CH 9 Quillbot Edit

Inside the room, Reagan was sprawled out on his bed with the three books spread around. While he was lying there with closed eyes, he was thinking of ways to improve the North as much as possible in the coming years. 'I know that father won't do the things I tell him to do unless he gets some proof. Since I have biokinesis, I just have to buy some seeds and modify them. I should make apple, pear, and plum seeds that can grow in long winters, and then I should go for the vegetables. Potatoes are a must, as I have heard that they grow in some of the coldest countries on earth. I should also modify the wheat so that it will yield more before winter comes. What else should I do?'

As he was thinking through all of them, he lightly touched the rune book that his mother gave him, unknowingly activating his power and starting to see the past of the book. It went from his mother to his grandmother to her great-grandmother to his great-grandfather Edric Stark, and from there it was always in the hands of the Winter Kings of old: Theon the Hungry Wolf, Rickard the Laughing Wolf, Brandon the Burner, Brandon the Shipwright, Brandon the Breaker, and finally, Brandon the Builder.

When he saw the memory of Brandon the Builder in the book, Reagan started to actively watch it, as it was a rare chance to learn about the first Winter King. 'Bit, I can't understand what he's saying. Okay, let's learn the old tongue right now.'

Closing his eyes, Reagan started to absorb the Old Tongue from Brandon the Builder himself, and when he reopened them, he started to understand what Brandon had written down in the book. So sitting up in his bed, he took the rune book into his hand and started reading from the first page itself.

"ᛏᛟ ᛗᛁ ᛞᛖᛊᚌᛖᚾᛏ ᚺᛟᚢᛊᛖ ᚾᚨᛗᛖ ᛁ ᛞᛟ ᚾᛟᛏ ᚾᛟᚹ ᛁ ᚷᛁᛗ ᚦᛁᛊ ᛒᛟᚲ ᚨᛋ ᚨ ᛈᚱᛖᛊᛏ ᛏᛟ ᚢ. ᛁᚠ ᛃᛟᚢ ᚲᚨᚾ ᚢᚾᛊᛏᚱᛖᛏᚨᚾᛞ ᚦᛖ ᚹᚱᛁᛏᛁᚾᚷᛊ ᛏᛖᚾ ᚦᚨᛏ ᛗᛖᚨᚾᛊ ᚢ ᚲᚨᚾ ᚢᚾᛊᛏᚱᛖᛏᚨᚾᛞ ᚦᛖ ᛚᚨᚾᚷᚢᚨᚲᛖ ᛋ���.

To my descendant, whose name I do not know, I give this book as a present to you. If you can understand the writings, then that means you can understand the language spoken by the Children of the Forest." [AN: I am making Old Norse the language of the children of the forest].

Widening his eyes, he muttered to himself, "So this was not the old tongue? Then what is the old tongue? Wait, I should finish reading this."

"ᚦᛖ ᚱᛖᚨᛋᛟᚾ ᚹᛁᚺ ᛁ ᚺᚨᚠᛖ ᚹᚱᛁᛏᛏᛖᚾ ᛏᚺᛁᛋ ᛒᛟᛟᚲ ᛁᛋ ᛏᛟ ᛚᛖᛏ ᛁᚢ ᚾᛟ ᚨᛒᛟᚢᛏ ᛏᚺᛖ ᛏᚱᚢᛖ ᚺᛁᛋᛏᛟᚱᚤ ᛟᚠ ᛟᚢᚱ ᚠᚨᛗᚨᛚᚤ. ᛁ ᚹᚨᛋ ᚾᛟᛏ ᚨ ᚺᚢᛗᚨᚾ, ᛒᚢᛏ ᚨ ᚺᛁᛒᚱᛞ ᛒᛖᛏᚹᛖᛖᚾ ᚨ ᚷᛁᚨᚾᛏ, ᚨ ᚺᚢᛗᚨᚾ ᚨᚾᛞ ᚹᛟᚾ ᛟᚠ ᚦᛖ ᚲᛁᛚᛞᚨᚾ ᛟᚠ ᚦᛖ ᚠᛟᚱᛖᛋᛏ, ᚦᛖᛁ ᛒᛁᚱᛏᚺᛖᛞ ᛗᛖ ᚦᚱᛖᛖ ᚨ ᚱᛁᛏᚥᚢᛚ. ᛁ ᚱᛖᛏᚨᛁ᚝ᛖᛞ ᚺᚢᛗᚨᚾ ᚠᛖᚨᛤᚱᛖᛋ, ᚷᛁᚨᚾᛏ ᛋᛏᚨᛏᚢᚱᛖ ᚨᚾᛞ ᛗᚨᚷᛁᚲᚨᛚ ᛒᛚᛟᛞ ᛟᚠ ᚦᛖ ᚲᛁᛚᛞᚨᚾ ᛟᚠ ᚦᛖ ᚠᛟᚱᛖᛋᛏ.

