--With the concrete factory complete, House Dustin immediately pours gold and labor into building the shipyard you commanded, perhaps hoping to assuage royal wrath. Construction proceeds rapidly, but the concrete does not save them as much time as they perhaps would have hoped. Certainly not enough to prevent them from losing face and receiving a passel of punishments which leave other lords looking on with satisfaction. Concrete factory mostly complete, minimal progress on shipyard due to House Dustin mostly ignoring your orders.
--Having met with priests of the Storm Father and of the Earth Mother and of a few of their children's priests and received assurances as to the health of the weirwoods, an agreement is made to allow the Green Men to tend to them, as well as to those few houses which keep wholly to the Old Gods. The Septwood Faith and the Faith of the Seven are discussed next, and while one has no followers in the Stormlands, several major houses still keep to the New Gods and there are more than a few Warrior's Sons. Despite the High Septon and Most Devout having far more reach in those southern lands, the peace has been kept since the awakening of the Storm God. Some houses still keep to the Seven, but they had a conclave similar to yours which has kept the peace.
-Issue Command (Western Lords): 1d100+20 = 46. House Glover is naturally eager to begin constructing a shipyard, especially with the promise of a town charter for it and the area surrounding it. Despite several practical concerns, they set about fulfilling your orders with steady determination. Diplomacy DC: 10. Action DC: 50. Establish a Shipyard on the Bay of Ice in the Glover lands, with easy access to the Wolfswood. Resources: Gold: 550, a town charter at the selected location.
-- 1d100+18 = 95. Almost immediately, they run into a series of problems: the best place to build a shipyard – indeed, the place where the closest thing to one on Glover lands already exists – belongs to one of the less-settled wildling clans. Just finding them is an obstacle, and Master Glover barely manages to conceal his disdain long enough to win an agreement before the heart tree with Tolgett the Burned. The wildlings will certainly be growing wealthy off this new town and shipyard, although they are quite willing to contribute, fascinated by the steadily growing docks. Shipyard construction begun.
-Issue Command (Manderly): 1d100+20 = 33. The death of Lord Manderly is still casting a pall over White Harbor, but that is perhaps to your benefit, as his younger brother and youngest son are both willing to assist Edwyle as he crosses the Narrow Sea. Diplomacy DC: 15. Action DC: 45. Trade delegation to Braavos to secure a trade agreement. Resources: Gold: 300, Influence 1, Edwyle dispatched with them to provide the weight of his title, and any assistance he can offer. Ask Edwyle to visit the Isle of the Gods while he is there and see what he can learn, also make any contacts he can with various Braavosi artisans and engineers.
--1d100+18 = 110. 1d100+10 = 75. It is rare for princes to visit Braavos, rarer still for Westerosi ones to do so. Edwyle makes a dashing impression as he strides down the dock into the secret city, no doubt helped by the enormous direwolf which strides alongside him. His days are filled with meetings, with the Sealord and lesser, but still significant members of the Braavosi government, with Keyholders of the Iron Bank, and with the heads of various powerful houses. His nights are spent sampling the delights of the Secret City, attending elegant parties where the real work of the city is done and apparently dueling with several bravos, defeating them fairly easily. It is difficult to defeat a direwolf with water dancing, although Edwyle does gain an appreciation for the art. The trade agreement is quickly secured, for the fleet of Braavos needs wood in vast amounts and the Royal Forges produce enough weapons to meet half the needs of the Braavosi marines. Favorable trade agreement secured, +300 gold (trade), extremely positive impression made on Braavos.
Military:
-Expand the Guard: 1d100+23 = 58. The newest members of your guard are largely made of mountain clansmen, but some are refugees from the Riverlands and there are even a score of wildlings. All of them have great loyalty to House Stark and to you personally, all of them have taken to the stern discipline and hard training well, and all wear the heavy armor of the Winterfell Guard with pride. Where three hundred stout warriors once served as your elite household men, six hundred steadfast soldiers have now sworn vows before the heart tree to now and forever be Stark men. +300 members of the Winterfell Guard, -200 gold per turn. No vassal opinion loss.
