Riverrun.
Lord Hoster Tully, his brother "The Blackfish" Brynden, and his heir Edmure Tully were gathered together.
Edmure had just finished a tryst with a woman, and his face still bore an unnatural flush.
Brynden and Hoster looked at the letter with grave expressions; they had just received intelligence regarding Harrenhal.
In 294 AC, Hoster was still quite portly, but he was in high spirits.
He pushed the letter toward Brynden and Edmure. "Take a look. Helaena of House Hoare has found a Roman Rivers from somewhere, and now that man has become a member of the Hean Family and the next master of Harrenhal."
Edmure had little interest in these analyses, but he did take note of Roman's actions.
"Recruiting peasants, distributing iron plows, building roads and bridges, and renovating villages."
"It seems this is a benevolent lord!"
Hoster's face clouded over as he heard his son's praise.
Seeing his brother about to lose his temper, Brynden quickly interjected, "Edmure, there is more. This Roman first went to pay homage to the iron throne and even brought a fleet of grain, yet he never reported any of this to us."
Hoster added, "Furthermore, he has been using Minstrels to promote Harrenhal throughout the Riverlands, and many knights and vassals have been reporting this to me."
The other matters were manageable, but at the mention of Minstrels, Edmure recalled that song mocking him, and the flush on his face instantly turned to anger.
Hoster looked at his unreliable son and could only sigh.
"Regardless of the rest, send an invitation to Lady Helaena of House Hoare and Roman Rivers. There are some things that need to be discussed face-to-face between a lord and his vassal."
Brynden nodded and immediately drafted the letter, while Edmure remained clueless.
"Father, is there any need to be so tense? Even if the Hean Family has found an heir, Harrenhal is still Harrenhal. What kind of changes could it possibly bring?"
Hoster sneered. Walter of the Hean Family managed to orchestrate the "False Spring," which directly evolved into the spark for the Usurper's War.
The things this Roman Rivers has done are, if anything, even more significant than Walter's. After all, the Harrenhal Tourney was Rhaegar Targaryen's own folly.
But now, someone from the Hean Family is directly involved; the situation will only be worse.
Hoster had to understand Roman's intentions. Harrenhal absolutely had the capacity to stir up trouble in the Riverlands; he had to be on Guard.
Roman, however, was unaware of this mess and was excitedly waiting for his custom-made weapon.
On the advice of Old Jessy, Roman decided to leverage his strength, so he asked "Blackfinger" Ben to custom-make a long-handled warhammer for him.
The hammerhead of a warhammer used by an ordinary person is at most the size of a goose egg, but Roman's hammerhead was the size of a grown man's skull.
Furthermore, to support the head of this warhammer, Ben reinforced the handle. An ordinary person wouldn't even be able to lift this hammer, let alone swing it.
But for Roman, it was just right—neither too light like a stick nor heavy enough to affect his handling.
The hammerhead was made of protruding metal plates, which reduced the weight while decreasing the surface area, allowing for more efficient strikes against enemies.
Roman weighed the hammer to get a feel for it, then began to swing it until he had fully adapted to the weight of his new warhammer.
Afterward, Roman went to the training grounds and, under everyone's gaze, struck an old suit of plate armor on a dummy with his hammer.
Amid the fearful gazes of the surrounding crowd, the plate armor, along with the wooden dummy inside, was shattered in a single blow.
The handmade plate armor varied in thickness; some weaker spots were smashed to pieces, while the thicker areas were caved in with a large hole.
Old Jessy was the first to react, immediately applauding and loudly praising Roman's prowess.
Others were also swept up, cheering one after another, and the atmosphere in the training grounds suddenly surged.
"Instructor Jessy, this is the first time I've known you to be so eloquent," Roman couldn't help but tease the stubborn old man.
"My Lord, do not underestimate others. Sometimes those inconspicuous people might have a trick or two up their sleeves."
Roman nodded at Old Jessy, acknowledging the lesson.
Next, Roman went to inspect the smiths making the armor. These smiths were the ones left over for practice; at this stage, the most important thing was still increasing the production of grain and iron.
Arriving at the Harrenhal smithy, the one currently making armor for Roman was the smith Ben, who was also a veteran of Harrenhal.
He had once served the last Lord of Harrenhal from House Lothston, and later served Lady Helaena, as well as her father and grandfather.
Armor in Westeros comes in all shapes and sizes, with various styles emerging endlessly. Roman chose lamellar armor as the equipment for his future standing army.
This type of armor is made by assembling plates. Compared to plate armor, it allows for standardized production, and organizing a large-scale force requires unified equipment.
While plate armor is good, its cost-effectiveness is too low.
"My Lord, my apprentices and I have been working overtime these days, but we can only produce 20 sets of the armor you requested. To mass-produce it, we need a lot more manpower."
Roman comforted him, telling him not to worry. Roman hadn't expected it to be finished all at once, and 20 sets were already quite good.
At this moment, the letter from House Tully arrived at Harrenhal.
"Sending us a letter at this time? Is this because of dissatisfaction with our previous actions?"
Lady Helaena said, slightly puzzled.
But since the Lord had spoken, they had to go and pay their respects.
Lady Helaena took Roman, along with a squad of Guards and servants, and set off for Riverrun with several cartloads of grain.
Roman and his 19 carefully selected, loyal Guards wore their newly crafted armor, while Lady Helaena told Roman not to speak too much and that she would handle everything.
As the group traveled through the Riverlands, Roman's first reaction was: it's chaotic.
With dense water networks and feudal lords everywhere, the Riverlands were already fragmented, and now they were even more so.
Moreover, these petty lords were particularly fond of collecting tolls, which was no wonder the residents of the Riverlands didn't like to travel far.
"Fragmented like this and still engaging in protectionism; this is probably the reason why there are no large towns in the Riverlands," Roman muttered to himself.
After wasting half a month on the road and passing through countless checkpoints, just as Roman was about to lose his temper, they arrived at Riverrun.
Riverrun is not large, but it is located at the confluence of the Red Fork and The Trident, forming a triangle and surrounded by water on two sides.
There was also a huge trench dug at the gate facing the land, which could be flooded to form a moat, maximizing its defensive capabilities.
After Lady Helaena and Roman finished admiring Riverrun and its surrounding scenery, House Tully finally invited them in.
As soon as Roman entered the great hall, he saw three men sitting in high seats. After thinking carefully, he estimated that these were Hoster, Brynden, and Edmure.
Hoster's portly body trembled slightly as the two entered. He looked at Lady Helaena directly opposite him, then glanced sideways at the respectful Roman.
"Lady Hean, aren't you planning to tell me where this child came from?"
Roman sighed inwardly. Hoster was not Robert; he couldn't be dismissed with just a few words. This time, it would likely take some effort.