Chapter 18

After bathing and resting for a bit. He was in his solar with his family holding Rickon in his hand to tell them what happened in Greyjoy's Folly and to get to know what happened in his absence. As he regaled the tales of war he thought his children would be excited and ask many questions, but their faces remained impassive only Arya scrunching up her nose and saying "That's boring, We had more fun at Winterfell and even Robb taught us."

He had raised an eyebrow toward his heir. So he told a tale of his own. Of rearranging his solar, which by the way he noticed but decided not to comment on, of finding the secret compartment containing journals of his ancestors, of septa petitioning to burn those books his son banishing her, beheading a rapist.

He just couldn't be more proud of his eldest. "That's the truly great, Robb. You have made me proud. Ask me of a boon and I shall try to see it fulfilled?"

Translation: Select your best crazy idea and pitch it. Understanding his words he could see Robb's eyes brightened.

"Ned, there's more." Catelyn chided him but words were already spoken and for anything more, more rewards would have to be granted. But when he heard he just turned numb.

Double-entry bookkeeping, capable of preventing fraud and rebellious lords. Boon.

The crop rotation method increases farming yields 10 times to previous. Boon.

Blast furnace that could make steel by the cartload that blacksmiths can't keep up. Boon.

Trip Hammer which had increased the quality and quantity of work done by blacksmiths by at least 5 times. Boon.

Something called a Pendulum Clock that tells precise time. Boon.

Mass production for paper. Okay, he could skip that.

Mass production for Books. Skip that too.

Member of Iron Bank, Tycho Nestoris, visiting Winterfell to verify claims of printing books. When leaving having given an order for a full set of books, all 40,000 books. FOR 5 MILLION GOLD. Boon.

Glassmaking. Boon. Quartz mines were discovered in the lands of Mountain Clans. Improving said glass quality, will benefit North a lot and see their fiercest vassals richer. Boon.

Compass. A device that always points towards the North. Madness. Transforming sea navigation with just one device. Madness everywhere. Boon.

Cement and Concrete. That could help in construction done faster & durable. The Others take him. Boon.

His son and his so-called Knowledge Hall had been very, very busy. He could feel that even though he was Lord of Winterfell, its true master was Robb. He could just feel it. Good, he would let his son take over.

"Father" His son's voice brought him out of his thoughts. "I counted nine rewards in total." His son's voice dripped with mirth. His other children laughed. Catelyn, Luwin, and Ser Rodrick sighed. And he sat mouth agape.

When he recovered he was told of minor things like the new titles for maesters, and 500 gold dragon as a reward to the inventor. Others that helped in invention saw their research budget increase. His son called it an incentive-based system. Some minor inventions namely soaps, soaps for mouth called toothpaste, and brushes for teeth aptly called toothbrush.

"Name it, son?" He asked his son.

"First, let Sansa and Arya train with weapons." Immediately Catelyn cried outrage. He stared at his son for putting him in this spot and looked at his daughters who had perked up regarding the prospect of weapon training. He thought about Lyanna and had to force himself to dark thoughts out. And slowly nodded agreeing to his request.

"Agreed. But you will be in charge of arranging their mentors. I won't be able to do so myself as I have to calm your mother down." He washed off his hands from this mess.

The girls suddenly jumped up and hugged him. But he was dreading other boons after Robb's first request. As they settled down.

"Second, I want to travel the North. I will take Mullen with me." Catelyn was staring daggers at Robb.

"When will you leave?" He could already guess but still asked.

"With Lord Reed to Greywater Watch. Probably spend the Winters at White Harbor. After that, we will see."

'Robb Stark would be the first stark in many generations to visit Greywater' he thought and nodded, Howland would make sure his son was safe.

"Third and Fourth will be more letters you will write to the King asking to be granted the right to negotiate with Lord Commander of Night's Watch to get back New Gift & Brandon's Gift under our control. Wilding raids have increased and the Watch is severely undermanned. The other letter will be about the repair of Moat Cailin which will be Bran's seat when he comes of age."

He felt proud that even his son was requesting rewards that would help the North and his siblings. Nodding and gesturing him to continue.

"I have already taken liberty in requesting Scholar's help with plans. Bravos would be sending us Master Builders and Architects. All of them will be making plans for the structures that I built in the North."

