The Watchers to the South: Rebuilding Moat Cailin

[Pericles of Athens]

After a long slog south Brandon Stark can finally see his charge come into view. It was in ruins, all covered in vines and rotting leaves, the roots of trees both big and small carved through the stone and snaked their way across the open land between the remaining towers. There were massive stones, far too large for a man to move simply lying utop the peat, slowly but surly sinking back into the bog. Where once there had been sixteen towers there were only three towers left. So much has been lost, a pity really. Brandon thought to himself. This had once been the pride of the First Men, their means of protection from other First Men and eventually from the Andal invaders. Well boys. Brandon remarked, pulling an axe from his Looks like we've work to do. He began chopping at the gnarled vines and others slowly but surly began to follow. This was an ancient place.. And the whispers of the unresting dead, from both North and South, still wrong through the wind.

OOC: Rebuilding the Moat. Gonna be seeing if they can't find any relics of the First Men and or Children somewhere within the Moat.

[Poach]

[OOC: Could I have more details on what it is you're expecting/hoping to find? Just curiosities? Skeletal remains?]

[Pericles of Athens]

OOC: Evidence of the old structures that were there so they can be recreated in the general way they were(only a fraction are still standing), runes that might say something about the ancient Northmen, Andals, or Children, skeletal remains, artifacts of any ancient Andals or First Men Kings who may have died there(IE rusted crowns or blades), maybe evidence the Children existed. Pretty much anything that might be there lost in time.

[Poach]

On the understanding that this won't provide mechanical bonuses, I've devised this table:

0-50: Nothing interesting is found.
51-60: Evidence of the old layout is uncovered. Digging up the swampland around the three existing towers lead the builders to find old foundations that show where the other towers once stood, as well as the curtain wall.
61-70: Skeletal remains of First Men are uncovered. Likely to be the dead bodies of men that once served as a garrison at some time.
71-80: Ancient weapons and armour are found, clearly first men in origin. Too brittle and aged to be of any practical use today, but fascinating artefacts nonetheless.
81-90: The tomb of an ancient Marsh King is found. Many jewels, weapons, runes and royal regalia are found.
91-95: A series of child-sized skeletons are uncovered, but they are clearly not human...
96-99: Runes telling the tale of the war against the Children and the sundering of the Neck are uncovered.
100: Same as 81-90 with a tomb, but within it an ancient war mace is discovered that has survived the ages, as a small part of the tomb caved in and the mace was buried, preserving it. It will count as a +7 two-handed weapon and you may name it.

I will give you two such rolls. One now and one when the RP to rebuild Moat Cailin is closer to completion.

I rolled a 79. Ancient weapons and armour of the First Men are found, but they are rusted and brittle.

[Pericles of Athens]

While cutting down the thicket of the bush that had long since overgrown the Northmen uncover dozens of bronze swords and axes, alongside bronze scales and simple strapped armor. Get a Maester! He calls up to the men guarding the encampment, who nodded in return. And send word for more Maesters.. I feel they'll be plenty for those old men to fawn over before this work is done. The old chained man set about logging and putting aside the various artifacts in wooden boxes.

The next weeks passed in much the same way as the first day, the men working shifts day in and day out clearing piles of rotting vines, the bodies of pests, chopped wood, a mud. They piled the garbage in the marsh and watched the rubbish sink into the bog. Slowly, but surly - one would think so much rotting plant matter would permeate the air, but it already smelt so foul in this place none could tell the difference.

With the brush cleared the men set about creating dikes to keep the marsh water at bay, after weeks of construction the simple dikes were complete and the men set about removing the peat, moss, and all manner of drained rubble.

OOC: If only I'd gotten that 91-99 roll, lol

[Pericles of Athens]

The men moved the stones of smaller sizes relatively easily with barrels and buckets, the larger ones were moved with pulley systems and oxs. Some were far to large to move at all and simply had to be left in place. Brandon eyed those with suspicion. If Brandon the Builder needed giants to build Winterfell, the men who build this place would have needed titans. He thought in awe. The work dragged on, and a number of men were felled by exhaustion, a few were even crushed by the larger stones. Each were mourned and sent home to be buried by their kin in the marshes, or the barrowlands, or the plains of Winterfell. The relatives of those who died would be given coin to ease the passing of their loved ones and provide for those they left behind.

The maesters finished cataloging the works after many weeks, many of the weapons came from times long lost to history the old chained men said, a few specimen were sent to the citadel, others to Winterfell as curiosities, Brandon believed the rest should adorn the halls of his new home once work was completed.

The place was finally starting to resemble a keep, well at least resemble the ruins of a keep. Fresh stone cut in the mountains of the clansmen was used to sure up the three remaining towers, and a small curtain wall not fifteen feet high was erected within the dikes to provide added defense. The dikes were dismantled and the swamp recouped its losses, but the walls stood strong and the water remained outside the courtyard of the keep. A simple gate was constructed on either side of the kingsroad to allow through traffic. Runes of the old tongue were engraved above the southern gate, reading simply - "We Guard the North".

Brandon surveyed the work thus far, it almost looked like a keep - almost. The courtyard was littered with megalithic stones, some covered in long worn out runes - others covered in moss too thick to be removed. The ground of the courtyard was soft, as the peat ran too deep to fully remove, stand too long in once place and you'd be liable to sink into it. The workers had taken to sleeping within the towers, their fires burning in hearths that had not been used in centuries. Finishing touches would be needed, but that was work for another day.

OOC: I'm gonna ask for the second roll, fingers crossed for something to do with the Children.

[Poach]

[OOC: Rolled 88, a tomb of one of the ancient Marsh Kings is uncovered, with a host of artefacts such as jewellery, regalia, armour, weapons and personal items. None in a condition for modern use, though.]