Chapter 11
The Isle of faces. A moon later. 344 BC.
He was alone on the boat, as much as his guards had protested the green man that had met them on the western shore of the gods eye had insisted upon it.
"This is a journey you must take on your own" He had said mysteriously and Lucas had hesitated not a second before giving the nod of agreement to the guards and though he kept Morrigan on him his guards had only agreed when he had firmly ordered them even though many had done it with great reluctance. He rowed the canoe himself on the twenty minute journey to reach the isle of faces, the waters of the lake unnervingly calm and seemingly lifeless. Sound and time seemed inconsequential to him as the ever present fog that covered the Isle descended upon him. His own family, and those of the first man and old god worshipers believed this fog judged you, it coated your mind and body like armour as it judged whether you were worthy or not to land upon the sacred shores of the Isle while the andals believed it was a vile blood magic that killed good seven worshipers who ventured into it.
Countless times the Andals had sent men, septons, septas and even entire armies to land on the Isle of faces and never again where those men heard from. Those on the shoreline spoke of the unfortunate souls sailing into the fog, of unkindness's of ravens appearing and circling the Isle,their screams, a dreaded sound they were capable of making that sowed fear into the heart of those men on the shore, was all that could be heard over the unworldly quiet of the Gods eye before the boats disappeared never to be seen or heard from again.
Yet no ravens, the birds whos caw he was so familiar with, whose likeness he wore on his chest, whose image was the pommel of his blade descended upon him and instead, like the Red Sea in the stories of the bible the fog parted allowing him vision of the sacred isle. And his blue eyes widened in shock. It was hauntingly beautiful, the late autumn sun, for winter was coming any day now, illuminated the Isle which was packed nearly to the brim with Weirwoods. Instantly all pain, all sorrow, all frustrations, all worries were gone from his mind, a pleasant calmness taking grip in his heart and mind that made him feel, for the first time in a long, long time he felt completely at peace, at home. Red flowers of a variety he had neither seen nor heard of before could be seen amongst the lush grass of the Isle, granted he was not and never would be an expert botanist but these blood red flowers where memorable he thought he would recognise them from somewhere at least.
He beached his canoe and hopped off it, his armoured boots crunching on the pebbles that lined the sacred shores, so wrapped up was he on the beauty of the Isle that the voice that spoke to him nearly had him drawing his blade out of habit. Though when his eyes snapped to the voice that had spoken he released the blade. The man was old and had grey hair and beard, he had colourless eyes and yet by the way his eyes observed everything Lucas was confident the man was not blind, and if he was then the young king doubted it would hold him back for he had never seen a man so wizened in his life. The man appeared kindly and frail and wore green clothes with an antlered headdress, he gave Lucas a warm and apologetic smile.
"My apologies young Blackwood, it has been many years since a warrior has landed upon our shores, I have forgotten the instincts such a profession rewards you with." The man spoke his voice did not sound old or gravely instead it was wise yet clear and steady.
"You need not apologise greenman. You appear to know of me already but nonetheless, I am Lucas Blackwood of Raventree Hall." Lucas said in reply, standing straighter and fully sheathing his sword.
"Yes we know of you, for it was you that gave us the opportunity to replant our sacred groves south of the neck." The wizened man replied. "My own name is of no import, however I am the leader of the Greenmen, we understand you wish to speak with us."
"I do, I seek your guidance or help." Lucas replied simply and the green man nodded in acceptance and without a word turned and walked Lucas trailing behind by a few steps. They walked through the weirwood groves with Lucas's eyes darting from place to place and weirwood to weirwood. Some faces were smiling, some were sad, others looked angry and a few looked unreadable but all of them seemed to watch him, to be staring at him, to be judging him. They walked for ten minutes in complete silence until they reached a huge Weirwood, the same size as the one under which his ancestors, father and daughter were buried that could be found in Raventree. This was, he guessed, the centre point of the Island and the heart tree under which the greenmen prayed most often for unlike the others the ground in front of it was clear and the path ended there.
"Pray, and after we shall speak." The greenman said. Lucas had been planning to ask to do so anyway and nodded, moving forward to kneel before the heart tree. He closed his eyes and within seconds he became completely entranced. The rustling of the leaves all around him became unintelligible whispers, the sound of his own heartbeat and the blood pumping through his veins was clear for him to listen to and for those treasured moments he became completely aware, of the insects that rustled across the island, the ravens that nested across the groves, the small animals that roamed the Island and even the fish in the lake. The whispers grew louder and then he heard a bang, loud and clear and then silence.
