8 God's Promise!!
In the morning after everybody had their breakfast we got assembled at the gods woods within the winterfell castle. Everyone stood in front of the weirwood tree. Catalyn stark, Mr. Lewin, Rickon Merstark, Sir Harvin, Sir Stefon, Roderick cassel, jory cassel and other nights along with my men are present there.
Ned stark and myself were standing close to weirwood tree. I have donned my ceremonial clothes as did ned stark.
I took a step forward in front of him and knelt,
"I, Duncan Merstark of House Merstark,Lord of Rockhold, High lord of Stoney shore & sea dragon point, this day pledge fealty to Eddard Stark of Winterfell, Lord paramount & protector of the North. And vow to provide my arms in times of war, my advice in times of peace, and my service in times of need. I promise to defend The North against all that desire her harm with word, deed and force. I swear it by the old gods & the new."
I ruffled the leaves of the wierwood tree with my wind manipulation as if it was blessing me. Just for some dramatic effect.
Everyone looked at it and shocked. Ned came out of stupor and said,
"I, Eddard Stark of Winterfell, Lord paramount & protector of the North, hereby accept your oath.And I vow that you shall always have a place by my hearth, and meat and mead at my table. And I pledge to ask no service of you that might bring you dishonor. I swear it by the Old Gods and the New. Arise, Duncan Merstark of House Merstark,Lord of Rockhold, High lord of Stoney shore & sea dragon point."
Ned said as he accepted my oath. He continued,
"as you are a young of age, I appoint rickon Merstark as Lord Regent for Stoney dragon shore till you are of age 14."
My uncle came in front of Ned stark and knelt " I accept my Lord."
Ned nodded to us and said, "let's meet at my solar after midday."
With that everybody dispersed. I looked at my uncle and said," uncle come to my room we have something to discuss. It is about the future development of our territory"
My uncle just nodded and followed me back to my room. I placed two of my combat master guards at the door and invited my uncle in. After we made ourselves comfortable, I asked
"uncle, can you tell me more about my territory? I want to know how many people are living throughout Stony dragon shore. I want to know about number of villages or settlements throughout the territory."
"It is good that you are taking interest to rule over your territory as a lord. Let us start with settlements and villages. There are about 100 or so small settlements throughout the coastal area of our territory. There are 4 villages that are placed at quite distance with each other. Most of the settlements were formed due to the iron born attacks. They are huddled together for their safety. Even though the past Lords like your grandfather and your father have sent many guards to protect them, it is harder to anticipate which village or settlement would be attacked next by the iron born. On an average we have about 40,000-50,000 small folk living throughout our territory. Some are settled in the woods, some around the coastal areas, some around the Rocky Mountains."
"Hmm, it really does seem hard to protect all of them. Uncle how much money do we have in our coffers?"
"Well, we have about 65000 gold Dragons in our coffers. This is the amount that was saved throughout various generations of our house."- uncle
"how many boats or ships do we have?"
"Not many I would say, there are about 50 trade ships, 17 warships, 150 fishing boats. The trade ships are rented to various merchants that's how we generate income from them. As for the warships they are not in a very good condition as we use them to protect our lands from iron born attacks. As for the fishing boats we have distributed them to various villages and collect 40% of the income that they gain from each boat."-Uncle
I kept my head down for a few minutes and thought for some time. I then looked at my uncle and said," uncle, I want to get permission to create three towns from net stark in our territory. Also to increase number of navel vassals in our territory."
"Let us ask. I am not against it. If we do get permission, we would need lot of funds to do what you are think of doing. How are we going to generate income for that?"-Uncle
"leave that to me uncle. I already have planned for it."
"Look at you all grown up already thinking what's good for your lands and her people." He said while smiling and ruffling my hair.
We spoke for some time to iron out the details and discussed more about the future of our lands.
During the mid day we had our food and walked towards Ned Starks solar.
I informed the guard to let Ned know that we have come. The guard knocked the door and said" my Lord, Lord Duncan and lord Rickon have come."
"Please let them in." Game Ned's voice from other side of the door.
The guard just nodded and opened the door for us to walk in And then he closed the door.
"Uncle Ned"-Duncan
"Lord Stark"-uncle
"nephew, Rickon, come please sit"-Ned
"there are few things that I want to let you know. I have decided 2 exempt your region from taxes for the next three years. This will help you with smooth transitioning and put that money elsewhere you need. Also, if you need any help from my end, do not hesitate to ask."-Ned
"thank you uncle Ned. That is very kind of you. I do have a proposition that I want to bring forward to you. This will help my territory and north overall."
Net just nodded his head silently prompting me to go on.
"I want to take your permission to build three towns across my lands. Also I want to build naval force for the north."
Ned looked stunned for a second. And then he thought over a bit. He looked me in the eye and asked,"Tell me Duncan. Why do you want to build towns and create a navy. I would like to hear from you first and then make my decision. If it is just a child's moment of thought, I would not entertain it, as this involves lot of money, resources and lives of people."
