3 Ch-3

March, 6th 285AC 4 years till Greyjoy rebellion.

Marriage for the nobility is rarely out of love in the beginning as the biggest reason is the solidifying of treaties and alliances, while most marriages work fine with the couple coming to an agreement or in some cases actually falling in love.

That is the circumstance I find myself in, as with my extremely limited options for marriage here in the North, as I no desire to marry outside of it as with my abilities many of those in the south will view them as magic and thus hating it.

But here in the north of the women I actually feel comfortable marrying as they are in my age range and are of equal standing is practically only Meera Reed of house Reed which holds control over the swamp lands East of the Barrowlands that are similar to the swamps of Western Russia.

The lands are filled with Lizard Lions (Alligators) filled with massive flowers as big as men or vicious plants that swallow men. They produce little in terms of trade, mostly staying in their swamps, but are one of the most important areas for defense of the North from Southern aggression.

Looking up from the various reports and lists detailing the eligible women from all over the North and pushed Meera Reed profile forward for mom to read.

She looked it over and with a raised eyebrow asked me "Why her? With the increase in food production, soaps, and the Blast Furnaces you could marry one of the higher noble ladies from the south."

Leaning back and twiddling with a shard of Crystal I answered, "A number of reasons; one the most obvious is my magic and many of these ladies would be very against it, two the Reeds have some of the least developed lands in the North and if my research is right I think I have found some food stuffs that would grow well there. Three Meera is the only Morthen woman in the age range I feel comfortable marrying and at the least courting."

Mother rolled her eyes at the last point, "Yea, yes, you won't even consider a girl under 16 years of age, which I respect son but it is limiting your options.

Though very well we will have to put together a letter and request for Lord Reed and figure out what the bride's price will be."

She left me after that, allowing me to get to work looking over the various reports and requests that have been put together on my order.

———————

The Barrow Lands general report and census.

Total Square Miles: 164,000~ (About the size of California)

General Geography: The landscape of the Barrowlands is similar to that of the American Great Plains but with more hills and small mountains.

Material Wealth: Large amounts of high quality coal and Iron, that has only been partially accessed due to flooding of mines from the various streams and creeks that dot the landscape.

Population: 120,000, which is expected to be increasing by 30% to 35% with the introduction of better farming techniques and increased availability of meat.

Income: 500 Gold Dragons net (Or roughly Half Million US Dollars)

Largest towns: Barrow town, Dustin Port.

Barrow town is the local capital of the Barrowlands and is built around the Great Barrow where the First King of the First men is buried along with his giants. Is seeing a surge in population from the various programs that Lady Dustin and her son have implemented over the past ten years.

Is also startling to be the center of learning here in the North as the University Of The Barrow is a large campus currently focused around the advancement of agriculture and the preservation of food In addition to studying the various plants and animals from around the known world and adapting them to the Northern Climate. (Secretly developed various departments in a number of scientific fields like Material science and Chemistry) Has a population of 15,000 and is expected to increase by five thousand if birth rates and infant mortality rates stay the same.

Dustinport is the port at the mouth of the Dead River which flows by the Barrowtons which opens into the Salt spear, is a small port town that has a population of 5,000 focusing around trade and fishing.

Has seen a large amount of investment in ship building and is home to the new Naval Academy where men of the Barrowlands learn various naval techniques focused around the IronBorn. (Is also a testing ground for experimental ship design.)

Ongoing projects: the biggest ongoing projects of the Barrow land is the proliferation of new agricultural techniques and technology that has been developed in the University which is being subsidized by the Dustin's.

——-

With the census and a general idea of what is happening in my lands I gathered and made my plan for the day, locking all the reports in a chest and I alerted the staff I would be taking an excursion.

Riding out with Moose and three of my Banner men I rode out for one of the abandoned mines that dotted the hills around the Barrowlands, this particular one had been flooded and left over hundreds years ago.

The men knew not to ask questions about my excursions as the rumors of my dreams have been spreading for years and it would surprise me that Lord Stark has heard of the rumors.

Having the men stay at the mouth of the cave I went deeper in till I reached where the flooding stopped and took off my shoes then sat cross legged, feeling the earth on my feet and listening to the silence of the cave.