The images that had flashed through his mind stopped and the world went white. Then slowly the whispers returned, much clearer this time and every once in a while he heard words.
Lucas… David… war… death… raven…Aegon…doom…conquer…the seven…weirwood…the gods…blood…family…descendants.
It was like he was hearing only a few words of a conversation, like he had a few words of a story spanning hundreds of pages. Then the images began. Statues of the seven, images of his family, an unkindness of ravens landing on the weirwood of Raventree hall. The images continued, of his past and other images he saw as symbols, a falcon descending from the mountains of the moon leaving his nest unattended, of dragons being killed by magma and of Ravens spreading their wings until finally he saw a image of his cousin, Sara, sat in front of the maester soundlessly opening his mouth to speak words that he would never hear. Words that seemed to cause great emotion in his cousin's face as both happiness, sadness and if he was not mistaken a small bit of fear flashed across her face. Then the scene changed to Ravens travelling from Raventree west and landing on the walls of Castle Darry.
His eyes snapped open and the sounds of the world returned. He breathed in heavily and his eyes went unknowingly from completely black like a ravens to returning to their natural blue. Then he sat silently for a while processing what he had seen and what he had heard.
His name. Both of them though he only truly felt like Lucas, David was dead all that remained of him was memories and knowledge. The Old Gods knew at least, knew that he had lived two lives and therefore he knew what he had suspected was the truth, he was brought here by them and more than likely for a reason other than the prayer he had sent before his death. But why then was he born so far back? Long before the long night would come and threaten this world. No, there must be another reason. What that was he did not know, nor did he think he would ever know.
War and death were self explanatory, he was a warrior and warriors breed war and war breeds death. And a warrior with many enemies bred them tenfold. Raven he assumed had to do with his family's sigel or perhaps death in general for both are what he associated the Raven with most.
Aegon was obvious, Aegon the conqueror would come to… conquer, but why was he mentioned now? Why was his name mentioned in a vision given to him by the old gods? And what was he meant to do about it more than two hundred years away from that time? Doom he assumed to mean the Doom of Valyria but it could also mean the doom of something else, or perhaps himself. And conquer likely referred to what Aegon was destined to do.
The seven and old gods were also fairly obvious, exactly what they meant in this context he could not ascertain but he assumed it to have something to do with Aegon for those words were spoken in the same voice along with weirwood which was just as mysterious to him in that context. What exactly did that mean? And what was he to do about it?
Blood, family and descendants were all spoken in another voice so he assumed they were all interconnected as well though this time it made much more sense to him. His blood and family would love on and his descendants would succeed him for which he was thankful.
The visions showed mostly his past and things he knew would come. The exceptions being the falcon flying down from its nest behind the mountains and the vision clearly showing his nest unprotected. To him that was obvious, the Vale would march out of the Bloody gate and descend upon his kingdom, leaving behind an undefended kingdom.
But how exactly was he supposed to take advantage of that? The bloody gate blocked any path he might have to the Vale… except for by sea of course but if the Vale was in his own lands then he would not have the men to do more than disrupt trade and sack a few coastal towns… no he did not have the men… but the old gods still had followers in the Vale, and those followers were warriors. The clansmen were disunited and while they were not yet as barbaric as they would become in the near future they were still savage and disunited. But it was something and it gave him something to think about.
The last image however was the one that disturbed him the most and the one whose meaning was most clear to him. Sara was pregnant. Six years ago she had barely survived birthing her son and the now heir to Darry, Damian Darry was a small yet by all accounts fierce boy of six name days who took nearly completely after his father except for the raven black hair that Blackwoods had had since the dawn ages.
By all accounts, including his wife who his cousin often confided in, his cousin and her husband had taken many measures to ensure she did not fall with child again deeming it an unnecessary risk because Lyman's two brothers were valid heirs if, gods forbid, anything were to happen to Damian. But she was pregnant again and he knew, for he could feel it in his bones that she would not survive it, why else would Ravens travel to Darry? The thought of his sweet, kind and dear cousin passing caused a tear from and fall from his eyes which had been hardened by so many battles.
"I am sorry." He heard the old man say and Lucas started for he had forgotten about the greenman.
"It is fine, the Gods are great and yet the world is a cruel place." He said, too cruel for someone as kind as his cousin for it was the cruelty of men and not the gods that caused his cousin's early pregnancy and thus in turn what he thought would be her death. "All that lives must oneday die." He said, speaking the words of his house.
"Indeed." Agreed the green man softly, kneeling beside him and though the man was old he showed no signs of discomfort in kneeling to pray. "What is it you wish to discuss?"
