|
|
Post by The Gambler on Dec 23, 2013 21:41:48 GMT -5
It has been 43 years since the realm has known true peace, the longest and bloodiest war in recorded history. Though it became a revolt of the people, the Faith Militant Uprising sprang up as most wars do, from the machinations of the powerful. Since the Conquering, the Targaryens monarchy has largely ruled from afar, the lords of Westeros allowed to govern in much the same way they had centuries past, though with the addition of a tithe paid to the royal house. It was left to the King’s Hand, Orys Baratheon, to keep the peace on the mainland. Aegon the Conqueror ruled at King's Landing until it became clear that the ramshackle pile of wood and earth that was Aegonfort was entirely unsuited as his seat of power. He had moved the royal family back to Dragonstone and ordered Aegonfort razed and a proper castle built in its place. Only the foundations and tunnels of the future Red Keep had been completed when he took ill. In 37 AL, Aegon lay upon his deathbed on Dragonstone, with many lords on the mainland still remembering when they were kings in their right and answered to no man.
The Faith of the Seven, seated in Oldtown, offered the most vocal condemnation of the Targaryen monarchy. Among his numerous grievances, including the issue that many of the Targaryens still worshipped their Valyrian gods; the High Septon’s most damning criticism was that the king’s son Aenys was a product of incest. That Aenys had married outside the family in hopes of appeasing the Faith, only made him look weak to the lords on the mainland for caving to such pressures. Aenys returned to Kings Landing for his coronation since the Iron Throne had been left there, too heavy to move, while the Red Keep was being constructed. There were several small insurrections immediately after Aenys assumed the throne. Aenys was an ineffectual leader to say the least, opting to hold councils to build consensus about how to deal with these insurrections rather than taking to the field to put them down in their infancy. The most prominent of these initial insurrections was at Harrenhal.
At Harrenhal, a madman claiming to be a surviving descendent of Harren the Black and styling himself Harren the Red, took control of the castle from within its walls. Lord Qoherys and his family were brutally slain, rendering one of the three houses of Old Valyria that had fled the Doom with Aegon the Conqueror extinct, a symbolic victory for those rallying against the Targaryens. The aged Lord Orys Baratheon, Hand of the King and the Crown’s most apt commander, was sent to bring Harrenhal to order. When he arrived with the Royal Army, Harren the Red’s forces sallied force to do battle under the looming walls of the charred fortress. Though Harren fell to Orys’ own blade, the old general also died upon the field, skewered by a scorpion’s bolt fired from cursed keep’s battlements. Though the Royal Army won the day, it was a pyrrhic victory, as all the hostages within the walls had been slain and the Crown lost its most able general.
Thus began a series of events that would become a precursor to the bloodshed to come, known as The Rebellion of the Lords in protest to Aenys’ ascended to the Iron Throne. It had the ideological backing of the High Septon and the Faith, but involved many Lords of the Realm rather than active participation from the orders of the Faith Militant. The first blow to further weaken the Targaryen monarchy was struck at the Eyrie, which was ruled by Lord Lord Ronnel Arryn, a staunch Targaryen supporter and famed for riding upon Vhagar’s back with Queen Visenya as a boy. A coup ,led by his ardently pious cousin Edward Arryn and treacherous lords, saw Lord Ronnel and his heirs dispatched through the Moon Door the traitors amassed a sizable force to declare the independence of the Vale from Targaryen rule. With his Hand’s body not yet cold, Aenys was wracked by indecision. Eventually it was Maegor who tamed their father’s dragon Balerion and volunteered to bring fire and blood to the Vale. Maegor flew to the Eyrie with his newly bonded dragon and forced their surrender lest they be torched out of their fortress. Despite the surrender, he still hanged every one of them from The Eyrie. Rather than cow the dissenters, this only enraged them further with the High Septon whispering in the ears of pious lords that the Crown had made it clear that their only choices were victory or death. In gratitude and a show of family solidarity, Aenys named Maegor his Hand and handed much of the responsibility for the war to his half-brother.
As Hand, Maegor was crucial in putting down the Rebellion of the Lords. During these early events, the High Septon and Faith Militant simply pulled the strings of pious lords to incite them to rebellion against the Crown, counting on Maegor’s ruthless nature to turn popular support against the Targaryen rule. As Balerion’s dark shadow fell over the keep of each rebellions lord, it seemed another would rise up on the other side of the realm. Though Maegor insisted on a strike at the High Septon in Oldtown, to cut the head off the snake, Aenys refused. The king still hoped to appease the Faith. This insistence would bring Aenys to an early grave. Only five years into his reign, King Aenys I died in 42 AL, frail and sickly near the end despite his youth. Some said that the stresses of constant rebellion had caused his early demise, though others whispered that his aunt and Maegor’s mother Visenya Targaryen had poisoned the weak king. Rather than Aenys’ son and heir Jahaerys taking the crown, it was Maegor who sat the throne.
