Chapter 4

Theon was 10 name days when I first arrived on Skagos and Dacey was 9, when we first got back to the keep the adults went to organize a returning feast and store the trade goods we had returned with. Arya, because she was still a baby, had gone with aunt Astrid to plan the feast and that left us three to get to know each other. I was excited to form new bonds with my family, I had never had siblings and didn't stay in touch with my cousins in my previous life, but I was able to do better now. So I started with a simple, "What do you usually do around here?"

Theon was the one who replied with an excited, "We do a lot of training in the yard, I'm going to be a great warrior, splitting skulls with my mighty ax and leading glorious raids. When we're not training we do lessons about leading with Old Bran, he's ancient, he even taught our fathers when they were young"

And Dacey interjected with, "I also learned to make clothes and organize the household with aunt Astrid." while Branda nodded excitedly

Theon cut in again, "That's some boring stuff that the womenfolk learn, we can head to the yard right now and practice fighting."

Dacey also looked excited at the opportunity to do some roughhousing, so I agreed that we should head out. While we made our way to the yard Dacey remained as stoic and serious as when we met while Theon proved to be an excitable child and waxed lyrical about his dreams to be a mighty warrior and Branda bounced alongside us.

When we got to the practice yard there were a small number of men still practicing, greeted us by name with a short chatter of, "Young Theon, Mag, Dacey, and Branda's" and went back to sparring with each other and smacking logs. We went to a rack of wooden practice weapons and Theon grabbed an ax and shield, which I copied as they were my weapons of choice when I practiced at the Thenn. Dacey grabbed a short spear, which looked to have been made smaller so that a child could use it and Branda just went to the side because she was too young to spar. When we were all equipped Theon said, "I'll fight Mag first then he'll fight you, Dacey, and then I'll fight Dacey once you're finished." It sounded like a reasonable plan so Dacey and I agreed and we set off.

I think that the first time in the yards, smacking each other with wooden weapons, was the start of what grew to be an incredible bond amongst family. Laughing as we smacked each other's shield and dodging Dacey's spear as she danced around are some of my fondest memories.

After that, we went to what was called the godswood, something that supposedly every keep and castle had. The one at Kingshouse was simply a grove of weirwoods with a heart tree in the middle, the face carved into it was snarling and looked as if it wanted to fight. I always enjoyed heart trees and weirwoods because when I was near them I always felt a presence that I couldn't explain. That feeling of mystery and awe gave me great joy because when I felt it I knew that there were countless mysteries in the world to explore. We all sat on rocks in the godswood and chatted, it brought forth a warm feeling in my chest, and I knew that I would do my best for this family and the people we ruled.

Along with playing with my newfound family I also had lessons about ruling the Skagosi with my father. He was still just as cold as when I met him, but I think he cared in his own way, more about making our family great than me as a person, but all people have faults and he was still my father. The lessons were mostly about how to prepare for winter and leading our men in the future. He talked of leading great raids against The North and rebelling against the Starks, but from what I had learned from Theon, it simply isn't realistic for Skagos to break from The North and I knew that trading would need good relations if I wanted my new people to thrive. I kept these thoughts to myself though because he seemed quite set on his path.

While I now had a small amount of influence among the Skagosi it simply wasn't enough to make large scale changes. I had learned from my time with the Thenn and knew that I would have to start small, so after lessons, I told my siblings and cousin that I was working on something on my own and they let me go without much trouble. I made my way out into the woods and started to gather some sturdy sticks of ironwood that had fallen from the trees. I was going to use these to make some lobster and crab traps. I also gathered some plants that looked similar to hemp from my old life. These would form the trap and line but now I needed to find something that floats.

I knew that the easiest option was an animal bladder, so I made my way to the town's butcher, he would also have some offal or scrap to bait the traps. The butcher gave the bladder to me easily and with no questions, I would get the bait once my trap was finished. With the hemp it was easier to form into a rope that I had thought, so that was no trouble, the issue was combing the sticks and rope to make a semi-sturdy structure. However, I was determined to complete this simple project and show that my ideas worked, it would set the ball rolling and I could make larger changes if I proved myself. So I spent a fortnight tying and untying my ropes and sticks until I had a stable structure.

