Before we begin:

While the D&D 5e version of the Eldritch Knight is the primary inspiration for this story, concepts, mechanics and lore from any edition or extended media of D&D or the Forgotten Realms are potentially valid sources.

For ASOIAF, early seasons of the show are allowed along with the books.

Maria is an OC, the Forgotten Realms were created by Ed Greenwood, A Song of Ice and Fire by George R. R. Martin. I own nothing, etc….

"....Help us!... Save us….""

Ser Maria Starbrand, recently knighted by her eldritch order, came to a stop as she heard a cry for help. It came from all around her, everywhere and nowhere. And soon after, she felt a familiar sensation, one pulling her far from here. She was being summoned.

"Save us!…. Save us!"

The voices were young, those of children, their fear rang true. She had sworn an oath, she would keep it. She let go, allowing herself to be teleported and was pulled to another world entirely.

She felt herself slam onto a hard icy surface, some sort of altar. Cold air filled her lungs as she tried to catch her breath. She looked around and found herself surrounded by white and red.

The snow around her had been stained with blood, twenty men stood surrounding her and at their feet was a greater number of small corpses.

She hadn't made it in time.

She got onto her feet and summoned her bonded maul, a great magic warhammer gleaming in her hand as she took a battle stance. The men around her laughed, brandishing their weapons as they approached her. A score of opponents, armed with spears, swords and maces, armored in chainmail and leather, surrounding her. It only took her a moment to think of her plan.

She began sprinting, letting a sword swing glance off her armor as she ran past the child killer. Once she'd made enough distance between herself and her opponents, she stopped and turned around, a veritable horde ran at her, just where she wanted them.

As she held her hands with thumbs touching and fingers spread, a thin sheet of flames shot forth from her outstretched fingertips, spreading out in a cone that engulfed the child killers. Before they could react to the first, she shot another, and when the flames dissipated a dozen freshly scorched corpses lay before her.

Only eight left. A mote of fire gathered in her hand and she threw at the closest living man, igniting the thick furs over his armor, a second firebolt followed the first and he died just as he reached her.

Seven left, close enough to hit. She started swinging her hammer, shattering flesh and bone. Their blades fell upon her but few reached flesh, those that did failed to dig deep, leaving only surface wounds.

By the time she was done, she was covered in blood and viscera, her breath visible as she panted and tried to quell her lingering anger, her hands still shaking.

She took one of the men's heavy fur coats to shield herself from the cold, made her way back to the altar and began digging. The children she'd bury, the men she'd leave for the beasts. The effort took her a while, but she did not regret it. Once she'd finished burying the young ones and patching herself up, bandaging her wounds, only one question lingered in her mind.

"Where the hell am I?"

She looked to the sky and found it unrecognizable, arranged into constellations foreign to her. The stars unable to provide guidance, she turned to her familiar.

Summoning the raven from its pocket dimension, she ordered it to fly high and survey the surrounding landscape. The only landmark nearby being a wall of ice peeking over the horizon, fires dotted upon it. Weighing her options, she prayed there was something behind it as she began her march towards it, a direction her compass informed her was south.

She walked for hours, yet the wall barely seemed closer, still looming over the horizon as if taunting her. Just how big was this gods' forsaken thing? Surely something this large would be world famous.

Her denial could no longer hold, she wasn't in Toril, or in any world she could recognize.

Her heart rate spiked, her breaths grew short, she tried to focus as her vision began to blur. She fell to her knees as tears welled up in her eyes and froze upon her face.

How long would she be trapped here? She helplessly flayed, slamming her gauntleted fists into the ground, all her strength proving worthless in getting her closer to home.

Her mind desperately raced, going through every teleportation spell she knew of, trying to find a way back home and landing only on one viable possibility: cast Banishment on herself and pray it'd send her back to her home dimension. Of course even that magic was far beyond her, it would take her ages to reach it at her current rate.

For what would not be the last time, she wondered if her father was right and she should have devoted herself exclusively to magic, just like him, rather than foolishly dividing her attention.

She resigned herself to her fate, or so she told herself, stood up and kept walking, each step weighing on her far more than before.

As she saw a white shape heading towards her, the thought occurred that she still smelt of blood and death. As it drew near, she recognized it as a polar bear. As it drew nearer, she realized it was a freakishly large polar bear. Standing at 13 feet tall, it towered over her as it began its assault, its claws and jaw trying to rip her to shreds.