At Maegor’s coronation in King’s Landing, the true Faith Militant Uprising began with an assassination attempt. The septon performing the rite drew a poisoned dagger and plunged it twice into the new king’s stomach before the assailant was slain by the Kingsguard. For weeks His Grace lingered between life and death, the maesters either unable to help him or purposely being inept due to the close ties between the Citadel and Starry Sept. A healer and sorceress, Tyanna of Pentos, was brought in to save the new king’s life. Little is known about her, yet as soon as she arrived Queen Visenya dismissed her son's maesters and gave Maegor over to Tyanna's care.
The morning after the foreign sorceress’ mysterious treatment, the king awoke, rising with the sun. When Maegor appeared on the walls of the Red Keep, standing between his wife and Tyanna of Pentos, the crowds cheered wildly, and the city erupted in celebration. But the revels died away when Maegor mounted Balerion, and descended upon Hill of Rhaenys, where seven hundred of the Warrior's Sons were at their morning prayers in the fortified sept. As dragonfire set the building aflame, archers and spearmen waited outside to those who came bursting through the doors. It was said the screams of the burning men could be heard throughout the city, and a pall of smoke lingered over King's Landing for days.
King Maegor's war against the Faith Militant had just begun, however. It would continue for the remainder of his reign. What followed was not a revolt, but a revolution fostered by the Faith and led by the Warrior’s Sons based in Westeros’ population centers. Oldtown fell when the Hightower was stormed by the Warrior’s Sons, led by Sir Hector, their young captain; the Hightower family taken as hostages. Within a fortnight Lannisport, Gulltown, and White Harbour had fallen as well, dozens of villages throughout the realm following suit. The king's first act upon resuming the Iron Throne was to command the Poor Fellows swarming toward the city to lay down their weapons, under penalty of proscription and death. When his decree had no effect, His Grace commanded "all leal lords" to take the field and disperse the Faith's ragged hordes by force. In response, the High Septon in Oldtown called upon "true and pious children of the gods" to take up arms in defense of the Faith, and put an end to the reign of "dragons and monsters and abominations." Martial law was declared in the city, Maegor ruling with a tyrant’s hand. The Red Keep was completed on the backs of forced labor, rumor saying the bones of the workers were ground and mixed with their blood to form the mortar in its stones.
With a proper seat on the mainland and the city fortified, Maegor issued the proclamation that would earn him the byname “the Cruel”. Maegor’s Law forbade Holy men from carrying arms, offering a gold dragon for the scalp of a Warrior’s Son and a silver stag for the scalp of a Poor Fellow. Men of ill repute and loose piety flocked to the Targaryen banners. Though countless scalps were presented and bounties paid, one cannot truly say how many were legitimate, as the scalp of a knight of the Seven looks the same as that of an innocent baker when removed from one’s head. The Alchemist’s Guild of pyromancers was also founded during this period, with wildfyre used to devastating effects. Lastly, the Knight Inquisitors were created; loyal men answerable only to the King tasked with ruthlessly hunting down traitors and supporters of the Faith. They are only three at a time and they are known as the Black Sword or Black Cloaks, the antithesis of the Kingsguard; independent agents doing the deeds required in a war with such high stakes.
Battle was joined first in the Reach, at the town of Stonebridge. There nine thousand Poor Fellows under Wat the Hewer found themselves caught between six lordly hosts as they attempted to cross the Mander. With half his men north of the river and half on the south, Wat's army was cut to pieces. His untrained and undisciplined followers, clad in boiled leather, roughspun, and scraps of rusted steel, and armed largely with woodsmen's axes, sharpened sticks, and farm implements, proved utterly unable to stand against the charge of armored knights on heavy horses. So grievous was the slaughter that the Mander ran red for twenty leagues, and thereafter the town and castle where the battle has been fought became known as Bitterbridge. Wat himself was taken alive, though not before slaying half a dozen knights, amongst them Lord Meadows of Grassy Vale, commander of the king's host. The giant was delivered to King's Landing in chains and executed.
By then Ser Horys Hill had reached the Great Fork of the Blackwater with an even larger host; close on thirteen thousand Poor Fellows, their ranks stiffened by the addition of two hundred mounted Warrior's Sons from Stoney Sept, and the household knights and feudal levies of a dozen rebel lords from the Westerlands and Riverlands. Lord Rupert Falwell, famed as the Fighting Fool, led the ranks of the pious who had answered the High Septon's call; with him rode Ser Lyonel Lorch, Ser Alyn Terrick, Lord Tristifer Wayn, Lord Jon Lychester, and many other puissant knights. The army of the Faithful numbered twenty thousand men. King Maegor's army was of like size, however, and His Grace had almost twice as much armored horse, as well as a large contingent of longbowmen, and the king himself riding Balerion. Even so, the battle proved a savage struggle. The Fighting Fool slew two knights of the Kingsguard before he himself was cut down by the Lord of Maidenpool. Big Jon Hogg, fighting for the king, was blinded by a sword slash early in the battle, yet rallied his men and led a charge that broke through the lines of the Faithful and put the Poor Fellows to flight. A rainstorm dampened Balerion's fires, but could not quench them entirely. The bloodbath at the Great Fork was only halted when the rainstorm became the first snow of an early winter, one that would last four years.
