Night's Watch

The **Night's Watch** is a military order dedicated to holding the Wall, the immense fortification on the northern border of the Seven Kingdoms, defending the realms of men from what lies beyond the Wall. The order's foundation dates back to the Age of Heroes, at the time when the Others were pushed back. The men of Night's Watch wear only black, and they are known as **black brothers**. Recruits who join the Watch are said to **take the black**.

## Organization

### Structure

The Night's Watch consists of three orders: stewards, builders, and rangers. All are subject to the Lord Commander of the Night's Watch, and each of the three orders is led by its own officer, the Lord Steward, the First Builder, and First Ranger, respectively. These officers are appointed by the lord commander.

* Stewards are responsible for an assortment of critical functions, providing vital day-to-day services. They hunt and farm, tend horses, gather firewood, cook meals, make clothing, maintain weapons, and bring supplies needed by the Night's Watch from the South. Like other members of the Watch, the stewards must be ready to fight at a moment's notice, and all have received at least basic combat training. Bowen Marsh serves as the Lord Steward or First Steward.

* Builders are responsible for tending to and maintaining the Wall and its castles. The order provides masons, carpenters, miners, and woodsmen to this end. Othell Yarwyck leads them as the First Builder.

* Rangers are the main fighting force, adept at surviving in the wilderness and tasked with scouting and patrolling the haunted forest beyond the Wall. They actively defend the Wall and ride out to face the Watch's enemies, including wildlings and legendary Others. The First Ranger is Benjen Stark.

Recruiters for the Night's Watch are called wandering crows. The organization also includes septons, maesters, and, at Eastwatch-by-the-Sea, sailors. Because brothers come from throughout the Seven Kingdoms or even Essos, there is an unspoken pact to not discuss politics or former loyalties. When war breaks out in the Seven Kingdoms, the Night's Watch tries to remain neutral by honoring all kings and obeying none.

One blast of a sentry's horn represents returning rangers, while two are used for wildlings and three for Others. Two long blasts followed by a short one are used as a call to mount horses.

While wildlings and the Watch are often seen as seen as ancient enemies, the black brothers are friendly with some free folk, such as Craster and Haggon. There is greater commerce between the two peoples than generally known, and some wildlings trade at Eastwatch.

### Leadership

The Lord Commander of the Night's Watch is the final authority and oversees the entire order. A lord commander serves in office until the day he dies, when a replacement is elected by the men of the Watch. Any man of the Night's Watch can be nominated to be the lord commander.

At Castle Black, Lord Commander Jeor Mormont is advised by First Ranger Benjen Stark, First Builder Othell Yarwyck, and Lord Steward Bowen Marsh. He also entrusts leadership to Ser Jarman Buckwell, Ser Mallador Locke, Ser Jaremy Rykker, Thoren Smallwood, and Ser Ottyn Wythers. Ser Denys Mallister is the commander at the Shadow Tower, while Cotter Pyke has command at Eastwatch-by-the-Sea. Maesters advising the senior leadership are Aemon at Castle Black, Mullin at the Shadow Tower, and Harmune at Eastwatch.

An honorable opportunity to command, rise in rank, and enjoy hunting north of the Wall are reasons why men join the Night's Watch voluntarily. The majority of the officers and leadership of the Watch are pulled from the upper crust of Westerosi society. A noble or knighted man is almost guaranteed a position as an officer in the Watch, but there are several powerful and influential brothers that are of common birth as well, such as the senior rangers Qhorin Halfhand, Blane, and Cotter Pyke, a bastard-born pirate. The Watch, as a meritocracy, is one of the few places in feudal Westeros where a common man can rise high.

### Recruitment

Once, serving on the Wall was honour and a sign of selfless devotion to duty, with many knights, honourable men, and nobles taking the black voluntarily. The Night's Watch is now often seen only as a way to avoid punishment, suitable less for knights than for the dregs of Westeros. These men are salvaged from dungeons by traveling recruiters known as wandering crows. Disgraced nobles, bastards, and the unwanted legitimate offspring of nobles can be encouraged to take the black, making many of today's Watch a surly and dissatisfied lot.

Those who come voluntarily are free to leave during any time of their training, but no man may leave after he has said vows. Any deserters are sentenced to death. After taking the vows, the men of the Watch cannot own any land, marry, or father children. Men are also encouraged to sever any ties left with their families, if they are lucky enough to have one.