Her swings were desperate, exhaustion had begun to set in. She was hardly in peak condition before being dragged to this frozen wasteland and now her limbs had started to numb. Her legs buckled as she dodged and blocked swipe after swipe, the impacts of the giant creature lightly bruising her flesh.

She struck a lucky blow, striking the bear's head and leaving it stunned. She took the opportunity to rev up a swing, gathering what remained of her strength to let loose the strongest blow she'd ever struck, powerful enough to send the beast flying back a couple yards and cave in its chest cavity.

As the beast lay dead upon the snow, she inspected her kill

"No use wasting it"

She got to work skinning its pelt. Splitting it into a larger coat, thick enough to properly shield her from the cold, the rest got rolled up in case she needed to make a tent. She took some of the meat as well, her rations would last her a week, but who knew what lay beyond the wall. She looked down at the carcass and hoped it would draw attention away from her. With her luck, it seemed unlikely.

Were the gods toying with her now? That was the only possibility that crossed her mind as she saw a ghostly pale silhouette of man approaching her, icy weapon in hand, blue eyes locked upon her.

She readied herself for battle once more, her hammer now weighing heavily upon her.

She dodged a blow and responded in kind.

She was stunned in surprise as the man crumbled into ice at the first blow.

A small dry laugh escaped from her throat. Maybe the gods were more merciful than she thought.

After a walk that felt like it lasted an eternity, she finally reached the wall and nearly cried tears of joy as she saw there was a gate upon it.

Drawing upon strength she didn't know she had left, she grabbed the metal portcullis and, after a struggle that lasted minutes, forced it open long enough to slip through.

Entering the tunnel to what she'd later learn was Castle Black, she saw a few dark blobs running down the corridor towards her as she finally collapsed from exhaustion.

She awoke in a makeshift bedroom, resting upon a bed of hay. They'd removed her armor, but had left it at that, presumably seeing she'd already bandaged her wounds. Her armor was now resting next to her hammer and the rest of her belongings in a corner of the room.

She'd been awoken by a conversation in the corridor outside, murmuring loud enough to hear, as at least four or five voices argued about her, difficult to tell apart, muffled as they are by the wood wall between her and them.

"He's a wildling, you know what we do with wildlings"

"Forgive a blind old man's ramblings, but I believe it was you who said he looked Dornish"

"And how, pray tell, would someone of low birth, find himself with a weapon and armor made of Valyrian steel?"

"Probably stole it."

"From whom exactly? An entire armor set made of Valyrian steel would cost more than a bloody kingdom. Not to mention, who would be crazy enough to make a hammer out of the stuff. It must just be a trick of the eye I tell you. You all couldn't tell Valyrian steel from bronze."

"You saw what it did, it was light as a feather, yet harder than castle forged steel. I've seen Lord Stark wield Ice. If that's not Valyrian steel, it's better."

Maria beamed with pride, she never expected her smithing to draw such high praise. Her weapons and armor were barely good enough to count as magical.

"So what are you suggesting exactly? Some Dornish noble wandered north, made it past the wall without alerting us, then made his way back? Or do you think he went all the way around instead?" He said mockingly before continuing.

"This is your fault, why in the seven hells did you let him in here?"

"I didn't, he lifted the gates."

"That gate is made of four inch thick steel. If you're going to lie, come up with a better one."

"He speaks the truth, I saw it myself, the bars were bent from the force."

"Great, so now he's some long lost knight from the Age of heroes, why not skip the preamble and name him Azur Ahai while you're at it?"

"Forgive an old man's crazy ramblings, but perhaps it would be best to simply ask him where he's from? Seeing as he's now awake again."

There was an awkward silence, the door to her room opened and in walked a bald bearded old man, soon to be sixty eight years of age to be specific, wearing a heavy black cloak.

"Greeting my Lord, I am Jeor Mormont, Lord commander of the Night's Watch"

"A little early in my career for Lordship, I would say. For now, I am but a humble knight. Ser Maria Starbrand, at your service, my Lord"

There was a brief pause, the Lord commander failing to hide his shock.

"My Lady, I-"

"Like I said, I am a knight, Ser Maria will suffice, if you wish to be formal."

"Right, tell me Ser Maria, where exactly are you from and how exactly did you get here?"

"From North of here, I walked South"

"You…. walked? And forgive me, my lad- Ser, but you don't look like you're from the North."

"Go North far enough, and it stops being the North. This is my first time crossing this wall."

She said calmly, as though she weren't upturning Mormont's entire perception of the known world.

"...And you walked?"

"Yes."

"Alone?"

"Yes."

"..."