Summers came and Winters passed, yet the war slogged on for decades. A war of attrition waged in which one city was taken with dragon fire; only for two more to rise up in open rebellion. Despite their immense power, there were not enough dragons to safeguard every corner of the realm. When one flew to another battlefront, guerilla fighters would spring up to harry the king’s troops and retake the captured settlement in the name of the Seven. Even when the major cities were reclaimed and guarded with dragons, the armies of the Faith would sally forth from Oldtown to strike a blow against the Crown’s overextended forces. The High Septon had spies in every corner of the realm, while Sir Hector the Captain of the Warrior’s Sons became legendary in his own right. The Royal Army could not win a battle against the man without a dragon present. Even when a dragon was present, it did not ensure victory against such a foe. In one case, at the Battle of Bitterbridge in 63 AL, Prince Gaemon the second son of Maegor I was killed alongside his dragon Syrax by Ser Hector, earning the knight the byname “the Dragonbane”. With the Royal Treasury suffering from four decades of war, paying bounties, and importing grain due to the popular support of the smallfolk the Faith enjoyed; the Targaryens were forced to take a sizable loan from the Iron Bank of Braavos and hire mercenaries from Tyrosh to fill their ranks.
Finally due in large part to Maegor’s brutal policies, the Faith’s forces were pushed back to take refuge in Oldtown and the remainder of the realm secured for the Crown in 71 AL. Yet, the threat remained with the Faith still defiant and the largest city in the realm in their grasp. An ancient and bitter wretch, the High Septon named Ser Hector the Dragonbane as High Marshal of the Faith, allowing him to rule in his stead. Working hand in hand with the Maesters of the Citadel, Oldtown has been fortified as best as it can against airborne attack, terrifying new weapons of war invented for the sole purpose of shooting dragons from the sky. This point was made clear when Prince Maeron, heir to the throne, attempted to take the city upon the back of his dragon Quicksilver in 72 AL and was slain for his efforts. Rumors abound that the Father’s own hand struck him from the sky. In 77 AL Maegor the Cruel followed his two sons to the grave, the old man found impaled upon the Iron Throne. Though there was no evidence to support is claim, his grandson Maegor II declared it an assassination by the Faith. His first proclamation, to fill the void left by the slain dragons, was to offer a lordship to any man that could tame one. There is also a standing offer for the head of Ser Hector the Dragonbane: 5,000 gold dragons, a Valyrian Steel weapon from the vaults, and the choice of spouse from any of the Royal House.
Though weakened, the Faith remains a threat not to be taken lightly. They have enough forces to hold Oldtown against any siege, the fleet of the pious Lord Redwyne keeping their harbour open to trade, a zealous devotion to their legendary leader, and the means to slay dragons.
|
|
|
|
Post by The Gambler on Dec 27, 2013 2:36:46 GMT -5
I have intentionally left only vague detail of large chunks of the war in order to allow the chance for characters to insert their own stories within it. We know that the major cities were retaken except for Oldtown and that the Faith was eventually driven from the field, but not how. With the addition of dragons, many characters (with admin approval) will have had the possibility to make great contributions to the war effort. So have fun with your character bios and feel free to have made some mark on this incredibly long war.
|
|
Maekar
Site Council 
Sam/BlueLion
Posts: 1,437
|
Post by Maekar on Dec 28, 2013 8:44:52 GMT -5
The Friend of My Enemy is My Enemy
In 75 AL, the High Septon sent a delegation to Sunspear, seeking an alliance with Princess Sarella of Dorne. King Maegor I feared that an alliance between Dorne and the Faith would rekindle a resurgence in the war, so he dispatched two Knight Inquisitors, Ser Maekar of Dragonstone and Ser Trajan Waters. Both were dragon riders, and bastard sons of the King's grandson Maegor, who himself had been made the Prince of Dragonstone after the death of Prince Maeron in 72 AL. The two Inquisitors were given an army of six thousand, which invaded Dorne easily; the normal Dornish tactics of ambush in the mountains were easily stymied by men who could watch from a dragon's-eye-view, and the royal army marched along Dorne's northern coast leaving a trailed of blackened burned out castles in its wake.
Princess Sarella wisely refused to meet the royal army in battle, and preferred to wear the royal troops down with skirmishes and raids while allowing attrition to do its work. They were not as successful as the Princess had hoped, but by the time Ser Maekar arrived at Sunspear in 76 AL he knew he didn't have enough men to invest the city, nor to take it by storm; even with the dragons Zyraxes and Meraxes. The Dragonseeds dispersed their army into companies of one hundred, sending them streaming across the countryside in Eastern Dorne. Their tactics had changed, and they now began to kill anything that moved, and burn everything that did not. Hundreds of Dornish men, women, and children were slaughtered, along any of their livestock that could not be carried off. Crops and houses were burned, and entire villages put to the torch, with grain silos and Septs particularly targeted.