### Vows

When recruits are considered ready to take the black, they say their vows either in a sept or before a heart tree. The vows are as follows:

> Night gathers, and now my watch begins. It shall not end until my death. I shall take no wife, hold no lands, father no children. I shall wear no crowns and win no glory. I shall live and die at my post. I am the sword in the darkness. I am the watcher on the walls. I am the fire that burns against the cold, the light that brings the dawn, the horn that wakes the sleepers, the shield that guards the realms of men. I pledge my life and honor to the Night's Watch, for this night and all the nights to come.
>
>

Once a man takes his vows, his crimes and debts are forgiven. Brothers of the Night's Watch serve for life. It is customary to finish a black brother's eulogy with the words, "And now his watch is ended." Castle Black contains a lichyard, and knights can be laid to rest in ancient tombs near the lichyard or burned on a pyre.

### Military Strength

The numbers of the Night's Watch have long been dwindling. During Aegon's Conquest, the Night's Watch numbered ten thousand strong. However, by 298 AC, their strength has dwindled to less than a thousand. Of these thousand, six hundred are stationed at Castle Black, two hundred at the Shadow Tower, and fewer at Eastwatch-by-the-Sea.

In late 233 AC, when Ser Brynden Rivers was sent to the Wall, two hundred men went with him. Many of them were archers from Rivers's personal guard, the Raven's Teeth.

## Possessions

### Castles of the Night's Watch

The Night's Watch raised nineteen castles to guard the hundred leagues of the Wall, although they have never manned more than seventeen at one time. Today only three of them are maintained by an ever dwindling force. The castles themselves are closer to garrisons, composed mostly of barracks, stables, storehouses, towers and out-buildings, as they have no walls of their own (other than the Wall itself). They were purposefully built this way so the Watch could man only the Wall itself and focus on threats from the north. The Night's Watch feared no attack from the south because of their vow not to take part in the wars of the Seven Kingdoms.

Due to manpower shortages, the Watch only mans the Shadow Tower, Castle Black, and Eastwatch. Patrols between the castles used to be more regular, but as the manpower of the Night's Watch diminished, so did the number of patrols. Now the Watch uses mules to ride atop the Wall, as the paths have not been graveled between the older castles in many years. The mules are bred at Eastwatch and are specially trained for their duties.

The castles are listed from west to east:

* Westwatch-by-the-Bridge
* Shadow Tower, the most western castle still currently in use. By 298 AC, it is garrisoned by two hundred men.
* Sentinel Stand
* Greyguard
* Stonedoor
* Hoarfrost Hill
* Icemark
* Nightfort, the oldest and largest castle of the Night's Watch, which was abandoned during the reign of King Jaehaerys I Targaryen due to the high costs needed to maintain it. It houses the Black Gate, a secret way through the Wall sealed by a magical ancient door fashioned from weirwood, which only opens to a sworn brother of the Night's Watch.
* Deep Lake, located seven miles east of the Nightfort. Originally meant as a replacement to the Nightfort. It was paid for by Queen Alysanne Targaryen, and built by men sent to the Wall by King Jaehaerys I Targaryen.
* Queensgate, originally called Snowgate. The castle was renamed after the visit of Queen Alysanne Targaryen.
* Castle Black, one of the three castles currently still in use. Castle Black is located at the northern end of the kingsroad, and an eastern road leads toward Eastwatch. By 298 AC, it is held by six hundred brothers.
* Oakenshield
* Woodswatch-by-the-Pool
* Sable Hall
* Rimegate
* Long Barrow
* Torches
* Greenguard
* Eastwatch-by-the-Sea, also called Eastwatch for short, is the third of the three castles currently in use by the Night's Watch. Eastwatch is a port, and has the smallest standing garrison, being garrisoned by less than two hundred men.

### The Gift

The Gift, consisting of Brandon's Gift and the New Gift, is land south of the Wall. Twenty-five leagues were given by a Brandon of House Stark, commonly believed to have been Bran the Builder, to the Night's Watch for their sustenance. For years the Watch farmed the Gift, but as their numbers dwindled there were fewer hands to plow the fields, tend the bees and plant the orchards, so the wild reclaimed much of the area. Wishing to restore the Night's Watch and reward its loyal service in defense of the realm, Queen Alysanne Targaryen, wife of King Jaehaerys the Conciliator, doubled the extent of the Gift. Towns and villages that were located within the New Gift supported the Night's Watch with their taxes, rendered by goods and labour. In time, the New Gift lost population as people moved south, into the mountains or into the Umber lands east of the kingsroad to avoid wildling raids, further reducing the support structure for the Night's Watch and the Wall.

The nearest point of civilization to Castle Black is Mole's Town, a subterranean village in the Gift whose brothel is frequently patronized by brothers of the Night's Watch. Queenscrown is an example of an abandoned holdfast in the Gift.

### Equipment

Sworn Brothers are attired all in black, with roughspun wool being common, so new recruits are said to "take the black". Officers and brothers who come from wealthier origins might wear velvet, crisp leathers, moleskin, or sable.

