The pirates that were part of the pirate fleet, which was returning back to the Stepstones, were not really a problem to deal with. While they were numerous, like really numerous, they were all about quantity rather than quality.
It seemed that the Fenrisian delegation probably intercepted the pirates' main fleet within the Stepstones. This was undoubtedly a great irony or perhaps a great piece of luck...
The pirates were often doing such raids when they invaded and raided something en masse, which wasn't very common for them because it was pretty much dangerous. There were a lot of risks when doing something like this because there were not many targets in the first place that they could attack.
Most probably some Free City or any other settlement, so such large-scale mobilization could be caught on, and the information could spread among the Free Cities and nobles of the Westeros that also may be raided.
In such large-scale raids, the risks were often equal to the opportunities because such a large fleet of pirates would be able to plunder the city more thoroughly and take from there everything possible.
So, there was a possibility of considerable loot for the Fenrisians when they observed the pirate fleet returning back to the Stepstones. So, they could at least obtain some gold from it and kill some pirates, so it was a rather win-to-win situation.
When the Elector Count Leman Russ an Stark joined the fight, the battle took a quick pace because having someone at Level 5 on the battlefield turned the entire battlefield into chaos, as hundreds of pirates were killed within mere moments.
Leman Russ an Stark, armed with twin enormous axes that could be used by any other man, as two-handed weapons, but for the Elector Count of House Stark an Russ were holding one in each of his hands as he cleaved through the hordes of the pirates that were present.
No matter how much the pirates pleased for mercy or surrender, death was the only thing that awaited them. Within the lands of the Imperium, there existed no room for mercy for pirates, bandits and brigands.
No matter the reason or the act itself, once they were proven to be guilty, then death was the sole thing that awaited them. So the Fenrisians killed all of them, carrying out bloody slaughter upon the pirate fleet, which was immobilized by them.
The entire process took something around one hour, as they needed to move from one ship to another, and because there were many pirates, it took them some time to clear out all of forty or something ships.
Naturally, when they massacred around half of the ships, the pirates started escaping and jumping into the waters of the sea en masse, but even that wasn't really helping them much because they were often shot by the gunmen that were present on the battleships of the Fenrisians.
After the pirates were all killed and the ships were secured, the Elector Count Leman Stark an Russ ordered the soldiers and sailors to search through the ships. It didn't take long for his suspicions to be true, as they started bringing chests filled with gold, rare metals, weird objects, and some luxury products.
The same reports were heard from the other ships, as almost every ship had some degree of wealth upon it. It was logical because this pirate fleet was, in fact, a congregation of several pirate groups.
Each of the individual ships didn't have a lot, in fact, but when they were pooled together, it created a lot of wealth, actually enough even for some of the nobles of the Imperium interested in the things that were present.
"What should we do with ships?"
After some time, he heard his daughter ask when she arrived on the same galley as he was.
"Has everything been transported into the battleships?"
Astrid nodded her head because she was in charge of the logistics; compared to her brother, she had more brains than brawls, and that was something needed in situations like these when someone was needed to carry out administrative duties.
She was very good at that; what she was lacking in brute strength and almost heaven-defying battle instincts of her brother, she was greatly making up for with her sharp analytical mind and cunning approach to things.
"Yes... they must have raided several settlements and cities, probably even some of the Free Cities, because they had a lot of gold, most probably as a ransom for not attacking the Free City."
This was common practice among the Free Cities within the Essos.
When Dothraki or anyone else wanted to attack the Free Cities, they would at first ask for the ransom, and the Free Cities would happily pay the ransom so that they wouldn't be attacked.
For the Fenrisians, this was an utter disgrace, and they would abhor such methods. For the Fenrisians, there was nothing more disgraceful than not fighting the enemy that is before the gates.
"Hmm... how much is there?"
For the Elector Count Leman Russ an Stark, this was just an abysmal amount of wealth, but as the saying goes in the Lordran, everything counts...
"Probably enough for even Viceroy Houses to live comfortably for one or two years..."
This was already a significant amount of money, even for the Elector Count Houses, or at least some of them, because some Elector Count Hosues are richer than others. It greatly varied, as some Houses are far more invested in the business than others.
"That is a rather good amount... who would thought that the pirates would be so rich? We never obtain such an amount from bandits or bringats; they barely had a few Crowns on them."
Because within the borders of the Holy Arcadia Empire, practically everyone knew how to fight in and everyone was qualified to be soldiers, it was hard for the bandits and brigands to make any living.
From the notes that they confiscated from the pirates, they found out that the pirate fleet was a combination of several pirate fleets that were operating with the Stepstones as they created some sort of coalition so they could go and plunder en masse.