Eventually the Princess had no choice but to sally out from Sunspear and engage the royal army in pitched battle, and what followed was one of the bloodiest battles since Bitterbridge. Chroniclers called it the 'Battle of Sunspear', but soldiers who lived to tell of it always referred to it as the 'Dying Sands'. All in all, twelve thousand men lay dead at the end of the day, including two of Princess Sarella's brothers, slain by Ser Maekar himself. Three in every four of the dead were Dornish but the great dragon Meraxes, who had been ridden during the Conquest by Queen Rhaenys Targaryen, was also killed in the fighting. Some say that Princess Sarella herself threw the spear which pierced the dragon's eye, but dozens of other accounts offer other explanations of the dragon's death all agree that the beast was bleeding from scores of wounds already anyway.
If the dragon Zyraxes had died as well, it is likely that nothing would have stopped the remaining Dornish from tearing the battered royal army to pieces, however the Princess of Sunspear agreed to the generous terms offered by Ser Maekar when they agreed to negotiations after the battle. Dorne remained an independent principality, with no obligations to the Iron Throne, financial or otherwise, save one. Princess Sarella agreed to swear an oath that she and all her line would never interfere in a conflict between the Iron Throne and the Faith of the Seven. Ser Maekar had tried to replace "the Faith of the Seven" with "any and all of its enemies" but the Princess was too wily a negotiator for that to be allowed.
Though House Targaryen declared a victory in Dorne, the battle was largely a stalemate if the loss of Meraxes was considered, who was larger and fiercer than any dragon save the Black Dread himself. Ser Maekar and the remains of the royal army sailed north from Sunspear, and landed at Storm's End just in time to be informed of King Maegor II's death on the Iron Throne, at the end of 77 AL.
|
|
Horas
Westeros 
is Horas.
Posts: 1,146
|
Post by Horas on Dec 30, 2013 16:23:34 GMT -5
The Western Campaign
The Crown’s campaign to retake Lannisport was novel in that no dragons were involved in the fighting until late in the campaign. The King’s host was led by Prince Aegon Targaryen, the eldest son of the then-Crown Prince Maegor Targaryen. Lacking a dragon of his own, Aegon requested aerial support, but was rebuffed. It is said that Maegor told his son that if he needed a dragon so badly, he should go tame one himself… but surely that exchange must be a product of fanciful storytellers.
Aegon’s army numbered 15,000 strong. He was ably seconded by Lord Arthur Arryn, and apart from two thousand of his Valemen the army was primarily drawn from the pacified levies of the Riverlands and Crownlands.
Arrayed against the loyalist army was Fyard Lannister, called the False Lion. After Lannisport was overrun and Fyard watched two of his brothers get torn apart by the mob, Fyard opened the gates and wealth of his Lannisport manor to the marauding Poor Fellows. In reward, the High Septon named Fyard the lord of the West above his cousin’s rightful claim. The true Lord Lannister spent most of the fighting trapped in Casterly Rock, besieged by his own peasants. It is difficult to count the number of Faithful smallfolk, but most reports agree that the Poor Fellows outnumbered Aegon’s army by a large margin, and were stiffened by three thousand Warrior’s Sons led by Knight Exemplar Lucas Sarsfield.
Prince Aegon set out from the loyalist stronghold of the Golden Tooth, intent on cutting a path to relieve the siege around Casterly Rock, and then on to take Lannisport itself. He was met by a Faith Militant army under Pate Butcher. Aegon immediately withdrew. His foes, believing the boy commander lacking in nerves and self-assured of their own cause, pursued eagerly. This allowed Aegon to choose the ground, and in the subsequent Battle of Steep Hill (76 AC), the loyalist forces rained down arrows and broke the rebel ranks with a crushing charge. Aegon declined a full pursuit, suspecting an ambush by the Warrior’s Sons which had not been present in the battle. In truth he overestimated his opponent, and letting the routing foe slip from his fingers to fight again was to be the Prince’s only major mistake in the campaign.
Fighting continued intermittently over the course of 76 AC, as the loyalist forces bled the rebels bit by bit, only to see them replenish their ranks with new zealots. It was the last month of 76 before another decisive battle came. Grown used to Aegon’s cautious advance, his enemies did not expect him to steal a march on them in the night. In the Battle of Dawn Hill, the Faith Militant woke to the sounds of battle and were forced to contend with the early morning sun in their eyes as well as the Crown’s swords. The Mallister champion Ser Anders the Eagle slew the Warrior's Son Commander Ser Lucas Sarsfield and half a dozen other noted knights, and now the Faith possessed only its fighting forces around Casterly Rock and Lannisport itself.
