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Chapter 4: White Harbor & Hillside Holdfast

Created: 3.26.17, Edited: 12.18.20 & 3.7.22

Circa 289 AC

Lord Wyman Manderly, a heavy set man in his fifties whose days of fighting were well past, stood from his large carved wood chair depicting the merman that matched his Family Sigil. The large and filled Merman's Court of the Seat of House Manderly at New Castle was overflowing with people packed in tight among the many long wooden tables for the upcoming feast to celebrate the victorious return of his heir and levies. I was in one of the more centrally located tables, being the sole actual member of House Locke, one of the Manderley's oldest and traditionally largest of its vassal houses, though that wasn't the case any more.

"Greetings to all!," he started in his booming voice as the crowds quieted enough to hear the Lord speak. "We have gathered for this feast to celebrate the victorious returning levies of White Harbor and the North. To my son and Heir, Ser Wylis who led you all, my second son Ser Wendel, and to our comrades in arms from throughout White Harbor. To the Houses of Locke, Walters, Brandt, Caswell, Graymander, and Tolmes for your continued loyalty and support when answering the call to arms. To our Liege Lord Eddard Stark, Warden of the North, and King Robert Baratheon, First of his Name," he paused here as the noise had grown too loud as everyone was calling out in agreement or stamping their fists and feet in support of the Starks and the King. "Here here! Let's eat!"

The celebration was a mix of people from the important families and courtesans of White Harbor, who were always around the ruling family of the largest Northern City, and those of the returning levies with positions of power and distinction. It pretty much limited it to the minor noble family members, and those born with slightly better standing than the average smallfolk. Therefore, most of my friends weren't allowed in but my circle of acquaintances had really increased over the last two weeks with all the interest in my travels east and there were two others near me that we're also going with me.

Sydel Graymander, the sixth son to Seth Graymander, the younger brother to the Head of their household, and therefore nobody of real importance, but someone with a good enough name to be invited. The other was Sydel's cousin on his mother's side who had been raised alongside him and his brothers, Juden Graymander. While looking nothing alike the cousin pair was actually very similar and could very easily pass as brothers to anyone who spent time with them both. They were two of the more mischievous of the group of young men going to Essos and at 18 were fitting in fine so far with the others.

I was also glad that the pair wasn't very stuck up, and didn't look down on the many bastards and smallfolk among our number as that could have posed a serious problem. Instead, the pair were rather unassuming schemers who were both looking to make names for themselves and try to advance their position in this world which I could respect completely, Another plus was that the two weren't malicious in their ambitions or pranks and knew that their integrity was also very important, especially in the North where honor was predominant. They were the type to try any pyramid or get rich quick scheme in the modern era, or be the type to venture into selling vacuum cleaners or encyclopedias door to door as they did have a bit of the salesman charisma.

I also knew others at the feast, though usually tried to avoid the Master-At-Arms of House Locke's troops, as he was the same man who controlled them for the past thirty years, Gray Lonthor. He was a large man in his early fifties that was still very fit, with a full gray beard and mane of hair since his twenties when he was given the name Gray by my grandfather Lord Ondrew Locke. The man had taught my father and would have taught me had I not been sent to White Harbor to squire under Ser Wylis at the age of eight. I had only a few interactions with the man, as he intimidated Donnel before we merged, and afterwards I've just had too many things to worry about than to deal with him.

He currently led the now 142 from the original 160 of the troops that made up the House of Locke levies that I really should have been leading based on my status as an heir of my house. I had little interaction with Gray Lothor since he arrived at White Harbor and told Donnel (before our merger) that I had no business leading Locke troops I knew nothing about and had been following him for decades. At the time I instantly caved and agreed, thinking he was probably correct about the troops not wanting to follow a 16 year old me, since I didn't know any of them having spent the last seven years of my life in White Harbor and not Oldcastle. I see it now as the power play move it truly was, and how it won't help my cause with him in the future, but that was still a long way off.