They were plundering around the Summer Isles, which was a large archipelago of around fifty islands or so that were located south of Westeros and Essos and west of Sothoryos and Naath.
The Summer Isles were relatively large and prosperous regions, with a lot of trade and production of luxuries. Aside from that, the pirates were also plundering the island of Naath and even some places and locations that were around the Basilisks Islands.
"Order soldiers to sink all of the ships, and we will continue sailing toward the White Harbor."
After the orders were issued, everyone went to carry them out. Soon enough the battleships of the House Stark an Russ started sinking down one pirate ship after another, which was solved with one shot from a cannon.
When the entire pirate fleet of the pirates was burned down, the battleships of the House Stark an Russ continued toward the White Harbor.
"Father, we have also found these..."
When they were already back in the quarters of the Elector Count Leman Stark an Russ, Astrid passed her father a stack of documents that were basically proving the connection between the three Free Cities of Lys, Tyrosh and Myr with the countless pirates.
Aside from them, there were also some connections with the Volantis and Slaver's Bay cities of Astapor, Mereen and Yunkai together in vague support of the New Ghis. The real problem of the pirates of the Stepstones was that their existence was related to the collective support of many, many powerful players of the Essos.
"Hmm..."
Leman Russ an Stark knew that in the future the Imperium would pursue the interests within the Stepstones, but right now as they were, it would mean a clash against the coalition of several factions within the most powerful Free Cities that were supporting the existence of the pirates.
Especially the Lys, Tyrosh, and Myr, who invested tremendous resources into the existence of the pirates. Nobody wanted the Stepstones to belong to a single faction because it would mean that somebody controlled large parts of the Narrow Sea.
"For now, it won't be a problem, but in the near future, without a strong navy, we would not be able to control the sea paths between the Lordran, Westeros, Essos, Sothoryos, and Ulthos..."
It would require significant manpower even for the Holy Arcadia Empire to control the Stepstones, especially in the new environment when the Magic Resurgence took place and the lands of Essos were experiencing progress even more intensively than that of the Westeros.
Still, the benefits would be tremendous, but for that, they would need at first to build, an appropriately strong Navy. The Imperium already predicted that the cannons would sooner or later spread into the lands of Westeros and Essos.
This meant that the Lordran would, sooner or later, lose the greatest advantage, which was having a technology that nobody else had. Naturally, they would still have better and more powerful canons and methods of defending against them, but if the other had the
"Are the Stepstones truly that important for the Imperium?"
Astrid asked when she heard her father speaking.
"In fact, yes... it is a strategic location that would give the Imperium significant influence within the Essos and Westeros and would be helpful to many of our plans."
***
Several days later, near the White Harbor, The North of the Seven Kingdoms of the Westeros.
It took the battleships of the Elector Count House Stark an Russ to reach their final destination, which was the White Harbor.
White Harbor was a harbor city in the North that contained the New Castle, the seat of House Manderly. Located southeast of Winterfell, it is the largest settlement North of the Neck but the smallest among the five major cities of Westeros.
White Harbor is the North's primary trade port, and it was overall the biggest port within the North of the Seven Kingdoms of the Westeros. Its location on the mouth of the White Knife provides opportunities for trade further North.
Due to its location, White Harbor has more contact with southern Westeros and has a mixed population, and there are more Knights and followers of the Faith of the Seven in the city than anywhere else in the North.
There were some followers of the Old Gods in White Harbor, but most followed the Seven, but this started changing rapidly with the Resurgence of the Magic, when the Faith of Seven was being rapidly suppressed by the North upon the order of the Lord of Winterfell, Lord Rickard Stark.
While the House Manderly were not really delighted about this situation, there was nothing that they could do and at the same time, they knew how to adapt to the changing times.
So when the North entered another wave of isolation, they knew how to change and adapt... it was either to go with the flow or to die.
Between 1,000 BC and 600 BC, House Manderly was driven into exile from the Mander in southern Westeros by Lord Lorimar Peake during the reign of Perceon III Gardener, King of the Reach.
The Starks welcomed the Manderlys to the North and accepted oaths of fealty from them in the Wolf's Den, giving them the ancient castle and the surrounding lands. This led to the creation of White Harbor around the Wolf's Den.
"They are already awaiting us, father."
Astrid stood together with her father on the deck of the ship as they observed the pristine white walls of the White Harbor, after which the port city was actually named. Because when the Imperials first arrived at the shores of Westeros, they sent a delegation to Winterfell.
So they were already aware that someone from the Holy Arcadia Empire was coming to visit them, and they were already informed that it were also the descendants of the Bran the Shipwright that sailed across the Sunset Sea, only never to return.
