Chapter 4.2 Wyman Manderly

White Harbor is located on the eastern shore of the White Knife, where the river flows into an estuary of the Bite. The town is clean and well-ordered, with wide, straight, cobblestone streets that make walking easy. Its houses are built of whitewashed stone, with steeply pitched roofs of dark gray slate.

The port is divided into an inner and outer harbor. The outer harbor is larger, but the inner harbor offers better anchorage and shelter because of the city wall on one side and the imposing mass called the Wolf's Lair on the other, a former fortress that now serves as a prison.

At the jetty separating the two ports is a wall ten kilometers long and ten meters long, with towers every hundred meters.

The city has access to a variety of seafood, and is also noted for being home to many carpenters and silversmiths who, although not engaged in the minting of silver coins, a practice exclusive to the Crown, do make many crafts using that mineral.

The reason there are so many silversmiths in White Harbor is, naturally, because there is so much silver. One of the largest silver mines is east of White Harbor, in a fairly extensive mountainous area, where if you keep going east you would come to the rocky Barrowlands. An area rich in minerals apparently.

Wolfgang's group saw the mines on their way, and people working in them; but there were not too many of them. House Manderly excels more at trading than mining, and that's because their silver mines didn't seem too massive, and therefore not too lucrative either.

"We could directly go talk to them" spoke Beron.

"No, we need the lord's permission. We can't just rob his people, it would cause us too much trouble. Besides, that we don't have the money to tempt them either, the quality of life they have here is better than what we can offer them, Beron. These are not the desperate ones coming from inhospitable areas of the North, this is the richest area of the North after all."

"Of course, you are right Milord."

The duo rode on, surrounded by the 100 guards, all also riding steeds, and finally arrived at the city gates, where a pink-skinned, yellow-haired woman was waiting for them. Her figure was plump and her face round and fleshy.

"Lord Dustin" greeted the woman.

"Lady Leona" greeted the young man to Leona Woolfield, the wife of Ser Wylis Manderly.

"I must apologize for coming myself at your reception, but both my husband and his brother are still fighting the iron sons, though as the ravens sing, the rebellion should not be too long in coming to an end."

"So I heard. The invaders were repelled from Seagard, and I heard that Balon Greyjoy's eldest son and heir was killed by Jason Mallister."

"Well, such is war unfortunately, but yes, there is little left of this ill-attempted rebellion" the woman said, and after a few seconds of silence she continued speaking, "Lord Manderly has not been able to come to meet them either. As you probably know... for someone of his size and age, he doesn't tend to get out of New Castle much."

"I can understand that too, I wouldn't want to take so much time away from someone with as many duties as Lord Manderly."

"That's good. We at White Harbor appreciate understanding people. But let me guide you, my good father made time to receive you."

Wolfgang nodded, and dismounted his horse. He rode through the city with only a retinue of ten people, the rest stayed at the entrance to the city. Within fifteen minutes they were in front of the gates of New Castle.

The pale castle is built on a hill rising above the white walls of White Harbor , and the triton seal of House Manderly flies from its towers. From the top of the hill one can enjoy a clear view of the city's two harbors.

The wide, stepped Castle Staircase is a white stone street leading from the old Wolf's Lair up the hill to the New Castle. And up the staircase, Wolfgang and company entered the fortress.

Within the corridors something became clear, the Manderly's loved to decorate their halls with faded banners, broken shields and rusted swords of old victories and wooden figures of ship's bows, and in general, including the rooms that could be seen as they walked the halls, through the doors between open, the entire castle was elegantly furnished.

At last the group came to a large hall; the Court of the Triton. The walls, floor and ceiling of the Triton Court are made of wooden planks skillfully joined together and decorated with all the creatures of the sea. At one end is the entrance, and at the other is a dais with a large padded throne, where Wyman Manderly, eating a veritable feast for lunch, looked out at the entrance with a smile.

