting uncomfortably.

After a moment, she nodded to each of them and then Leaf turned away from the lords and back to Harry. "You are late." She said shortly.

Harry laughed and rubbed his neck sheepishly. "Nothing I could do about it. There are a lot of things happening in the North these days, I had to be there for most of it. This was the soonest I could make this trip."

Leaf just nodded before asking. "Is our agreement still in place?"

Harry got serious quickly. "Yes, there are other smaller details to be discussed but they are not time sensitive and can be debated upon at a later date. Are all the others here?"

Harry already knew they weren't far. He saw them when he connected to the Weirwood. He found it was probably more polite to ask though.

The Child of the Forest didn't look particularly pleased at his answer but she didn't look displeased either. She was probably expecting it. "Yes. All of my kind North of The Wall were gathered and are prepared to meet our end of the bargain. As many Giants as possible were gathered as well. We managed to convince them to at least meet you but getting them to agree is something you will have to do. Be warned, Giants are proud, stubborn beings."

With that she turned and walked deeper into the forest. Harry was quick to follow her, but he just managed to hear Lord Umbers incredulous laugh and the word 'Giants'from behind him before the lords followed. Harry resisted the urge to laugh.

They only had to walk a few hundred metres into the forest before they came across a large area devoid of trees. He found a group there waiting for him that almost anybody on Planetos would find strange. Harry just felt nostalgic.

There were Giants moving about a makeshift camp. Some of them were trailing after mammoths while others were just sitting on the ground, waiting. There were dozens of Children that were also mingling with the giants. A few dire wolves roamed around the make shift camp and so did a few other animals such as a large majestic buck, a few normal wolves, a great big snow bear, some foxes and a few different species of birds. Truly it was a magical sight.

Harry turned and spared the lords a glance. He smiled when he saw how they were gaping at the scene. Then Harry brought his attention back to the others who had now started reacting to their arrival.

All the giants that were sitting stood up and started coming closer. Harry noticed the Children of the Forest moved off to one side out of the way. The largest giant was leading the group walking up to Hadrian. He was big, but not quite as big as the giants he remembers. He felt some of the lords next to him tense, but he remained calm.

When the lead giant got close to Hadrian it spoke in a strong deep voice. "Mor Stark?" It asked.

Harry could hear Lord Umber start translating for the other lords. "Are you Stark?"

Harry answered. "Sen da men Stark. Mu se?"

" I am Stark. Who are you?"

The giant huffed slightly. "So Magnar bi di, Mag Mar WunToh Weg."

"I am the leader of these giants,Mag Mar WunToh Weg. " Lord Umber starting changing the very simple words that the Old tongue is comprised of, into a more comprehensive form.

The giant spared Lord Umber a glance as he continued translating, before grunting loudly. "Mal si noer Stark?"

"Why did you want to meet us Stark?"

Hadrian glanced at Lord Umber and decided to tune him out as he focused on his conversation. "Have offer for you. It's same as one I gave Children. Have they told you offer?"

The giant kneeled down to look closer at Harrys face. He saw Lord Umber and Karstark take a step back and reach for their swords for a moment before stopping. The giant then growled. "They tell of bargain. They kneel, you protect them." With that the giant spat on the floor. "Cowards. "

Harry could see the Lords were physically restraining themselves from drawing their weapons. Not that they would help all that much in this situation. He just kept himself perfectly calm as the giant growled in his face.

He continued to keep calm and smiled before answering. "I say smart. Every year, your numbers fewer. You struggle for food. For mammoths and giants. Going south gives mammoths better grazing. Maybe you can rebuild numbers over long time. Giants long lived, but don't have many children."

The giant looked at him more keenly at that. Harry was sure it wasn't a very well-known fact that giants only have one or two children in their lives and very rarely more than that. It was one of the things he discovered while researching the giants through the Weirwood. Giants can live a few centuries if they're lucky, but they don't reproduce anywhere near as fast as humans. "Why must kneel? Many giants here. With help of free folk, we break Wall."

Harry laughed. "We know you need more numbers. You won't kill your people. Even if you break Wall, North would crush you."

The giant growled. "So must become pets?"

Harry answered placidly. "Become my people. Come south, have greater lives. The Stark of Winterfell protects their people. If you protect them and follow laws. You kneel, you become my people. Have better future. No longer feared or hunted. Build great marvels. Kneel. "

The giant just stared at Hadrian, Harry saw its face go through a variety of different emotions. For a brief moment he saw resignation shoot across its features before it stood. "Giants not follow weak. Prove strength. Fight."

When Lord Umber translated, Lord Manderly was quick to cry out. "My Lord, you cannot do this. "

Lord Umber and Karstark were quick to agree with him.

Harry turned his gaze away from the Lord towards the giant that was just watching him impassively. After a moment he gave his answer. "Fine."

"My Lord-" Hadrian cut Lord Manderly off with a glance.

Without wasting any time, Hadrian strode into the middle of the field a large distance away from the giant. Then he shouted. "Begin!"

The giant was quick to start charging across the dozens of metres between them with a roar. Harry just stood and calmly watched as the giant charged him. He could hear the lords and his men freaking out in the background but he stayed focused as the giant rapidly got closer. When it was less than half a dozen metres from him it was suddenly impacted by a large blur and knocked off its feat.

The giant grunted and started rolling onto its feat. The mammoth never gave it the chance. Within a few moments the giant had been knocked over again and one of the largest mammoths in sight placed its foot on top of its chest.

Hadrian didn't know how strong giants were. He doubted they could survive the full weight of a mammoth on their chests though. Luckily for him, he was right and the giant chief immediately stilled after the mammoth started applying more pressure.

After a few moments he had the mammoth release him and back away.

The chief of the giants made it way to his feet before he turned to Harry and snarled. "You cheat!"

Harry just smiled. "I show strength. " With that he gestured to the sight behind the giant.

When Mag Mar WunToh Weg turned he was met with the sight of every mammoth kneeling on one of their knees. Close to one hundred mammoths showing absolute subservience to Harry.

Hadrian saw the giant become absolutely still for a moment before slowly turning back to him with a more considering expression than he had showed the whole meeting. Harry just tried to keep his face neutral to hide his growing discomfort from influencing this many animals of such intelligence. He could feel a strong headache already.

When the giant spoke, Harry stopped skinchanging and felt immediate relief that he did his absolute best to mask. "You strong. How giants trust your word?"

Harry smiled, more truly than he had in a while. "There is a Weirwood. We make oaths to Gods."

The giant agreed before going to talk to his people.

Harry sighed and approached his lords reluctantly, for what he knew would become a long conversation. He must admit the baffled expression on Lord Karstarks face, the dawning realisation of what this means on Lord Manderlys and the open respect on Lord Umbers was almost enough to make the politics of all this worth it.

I want to apologize to everyone for the extremely long hiatus. My laptop got damaged and I lost my summary for the future of the story as I didn't back it up, like an idiot. I only got the laptop replaced a week ago and have been writing to catch up since. I am back now and the long break has given me a lot of enthusiasm and ideas.

To read ahead of the update schedule: Pat_ (slash) TheLifeandTimes19.