Greywater Watch-288 AC
The Godswood used by the people of Greywater Watch is unique in Sam's opinion. Where Winterfell's Godswood was found in the middle of a forest and surrounded by nature, the Godswood Symeon and Lord Reed went to for magic training was situated on a small island in the middle of the lake that the castle was resting on. The Heart tree in the middle stood as the sole tree on the island, otherwise there was dozens of plants, bushes and flowers scattered all around. While Sam couldn't identify many of these plants, he could see that they are magical in nature using his mage eyes so, he could guess that they were for potions.
Symeon couldn't remain patient now that he has discovered he might be able to practice some form of magic. "What are all these plants for?" He asked with the most innocent expression he could muster.
Lord Reed never even slowed his walk up the path leading to the Heart tree as he called over his shoulder. "My people have long since discovered how to use the magic in plants and some animals to create different potions, with different effects."
Scrunching his eyebrows in honest curiosity, Sam asked. "What effects?"
Lord Reed slowed his walk now that they had nearly reached the top of the incline and were now within a dozen or so metres of the Heart tree. He released a sigh that carried a hint of melancholy. "According to our legends, my ancestors were once capable of creating potions that could heal all but the most serious injuries, poisons that could kill a man in a few breaths or put one to sleep for eternity. They could create tonics that made them immune to the cold or able to breathe under water for a short time. Some legends even say they had potions that allowed them to run for a full day and night without tiring, and others that allowed them to lift as much as ten men."
He looked around at all the plants with sadness. " Much has been lost, magic doesn't affect plants and animals like it used to when it was strong. Many recipes were also never written down and were lost when those that knew them died. Now we can create a few healing remedies, they work, but are nowhere as strong as what the legends describe them as. We have poisons found nowhere else, but they take time to take effect. We have potions that can increase stamina for a short time but nowhere near as long as the potions in the legends. The most often used potions we have are those that can grant us sight in the darkest of nights or increase our other senses. Others we have allow our people to walk in complete silence and to hide our scent. There are a few more but those are the major ones."
Sam was happy for what he found but disappointed because Lord Reed said that with the weakening of magic, many plants had lost their latent magic and were no longer useful as potions ingredients. He guesses that's why they grow these plants around a Weirwood tree. The magic it gives off to its surroundings probably gives the plants magical properties. He doubts the properties are as strong as what he was used to, meaning potions are probably weaker, but having potions that work at all are a great boon regardless.
Sam wasn't so upset about the fact that they had lost many of their recipes. Because as soon as Lord Reed told me about potions suddenly knowledge about many of the potion's kind of unlocked in my mind and I knew all of the recipes of the potions that Lord Reed mentioned and many more.
Once they had stopped in front of the Hearttree he decided to ask. "Are these all the plants you grow for potion making my lord?"
He hummed. "With magic so weak, most plants lose their magic if grown away from a Weirwood tree. That's why we have only plants here and no other trees but a Hearttree. It's to save space so we can grow as much as we can. Fortunately this is not the only Weirwood in The Neck. There are dozens scattered around. Most of them are normal Weirwood trees but there are a few Heartrees too. Every few moons, Greywater Watch will be moved. Floating along the bogs and rivers until we come to another Hearttree, where we will stay for a time. We grow ingredients at these trees too. We grow some different plants by each tree but most of the plants grown are the same at each one. As those are the ones that are used most commonly. Even when we move on from this area, some will still come here to make sure everything is healthy and thriving. It has long been one of the more sacred duties of my people."
Sam rubbed his chin and gazed at the plants in thought. According to Lord Reed, most of these plants are grown at a dozen other different sites in The Neck. It doesn't sound like there are a large variety of plants but there is a decent quantity grown. It's not nearly enough, but it is a good start.
He decided that he would start growing a few plants in the Godswood of Winterfell. Some for emergencies where he may need a potion of healing, but mostly just so that he can experiment and try to remake some of the more useful potions he now knows about.
He is snapped out of his thoughts by Lord Reed sitting on the floor before the Heart tree. The Lord of Greywater Watch spent a few moments just staring at the solemn face of the tree before he turned and gestured for Harry to join him. Shrugging his shoulders, Sam decided to humour him and unceremoniously plopped himself down on the floor next to Howland.
Nodding his head in satisfaction Lord Reed began to speak. "What do you know about magic Lord Stark? What do you know about the Old Gods?"