The floor has painted crabs, clams and starfish, half hidden among twisted black sheets of seaweed and bones of drowned sailors. On the walls pale sharks lurk in greenish-blue painted depths, while eels and octopods glide among rocks and wrecks. Shoals of herring and large cod swim between the high arched windows. Above, near where old fishing nets hang from the rafters, the surface of the sea is depicted. To the right, a war galley rests serenely against the rising sun; to the left, a battered old cogwheel races before a storm, its sails in tatters. Behind the dais, a kraken and a gray leviathan battle beneath the painted waves.

"Lord Dustin" greeted Wyman Manderly.

"Lord Manderly" replied the young man.

"I was surprised by your letter announcing the arrival. I was not expecting this visit, especially in such... turbulent times."

At the same time, both Wolfgang Dustin and Beron settled at a table, and were served food.

"Well, I'm afraid we have quite a bit to talk about, Lord Manderly."

"I thought the matter was settled, Lord. I mentioned to you that my daughter is still too young," Wyman commented, his tone evincing a hint of annoyance. "There was no need for this coming."

"Oh, that is clear to me, Lord Manderly, but I did not come especially for that reason. Though it weighs heavy on my heart not to hold your daughter's hand, my coming to your fair city has other reasons."

"You have a nice vocabulary, Lord Dustin. I forget many times that I'm talking to a young man of... what, ten years old?".

"I appreciate your words," Wolfgang smiled, but Wyman was clearly questioning him. Wyman Manderly was a tough nut to crack; almost as capable and scheming as Roose Bolton, only extremely loyal to House Stark. It would be difficult for the Manderly leader to do anything that would benefit, excessively, the anti-Stark faction.

"But then, if you're not coming to speak for compromise, what is it you seek, Lord Dustin?"

"As you are well aware, Lord Manderly, you have come quite a bit of migration into our territory."

"I am aware of that, Lord. Somehow, House Dustin has managed to plant these strange fruits, which were not in Westeros before. Carrot and beet they were, correct?"

"Yes, those are their names, and I understand White Harbor started planting them recently."

"That's right, the North has a lot of mouths to feed."

"I couldn't agree more."

"So?" asked Lord Manderly, and he had already put his cutlery down on the table, setting the food aside. He was paying more attention to the conversation.

"I suppose you've noticed, correct? My lands produce far more crops than yours."

"Is that some kind of taunt?" questioned the plump old man.

"No, of course not, it's because I have an offer."

"And that would be?"

"To share the method that makes our crops so productive" commented Wolfgang, and silence reigned in the Triton Court for a few minutes.

"That... are you serious?".

"Dead serious."

"And what do you want in return - my granddaughter's hand?"

"It would certainly be something I would greatly appreciate, however, I'm afraid House Manderly has already turned that down, haven't they?" asked Wolfgang, and for a moment his eyes showed the childlike innocence that a young nobleman his age should have.

Wyman looked uncomfortable. Planting whatever it was in the North was hard, and while the discovery of those crops that could be planted in the North was a good thing, the productivity wasn't too good either. If Wyman could learn those secrets... he could save the lives of many Northerners, and strengthen many allied houses, including House Stark itself, since House Dustin's surplus, which by migration was dwindling, was going especially to House Ryswell and the Boltons.

"Well, in business everything is conversable. Although my granddaughter is very small, given a few years, she will grow into a beautiful young woman," Wyman commented, and an idea crossed his mind. Yes, House Dustin might be antagonistic to the Starks, and consequently, House Ryswell was as well, but... with his granddaughter he could change that.

If with such a compromise, Wyman could draw the Dustin's into the wolf pack, and consequently the Ryswell's as well, then the risk of compromising his granddaughter to the "enemy" might be worth it. Not on her own of course, and for the same reason she refused Barbrey Dustin's initial offer. No, he now knew that it was Wolfgang himself who had sent the letter; Dustin owned only the seal, but not the words of House Dustin. But back to the matter at hand, although his initial refusal was well-founded, considering the new factors, the offer seemed too tempting.

"Is that so?"

'He wants something more' Wyman thought. "Of course, but I can understand the value of that secret."

"Of course, it is a very valuable secret, however, if we do come to an agreement, something must be made clear" commented Wolfgang, and Lord Manderly between closed his eyes. "Such a secret is totally confidential, and a contract will be signed accordingly. House Manderly will not be allowed to share it with anyone else."

