Greywater Watch- 288 AC
The next morning found Sam and Lord Reed standing outside of a small hut made of wood near the edge of the water on the edge of Greywater Watch itself. Ser Rodrick was given more time off which he accepted and happily made his way to the local equivalent of a tavern to drink his day away. They were there to meet the woman that Lord Reed said could teach Sam about the art of Greenseeing.
The home was more of hut really. It was probably a little bit smaller than his chambers at Winterfell. On the roof nested a black hawk that was chewing on a pigeon if Sam was to guess. As they walked up to the door it stopped what it was doing and looked directly at Lord Reed and then at him. Sam could feel the human consciousness in the bird.
Before Lord Reed even had the chance to knock, a wooden clanking followed by a loud angry shout came from inside. "What do you want?!"
The clanking of wood grew louder before the door was violently wrenched open. Sam finds his eyebrows lifting up slightly at the sight of the woman before him. She was an old lady. If Symeon was to guess, he would say that she was of similar age to Old Nan in Winterfell. Her skin was paper thin and covered in wrinkles. Her hair had the texture of straw and was as white as snow. She was a tiny woman, coming up to his chin. On her face was a heavy scowl. She carried a wooden staff with a rounded handle in her left hand. Her eyes however were still a vibrant green, constantly glimmering with emotion and unspoken intelligence. She was a woman who had seen many winters, who knew many of the secrets The Neck and The North held. According to Lord Reed she was said to have travelled all over the North as well as a few of the more mysterious places in the South in her youth, including the God's Eye. She was, without a doubt, the most skilled magic practitioner and the most powerful Greenseer alive in The Neck. This made her the best teacher Symeon could currently ask for.
Lord Reed dipped his head slightly. "Morna." He then turned to me. "This is Morna Snow. She is the greatest Greenseer we have had in many years. " He turned his head back to the old lady. "Morna this is-"
She interrupted him while waving dismissively. "Yes, yes I know who he is. Everyone in Greywater knows he's here. You didn't answer my question. What do you want?"
Sam found his eyebrows climbing even higher. The sheer gall of this woman was something to behold. There aren't many that would have the bravery or foolishness speak to their lord like she did Lord Reed. There are even less who would dare do so to a Lord of a Great House. Despite that, the old lady looked like she didn't really care at all.
Before he had the opportunity to speak Lord Reed coughed awkwardly and spoke. "We were hoping you would take the time to teach Lord Stark the art of Greenseeing."
She looked at Sam with shrewd eyes. "Mmmh. Well…. you are interesting boy. I'll give you that. But why should I teach you?"
He shrugged. "I have already learned much when it comes to skinchanging, while I have no doubt there is much left to learn, I believe Greenseeing will help with my progression. I can't really threaten or bribe you. You seem like you wouldn't care about any threats if the way you speak to a Lord Paramount is any indication and I know you cronnogmen live simple lives with little need for gold, so all I can do is ask."
She smacked her lips together. "Smart aren't you. Fine. I will teach you boy."
She shuffled out of the door and looked up at him. "Turn around boy so I can get on your back." She barked.
Sam just looked at her in bafflement. "Excuse me?"
Morna smacked him in the shin with her cane. "Do you want me to teach you boy? Then carry me. I'm not walking all the way to the Weirwood."
Sam rubbed his shin and stared at the lady for a few moments to check if she was serious, he saw that she was, he sighed to himself in resignation before bending down for the old lady to jump on his back.
He had a feeling he was going to regret this.
Line Break-
Whack!
"AAh, damnit woman!"
Whack! Whack!
"Don't swear at me young man! I'm not so old I can't put you over my knee!"
"I'm not swearing at you! I'm swearing at the-"
Whack!
"No excuses!"
Sam grumbled under his breath as he rubbed his poor shin that had taken an absolute beating since he met the old bat earlier that day. He shot Lord Reed a glare when he heard him laughing under his breath. Unfortunately that only made the bastard laugh more.
If there was one word that Sam had to use to describe the woman, it would be fearless.
