Battle of the Redwyne Straits

Servys is an Esteemed Dragon with +5 Strength.
- Expert Dragon Handling
- Noteworthy Blunt Weapons
- Apprentice Land Battle
- Beginner Naval Battle

Sinner is a Fresh Dragon with +5 Flying.

-Apprentice: Long Blades
-Apprentice Athletics.
-Novice Land Battle
-Novice Sea Battle
-Beginner Dragon Handling.

Baelon's ship pulled alongside Lord Greyjoy's as they neared the Arbor, and he called across.

"My lord! When we sight the Redwyne fleet, I'll take to the sky and circle around to their rear to herd them toward you with dragonfire. Any that try to run or hit your flank, I'll deal with."

Orys was strangely calm, waiting at rest in his chain and boiled leather, silvery hair sweating beneath his helm. He'd expected some more intense feeling, but his heart felt at rest. Not what he'd thought he'd feel like before his first battle at all. 'Well, this is anticlimactic,' he mused in his mind, 'I'd expected to be as nervous as a newly married maid before the bedding.' Perhaps it was Sinner's presence that bolstered his confidence. He tapped his fingers together and waited for it to begin. Whether it was to deliver messages or deliver blows, he felt ready. He was not a particularly religious man, but he said a quick prayer to the Seven.

Aerion flew in the center of their formation. Armored head to toe in dark plate, he looked more demon than man as he straddled the great red dragon. As the lines of battle drew together, the Strongdragon's mad laughter could be heard echoing through the clouds and Servys responded in turn.

SKKRRRREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

As the sails of the Redwyne Fleet appear on the southern horizon, many of them dyed purple, or emblazoned with the arms of that ship's captain, Baelon Waters breaks off from the Greyjoy fleet, swooping in around from the west. Seaskimmer loops around the Arbor ships, trying to approach them from the southwest and drive them into the rusted iron rams of Harlon Greyjoy's Iron Fleet. Baelon does not account for the range of the ballistae mounted on the fore and aft castles of four in every five of Redwyne's ships however, and Seaskimmer is forced to pull hard up into the sky to avoid a barrage of seven-foot javelins with gleaming steel barbs all along the point. None of them strike the dragon, though two of them miss by mere inches, and Baelon is able to see that there are bands of lead around the shafts of each spear; if they did strike true, the barbs would prevent the bolt from being pulled out, and the lead bands would serve as added weight, dragging whatever was struck down toward the ocean.

There were over a hundred ships of the Redwyne fleet present, not quite twice as many as the sixty that Lord Greyjoy had sailed south with. Lord Velayron's forty ships out of Driftmark could be seen on the eastern horizon, but would not yet arrive for some time. Above those sails circled for ever-growing specks, each of which began to coalesce into an armored figure on dragon back as they slowly drew closer.

The Arbor Fleet sailed forward in a manner that could only be described as confidently, in a relatively tight crescent formation, the bottom corner of which matched the right flank of Lord Greyjoy's line, while the curved formation sailed to envelop the Irnborn's left. Lord Redwyne was widely renowned as the finest tactical mind in any of the seas surrounding Westeros and even the Master of Ships acknowledged the man as his superior in the area of natural ability. Perhaps it was overconfidence, however, or the distraction of a dragon, but as his fleet sailed onward he did not react in any way when Lord Greyjoy's line divided in half, each of them pivoting to face a section of the approaching crescent head-on, with the wind at their backs, not only escaping Lord Redyne's flaking maneuver but also limiting his advantage of numbers as the ships in his rear ranks now could not attack the Ironborn without first smashing through their own comrades.

As the warships smashed together with a mighty crash, Baelon Waters again took the opportunity to swoop down toward a ship that was attempting to board his own vessel on the edge of battle. The ship's ballistae drove Seaskimmer to dodge slightly off course, and instead of lighting up the deck as he wished, he merely lit the topmast and main sail aflame. Men scrambled up the rigging with buckets to fight the fire, while Baelon's ship watched from a short distance off, not wanting to grapple a burning ship.

Warships of the Iron Fleet were boarding those of the Arbor Fleet, and vice-versa, but here was where the Ironborn excelled, slaughtering sailors who were unskilled in combat and solders who were unused to fighting on the deck of a ship. The water fast began to turn red as bodies slipped over the side, and then there was a mighty CRASH as one Redwyne ship was split entirely in two by an Ironborn ram, and the two halves quickly sank beneath the waves.

A roar issued out from the sky, and surprised sailors looked up to see the Queen of Westeros on the back of her purple Dragon, bearing down on the fleets with three other dragon riders close behind her.

