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AxolotlKnight

Second Lieutenant
Mar 16, 2019
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A History of the Iron Throne II - The Black Dragons

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Two years ago I started my first every AAR, A History of the Iron Throne, a history book AAR that tracked the early years of House Targaryen's rule on the Iron Throne. What started as an attempt to add context to my own playthroughs turned into an AAR that I grew to be proud of. After a year of writing it life got in the way and then my hard drive failed and I lost all the screenshots I had taken, and most importantly, the save files. I tried numerous times to write another AAR but I either lost focus or life got in the way. After a lengthy hiatus from both CK2 and AAR writing, I am back to write a sequel of sorts to my very first AAR.

Now to make it clear, A History of the Iron Throne II is not a direct sequel to my original AAR. It's more of a spiritual successor taking place in the same world at a different time. As the subtitle in the name suggests, this AAR will start with the Blackfyre Rebellion, a hundred and ninety five years after Aegon's Conquest. My goal is to write this in a similar fashion to the original, with the goal of tracking how my playthrough's divergent history develops.


Chapters
Prologue
Chapter I - The Blackfyre Rebellion Part I
Chapter II - The Blackfyre Rebellion Part II
Chapter III - The Blackfyre Rebellion Part III
Chapter IV - The Blackfyre Rebellion Part IV
Chapter V - Daemon Triumphant
Chapter VI - The New Royal Family
Chapter VII - The Miracle of Marriage
 
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Prologue
Prologue - Prelude to War

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King Aegon IV of House Targaryen, known as the 'Unworthy'


Targaryen history is rife with violence, intrigue, and kinslaying. From Maegor the Cruel’s murder of his brothers to the deadly civil war that was The Dance of the Dragons, members of the venerable Valyrian dynasty have stained Westeros with their royal blood for over a hundred years, and in the process brought fire and blood to all Seven Kingdoms. It was their infighting that finally brought low the dragons, which were essentially wiped out by the end of the Dance. Some say this crippled Targaryen power forever, though this hypothesis is flawed, for the Targaryen family continued to rule the Seven Kingdoms for another sixty years with relative ease. Yes there was King Daeron I’s war with the Dornish, but it hardly threatened Targaryen rule. No, the events that would lead to House Targaryen’s downfall would spring from perhaps the worst of their progeny, a king so debased and corrupt that even Maegor the Cruel would wilt in his presence.

King Aegon IV should not have been king. The deaths of his cousins, Daeron I and Baelor the Blessed, cleared the way for his succession in 172AC. Even before he became king, Aegon was known as a debauched womanizer who indulged in every vice under the sun. By the time he was twenty, he had fathered countless bastards, though most were born to tavern wenches and whores. He would father only two legitimate children with his sister-wife, Naerys, whom he treated horribly. These children were Daeron and Daenerys, and they would both be all but ignored by their father as he continued to sleep with the women of the court. In 170AC, two years before his reign began, Aegon would father the first of his ‘Great Bastards’ with his cousin, Daena Targaryen, also known as the Daena the Defiant. At the time no one knew who had fathered the bastard child for Daena refused to name the father, and so she could name the child, whom she called Daemon. It was not until 182AC when Aegon finally recognised his bastard son, whom he also gave the Targaryen ancestral sword of Blackfyre, a matter that would come back to haunt Westeros.



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In the following years Aegon would father five more ‘Great Bastards’, these were Aegor Rivers, who would become known as Bittersteel due to his endless anger and bitterness. Next was Brynden Rivers, known to history as Bloodraven due to a large blood-red birthmark on his face. Brynden Rivers would become the eternal rival of Bittersteel, this was due to both of them having affections for their half-sister and fellow ‘Great Bastard’, Shiera Seastar. Bewitchingly beautiful, Shiera had a knack of seducing anyone she came across, a skill that caused many to believe that she could use dark magic to influence people around her. These bastards would become the symbols of Aegon’s decadent rule, embarrassments that some wished would disappear.

By 184AC Aegon the Unworthy’s lifestyle was finally catching up to him. So morbidly obese that he couldn’t even stand on his own two legs, Aegon’s final days were spent rotting alive on his bed, with his limbs rotting and becoming hosts for flesh worms. However, even on his death bed, King Aegon’s malice had not subsided. Whether it was out of his hatred for his wife or his trueborn son, or because he wanted to spite the world before he died, Aegon legitimised all of his bastards, and so added them to the line of succession. Despite the protests of his councillors and his heir, Aegon did not change his mind. The following night, King Aegon IV died.