"Were I lying, I'd come up with a better one. Say, Lord Commander, how does this fine kingdom view acts of magic?"

"Not unusual for someone to be put to death for such things, why?"

"I found twenty men around an altar in the snow, they had sacrificed children for their vile magics, I killed them for doing so. I would assume none would fault me for that?"

"Aye, none. You killed twenty men? Alone?"

"Wasn't easy, but yes." She pointed towards her bandages, still freshly bloodstained.

"Anything else?"

"Later on, just my luck, I ran into this 13 foot tall, give or take, polar bear and I-"

"You killed a snow bear?"

"Aye, skinned it and everything" She pointed towards the large roll of white fur resting upon her backpack.

"Any other fantastical accomplishments to report?"

"I ran into this ghostly pale man with blue eyes, but he crumbled to ice on the first hit, so he wasn't much troubl-"

"YOU KILLED A WHITE WALKER?"

"Is that what they're called?"

"By the gods, you're serious. Could you excuse me for one moment?"

"Of course."

By the time Jeor Mormont had returned, Maria had finished putting her armor back on.

"Right, thank you for your kind hospitality, my Lord. I'll be on my way."

"Ser Maria, you are still injured."

Maria looked down at herself with a bemused expression. "I seem more than fine. Stronger than ever, even. Nothing like a good night's rest."

"And where would you be heading, exactly?"

"I was hoping you could point me to the nearest town. From there, I'd buy a horse, ride to the nearest good, honorable lord, and offer my services as a knight"

"The road is not safe place for a woman traveling alone"

"I've done well enough for myself so far"

"...Mole's town, half a league from here."

"Walking distance, perfect" She opened up a hidden pouch of gold pieces, taking out 2 coins and handing them to the commander "For your kindness, my lord"

Jeor Mormont looked at the gold coins. "These are not the coins of Westeros, or any I'd recognise" He paused, hesitant to admit the obvious. "You're really not from here are you. You have no knowledge of this land at all, do you?"

She shook her head. The Lord Commander was lost in thought, wondering what to do.

"The iron gate, how'd you get through it?"

"I lifted it…. My apologies if I damaged it."

A plan began formulating in Jeor Mormont's head. "That creature you killed, if you truly did kill one, that means there are more out there. They are a sign that the Long Night draws near." The Lord commander paused to emphasize the gravity of the situation.

"We sent a raven to Lord Stark of Winterfell, informing him of this, asking for more troops. He'll think it's impossible. I also informed him of you, he'll also think you are impossible. Do you think y-"

"Yes, I can. I'll need a map and a horse. I'll pay for both"

"Five of your coins will more than suffice. I'll give you a letter with the Night's Watch seal. Follow the King's Road until it splits towards Winterfell. Lord Stark is a good, honorable man, who I'm sure will hire you. Once he sees you do the impossible."

The King's road was long, hundreds of miles. Maria fell into a routine of riding down the road for hours on end, then stopping and setting up camp to rest, during which she'd work on improving her hammer with materials purchased from the last town she'd stopped at and come next morning, ride again.

She did not linger long in any town, as any glimpse of her armor and weapon would draw too much attention. Still, she'd occasionally strike up a conversation, slowly familiarizing herself with the local ruling houses and the lords, along with Eddard Stark, the Warden of the North she was supposed to meet.

Along her travels the snow eventually faded to dense forest, though steep mountains and vast plains still dominated the surrounding areas.

By the time she'd made it to winterfell, both her hammer and armor had seen significant improvements, stronger than ever, just like her. Her newly improved armor not only offered added protection but, much like her bonded hammer, could be summoned onto her in an instant, a trick up her sleeve she was sure would prove useful, eventually. Her hammer not only hit harder but would also serve to alert her of danger, making sure was never caught off guard.

The large castle complex loomed in the distance, covering several acres of land, it was surrounded by a large township that seemed mostly, though not entirely, deserted. Steeling herself, she approached the north gate.

Author's Notes:

Hey, hope you enjoyed the chapter. New chapters weekly.

For those curious, Maria started at level 3 and reached 4 when she beat that snow bear. Her character sheet is here: Imgur website(Slash)ZFMLtaZ

indirect spoilers for future chapters and all that, spell school restrictions are removed in the 2024 version of the EK. The Magic items are a weapon of warning and cast-off armor (both +1).

The basic concept for this fic is to have a heroic, larger than life, high fantasy D&D character, and throw them into the gritty and more grounded world of ASOIAF, in much the same way one throws a live grenade into a porcelain shop.