The black garb has earned the Watch the nickname "crows", particularly among the free folk, who often call them "black crows." While some use this name derogatorily, many in the Night's Watch have adopted the term for their own use. They are also called the "black brothers", and in song they have been called the "black knights of the Wall." Each brother receives a dark cloak, so the Watch are also called "black cloaks". Because members swear oaths to serve for life, a stranger wearing black attire is often viewed with suspicion in the north because he might be a deserter.

Armor includes black ringmail hauberks and coifs, as well as halfhelms. All black brothers carry a steel knife. Nobles relinquish the heraldry of their houses and take up plain black shields. Brothers can carry axes, longaxes, bows, knives, spears, swords, and longswords. Guardsmen carry warhorns, while foresters uses axes to chop down trees. The Watch can defend the Wall with catapults, scorpions, and trebuchets. When ranging beyond the Wall, the brothers camp in black tents.

### Ships

The Night's Watch employs a small fleet at Eastwatch to patrol the Shivering Sea. Known ships include *Blackbird*, *Storm Crow*, and *Talon*.

## History

### The Long Night

The Night's Watch is one of the oldest orders in the Seven Kingdoms, as it survived the fall of the kingdoms of the First Men, the coming of the Andals, and Aegon's Conquest. It was founded over eight thousand years ago, at the end of the Long Night. Under cover of an endless night that lasted for a generation, the Others invaded from the Lands of Always Winter, laying waste to much of Westeros. The Others were finally defeated by the Night's Watch at the Battle for the Dawn, which is recalled in "The Night That Ended". The Wall was allegedly built by Bran the Builder in order to protect the Seven Kingdoms, with the brothers of the Night's Watch choosing their own Lord Commander since that time. During the Age of Heroes it was also recorded that the children of the forest gave the Night's Watch a hundred obsidian daggers every year.

Other than the corrupting of the thirteenth Lord Commander, the so-called Night's King, further attacks by the Others never came, however. Instead, the most frequent attacks came from the wildlings, sometimes led by their Kings-Beyond-the-Wall, and their constant attempts at raiding in the north. Little by little, the Night's Watch forgot that its main mission was not the fight against the wildlings, but against the Others.

### Hundred Kingdoms

The Night's Watch built nineteen castles along the hundred leagues of the Wall. At the zenith of its power, the Watch had seventeen of the castles manned, with at least ten thousand men between them. Castle Black alone once quartered five thousand fighting men with all their horses, servants, and equipment. The highborn of the north have traditionally considered it an honor to serve on the Wall. Many younger sons of northern houses, low in the line of succession, gladly took the black. Shields of nobles from the Hundred Kingdoms of Westeros were proudly displayed in the Shieldhall at Castle Black.

Six kings were sent to the Wall after Nymeria's War and the unification of Dorne by House Martell.

### House Targaryen

The Seven Kingdoms of Westeros were invaded by the Targaryens during Aegon's Conquest. Although Lord Commander Hoare was the brother of Harren the Black, King of the Isles and the Rivers, the lord commander maintained the neutrality of the ten thousand black brothers under his command, even when Harren died during the burning of Harrenhal. King Aegon I Targaryen became Lord of the Seven Kingdoms and ruled from the Iron Throne in King's Landing. Aegon's sister-wife, Queen Visenya Targaryen, modeled the vows of the newly-created Kingsguard on those of the Night's Watch.

In 43 AC, King Maegor I Targaryen suppressed the Oldtown chapter of the Warrior's Sons. When the king offered the two hundred knights the option of renouncing the Faith Militant and taking the black, or remaining loyal to their faith and face execution, three-quarters of the knights chose to join the Watch. Scores of Poor Fellows took the black when Poxy Jeyne Poore was hunted down in the kingswood two years later.

When Jaehaerys I Targaryen succeeded Maegor on the Iron Throne in 48 AC, four of Maegor's Kingsguard—Ser Olyver Bracken, Ser Symond Crayne, Ser Raymund Mallery, and Ser Jon Tollett—joined the Watch to avoid execution. Hundreds of Poor Fellows, including Rob the Starvling, also accepted the clemency of the new king and took the black. In 49 AC, thirty black brothers accompanied Lord Brandon Stark to King's Landing for the Golden Wedding. The following year, Ser Olyver and Ser Raymund led Rimegate and Sable Hall in rebellion against the Night's Watch. Most black brother remained loyal, however, and Rimegate was retaken with the aid of Winterfell, and Lord Walton Stark beheaded Olyver with Ice. Lord Stark pursued Raymund beyond the Wall, but Walton was slain by giants during the campaign. Wildlings eventually sent Raymund's head to Eastwatch-by-the-Sea.

