The Intercession in the North

The North, after having broken the rule of House Bolton and brought back under the aegis of House Stark, had joined the Seven Kingdoms in paying homage and obeisance to the newly restored Targaryen dynasty. Nevertheless, many of its lords and ladies were less than pleased to once more find themselves under the heel of the Iron Throne. Sentiments toward the crown worsened when construction of the Winter Palace began, and were greatly encouraged by Jon Stark’s son, who history now knows as Brandon the Black. In the end Prince Aenar and his sister-wife, Helaena, were sent to settle the matter.

Thus, the Intercession truly notes the struggle that ensued thereafter. The result of which was the abandonment of the Winter Palace, and the pacification of the Northern lords.

Northern Sentiments After the Second Conquest
Jon Stark’s ascension to the seat of Winterfell was precipitated by a multitude of factors well outside the control of anyone player in the northern theatre. Many were discontent with Bolton rule, and had been sowing seeds of dissent ever since the Red Wedding. The mystique of the Bastard of Winterfell, as Lord Jon was known at the time, was also a topic of much allure after a Red Priestess from Asshai was said to have raised him from death’s very door.

With his half-sister’s endorsement, and after the gruesome death of his half-brother, Jon was risen to Wintefell’s seat and it was around him that the Northern Lords rallied. With the aid of the Valemen they shattered Bolton power, and even lent their strength to the war with the mysterious Others.

Despite his popularity, he had never been hailed as King in the North as Robb Stark had done, and in fact when it was once mentioned he discouraged it. It was of no surprise, then, that Jon bent the knee to the reborn Dragons that had been successful in their Southron campaigns. Many of his bannermen vehemently opposed the notion, but all were eventually brought into line. Nevertheless, discontent brewed in the hearts of the staunchest Northern lords. Those of the sort who felt no Southron king, even one wielding dragons, had the right to demand homage of the North.

The Winter Palace
Jon Stark’s ascension to the seat of Winterfell was precipitated by a multitude of factors well outside the control of anyone player in the northern theatre. Many were discontent with Bolton rule, and had been sowing seeds of dissent ever since the Red Wedding. The mystique of the Bastard of Winterfell, as Lord Jon was known at the time, was also a topic of much allure after a Red Priestess from Asshai was said to have raised him from death’s very door.

With his half-sister’s endorsement, and after the gruesome death of his half-brother, Jon was risen to Wintefell’s seat and it was around him that the Northern Lords rallied. With the aid of the Valemen they shattered Bolton power, and even lent their strength to the war with the mysterious Others.

Despite his popularity, he had never been hailed as King in the North as Robb Stark had done, and in fact when it was once mentioned he discouraged it. It was of no surprise, then, that Jon bent the knee to the reborn Dragons that had been successful in their Southron campaigns. Many of his bannermen vehemently opposed the notion, but all were eventually brought into line. Nevertheless, discontent brewed in the hearts of the staunchest Northern lords. Those of the sort who felt no Southron king, even one wielding dragons, had the right to demand homage of the North.

Brandon the Black
Jon’s second son, Brandon, had always been a fiery youth. A trait he inherited from his mother, Wylla Manderly, than from his father. One would never know that he was the second born by his manner. From the day he could walk he was a commanding presence. As he grew to manhood, it became clear that it was not only his charisma that would see him find success. He was skilled at arms, and was even squired to one of his mother’s relatives from White Harbor.

A knighthood would have been easily attainable; however, he was a lover of all things Northern. He had his mother’s demeanor, but he kept to the Old Gods. It was to their traditions he always meant to keep. Most particularly since he had been, since birth, intended to wed the lone child of Lady Walda and the late Roose Bolton. Brandon could be wild, and intemperate. Despite this, he also had a keen sense and was relatively sharp of wit. He knew that if he was to be Lord of the Dreadfort he could not be seen to submit to the decadence of the South.

It was of no surprise that he was chief among the detractors when the construction of the Winter Palace began. There are some who even allege that he sought to persuade his father to fiercely denounce what he felt was a great intrusion upon the North. Many lords came to agree with Brandon, who many now called the Black, and even some, the Dread. Lord Jon did not act, however, and it was his father’s restraint that kept Lord Brandon in check.

