Chapter 263: The Meeting of North and South
Egger did not actually possess enough wildfire to destroy Moat Cailin.
The massive quantities of stabilized, dulled wildfire shipped from King's Landing were stored in the ten relatively intact fortresses along the Wall—those with repaired climbing stairs and under total Night's Watch control. These were a strategic reserve against the wight invasion, and he had decided never to use them lightly without a dire emergency. For this trek south with the Gift Army, the wagons carried only fresh wildfire mixed by a few pyromancers at Queenscrown.
When Egger had used both soft and hard tactics to bring those pyromancers from King's Landing to the Gift, his intent was to build a talent pool for the eventual debut of gunpowder. But until that moment arrived, their task was simply to "mix wildfire," creating a steady stream of super-fuel for the Wall's defenders. However, plans rarely keep pace with changes. While the cost of small-scale production was originally a mere fraction of the Night's Watch industries' revenue, the bottomless pit of the Gift Settlement Plan had suddenly swallowed every resource Egger could muster.
The funding shortages caused by his grand strategy, combined with soaring prices and logistical disruptions caused by the war, meant that the supply of raw materials for wildfire was intermittent. Consequently, production was erratic. Egger had started from Queenscrown with only half a wagon of wildfire, and it had been nearly exhausted during the assault on Deepwood Motte and the subsequent mop-up on the tidal flats. Only a few jars remained. His earlier threat to Asha—that he would burn Moat Cailin to the ground if they didn't surrender—was nothing more than a bluff.
Egger had originally planned to wait an hour after his persuader entered the Moat before attacking with wildfire, but he ultimately changed his mind and moved up the schedule.
The catapults came from House Manderly. Originally stored in White Harbor's warehouses as city defense reserves, they had been dragged to the north of Moat Cailin to serve as siege engines. Though not hastily constructed, these well-made machines performed excellently. Wildfire jars are extremely light; once ignited, the mechanism was tripped, the throwing arm swung, and the fire jar easily cleared several hundred meters to land within the walls of Moat Cailin.
Though it failed to hit any of the towers, Egger didn't care about casualties; he simply wanted the enemy to know he held such a devastating weapon in his hands.
"If there is no response from the castle, throw another jar in half a mark's time."
"Yes, my lord," the soldier in charge of the catapult replied, but then added: "But we only have a few jars left. What do we do once they're gone?"
"I will order Ser Wylis and the two armies to prepare for a full assault." Egger looked at the last few jars of wildfire stacked by the catapult, then turned his gaze toward the Moat Cailin fortress standing in the misty marshes. He sighed. "If there is still no movement after all the wildfire is spent, give the signal to launch a simultaneous attack with our allies to the south."
"Understood."
"Good work. Regardless of what happens, the war in the North will surely come to a close after today."
After giving these instructions and offering a few words of encouragement to the men, Egger turned back toward his tent. Sending Asha to persuade the garrison was a gamble—an attempt to win greater merit and influence for himself at a smaller cost.
In gambling, there are winners and losers. If you play... you must be prepared to pay.
Regardless, it was a fact that he had led troops to retake Deepwood Motte and arrived at the Moat Cailin battlefield just in time to assist. Even if Asha failed her mission, his losses would be minimal.
The only thing he needed to worry about was "if Asha doesn't return, can I ensure she is still captured alive during the battle to retake the Moat?" After all, a certain Lady Glover was counting on the Daughter of the Kraken to trade for her two children.
(Since Euron has publicly declared support for Stannis, whether true or false, he can't openly continue to antagonize the North. Those two Glover children have lost their utility to the Iron Islands... even if we lose Asha as a captive, perhaps Robb Stark has other ways to bring them home?)
Egger pondered this as he walked, but before he could reach his tent, the delighted shout of a soldier on the watchtower reached his ears: "They've surrendered! They've surrendered!"
Behind the walls of Moat Cailin, the smoke from the wildfire had not yet fully dissipated. Under the watchful gaze of everyone who had rushed to the edge of the swamp, the Kraken banners on the walls were torn down one by one. A moment later, the northern gate slowly groaned open, and the last defenders of the fortress filed out in a slow line.