There are not many people who would have the guts to speak to or treat a Lord Paramount the way Morna does. He had never met any in fact. Yet the old woman wasn't afraid of him in the slightest. In fact, Sam is pretty sure that she derives pleasure from trying to get under his skin. At first, she was only a little bit irritating. Atleast until they got to the Godswood.
After that, is when she really started to show just how little fear she had and just how much of a demon she was. After Sam had carried the old bat to the Wierwood tree, she asked him to go over everything he knew about skinchanging. From there he spent some time explaining some of the theory he knew as well as the dangers and giving a short demonstration. After calling him acceptable she then asked him to do it while he was distracted. The distraction being hit by her stick every time he tried.
According to Morna, while he was decently skilled for a skinchanger he still had a ways to go. She said she would only consider him an accomplished skinchanger and ready to enter a Greendream if he could both have a conversation with someone while becoming an animal at the same time, all without having his eyes changing to white.
Sam was finding it damn near impossible. He had been sitting under the tree for the last three hours and had made barely any progress. All he had managed to accomplish so far was feeling some of the instincts of the bird stuck in a cage that Lord Reed was requested to bring. Unfortunately after he had felt those instincts he was almost always kicked out of its mind immediately as he wasn't focused completely on overcoming them. He would latch back on to his own body when he felt himself drifting too far towards the bird. The times he wasn't kicked out of the animal he had lost complete consciousness of his own body.
He was finding the entire process incredibly frustrating to be honest. He could become an animal easily enough but becoming one while retaining full consciousness in his actual body was an exercise in frustration.He could do it with animals that he had bonded with, but other random animals were a different story. Sam tried once again. He was staring at the Weirwood tree. He was staring at the bars of a cage. He slowly turned his head. His instincts flared with hunger. He tried to force the bird down further and started losing focus on his own body. Then he tried to bring that focus back while holding on the bird.
"Aah!" With a cry of pain, he brought his hand up to his head as he was propelled out of the bird and completely back into his own body.
Whack
"Ow! Stop that!"
"Stupid boy! " Whack
Sam glared at her for a second before bringing his fingers up to rub his temples to sooth his headache.
He released a breath to calm himself down. "What am I doing wrong?"
She sighed." Explain to me what you are doing."
"I'm focussing on myself and then focusing on the animal I want to become at the same time. Concentrating on seeing outside of my eyes while pushing to take over the animal. I keep focusing too much on supressing its instincts though. When I do, I start to lose focus on myself."
Whack ! Whack! Whack!
"Stupid boy! You mustn't suppress the bird. You must soothe it! Convince it! Or it will keep fighting you! When becoming an animal, dominating it is the fastest method but unless you break its mind it will always fight you. It can also cause a man to start to lose appreciation for life, making them lose all compassion for others. Raising an animal from young and earning its complete trust is the slowest method but the one with the most benefits. The animal not only gains intelligence from you but you gain positive instincts from them. They learn to anticipate your needs as long as you are good to them"
She paused to smack her lips together. "What you need to do is a mixture of the two. You don't dominate the bird, rather try to convince it to allow you to use its senses for a bit. The bird won't fight as hard, if you do it correctly it means it won't fight at all. That means it won't push its instincts through the bond to try and fight you. The instincts will still be there of course, but they won't be affecting you through bond as you are connected to the bird loosely and it won't have a connection to you at all. The bond is weak, subtle. You cannot use it to try and force the bird to do something. Once you do you are dominating it, that requires much, much more focus and power than just having a subtle connection. If you want to get the bird to do something you have to make it be in its own interests. So stop trying to dominate the bird boy, and just coax it into allowing you to use its senses. Most animals won't mind that much, as you aren't trying to get them to act against their own interests."
Sam's mind churned. Her words made sense. If he is only brushing up against the animal with his mind instead of trying to invade it, it would take much less power and focus. Sam took a few deep breaths before trying again. He stretched out his senses slowly and as subtly as he could. Once he could feel the mind of the bird he brushed up against it as subtly as he could.