"I am unaware of just how much you are aware of though I don't doubt you know most of what happens on the mainland or else you would not have planted the weirwoods as you did years ago. I have succeeded in uniting the Riverlands under my family's rule and in those years the Old Gods have once more taken their place as the gods of these lands. But the faith of the seven is a threat to us, in Kings that would use it as a tool to conquer, in septons that would use it as a tool to spread their corrupt faith and in smallfolk who would use it a tool of redemption for their apparent sins, the weirwoods would be cut down once more and the statues would once again take their place. I can not allow that to happen. As such myself and my wife thought it best if I was to come here, with a proposal. The order of the greenmen was tasked with the guardianship of the Isle of faces, however it is not just this sacred Isle tha needs guardian but all of the Riverlands, the people need to be instructed once more in the old ways, The weirwoods need people to take care of them and the faith of the Seven must be countered."
"You wish for us to expand?" Asked the green man and though his voice didn't change at all from the soft wisdom filled tone Lucas knew the man was against that idea.
"No, I do however wish for you to help me, I can gather men who wish to be trained in the old ways and they will form an organised clergy funded purely by me, I would want them trained, and there is none as knowledgeable as your order in the old ways." Lucas said, his voice steady and calm as he was staring into the eyes of the face carved into the heart tree which he found calming.
"It is a good idea… and would be a huge help in protecting our faith. But the clergy of the seven is corrupt and filled with all sorts of villainous people." Stated the man and Lucas nodded in agreement.
"It is, but these people will be trained by your own order, one which has been incorruptible for thousands of years, any sign of ill intentions and I trust these trainees would be expelled from the order." He replied.
"Indeed… I see the merits and indeed the need of such an order. Come, let us discuss this in more detail." The man said after a moment of thought with his eyes closed in prayer and Lucas was certain he was asking for the help of the Gods.
—-
Raventree hall. Two Moons later. 343 BC
The raids had stopped. Nearly completely after more than one raiding party disappeared with only their head mounted on pikes to ever be seen again the Vale halted their half heartedly disguised raids and returned to their side of the mountains of the moon. It had been a success for him all in all. His presence had been felt by the people that inhabited the eastern border in the form of the troops and whereas before he was a figure of half mythical proportion to the average small folk who had never served under him they all felt and saw his presence now. His men had worn and flown his banner across the border as they fortified and garrisoned towns across it, as they patrolled the mountains and forests that formed it and as they repulsed those who dared to cross it. He had defended his smallfolk extremely efficiently and in a strong show of force got the upper hand over the Vale as well.
Lucas had no doubt the falcons knew he was aware just who was behind the attacks, he had taken prisoners after all and while they had not lived long it was long enough for it to be obvious that as he already knew they were andals. And in the end more than a thousand Valemen had died, their heads mounting the pikes across the border and yet he did not, as his cousin and the more fiery of his Lords suggested, go to war. He was no fool and while neither were those men they did not see the entire situation.
All around him were enemies. To the east was the Vale, a nearly impregnable fortress of mountains with as much as he hated to say it, a formidable force of knights. On sea sure he might be able to beat them, but then what? If he was to load his army onto his ships and land them in the Vale what would happen? The Gardeners would send just enough men so that their neighbours would not be able to do anything and yet it would be enough to raid his southern border into a desert rather than the fertile and bountiful land it now was. To the south east you could be certain the Darklyns and their lackeys would launch a full on invasion uniting the andal houses, and the more ambitious firstmen ones to their banners. However the most important factor was winter, it had come and by all accounts would be a long one. To him that was not such a bad thing. His kingdom had plenty of food, enough to last seven years should it be needed and though some people may struggle he was fairly confident his kingdom would be alright. Nonetheless only a fool would launch an invasion into the mountainous Vale during the winter, it was simply not viable.
It did however give him the opportunity to focus on other matters. The greenmen needed time, gold, buildings and men to train their new order which would be named the Order of the Heartree. For the most part these men would be wandering nomads offering wisdom, prayers, instruction and help to those that might need it though there would be larger temples built for them at significant places. One would be built at Oldstones, another at High heart, another at the Widows ford where the ancient sons of the Darrys held of the Vyprens for a day and a night despite being heavily outnumbered, at Lucas's ford the sight of a great victory for the old gods, at Seaguard where the first man had thrown back so many invasions and raids by the Ironborn and south in the town that had once been called the Stoney sept but since his victory and the fall of the Vances it was called the Stoney grove for the weirwood that had taken the septs place.
