ASOIAF/GOT: Minecraft in Essos.

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~~~Rickard Stark, Eighth Moon, 277 AC~~~

~~~Hunting camp, Crakehall~~~

A canal across the North, it sounded like a children's story, like the tales old Tata used to tell me of the Children of the Forest, and how they destroyed the Arm of Dorne using their ancient and archaic magic, the subject of the canal had been in the air for several moons now, back then the idea sounded like madness.

Such a work would take perhaps more than ten years of work, not counting the number of people that would be needed to bring the project to life, not even gathering all the gold of the North could pay for something like that, but now, ten moons later, I was able to speak with the king of Xandar himself.

The experience surprised me, he came across as an understanding, accurate, and trustworthy guy, maybe it was due to how politics was treated in far away Essos, but the Xandarian king was precise in showing what he wanted, what he would pay and what he expected to happen if an agreement was reached.

That kept the conversation from going longer than expected, and with positive results as they talked about what was important, without having hidden interests or ruses with which the southerners were so used to.

The canal could open countless new doors of advance to the North, something the Northerners had been struggling with for centuries, where the advance was somewhat ephemeral because the lords were more concerned with harvesting and preparing for the coming winter than worrying about any future advance.

But now, it seemed that luck was smiling on the North. Even Bear Island could prove to be a strong bastion if the canal was realized, and now, believing the words of King Jaesyrian, Xandar would take care of all the expenses. While it would also be stipulated that Xandar would control the canal for one hundred years, it was still a gamble he was willing to take.

But the surprises did not stop there, but also with the largest island that the North ruled, or so it was written, and the truth was that years ago no Stark was interested in Skagos, of course, the island was large and there were even noble houses located on it. But those people more influenced by cannibals were not interested in Northern affairs, and vice versa.

So finding now a way to 'get rid' of the control of the island, and under a large sum of gold on board, was a dream for every man, the matter now rested on whether the sale of the island would take place.

But it was not all good news, with the news spreading of the creation of the canal, and the sale of Skagos, the North had just painted a target on its back, the balance of power was shifting very fast, and those in control at the moment were falling behind, and would do the unthinkable to stay on top.

Dorne was clinging to Xandar like a leech. Tywin Lannister had just done it—hell, he was in a pre-wedding celebration for it. Sooner rather than later, internal conflicts would move from letters and proposals to actual actions, and the North could not fight for it right now, especially now that the queen would be a Martell, the same house that would suffer greatly the moment the channel was concluded.

But with powerful allies, House Stark, and more importantly, the North, could survive the bad times ahead, Westerland was the best ally the North could have right now, and Tywin knew it, just as he knew it was better to have us as allies now, than enemies in the future.

Especially now that Xandar, The Center of the World, was expanding its commercial and political power to the rest of the known world, Tywin knew that the Xandarian presence would be strongest in the North, it may be that King's Landing was now home to a branch of the Central Bank, or that Casterly Rock had a Xandarian Lady.

For it was the North that the King of Xandar himself was interested in and that Tywin could not pass up, so a marriage proposal coming from him came as no surprise, it showed that he, like me, was watching the steps of what the new status quo would become, and he wanted in.

The flap of my tent opened, revealing my youngest son, Eddard, or as we in the family refer to him; Ned, "Father, hello, what are you doing here? I had you enjoying yourself with Rodrik and the men-at-arms", hahaha, if he understood what was going on around you, he would also be thinking about the future instead of enjoying himself. I thought, big was the burden of my house, and I hoped to leave that burden to my son Brandon when there was less than now.

"I had things to do, tell me, did you get the raven from Winterfell?" I asked, a Stark should always be in Winterfell, that is why Benjen stayed, Lyanna, my daughter, and her mother; my wife, also stayed because she did not want to make the trip, although, in the case of Lyanna, I had to force her to stay, that girl carried too much temper and rebelliousness to bring her to a place with more than fifty thousand Dothraki, she could well end up fighting with one of them.

Ned's face lit up as he asked about home, "Yes father, mother wrote, Lyanna is still not controllable, she also mentioned that Benjen took an interest in the Watch, though she also wrote something worrying in her letter."

'Worrying?' If Lyarra wrote the word worrying, some important and urgent event is or did happen, and the chances of something like that affecting the North were high. "What did your mother write boy?"

"The raids of the Ironborn," and there was the rub, one thing she would never forgive the Targaryen was not burning those damned islands to the ground, the Ironborn were nothing but rapists, pirates, and slavers, the worst scum that Westeros had to offer, and it was a surprise that such a culture still existed in Westeros.

"Mother wrote saying that their raids have multiplied, the strange thing is that they have not kidnapped people from the North, they come in the nights and cut down as many trees as they can and then leave, the Ryswells and the Reeds have already complained about this, saying that their hunting forests have been affected."

This was not how the Iron Sons acted, they were used to plundering whatever they could, taking women and children, and murdering any man who stood up to them, but now they came in the nights and cut down the forests... It was as if they needed the wood more than gold.

Could it be? No, the realm was at peace, attacking the realm at this time when it was at its best was not the right thing to do, the indicator of that was Tywin's wedding, all the great lords were here, even the king.

We were all in the same place. 

Realizing that, I looked at Ned with an altered face, of course, this was the perfect opportunity, all the great lords were in one place, so to return to their lands and call their levies would take moons, precious time for the Iron Sons to bend the realm.

"Get your things organized, we're going home, you're not going back to Eyrie, we'll leave as soon as Brandon returns from the hunt," I said to Ned, that the possibility of an Ironbone attack was fleeting, but everything pointed to it, they would need plenty of wood for their fleets, and the kingdom's sight was elsewhere, so their preparations would go unnoticed.

"What? But there are still five days of hunting left, and the wedding hasn't happened yet, it would be seen as disrespectful," Ned tried to convince me to leave, but I had already made my decision, the North came first, I didn't care how rude our departure would look, because a possible rebellion was yet to be seen.

"Do as I tell you and don't argue, and I don't want you to discuss this with Lord Arryn, I command you."

"My lord, my lord!" Rodrik Cassel entered the tent without asking permission, and I was about to scold him when I noticed the fear and fright on his face, "Brandon my lord, you managed to hunt the beast!" That was huge news, those hunts were a carnage in which thousands of men had died in just four days, and all for the pursuit of fame, glory, and gold.

But now my son had succeeded, and I couldn't be happier about it... Although it was good news, and Rodrik shouldn't have that expression, a bad feeling washed over me, and I looked at Rodrik expectantly wanting to know what was going on.

"Young Brandon managed to hunt the beast my lord, but... But he was badly injured for it.".... Negative thoughts filled my mind as I hurriedly ran in search of my firstborn, and a prayer to any god filled my lips. For I couldn't bear the death of a son, and I knew Lyarra couldn't either.

I only hoped she could be saved... And so return home.

The Starks were faring badly in the south.