On the last vehicle, north Tyrion came north again. He would be the combat liaison to Bran during the spring. His first action was to meet with Tormund and send him to the wildlings to see if they would fight in this battle if the Zon landed that far north.
Tormund cleared the north gate of the wall, and a bird dropped down on his shoulder. His horse didn't miss a beat running, even though the bird was the three-eyed raven. The raven had been watching the new troops Bran sent to the wall. Just in case the Zon tried an end-around trick from the north. The two saddlebags of gold jingled as he rode. Bran knew that offers of clemency were meaningless to the wildlings, so he sent Tormund, the three-eyed raven, and gold.
Tormund was a former lieutenant of Mance Rayder and knew exactly where his home was. While he was supposed to be dead or missing, he knew Mance's wife would still be the source of power among the wildlings. And that is the direction he rode in. As he neared the village, which was also his home, three young thieves called out to him. "What you got in the saddle bags, Tormund?" they shouted. He beamed at them, "Gold coins, think you are strong enough to take them?" Tormund laughed at them. The three charged him from the roadside, and one grabbed a saddle bag before Tormund knocked him flat. The rascal ripped the bag open, and a few gold coins hit the road. Tormund knocked the other two out with the flat of his axe. He didn't want to hurt them too badly because they needed warriors for the fight ahead. Young urchins pounced on the coins from the roadside, and Tormund opened and emptied the few coins in the other bag. "Compliments of the King," he laughed. He rode into the village chuckling to himself. As he neared Mance's house, he could hear loud voices coming from inside. Leaders from all the clans were in hot 'discussion' inside...just the place he was looking for.
Inside were leaders from the Hornfoots, Thenns, and Frozen Shore, Ice River, and Cave people clans. Even Mother Mole was there from Hardhome. Tormund stuck his head inside, but it wasn't Dalla he saw arguing with the other leaders, it was her sister Val. "Hey, Val," Tormund said to her as they all turned to see who it was. "Where's Dalla?" Tormund asked. The looks on all their faces told him all he needed to know. "She died in childbirth, Tormund. Why are you here?" Val said.
"There's a war coming, Val, while you lot squabble here, Zon warriors will overrun the entire continent. I've been to the west fighting them, and now they are headed here, at least 1000 ships full of them in this wave." He looked around the room at the faces staring at him, adding, "King Bran has offered full forgiveness and pay for those who join the fight against them, and it has to happen soon." "What kind of pay?" one of the leaders asked. Tormund pulled 7 platinum bars from inside his coat and set them on the table. "These are worth 10,000 gold coins, and there is one for each clan. If you steal the coins, and if the 7 kingdoms survive this war, you will be hunted down and killed. So don't take one if you can't or won't bring fighters to the war." They all looked hard at him, and one by one they took a bar. "How long do we have?" another one said. Tormund was about to say spring, but the three-eyed raven flew in and landed on his shoulder. In his mind, he could hear the words "Zon flagships spotted at the Frozen Coast just now." He turned to the wildlings and said, "They are just now landing on the Frozen Coast!"