"I know... don't you find this rather poetic, Astrid?"
Among the two children of the Elector Count Leman Stark an Russ, it was clear, that his daughter would be his Heir with the probably of 100%.
Not only even, in his opinion, his son Ysgramor would be pretty much poor of choice, he wasn't suited to be a polician or administrator and he would not do well for the continuous growth of the House Stark an Russ of the Grand Province of Fenris.
Not to mention that somebody as Ysgramor Star an Russ would never be approved by the Holy Imperator due to his inability to effectively manage the Grand Province itself or even the Household matters.
And in the first place, Ysgramor was not even interested in being the Elector Count; for him, it was just useless bother and even to join the delegation, the Elector Count of Fenris put a lot of effort into dragging his son here.
Or else, he would be in the underground and fighting the Skavenblight who were now overpopulated and having conflicts with the dwarves. The followers of the Great Horned Rat were proved to be a serious problem that they were now dealing with.
It was evident to everyone who knew about the situation within the Grand Province of Fenris that Astrid Stark an Russ would be the new Elector Count or rather, Elector Countess in this case, somewhere in the near future.
There were already talks of the Leman Stark an Russ wanting to retire, but nothing was set in stone yet.
And unfortunately, there were not many people that could take the mantle from him. His eldest son Ragnar Stark an Russ was a notorious troublemaker, similar to the Ysgramor, who would also create more bad than good.
While the fact that he married someone like Beye Orleáns was a good thing, but from the start, it was clear that Rangar would never be interested in anything beyond warfare, and being ruler of the Grand Province within the Imperium wasn't just about smashing skulls and chopping up enemies.
He found his purpose in serving in the military and was aiming to become one of the commanders among the Stormcast Eternals that should be founded right now within the lands of the Lordran.
***
Meanwhile, at the port of the White Harbor.
Several people were waiting there for the huge battleships with the sigil of what they had been informed, belonging to the foreign nation known as the Holy Arcadia Empire and smaller sigils of one of the aristocratic houses of the Imperium.
Interestingly enough, the sigil that belonged to the Aristocratic House of the Imperium was a wolf, reminiscent of that of the House Stark, albeit a bit different. In charge of the entire endeavor of the Northmen was the Lord of the House Manderly, Lord Wyman Manderly.
He was a man in his forties with pale blue eyes and a beard. He wore rich clothing, including a velvet blue-green doublet embroidered with golden thread. A golden trident pins his mantle to his shoulder.
It was clear that he was growing more and more because he was getting fatter with each year that passed; soon enough, after maybe ten more years, he wouldn't even be able to ride a horse or fight properly.
Yet at the same time, he was a pretty shrewd, calculating, and intelligent man who was using his head more than he was using his fists.
"Has everything been prepared as I instructed?"
He asked in a severe voice, which was relatively unbefitting the amicable personality that he had, as he looked at his oldest son, who was accompanying him.
It was an order from Lord Rickard Stark personally and something that must be carried out in utmost honor for the people who were going to visit the North.
House Manderly were one of the staunchest followers of the House Stark, even if they were of different Faith and perhaps even different origins from the start, but now, they were one of the most loyal vassals of the North.
"Yes... everything done as was instructed by the Lord Stark, father..."
Wylis Manderly is a knight of House Manderly. He was the eldest son and heir of Wyman Manderly, Lord of White Harbor; he was bald and had a bushy walrus mustache that covered his mouth.
Like his father, he was also showing signs of getting fatter, but on a much lower scale compared to his father.
"Splendid... remember the instruction that the Lord Stark passed to us..."
Lord Wyman Manderly looked into the distance as the battleships were approaching the port city of the White Harbor. He could see that the ships were humongous and despite their huge size, they were rather fast, faster than they should be.
As the House Manderly was in control of the White Harbor for a very long time already, they became the North's foremost experts on the topic of shipwrighting and shipbuilding, sailing and everything related to the sea and sailing.
'They must be using some alternative means of sailing... this is not under normal conditions and in the first place this should not be natural. Such huge ships would normally be sailing slower than turtles, yet these are as fast as the fastest galley of Braavos.'
He knew that right now, the world was getting chaotic and everyone wanted to obtain as many advantages for themselves as possible. And the House Manderly was not any different from all other Noble Houses within the Westeros or Essos.
'Not to mention, they must have crossed through the Stepstones and right now the pirates were on the great raiding, so crossing over it would be very dangerous even for a proper fleet... while the pirates are poor fighters, they knew the naval warfare very well...'
As he pondered over the warships of the Holy Arcadia Empire, he noticed that all three of them were already entering the port and from the close, they were even bigger than from the distance.