He was looking at himself looking at the bird while looking at the bird looking at himself. It was a bit disorientating for a moment or two before he got used to it. He started to feel some of the birds instincts, particularly the need to fly but they weren't overwhelming. Just a tiny voice at the back of his mind so small he almost never noticed. He pushed the most soothing feelings he could as well as the feeling of soon into its mind.
He felt the bird calm slightly. Now for the next test. He pushed a small compulsion for the bird to turn its head towards Morna. It wasn't a command, he wasn't trying to force the bird. It was just a suggestion. A small one that the bird probably wouldn't even notice wasn't its own thought.
The birds head almost immediately turned towards the old woman. Sam turned to face her as well and was now looking at her from two different perspectives. It was weird seeing her wrinkled face both with very clear vision that showed each and every wrinkle and from his own eyes with his normal vision.
He spoke. "How is this?"
She smiled showing her gums.
"You have it. Good. You can leave the bird now."
Sam did so and noticed he didn't feel any type of headache from the technique. This…. this had some potential in the right circumstances.
She scratched her chin. "Do you think you can do it every time?"
Sam nodded. Now that he knows what he was doing he feels as if he could do it whenever he needed.
She smiled. "You learn very quickly boy. Now we can get to Greenseeing."
Sam smiled. "Finally."
Whack.
"Patience boy!"
Sam felt his eye twitch.
She on a small rock. "Greenseeing is a very powerful art. With it you can see through the roots of Weirwood trees. You can witness everything that they have witnessed if you are good enough. The past, present and sometimes even glimpses of the future are open to you."
She paused as Sam took that in. It would be an invaluable skill to learn. He could learn so much about magics of the past if he could get good at it. The future wasn't something he was keen on learning. From what he learned in his past life, most prophecies were made real by the people that believed in them. That's not to say they didn't have any power, however. He would rather just stay away from them.
She pursed her lips. "It is also incredibly dangerous."
Before he had a chance to ask she spoke. "The roots of the trees run deep. The Green runs deep. Finding a particular thing isn't so simple. You can't just enter and wonder around hoping to somehow stumble upon what you are looking for. You will get lost. You will lose all sense of time and meaning and whilst your soul wonders the Green your body will waste away."
She took a breath before continuing. "You must learn to navigate the Green. The most important thing to remember is everything is connected in the Green. One event may have roots in another. "
Her expression firmed up. "The first thing you must learn boy. Is that it is easy to lose yourself. When you are in there it can feel as if you are flying. Men have been known to never want to leave. I have found it is best to never enter fully in the first place. That is where your most recent lesson in skinchanging will be important. You must enter the Green while still staying focused on yourself. So that you do not get lost, so that you do not want to stay. You will not go as deep as you would if you were to enter fully. Some things might be out of your reach. You will however, always have one foot outside of the Green so you can leave any time you please."
After taking a moment to think Sam realised that this was the point of the skinchanging exercise she had been making him do all morning. It was to get him prepared to start Greenseeing.
He had a question however.
"Lord Reed said that Greenseers were rare. He said one out of a thousand wargs were Greenseers. The way you speak, you make it sound as if any skinchanger could do it."
She shook her head. "No, not any skinchanger. One in a thousand skinchangers sounds about right. It takes power to be able to do it, more than that, it takes a natural connection to the Green that only the most blessed are born with. One can be born with a connection to the Green without being a skinchanger, they will have Greendreams, but will have no power or control over what they see. You can also be a skinchanger with no connection to the Green. If they have a connection to the Green but aren't skinchangers they cannot navigate it however, or connect to the Green purposefully. They only skim the surface of the Green. They have no control of what they see and what they see is often jumbled making little sense. As a result they don't have to worry about getting lost though. As they never go deep and are never far from their bodies. Only powerful skinchangers who are also Greenseers can wonder the Green on purpose. Those are incredibly rare. Those are true Greenseers and not just people who occasionally have fragmented Greendreams that they have no control or insight over. There is a big difference. "
She paused to take a breath. "With practice powerful skinchangers who are also Greenseers can learn to navigate those dreams but they will never be able to go as deep as if they used a Weirwood for their connection. I have a feeling you have never had a Greendream?"