Construction was already under way and while not much work could be done during winter they would be at least able to lay the foundations. Already the 400 people, mostly men but some women they had asked for to start with had joined up to the order and were being trained on the east coast of the Isle of faces by green men. It was a good start and hopefully in two years time these order members would be trained and ready to do as they were founded to do.
Apart from that was that it gave him opportunities to discreetly get vengeance against the Vale. Already his men had made contact with the mountain tribes and others with the sistermen of the three sisters to sponsor large raids against the andal Valemen. The sisterman had denied the opportunity stating that they still remembered the northern Rape of the Sisters done by old god worshipers not a thousand years ago, Westerosi had long memories. The clansmen however had eagerly accepted his offer of supplying food, livestock, horses, armour, clothes, raw materials and most importantly weapons to take back the lands that were once their ancestors. Of course these tribes were not unified and some had rejected the proposal but he had expected this, he knew what would happen. The tribes would first war with each other and the ones who rejected his offer would lose while others would join them as winter set in until finally only one tribe remained unified and supplied. That was fine, he did not need the raids right away and the clansmen were aggressive and fierce fighters the wars would be short ones.
Other wise it gave him time, time to improve, time, gods be good, for his family to grow in number and age, time for his kingdom to improve and solidify and most importantly it gave the people time to unite, to become one kingdom rather than multiple, for an identity of proud Rivermen who all came from one kingdom and one land to form. For a people from a land so ravaged by war to become a people of proud warriors. That was what they needed more than ever, for as he looked upon the map he saw many enemies or possible enemies, he saw fortresses that needed to be taken, fortresses that needed to be built, men that needed to die and people that needed to be united.
But the passing of time was also a dreaded thing for him now, for his cousin had little of it remaining and he was powerless to do anything about it. He did not know how to help her, infection or loss of blood would be what killed her he knew but how was he to know how to help with that. He had been sixteen when he was reporn, what sixteen year old knows how to make medicines that could heal infections or wounds? He knew the basics of how something like penicillin was made but he knew it had to be purified and treated somehow to use it and there was no chance of that happening. He knew soap or disinfectant would help but he knew not how to even begin making either other than that alcohol would help. But he doubted he could just get some liquor and make people wash their hands with it. No it was made in some special way that he hadn't the faintest clue how to make. He felt powerless to do anything.
He had ideas on some things that might help but that was it. The maesters held a monopoly on the knowledge of the world and guarded it greedily, there was not a hope that they would help him, a heathen king and rival to their local lords king who was essentially their ruler. No if he wanted knowledge he would have to either find it himself or employ others to find it. But how? A university? No, the citadel would not accept it and the Maesters that worked in the keep of every Duke, Count and barron in his kingdom would be recalled leaving them without anyone to heal them, to educate them or to explain to them. Something small at first would be best. An order of researchers of some sort, it would be small and he would have to employ people from across the narrow sea to help at first but it would have to do. Their first task would be to make sure his cousin survived, the pregnancy that the Old Gods showed him would otherwise kill her. With that Lucas took out his journal and began to write his plans, explaining the reason and his ideas in detail for future generations to understand and for himself to reference when the plans were put into place.
All of this would be hard on his treasury but he would survive and providing this winter did not last ten years his wife assured him they would have enough money to keep everything going as normal.
Reviews.
I'll answer a few things that came up more than once in the reviews last time out and that I think might come up from this chapter. 1. The mountain Clansmen, while potential tools for Lucas to use could not be allies, they are savages and Lucas is only using them to weaken the Vale, a lot of people saw what my plan with the mountain clans was but there you go.
raids are hugely important for the story. Think of them like skirmishes or the border raids of the dornish and marcher lords. Lucas, and more than likely all his lords, know exactly who's doing it but none of them particularly want war. The same will happen with the mountain clans raids for the Arryns, much like as KingofSummer pointed out a comparison can be drawn to the Anglo-Scottish border in the mediaeval era.
3. Whiskey. A lot of people have asked me to make it or some form of liquor or something to gain a lot of funds, I think a lot of that comes from stories like Deeds not Words by Deimos124, check it out it's brilliant, but I don't want to just straight up copy the things that have been done by countless other SI's and while he in particular does it really well It's just not what I want for my story. Lucas will draw gold from other investments and he may have investments and the like in breweries but that will be it.
