The largest territory of the Westerosi continent, the North was a land of vast forests and snow-capped
mountains, where summers were cold and winters devastating.
Long before the migration of men, these lands were populated by a race of Giants who grew
between 10 and 12 feet tall and the Children of the Forest, a mysterious and magical people,
small in stature, dark and beautiful.
The Children were a stone-age culture, who carved faces into Weirwood trees, worshipping
them as the gods and believing that when they died, their spirits would live on in the trees,
keeping watch over the forests.
Many of the Children possessed magical abilities, able Skinchange, sending their consciousness
into the body of an animal, and possessing the greensight, which granted them prophetic
dreams.
However, 12000 years before Aegon's Conquest, a bronze-age people known as the First Men
began their migration west, crossing through the Arm of Dorne in the far south, which connected
their continent to Essos, the lands beyond the narrow sea.
Some say these people were led by the First King who journey across much of Westeros until
at last laid to rest in the barrowlands of the North.
The First Men brought new technologies and cultural practices to the continent, introducing
metal, horses and pagan gods as well as a writing system of Runes whose meaning was
largely lost over time.
As they settled the land, they waged war against Children of the Forest who became so desperate
to defend their homeland, they attempted two great magical rituals, with the first shattering
the Arm of Dorne, to halt the continued migration of men into the continent.
Despite this victory, the war continued growing more aggressive and forcing the Children to
retreat into the North, where they performed a second great ritual, possibly from the Children's
Tower of Moat Cailin, calling upon the gods to send the Hammers of the Waters to shatter
the "Neck" of the Westerosi continent and split the land mass in two.
But they ultimately failed, and merely flooded the territory creating swamps and marshlands.*
Eventually, the First Men met with the Children on the Isle of Faces, reaching a peace agreement
known as The Pact, which gave the native race dominion over the deep woods while the First
Men took the open lands, and over time many even adopted the worship of the Old Gods.
Unfortunately, the years of war left both the Children of the Forest and Giant race
with severely reduced population, beginning their descent into near extinction, with only
a small number surviving in the far north.
Following the years of war came the Age of Heroes, when legends say great men and women
roamed the lands of Westeros establishing houses and realms that would endure for thousands
of years to come.
Unfortunately a terrible calamity eventually fell upon them, with the Long Night believed
to have occurred between 8 and 6 thousand years before conquest.
For a generation Westeros suffered from a Harsh winter and Darkness, while a race of
strange creatures known as the Others or White Walkers, descended upon them from the lands
of always winter.
Stories describe them as tall and gaunt with skin as pale as milk and eyes that shine bright
blue, wearing camouflage armor and wielding magic swords of ice.
For years they wreaked havoc across the land until stories say the legendary Last Hero
journeyed deep into the North wielding dragonsteel to recruit the Children of the Forest into
helping humanity in their struggle.
As the war continued on, an organization known as the Night's Watch formed to fight against
the invaders finally achieving victory at the Battle for the Dawn.
The others were then pushed back to the lands of always winter, not seen again for thousands
of years.
Following the end of the Long Night, a great wall was built in the far north, with the
children of the forest casting defensive spells upon the ice.
The Night's Watch were then given command of the Wall, swearing oaths to guard the realms
of Men from the any threat beyond the Wall.
Perhaps the most well known Northmen of this age, Bran the Builder was credit with the
creation of the wall and also gifted lands to the Night's Watch so they could sustain
themselves.
Many claim it was Bran the Builder who founded house Stark, built Winterfell and was crown
First King of Winter, with his legend growing so large he was featured in southern stories
aswell, believed to have aided in the construction of Storm's End and the Hightower.
Others in the North also claim a connection to this ancient past, with House Bolton descending
from the Red Kings of Dreadfort, while House Dustin derived from the Barrow Kings of this
age, who in turn claimed descent from the First King who led their people into Westeros.
Then there were the Crannogmen of the neck, who proclaim the Marsh King as their ancestor,
a man who rode lizard lions and wielded a frog spear as he defended the North from southern
invaders.
And while he was remembered as a king, he never put himself above his people, considered
instead to be a first among equals.
In the years following the creation of the wall, those First Men trapped on the northern
side started to develop their own culture of fierce independence, becoming known as
Free Folk or wildlings and growing to hate the people of the south who lived in warmth
and luxury.
Though they valued their independence, the would occasionally unite to follow a king
beyond the wall, often in the hopes of finding a way past the wall and raiding or taking
land in the south.
And so when the 13th Lord Commander of the Night's Watch, betrayed his oaths, and tried
to declare himself the Night King alongside the Night Queen, the King of Winter entered
into an uneasy alliance with Joramun, King beyond the wall attacking together and defeating
their enemy, freeing the Watch from his brutal reign.
After thousands of years prospering as the dominant population of Westeros, the First
Men were eventually supplanted by a new people sailing from across the narrow sea and beginning
their own period of western migration.
Although many date the start of the Andal invasion to 6000 years before Conquest.
Some maesters argue it was nearer to 4000, while others still say 2000.*
According to the legends of these tall, fair-haired invaders, these lands were promised to them
by their god who appeared in the form of Seven different dieties, and crowned Hugor of the
Hill as their First King, proclaiming that his people would establish a mighty kingdom
in foreign lands.
Yet most maesters disregard such stories and instead believe the migration occurred as
a result of the Valyrian Freehold expanding into western Essos, leading many of the Andals
to flee from the approaching dragonlords.
An Iron Age people, the Andals conquered or intermarried with much of the south, successfully
spreading their language, culture and religion, but had far less success in their attempted
invasion the North.
Unwilling to allow their territory to fall to these foreign conquerors, King Theon of
House Stark allied with the Red King of House Bolton to defeat the Andal warlord Argos Sevenstar
at the battle of the weeping water.
Following their victory, King Theon, also known as the Hungry Wolf, sailed his ships
across the narrow sea and attacked their enemies homeland of Andalos in retribution, slaying
many and displaying their heads along the eastern coast of the Northern territory to
deter future attacks.
Sometime later, the Andals attempted another invasion, attempting to march north through
the neck, only to thrown back by the crannogmen and eventually retreating and accepting First
Men rule in the north.
As a consequence of the years of war and migration, the Andal language, system of writing, use
of iron, traditions of Knighthood and chivalry which took hold in the southern realms, leaving
the North, as the only major territory where first men culture and traditions survived.
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