All I know is that trying to get through the Bloody Gate is like beating your dick against a hard wooden door, even if you manage to come away early you're going to have some nasty splinters. There only needs to be five hundred on that front, so I believe a number of people guarding the ports during war times could be afforded. It would be easier to try and starve them out, if they haven't stockpiled some for winter already. That being said, I think as a stickler for some tradition, Ellion will have to bend the knee to whomever crosses the Bloody Gate on a dragon (and given that their honor stat is positive enough).

Now, I ask...how are the Ironborns taking the colder weather of the North?
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