As the years passed, however, resentment among the Northerners continued to swell. Lord Jon may have been able to assuage them, but his eldest son did not carry quite so great a weight as he. It was Jon’s passing, coupled with Brandon’s many years of mongering, that would bring the matter to a boil.

The Dragon's Court in Winterfell
The construction of the royal holding was a slow affair. Supply lines were muddled, and inefficient in their operation. The architects that had been summoned from the Free Cities often complained of lacking manpower. House Manderly, at first, had been quite receptive to the building of the Winter Palace. If only for the greater amount of gold that would flow through White Harbor as a result. Still, as the years passed they became colder to the notion. A progression that many credit to the influence of Brandon the Black, whom was their kinsmen through his mother, Lady Wylla.

In 341 A.C., frustrated with the lack of progress, Rhaegar I dispatched his son, the Prince of Dragonstone, to oversee the construction. Despite having only just given birth to their firstborn son, Aenys, Helaena, Aenar’s sister and wife, insisted that she accompany him. The royal couple departed King’s Landing just after the start of the year with a detachment of the Golden Company, and many retainers. Much of this entourage went by ship to White Harbor. Aenar and Helaena, however, made the journey atop their dragons, Viserion and Starfyre.

Their reception in White Harbor was far cooler than even the ever prudent Aenar might have suspected. He and Helaena did not tarry long in the New Castle. After a brief stop at the confluence of the White Knife they went from there to Winterfell. A place where they were met with much greater welcome. Which was of no surprise, Jon had enjoyed a good relationship with the crown, and it seemed his eldest son was of a similar mind. No matter what his errant brother, Brandon, might have felt about the matter.

It was in Winterfell that they settled, and would remain for the coming year. With the presence of the royals, disruptions steadily decreased, even if only for a time. Princess Helaena was particularly popular among the northern lords and ladies, as was her dragon Starfyre. Viserion was beautiful, to be sure, but far more intimidating. The Princess even went on tour in the North while Aenar was steadily at work with the Lord of Winterfell. She visited the Night’s Watch, and even, some say, flew Beyond-the-Wall.

Many of the Northern lords and ladies were surprised at the level of Helaena’s interest in their cultures, and their ways. As entrenched in Southron, and even Valyrian, culture as the royal family was in the capital. There was no holdfast too small or miserly for royal favor by Helaena’s estimation. She even paid call at Bear Island, and was quite enraptured by their tales. The Princess’s wanderings did much and more to lay the groundwork of renewed faith in her family’s dynasty, and ebb the tide of Brandon the Black’s intransigence.

The Dread Wolf's Hunger
Despite the good will bought by the royals, Brandon the Black still had a great many adherents. There were some, particularly of the younger generation, that felt the Winter Palace continued to pose a great threat to the very identity of the North. As Helaena went about her tour, the Lord of the Dreadfort bided his time. He even welcomed her to the Dreadfort, but many believe this was simply in order to provide a not-so-subtle threat. Since coming to attain the ancient seat of House Bolton he had seen to it defenses, and many unique weapons, built by a man from Qohor, were atop his walls. Their design provided for an excellent defense against dragons, and even, if their aim were true, of the capability to bring them down from the sky.

Midway through 343 A.C. it became apparent that Helaena was becoming thick with child. A cause for celebration throughout the kingdom, and indeed House Stark held a great banquet in her honor. By Aenar’s suggestion it was held in the shadow of the Winter Palace, which was once more flourishing. Many of the northern lords attended, and shortly thereafter Helaena departed to be closer to the royal family’s maesters She had been subject to great difficulty during the birth of Prince Aenys, and Wintefell’s maester had suggested this second birth might be similar.

There are some who say that if Helaena had remained in Winterfell with her husband all that came to pass after may well have been different. Prince Aenar was well respected by this time, but the presence of both their dragons had proved to be a mighty deterrent. No matter the defenses boasted by the Dreadfort, and the relatively safety Brandon had always enjoyed in his wild undertakings.

On the eve of the year’s turn, Brandon the Black, along with followers from other houses in the North that remained loyal to his sentiments, bared his defiance for all to see. He led a raid on the Winter Palace which saw the holding sustain significant damage. His men came during the night and slaughtered workers, and some few soldiers of the Golden Company who had been left to guard.

