The Flint clan moved to the Nightfort with more than 1,100 people. Since their original home was close to the Wall, they settled in quickly. Then came 800 members of the Wull clan, followed by over 400 from the Norrey clan… Hundreds, then thousands of clansmen arrived at the Wall as scheduled. Although the agreement counted people on a per-head basis, the clansmen were fairly honest. They generally relocated as family units, with a normal ratio of men, women, the elderly, children, and the able-bodied. No one tried to exploit the system by sending only the old, the weak, the sick, and the disabled to occupy space like a retirement home.

To ensure the Night’s Watch could sustain itself, Aegor finally abandoned his wish to reopen all 19 castles along the Wall. Only seven additional castles were reopened and manned by clansmen. Combined with the three that still housed the Night’s Watch, a total of ten castles now formed a complete defensive network.

In the first phase of Aegor’s land resettlement plan, nearly 4,000 clansmen were relocated. Each received a living stipend of 3 copper pennies per day. That rate—equivalent to less than six dollars a day for food in modern terms—pushed the idea of “just enough not to starve” to the limit. With this system, Aegor only needed to spend a few dozen gold dragons per month on living expenses.

However, this ultra-low basic support was accompanied by equally cheap goods, with no markup for profit, and relatively “good” wages for part-time work. There was no pay for repairing one’s own castle, but helping to rebuild the lift cages and wooden ladders on the Wall, building fortifications, clearing snow from atop the Wall, and clearing roads could earn more than ten copper coins per task. Participating in patrols atop the Wall earned thirty copper coins, and going out with the rangers to patrol the Gift and eliminate Free Folk who had climbed over the Wall earned a silver stag. The most dangerous job—intercepting wildlings along the Grand Canyon—came with double that pay.

If someone died fighting the Free Folk, their family would receive one gold dragon as compensation.

A single gold dragon wasn’t even enough to cover Tyrion Lannister’s daily spending in King’s Landing, but for the clansmen, this was enough to inspire tremendous enthusiasm for defending the Wall. A popular joke quickly spread: “If one man dies for the Night’s Watch, the whole family will live without worry.”

—

The wildlings’ attacks increased in frequency. In the Bay of Seals, the smuggling rafts were no match for the Night’s Watch fleet, which had the support of White Harbor and warships sent by Stannis. However, along the Wall—particularly near the Great Canyon—their desperate climbing and assaults still posed problems for the defenders.

The sheer scale of the Wall gave the defenders a strong advantage. Its lowest point stood over a hundred meters tall, and it took ten minutes to ascend even by staircase. Climbing with tools was far harder. Whether ten or a hundred climbed, once spotted by a patrol, only two men were needed… a few stones, a pot of arrows, and the problem was solved. The immense height made it impossible for wildlings to leave cover fire or support on the ground.

After the craftsmen, aided by the clansmen and settlers, cleared the pathways along the Wall’s top and the rangers gradually resumed patrols, life became increasingly difficult for the Free Folk.

…

…

After foiling an attempt to lower a rope ladder and bring a larger force over the Wall, and successfully eliminating a group of climbers without taking a single casualty, the wildlings abandoned all efforts to scale the Wall. The few raiders who had already crossed still harassed various fortresses, but lacking siege experience and facing high walls, they had no idea how to proceed.

As for tunneling under the Wall, it was easier said than done. Once patrols resumed, it became nearly impossible. Should any giants or mammoths gather near the Wall’s base, patrols needed only to bring a few barrels of pitch, light them, and toss them down. The “digging team” would scatter immediately.

The Grand Canyon, then, became the last hope for the Free Folk. But this natural barrier had very few passable areas, most of which had already been discovered by rangers. With thousands of defenders stationed at the Skull Bridge and patrolling the canyon, the wildlings—despite having a population of 100,000—could do nothing against the Wall. That must have been a bitter pill to swallow.

…

Whether for daily stipends or job wages, the money ultimately returned to the logistics department through consumer purchases. By teaching the clansmen how to spend money, a closed, efficient, and stable internal economy quickly formed across the Wall and the Gift. Aegor was indeed extracting every ounce of value from the clansmen, but the truth was: in the past, during winters, elderly, weak, sick, or disabled members of a clan would often voluntarily head into the mountains to die, to conserve food and give their family a chance to survive. Now, for the first time in history, someone was providing for them. There was hardly any room for resentment.

In this closed mini-society, Aegor needed only to invest money once. After that, no further funds were required. What kept this system, which could not produce its own food, functioning was the steady stream of grain and supplies delivered from the North and even the Riverlands by the logistics department.

If something went wrong in that supply chain, everything else would fall apart.

Just as the Night’s Watch, with the help of the clansmen stationed along the Wall, tightened their defenses and even began driving wildlings out of the Gift, bad news came from the North. The longships of the Ironborn appeared off the western coast of the North. But they had not come north to assist the Watch, as commanded by Stannis. Instead, they began burning, killing, and looting along the coastline. They even broke through Moat Cailin and Deepwood Motte, slipping through at just the right moment. Now, half of the North was overrun by pirates from the Iron Islands.

“Wasn’t Theon Greyjoy in Stark custody?” That was Aegor’s first reaction upon hearing the news. “Who was foolish enough to let him go again?”

“As far as I know, no one let him go,” Mormont said grimly. “It seems Balon Greyjoy, who crowned himself King of the Iron Islands with driftwood, was prepared to sacrifice his last son.”

“Rather than worrying about that, I suggest you think about the logistics situation first. We’re now feeding nearly 7,000 people from Castle Black’s winter stores. If we keep this up, we’ll last no more than another month. If your plan to obtain supplies from the North is disrupted, the wildlings won’t even need to fight. They’ll just have to wait for winter to come and walk over a Wall defended by corpses.”

Aegor nodded. This wasn’t unexpected. He remembered the Ironborn rebellion plot. But with so much changed in the current timeline, why had this plot still unfolded exactly as before—and at the worst possible time? He couldn’t help but wonder if the Greyjoys and their Ironborn were, like Jojen was influenced by the greenseer, being manipulated by the Great Other, the master of the White Walkers, to disrupt the Wall’s defense at the most critical moment.

“I understand. I’ll head to Queenscrown today to confirm what supplies the North can still offer the Night’s Watch. We’ll talk more when I return.”

(To be continued.)

***

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