Sam shrugged. "I don't know much about magic, the library in Winterfell was lacking in the topic. l does know some of the old stories, however. There are stories of wargs and greenseers who used to appear among those of First Man descent. I have only had some success with warging, I haven't tried greenseeing. I know the Rhoynar would practice water magic and the most powerful of them are said to have been able to lift rivers and flood lands. The Valyrians used fire magic, prophetic dreams and their dragons to conquer much of the world. There are supposedly shadow binders in Asshai by the Shadow that can control shadows and darkness. The Red Priests in Essos are supposed to be able to glimpse into the future in the flames. Faceless men are said to be able to take the appearance of different people. What the limits of each of these types of magic are though? I have no idea."
Lord Reed looked at Symeon with a keen glint in his eyes. "I'm surprised you have had any success in warging, my lord. It is a difficult and dangerous skill. If one is not careful, they take too much of the animal's instincts into themselves. The stronger your bond with the animal the more the instincts bleed through. Many wargs have been known to go mad because of this. It is even more dangerous if you are young. Children haven't properly developed into the people they will be. It makes it easier for animal instincts to take root into their being. The fact you appear to not have developed any of these instincts is both lucky and remarkable."
He paused and scratched his chin in thought. "That could be because of your Stark blood. Starks in the past were incredibly powerful wargs. Despite that, none have ever gone mad. Which is remarkable, as the more animals a man is bonded to, the more likely they are to lose themselves to the instincts of those animals. Even our wargs must be careful to only form bonds with a few animals at a time, while some Starks in our histories are said to have been able to become dozens of different animals at once with ease. Some are said to have developed certain cravings or certain animal instincts but they were generally small things, easily ignored and more often than not, most of those instincts could even be seen as a positive trait. In the histories we have in Greywater Watch, never has a Stark lost themselves to those instincts completely. The blood of the Kings of Winter is powerful indeed…." He trailed off.
Sam thought of what he said. In truth, warging wasn't that difficult for him to learn. Atleast until he got to his current level where he started stagnating. Sam always put that down to the fact that it is because of his 1 for 10 skill, but could Lord Reed be right? Could his Stark blood also play a role?
Sam isn't sure. He completely supressed the random animals he warged into and has never tried to form a bond with any of them, but now that he thinks about it, he found it remarkably easy to do so. If Lord Reed is right and his Stark blood plays a role, then the only way he can know for sure is by teaching his family warging and seeing their progress. A thought for another time.
Whatever the reason, he is grateful he doesn't have to worry very much about losing his mind.
Lord Reed's voice brought him out of his thoughts. "And the Old Gods?"
Sam gave a brief recital of what he knows. "The Old Gods are the gods of the forests, rivers and stones. They are said to listen to us through the Heart trees. There aren't very many rules to their worship, the major ones are to respect guest rights, not to kill your kin, mainly by your own hands outside of war, and not to practice slavery."
Lord Reed nodded. "A good answer, if an incomplete one. The Old Gods are the gods of nature. They are said to watch us through the eyes of Hearttrees, true. But they do not speak to us through them, they talk through nature. Through the animals in the forest and the wind in the trees. It is our job, to learn to listen. My father taught me, as his father taught him, that the gift of warging was given to us by the gods, so that we could understand animals and nature more easily. So that we might be able to listen to the gods with greater clarity."
The Lord paused and looked up at the top branches of the Weirwood tree, where a hawk was resting. "Come, let us test your ability with warging. Try and become the hawk ."
Sam glanced back at Lord Reed in confusion. "I thought you said it was dangerous to warg into too many animals? That their instincts can change you?"
Lord Reeds lips twitched. "Aye I did say that. Perhaps I should have been more clear. The instincts don't bleed through immediately. Rather the longer you are connected to the animal, the more you start to think like the animal. When you dominate an animal to become it for a short time, you completely suppress its instincts. The level of the bond between yourself and the animal you are warging into also plays a role. The deeper the bond is, the more the exchange goes both ways."