Till all I could fathom is the cave and the crystal I began to form underneath me, there I felt myself leave my body and become on with the crystal that began to take over the cave spreading like locusts over the walls till it went deeper and deeper into the earth till I went passed the flooded areas into the new unseen earth.

Feeling weak I returned to my body and saw what the cave had turned into, crystal pillars six feet deep that stretched onwards and onwards into the caves looking over to Moose whose head was resting in my leg and looking around the room as well.

"Well…..Moose I think our crystal mining operation can begin anytime now." Moose just looked up at me with a chuff and laid his head back down. "Fine we will rest here for a moment but I'll let the men know I'm fine."

He invited the men into the cave and they were in awe at the sight as their torch light danced across the crystals sending rainbows everywhere, one of the banner men named Carson looked around and settled on me.

"My lord...I have to ask...the Barrow Lands are about to be very rich aren't they." I simply laughed and motioned to the cave.

"Captain Caroson, if there is one of these caves there must be more here in these lands, and if the clarity stays similar we will have more gold than the lannisters."

I let the men explore the cave and rested for a little while till we needed to head back for a meeting as I had a lot of orders to give.

——-

During my mother regency she had indulged in a number of my ideas and among them was expanding the bureaucracy that held our lands together, the Barrowlands like many of the Northern houses do not have a great number of vassals under them relying on mayors and other low level bureaucrats.

My vision was expanded into an official bureaucracy based around the Confuciusist bureaucracy model used by both the Imperial Chinese and Koreans for thousands of years, relying on skill rather than birth with a heavy focus on cultural identity.

The process is long and arduous for those who want to take the test, they must have a competent knowledge of law, northern culture, religion, and economics.

So those eligible to take the test is an astronomically low number for those in the Barrowlands but with development of paper I wrote (under a pseudonym) and published a series of books and thesis on Law, Northern Culture, Religion, and Economics for those wanting to gain a Certification of Civil Service.

These books were donated to villages and towns above 1,000s people for those who want to study and eventually take the Northern Examination.

The reason for both Culture and Religion books is the same reason as the Chinese and Koreans did it, to promote cultural homogeneity within a certain boundary, by doing. This northern culture is based around being a strong leader and stronger man, this can mean a variety of things based on your occupation or station in society.

For a small folk it is being a good father and teaching your child how to survive the harsh reality of the north, while for a lord it means leading them through both the good and bad times through the harsh winters or warm summers.

The religion aspect heavily influences society, most villages have at their center a Weirwood tree to allow prayer and ceremonies for the village. Most ceremonies surround the changing of seasons and praying for a good harvest or safe return from the mines.

Sadly many old rituals from before the age of the Andals have been lost or forgotten by the people and worst of all forced to stop by the lords themselves to make themselves look better to the southern men for better trade deals.

That is who I am meeting with, those who have proven themselves and have the highest scores in their respective stations: Trade, Agriculture, Industry, Army and Navy.

I entered the chamber with a chest in my arms filled with various notes and documents that had been sent by the lower level bureaucrats from the villages and towns across the Barrowlands.

Following me are two women with a stack of paper and inkwell with pens I had made for them with my crystal abilities as these ladies are the official note takers and court reporters that write down the entirety of the meeting for future generations.

The council is already present and upon seeing me enter the stand and wait for the maid to pass out my notes and documents and wait for the note takers set up.

"Good Afternoon everyone, first I would like to thank all you all for being here as this will be the first of my official meetings and will be the first of my time as lord recorded for future generations."

I look over at the note taker who give a nod and have there Fountain pens at the ready, I give them a nod and begin.

"I Lord Rodrik of House Dustin called the first Council of my Rule to order on the First of March, 285 years after conquest call upon the Councilors of the Barrowlands: Councillor Agriculture I call upon you."

A man with skin with more valleys than Vale from his decades of working the fields which he still visits even with his new found position, "I Keir Devlin of the Soil and Councillor of Agriculture have answered the summons and provided true and noble council."

