COMMITTEE

Committee Background: The Game of Thrones Committee is a committee dedicated to curtailing, curbing and keeping at bay any and all threats that are a potential harm to the Crown and The Realm of Westeros. Individuals, often heads of Houses or representatives of Houses have a say in this committee. The Committee itself is a display of the unity of all the Westerosi houses under the King, but also includes Houses which refuse to bend the knee to the King on the Iron Throne for various reasons. Possible solutions to a problem can be put forward by anyone in the Committee. The Committee functions the same way as any other, each dignitary/delegate will have one vote.

The Wildling Mass Immigration in context of the threat: In accordance to recent events, Rangers of the Nights Watch Order had gone missing beyond the Wall, what the Nights Watch failed to understand was how such experienced officers of The Watch had ventured beyond the Wall never to be seen again. The Watch knew this much that the Wildlings or Free Folk had gathered under their new king Mance Rayder. The Lord Commander of the Nights Watch Jeor Mormont assembled 300 men of the Nights Watch for an expedition beyond the Wall to find out why so many Rangers had gone missing and why the Wildlings had abandoned their settlements. More importantly, what the Lord Commander hoped to find was where Benjen Stark, First Ranger of the Nights Watch had gone as he too was missing and by most assumed dead. The Nights Watch was stationed at the Fist of the First Men, they fortified this position and from here sent out Scouting parties including the one led by Qhorin Halfhand which was a member of. The Nights Watch expedition was ambushed by a huge undead wight army led by White Walkers. The army of the dead overcame all of the Nights Watch brothers’ attempts at resisting them but since the Watch was outnumbered two to one and had no idea how to keep the White Walkers at bay, atleast two hundered and fifty men were slain that night. Only a small group of 30 men was able to flee the Fist with Jeor Mormont still leading them. The expedition was a complete failure, though far in the North the Bastard Jon Snow had been accepted into the Wildling army where he learnt that the Wildlings had no intention to fight but only to save themselves from a far more sinister entity. The Gods of Winter, the White Walkers had come, their sightings becoming more often by the day and their attacks on the Wildling/ Free Folk becoming bolder day by day. The Dais feels that the matter is of paramount importance as The Nights Watch has dwindled to sheer numbers, only a handful of men remain on the Wall which is the only place in Westeros where the white walkers can be resisted. According to more recent events, the Free Folk port of was stormed by the army of the dead under the , this attack is another example why the issue is so important to address; a settlement with a population of over 40,000 was annihilated by the Dead!

This issue has formed a major refugee crisis also, as tens of thousands of wildlings are now on the other side of the Wall. This means that we now have a major refugee issue that, for now, is contained within Castle Black and it’s outlying regions South of the Wall, such as the New Gift, but is threatening to spillover into the main lands of Westeros.

The main issue of the topic will be to discuss what form of aid, if any, is to be given to the Night’s watch in order to:

a) Curb or repel the White Walker threat through either; i. In terms of fortifications for the Wall itself ii. Requisition of skilled fighters from all over Westeros to reinforce the dwindling numbers of the Night’s Watch by serving as garrisons in unmanned castles such as Night Fort, iii. Assets of any sort such as food supplies, maesters and medical resources, weaponry and skilled blacksmiths in order to arm the men of the Night’s Watch. b) Deal with the Wildling refugee spillover effect through methods such as; i. Providing monetary funding or supplies in order to give the wildling medical aid and other kinds of humanitarian aid ii. Asking all nobles to have a combined approach in settling these wildlings/free folk in any part of the 7 Kingdoms, to take them up as levies and in return give them food, shelter and protection

Previous Resolutions towards the issue: The only records the realm holds of how the White Walkers were defeated was during the Long Night, one of the longest winters the Realm had seen, it lasted eight years and with it arose all the dark constructs of the North, almost every Kingdom had fallen to the undead until a union was made, the order of the Nights Watch was the spawn of this union. The First Men along with the Children of the Forest battled the dead under the cover of darkness with nothing but torches and blades in hand. This event was known as the Battle for the Dawn, most think it’s a tale for little children but nonetheless, a united effort is the only way to overcome the scourge. From most of the reporting Rangers on the Wall we have learnt that weapons such as Valyrian Steel, Wildfire, dragon glass and fire are our best bets at keeping the white walkers at bay.

House Stances: The Dais expects from the committee and individuals:

• Southern Houses and individuals such as Lannister, Tyrell, Baratheon, Martell etc. should have a very stern approach towards the matter, due to the prevailing troubled relations between North and South. Southern individuals are expected to have many doubts about the matter at hand, southern individuals must very clearly state why they feel the matter must not be paid any attention to. This is mainly due to the fact that the southernors are obviously isolated from the issues in the far north, as the Wall is more than a thousand leagues from Kings Landing, the capital of the South. Any news that reaches the South from the Wall is generally old and stale by the time it reaches the ears of the Southron lords, who believe that these reports are merely tales in order to incentivise them into sending troops to defend the Wall. They believe that these troops would better be used in clearing the South of the turmoil that has plagued it due to the aftermath of the War of the Five Kings. Southernors are generally dismissive of the Night's Watch, believing that it is made up mainly of looters, rapists and brigands (due to the fact that the watch is mostly manned by criminals). Southern delegates must stress on how they weould rather use the resources that they have in order to repair their own ravaged lands, instead of sending troops and resources a thousand leagues away to fight for a cause that they believe to be either false or irrelevant.

• Northern houses and individuals can be divided amongst each other since most of the Northern Lords plotted and successfully overthrew King . Houses and individuals loyal to the cause of supporting the Nights Watch must also clearly state why they feel that a united effort is important. Delegates must keep in mind that House Bolton and it's vassals would ally their views more along the lines of houses such as the Lannisters, and must structure their speeches and form alliances accordingly.