Much to his frustration, it was at that time Prince Aegon was called back to the capital for his father’s coronation. But when he returned in 77 AC, it was with the support of the dragons he had sorely wanted. The two cobalt dragons arrived together: one ridden by Aegon's young sister Princess Aemy, the second by Baelor Targaryen. Each was looking to prove themselves, though for different reasons. At first Aegon was reluctant to endanger his sister with anything other than scouting missions, but she proved her worth and the terrible power of dragonfire at the Battle of Casterly Rock. Skysong burned the investing army’s siege equipment, then the investing army. Much of the opposing army had never seen a dragon before, and fled in terror each time Aemy and Skysong swooped above them. Thereafter when the army saluted Princess Aemy, it was with respect rather than sarcasm. Baelor upon Vriskaranea was just as effective, showing the realm that not all of Aenar's kin were traitors. He shot deadly arrow after arrow from his flying mount, and was credited with immolating the False Lion's heir with dragonfire.
The final battle of the war was the Reclamation of Lannisport. The weather was unseasonably dry, and it was feared than errant dragonflame might set the entire city alight, so the newly freed Lord Lannister begged that Skysong remain grounded. Aegon reluctantly agreed; he had not fought his way through the West only to capture a city of ash. It was a bloody, straightforward battle. The loyalist Lords Lefford and Bracken were slain by the traitor Lord Harmen Kayce, who was in turn cut down by the Prince of Dragonstone at the cost of grave injury to his own person. Princess Aemy, only fifteen, entered the battlefield with a whirling morningstar and brained Holy Hobb Hewer, who claimed to be possessed by the Warrior Himself. Lord Baelor, not much for the sword, was nonetheless spectacular with his bow, slaying first Lord Alyn Marbrand, then the mighty Ser Walder Brax with carefully chosen shots. Lord Arryn lost two fingers off his left hand to Fyard Lannister, but made the False Lion pay for it with his life.
Victory had been achieved, the Faith’s strength shattered in the West, but it came at a high price – thousands of loyalist soldiers lay dead, and Prince Aegon himself clung barely to life.
|
|
|
|
Post by Vhagar on Dec 30, 2013 17:32:38 GMT -5
The Malcontents of Hull 59AL
Although the islands of the Crownlands have largely remained loyal to their Targaryen overlords, they have not entirely escaped the shadow of the long war against the Faith Militant. The lords of Driftmark always remained loyal to House Targaryen, if only because they too were of Valyrian descent and were often chosen as partners for Targaryen sons and daughters. But their smallfolk do not always share this loyalty. One day, near sixty years after Aegon's Landing, a man in a brown robe entered a tavern. He wore the Smith's hammer and the crystal of a septon and his feet were caked with mud. But he had the eyes of a zealot and a voice that carried across a crowded tavern. Men took notice of him as he told them he had come barefoot from Oldtown to Kings Landing and there set out in a small boat rowed by a crew of septons. He implored all men present to rise up against the demonic Targaryens and their monstrous winged thralls and defend their gods and their kingdoms from the heathen invaders. The mad priest's name at birth was Wat, but he soon became known as the Voice of the Seven. Almost every man present agreed to follow the priest. Those who did not were slain, including the innkeep himself. The priest's followers looted the tavern for food and drink and marched through Hull calling for allies. Some men fled in fear while women closed their shutters and sat in darkness, urging their children to be quiet, yet men joined the zealots, some bearing arms, others singing prayers in honour of the Seven. After a day and a night marching round the town singing and reciting prayers they were a hundred hundred strong. Lord Velaryon came to order their dispersal but they would not move. They remained in the city. The Lord of Driftmark threatened them with violence if they would not move in two days. Some men were not brave enough to stay but others were inspired by the courage of the Faithful and joined their ranks. Lord Velaryon kept his promise. Two days later, he swept down upon them with two hundred men at arms and twenty knights. Among them was a young squire, Valarr Stone, bastard son of Maeron Targaryen, the Prince of Dragonstone. The rebellion petered out as the men of Driftmark swept down upon the peasants. Dozens were cut down where they stood, and the young bastard slew his first man with the clumsy blows of inexperience. Many of the rebels fled screaming for their homes. Those who didn't get stabbed in the back spent their lives living in fear. But Wat the septon, also known as the Voice of the Gods, ended his days on the hangman's noose in Hull and his head decorated the city gates for years to come.
The Clansmen of the Vale 62AL
The Vale of Arryn had its share of trouble too, though the Eyrie, being so remote, was spared the danger. Yet in the Vale, the pious Garlan Templeton, the Knight of Ninestars, was a staunch supporter of the Faith. He made common cause with the Faith Militant and, after meeting in secret with several of their leaders, it was agreed that Templeton would lead a delegation to the Mountain Clans. It took much effort to get the quarrelling clans to listen but slowly Ser Garlan and his companions convinced the clan chiefs to listen to them. Ser Garlan hated the Arryns, since they had refused to grant him dominion over a contested claim with lands adjoining his own, instead awarding it to the young Lady Corbray, who was betrothed to one of the Arryns. So it was great relish that Garlan explained the plan to the clan chiefs. If they gave their support to the Faith Militant and kept the lords of the Vale from aiding the Targaryens, they would be granted dominion over the whole of the Vale when the war was won.
