Crippled King

The man known as the Crippled King emerged following the wildling defeat in the War Beyond the Wall. A former slaver hailing from one of the eastern free cities, his ship crashed along the coast of Hardhome in 420 AC, and since his rise to power much has occurred beyond the wall, with only rumours of these exploits managing to make their way to the Nights Watch.

A Storm
Wildling slaves were often bought by the rich Essosi pit owners and those who desired exotic slaves to work in their manses. It was this that attracted the Crippled King towards the Shivering Sea on the cold winter evening in the year 420 AC. Unexpectedly a cloud as dark as the skin of those who hailed from the Summer Isles drifted over them; and with it came rain and sleet which battered the sails and decking of the ship as the sea turned in a monstrous rage of water which pushed the ship closer and closer to the rocks that surrounded the natural harbour of Hardhome. Within seconds a crashed was heard as the Crippled King was thrown over the sides of the ship into the midnight blue sea.

When he awoke he was alone. All that remained of the ship was the planks that dotted the beach of Hardhome; he was the only survivor.

Finding his People
Gathering what little supplies he could find from the wreckage of his ship, the Crippled King wandered off into the forests that stood as a backdrop to the beach, hoping to find some shelter from the elements. However, it was not shelter he found but savages.

Having watched the ship crash a band of wildlings had come to find if there had been anything of value that had washed up on the shore, but instead they found an Essosi dressed finely in silk. They bickered amongst themselves debating on whether to simply kill him, or if they should take him a captive. They decided to kill him.

Fortunately for the Crippled King, his story did not end there, speaking in a heavily flavoured common tongue, he offered them his knowledge of the world in exchange for his life, they spared his life.

Rise to Power
For a time his life was miserable, he cooked food and did errands for his wildling overlords, but it was obvious that they were not much happier, the defeat against the North had left them without hope and mourning the dead. The Crippled King realised this and used it to his advantage, over time the Free Folk opened up to him, and him to them, it did not take long for his position to grow as he taught them the secrets of world, knowledge from the Basilisk Isles all the way to Asshai. Beyond the Wall was an untapped land, with rich and plentiful resources, while they could not farm with ease, they learnt more advanced methods of hunting to feed the population of the tribes, and the houses once made of mud and thatch, became wooden inlaid with stone. Their weapons, no longer stone spears, but iron swords.

Word of his developments quickly spread through the forests and over time the settlement grew and grew as more desired to join and hear the wisdom of the Essosi. Those who did not wish to join were crushed by superior weapons and the tactical knowledge that he had taught the warrior and spearwives of the tribe.

Many years had passed and when the elderly leader of the tribe passed away, there was only one man who seemed fit to take his place. It was then, in the year of 433 AC that he was crowned by the Free Folk as the Crippled King.

Preparation
Before the day had even ended, the newly crowned Crippled King enacted a series of plans to better the lives of his people. The first of these was the commissioning of ships using the plentiful timber that laid at their disposal. Those who had not already joined under his leadership were quickly integrated, not forgetting his roots he used diplomacy to bind the Free Folk together, taking a wife from each tribe and thus bringing them into his realm.

In addition to this, he sent scouts over the wall, not to raid, but to gather intel on the state of the Seven Kingdoms. Through the years he gathered huge amounts of information on the state of the realm; eventually learning of the Bleeding and it’s lasting effects on the continent. They were weak. He knew it would soon be time to enact his plans and write himself into the history books as the greatest King of the Free Folk.

All of this was completely secret to the Nights Watch, who found themselves finding less and less free folk on their expeditions, and only heard rumours of the great Crippled King. Most of the rumours were laughed off as the tales of mad men, an Essosi slaver ruling over the wildlings was laughable and simply untrue to most senior members of the Nights Watch, it was more likely that the wildlings had fled further north after their defeat against the North and they not longer had the desire to live in sight of the behemoth wall. However, the Crippled King would not be secret for long…