4. The old Gods. The olds gods are nameless and faceless deities that are completely unlike any other god I have ever heard of. They will, at least as far as I can see, remain that way. And while I do think an image and a name gives people comfort and closure I think the Heart tree does that role superbly as I hope I have showcased in this chapter. Also please, please let me know what you thought of how I dealt with the greenmen and clergy, I was a bit hesitant to write it and it can be changed if people hate it.
and alliances. First of all all your suggestions and observations about this have been and are being considered but I think a lot of you have forgotten one important thing. Lucas is king only because the Lords allow it to be so. He is a first generation ruler. His Kingdom and certainly not his succession is unsecure. His children will absolutely have to marry within the kingdom so that the Blackwood dynasty succeeds Lucas. As of right now whereas the North follows the Starks, the Vale the Arryns etc the Riverlands follow Lucas. Not the Blackwoods. And that is absolutely crucial. Just keep that in mind.
with the Vale. It will happen. When? How? Who? Those questions will be answered but right now Winter is upon us, Lucas's children are still well… children and should he die civil war would occur as mentioned previously the Riverlands follow Lucas and not the Blackwoods. Another important thing is the sisters and the north, we all know the Starks will not go to war until winter has first of all passed and second of all they have recovered from it another thing is that people seem to forget that Lucas far outmatches the fleet of the Vale, he could very easily smash the Vale fleet and the Starks would merely have to get on any ship, merchant or war vessel and land on the sisters with their army. Of course people also have forgotten the Crownlands. They would instantly attack the Blackwoods when war with the Vale comes. Keep that in mind as well.
Other things that came up. Yes a Ranger core would be nice, I have never, and please dont attack me for this, read LOTR or watched the movies. I don't know, magic and high fantasy is just not my thing but I can certainly appreciate it and LOTR is by all accounts a masterpiece. So please let me know more about this because I'm curious.
Another thing, Irishwriter, Perhaps I should have written about the Starks, I think my surname would give me at least something in common with them. The Vale is, as of now, the most obvious enemy to Lucas but when the Gardener king dies and his zealous daughter takes control… Well you shall see. As for the marriage idea, it's an interesting one for sure but I want to fully incorporate the majority of the Blackwater into my kingdom and Lucas will marry his children inside the realm. Also yes if anyone knows about how to unite Petty Kingdoms god knows it would be a Irishman :)
Chapter 12
Raventree. 6 years later. 237 BC,
He smiled as he watched his daughter's eyes light up in wonder. She was five years old, a sweet and beautiful young girl, Sara her name was, after his dear and deceased cousin who had born a healthy daughter herself before she passed. He had been heartbroken then and when his wife had fallen pregnant a few months later both had easily agreed on a name for their child should it be a daughter. He was now the father of three children. His heir Brynden was 13 years old and was much the same as he had been before the six year long winter. Quite yet not shy, proud yet not arrogant, decisive yet not brash. He was the quietest of his children. He sat and watched everything, taking everything in before he did anything and yet he never let anyone disrespect him or try to take advantage of thim. He had a keen mind for strategy and politics and while he somewhat struggled with administration and matters of coin he was a brilliant warrior. And recently Lucas had started to tutor him in the ways of war and ruling.
Louis was different and yet the two brothers, along with young Callum Ryger were as close as could be despite the small age gap. Louis was absolutely in love with the world and especially books. He spent countless hours reading anything he could get his hands on, he was supremely smart, much smarter than Lucas was, and would most often be found in the library or in his room, reading. That was not to say he could not fight, this was the Riverlands after all and he was the son of Lucas, a warrior king if ever there was one. The bow was his weapon and he was an expert marksman and while he was still too young to be using a longbow at ten years old he was well on his way to getting there. Louis was more outgoing than his brother or indeed his parents which was weird considering a lot of boys who spent their time reading books often found their social skills suffering. Louis however took one of Lucas's quotes and ran with it. "A wise man knows he knows nothing' Lucas had told him once and Louis had took that as a challenge, to him everyone was a source of knowledge that could be learnt, from the maid that could teach him how a castle was managed on a more grounded level to the Lord or Maester that could answer most questions he could come up with about their respective fields.
His daughter, Sara, who also had the raven locks, grey-blue eyes, angular face and healthy pale skin that all the siblings held, was the darling of the family. She was a mix of her brothers in personality, curious, passionate, intelligent and though she was not as calm or patient as either of her brothers, taking more after her mother in that aspect, she was not spoilt or pampered and much like her brothers adored the bow for which she had a tiny little training bow that only shot blunt arrows a couple of yards and she often needed help to use it.
Her supreme interest however was held by horses. She adored them and demanded to go riding on a pony everyday much to her mothers joy and Lucas's despair. Sure he liked riding and was a very capable rider but leading his curious daughter who was frankly a better rider than he could ever hope to have been at even double her age and was prone to bursting off and trying to go as fast as her pony could possibly go in the winter snows that she had known for her entire life.
