After the meeting the officers returned to their duties and scattered to their tasks.
Only Jon stayed behind.
He asked Ethan:
"Teacher—if we all head south what happens if the White Walkers move beyond the Wall?"
Ethan replied:
"Isn't there the Wall and the Night's Watch?
As long as the Wall stands and the Night's Watch isn't completely destroyed the White Walkers cannot cross.
Besides—you know the current state of the Watch: fewer than a thousand men holding nearly three hundred miles of wall.
None of the southern lords take the defense of the Wall seriously.
If the White Walkers truly breach the Wall and invade the North while your brother marches south with his bannermen and main strength—what do you think the North will become?"
Jon thought for a moment then answered in a low despairing voice:
"…a hell."
Ethan spoke gravely:
"Yes.
If Lord Robb truly decides to march south to aid your father neither of us can dissuade him—not even your uncle Chief Ranger Benjen.
All we can do is follow your brother south fight win this war as quickly as possible gather as much wealth as we can expand the army—and then return north with a blood-tested victorious force to defend the realm.
Not rely on these few dozen men to futilely resist an enemy that even the Wall and the Night's Watch cannot hold back."
Jon nodded accepting his teacher's reasoning.
Deep down he actually preferred to go south and help Lord Eddard.
He had asked Ethan not so much for advice but for a solid reason to march south.
With the company's thinking unified Ethan turned his attention to upgrading equipment.
The leather armor worn by the two combat squads during the Wisteria Village campaign had been locally made on short notice.
The workmanship was crude and the protection inadequate.
That was why when the feigning-dead wildling ambushed Thorn the dagger still punched clean through the leather and nearly killed him.
Ethan therefore resolved to replace the leather with something far more protective: iron plate armor.
Iron armor came in many styles—plate lamellar scale chainmail—each suited to different needs and battlefields.
From what Ethan had observed of Westerosi equipment the most common high-end combination was: padded gambeson underneath chainmail shirt and then partial plate pieces over the vitals.
Ethan's own "Light's Servant" harness—and the matching set he had forged for Kevin—were exactly this layered style.
But when he made Kevin's armor it had been an act of deep teacherly care and responsibility; he had spent nearly three full weeks hand-crafting every piece.
This time was different.
He could not possibly spend years forging full harnesses for every new recruit nor did he intend to.
Considering the urgency of re-equipping the company and the importance of the coming campaign Ethan settled on a practical efficient compromise: a localized version of brigandine (cloth- or leather-covered iron plate armor).
In his homeland this style was called "cloth armor" or "concealed armor."
It consisted of large iron plates riveted inside a sturdy fabric (or leather) shell.
The outer covering hid the metal gave reasonable flexibility reduced weight and improved comfort while still providing excellent protection.
By the mid-to-late Ming dynasty in China cloth-covered armor had become standard issue for large armies—remaining in use well into the mid-Qing.
Manufacturing brigandine was far simpler and cheaper than full plate or quality lamellar.
It required less skilled labor fewer specialized tools and less time—ideal for quickly arming dozens of men.
Leather-covered iron armor was simply the same concept with animal hide replacing cloth as the outer shell.
Producing forty sets of quality armor would be difficult and ruinously expensive if bought from outside.
As a master smith Ethan had no intention of giving away that profit margin—so he returned to the forge chopped wood burned charcoal and hammered steel.
The most time-consuming labor-intensive and technically demanding step was forging the iron into flat uniform armor plates.
This could not be taught to strong but unskilled youths in a short time.
Poor hammer control would send plates flying or injure the striker.
Ethan therefore lacked confidence he could train Juan's craftsman squad to produce safe consistent plates quickly.
After careful thought he decided to build an animal-powered trip-hammer to replace hand hammering.
The design was straightforward.
It used the pulling or pushing force of oxen or horses cleverly converted through ropes pulleys and a lever system into the downward strike of a heavy hammer head.
When released the hammer fell with tremendous force deforming the hot iron workpiece.
The mechanism also allowed adjustment of strike force and frequency by changing the gearing between winch and hammer.
With John now freed from barracks construction the two men collaborated and completed the trip-hammer in just three days.
Meanwhile charcoal for fuel had been prepared.
Ethan selected the iron charged the forge melted ingots into molten metal then used the fining and puddling methods to produce workable steel.
The steel was cast into thin ingots of uniform size.
To make the ingots soft enough for forging he reheated them to red heat then placed them under the trip-hammer.
Because the ingots were already cast quite thin a single piece was hammered into a palm-sized armor plate in little more than ten minutes.
To test protective performance Ethan fixed one plate to a tree trunk and called Eddie over.
"Eddie—stand ten paces back and shoot an arrow at this plate."
Eddie nocked drew and asked:
"Full draw?"
"Of course."
The arrow hissed—struck with a sharp clang—and both arrow and plate fell to the ground.
Ethan stepped forward picked up the plate and examined it.
Only a shallow dent marked the surface.
He was not entirely satisfied.
The problem was low carbon content—insufficient hardness.
Because he had started with purchased iron ingots carbon control was imprecise.
During smelting he first used the fining method to reduce impurities in cast iron then combined wrought iron and cast iron to produce molten steel.
But this method easily produced steel with too little carbon.
Ethan had a solution: carburizing.
After all plates were finished he would pack them in a sealed box with charcoal powder and lime heat to 900 °C hold for several hours then quench.
Carbon would diffuse into the surface increasing hardness and wear resistance.
This final step would wait until forging was complete.
Ethan picked up a finished plate held it against his body and saw that nine palm-sized plates covered chest and abdomen while eighteen protected the full torso.
He therefore forged eight more.
While the plates were still red-hot he carefully punched small rivet holes around the edges then riveted them firmly inside Captain Vitaly's leather armor.