During King Jaehaerys's royal progress to the north in 58 AC, Queen Alysanne Targaryen flew on Silverwing to visit Castle Black and the Wall. Lord Commander Lothor Burley escorted her into the haunted forest, and Benton Glover showed Alysanne the Nightfort, which she felt should be abandoned because of its poor condition. Alysanne paid for the construction of Deep Lake with her own jewels, and Lothor renamed Snowgate to Queensgate in her honor. Alysanne also visited Brandon's Gift, the land south of the Wall given to the Watch for their sustenance. Impressed by the Night's Watch but concerned about their lack of resources, Alysanne convinced King Jaehaerys and Lord Alaric Stark to double the lands with another twenty-five leagues, the New Gift. According to records at the Citadel, the Starks were reluctant to do so, fearing that the Night's Watch would neglect the Gift by focusing their attention beyond the Wall.

Lord Corlys Velaryon suggested that the greens, the rivals of Queen Rhaenyra Targaryen and the blacks, be allowed to join the Night's Watch amid the Dance of the Dragons. Rhaenyra and her husband, Prince Daemon Targaryen, decided that their enemies should not be pardoned, however. In the aftermath of the Dance, twenty-two men were arrested by Lord Cregan Stark for the death for King Aegon II Targaryen. During this Hour of the Wolf, nineteen of them, led by Ser Perkin the Flea, were sent to the Wall by Cregan, with only Lord Corlys being spared and Ser Gyles Belgrave and Lord Larys Strong instead choosing death. Grand Maester Orwyle deserted before setting sail on *North Star*, so Ser Medrick Manderly ordered the guard who had freed him to take his place in the Watch.

In 132 AC, the Night's Watch dealt with several wildling incursions as famine threatened during winter. The following year, a hundred rangers helped hunt down the raiders of Sylas the Grim after they overwhelmed Queensgate. A third of the Night's Watch died during the winter of 134 AC, and hundreds of the black brothers were killed fighting the thousands of wildlings who crossed the frozen Shivering Sea. In 136 AC during the regency of Aegon III, Ser Gareth Long, Lord George Graceford, and several gold cloaks and Fingers chose to take the black after the secret siege.

Guilty of treason after the Third Blackfyre Rebellion, Ser Aegor Rivers was commanded by King Aerys I Targaryen to take the black. Bittersteel was freed en route to the Wall, however, and he fled to the Free Cities. Bittersteel's rival, Lord Brynden Rivers, was sent to the Wall by King Aegon V Targaryen after the murder of Aenys Blackfyre. Bloodraven, many of his Raven's Teeth, and prisoners from the dungeons formed the two hundred men who accompanied Maester Aemon, Aegon's elder brother, to the Wall.

The black brothers arrived late at Long Lake, where Raymun Redbeard, the King-Beyond-the-Wall, was defeated by the Starks and Umbers in 226 AC.

House Targaryen fell during Robert's Rebellion. Following the Sack of King's Landing, Lord Tywin Lannister gave loyalists such as Ser Alliser Thorne and Ser Jaremy Rykker the options of execution or taking the black.

### House Baratheon

The manpower of the Night's Watch has decreased more and more, a process which began before Aegon's Conquest. Most of Westeros neglects the Wall. Only the north have the memory of the old days, but even they believe the Others are no more than vague figures in stories told to frighten children. Only a few of the houses south of the Neck have members in the Night's Watch, and most serve because they fell afoul of political machinations or fought on the wrong side of a war. However, there have been fewer wars since Aegon's Conquest. Northmen such as the Starks and Norreys are more likely to hold the Watch in high regard than southrons; House Lannister, for instance, has not been a strong supporter of the Wall. Some southerners are still friends of the Watch, however, such as Lady Shella Whent.

By the reign of King Robert I Baratheon, only three castles remain in use—Castle Black, Eastwatch-by-the-Sea, and the Shadow Tower—and the Night's Watch's numbers have dwindled to fewer than a thousand men. The Night's Watch is now largely made up of the misfits of the Seven Kingdoms, such as bastards, debtors, killers, outlaws, peasants, poachers, rapers, and thieves.

The Warden of the North, Lord Eddard Stark, and the First Ranger, Eddard's brother Benjen, have discussed settling new lords in abandoned holdfasts of the Gift if the lord commander, Jeor Mormont, approves. Skeptical of the Night's Watch, some wise men have suggested that the lords of the north should be granted the lands beyond the Wall and tasked with defending against wildlings.

According to Grand Maester Pycelle the Wall is a world apart, and news oft reaches them late. Stories of the Night's Watch are collected in Archmaester Harmune's *Watchers on the Wall*.