"That... changes things."

"Does it? Lord Manderly, what would be your goal in achieving this procedure?".

"To feed the North, of course. Save lives."

"I have a similar idea, I too want to save lives in the North, but if this information is shared so much, it is inevitable that it will reach the South. Do you know what will happen at that point?"

"That... the Tyrells will benefit the most. If they increase their production that much, they will fill their coffers with gold."

"So they will. I don't think you, Lord Manderly, want the Tyrells and their minions to get that rich. I already had a problem with the Citadel over that very thing. They demanded those secrets, but I refused them, all for the North, and not to enrich those who have extorted from us every winter, taking advantage of our hunger. If secrecy can be kept between us, will it not be better?"

"In this... I fear you are right, but you still won't tell me what else you want, besides my granddaughter's hand."

"Well, with new labor coming in, I need to create more jobs. There's not too much timber on my land; in fact, there's quite a bit of it, and we don't have too much land left over to farm either."

"So..." Wyman questioned.

"I'd like to go into mining."

"Mining?"

"Yeah, maybe we'll get lucky and find silver veins like the ones around White Harbor."

"So you want me to give you miners from my land?"

"Yes, Lord Manderly, I hope you can give me some experienced miners, who can help me find and extract minerals."

"And how many miners do you ask for the farming technique? My granddaughter's hand should be enough."

"500 miners" Wolfgang replied, but Wyman began to laugh.

"Boy, don't you think that's too much?".

"With the new techniques my house is going to share with you, the mines won't be so important, and you'll save a lot of money from having to buy food from the Dominion."

"500 is too many, I can give you 100 miners, but you have to take their families too, which means giving them decent treatment. If I see you exploit them I will ask for them back."

"The quality of my life in my territory is quite good, all those who work have a dignified life; their families are also included then. But I'm afraid 100 is too little."

"150, that's as high as I can go."

"What if I give you some money?".

"Excuse me?"

"I can offer you a payment, to finish off the rest. You give me 200 miners for free, along with the burden of their families, and I'll pay you for 200 more."

"I'm not interested in that deal, no matter how much you pay me. I need money, too. Besides, House Dustin's coffers should be empty, after all the spending he's done lately."

"Well, that's true. I'm afraid I'd have to pay you back in a year."

"A year?"

"I did my research before I came here. House Manderly's mines produce about 90,000 gold dragons a year or so, correct, of that half goes in taxes to House Stark, so House Manderly receives a profit of 45,000 gold dragons. After that you have to deduct all the wages they pay and the expenses of the mines, they're left with about 40,000 golden dragons in the end, a little less maybe."

"That's not a bad estimate, so what do you propose?".

"I propose to pay you half that, for 600 miners."

"Six hundred!" exclaimed Wyman. "No, that's too much. We'd almost run out of miners, and farming, no matter how good your techniques are, won't become our main activity either. We export silver."

"But it's a good amount of money. In a year you'll have enough time to train new miners."

"But not of the quality of the ones you lose. I'll give you 200 miners, and my granddaughter's hand, for those techniques, and I'll give you 200 more miners for those 25,000 golden dragons. However, if any of those miners want to return to White Harbor with their families, you won't be able to stop them, they are free men."

"I don't want to be ripped off, so I won't let them come back for a few months. I wouldn't want them, the moment I pay for them, to come back. But after that they'll have total freedom. Do we have a deal?"

Wyman thought about it for a while, but in the end he gave a sigh and shook hands with the young man in front of him. The miners might recover, but that technique would stay stored at House Manderly forever.

'Mind you, the boy probably already found silver mines. I wouldn't spend that kind of money on some miners without the guarantee of return' Wyman thought, but in the end it was a good deal for him.

"Mind you, one thing before I go. What you told me about free men goes both ways. I hope you won't stop the miners you have left if they want to come to my territory of... their own free will" Wolfgang smiled, and walked out of the hall with Beron.

Wyman Manderly had a bad feeling.

Now all that remained was to collect the 400 miners, their families, and to deliver a scroll with a guide to the methods used on the lands of House Dustin, all by means of a contract signed between the two houses, with a copy to King's Landing.