Nightfort

Legend places the throne of a mysterious king here, a ruler men chose to erase from memory after his fall, and only fireside tales remain of him. One tells of a cook nicknamed the Rat who served an Andal king a pie made from his own son's flesh, and another remembers seventy-nine sentinels who kept a watch that became a legend of sacrifice.

Other stories tell of young Danny Flint, raped and murdered within those same walls, or of a brother known as Mad Axe, who walked those yards and climbed those towers to butcher his own brothers in the dark. It's said a king named Sherrit once cursed the Andals from within it, that apprentices once faced something that comes out at night, and that a blind man called Symeon Star-Eyes swore he had watched hellhounds fight there.

Three hundred years before Aegon's landing in Westeros, the commander of the Nightfort went to open war with his counterpart at Queensgate over control of the region. The conflict ended when the Starks of Winterfell imposed their authority over both: the two commanders were beheaded.

As time passed the Watch lost so many men that the castle was left housing barely a quarter of the people it had once held, and it was still too costly to keep. It was then that Queen Alysanne, wife of King Jaehaerys I Targaryen, offered to fund a new, smaller and more manageable castle.

The queen's own jewels paid for that replacement, built by men Jaehaerys I sent north for the work. Once the new castle was finished, the Nightfort was left empty for good.

Deep in a well beneath the castle's kitchens stands a door carved from weirwood: a pale, wrinkled face with white eyes, giving off a faint glow like milk or moonlight. When someone draws near, those eyes open and the door asks, "Who are you?"; only a sworn brother may answer with the full oath — "I am the sword in the darkness. I am the watcher on the walls. I am the fire that burns against the cold, the light that brings the dawn, the horn that wakes the sleepers, the shield that guards the realms of men" — and the door answers, "Then pass," opening at the lips until only a great mouth ringed with wrinkles remains.

Through that tunnel under the ice, Coldhands led Samwell Tarly and Gilly to the door, which opened for Sam but would not let him through with them. At almost the same time, Bran Stark reached the castle together with Hodor, Jojen and Meera Reed, hoping to find a way past the Wall, and there they met Sam and Gilly, who had already crossed; it was Sam himself who led them back into the passage and opened the door again so they too could pass.

Lord Commander Jon Snow handed the Nightfort over to Stannis Baratheon: it was the price Stannis had set for his help against the wildling attack. Word soon came that the castle would take at least half a year to become livable again, so Jon sent Othell Yarwyck and his builders to raise it anew, though the shortage of men slowed the work.

Queen Selyse, who had been staying at Eastwatch-by-the-Sea, then arrived at Castle Black meaning to settle into the new seat she had been promised.