And that was the reason she was so enchanted by the view from the castle walls. For the snows were melting and the spring sun was making up for its long absence by blaring down with vigour.
"Wow." She muttered staring out across the fertile fields of the Blackwood Vale that were once more the lush green colour that made them extremely fertile even in comparison to the Riverlands.
Lucas laughed at her wonder and gave her a grin. "Do you want to go for a ride?" He asked her and she nodded rapidly squealing in happiness. When the others heard about it they all eagerly joined and soon a party consisting of him, his wife, his children, his ward and a few guards were all mounted and leaving Raventree towards the ironically named Black Wood that was around three kilometres from Raventree. Alara and Sara led the party, the two of them were as close as could be and while some might say Sara was a daddy's girl it was obvious to all that knew her mother that in nearly every other aspect of personality the fierce little girl took after her mother. The three boys went next with Brynden in the centre, laughing and joking in a way he would only ever do when surrounded by those he loved and trusted and it was in those moments that it became clear that he was not a cold, unemotional prince as some thought.
Lucas trailed them all, more than happy to just observe his beautiful family, he could not imagine being happier then he was right now and, not for the first time since his children were born, he sent a thank you to whatever form death may take in the old gods. He was, to an extent, unsurprised when a raven descended, swooped down and landed on his shoulder, he had seen a lot of shit in both lifetimes not much could surprise him anymore. It then jumped to reach up towards his ear and give a small musical caw that made his horse shuffle.
He tilted his head somewhat then. In his old life the raven was associated by most cultures with loss and an ill omen but in Ireland a raven meant death or in other contexts warfare. Did death take the form of a raven here much like the Morrigan did in his ancestors' tails? He highly doubted it. Did the raven have some significance with death in this land? He was nearly certain of it. It was fitting then that he, a man who had been reborn after sending a prayer to death itself, would be born into a house that was associated with the freakishly intelligent animal. Taking into account that his house's words where literally 'All that lives must die' it was highly probable that his house was in some way linked to death.
Then, one after the other ravens swooped down and landed on the startled shoulders of his children. The one on his son's shoulders were of even height and looked nearly as similar as the brothers did while the one on Sara's shoulder was noticeably smaller. His children all seemed shocked by this and halted their followed soon after by the guards, Lara and Callum who were all glancing at the Raven on each of the born Blackwoods shoulders with confusion and a slight bit of fear. His wife shot him a searching glance as though looking for an answer. He did not have one. He held out his arm which his own raven jumped onto. He turned his gaze from his children who were now also looking at him for an answer soon followed by everyone else onto the raven who merely tilted his head as if telling him to draw his own conclusion. And so he did.
"The Starks have their Direwolves, we have our Ravens." He said simply and the Ravens all gave caws of seemingly agreement.
—-
News soon spread of the Blackwoods Ravens and what they might mean. Some were adamant it meant he and his children would all drop dead in a few weeks. Others were certain it meant they were blessed by the Old gods and a few whispered that they were skin changers and sorcerers. Lucas however was much less certain about the matter but was sure it was not the first option, the Gods had mentioned that he would have descendants at the very least and he was therefore inclined to believe it was as simple as he had told his children. Nonetheless the ravens had quickly become an everyday normality, they were often found with their chosen partner, on their shoulders, standing on a surface beside them like a table or most often in the case of Sara flying above or beside her as she rode.
His own was currently, as he often was, perched on his left shoulder as he sat in his solar working through managing his recovering Kingdom. The winter had been harsh and while his lords had been prepared for a long one it had still been harsh and damaged his economy and while food had been fairly easy to come by in the fertile Riverlands the cold still hit hard and disease still spread. The roads became near impassable and trade ground to a near halt. As a result his treasury while still sufficient to maintain the kingdom and help it to recover it set back any plans he might have had in investing that money in new projects or expanding old ones.
It would also make war nearly impossible, men and camp followers needed to be paid and fed and the horses needed even more feed then the men. More than just food was the supplies. Steel, tents, armour, weapons, tools and an abundance of over things that even he would not be able to list without missing something important. It was expensive to first of all raise an army and secondly to keep it going for a long amount of time, the same could be said for the navy. As such it gave him time, time before the Vale would be able to muster any force capable of facing him and therefore time for him to continue as he had been before the long winter. But first the realm needed to recover.