Sam shook his head.
She murmered to herself for a moment before focusing back on him. "You are powerful. Incredibly so. I can also feel you have a connection to the Green. A strong one." She rubbed her chin. "It might be because your mind is so disciplined."
He looked at her in confusion.
Whack!
"Damnit, woman! "
"Don't act so confused boy! Do you think just anybody could learn to do what you did in less than a day? It takes discipline and skill in the mind and soul to skinchange as you have just done!"
She is right, he was only acting, actually a while back he found a hidden room behind a tapestry in Lord's solar. The room had many books in them, the books on magic. He wasn't able to read them as he was focused on only one of them. One that protects you from mind reading, manipulation and such things. That's why his mind is well disciplined and maybe having reincarnated helps.
She hurramphed under her breath. "You definitely have the ability to be a Greenseer. You have just never gone wondering."
She looked at the Hearttree. "Come boy, you are going to try. Remember, you must still keep your connection to your body so that you don't get lost. This won't be like warging an animal. It will be much easier to lose yourself. You won't be able to be aware of your surroundings when you are in there. The most you can do is be aware of that link between your body and your spirit. That link will be the key to leaving without getting lost. That link will weaken the deeper you go however. Be careful. Don't go in too deep. Even I, after years of experience make sure not to go too deep looking at things in the ancient past. It is far too easy for even one of my skill to get lost if I'm not careful."
Sam took a deep breath to get himself ready for the task ahead. After a small breathing exercises to clear his mind he was ready to begin. He focused on the Weirwood tree in front of him. Feeling the magic pouring out of it. Sam took a deep breath and stretched his magic out, brushing it against the magic of the tree.
He had just enough time to gasp before his world went black. His vision didn't stay black for more than a few moments though. Before he could even come to terms with what was happening, his vision cleared, and Sam found himself surrounded by a kaleidoscope of colours. Most of it was green but there were specks of blue, red and orange and purple mingled within. The colours were shifting and swirling around each other constantly in indescribable patterns.
Remembering what the old woman said he made sure to focus on his body. On his real self. When he did so he found that he could feel a connection to his body that he could tug on. He found that the connection was easy to find. Sam left the connection alone for now as he wasn't finished exploring yet.
He took a few moments to contemplate how he would go around searching for something. After a while he decided it was best to start simple. Sam decided that he would start with the Weirwood tree that he was currently connected to. Luckily, he didn't really have to search at all, he could feel the tree as clearly as he could feel the connection to his body, as he was only connected to the Green through the tree.
Sam travelled along the connection. He felt himself moving through the kaleidoscope as if he were flying. Sam isn't sure how much time passed as he was travelling through the connection. Time lost all meaning to him. It could have been seconds or it could have been hours. The only reason he knew it wasn't days was because he could feel his body. That connection helped him keep focused as he travelled, as he felt his mind constantly start to wonder. As his mind wondered to different topics he felt and saw the kaleidoscope shift with his thoughts, opening new paths that he could travel down.
He could see now why Morna said it was so easy to get lost. His subconscious desires and thoughts seemed to have an impact on the Green. If he wasn't careful he would have wondered down one of the other paths instead of remaining on the one he knew lead to the Godswood of Greywater Watch.
After an indeterminate amount of time he felt himself come to a stop in the middle of a nexus of paths. Thousands or hundreds of thousands of paths split open before Sam. Just a bit down each one he could see some of the paths split off again and again even further down. The paths were twisting around each other, some would split off and come back around and connect to somewhere else. As he watched he could even see a few of them shifting around. The sheer size and complexity of it all almost made him gape in awe. To Sam the paths resembled the roots of a tree and the nexus that he was standing in was something akin to the trunk. Somewhere where all of the roots connected.
He stood there for a bit. Just floating and absorbing the wonder of it all before he decided it was time to get to work. In order to make sure he didn't get lost he decided to start as simple as he could. He would try and observe only the most recent history of the tree.
