Robb and Jon rode together on their horses, the wind whistling in their ears as they made their way to the White Knife. "According to his last letter, they just reached the Moat Cailin," Robb said, breaking the silence. "So it shouldn't take Father that long to reach Winterfell now. And he said that all the Lords will be coming with him as well."
"Why?" Jon asked, tilting his head.
"Well, we just had the first harvest not too long ago," Robb explained. "So I think he just wanted to be done with the Harvest festival before they all go back so that the Lords don't have to make a trip again in the near future."
Jon nodded in agreement. "That is good news then. And it has been quite some time since we saw him, and he should be eager to meet little Bran as well," he said with a little smile before he noticed something and pointed it out to Robb. "Look there – you see that wooden warehouse beside the White Knife? That's our destination."
Robb looked in the direction Jon was pointing and saw a massive wooden structure standing beside the fast-flowing current of White Knife. "I see it! Whoa, I had no idea it was this big," he said, impressed.
Excitement building inside him, Robb turned his head and shouted at the party escorting them. "Ser Rodrik! Hurry up!" before he turned to Jon. "Let's go ahead!"
Robb controlled his horse and galloped toward the wooden structure, with Jon following on his heels leisurely on Pegasus.
As they came closer, the loud rushing sound of White Knife was joined by the wood-cutting noises and hammering sounds coming from the building in front of them.
"Let's go inside," Robb said, dismounting and going through the open wooden door that was big enough to accommodate any type of material or product they needed to bring in or out, no matter how huge.
Jon followed him, and as they entered, he heard Robb's awe as he looked at the view in front of him. It was a rudimentary factory, with saws and huge hammers that were moving through the use of hydro-power, making all the work faster and easier.
It was previously a small wooden water mill but it was rarely used by its owner so Jon was able to buy it cheaply from him. And when he bought it, Jon had taken into consideration that it would be very easy for them to use the existing water wheel to fulfill their blacksmithing and woodworking need with just a little bit of work on it and there was nothing around here so he could quickly expand later as required
The concept of Water mills and windmills was a concept that had been perpetuated in Westeros and Essos for quite a while, so it wasn't as if Jon had done something revolutionary. Still, he had taken some of his high school and some youtube knowledge from his previous life to have the structure constructed without needing to call an expert from outside the North who would have taken an arm or a leg in payment.
According to the books in the Winterfell library, there were similar constructions used all around Westeros and Essos. Still, they were located in areas that were a lot more prosperous than the north, like Braavos or Qarth.
One side of the wall was filled with a long line of furnaces that were made keeping in mind the production requirements for the future. However, at the moment, only five of them were burning, with different blacksmiths working in front of them.
The Blacksmiths were mainly working on smaller components at the moment, as even though the Starkhorse was mostly a wooden contraption, it required a lot of small parts that held everything together, that needed to be made from metals like iron.
In the expansive central area of the warehouse, a bustling group of over fifteen skilled woodworkers were meticulously crafting and sculpting trees into various shapes tailored to specific parts. The sound of saws and chisels echoed throughout the space, blending with the steady rhythm of the water wheel turning outside. Each woodworker was deeply focused on their task, their faces set in concentration as they expertly guided their tools over the raw wood.
Little Tom, who was one of the blacksmiths working, noticed Robb and Jon enter and came towards them. All the other workers kept on working on their respective stuff, creating a symphony of sound and movement that made the place come alive.
"M'lord," Little Tom said bowing, "I didn't know you were coming today,"
"Don't worry about us, Tom," Robb said while looking up at the man who didn't have a single thing "little" about him, "How is the work coming along,"
"It is going very well, M'lord," Little Tom said happily, "We can produce more than ever as the worker becomes familiar with the parts and more skilled at their jobs day after day,"
"Little Tom here was the one who improved the designs and came up with the idea to use an offshoot of ironwood for the base wood that made the Starkhorses a lot more hardy and easy to produce," Jon praised Little Tom who blushed with a silly smile on his face.
"Really," Robb said surprised as he never had the impression that the giant blacksmith was so talented.
"It's not that impressive, M'lord," Little Tom said while rubbing his head, "Back in our village we made most our spoons and plates from this wood and they last for decades without breaking and I thought to make one our Starkhorse with it once and it turned out to be a lot more hardy and durable,"
Ser Rodrik who had joined them inside by this point added, "I think most our spear shafts and axe handles are made of this wood too, and I can say that they are very hardy and last for years too,"
While Jon was satisfied with the benefit of having Starkhorses more durable the one thing that made him happier was that the offshoot of Ironwood used for this was only available in the North which meant that he could have somewhat of a monopoly on this.
"Umm... Where do you keep all the ones you've already made..." Robb asked after looking around and found that there were no finished products nearby.
"Oh! They are placed separately— Come I will show you," Jon said leading Robb through the side so that they don't disturb the workers toward the back where there was an inconspicuous door. Jon opened the door and gestured for Robb to go in before following him.
"So Many," Robb said breathlessly looking at the rows and rows of Starkhorses that had filled half the storage.
"We should be able to fill this up before long," Jon said proudly.
"Don't you think that these are too many," Robb asked hesitatingly while looking around, "I don't think it will be useful much in the north with all the snow we have,"
"Oh don't worry about it," Jon chuckled, "I have no intention of going village by village to sell them where they won't be much of an attraction. My main targets will be all those cities in Westeros and Esoos with their clear straight roads where it will be a cheaper and cleaner alternative,"
For the tires of the Starkhorses Jon didn't do anything new instead just used the already available method of creating wheels for carriages and carts. And while that made the Starkhorses harder to move, it wasn't much of a problem as he knew that the people in this world were a lot stronger than the ones in his previous one.
Even though he knew that there were a few trees here in the north that could provide rubber, he had no idea of the intricacies involved in its creation from the tree juices to tubes so at the moment he was keeping the design basic.
"How are you going to sell to those cities from here in the north?" Robb asked having a hard time wrapping his head around the concept of selling anything to those faraway cities he had only heard of in the books.
"You don't need to worry about that. My very first big customer is coming to Winterfell very soon and he has a city filled with roads where I am sure the Starkhorses will be very useful," Jon answered with his eyebrows dancing mischievously.
Robb was confused for a moment before his eyes widened as he understood the "big" customer Jon was talking about.
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Check out my other fic: Sirius Black SI