The reason I have written this book is to let you know about the true history of our family. I was not a human, but a hybrid between a giant, a human, and one of the children of the forest; they birthed me through a ritual. I retained the human features, giant stature, and magical blood of the children of the forest."

"Wow. That's a new revelation." Reagan commented as he continued reading.

"ᛁ ᛚᛁᚠᛖᛞ ᚠᛟᚱ ᚨ ᚠᛇᚢ ᚦᛟᚢᛞᚨᚾ ᛇᚱᛋ ᚨᚾᛞ ᛁ ᚺᚨᚢᛖ ᛋᛖᛖᚾ ᛗᚨᚾᛖ ᚦᛁᚾᚷᛋ, ᛁ ᚺᚨᚢᛖ ᛒᚢᛚᛏ ᛋᛟᛗᛖ ᚲᚨᛋᛏᛚᛖᛋ ᛁᚾ ᚦᛁᛋ ᚲᛟᚾᛏᛁᚾᛖᚾᛏ ᚨᛚᛟᚾᚷ ᚹᛟᚢᚱ ᚺᛟᛗᛖ ᚨᚾᛞ ᚦᛖ ᚹᚨᛚᛚ. ᛁ ᚺᚨᚢᛖ ᛏᛟᛚᛞ ᛗᚨᚷ ᛋᛟᚾᛋ ᚨᚾᛞ ᚷᚱᚨᚾᛋᛟᚾᛋ ᛏᚨᛏ ᚦᛖᚱᛖ ᛗᚢᛋᛏ ᛒᛖ ᚨ ᛋᛏᚨᚱᚲ ᚨᛏ ᚹᛁᚾᛏᛖᚱᚠᛖᛚ, ᛁᛏ ᛁᛊ ᛒᛟᚲᚢᛊᛖ ᛁ ᚺᚨᚢᛖ ᛒᚢᛚᛏ ᚹᛁᚾᛏᛖᚱᚠᛖᛚᛚ ᚨᛊ ᚦᛖ ᛈᛟᚹᛖᚱ ᛋᛟᚢᚲᛖ ᛏᛟ ᛗᚨᛁᚾᛏᚨᛁᚾ ᚦᛖ ᚹᚨᛚᛚ ᛏᚺᚨᛏ ᛁᛊ ᛋᛏᛟᛏᛈᛁᚾᛜ ᚦᛖ ᛟᚢᚦᛖᚱᛋ ᚲᛟᛗᛁᚾᛜ ᛟᚢᛖᚱ. ᛋᛟ ᚨᛚᚹᚨᚤᛋ ᚱᛖᛗᛖᛗᛖᚱ, ᛏᚺᛖᚱᛖ ᛗᚢᛋᛏ ᛒᛖ ᚨ ᛋᛏᚨᚱᚲ ᛁᚾ ᚹᛁᚾᛏᛖᚱᚠᛖᛚ ᚨᚾᛞ ᚹᛁᚾᛏᛖᚱ ᛁᛊ ᚲᛟᛗᛁᚾᚷ.

I lived for a few thousand years, and I have seen many things. I have built some castles on this continent, along with our home and the Wall. I have told my sons and grandsons that there must always be a star at Winterfell. It is because I have built Winterfell as the power source to maintain the wall that is stopping the others from coming over. So always remember, there must be a star in Winterfell, and Winter is coming."

"So that's why? I thought that if there is no Stark at Winterfell, then the North will divide itself into many petty kingdoms." Mumbling out in astonishment, he started to read the rest.