As per her original orders, Rhaella guided Amethyst towards the right flank of the enemy forces. Clad in black plate with Dark Sister in hand, she looked as fierce and deadly as Visenya Targaryen must have looked astride Vhagar. Amethyst's purple flame lit up the sky as dragon and queen bore down on the enemy fleet.

End Round Result:
1 Redwyne ships sunk
1 Redwyne ships aflame
0 Redwyn ships captured

0 Greyjoy ships sunk
0 Greyjoy ships aflame
0 Greyjoy ships captured

108 Redwyne ships in combat with 60 Greyjoy ships

Speaking her Valyrian command to Tanis, she roared as Arenya lowered her faceplate. She drew her sword and spoke again as her dragon darted forward on the left in front of the fleet. Tanis released dragon fire upon any enemy ships that were near her.

As more and more of the Redwyne ships enter the fray, the fight turns decisively against the Iron Fleet, which is outnumbered significantly. With nearly two Redwyne ships to every Ironborn ship, the boarding soldiers from the Arbor have a distinct advantage despite fighting the seasoned warriors of the Iron Islands. An ear-splitting war draws the attention of every man present, however, as Queen Rhaella astride her purpled dragon out of the sky and incinerates one of Redwyne's largest warships. The massive three-decked dromond goes up in flames almost as if it had been coated in oil, and the screams of men as they burn carries easily across the water to everyone on the field. A muffled explosion echoes from inside the ships, where their stores of oil or perhaps another flammable substance is ignited, and the explosion shatters the vessel into splinters, which go flying in every direction. Baelon, Arenya, and Aerion all swoop down behind the Queen, sleeting their own targets and directing their dragons to loose their flame. Three more Redwyne ships on the edge of the battle took fire, and were forced to break away from the main fight while their crews fought to keep the flames from spreading. The dragon riders spin and dodge through the air artfully as bolts from the ballistae fall harmlessly into the water around them, though Orys Storm is forced to jerk to one side in his saddle, as a pair of razor-sharp javelins fly past his face, missing by mere inches. Only the chains binding him to the dragon saddle prevented him from tumbling of Simmer's back to his death, and he directed the dragon high up into the air for a moment, before swooping back down at fifth ship to set it aflame and drive it away from the Greyjoy warship it had been about to board.

The men operating the ballistae, recognizing that the Queen represents the biggest threat on the field, begin to target her en masse, driving her up above their range and forcing her to spend her time dodging javelins instead of burning ships. Aerion Strongdragon swoops down again, setting a sixth Redwyne ship aflame with such intensity that the wood began to split and the vessel began taking on water extremely quickly. Baelon Waters and Aranya Targaryen each make their own passes, but are driven away by a hail of fire without doing any damage. Though Greyjoy's fleet is still getting the worst of it, the superior fighting ability of the Ironborn is beginning to tell again, and though more ships of the Ironborn have their flags struck and replaced with banners depicting the Seven-Pointed Star of the Faith, indicating that the crews had been slaughtered and the ships captured, each of them was taken at a great cost of blood. It seems that the Faith's goal is to capture ships intact rather than destroy them, obviously because it is cheaper than constructing new warships of their own.

End Round Result:
3 Redwyne ships sunk
5 Redwyne ships aflame
0 Redywne ships captured

0 Greyjoy ships sunk
0 Greyjoy ships aflame
10 Greyjoy ships captured

102 Redwyne ships in combat with 50 Greyjoy ships

After pulling away cursing under her breath, she saw that Rhaella was their target now and how Bae was coming them from another direction.

Arenya smirked,"You sneaky bastard...It just might work." She pushed Tanis up high into the sky hoping to keep her in the light of the noonday sun and the reflections from Tanis' scales would make it difficult for them to spot her. They would then drop down fast behind the ship and barrage it with dragon fire from behind. She could always pull away to the side if it became too much for her.

Warhorns blared, startling many of the sailors engaged in combat and even a few of the dragon riders, but Queen Rhaella knew well the signal that announced Lord Edric Velaryon's entrance into the battle. Though the Velaryon Fleet was only forty warships, the crews were hardened veterans and well trained, drilled constantly in their duties. Though they came in from behind Lord Redwyne's engaged fleet from a good angle, the wily Reachman had already deployed a squadron of ships to head of and delay the new arrivals until an appropriate group of ships could be brought to bear to face the newcomers. Lord Greyjoy's men were still receiving the worst of it, but the new arrivals mean that the numbers are no longer so lopsided in the Redwyne's favor, though the Lord of the Arbor still has a slight numbers advantage even with his combined enemies.