Soon enough, after they approached enough, they started getting on the smaller boats because the warships of the Imperials were so huge that they couldn't really get into the port properly.
White Harbor didn't have large enough equipment for the warship to arrive and for the people to disembark from the warship effectively and safely. Lord Wyman Manderly saw several smaller boats approaching the shores of the White Harbor.
There were more than ten of them, and all of them were full of soldiers, armed to the teeth, wearing furs, capes and armor. While it seemed like ordinary and average clothing, the discerning eyes of the Lord of the White Harbor could see that they were of the best quality...
When the boats entered the port itself, one of the boats, went to the place where the delegation of the House Manderly was waiting for them and people started disembarking from it.
From the boat, he saw several very tall, gruff-looking men armed with waraxes, shields and wearing armors. All of their clothing was made from leather and fur, combined with some metal plates and chainmal in several places.
'That should be their leader... probably some sort of the higher Nobility of the Imperium.'
When he saw Leman Stark an Russ to disembark from the boat, he instinctively knew that they belonged to the higher caste of people. Even though the Elector Count Leman Stark an Russ looked more like a berserker and warrior than the highest-ranking aristocrat, he still had that air of nobility and prestige.
The same thing went for his daughter Astrid Stark an Russ and even his youngest son Ysgramor Stark an Russ. Both children of the Elector Count of the Grand Province of Fenris had an air of elegance despite their warrior appearance.
"Welcome to the lands of the Westeros, honored delegation from the lands of beyond the sunset sea."
Lord Wyman Manderly stated most diplomatically in the Old Tongue, something that he had been informed beforehand as to which language to use.
Within the Imperium, there were many languages being used, aside from the Lordranese, but basically, some of the Grand Provinces had their own languages. Within the Fenris, due to the heritage of the Fenrisians and their partial origin that was being traced to the first men, they were also using the Old Tongue.
Even though most of the people who were using the Old Tongue belonged to the higher castes of the Grand Province of Fenris.
Mainly the nobles of the Fenris, who had the origin of the First Men were using the Old Tongue as their secondary language.
"Well met... Lord Manderly... name is Leman Stark an Russ, Elector Count of the Grand Province of Fernis of the Holy Arcadia Empire, a descendant of the Leman Russ the Wolf King of Fenris and Brandon Stark the Shipwright the King of Winter of North of Westeros."
When the Elector Count Stark an Russ introduced him, many people reined in their surprise because the Northemen were very well educated in the history of the North. Even though the House Manderly was originally from the Kingdom of Reach, they were also acclimatized to this.
They recognized the name of Brandon Stark the Shipwright, who was one of the most famous explorers, King of the Winter and North, from several thousand years ago. When he was getting older, he passed the crown to his son and sailed with several ships to the Sunset Sea in an attempt to find out what was behind the Sunset Sea.
It was still shocking to hear that he apparently survived the entire endeavor and even managed to arrive at the continent that lay behind the Sunset Sea. Not only did he survive, he even managed to find his own lineage at the Lands of the Ancient Lords.
"It my utmost honor to host you at my castle, Lord Elector Count."
Wyman Manderly knew that the Elector Count must be some sort of higher aristocratic rank within the Holy Arcadia Empire or so he suspected from all of the years of his experiences with diplomacy, scheming and people overall.
"Cut the crap with the polite bullshit and bring us somewhere to eat and drink."
Elector Count Leman Stark an Russ also weren't the epitome of noble behavior, but that was the thing that was common for most, if not all, Fenrisians of the Grand Province Fenris.
Ironically, though, it was natural for most of the Northmen; they were also not very fond of the false politeness and politics that was taking place everywhere else around the Known World of Azyr.
It wasn't very popular among the nobles of the North and similarly, even among the nobles of the Holy Arcadia Empire, it was very similar to that of the Northemen.
Seeing that the delegation of the Imperium were not really like he imagined, so he relaxed a bit because he feared that he would need to entertain some stuck-up nobles from the foreign nation.
"Of course, of course. How many would be joining you we?"
After hearing that, Lord Manderly motioned for the Lord Elector Count to follow after him as they were heading toward the castle.
"Only a few tens of people, mostly the Household Guards and a few people that are following into the delegation, including my daughter and youngest son."
Soon enough, Lord Wyman Manderly saw a young-looking woman clad in the same outfit as her father as she was shouting something at the man who looked very much like the Elector Count Leman Stark an Russ.
"Stop complaining and behave according to your status Ysgramor already!"
Astrid was beginning to lose her cool when she was arguing with her brother, as Ysgramor wanted to go directly to the Lands of the Always Winter to search for powerful enemies to fight.