"ᚦᛖ ᚱᛖᚨᛋᛟᚾ ᛁ ᚺᚨᛖ ᛏᚨᚲᛖᚾ ᛏᚺᛖ ᛞᛁᚱᛖ ᚹᛟᛚᚠ ᚨᛋ ᛟᚢᚱ ᚺᛟᚢᛋᛖ ᛋᛁᚷᛁᛚ ᛁᛋ ᛒᛖᚲᚗ᚟ᛟᚢᛋ ᛟᚠ ᚦᛖ ᚺᚢᛗᚨᚾ ᚺᛟᚢ ᛈᚨᚱᛏᛟᚲ ᛁᚾ ᛏᚺᛖ ᚱᛁᛏᚥᚨᛚ ᚹᚨᛋ ᚨ ᛋᚺᚨᛈᛖᛊᚺᛁᚠᛏᛖᚱ ᚺᛟᚢ ᚲᚨᚾ ᛏᚢᚱᚾ ᛁᚾᛏᛟ ᚨ ᚷᛁᚨᚾᛏ ᚹᛟᛚᚠ, ᚺᛁᛊ ᚾᚨᛗᛖ ᚹᚨᛋ ᛏᚨᚺᚨ ᚨᚲᛁ, ᚺᛖ ᚹᚨᛋ ᛚᚨᛋᛏ ᛟᚠ ᚺᛁᛊ ᚲᚨᛁᚾᛞ. ᛞᚢᛏᛟ ᛏᚺᛖ ᚱᛁᛏᚥᚨᛚ, ᛏᚺᛖ ᛋᚺᚨᛈᖇᛁᚠᛏᛁᚾᚷ ᚨᛒᛁᛚᛁᛏᚣ ᚹᚨᛋ ᛚᛟᛊᛏ, ᛒᚢᛏ ᛁ ᚺᚨᛷ ᛏᚺᛖ ᚷᚱᚨᚢᛖᛏ ᚨᚠᑎᛁᚾᛏᚣ ᚹᛁᚺ ᛏᚺᛖ ᛞᛁᚱᛖ ᚹᛟᛚᚠᛋ.

The reason I have taken the dire wolf as our house sigil is because the human who participated in the ritual was a shapeshifter who could turn into a giant wolf; his name was Taha Aki, and he was the last of his kind. Due to the ritual, the shapeshifting ability was lost, but I had the greatest affinity with the dire wolves."

"Damn, it would have been awesome to shift into a wolf myself. It's said that the ability is lost, but I'm sure that it's hidden away in our genes. I could just tweak it a bit and bring back the ability to shift into a giant wolf." Excitement was leaking out of him as he thought of the prospect of shifting into a wolf.

"ᚦᛖ ᛁᛋ ᚨᛚᛚ ᛁ ᚺᚨᚵᛖ ᛏᛟ ᛋᚨᚣ ᚨᛒᛟᚢᛏ ᛟᚢᚱ ᚺᛟᚢᛋᛖ ᚺᛁᛋᛏᛟᚱᚣ, ᚾᛟᚹ ᛏᚺᛖ 18ᛖᛋᛏ ᛟᚠ ᚹᚺᚨᛏ ᛁ ᚺᚨᚵᛖ ᚹᚱᛁᛏᛏᛖᚾ ᛁᚾ ᛏᚺᛖ ᛒᛟᚢᚲ ᛁᛋ ᚨᛒᛟᚢᛏ ᚺᛟᚢ ᛏᛟ ᚢᛋᛖ ᛗᚨᚷᛁᚲ ᚹᛁᚺ ᛏᚺᛖ ᚱᚢᚾᛖᛋ ᛟᚠ ᚦᛖ ᚠᛁᚱᛋᛏ ᛗᛖᚾ, ᛏᚱᚢᛖ ᛗᛖᚨᚾᛁᚾᚷ ᛟᚠ ᛖᚨᚲᚺ ᚱᚢᚾᛖ, ᚹᛖᚱᛖ ᛏᛟ ᚢᛋᛖ ᛏᚺᛖᛊᛖ ᚱᚢᚾᛖᛋ ᚨᚾᛞ ᛗᚨᚾᚣ ᛗᛟᚱᛖ. ᚠᛟᚱ ᚣᛟᚢᚱ ᛁᚾᛋᛟᚢᛗᚨᛏᛁᛟᚾ, ᛏᚺᛖ ᚠᛁᚱᛋᛏ ᛗᛖᚾ ᚱᚢᚾᛖᛋ ᚨᚾᛞ ᚦᛖ ᚲᚺᛁᛚᛞᚨᚾ ᛟᚠ ᚦᛖ ᚠᛟᚱᛖᛊᛏ ᛚᚨᚾᚷᚢᚨᚲᛖ ᚨᚱᛖ ᚨᛚᛗᛟᛋᛏ ᛋᛁᛗᚨᛚᚢᚾ, ᛒᚢᛏ ᛏᚺᛖᛁᚱ ᚱᚢᚾᛖᛋ ᛁᚾ'ᛏ ᛚᛟᚾᚷ ᛚᚨᛋᛏᛁᚾᚷ, ᚠᛟᚱ ᛏᚺᛟᛏ ᚣᛟᚢ ᚾᛖᛖᛞ ᛏᛟ ᚢᛋᛖ ᛗᚨᚷᛁᚲ ᛏᚺᛏ ᛁᛊ ᚱᚢᚾᛁᚾᚷ ᛁᚾ ᛁᚢᚱ ᛒᛚᛟᛞ. 