I nod towards him and he sits and I move to a woman this time her hair is bright red and pale skin that looks like she was made of moonlight, her family had been trading in the Barrow lands for generations. "I Lili MacLùcais of Coin and Councillor Trade have answered the summons and provided true and noble counsel."

Next is a large man with pockmarked skin and large forearms that look mildly comical in his official robes, he was after taking this position was the previous castle blacksmith of Barrow Castle. "I Torcall Gallach of Steel and Councillor Industry have answered the summons and provided true and noble counsel."

"And lastly I call upon those who defend our territories the Councillors of both Army and Navy."

Two old men in their mid sixties look to me a set twins but have had hard lives and in different ways one salt stained and weathered from the open sea with the other covered in scars.

"I Daidh Foirbeis of honor bound defense and Councillor Army have answered the summons and provided true and noble counsel."

"I Solamh Foirbeis of salt and sea and Councillor Navy have answered the summons and provided true and noble counsel."

I look at them all one last time all sitting looking over the notes provided making small notes on their own papers.

"I thank you councilors and swear to listen to your counsel, now that the council has been summoned and accepted the summons I call this meeting open."

I finally sat down, "Before I begin, is there anything anyone would like to announce or bring into discussion."

Keir the farmer raised his hand and started,"Can we shorten the opening that is a bit much don't you think?" He says with a slight laugh which myself and the rest of the council return.

"Well Council of Agriculture, I have to agree but this is the first official meeting of my rule so I wanted it to be official, but in the future we will make it shorter." I gave the man a smile that was what I wanted when I presented the idea of the civil service people who are actually competent and willing to actually talk to me.

"Now is there anything else the council would like to present before I present my own issues to the council."

Torcall the smith raised his hand, "I actually have something, the Blast Furnace is reaching maximum output and the smiths are at capacity as well so any future order will be delayed with the orders for the new armor and arms for the army.

The soap production is doing good with the expansion of the bathhouses and trading to the south has been increasing in demand so I recommend expansion."

He passed down his spreadsheet book with the output aid steel and soap order he had filled.

Lilli then interrupted, "Speaking of trading we need more ships and protection for those ships as the Iron Born are attacking trade vessels, as Torcall has said demand is up across the board for everything we produce.

But I recommend not exporting anymore steel than one tonne every month and that includes anything that leaves our borders south and what stays here in the North."

"I agree, besides what I owe to the Starks in taxes I will not allow any more steel to leave our borders which connects into my order and plans.

First there are some giant crystal mines that I want to be exploited

Immediately as some of the crystals are as big as trees."

I handed out some uncut gems I grabbed on the way over and let the group look them over, none besides Lilli had really seen or held Crystal before.

Lillie held it up to the light and tried to break it by hitting it against the side of the table then addressed us, "It's not worth an obscene amount, but it is food safe and worked correctly it can be used in place of glass."

Torcall looked at his crystal over again, his eyes filled with wonder at the crystal, "I'll gather some Master Masson who have worked with Dragon Glass, as if my knowledge is correct they will have the best skill set for this."

"I'll have the staff bring some more if any of you need them to practice as we have a literal mine load of so feel free to let them have at it. Now, I have some more experimental ideas." This caused some grumbling as I had become known for my "ideas" over the years as some of them have not worked out well but none resulted in catastrophe.

"I know, I know, but I have already run this by my mother who didn't immediately say it was a terrible Idea but it will be a slow process but I think it will be extremely beneficial in the long run. I am expanding the university to include a place of studying medicine and the human condition. I have already sent for a former Maester to help lead the college but I will be supplying a number of textbooks and bodies for the students to study.

In addition I will be officially expanding both the navy and army, in every capacity; the most major areas are the development of a medical core which will follow the army and focus on keeping the wounded alive, next is the official start of the officer program that Mr. Daihd has been developing along with the logistics core.

In term of the navy I will be allowing the development of a new type of ship that has been in development over the past 3 years based off the swan ships that the Summer islanders use, which has been improved by the naval college in many ways and the start of the Barrow Marines who will be defending the new trading lines from the Crystal mines.

Now, on to the revised tax code..." the meeting continued on and on for hours as I finalized my control over the Barrowlands pushing the land into the future kicking and screaming if I have too.