Monday, July 19, 2021

Kisah AKU n The Grey Wolf - Black Brothers

Assalamualaikum,

Eh, ada lagi cerita pasal The Grey Wolf ni. Bukan hero dah mati ke? Ya betul, sadly aku takkan hidupkan watak dia lagi. Cuma this special episode ni aku nak cerita what if Fredrik Greystark ni decided tak nak rebel bila House Stark no longer in power at the North. Kira macam give up lah and choose to do other things. For understanding, you guys can read the first episode since this one merupakan continuation from there.

Shortly after his victory against the Frey's army at Greywater Watch, Lord Fredrik returned to Wolf's Den and prepared his castle defenses against Lord Paramount Roose Bolton who is now advancing with 12,000 defected Northmen. After three months of siege, Fredrik requested parley with the new Warden of the North. He will surrender his castle on the following conditions - his people will not be harmed should he decide to pledge fealty and recognize House Bolton as the rightful ruler of the North. Lord Roose accepted the terms. As for Fredrik, he would never betray House Stark and rather being exiled than to live in shame as he sworn oath to protect the Stark's family with the late King Robb. Fredrik then released his title as the Lord of Wolf's Den and appointed her sister, Sharra as the new Lady of Wolf's Den. Before he left the castle, Fredrik convinced Sharra to bend the knee to Lord Bolton for the sake of their people's safety. 

301AC - The castle fall into the hand of the North royalist and Lord Bolton, true to his word, left the people unharmed as Lady Sharra Greystark pledged her fealty to House Bolton. The Greystark's host is incorporated into the new North army. After he bid farewell to his family and people, Fredrik begin his journey northward to Castle Black.

He met his friend, Lord Commander Jon Snow to sworn his oath to become member of Night's Watch. He confessed his failure to protect the Stark's family. Lord Snow consoled him by taking the Black, he shall be released from his past oaths. But it need a great sacrifice to be the member of Night's Watch, Fredrik will released all of his past titles, he will never marry, he will never hold any lands/castles, he will not father any children and most importantly, the oath remained until the day he die. 

Joining him to sworn the oath of Night's Watch is his squire, Bronson Snow. He is also accompanied by his dire-wolf, Greyfire. By Fredrik's recommendation, Bronson was being put under his command to serve as his chief bodyguard. 

Due to his previous reputation as the army general, Fredrik was being assigned by Lord Snow to be the Deputy Commander of Night's Watch under the overall supervision of Commander Denys Mallister at Shadow Tower. 

The Night's Watch is a military order established to guard the Wall that keep the Wildlings and White Walkers from crossing into the Seven Kingdoms. A gigantic wall which stretches for almost 500km has been built by Brandon the Builder along the Northern border around eight thousand years ago to separate the realm from the domain of Wildlings who live Beyond the Wall.

Fredrik is responsible to protect the welfare of 500 troops under his command. His operation base is located at the unmanned Greyguard camp, which coincidentally resembling the name of his former house. 

His daily routine mostly leading a group of Night's Watch troops to patrol the Haunted Forest and track any Wildling activities. He also take initiative to train his troops with swordsmanship, archery, horse-riding and battle formation to equipped them to be an elite forces. In addition, he also asked Rickard, camp's armorer to design an inner plate armor for extra protection for his rangers.

302AC - Commander Denys summoned him to Shadow Tower for an important mission Beyond the Wall. A large group of Wildlings sighted by his scout near Craster's Keep and he need Fredrik to track and destroy them. For this mission, he led his Night's Watch contingent around 400 troops to the land Beyond the Wall. It's believed that this land inhabited by close to a hundred thousand of Wildlings in large villages such as Hardhome, Frostfangs and Thenn with Mance Ryder proclaimed as the King Beyond the Wall by his people.

Upon examined the abandoned village of Craster's Keep, Fredrik's troops advanced westward while tracking the Wildlings movement. Nearing the site of his first battle at the Fist of First Men a few year ago, around 3,000 Wildlings led by Chief Hornfoot appeared in the snowy hill trying to block his exit.

