[Open] There is a tree as old as me

[winter_came]

It's been on his mind before the catastrophe, but now the project has bloomed more completely into Ned's mind. It was in the would be nice category before - now it's moved into a category of urgency he wasn't aware of. He's not risking losing Cat again, and he's got the children to think of. The girls are nigh grown, Robb is a man, but now, they

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[gardenwarlock]

At some point, Ned might find a gruff, swarthy fellow coming into the house, carrying a bundle of clothes and some bags of seeds, clearly moving into the house. From the irate look in his green eyes, he's not entirely pleased with the prospects, and he might glance at Ned briefly before trying to continue on his way down the hallway. But he can be waylaid, since Ned likely outranks him.

[winter_came]

Ned blinks at the movement - people, he reckons, should be moving out, not in. This is odd in the extreme, and so he raises an eyebrow at the man.

"Moving in from outside, my good man?"

This begs a few important questions, one of them is: were outside residences destroyed by the quake?

[gardenwarlock]

Klingsor turns with a sigh. "Aye: the roof upon my cottage collapsed beneath the weight of the snow and the fury of the earth's trembling," he says. "I am moving my chattels here till the weather warms enough for me to rebuild the roof: for the present, it is no place fit for man nor beast, nor is the weather allowing me to change that."

Normally he'd use a little magic to fix that problem, but not after a guileless fool shorted out the spells he'd cast on the ruins he'd turned into a castle...

[winter_came]

Despite his best efforts, Ned looks crestfallen. “Was it the disaster?” he asks, frowning. He had this odd notion that moving out was safe, but….

[gardenwarlock]

"It came from the wind and the weight of the snow from the storm that ensued," the other man grumbles. "I felt the shock of the earth quaking, but it did nothing to harm my house."

[winter_came]

Ned doesn't ask, was it made of straw - but he intends to make a home of stone, that will withstand cold and quake, flood and fire.

His family will be safe.

"You have my sympathies," he says politely. "I am Eddard Stark, Lord of Winterfell. My thanks, for your forthrightness."

[gardenwarlock]

Very likely the roof was thatch of some kind: it was a rustic dwelling, more a shelter for someone accustomed to living out of doors.

He'll bow his head. "Klingsor, formerly Lord of the Terre de Mervielle, and once a Knight of the Holy Grail, but now exiled to this place and serving as a keeper of the gardens," he replies.

[winter_came]

Formerly too, Ned should have said, but thinking of the destroyed stone halls breaks his heart.

“Keeper of the gardens?” he repeats instead, “that seems a rather peaceful mission.” He smiles a touch, and adds, “though the winter must make it rather difficult to accomplish, this time of year.”

[gardenwarlock]

He rolls one shoulder as he replies. "It is a time for rest from the labor of spring and summer, and to plan for the next growing season. And I am not engaged in that, there are the paths to be cleared of snow and ice."

[winter_came]

Ned nods. “We are of the North, and so we do not engage much in this,” he says, “and much less in Westeros, for our winters last for years.”

[gardenwarlock]

Klingsor blinks at this and a brief look of shocked horror might tick through his greenish eyes. The very notion, of winter lasting for that long, gives him the creeps: no chance to work in one's garden. "How then do your people last through the winter? How then do your plant your crops?" he asks, rather in awe. And hoping that they have good greenhouses, much as Neville does.

[winter_came]

“House Stark's motto is Winter is Coming,” Ned replies stoutly. “We prepare, as well as we can. Then we weather it.”

The tales of Old Nan were not always believable, but those she told of the last Westerosi winter were chilling.

[gardenwarlock]

"Then you must be masters of planning and preparation," he says, impressed. And this is a hard man to impress. "Are you planning a means of shoring up this pile against further attacks from the elements?" he asks.

[winter_came]

“This place is difficult to organize, and as divided as the Seven Kingdoms,” which is saying a lot, Ned replies.

“And I have more immediate concerns, and a newborn to see safe.”

[gardenwarlock]

"And thus I keep myself at some distance from the petty squabbles in this house: nature does not tolerate pettiness. A plant thrives or it does not: either way, the earth reclaims its substance," he says, matter of factly.

"Those concerns being your clan and kin?" he asks.

[winter_came]

Ned nods, just once. “I seek to make them a home, built with the skill of the North,” he explains. “And will owe a boon to any who help me in my task.”