The rest of the feasting crowds were a combination of prominent members of the really small houses, branch members and cousins of the bigger houses, and all the hangers on of a court in the medieval society where everyone had a servant, or squire, or maid to handle the majority of the physical tasks of the day while they feasted and got fat on wine, women, gossip, and games. They made up the majority of the tables that surrounded the Head table with the Lord and his immediate family and a few others, usually his Maester, and a few advisors or prominent knights or vassals. Then the main table among the rest of us had the prominent members of the bigger houses within the Manderly lands.

Lord Wyman rarely needed an excuse for feasting, but the return of his sons and the success of the war was a great reason in his mind for a feast that lasted for a whole week. With many of the houses under his banner all present in some form at least, it was as well attended as some weddings and harvest feasts. Therefore, we spent that first week back in White Harbor feasting heavily and meeting up and rubbing elbows with all of the people of White Harbor, while simultaneously setting up my groups' accommodations and arranging for necessary supplies. The barracks we took over provided a perfect meeting place away from the hustle of the keep, for us all to better bond and prepare for what was ahead.

I used a bit of coin and my small bit of influence to make arrangements with the Master Blacksmith of White Harbor to give Vayon and Hubbard time at his forge as well as some training to ensure they could create and repair weapons and armor to a satisfactory level for our trip. I also commissioned quality breastplates and castle forged swords for all 28 people coming with me, as I didn't want any of my people to be unprotected and also to somewhat mark us all as a group under my banner. It was both selfish of me to buy their loyalty and create my own little army, but also a nice thing that few in this era would do for their subordinates, even if I didn't consider them as such, since I was technically their lord on this trip as the only true heir and future lord of a house among us.

I also had my own breastplate commissioned in the same style as the others along with a few extras; shoulder pauldrons, and gauntlets that came up to my elbows and could attach to the pauldrons, a plated metal skirt that I provided a rough drawing for as it wasn't a traditional style used in Westeros, and a helmet that looked like the X-Men villain Magneto's helmet with a skeleton key in the place of the nose guard. I figured it was important to have the armor of a lord in case I ran into any problems, and also as an added protection since I would be making some serious money hopefully soon, with several business venues and other things in the works.

Davyd Belltmore, one of my original tent mates, had expressed an interest in tailoring and leatherworking, and I was able to make arrangements with one in White Harbor that would train him up in the skill over the next several weeks and provide leathers for all 28 men including himself. His condition was for me to take his 14 year old bastard, soon to be fifteen he assured me, that was creating tension with his wife as of late and he wanted to capitalize on the opportunity for him to come with us and find a life for himself. I only agreed after meeting the boy and realizing he looked old enough to pass off as the rest of them as I didn't want too young of people to look after, and when I learned that he had apprenticed under his natural father for years and was a highly skilled leatherworker and adequate tailor in his own right.

I spoke with one of the only cooks I knew by name if he knew of anybody with cooking skills that may be interested in going to Essos, but he couldn't think of any and promised to ask around. My trip to the kitchens though wasn't a total loss however, as I encountered a pair of attractive teenage girls that I vaguely remembered from living here the past several years but couldn't place. They were interested in being my bed warmers, and weren't shy about sharing or letting me call the shots. They were a little young and naive, and if I were still 24 in modern America I might have declined, but at 17 years old in this world they were definitely nice things to have as they were a great step up from a common whore, with less diseases, and that both genuinely liked me.

Janel Forsinth and Gayle Tamys were both 16 year old baker assistants that had worked at New Castle for several years apiece, and were good friends with each other. Physically, they were very different, though each somewhat attractive in their own right. Janel, with fair skin and light brown almost reddish colored hair was the more developed of the pair with large breasts and wide hips. Gayle was taller and slender but with dark brown hair and eyes, and wonderfully full lips that looked amazing around my cock.