Now that I had a trap and a primitive buoy that would show its location I was ready to set one. There were many small boats that people used to fish in the harbor and as the heir, it was a simple matter to procure one. My family had been quite confused about what I was working on but I wanted to have results before explaining. The Skagosi only fished and hunted for food, with a small amount of farming when they could. The addition of crabs and lobsters to their diet would give more food and more food meant a better chance at surviving winter. So I had some men row me out and when I felt we were far enough from the shore I dropped the trap. The trap quickly sank with its bait and I was happy to see the buoy floating on the surface. Now I only had to wait, so I had the men row us back and spent the rest of the day with Theon and Dacey.

I was quite excited to pull the trap up today, and I knew in my gut that it had worked. So with a spring in my step, I gathered my family and we made our way to the shore. They were confused but decided to follow me anyways. When we got to the docks I could still spy my buoy and my excitement grew. I commandeered a boat and had them row me to the trap while my family waited by the docks. There was a small crowd that had gathered due to the lord family standing on the dock. When we got close to the buoy I leaned over the edge of the boat and grabbed the rope. Once I had a stable footing and good grip I began to pull, I was only 3 namedays so even though I was half-giant I was around five feet tall. The two men who had rowed me out here got the idea and started to help me, after a short time you could start to see something emerging from the depths. I could see the trap was filled to the brim with lobsters and crabs, the two men saw the structure and each grabbed a side. They heaved it onto the boat and finally understood what the trap was for.

The people of Skagos only ate lobsters and crabs when they accidentally fished them up, but now they had a way to capture them and add them to the food stores. Maybe even in winter if they could still set and check the traps. It was truly a step in the right direction. When we got back to the docks I hopped up and told the gathered crowd, "I know that many have been wondering what I have been working on, and some may have thought me mad. But I present to you my lobster trap, I can teach the women and children to make them and when the fishers go out they can set the traps before they go fishing and collect them once they are done. With this, we have another source of food, and in hopes that you will all learn this, I shall have these cooked and served throughout the village"

After that short speech, the men hoisted the trap, and sitting atop all the crustaceans there was a bright green lobster. My father spotted this and announced, "My house's symbol has appeared. I think this can only mean that this invention has been blessed by the old gods. I shall have my son teach some people to make these traps so we may have another source of food. He shall truly be a great leader!"

After that, the crustaceans were brought to the cooks and crab and lobster meat was served at a feast that night. It was the first step to leading my people to greatness.

After that success I was allowed to introduce more advancements, that year I focused mostly on our fishing and ocean food. I did experiments on how to make a smokehouse so we could cure our food with less salt. This was a big step because salt was a very important resource for curing meat for winter. I also spent time trying to wind dry fish like my ancestors in my old life. This once again reduced the amount of salt we used and was also widely received once I succeeded. I worked on how to garum, the fermented fish sauce that Romans once used. This was once again a success once I got the recipe right. I was starting to gain a reputation as one blessed by the old gods, and this once again added to my fame. Each of these projects took anywhere from a fortnight to two months to complete, I had the theoretical knowledge of what was needed but time had to be spent working out the practical

Apart from that, I made sure to spend time with the family and not to skip lessons with my father. I didn't want to grow apart like last time. Two years since I've arrived and Theon was now twelve and Dacey was eleven. They had both seemed to enter puberty as Dacey now had small breasts but was just as wild and Theon had a bit of fuzz on his lip and had grown taller. Branda was 8 namedays and still, an excitable girl and Arya had begun to walk and talk. I haven't grown that much and was still under five feet. I loved spending time sparring with the older two and it was great to walk through the godswood, smelling the flowers, climbing the trees, and running between them while hopping over bushes.

The next year I spent working on the cleanliness of the community, it would help stave off disease and help more people survive winter. To start with I tried my hand at making soap, I knew that rendered animal fat could be combined with wood ashes. The ratio was the trouble but those two ingredients were easy to gather so I could do a lot of experiments. That was my shortest experiment only taking one week to get it right. I had a lot of trouble getting people to use it, however, and I knew it would take time.

The other thing I wanted to create was a sweathouse, the ancestors of my old life built them by digging into the earth and creating a wooden frame to cover the sunken structure. That frame was covered with earth to trap the warmth and moisture, there was a pit in the center where hot stones were placed and water was splashed on them to make steam. The floors were lined with soft evergreen boughs. They were similar to saunas and provided warmth in the winter and helped create bonds in the community.

I spent almost a month creating a stable structure, and when it was completed I showed my father and he had one built for our family near the keep. Once my father had shown approval, many others wanted them, so I spent the better part of that year directing and helping create them for the community. That was the last invention I could spread before winter.