But the Targaryens were not far behind Ser Garlan. Prince Maeron led the Targaryen forces from atop Quicksilver. The silver dragon made a glorious sight as he soared through the the air. Beside Maeron came his bastard son on the dragon Ithilgore and below an army of loyalists led by Lord Harroway. Together they smashed the Faith army in a fierce battle in which clansmen fought alongside Warriors' Sons and men from Ninestars. Prince Maeron set men aflame, screaming as they burned to death. The prince hurled down a spear, slaying Small Mors, a bearded giant who led the squadron from the Faith Militant. Lord Strong slew the Knight of Ninestars and his brother, while the prince's bastard, who had dismounted from Ithilgore to let the dragon feed, helped one of the Dragonstone men take down a huge chieftain of the Stone Crows. The field ran red on both sides but the loyalist forces prevailed. Many of the surviving clansmen fled. Those who did not = or could not - were executed, alongside the surviving men of the Faith Militant. The survivors from the Vale were chained and sent to the Wall in a wagon, escorted by Lord Harroway's cousin, Ser Wyman Wode. Prince Maeron personally knighted Valarr Stone for his part in the battle.
|
|
|
|
Post by Vhagar on Dec 30, 2013 20:31:12 GMT -5
Harlaw's Rebellion 69AL
Lord Rodrick Harlaw saw the turmoil spreading across the kingdoms with glee. His family had always chafed at being subject to the Greyjoys of Pyke since the Conquest. Rodrick's grandmother had been kin to Harren the Black and so he vowed to take back Harrenhal and claim supremacy over the Iron Islands. So he began gathering an army towards the end of 68 AL. He gathered his friends and allies from Harlaw, and some of the other houses from the Iron Islands. His force was not as big as the Iron Fleet, but it was still sizable, though most of Harlaw's vessels were longships, not warships.
But before Lord Rodrick could begin his conquest, he needed gold. Lord Greyjoy refused to go to war whle others demanded plunder and plenty of it. So Rodrick promised them the gold of the Westerlands. It was there they struck first, raiding Kayce, Fair Isle and Lannisport. But a ship is much slower than a dragon, and Lord Greyjoy had sent word to Kings Landing. Rhaella Targaryen came with fire and blood. Amethyst bore down upon the ships sailing towards Kayce with her wings casting a shadow that sent fear through many Ironborn hearts. The dragon's fire blazed vivid purple as she set the ships alight. The Ironmen screamed and some jumped into the sea, but many were roasted alive. The commander, Andrik the Greybeard, was a wiser man than some. He surrendered when he saw a score of his ships burning. Rhaella took hostages, had the surviving captains and their crew taken into custody by the Westermen and escorted to the Wall to take service as men of the Night's Watch. The princess was hailed for her mercy, though it's said some of the prisoners cursed her, complaining that the Wall was a fate worse than death.
Meanwhile, on Fair Isle, Lord Farman's smallfolk were being terrorised by the forces of Ragnar the Red. But Valarr Stone came with Ithilgore and set fire to their ships while Farman's men charged down from the castle. The Ironmen were trapped on land. Green fire lit the skies around Fair Isle. When all the ships were burning, Valarr flew overhead. Both Westermen and Ironmen gazed up as the dragon roared. Many of the Ironmen tried to run. Ithilgore unleashed a jet of green flame, scorching the town square and the statue of a previous Lord Farman. But Ragnar the Red held firm. He rallied his best men around him and continued the fight. Lord Farman slew him in battle while Valarr and Ithilgore burned every man who fled. By the time they were done, Ragnar and his band of warriors were dead or dying. So Lord Farman was left to clean up the mess while Valarr flew back to the mainland.
Rhaella and Valarr were reunited near Lannisport where they bore down upon the remainder of Harlaw's fleet, led by Rodrick himself. The Ironmen were busy preparing for an assault on Lannisport when Valarr flew in and set the sails of Lord Harlaw's flagship alight. but Rodrick did not panic. He had some archers from the Summer Isles in his crew and he set them to trying to dislodge Valarr from his saddle on Ithilgore's back. The bastard knight crouched low as arrows flew around him. His dragon dodged left and right, but some arrows struck home. Then Rhaella flew in and together the princess and her bastard brother set the ships alight. Many of Harlaw's men fled, while those who tried to fight were burned alive. Others jumped into the sea, hoping to escape burning, but Amethyst flew down and scratched and bit them to death.