More, only two nights after Brandon’s fateful raid, a man slipped into Winterfell, and made an attempt on the life of Prince Aenar himself. If were not for a vigilant knight of the Kingsguard, the long reign of Aenar I may never have come to fruition. Many believed the two egregious affronts to House Targaryen were related, the Prince among them. Lord Stark, the very next day, sent a summons to his brother.

A summons that Brandon the Black ignored.

The Defenestration of Brandon the Black
Three ravens flew to the Dreadfort, and at last Lord Brandon gave answer. He had always been bold, even arrogant. When he came to Winterfell it was with few men. When met with the twin accusations he shocked those gathered by claiming responsibility for the attack on the Winter Palace, but not for the hiring of an assassin. Despite his denials he was imprisoned, while Aenar conferred with the Warden of the North in how he was to be handled. Before they could come to a decision, however, one of the jailers disappeared, and with him the Lord of the Dreadfort. Few within Winterfell would defy her lord, but Brandon had lived there for all the long years of his childhood. No matter the climate, some vestige of his influence remained. A fact that Aenar marked well.

Lord Stark called his banners, and Aenar took wing on Viserion. To that point the White Dragon had seen the least battle than did the other two born upon the Great Grass Sea. Largely due, in part, to none having sat astride her before Aenar himself had come along. Nevertheless, she was a fearsome creature. Many in the North had heard what happened when Viserion and Starfyre finally fell upon Regnar Twice-Crowned in the Fourth War of the Kraken in the Riverlands. Brandon was aware of this too, but by some mad spell, he had chosen to gather his forces to meet his brother on the field.

No battle would ensue, however. Not even a single arrow loosed, or war cry to be heard. When the two forces met it was only Viserion’s great roar that thundered through the field. The voracity of that cry was enough to chill the very bone, and even the sturdiest of Brandon’s force quaked in sight of her. Brandon himself was not quite so easily cowed, but even he realized his mistake.

Brandon the Black, for the first time in his life, laid down his arms and surrendered himself. When they returned to Winterfell, Prince Aenar ordered the construction of a platform and in the name of the King, ordered Brandon’s execution. At the onset it had been ordered that Viserion would consume the humbled wolf. Yet, Aenar was nothing if not cognizant of the realm, its cultures and its traditions.

Before the execution the Prince gave a lashing speech, and it is said brought even some of Brandon’s staunchest supporters to doubt. After, he showed a certain grim mercy to the quarrelsome Stark. Rather than eating him for all to see, Aenar ordered Viserion to remind the North the wroth that was dragon flame. It took only a moment, a single breath to see his skin melted form his body. To witness the erasure of such a great, stalwart, and ominous figure.

A lesson, a warning that Prince Aenar dearly hoped they would never forget.

Legacy
Despite the fact that the primary force behind the opposition to the construction of the Winter Palace had been removed, Prince Aenar ordered the project to be abandoned. Brandon the Black, thus, found his ultimate demise by the Prince’s hand, but his legacy would remain. Without his efforts the royals would likely have completed construction. They still might have done, but Aenar had always been torn on the notion. Moreover, when news came to Winterfell that Rhaegar I had fallen ill during the epidemic that was sweeping through the South, it became integral that he immediately take his leave.

There are many maesters, based on reports from the North during that period, that question a great many details that were prevalent in the latte days of the Intercession. Some have even argued, though their arguments are based entirely on conjecture, that it was Brandon’s wife, Lady Emberlei, whom ordered the assassin to make his move. Not for wont of Aenar’s downfall, but in order to see her lord husband condemned. None may ever know the truth of that rumor, but what is known is that theirs had ever been a fraught relationship. It is known that Lady Emberlei was the reason that Brandon the Black was forced to meet them on the field. Those loyal to her, and the old Bolton name had barred he and his from the fortress by her command. A fact that leads to the former allegation.

Northern attitudes took an upturn after the Intercession, and dissent against the royal family was spoken of far less than it had been previously. This is due largely in part to the affection they held for Princess Helaena, who spent so much of her time amongst them. Still, it would be folly to ignore the deadly lesson ordered by Aenar himself. Brandon the Black had seemed untouchable for so long by so many, and it took this single act to remind them that before the wroth of dragons, they were all succinctly mortal. A cautionary tale the Northern lords, no doubt, imparted on their sons, daughters, and subjects alike.