Despite legitimising his bastards, it would be Aegon’s oldest and only trueborn son who would inherit the Iron Throne. Crowned Daeron II a week later, this new king set about repairing the damage his father had wrought upon the realm. Disastrous tax laws would be repealed, Houses that had been banished for infuriating for fickle Aegon were invited back to the Royal Court, and the large band of courtesans and mistresses were removed from the Red Keep. The new king even made overtures to his half-siblings, giving them lands, incomes, and in Daemon’s case, a bride. Perhaps the most famous and lasting act that Daeron undertook was the merging of Dorne into the authority of the Iron Throne. For nearly two hundred years House Targaryen had tried to conquer Dorne, with no lasting success. Aegon the Conqueror had failed, as had the Young Dragon. Instead of conquest, Daeron decided to use diplomacy. The agreement would end with the King marrying the Prince of Dorne’s sister, and the Prince marrying Daeron’s sister, Daenerys.



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King Daeron II of House Targaryen, known as the "Good"


Aside from Daemon, none of the other ‘Great Bastards’ received land nor incomes and relied on the goodwill of their Royal half-brother. For his part, Daeron was exceedingly accommodating, allowing both Shiera and Brynden to live within the Red Keep, and even allowed the latter to create his own company of professional archers named the Raven’s Teeth. Bittersteel did not settle into court life as easy and often found himself at loggerheads with both Bloodraven and his nephews, the Princes Baelor and Maekar. Eventually, he left King’s Landing and joined his half-brother Daemon at his new castle, the Venatfort. It was there that Daemon had settled into family life, siring ten children, seven of which were boys. Despite a relatively comfortable home life at the Venatfort, Daemon was said to be constantly restless, as if he should be doing something more. It is believed that Daemon’s first thought was not to try and overthrow Daeron II, in fact, it took nearly ten years for him to decide on that. No, it is generally accepted that it was Bittersteel who first planted that seed when he arrived at the Venatfort in 190AC. It was there that he founded his own House, the House of Blackfyre, and designed his Coat of Arms, the Black Dragon on a Red Field.


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Daemon of the House Blackfyre

One of the first catalysts for the calamity that occur later would begin in the late 180s. Following Dorne’s inclusion into the realm and Daeron’s marriage to Myriah Martell, Dornish influence at the Royal Court began to increase rapidly. Exotic spices began being burnt for the scent and used in food for the taste, Dornish fashion became the fashion of the Court, Dornish knights began to serve in the Goldcloaks and Household guard. All this inevitably alienated many lords of Andal origin, who had historically been fighting the Dornish for centuries. This was felt especially keen by the marcher lords, who looked at the Crown’s pro-Dornish outlook with distaste. Let us not forget that it had only been thirty years since King Daeron I’s destructive campaign of conquest against the Dornish, which had ended in both his death and the death of tens of thousands of Westerosi soldiers. There was little trust between the Dornish and the Andals, and in Westeros grudges rarely die.

As the 190’s wore on more and more disenfranchised nobles and warriors flocked to Daemon’s holdfast, each of them with their complaints about the state of the realm. When refused a spot on the Kingsguard, famed warrior and former Master-of-Arms of the Red Keep, Quentyn Ball, nicknamed ‘Fireball’, begged Daemon to remove his wayward brother from the throne. Once again Daemon refused, though this time he was far less certain. As dissatisfaction spread, rumours about King Daeron II’s parentage began to circulate, rumours that Daemon’s supporters did their best to spread. The rumours boiled down to the fact that Daeron was not the son of Aegon IV and Naerys, but Naerys and her other brother, Aemon the Dragonknight. It was clear they both loved each other, so much so that King Aegon often joked about it with his mistresses. It seems that he too suspected that Daeron was not his, which would explain his distant relationship with his heir and supposed support of his bastards.


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Aegor Rivers, known as 'Bittersteel'

By 194AC Daemon’s camp of supporters had grown to a significant portion of the realm’s lords, many of whom had their grievances against the current status quo. It was at this moment that Bittersteel and Fireball both pressed Daemon to rise up and claim his birthright, and this time he agreed. From the Venatfort ravens flew to every lord in the realm with this proclamation.