Gayle was the one who mentioned a cousin of hers who helped out at a local inn as a chef's assistant, a 16 year old boy named Tomryn who was a bit of a smart mouth, but that knew his way around a kitchen. After arranging a meeting between us, I had my chef for the voyage East, as the boy was eager to get out and see the world. He was a bit simple minded, but had a biting tongue and could make several basic staple foods that would serve us all well in the voyage to come. He also wasn't shy around anyone, and would hopefully be able to hold his own among my companions.

During this time in White Harbor, I also spent a small part of the first few days teaching and preparing Ser Wylis' new squires for their customary duties, and what they could expect on the day to day performing of being a squire for the Heir to White Harbor while not at war. As the feasting slowly came to an end after that first week back, Ser Wylis also continued with our daily lessons in the yard, where he battered me black and blue in the hopes I could improve my sword fighting skills. I then in turn, used most of the afternoons to train and spar with the rest of the men who were planning on accompanying me to Essos, to both continue improving myself, and also ensuring they all had a basic standard of skills so they wouldn't die at the first opportunity.

Those of us who fought in the Greyjoy Rebellion, all had at least a basic competency in sword fighting, though some were much better than others. After myself, Trystiffer and Sydel were the next best of the group, with Juden, Davyd, and Raymar not too far behind and Cale and Jaryd in the next tier before Cletin, Geremy and Alston made up the worst of the lot. Luckily, Alston and Cale were both excellent shots with a bow, and Jaryd and Geremy were sneaky enough fighters and fairly good with knives to make up for their other deficiencies.

Vayon and Hubbard were both progressing very well with the blacksmith of White Harbor, and before the month was up had finished the original commission of the breastplates and swords. They were both given the stamp of approval from the Master Blacksmith, and assured me that they were up to almost any task related to the maintenance and creation of arms and other things necessary for a master of their craft. Tymet and Davyd were also deemed acceptable in regards to everything related to leatherwork and gear upkeep, with Tymet capable of becoming a master tailor as well who could continue to improve Davyd's growing skills in the area.

I even spent some time with the Maester of New Castle, going through the few books the library had related to mechanics and engineering, and quickly realized that there were several areas that could be added to and new innovations to be made. Standard levers were already available, but pulleys, chain water pumps, mills for water or wind, catapults, seed drills, and paddle boats could all be created or improved dramatically with little work from me. This started me on a new diary, in which I made detailed drawings and long explanations of my improvements and innovations to several of the mechanical items I had been thinking about and planning to introduce into Westeros.

Updated farming equipment, crop rotation cycles, and animal grazing patterns were all heavily discussed and written about, as well as updates to plumbing practices, aqueducts, cistern collection, and paddle wheels that would hopefully help increase productivity and allow for much more variety in things they could accomplish. I also started the plans to get my few business ideas off the ground, looking at cost projections for prototypes and land and transportation needs, and the designing of several machines and instruments to both ease life and profit off it. I had the basics for the printing press pretty far along, and was well into the early stages of glass making, paper production, and alcohol distilling, all of which I felt would be the biggest money makers and therefore not something for others to see until I was further along and established, if ever.

My time researching in the library of White Harbor did allow me to discover several important things about the history of the North in general, and even some old documents that mapped out the areas around the Manderly's seat of power before they took control of it. Apparently, my own family originally had a much larger piece of land than what they now held, but lost parts of it centuries ago from poor management, another part was gifted to the Manderly's by the Stark's at the time of their ascension to White Harbor, another gifted to the Manderly's by my Great-Great-Grandfather after a dispute over boundaries that resulted in the death of a Manderly Heir, and some seemingly taken over by the Manderly's when their branch Family took control of Ramsgate with no record of the land grab.