—-
The Eyrie, five moons later, 237 BC
Winter had hit them like a bull, it was long and impossibly hard. Food had become scarce towards the end of it as the lowlands froze and were covered in snow. It, by itself, was one of the worst winters in recent history and it was only added to by the clansmen. They had apparently gone to war with each other in the first year and the second year was fairly quite with only the usual, granted more organised raids, but by the third year they began to come in large groups, down the mountains sacking entire towns and even a few knightly holdfasts before they retreated up into the mountains. Sending a force after them was suicide as the deep snows of the mountains would result in that party going missing, ambushed by the clansmen. He had no doubts as to where this organised and equipped Mountain clansmen had come from, it was the Raven's revenge on his raids into his lands. Of course his own raids had been far less effective as the heathen king was able to actually do something about them while he and his knights were stuck in the snow.
Now five months later winter was truly gone and his kingdom had recovered enough to deal with the clansmen. His cousin, Jamie, would lead two thousand knights of the Vale to kill the Mountain clansmen and their king who was rumoured to be a giant man they called the Eagle King, eagle of course because they were known to hunt Falcons.
While his cousin was gone he began to prepare for war. Orders were given to his lords to prepare for a war in whatever way they saw fit and to expand their men at arms and knights should they wish. These orders were basic ones but the Vale was a kingdom of men as hard as the steel they wore in battle, the Lords knew what to do, god seven worshipping men all of them. Though Lord Royce still caused some problems, proud men that they were, and he still wore that accursed heathen runic armour as his house has for nearly a thousand years. 'We remember' the words of the Royce's where, he hoped for their own sake they remembered their oaths and remembered the result of Battle of seven stars where the first men were crushed beneath the heel of the pious Andal knights on the seventh attack beneath seven stars. If that did not prove the power of the Seven who are one he did not know what could.
His son burst into his room then, a slightly worried luck on his face.
"Cousin Jamie was ambushed, father, he and his men took many casualties but they managed to break the clansmen, slaughtering thousands of them. He broke their strength but only 700 remain, cousin Jamie is in serious condition." His older of two sons said. Hugh Arryn smiled at that, 700 hundred men, he had no doubt that was no coincidence. When his armies descended on the heathens he would make sure that those men were the ones who led the charge.
—-
Runestone, a month later, 236 BC.
Lord Robar Royce listened to his brother, his best friend since childhood and the man he respected most in this world.
"King Lucas presents an opportunity we haven't had in the thousand years our people have been under the thumb of the andals. He is by all accounts a great king and a better warrior, his lands are richer and more fertile than ours and his armies stronger, larger and better equipped. His border is secure and even the towns and significant settlements have permanent garrisons along it thanks to the foolish raiding of King Hugh, instead of weakening the border he strengthened it and made the inhabitants despise him. He's a fool half septon who would rather dress up in his plate like a pompous fool, laughing while his nephew is fighting for his life in bed because the man couldn't be bothered to actually gather intel on what he was marching his inexperienced nephew into." His brother said harshly, glaring at the falcon banner that could be seen at the gate house from his solar.
"Calm brother, I admit that King Hugh is incompetent but his heir shows some promse at least. Besides we have rebelled three times since the Andals came and all have failed costing us sons, land and power. We must not be too hasty to rise in rebellion." he responded.
"I am more than aware of our failed rebellions, Robar but never before have we had an opportunity like this before!" His brother continued. "King Lucas would support us easily and powerfully, my wife is a Redfort, our mother is a Belmore and your wife is a Hunter whose brother is married to a Waynwood!"
"And as such we have a powerful block but on its own it is not enough to threaten the andal houses and those of us who have forgotten our ways and abandoned our gods!" Returned Robar. "The Great and his armies lie behind the bloody gate and the mountain clansmen have been shattered despite the losses of the knights, the Greats fleet may be of help to us but after that we are alone and outnumbered!" He said just as harshly.
"The falcon will leave his nest to march on the raven and then we will rise again as kings, all that is needed is a single raven to King Lucas, that would be all it would take and then we can rise again as the kings we once were."
"And how do you suppose we do that? Our own men, and our allies men will be in that host and none of us lack so much honour as to stab the andals while they sleep!"
"We do not march in full strength. We, the Waynwoods, the Hunters and the Redforts are close enough to the sea to keep pack the majority of our men claiming we fear a naval invasion while the Belmores could claim they are still dealing with the mountain clansmen and as such still need a lot of their men. Simply asure King Hugh of our allegiance and tell him we will follow him through the bloody gate not long after, the fool will eat it up if we do something pious, say send 777 men to begin with or something like that and then we are alone in the Vale."
"And what about these men who will march with the Falcon?"