He used his experience as an army commander by quickly instruct his troops to form a square shield wall to protect the archers and their baggage train at the center. The battle is about to begin.

Luckily for Fredrik, Wildlings' tactic mostly rely on their sheer number to overwhelm the defender and their leader rarely deploy battle tactics such as flanking maneuver or missile support, as they opt to charge blindly towards the enemy.

At 5pm, Chief Hornfoot charged the outnumbered Night's Watch contingent under Commander Fredrik Greystark. 2,000 Wildlings attack the square and trying to ram through the solid shield wall deployed by Fredrik's troops in their initial attack. Owing to hard training on battle tactics, the infantry stood their ground and repelled a numbers of Wildling's attempt to break the line.

The inner plate armor is a game changer for Fredrik's men as the Wildling's inferior weapon unable to provide a fatal blow to the defending troops. Their sword is blunt, and so does the club and knife. A shield-less Wildlings became an easy target for ranger's archer who released a hundred of arrow to fend-off the incoming reinforcement.

From his horseback, Fredrik as usual joined the battle together with his men in order to boost their morale. 

At the peak of battle, his horse was wounded by a spear threw by Chief Hornfoot. Fredrik continues to fight on-foot joining his troops to push the Wildlings rank. Seizing the opportunity, he charged straightly to Chief Hornfoot and delivered a deadly sword slash which decapitated the clan's leader. The leaderless Wildlings routed and fled the battlefield shortly after the death of their leader. 

Greyfire bravely charged the retreating Wildlings.

In his first battle as Night's Watch commander, Fredrik earned a decisive victory against Clan Hornfoot with the decimation of its army - around 2,500 Wildlings dead or wounded while the rest scattered. The Night's Watch suffered 20 dead while 100 wounded in action. 

A week later, he arrived at the gate of Fist of First Men and demanded surrender of the ancient fort. As the clan does not have any remaining army, the acting clan leader yield to the might of the Night's Watch. 

The victorious expeditionary forces returned to the Wall. While his men bound to Greyguard fort, Fredrik went straightly to Shadow Tower to provide report to Commander Denys. He received a heap of praise from his commander for an outstanding performance and being named as his successor. Not only he succeed to destroy the Wildlings' army but also managed to forced Clan Hornfoot into submission and returned with 90% of his troops. A truly remarkable feat of achievement for the new commander like him.

Although he is considered a new member of the Night's Watch, Fredrik is warmly welcomed in his rank. Perhaps due to his previous reputation as one of the North's promising general. Most of commanders take time to mingled with their men, but for him he does not take much effort to make friends with the troops. During his free time, he will visit the camp's tavern and buy them drinks and foods in order to instill strong camaraderie among his troops. 

303AC - After the death of Commander Denys due to old age, Fredrik was being appointed to replaced Denys' position as the Commander of Shadow Tower together with four camps which bring a total of 2,500 Night's Watch under his command. 

During a tour Beyond the Wall, one of his scout reported a sighting of mythical creature - the Wights within the Haunted Forest. Fredrik knew the White Walker will attack them anytime soon. He must ready his troops to prepare for the worst as he once fought the creature a few years ago and was defeated. 

The preparation was made to strengthen the Wall as per instruction by Lord Commander Jon Snow. In total, the Night's Watch amassed a strength of around 9,000 men guarding the Wall - 2,500 based at Shadow Tower command by Fredrik Greystark, 2,500 men led by Alliser Thorne at the Eastwatch Castle while the remaining 4,000 is located at the Castle Black.

The War of Five Kingdoms was concluded with the death of King Robb Stark and the installation of Lord Paramount Roose Bolton as the new Warden of the North two years ago. But far to the North, Fredrik found his redemption here and pledged to serve the Night's Watch with honor. He is free from any duty to the realm and not bound to any house - as far as he know, these men are now his brother in arms. When a man takes an oath, he's holding his own self in his own hands, As Fredrik's oath to the Night's Watch:

"I am the shield that guards the realm of men..."

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