I also learned that most of the land between White Harbor, Oldcastle, and Ramsgate was uninhabited with several very small abandoned holdfasts, and virtually nobody overseeing the land at present, or making any use of the vast forest and small mountain range that ran through it. Aside from the new holdfast going to Knight Carswell, which was much further north than the large uninhabited lands I was interested in, the area seemed great for most of my purposes. With all of my thoughts and plans for the future, that land would be ideal for several of my ventures that I wanted to benefit Oldcastle and my own family's holdings.

Knowing that I would need to get started building up the land to prepare it for mass production of my many alcoholic pursuits, and have a place to start the glass making production, I approached the Maester about the closest of the small holdfasts to Oldcastle, and inquired about how to go about gaining control of the area to try out a few things that I wanted to keep separate from my family's holdings. I could tell he was very weary and skeptical of what I really wanted with the land, as he couldn't really fathom why I was interested and going through the legal and proper channels of acquiring it, as it was technically unused land near my family's holdings. Meaning that I could probably just settle into the land without any problems, but I knew eventually I would need that land secured under my name to protect the investments I was planning and making.

So he wrote up a small contract for his Lord Manderly who technically controlled that land, to sell it to me for a very small sum of 20 golden dragons, along with a statement that he would not sell off any of the other small holdfasts around it without offering me a chance to outbid any other prospective buyer. With that good deal under my belt I also inquired with him about the lands along the coast between White Harber and Oldcastle as where they met was never clearly defined as it was largely uninhabited as well. He offered to consult his maps and some land records and give me a clearer answer once he was finished in a few days, as hopefully some of that land could be added to my family, as I hoped it would be an ideal place for my glass manufacturing business to be based out of.

I saw off Gray Lonthor and the remaining Oldcastle troops who headed back to my hometown shortly after that first week in White Harbor, and while we would probably never get along as well as my father and grandfather did with the man, I could also be sure he wasn't a bad man, just very set in his ways and very much just thought of me as an idiot kid who still needed to grow up. I assumed most fifty year olds felt that way about the younger generation, and didn't read too much into it for now as I planned to do a lot of this "growing up" during my travels East. By the time I returned, I knew I wouldn't have too many problems with him, especially if some of my ideas started bearing fruit and gold for my family.

When Sydel and Juden Graymander returned to White Harbor after almost four weeks away, the group had grown to forty-four, and everyone was close to leaving for the next leg of the journey towards Oldcastle. The additional two young men they came with, where quickly added to the mix as one was a cook Royce, and the other was called Rickard Snow, another bastard cousin of theirs who had thought to go to the Citadel having just now turned 15, and was actually quite smart and very good with numbers. I thought he would be really helpful keeping everything together, and may become our groups' main organizer, so I could be freed up to do other things than handle all the logistics of the every day.

For the last week, I had Rickard be my shadow practically naming him my squire or main assistant and was pleased with his intelligence and work ethic. Along with Sydel, Juden, and Tristifer, the five of us would make up the main group of leaders, as they were my own little small council of which I told most of my immediate plans and who I bounced ideas off of. Tristifer was going to run the guards eventually and for now was in charge of the day to day training of arms of all the men when I couldn't be around to practice with them.

Sydel and Juden would both act as my "Masters of Whispers" at some point down the line, as they were both adequately sneaky and smart enough to possibly run a spy network or any number of other business ventures we came up with. I knew I would need to train up several more of the men, so others would be available for my many projects, but for now just getting everything settled and packed for our journey was taking most of my spare time. Soon we were nearing the end of our time in White Harbor, and I had to say my goodbyes to Ser Wylis and Lord Manderly.

"Thank you my Lord," came my formal reply after bowing to the large Mermaid Lord, "for bringing me into your household and serving your Heir. It has been a great pleasure to train and learn under such a noble and good man as Ser Wylis is. I have no doubt that his character is a perfect reflection of your own, so truly thank you."

"Well said, young Ser Locke," came the jovial reply from the large man as he sat in his solar, with said Heir kindly looking on and the Maester sitting off to the side taking notes. "You have really grown well in White Harbor and the War, I hardly recognize you from the young lad that arrived here over seven years ago. Now we name you a Knight of the Realm to be carried out by my own son and Heir, Ser Wylis."

