Hey everyone this is Shadowwolf1997 coming to you with a new story. Been reading a lot of Stark fanfiction lately and I have to say I've been inspired by We were all the Nowhere Men, Sigma7, and Caekdaemon and their alternate histories for House stark and the North, so here it is The Empire of Winter. Disclaimer, I do not own A song of ice and fire and I write this only for the joy of it, not to make money.

Prologue

Three Thousand years before the Andals touched the shores of Westeros, a Great change was coming to the North, also know as the Winterlands. The old king Beron Stark, had passed, and in his place was his young son, the new King of Winter and Magnar of Winterfell, Bjoern Stark. Bjoern was a young man of twenty and five but an accomplished warrior and skilled strategist. When he came to the throne, the young king was looking into ways to bring a new era of peace and prosperity to the North.

But his plans to help his people were halted before they could begin by an attack on the Wall by a new King-Beyond-The-Wall, his name, Magorn of the Frostfangs. He too was looking to better the life of his people. He look to the lands south of the Wall and brought together a host of Seventy thousand to bare against the Kingdom of Winter. Among this host were giants and mammoths.

Bjoern brought the might of the Winterlands against the army of the Free Folk, and they meet in a massive pitched battle. The battle raged for the better part of the day, beginning at dawn and lasting well after the sun had reached the middle of the sky and dusk began its approach. However in the end, due to better training, discipline, weapons, and strategy the Free Fold were defeated and their leaders brought before Bjoern.

As he stared at Magron and the other Wildling leaders, Bjoern couldn't help but think of what differences distinguished him from his enemies. While it was true the North had similarities with the Southron kingdoms, they shared far more in common with their more northern cousins, both even having a grudging respect for the other despite the refusals both sides would give. And the Giants certainly weren't human, but that didn't mean they had to die. No being can chose who it's parents were and besides, the Giants could be valuable assets and allies in time of crisis. It was then that Bjoern would make a decision that would alter the course of history.

He gave the Free Folk a choice, they and their Giant allies could come to the Winterlands, they could keep most of their traditions except for the practice of stealing wives, and their women could even serve in the King's armies. The price was they would be loyal to Winterfell and answer the King's call to war and to keep the peace among the other Northmen. To help give more incentive he proclaimed, in front of chieftain and lord alike that they were different the First Men of the South. They knew of the hardships of the Northern Winter, of the sight of the wall, the frozen air of the forest, be it the Wolfswood or the Haunted Forest. All of them kept to the Gods of the Earth, the Air, and the Rivers, the many nameless gods who watched over them from the eyes of the Weirwoods. Life was harsh enough on both sides of the Wall with them constantly killing each other, two groups more alike than they were willing to admit.

Knowing he had said all he could Bjoern waited for the Chieftains of the Free Folk to reply. After a long pause of silence many thought they would throw the Stark king's offer back at him with insults. But than, to the surprise of all present, Northern, Free Folk, and Giant alike, King-Beyond the Wall Magorn kneel to Bjoern and said, in words immortalized in the runic histories found within Winterfell's library and engraved above the Winter Throne itself.

"My duty as King is to provide for my people, if I must swallow my pride and accept kneeling then so be it. Your terms are fair and better than I would have thought possible, I will be your spear and your warrior through the dark of Winter and your ploughman in the fields during summer. If you will take this old man as your warrior, then I accept."

Then one by one, most of the other chieftains of the Free Folk followed old Magorn and swore their loyalty to Bjoern. Then, the King of the Giants, Dagron the Immense, big even for a giant at Eighteen feet tall. The great giant knelt before the 6'7 Bjoern, towering over him even as he knelt a swore to be his hammer and his warrior.

For this, Bjoern named Dagorn the Magnar of the Giants and gave him land in foothills of and mountains around the Long Lake. Here the giants would build a massive fortress known as Dagshold ruled by House Dagren, the first House of Giants in the Winterlands. He also made Magorn the Magnar of the Stony Shore and would have him build a port town and keep to defend against the Ironborn. And to further seal his alliance with the chieftain by marrying his spearwife daughter of twenty, a young woman kissed by fire with the temperament of an angry direwolf and one of the most beautiful women on either side of the Wall.

Those Free Folk who refuse to kneel were allowed to return North of the Wall with now harassment and where even allowed to keep their spears and bows, for Winter was Coming.

With the large group of Free Folk and Giants came the Mammoths. These massive beasts would soon become a key fact of life in the North and in time each castle would own their own mammoth herd while villages and towns through the North maintained several of the great beasts. The mammoths were used as beasts of burden, a source of wool and food, and perhaps the most important, living engines of war.

Two months after the signing of The Pact of Winter. Bjoern would marry Magorn's daughter, her name was Ygritte, and she would become known as the Wolf Queen for the ferocity she showed in battle. Together the two would have a son and three daughters and would grow to love each other deeply.

Upon his death and the rise of his son, Magorn Stark, as the new King of Winter, Bjoern Stark would go down in history as The Magnificent Wolf.

And so the First Men Rose