Although James Cawdor's lies were exposed by Eddard, his Iron Islands accent and his devotion to the Drowned God proved that he was an Ironborn.
In the tent, Eddard looked at the Greatjon Umber and asked, "How many ironborn prisoners have you captured?"
The Greatjon said helplessly, "Too damned few. Whether they are ironborn pirates or rockborn pirates, they are equipped with ironborn armor and carry ironborn weapons. They never fight head-on, but only launch sneak attacks. When we encounter such enemies, we have no choice but to kill them, otherwise our casualties will be even greater."
"In addition to James Cawder, we also captured a few ironborn prisoners, but these prisoners were seriously injured. Some died of excessive blood loss after being recaptured, and some died after a few hours of torture. These prisoners all confessed that King Balon of the Iron Islands was the mastermind, so I believed it."
Eddard said, "James Cawder was lying. It seems that this group of ironborn pirates who colluded with the Rockborn pirates agreed to a unified statement before setting out. Once captured by the Northerners, they confessed that it was King Balon who sent them. The ironborn pirates seem to be deliberately diverting the anger of the North to Balon Greyjoy."
"Besides Balon Greyjoy, have you extracted any other names from the Ironborn captives?"
Greatjon Umber folded his strong arms across his chest. "Some Ironborn captives gave away the names of the Iron Whore and Helen Pyke before their death. Lord Eddard, I suspected back at Winterfell that these pirates were recruited by Cotter Pyke of Eastwatch. Look at this Helen Pyke, she shares Cotter Pyke's last name. Perhaps she's his sister?"
Eddard couldn't help but smile. Even someone as naive as the Greatjon would make such a mistake.
Eddard explained to the Greatjon, "Pyke is the surname of a bastard from the Iron Islands, just like Jon Snow from the North, Fleur from the Reach, and Stonedon from the Vale. If there really is such a person as Helen Pyke, it can only mean that she is a bastard from the Iron Islands. What relationship does she have with Cotter Pyke of Eastwatch?"
The Greatjon suddenly realized, "So that's how it is. Could it be that the Iron Bitch and a bastard named Helen Pyke planned this attack on the east coast together? Damn it, I feel bad when I think about losing a battle to a woman."
Eddard said "What about the Rockborn captives? What have they revealed?"
The Greatjon said helplessly, "Since the war with the pirates began, we've captured even more Rockborn pirates, probably a dozen or so! But many of these barbarians would rather die than reveal any information. However, under torture, we did gain some insights. The Rockborn captives revealed that the nine Rockborn tribes, led by Samuro Crow, have seized the ironborn equipment and are growing stronger. They will continue to bring wealth back to the island."
Domeric Bolton, heir to the Dreadfort, took notes with a pen. Due to the scarcity of ancient books on Skagos, the island has always been shrouded in mystery, and even the Citadel lacks information. Domeric Bolton was determined to record all the information he had gained from the battle with the Rockborn tribe. He tentatively titled the book "Forgotten Corners of the North: A Complete Record of Skagos and Rockborn."
Domeric stopped writing, "Lord Greatjon, did the Rockborn captive reveal how many tribes there are on Skagos?"
Greatjon Umber stroked his beard and pondered, "My people did ask, and the Rockborn captive said there are more than thirty tribes of varying sizes. The nine most powerful are the Great Tribes. Among the nine tribes, the Krawler Tribe and the Stane Tribe are the most powerful. Samuro Krawler unified Skagos more than ten years ago. The leaders of the major tribes swore blood oaths under the heart tree and swore allegiance to Samuro. Samuro was crowned King of Stone."
Eddard frowned and said, "King of Stone? It sounds like this Samuro is more dangerous than Mance Rayder, the King-Beyond-the-Wall. Did the Rockborn captive say when the Ironborn pirates came to Skagos?"
Ever since Aegon the Conqueror swept across Westeros with his dragons, and the last Northern King Torrhen Stark offered his crown and surrendered to Aegon, the Stark family of the Northern King was downgraded to the Duke of the North. Since then, there has been no king in the North.