He scratched his chin. "How to explain this? If you were to raise a dog from a pup into adulthood, you would care about the dog more than you would care about another random dog you came across. That plays a significant role. You trust your dog, you care for it. That makes the connection between you more open from both sides. The dog trusts you and as such you will be able to slip into its skin with ease. You trust it and therefore its instincts will bleed through your bond with greater ease. Whereas the random dog will not trust you. You can warg into it if you are powerful enough, but the level of connection will not be as deep. In this case you are not really sharing a skin with the dog, but rather supressing everything that makes that dog. All of its thoughts, emotions and insticts will be supressed. You won't gain as great of an understanding of the animal and how it thinks, but you will also not be as affected by its instincts if you are careful. Repeatedly warging a random animal will deepen the connection however, so even if there's no bleedthrough the first time you warg it, there might be some on the third time and even more on the fifth. All wargs need to keep vigilant for this. By understanding the instincts and where they came from they can keep greater control over them."
Sam nodded. It made some sense. Warging into a random animal is difficult but if he overpowers the creature, it is possible to become it. In that scenario he is dominating the creature and will therefore feel its instincts less as he is supressing its mind. If it is an animal, he has a bond with it is much easier to slip into its skin, but it is more like a partnership. Therefore, he will be more aware of the animal, its instincts and how it thinks. Making it easier for its instincts to affect him.
Sam closes his eyes and focuses on the hawk. He imagines what it feels like to see from its eyes, the feel of the wind across its feathers and the bark of the tree under its talons. With an effort of will he pushes the magic out of his body focusing on the bird the entire time. There is a moment of resistance, as if the bird is fighting back against this intrusion. The resistance isn't that great though. It only takes a small amount of power and focus to subvert the will of the bird. Pushing its thoughts and instincts to the back of his mind until it is merely background noise.
The next instant Sam is looking over himself and Lord Reed in a vision that is clearer and sharper than anything he has ever seen with before. With a small effort of will the hawk takes flight and lands on top of his shoulder. Sam winces. Even though he is in the mind of the bird he can feel that his shoulder is slightly injured. The problem with dominating a creatures will like this, is that he is the one in absolute control. He doesn't have any of the instincts of the bird nor does he understand its body and its strength.
Luckily, he has had plenty of practice warging into birds over the years. The first time he tried to fly as one was an embarrassing moment in which he flew straight into a tree. It took him many hours of practice before he could do so with any type of skill.
Lord Reed's voice had him turning the birds head in his direction. "Good, good. I see you did it easily my lord. That is quite remarkable. Normally it takes years for a warg to be able to learn how to do it this quickly. Please fly the bird back up to the tree and leave its body so I can speak to you properly."
With a flap of his wings Symeon sent the bird soaring into the air. He flapped a few more times, doing a small lap around the Weirwood tree before he had the bird come in for a landing. The landing was rougher than expected, he underestimated the speed he was traveling at, but it was still an acceptable landing, nonetheless.
Withdrawing his mind from the bird Sam opened his eyes. His gaze was drawn to the hawk when it released an angry screech at him before it took off quickly into the air with a ruffle of feathers and flew away over the trees.
Lord Reed brought Sam's gaze back to his grass green eyes when he spoke. "You are remarkably powerful my lord. Most grown men would only be able to do something like that after years and years of training. Even then, they would still struggle more than you did."
Sam scrunched his eyebrows together. "If it is so difficult then why did you ask me to do it?"
He smirked. "You said you had warged before. I wanted to see if you could do it."
Sam frowned in annoyance. " How do you normally start training wargs then?"
Lord Reed chuckled at the annoyed look on his face. "All children are given a fledgling bird of prey as a companion once they reach seven namedays. They are made to raise them into adulthood. For those who have the gift, there will often be signs. They will start to have dreams where they can see through the animal's eyes or their birds will sometimes show an intelligence that is beyond normal, reacting to unspoken commands or behaving in ways birds normally wouldn't. Once we have identified if a child has the gift, they will go for further training in order to learn how to control it. It starts small, just trying to see through their companions eyes or using their other senses without trying to control them. Once they are developed enough and can do this on command, they are then taught how to change into their skins properly. First from close to their animal, then from further and further away. If they master that and they are trusted enough, they are given the option to learn how to control random animals that they have no bond with. While some will be able to find some measure of success doing this, most will not. Most are unable to completely dominate random animals like you can. It is only the very rare few who can. I have only met three others who could do so in my life. Thank the Old Gods."
He looked at me seriously. It was probably the most serious I had ever seen him. "While it is truly amazing that you are able to warg this easily my lord, I ask you not to dominate animals like this unless you have no other option."
Sam blinked. "Why? I thought you said it wasn't dangerous to dominate them like this."