He focused on only going back and observing what the tree had seen the day before. He kept his mind focused on that thought with iron discipline even as he could feel his mind start to wonder. Just when he thought he would have to leave and try again another time something shifted. He could feel one of the paths were brought to the front. It was more focused and clearer than all of the others. He had a feeling that this was the way.
With an effort of will he pushed himself down the path. After he entered it, he seemed to be moving at a much greater speed than he did before when he was making his way to the nexus. Almost immediately his surroundings started to go black.
As soon as it started it stopped and Symeon found himself standing in familiar surroundings. He was standing in front of the Hearttree of Greywater Watch where he had been doing his training for the last few days. The most surprising thing however was that he was not formless. He found himself looking down at his hands on his body. There was a sense of being disconnected from his surroundings however. Like none of it was really there. Or that he wasn't really there. Sam imagined that it was similar to what it feels like to be a ghost. His attention was taken when he saw the two individuals talking in front of him. He recognised this scene from the day before. He decided to observe for a bit.
Lord Reed spoke. "And the Old Gods?"
Sam saw himself think for a moment before speaking. "The Old Gods are the gods of the forests, rivers and stones. They are said to listen to us through the Hearttrees. There aren't very many rules to their worship, the major ones are to respect guest rights, not to kill your kin and not to practice slavery."
Lord Reed nodded. "A good answer, if an incomplete one. The Old Gods are-"
Sam stopped listening. He knew how this conversation went and didn't need to see it again. He couldn't stop a smile from growing on his face though. After smiling to himself he decided that he had seen enough for now and it was time to return to his body. Sam reached for the connection to his body that he had made sure to keep a constant focus on. He thought the connection would be weaker or more difficult to notice as he went deeper into the Green, as that is what Morna said would happen, but he noticed that it didn't seem to weaken at all. Sam isn't sure of the reason for that, but he believes it had to do with being reincarnated. He knows from experience of being reincarnated that there is something keeping him connected to the mortal plane. He theorizes that it was keeping him connected to his mortal body even now.
That made him wonder if it was even necessary to learn the new skinchanging skill he had been practicing all morning. Or if he could wonder as far as he wanted without losing that connection. After a moment he shrugged to himself. Either way it was a nice skill to have. It would allow him to use the senses of animals to spy with a lot less consequences if something were to go wrong. It may not allow him to completely control the animal but he could guide them if he so desired and he doesn't risk damaging his mind or soul. He shook that thought off and focused on something more immediately pressing.
He did it! He successfully looked into the past using the Weirwood trees. Granted he didn't go very far into the past, but it was proof that he could do it. He knew this skill would be very important, with it he could uncover the secrets of long lost magic. He just had to be careful and build up to going that far into the past. If even Morna was still worried about getting lost then he knew it wouldn't be easy. He doesn't think he would lose the connection to himself and get lost, but that doesn't mean that he won't end up searching for what he is looking for fruitlessly for a long time if he wasn't careful losing all sense of time.
From what he had observed the Green was large. So large he isn't sure it even had an end. If he wasn't careful in how he handled it, he could search it for eternity and still never find what he was looking for. Sam is sure he could do it after a sufficient amount of practice though. He decided to think about this more once he was back in his body. With an effort of will he pulled on the connection keeping him tied down to his body and started travelling through it.
Sam had just started travelling past the kaleidoscope of colours when he felt something slam in him and grab his shoulder. He was confused as he didn't know he could feel anything in here and he definitely felt the pain of the impact. He felt himself grow even more confused when he turned and saw what was holding onto him.
A supernaturally large three eyed crow was gripping his shoulder. With a flap of its wings it pulled him off the path he was on and much deeper into the Green. Before Symeon even had a chance to fight back it started screaming in his ear.
"Abomination! "
He opened his mouth to curse out the bird and lifted his hands to wrap around its neck when he felt his world become jumbled. The kaleidoscope twisting and turning around him throwing what little sense of direction he had away.
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Author's Note
I will soon come to greyjoy rebellion in two or three more chapters.