"Structures?"

"Father, King Robert presents us with a unique possibility to undo all the injustices the North has suffered under Targaryens. We have to capitalize on it." Robb paused for a bit and then continued. "The fifth request would be to reconstruct and expand Winterfell and convert Wintertown into a proper city, Wintercity."

As he thought over the last 3 requests. Robb added passionately, "We are descended from Brandon the Builder, we should in our lifetime at least do the construction of Moat Cailin, Winterfell, and Wintercity. The rest can be done by our descendants but this will create a strong foundation to build the North."

Thinking about self-sufficient North he said "I will write to the King. But any construction should start after getting final approval from me."

"The sixth reward would be fostering my siblings, Sansa with the Dustins, Arya with the Mormonts, Bran with the Reeds.

When Rickon will be of age, we will have to choose from the Umbers, Karstarks, or Glovers."

Catelyn had started crying openly now. Feast still had to be attended and here his work had been cut out for him after the feast.

"I will talk with the respective Lords of the Houses." Oh, how aged his voice sounded.

"Don't sound so tired, Father. I don't have anything to request for the last three wishes but I will think of something." Robb's voice sounded full of hidden laughter.

After finishing up their talks everyone got out Robb's solar. Oh. He would not say but was proud of his son. He had already taken steps to ensure House Stark would become strong. As only his heir and he remained, he knew they would talk about secrets now that Robb had shielded the rest of his family from them.

"You were right. The King had changed into something unrecognizable. When he first sat on the Iron Throne, I had thought that with time his anger at Targaryen would lessen. It had not." He liked the Robert Baratheon of Vale, not King's Landing.

"He is still your friend, Father. It is just that his children won't be. Prince Joffrey is mad, and when Mad King sat on the throne the North lost its Lord and Heir." Robb paused for a bit. "I am sorry, Father. I didn't want to pain you. I would like the North defended from all sides."

He then opened the alleged hidden compartment he had found, took out a big roll placed it on the floor, and unrolled it. Gestured for him to come and see.

When he got close to the roll he could see that it was a map. A Map of Westeros which had such detail that he thought was not possible. His eyes moved toward the North and he could see the infrastructure that his son had planned. The northern side of the map had a thin sheet of paper through which he could see the map beneath.

"It's called Butter Paper." Robb said while pointing at the thin sheet. "The map below is the current situation of North. On butter paper, I have marked the developments planned."

He studied the projects Robb had spoken about. A bridge to circumvent House Frey, redevelopment of Keeps on the Western shore, and expansion and improvement of Kingsroad, were a few to name.

His son would be a really good Lord of Winterfell. And they discussed the plan. Robb also informed him about the Books that he had hid from the rest.

When Robb left he rested for a few minutes and told the Guard to call Lord Umber, Karstark, Reed, Dustin, Mormont, and Glover. As they came he gestured toward the Map silently and they started studying it. When everyone had had a chance to study the map he told them to sit around the map, so that they could discuss it further.

He told them of Robb completing his studies with maester and from him at age 6, inventing the Printing Press and Paper, Copying all the books at Citadel. He told them the true purpose of Winter's Knowledge Hall, inventions the scholars had made during the war. He explained the map and development projects Robb had planned. 

He asked his children to be fostered with them. And they readily agreed. He and they could see, that Robert 'Robb' Stark, was once a millennia genius. He would change the North. Greatjon Umber was just happy that during his lifetime North would become the most powerful kingdom.

At the feast, he had announced the fosterage of his children and was received by cheer from all his bannermen. During the feast, Robb had sat down with Wyman Manderley and discreetly showed him the compass. Discussed with him doing trade missions across the world, Robb would provide 10 compasses, each compass will be given to only the most trusted Captain.

These captains had to sail the world and seek out anything that could be worth something to the North. Lord Manderley readily agreed and Terms were discussed in the following week. One of the conditions not trade-related was for Lord Wyman to find a spear instructor for Sansa and a water dancer for Arya. House Manderley now was in the small circle of the most trusted vassals of House Stark.

When the week ended Robb left with Lord Reed to Greywater Watch. His wife crying in his arms and his children crying while holding onto his legs.