The winter was thankfully a short one by this world's standards, only two years, I was told that the longest in living memory had lasted a full six. However, even though it was a short winter, there were still many deaths, nobody had eaten human flesh this year, which was apparently a win for us. Even with my inventions to increase the amount of food and ward off disease as best we could people still died. It was truly a harsh world. But with winter over I could try and make the next better.

My father and some men met with the Crowls and Stanes to make their trip to the Thenn again. When he returned I felt that now was the best opportunity to bring up my next project, "Father, I want to work with the farmers to try and improve our crops."

"What could you help with the farmers? They've done this for thousands of years. If you screw this up we might run out of food for winter." was his sharp reply

To which I argued, "Let me try with one farm, once the results show the others will follow swiftly"

He reluctantly said, "Fine, one farm, that's all you can try. And I'm only allowing this because your other ideas have worked."

I went away before he could change his mind. The farmer I was working with was named Will, and he was very reluctant to try my ideas, but with the word of my father he had no choice. I assured him that they would succeed and if they didn't he would be well taken care of.

The first thing to do was get him a better plow than a unicorn could pull, he still plowed himself. I had to have it made out of bronze because the iron was used for weapons, but since a plow was fairly simple the smith could make it in one try. Once he had his field plowed and planted with some form of grain that could withstand the elements fairly well, similar to rye or winter wheat. I couldn't make a seed drill or thresher with the technology level of the island but this would be a start.

Along with this I also told him about crop rotation, they simply did two fields, one fallow with the other growing. There were similar plants to wheat, turnips, barley, and clover so it was simple to introduce. Along with greater yields for this system the clover would allow for more unicorns to be bred. This would take longer to show its effects than the fishing advancements but would have a far greater impact

It's been ten years since I introduced the farming advancements. I was four and ten now, and it was clear that I was part giant. I stood at over nine feet tall towering over everyone, I was just as stocky as the other giants had been and very strong. I could lift a grown man with one arm and hold him above my head. My skills as a warrior had grown, and I was a beast with my single-edged ax and shield. Theon was now a man grown at two and twenty, he was as lanky as ever but still quite strong. He now had a wild beard and hair, and still looked similar to his father. He had been going on the raids with the men since he was six and ten and proved to be an adept leader.

Dacey was one and twenty and had grown up to be a wild-looking beauty, she still had that serious attitude to her. Dacey was unwed, which I'm told was unusual but my father probably had a plan for her. She was quite the beast with that spear of hers and also went on raids with father and his men. Branda was like a smaller Dacey, though far more excitable, and worked a lot with aunt Astrid to manage the household and plan events. She was eight and ten, and also unmarried. Arya was only three and ten and loved to run about the keep, and spar with the other children of the village. The adults haven't changed much, my father is still cold, my aunt still crass, and Thorin still serious. The only real changes were wrinkles and a small amount of grey hair.

The agricultural change had only taken one cycle to be adopted by the rest of the farmers. Once they saw Will's success they asked me about it and I was only too happy to show them how. That winter people still died but it was quite a bit less than the previous. With the increased amount of food, more people were surviving and some small groups nearby merged into the community. That year we built pit houses similar to the sweat houses. They were similar to but had a hole in the roof for smoke to leave and stayed warmer than the log cabins.

With more people that summer we had more work being done, more people farming, more fishing, more raiding. As the field rotation led to more crops there were more unicorns bred, which meant more meat, wool, and milk. I introduced selective breeding, and that led to war unicorns, meat unicorns, and wool unicorns. By the end of the summer, we had vast herds of them. With this great bounty, there were also raiders from other groups on the island. But they were quite small groups and raids were usually easily held off.

Each winter there were fewer and fewer deaths, more people had kids. My father was happy that there were more people for the raids and to fight the Crowl's and Stanes. He thought that we were ready, and on my fourteenth nameday, he began the orders to prepare for war. The miners were to focus on iron, the smiths were to make more weapons, the tanners were to make more leather armor. He was convinced that this would be the summer that Skagos was united by us like the Stone Kings of Old. We don't know how the other tribes got word of our preparations, but six months after preparation started he was ambushed while patrolling the border of our territory. They took his head but left his body for us to find and there were two banners laid on his corpse. They were Crow and Stane banners. When I received word I knew what had to be done. "THEON, GATHER THE MEN, WE'VE GOT PEOPLE TO KILL"