Barely twenty ships were left by the time the Harlaw men surrendered. Rhaella dealt with them while Valarr headed inland to deal with Rodrick and the men who had escaped with him. All were burned alive in Ithilgore's green flame and afterwards the dragon gorged himself on human flesh. Rhaella again showed more mercy than her bastard brother, sending the few survivors from the ships to the Night's Watch. Castle Black had a large influx of new arrivals that year. But the broken bones of Ragnar the Red and Rodrick Harlaw were left to rot.
|
|
|
|
Post by Daemon Waters on Dec 30, 2013 23:34:27 GMT -5
The Battle of White Harbour
During the mid year of 76 AL, The Battle of White Harbour had ended as quickly as it had begun. The decision was made that Arenya would approach riding Tanis from the direction of the rising sun, so that their enemies could see her shimmer before her flame. As aid to the Velaryon fleet, she rode ahead of them to arrive slightly early to lay down enough flame covered death so that no blood from her side had to be spilt. It was a smart move, Tanis could lay waste to the ships in the water as well the ones that exited the harbor and burn whatever land forces existed that showed resistance.
As they neared White Harbour, Arenya saw that their defenses seemed to be ready for the airbeast with archers, trebuchets and catapults aimed for them lined with the horizon. Even the ships were armed to the teeth. Tanis ascended high and spread her wings in the morning light roaring while casting a large shadow and the she quickly rolled to avoid the arrows and spears from the trebuchets and onslots of catapults. Arenya pulled back on her allowing her wings to move gust of wind through the air, slowing a few of the arrows. When she was done hiding behind the wings of her dragon, Arenya pushed Tanis into a close dive to attack the floating ships in the water, an arrow slid over her cheek causing a deep gash on her left cheek, even in her pain she commanded her dragon in a thick Valyrian accent. The huge dragon inhaled deeply and released what seemed to be an endless stream of dragonfire onto the floating ships in the water. She hovered over them, heaving so much fire upon them that when the Velaryon fleet arrived there was barely anything left. The screams and wailing from the ships could be heard for miles. As they burned, Arenya smirked and turned Tanis towards the stone buildings of the Port City.
Again Tanis began rolling and dodging the defenses of the Pier City until she reached close enough and Arenya commanded her again to burn them and burn them she did. Knights ran from the fire but there was no where safe for them to turn. Tanis’ wings made a sound of horror to them as her flames covered every window, every arrow slit, every crease and corner of the buildings. As the Harbour City stood burning, Arenya sat atop Tanis admiring her work. She touched her cheek and looked at the red blood upon her hand. The only blood that was spilled today was hers. It was no matter they had won the skirmish. Tanis turned and flew back to the fleet. Arenya sat upon Tanis with her legs crossed as she glided on the air currents beside the command ship of Lord Velaryon. She whispered something to Tanis as she rubbed her scales. The Dragon Princess then smiled at the Master of Ships as the waves crashed between them, she yelled.
“I believe our work here, is done.. Don’t you Lord Velaryon?”
|
|
Maekar
Site Council
Sam/BlueLion
Posts: 1,437
|
Post by Maekar on Dec 31, 2013 21:53:36 GMT -5
The Bloodwyne Treason; 42 AL
In the early years of the war against the Faith Militant, the King's Hand Maegor Targaryen thought to win a quick victory against the Redwyne fleet, and thus sever the shipping lines to Oldtown in order to starve the Faith's armies into submission. The plan was well laid and well executed, but for the treason of a man who was ever afterward known as 'Dark' Danwell Waters, though he was also called Danwell of the Docks. In 34 AL, a dragon known as Cyrax roamed the hills of Dragonstone wild, killing livestock and sometimes farmers as well, as he hunted. The problem became such that eventually King Aegon I issued a proclamation offering a Knighthood and land to any man on Dragonstone able to bond the dragon.
Two score of men came forward, and 13 of them were killed attempting to mount the dragon, either burned to death or eaten alive, while twice as many suffered burns or other wounds that would impair them for the rest of their lives. Only one man was able to get up onto the dragon's back and remain there until it bowed its head to Danwell, who was then a young man of twenty-and-two. Some said he was the bastard son of Lord Velaryon's sister by a Targaryen prince, but just as many tales make him a simple dockworker. Regardless of his parentage, Ser Danwell became a wealthy and important man, and served King Aegon loyally until the old King died in 37 AL.
When the Faith Militant revolted against the crown, it is said that Ser Danwell Waters grew a sudden piety that he concealed from King Aenys I until an opportune moment. Whether he was paid off, or if he felt the stirrings of the Seven in his heart will never be known, but his betrayal will forever be etched in history as the Bloodwyne Treason. A Royal Fleet of 30 war galleys and 53 longships was raised at King's Landing and dispatched, carrying four thousand soldiers drawn from the Crownlands in the early months of 41 AL. The fleet was commanded by Ser Selwyn Velaryon, brother to the Lord of Driftmark, who was called 'Seablade' and commanded from his flagship, Narwhal while Ser Danwell Waters was sent with Cyrax to support the fleet. It is said that Dark Danwell resented being placed under the command of the Seablade, despite his being known across Westeros and the Free Cities as the finest naval commander on the Narrow Sea. Whatever Dark Danwell's reasons, as the Royal Fleet sailed into the Redwyne straits, white fire washed over the fleet's flagship, bathing the Seablade, his ship, and everyone aboard it in flames.