"They will defect, along with the others and march off into the night or disappear in smaller droves of 'deserters' . It will not be a problem for me to organise while you stay here 'ill'." His brother replied "We will be kings once more."
"I remember," said Robar, nodding in reluctant agreement.
"No. We Remember."
—-
Raventree, 236 BC.
He listened silently as his father explained to him the pros and cons of a static shield wall such as was used at Lucas's ford.
"If I were to use something like that on an open field, where I could easily be outmanoeuvred, it would have had nowhere near as much effect as it did." His father said and Brynded nodded, seeing what his father was saying.
"The mud and the river made it hard for anyone to do any sort of manoeuvring and so the key weaknesses of the shield wall where negated, whereas at the Twins, Teauge formed his own shield wall and was outmanoeuvred, forcing him to put his back to the river and therefore putting him in range of the Longbows." Said Brynden and his father smiled proudly at him, nodding in agreement.
"Exactly, well done my son." smiled his father. Brynden tried to keep his face from beaming at his fathers compliments. His father was not a stern man but he did not give compliments for the sake of it and when he said something he meant it. He was who Brynden tried to replicate, strong, kind, intelligent and measured it was extremely rare to see his father angry. The last time he had seen his father show any type of negative emotion was when aunt Sara died. Brynden adopted his calm and observant side he used when he was ruling and dealing with non-family members. But Brynden always found it difficult to replicate his fathers more outgoing side and while he knew he was a shy person he often remained silent even when there was something he could say, unless it was important of course or he was with family members and close friends.
"Now, tell me, have you thought about what I asked you last time?" his father asked and Brynden nodded. His father often gave him something to think about for the two days between every lesson and would ask him to give home what he thought about it, he would not speak and instead just allow Brynden to make his point and only after that would he give his opinion on the subject and Bryndens answer. Last time the question was a more serious matter, who did he wish to be betrothed to and why.
"Yes. I have thought about it. I am one of the most eligible bachelors in the realm and amongst the main options outside the Kingdom are Rebbeca Darklyn, Emila Lannister, Hollie Durrandon, my cousin Joanna Stark, Nymeria Martell and Celia Massey, all of whom would come with strong alliances and strategic bonuses." Brynden began and his father nodded in assent, though Brynden knew from experience that did not mean that was all there was to it. "But, a match within the kingdom would be much better. We are first generation monarch whos Vassals all bowed of their own free will, but they did not bow to the Blackwood dynasty, they bowed to the famed warrior King, they bowed to you and while most would not even think of rising in rebellion, the houses connected to us by blood are to strong and others have loyalty to their oaths or to the rewards you granted to them, but still it would take me years to gain their complete loyalty and cooperation, especially should the gardener's try to play them against me."
"Mhm, and yet we are connected to most of our vassals by blood in one way or another." His father said though his voice did not hold disagreement, instead his father was just pointing something out.
"Yes, We have the complete loyalty of the Mallisters, Redwoods, Darrys, Rygers and Adler's and that alone would be enough to discourage, if not completely eradicate any faction that may oppose us. However there are houses which we do not have links to, or at least not strong ones. Charlton, Smallwood, Harlton, Mooton and Hawick being the main ones. But of them only the Charltons, Mootons and Harltons have daughters of age with me. Barbara Charlton, Alys Mooton and Tracie Harlton."
"And which of these would you favour." His father asked.
"Alys Mooton, her mother is a Charlton so would link us to them more firmly and the Charltons owe us their current rank and position, they are loyal."
"And Alys Mooton is known to be a pretty girl." Said his father flatly.
"And Alys Mooton is known to be a pretty girl." Responded Brynden unashamedly making his father laugh and both their Ravens copied him, their laughs where frankly disturbing imitations of a humans and made his friend Jon and all other non Blackwoods who heard it shiver though both Blackwoods merely grinned fondly at the cackling ravens.
"A fine choice, and the one I would also have picked were I in your position. Well done my son, you have impressed me greatly today." his father said before turning back to the map of the Riverlands. "Now tell me, what would you do if the Lannisters were to…" His father said and so the lessons continued, his father making up scenarios and forcing him to deal with them, it was a good way of learning and he truly loved his fathers lessons and the time alone he got with his hero. But he did not fail to notice his fathers constant usage of the Vale and the Blackwater houses in these scenarios, almost always as enemies, making sure he was aware of everything he could about these Kingdoms and their lands, roads, rivers, castles, men, ships and everything else he would need to use where he to go to war with them. No he saw what was happening and knew it would not be long yet before he was marching in the army with his father, perhaps he was too young to fight yet but he would be coming along to learn, he knew that.