"Aye," came the affirmative reply from Ser Wylis, who looked on fondly at his former squire, preparing to leave on his own adult adventures and couldn't be prouder, "take a knee."

"Thank you, my Lord," came my happy reply as I kneeled before Ser Wylis as he said the words and Knighted me, Ser Donnel Locke.

"I know you don't follow the Seven," came the reply by Ser Wylis as he lifted me back to my feet and gave me a bear hug of epic proportions, "but I had to thank you some way ...and you still have years until you get your next title as Lord of Oldcastle."

"Thanks Wylis," I responded honestly, as it was a very nice gesture, and came with some perks in the south, even if he was correct that I never followed the Seven.

My family came from the First Men, and had been in the North under Stark rule for centuries, before even the Manderlys came from the Reach and settled in White Harbor. House Locke was the original power behind the Northern Navy long before it was reduced to nothing by Bran the Burner, and our Family History was rich with stories of men throughout it that have done impossible and exemplary things, though were now reduced to an insignificant footnote. Donnel was therefore raised with the Old Gods, and stories of skin changers, wargs, and ice demons, and knowing what I did of the possible future, was more inclined to believe in the Old Gods as well.

"Now, my Maester has activated the contract for the small holdfast of Hillside," continued Lord Manderly, "and we are eager to see what you make of it. He and my son both expect great things from you after hearing some of your plans, and we all wish you well on your journey to Essos. Please return safely, and come back to White Harbor after your travels have finished to tell us all about them."

"I will my Lord, thank you," came my response.

"Good, good," he returned, "and be sure to say hello to your grandfather and father when you return to Oldcastle."

"Yes, my lord," I finished.

"Take care of yourself, Ser Donnell," came the well wishes from Ser Wylis as he stepped forward and engulfed me in another friendly hug, "I'll see you upon your return."

"Thanks Ser," I whispered back gratefully, having really come to respect and admire the man over the last several months since arriving in this world, and the seven years previously as his squire.

Then, we were off. The 46 of us that were traveling to Essos, were all wearing our matching armor and riding atop sturdy young horses I had purchased for this trip, and to eventually be added to the stables at Oldcastle and my new Hillside Holdfast. We were making our way to the small holdfast first, so I could check it out for myself, and start the planning process for how to use the land and small structure.

We passed a few farm lands after leaving White Harbor heading south along the White Knife inlet leading out to the Bite, and then started to head east inland where very little settling of any kind had seemingly ever happened. The land turned into dense forest pretty quickly once you left the coast and the usual path between White Harbor and Oldcastle, and also had some changing elevations, though it was sometimes hard to tell with the thick trees in the area. It would, however, provide a lot of lumber for a large number of my projects, and we tried to mark it out on a large map I had copied from the Maester to get a better idea of the land that I now controlled.

It took three days until we finally found the small holdfast known simply as Hillside, and it was indeed quite small, but perfectly isolated and surrounded by the thick forest and sat upon a small hill to give it some elevation. I had my party set up our tents and plan to spend at least a week in the area scouting it out for anything of interest, and beginning to plan how to grow this place into a small alcohol business. I knew the first steps were going to be clearing the land and building up the structure, both for people and to house the various projects I was hoping to start, before turning some of the cleared land into farms for the potatoes, wheat, and yeast I was hoping to eventually have in order to make Vodka and Rum.

I knew I would need to create distillers and barrels, and a whole host of other things to actually get the project off the ground, but would first need farm land to grow the necessary crops and buildings to store it in, and house the workers. Luckily, the Hillside Holdfast was in decent shape, and within the first week as some of the boys went scouting the land, a few made the necessary repairs to the roof so that it was at least livable to a pair of small families. One of the men, a bastard named Grenn Snow who had joined us in White Harbor, was very interested in what I was planning to do, and offered to stay onboard at Hillside Holdfast and run the land clearing, farming, and build up the structure to what I envisioned which would be a big help.

