There was still snow on the ground when Nymeria had her dire wolf pups. She had five, and they were all healthy. Two females and three males, the females had the same markings as she had. Two of the males were just grey, and one had black fur. It took them a month to open their eyes, and they howled and whimpered day and night. Between the twins crying and the wolf pups howling, Arya was beside herself. Eventually, Nymeria and her pups were moved to a nearby room. Nymeria was a good mom, constantly feeding and caring for the pups. At 3 months old, it was clear they needed to be outside. So Arya butted heads with Nymeria and told her the weather was better, and she was free to rejoin the pack with her pups. They all followed her out the west gate, and Nymeria's mate joined them as they headed for home.
The forts were in place, and the guns were all mounted. It was time for practice. Old fishing vessels had been bought up all over the realms. There was a gold piece reward for the first hit on any target. They had to fire from one end of the wall to the other. They had to get accustomed to battles where they would not want to all fire at the same target at once. They had to call out their firing settings so others could adjust their own accordingly. All along the coast, this went on for days and days, until they began to get used to these guns. They learned how fast the throats heated up, and how to swab them cool again. They learned packing and reloading. They learned the feel of the shots and how the wind affected everything. They started one-shotting boats. They started rooting for each other's shots. They became teams of ship killers in a few months.
Ming and Tse went back and forth on how to handle this invasion. They played out scenarios where they met the invasion at sea, just past the becalmed area on this side. They calculated the losses on both sides. But they didn't know exactly how many enemy ships would be coming. They had the idea it would be a lot, maybe 700-800. In those scenarios, the ships from Westeros inflicted huge damage, but were also overwhelmed in the end. They tried to figure out the makeup of the fleet Zon would send. They had some idea of the secret weapon: a throwing machine to counter the eastern guns. It could sling large projectiles a very long way. Spells could be cast on the ammunition to deploy fire or ice on striking. The Zon would also send observers who would study the coasts and try to run away before they could be captured. They needed a way to ensure that no news of what happened would reach the Zon generals. When the enemy came, some ships should find a way to get behind the enemy to prevent running away. Information was key to the enemy's efforts, and Westeros needed to starve them of that information. They worked all this up into reports and sent them to Bran. The best scenario they could see was to surprise the enemy fleet at sea after they had braved the storms. Inflict serious damage on them and then retreat to safety, and let the gun emplacements on shore finish the job. Also, then get some fast ships behind the enemy so they could thwart observers from getting info back to Zon.
Bran's advisors studied these reports endlessly. The maesters, on the other hand, had new toys to play with and went to work developing new ammunition to deploy against the enemy. They created rounds that would break into fire and rain it down. They developed Thomas's barrel explosives for use with a sling device. Far, extending their range, though this required increases in wick length. They also developed a barrel that didn't explode; it fountained fire in all directions. These things were slowly being mass-produced for distribution to the defenses.
Hassan had taken several days to recover. Again, he met with the elders to discuss what had happened. They went over the steps he took and where it went wrong. Trouble was, they said the same things again, and they didn't help. He later spoke with Ming, who suggested he take his problems to the trees in the treekin area. Perhaps they might offer him some help. So Hassan caught a ride on a returning wood delivery wagon and went to talk to the trees. It was night when they got there, so they fed him and gave him a room to sleep in. In the morning, two of the treekin elders were going to commune with the trees, so they took him with them. He brought the locket and the sword with him, and as soon as he entered the semi-circle, he went into a vision. The golden sword spoke to him, admonishing him for not recognizing its value. Telling him he should never attempt to use the locket with it in his hands. The golden sword showed him visions of when it was a being much like himself. It had been a priest to the old gods, and bringing it here had awakened it to full power. It would constantly guide him now, but it wouldn't intrude on him.