Date: 300 After Landing, Winter, Long Winter
Location: Riverrun
So, a few interesting things to write down this (January 5th?) morning.
First, my trip to Winterfell will take longer than usual. With the Long Winter starting, snow storms in the North have already buried most of the Kingdom under a blanket of white. Everything north of Moat Cailin is basically white, and the average day-time temperatures are well south of freezing. I need to make a mental note of building thermometers…as soon as I find some mercury and red dye. Still, the southern part of the Kingdom is still green and the farmers are working overtime to pull in harvests and stock feed for their animals. Since I arrived here a few days ago, most of my time has been spent out in the fields helping rebuild shelters destroyed in the war and help bring in food. I never imagined being a farmer before, I guess because I was always so small and not very strong, but I have to admit it is full-filling.
King Eddard still wants me to get to Winterfell as soon as possible though. Apparently the Night's Watch sent out a raven, warning of a man called Mance who believes himself to be the "King Beyond the Wall" who is marching an army on the Wall. From what I was told, lots of things have changed there, chief among them is that Jeor Mormont is dead. I remember drinking a beer with that Old Bear…I'm going to miss him. News about the Wall is especially worrying since Bran has apparently been doing everything he can to head that way, including trying to run away from home, because of some strange dreams he is getting.
I guess I will learn more about what is going on when I get to Winterfell, but from what I gather King Eddard is calling his banners and I may joining them to defend the Wall.
Dacey was upset to learn of her Uncles death, but not as much as I would have expected. Maybe she is waiting to learn the exact manner in which he died, or it is just her way of coping.
Other than the bad news, things between Dacey and I have been great. The other Commandos laugh at us and compare us to "animals in heat," but they have also given us their blessings in their own way. If anything, making things official between us has actually made our team closer since there is less "does he know/will she say anything" tension going around. Big Jack, formally a retainer of House Liddle, said he was just glad all of the awkward silences were gone. But later that night the 6'-6" 300lb great-axe wielding mountain lion, while trying to get me drunk, spilled how happy he was for me and how it was about time.
I recently started thinking about making it serious and making an honest woman of her, but without any land of my own yet I feel like it would be rushing it. Maybe once I'm back in Winterfell, King Eddard and I can talk more about that. He once gave me some options, but I never made a firm choice…got too busy fighting.
Jaime settled into the Golden Tooth happily enough. He will have to work on getting past some resentment many of the warriors under him will feel, but it should work out. All of them understood the situation, and while not liking it very much they will go along with it. They are soldiers. It doesn't matter who their CO is, as long as they follow orders.
I also got a strange letter from Asha yesterday. Shortly after she returned to Pyke, Balon Greyjoy suddenly died for no apparent reason. And Balon's brother, Euron Greyjoy, has returned to the Isles after a decade abroad and demanding to be made King. But with Stannis and his navy out of the Reach pressing on the Islands, there was no time call a "Kingsmoot" and elect a new King. So now the Kraken's Daughter is effectively King of the Iron Island. In the letter is sounded clear that her hold on power is thin at the moment, mostly because she lost the very land she took from the Westerlands, but her diplomatic skills and mind for tactics means she will make up for the loss elsewhere. The fact that she can claim to have captured the Warrior-Made-Flesh, the North's secret weapon, where no one else was able, is a bonus. I almost feel sorry for the Reach…they have no idea what wave of violence is going to crash upon them.
Also, I heard a strange rumor today. Apparently three dragons have been sighted in Essos, far to the East, and burned the cities around Slavers Bay to the ground. I think I would like to see Dragons…