As First Squad leader Vitaly was of average build among the three combat squads and served as shield-bearer—making torso protection especially urgent.
Using him as the test subject would quickly reveal any problems.
Ethan handed his sword "Song of the Azure Sky" to Juan and instructed:
"Juan—test the armor's protection.
Stab Vitaly."
Juan looked alarmed raised the blade then hesitated eyes flicking to Vitaly's face.
"Captain—isn't this a bit… what if I hurt him by mistake?"
Ethan shook his head reassuringly.
"It's fine.
With me here do you think Vitaly is in any real danger?"
He turned to Vitaly.
"Are you willing to try?"
Vitaly gave a wry smile tried to decline:
"Captain—perhaps someone else should test it?"
But Ethan sweetened the deal:
"If you volunteer the very first leather-covered iron armor I personally forge is yours."
Thinking of the captain's legendary smithing skill Vitaly gritted his teeth steeled himself and shouted:
"All right Captain!
Come on Juan—give it everything!"
Seeing Vitaly persuaded Juan grew excited.
He raised the sword high and thrust with full force toward Vitaly's stomach—after all he had endured more than a few humiliations under Vitaly's command.
Yet despite Juan's full power Vitaly's greater strength absorbed the blow.
He staggered back a single step and dropped to one knee—but remained uninjured.
Ethan had Vitaly remove the armor and inspected the impact point.
A small hole pierced the outer leather—but the steel plates inside showed only the faintest mark.
Eddie the quartermaster who had watched the entire forging process was astonished.
He had seen Ethan produce enough chest and abdomen plates for one full harness in under two hours.
The back plates would take little additional time.
Even better riveting plates into leather required no forge—the warriors could do it themselves.
At this production rate one trip-hammer could turn out enough plates in a single day for three complete harnesses.
Equipping the entire Silver Hand would take only ten days.
Adding arm guards helmets and other pieces the small mercenary company could become a well-armored elite ironclad force in roughly twenty days.
If two more animal-powered hammers were built the time could drop to one-third—about seven days.
Surplus leather-covered iron armor could then be sold.
Eddie pointed at the rough but functional harness eyes gleaming:
"Captain—haven't you always worried about company pay?
Isn't this the answer?"
Ethan laughed self-deprecatingly.
"Are you serious Eddie?
Who would buy something this crude?
I've seen King Robert's and Lord Eddard's household guards—their armor is far finer and stronger.
They wouldn't even glance at my junk."
Eddie shook his head.
"Captain—you yourself said they're guards.
The men in royal and ducal guards are at minimum sons of knights or garrison commanders.
Their armor costs at least two or three gold dragons apiece and takes a master armorer plus apprentice a full month to complete.
If real war breaks out and those guards are sent to the front without their lords they'll each be leading seventy or eighty common soldiers like me.
For ordinary soldiers—and the tens of thousands of conscripted militia—even plain leather is considered rich equipment let alone iron.
Captain—I'm certain: if you're willing to sell this 'leather-covered iron armor' and keep the price under ten silver moons countless men would fight to buy it."
Ethan considered and realized Eddie was right.
In the age of cold weapons armor coverage was one of the single greatest determinants of unit combat power.
Even soldiers of equal skill an armored man could often defeat ten unarmored opponents.
Although brigandine was simple to manufacture and the technique easy to copy Ethan did not care if others learned it.
The more northern soldiers equipped with iron the sooner the southern war would end—and the sooner the victorious northern army could return to defend against whatever came from beyond the Wall.
"You're right.
Discuss it with Brother John and Juan—calculate the costs and report back to me.
I won't be involved in the actual production afterward."
He turned to Juan and spoke gravely:
"I've already explained the key points of plate forging several times.
The finished product doesn't need to be beautiful—just flat uniform and consistent.
This is the men's life-saving gear so practice diligently and ensure quality."
Having worked several days at the forge Lennar still had brought back no valuable intelligence prompting Ethan to visit the Wolf's Kiss Tavern himself.
Yet even after speaking with Howard he gained nothing noteworthy.
Faced with the gathering clouds of war Ethan felt troubled—but he also understood he possessed no gift of prophecy.
All he could do was prepare thoroughly and ensure both he and the Silver Hand were in peak condition when the storm finally broke.
A few days later Lennar returned with news.
"Howard says he wants you at the tavern tomorrow afternoon."
Ethan set down his hammer wiped sweat from his brow and asked suspiciously:
"What for?
Is something wrong?"
Lennar shrugged.
"He said some old friends are gathering and he wants you to join so everyone can meet and talk."
Ethan frowned.
"Just talking?"
"I don't know—Howard didn't explain.
But if it were only casual chat he probably wouldn't have asked for you specifically.
Do you want to go?
If not I can make an excuse."
Ethan thought for a moment then nodded.
"I'll go.
Howard's a good man—I should give him face.
Besides his friends may become our brothers-in-arms one day.
Better to meet them sooner rather than later."
So the next afternoon after bathing Ethan took Lennar and headed to the Wolf's Kiss Tavern.
Compared to usual the atmosphere inside was markedly different.
The place was far more crowded and lively—not the usual scattering of idle mercenaries waiting for contracts.
Howard was not behind the bar.
Instead he sat drinking with a burly white-bearded man.
Seeing Ethan enter he called warmly:
"Go grab a drink from the bar then come sit.
Lennar—how about singing 'Shaun the Sheep Loves Fish' for the brothers?"
"No problem!"
Lennar grinned slung his harp off his back and began a cheerful tune.
Ethan collected two tankards from the bar set one beside Lennar then sat opposite Howard smiling:
"Brother—aren't you going to introduce me?"
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