After the week going through the area and getting a pretty good idea of what we would need, our party made our way towards Oldcastle, cutting through the forested parts of the land between Hillside and my House Seat keeping an eye out for anything else of interest. We managed to discover a small set of caves in the side of one of the rockier hills, and spent a few hours exploring them and finding some ore that we could even mine and create our own forge with, which would be very profitable. By the time we were approaching Oldcastle, the group was excited to be back in civilization and the promise of warm beds and meals, but also excited about all the possibilities the little Holdfast had that I was hopeful would prove perfect for my little alcohol project.

I was a little more nervous than the others about reaching Oldcastle as it meant returning home for me, after having not seen any member of my immediate family for almost three years. The last time I came back was for my 14th name day celebration at the request of my father, which was only for a week at most where I was extensively questioned on any and everything related to our Feudal Lords and House Manderly. At the time, I was excited to tell all about the members of the Marderly household and everything I had been doing as a squire under Ser Wylis, but looking back on the memories now, I could see it for what it was, spying.

My Grandfather and Father were both very loyal Manderly men, who fought in the War of the Ninepenny Kings and Robert's Rebellion, but had since both been held up in Oldcastle separated from much of the North and even White Harbor over the last several decades and hadn't evolved or changed much in that time. It was actually a pretty big shock when they sent me to White Harbor to squire under Ser Wylis, as their attempts at fostering me with the Starks and Manderlys fell through, and was seen as an insult to my Grandfather at the time that I would be a squire instead of fostering. As Northerners, they believed in the Old Gods, despite the Manderlys being one of the few Northern Houses to worship the Seven, and therefore the concept of a squire wasn't nearly as important and seen as an insult by them both.

Hopefully, those tensions had passed, as I was not going to be their spy into White Harbor, and could now see some of the questions I was asked the last time I visited to be very close to betraying our fellow Northern Lords. Thankfully, with my merging also came a level of confidence and independent streak that I believed really changed the trajectory of Donnel's life, and I wasn't going to play to anyone's tune. I had permission from Lord Stark himself to oversee the Essos expedition, had legally acquired my own land and Holdfast to start implementing some of my own ideas, and was ready to go off on my own and make a name for myself.

Upon seeing the port town of Oldcastle, bustling with activity, I was taken aback to Donnel's early memories of his time home, and recognized many of the landmarks and places I would often run around as a small kid and could only smile in remembrance. My 45 companions all looked on in wonder at the port town of little more than ten thousand people, as none of them had ever seen or been to Oldcastle, except for one person who had seen it while on a ship arriving at White Harbor years earlier. I knew that I should immediately head straight to the castle itself and see my family, but I also knew my traveling party was too big and too low brow for my Father and Grandfather to entertain so I made some quick decisions.

I asked everyone to set up camp outside of town for now and put Raymar in charge, and that in the next few days, I would locate a premises we could all stay in to continue with our preparations for travel, but needed to see my family and wouldn't have the room for all of them. Instead I asked Sydel and Juden Graymander to accompany me as they were the only other minor nobility among my group, as well as Tristifer as my sworn shield and Rickard as my squire and assistant of sorts. The five of us continued on horseback into the port town, passed the docks where many of the townsfolk worked and recognized me or my Family's Sigil, and were greeted warmly by those that did.

We made our way up the main street towards the central castle of Oldcastle, simply named Oldcastle same as the town for even more confusion, and were apparently noticed early enough as we entered the interior higher walls of the keep itself to see several members of my family gathered in the courtyard, and countless others in the periphery watching our entrance. Few of the smallfolk did I recognize, though a few of the passing guards I remembered fighting alongside in the recent Greyjoy Rebellion, but most of my attention was on the large gathering of well dressed brown haired family members all standing in a line to greet and welcome me back to Oldcastle.