Savage Winter

The **Savage Winter** was a year-long rampage of wildlings throughout the North, spurred by a botched attempt to resettle refugees from beyond the Wall.

## Origins

The dawn of the fourth century after conquest saw the successful resettlement and integration of a few wildling groups into the North. This process was initiated by Lord Commander Jon Snow of the Night’s Watch and finalized by the regency council of Lord Rickon Stark of Winterfell. After briefly assuming the lordship of Karhold, Magnar Sigorn of Thenn established his line as the lords of the Dreadfort, replacing the deposed House Bolton. Further north, Gerrick Kingsblood was installed as the Lord of Queenscrown, assuming the name Redbeard for his house.

Both of these new wildling lords brought with them several hundred Free Folk, who embraced sedentary lifestyles as feudal subjects of their respective lords. Though many northmen were at first wary of these wildling settlers, their integration ultimately proved peaceful and seamless; they remained loyal to House Stark and obedient to northern laws. Near the Dreadfort, the wildling migrants immediately intermingled with the native population and embraced their culture. At Queenscrown, however, no such population existed, and the subjects of Lord Redbeard retained many of their cultural quirks.

Winter came in 320 AC, and the North was hit especially hard - but the northmen did not suffer nearly as much as the Free Folk. If their accounts were to be believed, mysterious horrors had begun afflicting tribes throughout the Haunted Forest. The corpses of hunting parties were found cut and arranged into strange patterns, and there were many reports of infants disappearing overnight. Amid this calamity, several wildling warlords began fighting to establish themselves as King-Beyond-the-Wall; each contender promised that he would save the Free Folk from their peril.

## The Migration

In their desperation, several thousand wildlings migrated south to the Wall and demanded passage. The Night’s Watch reluctantly allowed them to send envoys to Winterfell, where they petitioned Lord Rickon Stark to allow them to take refuge south of the Wall. Confident that they could be integrated just as easily as Redbeard and Thenn’s people before them, Lord Rickon granted their request.

The wildlings, however, were not the only southward migrants during this winter. An exceptionally high volume of smallfolk had taken refuge at Winter Town for the season, and Lord Stark found himself preoccupied with their accommodations. He thus delegated the task of wildling resettlement to two of his vassals: Lord Dustin, his most trusted councilor; and Lord Halleck Redbeard, the son and successor of Gerrick Kingsblood.

With a few hundred men in tow, Lord Dustin traveled up to Castle Black, where Lord Redbeard had already begun funneling the wildling refugees through the Wall. Lord Dustin insisted that the wildlings be settled near Queenscrown, and though Lord Redbeard reluctantly complied, his lands quickly proved unsuited to support so large an influx of people. The migrants were thus marched further south, to the lands between Frostcrown and Whitehowls.

This move was met with strong and vocal opposition from lords Mollen and Cassel, neither of whom wanted so many wildlings settled so close to their territory. Lord Dustin sympathized with their pleas, but reluctantly agreed to refuse their demands. The wildlings were immediately put to work constructing villages along the western bank of the White Knife.

## Redbeard's Revolt

An already scarce supply of food was spread even thinner, with starvation afflicting northmen and wildlings alike. As violent clashes broke out between the two groups, lords Dustin and Redbeard likewise came into conflict. In a correspondence with Winterfell, Lord Dustin received Lord Stark’s permission to again relocate the migrants. Just after they’d finished constructing what they believed to be their new homes, the wildlings were ordered to march into the far less hospitable Lonely Hills to the northeast. Dustin’s men were joined by a few hundred more from Cassel and Mollen, who threatened to move them forcibly if they would not move voluntarily.

The wildlings, however, were undaunted. A skirmish broke out between refugees and northmen that ended in defeat for the latter, and after seizing their foes’ weapons the wildlings raided the lands surrounding Frostcrown. Equally aggrieved by their mistreatment, Lord Redbeard professed an uncompromising loyalty to the migrants and promised to fight for their livelihoods and dignity. He was hailed as their leader, and led them in a quick and successful sacking of Frostcrown.

After seizing as many supplies and weapons as he could find, Lord Redbeard moved the wildlings south. After a quick raid near Whitehowls, he continued to Winter Town to plunder the overcrowded settlement. Winterfell’s garrison watched helplessly from the castle’s walls, far too outnumbered to stand any chance against the wildling horde. Redbeard then set a course for the Barrowlands, intent on looting Barrowton - and punishing Lord Dustin.

### The Battle of the Barrowlands

As Redbeard led his wildlings south, Rickon hurriedly raised a small force to stop them. With only the levies of Stark, Condon and Cerwyn at his disposal, he marched south and encountered Redbeard’s host near the Kingsroad. Rickon took up the North’s command in the ensuing battle, during which heavy casualties were suffered on both sides. But the sheer size of the wildling horde ultimately overwhelmed the northmen, and Rickon retreated after a humiliating defeat.

The victorious Redbeard continued on to Barrowton. Though the Dustins and Stouts were safe behind their castles’ walls, the town itself was pillaged and razed. After a few more raids in the surrounding countryside, Redbeard began marching his men westward into the Rills.

Alarmed by the wildlings’ approach, Lord Ryswell gathered hundreds of horsemen and hastily fled north into the Wolfswood. There he was joined by Master Tallhart, Master Glover, and the lords of the Wolfswood clans, all of whom brought as many men as they could muster.

Several raids throughout the Rills were followed by Redbeard’s advance into the Stony Shore. Upon their arrival, Redbeard declared that victory was within reach, and that they would soon rule over their own large swathe of temperate land. He sent a messenger to Winterfell to offer an end to hostilities in exchange for the cession of the Stony Shore to the wildlings.

### The Battle of the Stony Shore

As Lord Stark sat indecisively at Winterfell, Lord Ryswell and his allies moved south into the Stony Shore. Though the wildlings outnumbered his men two-to-one, Lord Ryswell was confident in his tactical and organizational superiority. In the ensuing battle, a wide line of infantry led by Glover and Tallhart engaged Redbeard’s raiders. As they held their ground, Lord Ryswell led his cavalry around the clashing armies and attacked the wildlings from behind. The wildling host was completely shattered, and only a few hundred were able to escape the battle. Lord Ryswell put every wildling man to the sword and captured their traitorous leader.

## Aftermath

Lord Redbeard was taken to Winterfell, where Rickon Stark had come to accept the failure of his attempted resettlement of the wildlings. He had Lord Halleck Redbeard executed; as Lord Redbeard had no living heirs, this amounted to the extinction of his line. All of the wildlings captured at Stony Shore were marched beyond the Wall, permanently exiled from the North. To appease an angered Lord Commander, Rickon Stark granted Queenscrown and its surrounding lands to the Night’s Watch.

At the beginning of 322 AC, a few hundred rogue wildlings still at large in northern territory, and Lord Thenn - conscious of the effect their activities might have on his own house’s reputation - volunteered to eliminate the threat. With several hundred men, he pursued them to the south, driving them into the Neck. The crannogmen then made quick work of the remaining wildlings, who quickly perished in the hazardous and unfamiliar terrain of their swamps.

The disaster brought about by Rickon’s failed attempt at resettling the wildlings permanently damaged his reputation, as well as that of House Stark. Where the lords of the North had previously looked to Winterfell for leadership in times of crisis, they now looked to the Night’s Watch as their only real line of defense. Donations of both coin and manpower dramatically increased over the following years. Rickon Stark, in the meantime, ceased to have any active interest in ruling the North, and spent the rest of his reign as little more than a figurehead for his councilors.