Arya got a telepath ping, "I'm getting a distress call from another swampkin, they must have fled in a ship and are fairly close. Just this side of the becalmed place, I think." Arya called for two ships to head out in search of them. One ship needed a telepath board to pinpoint the location. The shipyard had finished another smaller vessel a few days before, so it and the stonekin vessel went out in search. Two treekin healers went with them, to be on hand in case injuries were severe.
As they closed in on the location that the telepaths were pointing them to, they encountered a dragonkin paddle ship. The guns swiftly defeated the dragonkin ship, and it was looted and sunk. The swampkin were rescued, and 10 dragonkin sailors and captains were taken on board. 15 rower slaves were also freed. Once the swampkin had been given water and food, they were OK to be towed in. There were 40 of them aboard the small ship. They were all towed in, given lodgings, or sent to the Intel Hall.
Tse and Ming conducted prisoner interviews and gleaned some decent intel. They also went through the dragonkin captain's papers and then made their report. The dragonkin had heard rumors that 1000 Zonian ships would head for Westeros, beginning next spring.
Once the swampkin rescues regained their health, they were sent to other locations to be part of the telepath network. They had all agreed to join the fight against the Zon and had sworn fealty to Westeros. They were critical to maintaining contact and for early warning of attacks. One swampkin was an alchemist of some renown, and he joined the older Mangana's team. Still another was a scientist, and he roomed with Thomas and the younger Mangana. Because of their mental voice methods, they didn't need to know Westerosi, but they took classes to fit in at their new places.
At the summer festival, Beth and Gendry got married. Thea did the ceremony. They moved into an apartment upstairs at the forge. Thomas and the younger Mangana teased him endlessly, but they got on well. Once the new guy got a handle on Westerosi, they had amazing conversations. They showed him the rail system, and he had a great idea about a magically powered front car. They set about developing the concept, and pretty soon, they had a functional device. They added a light on the front for nighttime travel and a weatherproof covering. Then they built an enclosed passenger car. The rails were put through all the way to Winterfell, so they decided to make a trip down there. Arya and the twins were loaded into the passenger car, along with Thomas, Gendry, and Beth, and they departed. The vehicle reached the Treekin holdings in less than a day. They stopped for dinner and caught up with all that was going on there. Elanor and Calancy joined them, and they all went down to Winterfell the next morning. It only took the vehicle two more days to get to Winterfell. They spent a wonderful week catching up with Sansa, and then turned the cars around, loaded up the back car with goods, and headed home. Sansa sent two people with them to set up a trade organization in Brandon's Rest. When Bran heard how fast it was, he began to have the rails come all the way to King's Landing. The plans for the cars and the front cars were shared, and he had another vehicle built. Before winter, he rode the new vehicle from King's Landing to Brandon's Rest in 8 days. It took months off the travel time. Sansa joined him on the last leg, and they held a war council in Brandon's Rest.
Tse and Ming once again went over the latest reports and reiterated their belief that to survive an attack of over 1000 ships, they needed to meet them at sea. There, they could press the advantage of the guns and lead whatever was left of the enemy fleet into the guns on shore. Then the Westerosi ships could split north and south and lead the enemy in front of every gun on the coast. If the enemy instead went for a landing, they could reevaluate and attack them more.
They discussed this until they had hammered out every aspect of this plan, and Bran told them they would put it into action. Bran and Sansa headed back to their homes after saying their goodbyes. Thomas and his team quickly devised a method to transfer a vehicle and its cars from one direction to another. A large roundhouse was built outside the walls, and tracks led in any direction from it.
Wicket and her mother kept Arya in the loop of the machinations of the Iron Bank. When votes came up, they would real-time the meetings until Arya had a decision on which way to vote. Several times, the mother gave excellent advice on how to vote. Those two were making good money with the two businesses they ran and were banking the profits in the vault. The Sea Lords were beginning to understand which way the wind was blowing on the Zon invasion, and they joined in on defending the Narrow Sea. This would allow Bran to send more ships to meet the invasion at sea.
The winter was mild, but Brandon's Rest still got buried in snow a few times. The harvest that fall had been good to them, so they did well through the winter.