Now, on the Isle of Skagos, the back garden of the North, a King of the Stone has emerged. How can the Stark family tolerate this?
Greatjon Umber frowned and said, "Three years ago? Five years ago? I can't remember clearly."
Theon Greyjoy said, "Lord Eddard, whether it was three years ago or five years ago, it was after my father's rebellion was suppressed. After the rebellion in the Iron Islands was suppressed, my father restricted the Ironmen, allowing them to go out to sea to fish and not to plunder in the Seven Kingdoms. However, the Ironmen were allowed to plunder in the Stepstones and the Summer Sea."
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"The Ironmen are pirates of the sky and a free people. The captain of every longship is the king of his own ship. Naturally, these Ironmen are unhappy with my father's ban. I guess it was during this period that a group of Ironmen, who wanted to conquer the sea and plunder wealth, left their homeland and began their adventure in the Stepstones or the Summer Sea, and came to Skags."
Eddard frowned and said, "But this can't explain why they chose Skags alone? There are so many ships from the Seven Kingdoms and Free Trade Cities in the Stepstones every day. The pirates can make more money by plundering in the Stepstones, which is closer to the Iron Islands. Why did they choose to come to Skags and plunder the east coast of the North?"
Theon lowered his head in thought, "This is indeed very abnormal."
Eddard turned to the Greatjon, "Did the Rockborn captives mention the names of the Iron Bitch and Helen Pyke?" If the Rockborn captives also mentioned these two names, the credibility of the Ironborn captives' confessions would be much higher.
The Greatjon shook his head. "No. But the Rockborn captives did confirm that there were women among the ironborn. The ironborn pirates were undoubtedly allied with Samuro Crow, Lord of the Stone. But these rockborn were just ordinary raiders, and it's unknown what kind of ties their king had with the ironborn." "
The rockborn captives also mentioned that the ironborn initially brought longships, weapons, and armor from the south, and later, blacksmiths and shipbuilders arrived on the island. The rockborn didn't know how to smelt steel or build ships, but Samuro Crow, Lord of the Stone, treated the blacksmiths and shipbuilders well on the island, giving them their own smithies and shipbuilding facilities."
Accepting ironborn to build ships and forge iron for rockborn suggests Samuro Crow's ambitions extend far beyond unifying Skagos.
When Eddard expanded Winterhaven, he had Theon Greyjoy write to Lord Balon, asking the North to hire blacksmiths and shipbuilders from the Iron Islands. But Lord Balon was perfunctory, sending only apprentice blacksmiths and no shipbuilders at all.
There are now ironmen blacksmiths and shipbuilders on Skagos Island, which is an advantage over Winterfell. Eddard feels unhappy when he thinks of this.
Eddard said angrily, "It seems that this damned Stone King, Samuro Krawl, intends to use the wealth plundered from the North to develop the economy of Skagos and strengthen the Rockkind's military."
Domeric Bolton held up a pen and said, "Lord Eddard, how can this be the work of a cannibalistic barbarian? Even if only half of the Rockkind captives' confessions are true, this Samuro Krawl is no simple man, no pushover. It seems that the information about Rockkind and Skagos in the North and the Citadel is seriously out of date. My book will record the true Rockkind."
Eddard praised, "You have the ability."
Domeric turned to the Greatjon and said, "Lord Greatjon, have these Rockkind captives told us whether there is currency on Skagos? Maester Balder's 'Edge of the World' records that the Rockkind practice cannibalism and have no concept of currency. When dealing with outsiders, they barter, using obsidian and unicorn horns to trade with adventurers who come to the island. Is this true?"
"Have the Rockborn captives told me whether the records in these documents are true? How exactly do they trade?"
the Greatjon cursed. "The damn Rockborn pirates are wreaking havoc on my territory. How can I be in the mood to ask them how they spend their money?"
.....
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