It was only the quick thinking and hands of several crewmen aboard a galley called 'Sea-Dragon' that saved the entire royal fleet from being destroyed. As Cyrax came for a pass breathing fire, four men manning a ballista fired a bolt past the beast's face while, cutting across the left eye. The bolt's angle was just bad enough that it did not impale the dragon's eye; instead it glanced off the bony scales of the forehead and ricochetted up into the throat of the dragon's rider. The traitor was dead, and other ships began firing ballistae and arrows at the dragon, eventually driving it off. As the cheers of relief went up among the king's men, however, the sails of the Redwyne fleet appeared on the horizon.
The Redwyne fleet tore through the weaken loyalist ships, half of which were already taking on water, or fighting a blaze of flames. By the end of the day, thirty-nine loyalist ships were able to limp off to the east, back the way they had come and of those only six galleys and seventeen longships made it back to King's Landing, and of the four thousand men aboard them, only one in five survived. In the Reach, they cheered the day and Lord Redwyne was reported to have given a cask of Arbor Gold to every family in Oldtown upon receiving the news, while Prince Maegor's rage was said to shake the Red Keep in its ferocity.
The dragon Cyrax was not seen for ten years, until it appeared wild once again on the shores of Dragonstone, and some small folk tell the tale that the traitor's armored corpse was still chained into place on its back.
|
|
|
|
Post by Vhagar on Jan 1, 2014 7:54:49 GMT -5
Oldtown 72AL - The Princess and the Bastard
The religious conflict raged fiercest in the cities and particularly in the south, with the Faith's headquarters based in Oldtown. The city remained the toughest nut to crack, with the Targaryens making several attempts to destroy the Faith Militant and never quite succeeding. The most noteworthy conflict in the south took place at the Battle of Oldtown in 72AL. There the Targaryen forces were led by Maeron, the Prince of Dragonstone. He was accompanied by two of his own children, Princess Rhaella and the bastard Valarr Stone. All three were dragon riders. Oldtown was a tragic battle for the Targaryens. Amethyst and Ithilgore roared when Quicksilver fell from the sky, taking Prince Maeron with her. It was said that some men were deafened by the dragons' loud cries of fury and anguish.
Rhaella unsheathed Dark Sister and flew the purple dragon low, cutting a path through the forces of the Faith Militant as her dragon bathed men in purple flames. The princess threw herself from the saddle while her dragon was busy tearing burned men to pieces before devouring them. Blood sprayed all around and Dark Sister's blade ran red as Rhaella tried to cut a path to Ser Hector the Dragonbane, screaming her fury and hatred across the battlefield. But the princess never reached the knight. Instead she found herself facing off with Ser Merrett Flowers, commonly known as the Bastard of Uplands, who had already slain gallant Renly Dondarrion, brother to the Lord of Blackhaven. The battle between the two was long and bloody. Dark Sister danced with Ser Merrett's blade and both combatants were soon wounded. Yet they fought on as blood streamed down their armour. And then, as Amethyst flew overhead, Rhaella near collapse, found new strength in the presence of her dragon. She launched a furious assault on the Bastard. Ser Merret's sword snapped six inches from the hilt and Rhaella struck hard, severing his head from his body. But despite her heroic efforts, Rhaella was weak from loss of blood. The battle soon overwhelmed her as men bearing the seven pointed star on their surcoats charged at her. She was soon knocked down as the battle raged around her.
Meanwhile, Rhaella's brother Valarr had been engaged on the other side of the battlefield. Like Rhaella, he too had begun the battle on dragonback. Ithilgore swooped low, tearing into the enemy with tooth and claw, his huge tail thrashing hard enough to kill with a single blow. And then Lord Bulwer, braver than most, attempted to mount Ithilgore. Valarr kicked Bulwer aside and dismounted to engage in single combat. The two were well matched, and their battle was as fierce as that fought between Rhaella and Ser Merrett. But despite Bulwer's famed strength, and his huge axe, he was defeated by Ser Valarr's speed and skill. A little later, Ser Valarr crossed sword with Ser Hector, albeit for a short time before the chaos of battle separated them.
When the battle ended, Valarr saw Amethyst, riderless, and began to search frantically for his sister. He found her barely conscious as a man stepped up and swung his sword down to cleave the princess in two. Valarr stepped in front of his sister, parried the blow and slew the man with a swift thrust to the throat. He then carried Rhaella to safety and was thereafter known as the Princess' Champion. It was said afterwards that Rhaella gave thanks to the goddess Vhagar for the good fortune that allowed her brother to reach her in time.
|
|
all alone and also really bored 
Hopefully going to kickstart the festival too