-Train the Scouts: 1d100+23 = 107. 1d100+7 = 106. 1d00+6 = 30. The Ghost-folk are not just skilled in stealth, but they know how to weave shadow and mist into cloaks which let them step as lightly as a fogbank upon the earth and pass by with just as much noise. Brandon persuades them to not just give the Winterfell Scouts mundane lessons, but also a great number of these cloaks, enough that each member of the expanded organization receives one. +25 Winterfell Scouts, quality improved.
Diplomacy:
-A Polite Punishment (Dustin):1d100+20+20 = 94. You are the King of Winter. In your veins flows the blood of Brandon the Builder and many other mighty kings. Your ancestors conquered the North through steel and strength and loyalty, both taken by force and freely given. Many other kings bent the knee to you or were humbled by your ancestor's strength. The Barrow Kings were one of those houses. A fact which you remind them of. A scathing letter is sent to them, and only them, first. Gifts are offered to their loyal bannermen but not to House Dustin, not until they have corrected their errors. Small stretches of land are stripped away and given to House Ryswell, House Cerwyn, and House Tallhart in a blatant rebuke. The whispers claiming you weak are silenced utterly. In their place are frantic apologies from House Dustin, apologies you do not yet accept. Vassal opinion boost, small House Dustin opinion boost, +3 Influence.
-Speak to the Sept: 1d100+20 =39. The Snowy Sept is not a place you bothered to focus your attention on before. They are completely lacking in power outside of House Manderly and a few thousand smallfolk, both of whom are bound far tighter to you than to the Faith. And they are well aware of this. So when you send a letter asking for a meeting, the response is swift and so accommodating you might call it obsequious. Septon Willem is ushered into your solar, where he kneels and is careful to keep his manner as perfect as possible, a far cry from his barely respectful behavior at the Conclave. He is extremely eager to speak on the events of the Starry Sept. It seems that unlike every other sept, the holy ground there is no barrier to them, and indeed it seems to attract them. Beneath the roof, fey are not even bound by their given word. As such, many have been slain by the crueler among them, including every High Septon or member of the Most Devout who set themselves against the strange creatures. Rumors have spread that no such harm has befallen the North, and that the Snowy Sept may have some way of defending against dark powers. He also reveals that a septa has received some sort of blessing: with a prayer to the Maiden, she can soothe the hurts of children. He asks your leave to allow Warrior's Sons to escort her about Manderly lands, although he is careful to make it clear that this would be a unique exception only for her. Fey are attracted to Starry Sept, the Most Devout are looking for someone who can deal with them. A septa in White Harbor has received the blessing of the Seven.
[] Permit it.
[] Permit it with supervision.
[] Forbid it.
[] Write-in.
Stewardship:
-From Wool To Yarn: 1d100+18+15 = 133. 1d100+33 = 68. While ordinarily, winter is a harsh season for any task at all, it does have on advantage: there are plenty of idle hands. These idle hands, led by the Gifted, are set to work first building a large factory only slightly smaller than the paper mill, then constructing large basins and carding brushes for the workers to handle in groups. As an experiment, a few are set up so that they are rotated by cranks, one crank turning two drums in opposing directions, which prove far more efficient. Several more are installed as soon as possible, with others being built to replace the original design, and you reward the enterprising carpenter who came up with the design with plenty of coin and praise. Everything else is swiftly completed, the factory almost finished, but for one obstacle: the amount of sheep nearby is not enough to justify running such a large facility. It will take a month or so to gather enough sheep and wool. But once they are gathered, you can just hear the sound of your coffers filling…Locked 1 Season.
-Improve Roads (Advanced): 1d100+18 = 106. 1d100+6 = 18. The use of the Gifted is the main expense, especially as their time and power are needed in several other places, but it's concrete that is the primary bottleneck. Roads are laid down with all but the very top layer of concrete in place, the rest positioned by teams of gifted. In a few places, the concrete is poured and smoothed over to make a sturdy and smooth road, raised and sloped so water runs off and marked with high black and white posts to make it obvious where the road in. The rest is simply covered with broad stones or smoothed earth as a temporary measure. Locked 3 seasons.