“To the Great Lords, Ladies, and Knights of Westeros.

I write to you with information most dire, information that pains me to write. I have learnt that the man who I thought was my brother, the supposed Daeron Targaryen, is not the issue of my father, the late King Aegon IV, but of Naerys Targaryen and Aemon Targaryen. As a legitimised bastard and false son of my father, Daeron Waters has no rights nor claims on the Iron Throne of Westeros, and neither does his children. As such, as the first legitimate son of Aegon IV I am the true King of Westeros.

I urge you all to do your duty and cast down this false King, as per your oaths to the Crown, and help me take back my birthright. Those who do their duty will be rewarded, those who back the false king will face my wrath on the battlefield.


Daemon of the House Blackfyre, First of His Name, King of the Andals, the Rhoynar, and the First Men, Lord of the Seven Kingdoms and Protector of the Realm.”



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Well, this looks interesting.

This author seems praising of Daeron, which is weird if Daemon won...
 
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subbbed
 
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Glad to see you writing again, @AxolotlKnight :) I have fond memories of your first AAR, and this looks to be a worthy successor so far.


This looks like fun and I am someone who not watched a second nor read a word of GoT!

Loved your previous AGoT aar, will be following along! Good luck!

Thanks guys! It's nice to see some familiar faces around here :) Hopefully it will live up to the first instalment.

Well, this looks interesting.

This author seems praising of Daeron, which is weird if Daemon won...

When it comes to the POV of the writer, my intention is that he is writing hundreds of years later and so is far removed from politics of the time.

As to who wins, well...you will have to wait until the new chapter comes out tomorrow...
 
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Chapter 1
Chapter I: The Blackfyre Rebellion Part I


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The Rebellion would begin when Daemon Blackfyre’s Standard was raised at Harrenhal, whose lord, Lucas Lothston, had declared for Daemon. Within the week Harrenhal was home to around fifteen thousand soldiers and was still taking in hundreds by the hour. Though many lesser lords had declared for the Blackfyre cause, none of the Great Houses had, with the majority throwing their lot in with Daeron II. Despite that Daemon had the support of powerful Houses such as Houses Lothston, Reyne, Hightower, Peake, Corbray, Yronwood, Swyft, Bracken, Tarly, Frey, and Swann. Soon small scale skirmishes began to break out across the Westeros, except for two Kingdoms. The Iron Islanders remained aloof from the conflict, with Lord Greyjoy making it clear that “Greenlander wars have never mattered to us, this one won’t either.” The Northerners remained out of the conflict as well, though this was not due to an unwillingness to fight, but instead, the Starks were dealing with a full-scale rebellion on the Island of Skagos.



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Lord Lucas of Harrenhal was a member of the infamous House Lothston, a family known for black deeds and their lack of scruples and honour.


The first true battle of the Blackfyre Rebellion would not contain either a Blackfyre or a Targaryen and would be fought in the Reach, not the Riverlands. The de facto leader of the Blackfyre supporters in the Reach, Lord Jon Hightower, led an army nine-thousand strong and made up of men from Houses Hightower, Costayne, Bulwer, and Tarly. Marching on Highgarden, the Blackfyre army would encounter their foe twenty miles from the ancient holdfast. The Tyrell force, led by Lord Paramount Leo ‘Longthorn’ himself, contained fifteen-thousand men, more than enough to defeat Hightower’s army. Be that as it may, Lord Jon knew that if he were to retreat the Tyrell force would chase them into the Mander, and in the process, thousands would drown. He gave the order to his men to stand their ground and ordered that the standard of the Black Dragon be raised on high. The Tyrell force smashed against the Blackfyre defenders as knights and light cavalry fought long bloody melee’s in the fields surrounding the battlefield. According to Lord Arron Leygood, who commanded the Tyrell host’s left flank, he said:


“The battlefield so loud that I was soon deafened. Between the cacophony of steel, shouts, screams, and death, the ear could hardly stand it. I thought that land itself would reject us, for it was red from the bloodshed. It did not take long for the stench of death to fill the air; it was so warm that the putrefaction started before the battle was over. It was the summer, every field in the Reach was bone dry, but the smallfolk would say that the battlefield of Highgarden would remain wet with blood for months. As for me, my ears recovered, my wounds healed. It’s only my dreams that remain unchanged.”