Because the Ironborn had been hiding inside the towers, Egger hadn't been able to use skinchangers for aerial reconnaissance to confirm their numbers. Now the answer was revealed: there were fewer than he had told Asha, but close to what he had privately estimated—just over fifty.
When Victarion Greyjoy had taken the main strength of the Iron Fleet back to the Islands for the Kingsmoot, he had left over a hundred crewmen behind. Now, more than half were gone. Of those who died, half fell in battle during the Northmen's repeated assaults; the other half died from poisoned arrows loosed by 'swamp devils', unhygienic food, disease, and starvation. The Ironborn were natural pirates, but they had no idea how to hold a castle for the long term. Moat Cailin lacked sufficient fresh water and provisions, had no healers, and they had even killed the maester. During the subsequent siege, the Ironborn could only watch as their countrymen collapsed one by one and died.
Those who lived through such an ordeal possessed remarkable physical resilience and willpower. Though only half a hundred remained, their combat effectiveness was far above average. Had they been forced to take Moat Cailin by storm, it would have cost at least a hundred Northern lives... and if Egger had sent his untrained mountain clansmen and Wildlings—who had never even seen a real castle—the numbers would have been even higher.
The camp became a hive of activity. The Gift Army stepped forward to receive the prisoners who voluntarily took the black, while the Manderly soldiers hurried into Moat Cailin to secure the castle. They had arrived here before the Gift Army and had actively cooperated with Egger's plan; Egger had no standing to snatch the glory of being the first to man the walls. Moments later, the Direwolf banner of House Stark was once again flying over the battlements of Moat Cailin.
After giving orders on how to handle the prisoners and upgrading Asha's captive treatment as a reward for her success, Egger did not personally go to see the Daughter of the Kraken. He led his personal guards on horseback into the newly reclaimed Moat Cailin.
Everywhere were busy soldiers from the North and White Harbor. Like the worst kind of tenants—not being their own home, they didn't care for it—the Ironborn occupiers had possessed zero sense of hygiene. Once despair began to spread, they hadn't even bothered to clear away the bodies of their comrades. Moat Cailin was currently strewn with trash, excrement, and corpses, reeking of rot. It would take a massive cleaning effort before it was habitable again.
After making inquiries, he found Robb Stark, who had already led his inner circle into the city but had retreated to the top of the wall to escape the stench.
"You've come at a good time." Robb nodded to Egger. Though he was still a boy in years, with his neat short beard and formal posture, he possessed the steady gravity of a Warden of the North. "I was just about to send someone to find you."
Faced with a serious expression, Egger did not dare act overly familiar or playful. "The garrison of Moat Cailin has requested to take the black. They, along with the Ironborn captured during the retaking of Deepwood Motte—including the daughter of Balon Greyjoy—await your judgment, my lord."
Based on Egger's understanding of Robb, it was unlikely he would refuse to give Egger face by insisting on executing the Ironborn, but people change. The person Egger once knew was the eldest son of Eddard Stark; the man standing before him was the new Warden of the North, the supreme ruler north of the Neck... The fact that the Moat Cailin garrison surrendered to the Night's Watch to the north rather than to Robb Stark to the south already carried a hint of slight.
Robb Stark was now the leader. In matters occurring on his territory, even if he didn't truly care, Egger had to report and ask for instructions. This was a lesson Egger had summarized from the corporate world before his transition.
"Forget it. You deal with those who surrendered to you; doesn't the Night's Watch complain about being shorthanded every day? Except for Balon's daughter—Glover needs her to trade for his children." Robb waved it off, just as Egger expected. "Now, let's talk about this 'Gift Army' marching south. I am grateful the Night's Watch thought of the North in this critical moment, but the Watch is not to interfere in the internal affairs of the Seven Kingdoms. That has been the rule for thousands of years. Now that someone has broken it, how do you expect me to explain this to the other six kingdoms?"
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