That is all I have to say about our house history. Now the rest of what I have written in this book is about how to use magic with the runes of the First Men, the true meaning of each rune, where to use these runes, and many more. For your information, the First Men runes and the Children of the Forest are almost similar, but their runes aren't long-lasting; for that, you need to use magic that is running in your blood."

"Thank you for that ancestor." Reagan said this as he bowed to the book in gratitude and continued reading.

"ᛁ ᚹᛁᛋᚺ ᚣᛟᚢ ᛚᚢᚲ, ᛗᚣ ᛞᛖᛊᚌᛖᚾᛏ. ᚹᛁᛋᚺ ᛗᛖ ᛚᚢᚲ ᛏᛟᛟ, ᛋᛖᚾᚻ ᛁ ᚨᛗ ᚷᛟᛁᚾᚷ ᛟᚾ ᛏᚺᛖ ᛖᚾᛞ ᛟᚠ ᛗᚣ ᛚᛟᚾᚷ ᛚᛁᚠᛋᛈᚨᚾ ᛏᚺᚨᚾᚺ ᛏᛟ ᚷᛟ ᛁᚾᛏᛟ ᛏᚺᛖ ᛗᛁᛋᛏ ᛟᚠ ᚦᛖ ᛖᚾᛖᛗ᣽ ᛏᛖᚱ᚜ᛟᚱᚣ. ᛏᚺᛏ'ᛊ ᚱᛁᚷᚺᛏ, �.

I wish you luck, my descendant. Wish me luck too. Since I am getting old at the end of my long lifespan, thanks to magic, I have decided to go into the midst of enemy territory. (That's right, I am going to the Land of Always Winter.)"

Reagan's eyes went wide as he read the last words written by Brandon the Builder before he had written the true meanings of the runes, how to use magic with the runes, and where to apply these runes. Closing the book, he sighed as he looked out of the window and saw that it was almost dusk. Shaking his head, he said to himself, "If it took me this much time to read three pages, I don't know when I will finish reading this book. But, since I have seven days all to myself, I should read all three books from one end to the other."

It took Reagan three days to understand the true meaning of the runes, how to apply magic to the runes to activate them, and where to use each rune without the help of his psychometry power. The fourth day, he studied the history of the North, which was written in Old Tongue in the common tongue, while using psychometry to understand the Old Tongue.

"Well, this is similar to Scottish Gaelic. And the history is almost similar to what I know about the Ice and Fire World, but there are some differences. The Starks worked together with the Children and the Giants for almost a few thousand years, but after the invasion of the Andals, they retreated beyond the Wall, fearing the Northerners would also harm them because of their differences. That's just sad. I should bring them back along with the free folk beyond the wall if they are willing to bend the knee to me, which might be the hardest thing to achieve. But if I speak in the old tongue and if there are people who are willing to bend the knee, then I can take them into my kingdom. But there is still time for that—years even." Shaking his head, he took the last book, which is about the giants and children of the forest.

The final book was finished in a single day too, and he used the remaining two days to test the runes that he had studied and started to crave runes all over his room as a practice with a small cutting knife he had. In these seven days, Fenrir and Fenris came into his room from time to time, and Fenrir slept with him at night.

While Reagan was studying hard in his room about the history of his house, rune magic, and the history of the North, his mother Sarra was getting restless. Brandon, who had observed his wife for the past seven days, had thoughts like, 'She's the one who grounded him as a punishment, and now she's acting like I was the one who grounded him. If she was so worried about our son not coming out of his room when he was grounded by her, then why did she do it in the first place? I have been married to her for almost six years, and I still don't understand her. No, I still don't understand women; why are they like this?'