He shakes his head. "No, I said that their instincts won't bleed through into you, as you dominate their beings and suppress those instincts. Not that it isn't dangerous."
He sighed. "What do you think warging is my lord?"
Sam shrugged. "I'm sending my mind into the animals. "
He shakes his head vigorously. "No, it is much more than that. You aren't sending your mind into the creature. Or at least that's not all you are doing. Rather you are extending your soul, your magic, outside of your body and making a portion of it, a tiny slither really, connect to theirs. When the bond goes both ways, like with the dog that you raised, while there will be some bleedthrough of instincts if you aren't careful, that is all that will happen. It can become a serious problem if allowed to go too far, yes. But generally there won't be any negative impacts on your soul as long as you are careful. When you are dominating a random animal, it is your soul dominating theirs, telling it to submit. When you dominate something on such a profound level, it can leave an impact on your soul in other ways. People who have done this too much, who have lived years doing this, have changed their souls in other more malicious ways than just gaining a few foreign instincts. Some have been known to lose all compassion they have towards their fellow men, they have lost their ability to feel any emotions at all, except for the most extreme emotions. Many times these people become even madder than those who are changed too much by the instincts of animals, driving themselves to do more and more heinous things just to feel any emotion at all."
Sam's face was pale, and his mouth was open in horror.
Lord Reed nodded. "It isn't an issue if only done rarely. It takes time for a change that large to overcome a person's soul. For you I would think it is even less of an issue due to how much magic you give off and due to your Stark blood. That shows you have an extremely strong soul and a bloodline that only benefits you in the art of warging. For all I know, dominating animals would not leave any mark on your soul due to these advantages. I think there is a good possibility it wouldn't even, as many of your ancestors were known to forcefully warg with dozens of animals with very little to no negative effects. Still, I would rather you be safe than to push it."
Sam nodded. Lord Reed's words made sense. It felt slightly wrong to dominate them like this and why a bonded animal is much better. It also answered why couldn't Children of the Forest who were said to be able to warg naturally didn't use it ambush the First Men using animals for guerilla tactics, they would not want to control too many random animals and wouldn't want to risk their bonded animals. Sam himself only continued it after he learned that it had no negative impacts on those animals, he did it to. The only reason he did it at all was because he was too excited to have access to some type of magic. For him, going from only hearing tales about it to using it to able to use it casually was too surreal an experience.
Regardless, Sam vowed that he wouldn't dominate any more animals unless he had absolutely no other choice. He would rather form a proper bond with one and make sure he doesn't develop any negative instincts than risk losing the ability to feel emotions. If he does forcefully warg an animal though, he will be sure to keep an eye on his soul for any negative effects. Seeing souls is a skill he leant using his mage sight, which is deeply connected to looking into souls, he never really used it though as he never saw much point and he was always uncomfortable about looking at people that intimately.
Lord Reed stood up. "Come my Lord. I feel that is enough for today."
Sam stood and started to follow him down the path. "So how did I do my lord?"
He smiled. "In truth, I do not believe there is much that I can teach you when it comes to warging. You seem to have a remarkable grasp on it already. You just need to keep practicing on your own and find a couple of animals you can form proper bonds with."
Sam supressed his disappointment. He wasn't that surprised, but he hoped he would be able to take the art further.
Lord Reed still must have seen the disappointment on his face as he smirked. "I wouldn't worry my lord. While there isn't much more you can learn about warging there is still some other things for you to learn."
He instantly felt his mood turn a little brighter. "Oh, like what?"
"You will of course be taught how to make a few potions, but the skill I am sure you will be most interested in is not one that I can teach. In fact, I'm not completely sure if you can even learn it."
Sam looked at him in confusion. Lord Reed answered his unasked question. "In every thousand men, there is one warg born. In every thousand wargs there is one greenseer born. I am not sure if you have the ability my lord but based off of your magical presence, I think there is a strong possibility that you do."
Sam felt a mixture of emotions. While the legends do make it seem like a powerful ability, Sam isn't sure he wants to know the future. He has heard enough stories in his past life that prophecy and visions have a tendency to come true one way or another, especially if you try to avoid it. The only reason he is considering it at all was that it was said one could use it to see into the past.
He released a small sigh. "How will I learn it, if you can't teach it?"
Lord Reed smiled. "There is an old woman who lives in a small hut just outside my keep. I'm sure I can convince her to teach you."