As the day wore on the Blackfyre host was being slowly pushed back, despite the heavy casualties they had inflicted on Lord Leo’s army. Just as it seemed that they would collapse, the cavalry of House Peake emerged from behind the Tyrell force and smashed into it. Though they didn’t destroy them, the Peake forces caused enough chaos for the Blackfyre’s to force back the Tyrells. Lord Leo Tyrell had no choice but to retreat, leaving the road to Highgarden clear. The Battle of Highgarden had been costly. The Blackfyre Host had lost nearly four-thousand men, with two-thousand three hundred of those being deaths. The Peake cavalry, which numbered one-thousand men had lost around three hundred. The Tyrell force had lost nearly nine thousand, with about three thousand being deaths and the rest being captured. The next day forces from Houses Oakheart and Osgrey arrived, and they laid siege to Highgarden as Lord Jon Hightower led his forces north.



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Lord Jon of House Hightower is the latest in the line of the Lords of Oldtown, the oldest city in Westeros. He sided with Daemon's cause due to his dislike of increasing Dornish influence.



Upon hearing about the victory at Highgarden, Daemon ordered his fifteen thousand strong armies to advance on King’s Landing, leaving Lord’s Lucas Lothston and Lord Harys Bracken to lead ten-thousand troops in aid of Lords Reyne and Crakehall, who had been pushed back by the Lannisters. On the march to King’s Landing stragglers began to swell the ranks of Blackfyre army, and by the time they crossed the Blackwater Rush, it numbered twenty thousand men. Some men began to predict victory, with some, including Ser Otho Bracken, already writing victory songs. Events would soon turn sour. When the army reached Rayonet they received news that Lord Damon Lannister was leading a ten thousand strong army that was about to reach the Targaryen forces, that already numbered fifteen thousand soldiers. On top of that Lord Arryn had landed in Duskendale with fifteen thousand men and was slowly marching towards King’s Landing. Suddenly Daemon was outnumbered two to one. The only thing Daemon did have was the element of surprise, for none of the three armies knew that he had just crossed into the Crownlands. If they had they would have descended on him, rather than slowly meeting each other.

It was three days after he had led the army out of Duskendale when Lord Donnel Arryn received startling news from his scouts. According to them, an army flying the banners of House Blackfyre was marching straight for them and was only hours away. When he asked for an estimate of their forces the scouts were divided. Some claimed the army had only ten thousand men, whilst others overestimated and guessed that it numbered closer to thirty thousand. Lord Arryn was not a man to back out of a fight, especially one where the odds may be in his favour. He ordered his army to take defensive positions around the village of Meadmere, taking care to expel the inhabitants. Like most leaders, Lord Arryn commanded the centre, whilst Lord Belmore commanded the left flank and Lord Royce commanded the right. The Blackfyre host arrived a few hours later and soon a deadly melee in and around Meadmere took place. The Arryn army would fight bravely, but without knowing the odds were stacked against them. Outnumbered by five thousand men and fighting against zealous believers in a cause meant that after a day’s fighting, the Arryn force buckled first. Unlike most battles a savage cutting down of fleeing men did not take place, instead, Daemon allowed the Arryns to retreat, knowing that he had inflicted heavy losses. The Blackfyres lost around seven hundred men, the Arryns had lost nearly three thousand.

Daemon and his army did not have time to celebrate their victory, for they had to stop the Lannister army from linking up with Prince Baelor’s forces in King’s Landing. Undertaking a forced march, the Blackfyre host marched through the night to reach the village of Starry Dell, which was thirty miles north of King’s Landing and three miles south of the holdfast of Hayford. Lord Hayford, a Targaryen loyalist, tried to notify the approaching Lannister army, but the scouts ensured that any riders were killed, and any ravens shot down. In the orange and red glow of sunrise, the screams and bloodshed ensued. The Lannisters, tired and confused, were picked apart by endless volleys of archers and continuous cavalry charges. When the sun was finally up, Lord Lannister realised the scale of the disaster he had walked into. Westermen corpses lay strewn across the fields as pockets of resistance were being mopped up by Blackfyre infantry. Knowing he had lost Lord Lannister ordered a retreat. The butcher's bill ran to over six thousand Lannister losses whilst the Blackfyres had lost only five hundred and fifty-nine men. The road to King’s Landing was now clear.




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this is a good begining
 
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The Blackfyres are doing well...