Something that was unacceptable because he needed to be present at the meeting in the Winterfell.
Even though it was evidently clear that Ysgramor was here just for that purpose, as he was an excellent tracker and beast tamer, it would look poor on the House Stark an Russ if one of their most prominent members didn't even bother with the other diplomatic steps and courtesies.
Even Ragnar, if not even a bit interested in things boring like politics, had at least so much tact that no matter how much he hated the gatherings and things like that, he would at least attend them.
Still, it wasn't any better sometimes because he would then erupt and create conflicts with the people around him or get into fights and brawls.
Yet, Astrid just couldn't let her brother to wander where he wanted and to do as he wished; she knew that even her father knew that and everyone else knew that. This was a form of protocol and diplomacy, even though the terms were a bit alien to most of the Fenrisians.
There were a few of the enlightened ones that were aware of their weight and purpose, so Astrid needed to make sure that her brother remained part of the delegation for the whole duration and that he didn't disappear to somewhere...
***
White Harbor, New Castle
Not creatively enough, as it seemed, the main seat of the House Manderly was named as the New Castle, which was pretty bad name in Astrid's mind as they were led into the castle itself...
The New Castle was reminiscent of Dunstonbury, the Manderlys' seat from when they lived along the Mander in the Reach. The pale castle was built atop a hill rising above White Harbor's white walls, and the merman sigil of House Manderly flies from its towers.
There was a clear view of both of the city's harbors from the hilltop, which gave the entire keep not only the strategic location and position but at the same time, also making the entire far more beautiful with the view of the Narrow Sea and panorama of the city.
The broad stepped Castle Stair was a white stone street that ran from the ancient Wolf's Den up the hill to the New Castle. The white stone was something akin to a trademark of the House Manderly, and if Astrid had to guess, it was some kind of marble but more durable and denser than ordinary marble.
The Manderlys decorated their hallways with faded banners, broken shields and rusted swords from ancient victories, and wooden figures from the prows of ships.
The Merman's Court is the great hall where the Manderlys hold court, while two mermen made of marble stood outside the hall's door, like ever-vigilant eternal guardians of the halls.
The large and airy chambers of the castle are finely furnished. The room which secretly leads to the Castle Stair passage has wooden beams and walls of lath and plaster.
It contained a Myrish carpet on the floor, beeswax candles on a table, and a sheepskin map of the North hanging on a wall. The overall state of the decorations was subtly showed the wealth of the House Manderyl that was generated through operating the port and large trade fleet.
Elector Count Leman Stark an Russ sat down at the designed spot, with his daughter Astrid sitting next to his right and Ysgramor to his left, albeit pretty much reluctantly, as he was showing his displeasure at the entire endeavor.
Together with them, several people sat down, as they were of the Wolf Guard, the closest companions of the Elector Count of the Grand Province of Fenris and at the same time, they were also the most senior members of the entire war machine of the Fenris and entire Administration of the Grand Province.
There were even a few Wizards and Sorcerers among them who had distinguished spot and place among the delegation to Westeros. And of course, there were members of the clergy of the Healing Church as they were ever present.
"You must have a long journey behind you, Lord Elector Count from the far distance of beyond the Sunset Sea, so allow me to hold a feast for you and for the arrival of the descends of the King of Winter back to the homelands."
Lord Wyman Manderly said as he welcomed the guests from afar, while the rest of his Household started bringing food for the guests, making a note that more food would be needed.
"And I thank you for your gracious and warm welcome. These two are my daughter and son. Astrid Stark an Russ and Ysgramor Stark an Russ..."
Elector Count of the Grand Province of Fenris stated as he looked at the Lord of the House Manderly and White Harbor that was hosting them a feast, while also introducing his children that were accompanying him to this entire ordeal.
From there on the rest of the feast that the Lord of the House Manderly prepared for the delegation of the Imperium went on smoothly, without much complications, aside from Ysgramor challenging the local nobles to the games of drinking.
Which they naturally lost, of course, but aside from that, it ended pretty well, probably better than anyone could even anticipate. Fortunately enough, Ysgramor didn't create any other mess or problems, and there were not any fights during the feast.
When they were carrying out the talks, it was mostly the Elector Count Leman Stark an Russ talking together with his daughter Astrid because they were the most politically apt from the entire delegation, so they were carrying out the conversation.
The rest of the Imperial delegation were either eating or drinking with no care about the rest of the world.
They would be spending the night at the White Harbor, before departing to the Winterfell to meet with the Lord Stark and then forward to the Lands of the Always Winter, which was one of the true goals of the Imperial Delegation.
As was decreed by the Holy Imperator.