30 The College of Winterhold.

Skagos, The North, 3rd moon of 278 AC

Winterhold was slowly but surely becoming a beautiful city; the roads were large, allowing merchants and builders to transport their goods and materials through wagons. The city was divided in two by a river; each side of the river had a row of wairwood-trees that followed the river's course through the city, which gave the river the name "Redwater" due to the wairwood leaves. With the charter granted by the King, Ragnar was allowed to create a city guard, which he did. The Dragonguard, a force of 800 men, patrolled the city and maintained the order. Winterhold was probably the most beautiful city in Westeros; the architecture and the cleanness of the city were something utterly new in Westeros. The city was so clean that instead of stinking, it smelled good; some people would say it smelled like lilac and berries.

Ragnar walked through the streets of Winterhold in the direction of an empty spot; he would try to summon the College of Winterhold as it was technically his by right. Ragnar concentrated, and the familiar summoning magic was on his hand; Ragnar cast the spell, and the massive purple portal appeared, and once it was gone, in its place, the College of Winterhold appeared in all its glory; the bridge was missing was it wasn't needed. The statue of Shallidor stood tall, and pride, the 95ft tall statue, although tall, was dwarfed by the college's walls, almost 300ft tall and with magic that could be felt by even the lowliest of beings. Ragnar wanted to reform it, and add more towers and courtyards where mages would practice and study, but that would be for the future.

The Nobles chosen to study magic under Ragnar would all arrive on the morrow; Ragnar asked the lords to send their children to Last Hearth as he would send a Ship to get them all and bring them all on the same day. Dacey Mormont and Benjen Stark would arrive together with the group, Benjen for his fostering and Dacey for her courting/ getting to know Ragnar better.

Ragnar would wait for them at Kingshouse town port and would show them their new "house" for the next five years. Ragnar would mostly teach them warding, curse-breaking (this is surprisingly lore. It's considered a sub-branch of Mysticism and sometimes restoration), and restoration magic; offensive magic would only be taught on the basics.

Benjen Stark, on the other hand, would receive complete training from Ragnar, from swordsmanship to magic, from ruling to judging, from economics to speech.

Ragnar had high expectations for the following year.

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The ship with the lord's children was docking in Kingshouse town, Ragnar mounted in his bear, Davos by his side, and a small force of 100 men welcomed them to Skagos. They were already impressed by Kingshouse town, a beautiful port town slowly becoming a city. Kingshouse town smelled like salt and rain; the houses were built in a traditional Nord Style, like Beezehome, as were the houses of Winterhold, although the Winterhold's houses were usually bigger. Dacey and Benjen got out of the Ship lastly and Ragnar walked to them; he nodded at Benjen and kissed Dacey's hand.

"Welcome to Skagos, my Lady. You look as breathtaking as last time, although this time, the leather armor makes you look more…attractive to me," Ragnar said.

" Thank you, my lord. Few are the lords who would say that. and you don't look bad yourself; winter clothes suit you. " Replied Dacey with a smile; her blue eyes observed the city and Ragnar. She seemed relaxed.

"Few lords are like me. Come, I'll show you my city, " Ragnar said as he turned to the future mages.

" Aye, the future of the north is secured right here; if the heirs of your fathers look as centered as you look, then we got nothing to fear when future come to our doors. I will let you know that from now on, you will call me Archmage and Archmage only. And you are now students. Men or women and you will all be treated the same. There are a set of rules in the College, where you will learn magic under me, that should and will be followed; magic itself will ensure that. Come, it's time for you to know the biggest city in the North."

Ragnar led the group on the way to Winterhold; the trip didn't take long as a road was built connecting Winterhold to Kingshouse town once they got past the "The Gate on the mountains." The group saw the marvelous city of Winterhold, the Redwater cutting the city in two, the wairwood-trees following the river's course, the two castles, one undergoing construction and the other with shiny blue lights and a statue at the gates, the glasshouses spread throughout the city and many other things made the view simply breathtaking.

" Welcome to Winterhold, the jewel of Skagos. That castle over there is your new home. You will learn many things there; your talent and willpower shall decide how deep into that knowledge you will get." Ragnar said; Dacey, by his side, marveled at the city. " Like the city, my lady? I've been to many places, and no city has beaten mine in the beauty aspect…. And smell as well." He completed.

"Aye, unlike you, my lord, I haven't been to many places, but the few I have cannot be compared to Winterhold. Your existence is unfair to all the other men around. Handsome, tall, strong, skilled, and a capable Lord. Your wife will be a lucky one." Dacey said.

" Aye, lucky you are," Ragnar said

" Let's get going, boys and girls; I will "unlock" your magic today. Yours as well, young Benjen." Ragnar said before Dacey could respond to his small provocation.

Once all the boys and girls settled in the College, Ragnar called them all to the Hall of Elements and "unlocked" their magic. It was a simple ceremony; Ragnar pushed some magic into their bodies, which unlocked the magic in them, allowing it to be harnessed by them.

Time skip four moons

Ragnar had just finished his magic lesson for the day; teaching this level of magic was simply dull and too easy for Ragnar; few Lordlings demonstrated talent. The three and ten Howland Reed, the one and ten Benjen Stark, the one and teen Rickard Umber ( Smalljon's brother), and the Two and ten Donnel Locke were among the talented. Benjen Stark was like a sponge; he learned everything Ragnar wanted and tried to teach him, from Swordsmanship to healing mage; Ragnar was so impressed with Benjen that two moons ago, on Benjen's name day, Ragnar gifted him a Direwolf pup, which he stole from a Direwolf beyond the wall. The pup and Benjen were like tongue and ice, inseparable. Ragnar told Benjen that later on, he would teach him how to enchant the direwolf's fur to be as strong as steel and his bone as durable as diamonds.

Howland Reed was also an exceptional young man, and as the only child in his house, he came to study magic under Ragnar, even being the heir to Greywater's watch. Howland's talent for Illusion and Curse-breaking was second only to Benjen's, although not by far.

Rickard Umber had an exceptional talent for self-alteration magic, which, should he follow his brother's and father's footsteps, would make him a force to be reckoned with. Ragnar could only laugh at the mental image of the summer knights trying to fight a 6'5 ft tall invulnerable "barbarian" northerner.

Another thing that had happened in these four moons was the progression of Ragnar's and Dacey's relationships. Dacey was a joyful woman; she was so fun to be around that if someone told him she was born a man, Ragnar wouldn't doubt that much. She trained with Ragnar every morning, and she was excellent, better than many men he had fought in the south. The first time they trained together, the adrenaline and sweat from the training aroused them both so much that they ended up having a make-out section on the training fields; Ragnar's hands explored her pussy and butt, but it stopped at that as they were interrupted by Ragnar's steward who wanted Ragnar's signature for something important. Never had the men been so close to death. After that, every training morning would end up with Ragnar's mouth somewhere in Dacey's body, most often than not in her pussy.

Ragnar had written a letter to Jeor Mormont asking him for Dacey's hand in marriage, which he obviously accepted. The wedding would take place in Winterhold on the 9th moon of 278. Ragnar had invited all Lords of the North.

The only bad thing about this whole thing was that he had to send Midstinul beyond the wall to prevent the lordlings from discovering him. He did give a mission to the Dragon; he would look for and recruit all the Giants beyond the wall. Ragnar would later go Beyond the wall and defeat ten giants simultaneously to asset dominance and have their unquestionable loyalty.

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A/N: That's it for today my friends. The Rebellion is coming and it will be great for Skagos.

Thank you for your support 🙏

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