-Issue a Charter (Where the Shipyard is in the Glover's land): 1d100+18 = 49. You spend some effort placating House Manderly and House Umber, ensuring that there is no opposition to the establishment of a town on Glover land. Already stout wooden walls are rising to ensure the defense of Tolgett's Yard, although it will be some time until it is actually worth calling a town. Charter given, House Glover opinion increases. Increase to trade will come later.
Learning
-Search for Prophecies: The prophecy is translated, although much to your shock it seems less like an esoteric, vague description of events which will come to pass and more of a checklist, describing the signs of the Long Night: the birth of dragons from fire and treachery, a long summer, a great storm from the west. And it briefly describes what will be needed to oppose it: dragon's steel and black glass and eight ancient bloodlines standing as one. Maester Brynden is almost disappointed to read it, so lacking in drama and excitement is it. Prophecy translated, information about the Long Night gained.
-Copper on Ships: 1d100+20 = 76. His efforts at finding a way to copper ships go fairly well. With your half-clear memories – he looks askance at when you try and explain how you thought of this – he manages to work out that it is what metal that attaches the copper that matters, and creates a long simulation of a ship's hull, immersing it in artificial saltwater and using nails of seven different metals to attach sections of copper sheathing to the wood. Locked 1 season.
Piety:
-The Barrow Seeking: It is the prophecy that gives Frost the final clue about the Barrow Curse, for the prophecy was written in his own hand. "It was not he which made the curse, but his child, who desired for none to surpass his father. When the great storms came, his kingdom was swept away as magic broke, and the time you know as the Age of Heroes came to a sad and broken end. But the father is only half-asleep, and he must be persuaded to break the curse…I will need your aid, Your Grace. And that of others as well." Interludes.
-Strange Magics: Frost's studies continue as he travels the North to sights of strange magic, examining the glass candle and the stained stone where the servants of the Drowned God communed with their master while he sat upon the Seastone Chair. He promises results soon, hoping for rituals to break foul magic or ward people against it and for lore to understand the powers of your foes. It is late one night he comes in from the godswood. "Your Grace, I have found the beginnings of what I needed in the Greendream." He tells you, mask removed and eyes glittering. Soon what he has learned is shared with other Green Men: Lord of fey, of dragons, of Drowned Men, a rite for destroying the foe's power and for the creation of talismans to ward against it, and hints of more bound up in runes. Lore of various magic unlocked. Rite of the Given Sacrifice unlocked, Rite of the Warding Gift unlocked, new actions unlocked.
Intrigue
-Spies in the Citadel: 1d100+19 = 45. The Citadel is one of two pillars of order in Oldtown now. While the Starry Sept is host to fey revels night after night and the Hightower is besieged from earth and sky, the Changelings guard the streets and walls and sewers while the maesters study and heal and offer aid. They are absolutely desperate for acolytes, which makes infiltrating them simple. It is spreading that infiltration outwards from Oldtown that proves slow and troublesome. Locked 1 season.
-Further Afield (Iron Isles): 1d100+19 = 82. The Iron Islands are a troublesome land and a troublesome land to spy on, but rumors are simple enough to gather. You hear word of rebellions put down by sword and dread sorcery, of great krakens and other sea monsters shattering rebellious keeps, of the "glory" of the Drowned God and the Iron Price. Only a few houses seem to have embraced it less than wholeheartedly, Harlaw and Farwynd among them. Locked 1 season.
Personal
-Beast Bonding: 1d100+20 = 88. Your eyes show you much in the Wolfswood now as faint currents of magic run hither and yon, many arcing towards Castle Green, merging and thickening, while others are shifted around it. The power surges and ebbs on strange tides, but you spot some pattern of it that leads you on half-remembered instinct to guide yourself and those who follow you towards a large den of rock coated in greenery. Inside is an immense shadowcat with strangely knowing eyes. You reach out to it…and it accepts you. Strange shadowcat bonded.
-Train Your Children (Diplomacy): The work you have put into training your children has paid off. While you can't quite guess at how Edwyle has improved from your lessons and his time in Braavos, you suspect it to be slightly less than Eddard did, based off your recollection of how he took to your lessons. Of course, perhaps he simply improved in a different direction… +2 to Eddard's Diplomacy, Eddard gains trait Storyteller. Unknown benefits for Edwyle.
