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CHAPTER 263
297 AC
POV THIRD PERSON
After they reached the ships, they left the Vale. Ned returned to Winterfell while Aermir flew back to the Mountainmen army. Jon's secondary army had reached Vale of Arryn, but they didn't come across even one mountain man on the road. Right after Aermir and Ned left, Jon started to muster men at Snakewood, Newkeep, and Coldwater Burn.
In normal times, Vale could muster 55 thousand soldiers easily, but the fight against the Druid had weakened them too much, and on top of it, they had lost thousands of men against this new mountain men's army.
Right now, they have a 10 thousand men's army at Vale of Arryn and a 15 thousand men's army between three locations: Snakewood, Newkeep, and Strongsong.
The advisor looked at the last supply numbers and said, "Right now, we can muster 13 thousand more if we are going to do a short campaign, but if it takes longer than two months, we will have nothing left to eat. We need to buy more, but Reach doubled their prices, and since we are at war with a Northern Lord, too. I don't think North would sell their surplus."
Jon was surprised that the North had a surplus to sell. He had read much news about how Aermir was bringing new ways to do agriculture, but they were all bits and pieces; the spies in the North were running dry.
"How are they harvesting enough grain in that cold and harsh climate?"
"They are not my lord. Lord Drasil cultivated a new crop called potatoes. This crop can be harvested even in the harshest climates. We heard this news from Essosi traders; they sell their surplus to them."
The advisor signaled to the maid, and she put a baked potato in front of Jon. Aermir's influence had brought about more than just political changes; it had transformed the very culinary landscape of the North. Jon looked at the steaming potato in front of him.
"Isn't this pebble plant, aren't they poisonous?"
"It looks like one, but no, my lord, pebble plants are vibrant green, but as you can see, it is earthy yellow. We tasted it before, and it is not poisonous."
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The earthy taste mingled with the slightly sweet undertones, creating a sensation entirely new to his palate. Jon's eyes widened in surprise and delight. It had only salt, but it was good; he liked it. Advisor said,
"I think Lord Drasil has more supplies than us; we can't win a war of attrition."
Jon thought for a moment and said,
"Buy it... Buy all the grain we need until Riverlands' next harvest."
This war was going to cost Vale a fortune, but he couldn't think of money when their honor as a kingdom was at stake.
...
For the last six months, Rickon had to go to the Wall since all the beings with manahearts in Moat Cailin had to go and help Aermir, but Aermir didn't want Rickon to stop training, so he had to arrange something. Among his familiars, there were six who had developed manahearts, but other than one, all others were in Vale.
The remaining one was Skadi, the snow owl, and she was responsible for scouting beyond the Wall for signs of white walkers. So she couldn't come all the way to Moat Cailin, which is why Rickon had to live at the Wall until Aermir was back. This way, he could observe Skadi and try to learn how to create a manaheart and manipulate mana while she is able to continue her mission.
He had gone there with the excuse of visiting his brother Jon, but he was spending more time warging into Shaggydog and his other two familiars: Stonepaw, his brown bear, and Silverwing, his eagle.
In the last year, his warging abilities had developed exponentially and he was consumed with the need to become a druid like Aermir, every night he was having dream of turning into an eagle and soaring the skies or raining down fire upon the people trying to hurt his family.
On the Wall, he was welcomed as a Stark, and it didn't hurt that Lord Commander Mormont was a staunch Stark follower. Rickon got out of his room and looked around Castle Black. The castle, which used to be quiet and secluded, was filled with people.
In the last three months, the number of incoming recruits had hit the roof. When he first came here, there were around 1 thousand men, but because of Aermir's policy of sending every Sistermen male to the Wall, he added 3 thousand men to the numbers.
At first, the Sistermen were acting arrogant and unruly, and they didn't listen to orders. Commander Mormont had to execute some of them to quell the unrest, but it only added more to it. Last month, Robb had to come here with 5 thousand soldiers in a show of force to reinforce that the Oath of Night's Watch was seen as sacred in the North.
Robb and Commander put a hundred of them to death for mutiny. After that, the former lords chose to live as soldiers rather than dying as nobles, and everything started to turn to normal.
...
After Rickon left his room, he was followed by four people, two men and two women: Dacey Mormont, Erena Umber, Gerrick of Liddle, and Adrew from Greywater. All four of them were skinchangers and were seen as the priests of the Old Gods, but Aermir had put them on guard duty.
Rickon was his last hope for others to develop a manaheart, so he didn't want anything to happen to him. Erena, like all Umbers, was a big person; she was 1.9 meters and had broad shoulders and dirty blond hair; her father and Greatjon were cousins.
As Dacey, she was able to transform into a bear. Gerrick and Adrew were smallfolk before they were accepted to the temple. They didn't yet receive nobility, but they were not seen as commoners either. They were respected for their religious status.
Gerrick was able to transform into a wolf and Adrew into a Shadowcat. They weren't yet able to fully transform into animals, but their half-transformation was more useful since they were still able to use weapons and armor while gaining more power and speed.
Especially Adrew was able to move without making any sound like a real Shadowcat, and Dacey was so powerful she loved flaunting her power by arm wrestling with two men at the same time.
The weather here was so much harsher than Winterfell, but Rickon felt more connected to the mana of the land when he was next to a weirwood tree, so every day, he would come to sit under the weirwood tree while observing Skadi cast her magic. She was able to create shards of ice and fling them down onto her target. The shards were not big, only fingersized, but they were sharp and pointy. Being hit by them would be like getting hit by multiple arrows.