Queen Rhaella is still unable to do much damage, constantly targeted by enemy fire. Though none of the bolts comes close to hitting her, Amethyst is still prevented from bringing her true destructive power to bear. Arenya makes an unsuccessful pass, before flying high up into the air and taking the sun to her back. As she swoops down again, the Knight-Princess sees the frantic ship's crew trying to aim their machine at her, but blinded by the sun their shot goes extremely wide, and Tanis lets loose a blast of flame that sets the entire starboard side of the ship ablaze. The dragon fire spreads rapidly, and within moments it is clear that the ship is crippled and is only a few minutes away from disappearing completely beneath the waves.

So much blood in the water has drawn dozens of fins that circle the battle-site; occasionally survivors in the waters, grabbing at driftwood and broken pieces of ships are yanked under the surface, with only a swirling patch of red to mark their disappearance. Aerion Strongdragon scans the battlefield for Lord Redwyne's flagship, a massive four-decked war-galley called The Grapes of Wrath which was known and feared throughout all the southern seas. He spots it easily, in the center of the Redwyne formation, towering over the rest of the ships, and after circling for a while he urges Servys to swoop down to attack. HIs pass runs true, and on Aerion's command the dragon unleashes its fire against the flagship. Tongues of flame lick across the port side, engulfing an entire ballista and its crew, and spreading to the rear set of sails quickly. Aerion spies Lord Redwyne himself at the helm, notable by his helm which bears a crest shaped like a bunch of grapes, and it is clear that the flames missed roasting him alive by mere feet.

The Targaryen warrior swoops in for another pass, but this time the Redwyne ships surrounding the flagship are prepared and a ballista bolt snaps through the air, taking a bloody chunk out of Servys' left haunch but not embedding itself in the dragon's flesh to weigh him down in flight. Orys Storm is not so lucky, and as he attempted to follow Aerion as he strafed the ship ahead, Sinner screeched in pain and immediately began to sink from the sky; the young bastard looked down to see one of the barbed javelins embedded in the dragon's right shoulder, where the wing met the body, with the lead bands around the shaft just dragging them both downward.

He was able to steer the dragon toward the deck of one of Velaryon's ships that had not yet joined the battle, and they crashed onto the for deck in a heap, rolling across it and coming to a stop on the port side. Orys found himself to be uninjured, and luckily Sinner was not yet so large that his weight crushed the ship beneath him, but the dragon was clearly wounded and unable to fly with the javelin still lodged in its flesh. The captain of the ship they had crashed into turned around immediately, despite objections from his sub-commanders, and beat for Sun-House, unwilling to risk his ship further having already taken so much damage from his own side.

Baelon Waters swoops in low from the port side that is firing at Queen Rhaella to their starboard, and his tactic pays off; he is able to light up the side of the ship, not destroying it, but forcing its crewmen to spend time fighting the fires rather than manning their posts. When he tries the tactic a second time, however, another Redwyne ship is able to get a bead on him, and one of their barbed javelins tears a whole through the leathery skin of Seaskimmer's left wing. The dragon's blood steams as it hits the water below, and Seaskimmer flaps hard to take them out of range of the enemy's weapons; Baelon is confident that his dragon can remain aloft, but his maneuverability will be limited by the wound, which would need treatment before too long.

As Rhaella saw the battle turning against her fellows, she realized that she had underestimated the skills of Lord Redwyne, whose flags flew above more than a dozen captured ships at this point. She screams with fury, Amethyst echoing her cry and unleashing a massive torrent of flame at one of the ships in their path. The smaller ship is almost completely engulfed, going up like a torch and filling the air with the scent of roasting flesh, and it is clear that within moments everyone who was aboard it will be dead and soon after the ship itself will be little more than ash.

The crews of two of the Redwyne ships earlier set ablaze are able to put the fires out and return to the battle, albeit damaged, however two more are unable to do so and begin to sink, and three more continue to burn while their crews desperately try to save the ships, and their own lives.

End Round Result:
[Servys takes a Light Wound]
[Seaskimmer takes an Average Wound]
[Sinner takes a Heavy Wound; Orys must retreat from battle]

7 Redwyne ships sunk
3 Redwyne ships aflame (2 Recovered, 2 sunk)
0 Redwyne ships retreated
8 Redwyne ships captured

0 Greyjoy ships sunk
0 Greyjoy ships aflame
0 Greyjoy ships retreated
17 Greyjoy ships captured

0 Velaryon ships sunk
0 Velaryon ships aflame
1 Velaryon ships retreated
3 Velaryon ships captured

90 Redwyne ships in combat with 43 Greyjoy ships and 36 Velaryon ships