If the Starks do deal with that rebellion, though, they're a wild card. That could bite either side in the butt.
 
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Chapter 2
Chapter II: The Blackfyre Rebellion Part II


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The news of the Lannister defeat at Starry Dell shocked King Daeron’s Small Council. Both Daemon’s speed and tenacity had caught the Targaryen’s off guard, and now their original plan was in tatters. The Targaryen host outside the city numbered around thirteen thousand men, two thousand less than the Blackfyre army, who were just days away. The Hand of the King, Lord Ambrose Butterwell, panicked and suggested that they attempt to bargain with Daemon. Both Prince Baelor and Prince Maekar rejected this idea out of hand, with Prince Maekar reportedly on the edge of striking down Lord Butterwell himself. King Daeron wondered if they could bring the army inside the city and defend it in a siege, but this was impossible too. “We have neither the space nor the grain to feed such a force during a siege” responded Lord Hayford “we would starve within the month.” It would be the new Master-of-Whisperers, Lord Brynden Rivers, who would come up with a solution. “We cannot allow Daemon and his army to trap us inside King’s Landing. The army would be better withdrawing to the south whilst his grace and the court move to the safety of Dragonstone.” The King reluctantly agreed to this proposal and ordered an immediate withdrawal from the city. “And who shall defend the city, your grace?” asked a perplexed Lord Butterwell. “Why my lord” said Prince Maekar with a sense of glee “it will be you.”

Within a few hours the Targaryen army, led by Princes Baelor and Maekar, began the march south, whilst the King and his entourage boarded a ship for Dragonstone. Around five thousand fighting men were left in the city, the majority of which were Goldcloaks. Left to lead the city in the King’s absence was Lord Butterwell, a man who lacked even the most basic knowledge of warfare. It is during this time that the first account from what would become a famous diary in Westerosi literature would begin, and it is one of few sources from this era that straddles both the lives of smallfolk and that of nobles and kings. Tommard Ridgley was only seventeen when the Blackfyre Rebellion ignited across Westeros. Born to a family of poor knights, Tommard grew up as a stable boy at Rosby, serving it’s lord in that role until he was twelve when he was caught kissing the lord’s daughter. Beaten to near death by her brother, Tommard escaped to King’s Landing and joined a sellsword company as a keeper for their horses, a role that he described in one of his earliest entries as a “thankless task that makes you hard to be around people. You stink of shit, you get paid shit, and everyone treats you like shit.” Even so, he climbed up the ranks of the sellsword company and at sixteen was allowed to become a man-at-arms, owing to skills as a swordsman. When Daemon Blackfyre rose up, all of the sellswords in King’s Landing were hired by the Crown, in part to stop them from serving the other side.



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On the following day, the Blackfyre army appeared outside the capital. Bells rang out as the gates of the city were slammed shut, and soon after a citywide curfew was put into effect, though it did little to stop the spread of panic in the streets. “Naturally the streets were awash with violence” wrote Tommard “looting was rife in the rich areas of the city, where most of the homes had been abandoned by the fat lordlings who had fled with the King. The waterfront was crowded with desperate people trying to get passage on any boat they could fit on. In Flea Bottom gangs began to strike against each other whilst the Goldcloaks were tied up. Even the High Septon took part in the chaos, announcing that entry into the Great Sept would be barred until the war was over. No doubt the coward hoped that he would be left alone in the event of a sacking.” The city was ill-prepared for a siege and its leadership was fractured as Lord Butterwell struggled to take control of the situation. To make matters worse news that his eldest son was a commander within the Blackfyre host led to lynch mobs assembling outside the Red Keep.

The only thing stopping the city from collapsing into anarchy was the fact that the Blackfyre army had currently not tried to storm the city, as had been expected. Though the Targaryen loyalists did not know it at the time, Blackfyre agents had infiltrated the city and were already making negotiations with key parties inside King’s Landing. These agents had two objectives, to rile up the populace, and to sway the sellswords to the Blackfyre cause. At first, the spies struggled with both of these objectives as people in the city were still recitant to turn against their Targaryen masters. This would change when Lord Butterwell was ousted by Lord Hayford and was placed in the Black Cells, ostensibly on the charge of collaborating with the enemy. Even though Lord Hayford was correct, the general populace saw this as an attempt by Lord Hayford to grab power during a time of crisis. The coup also alienated the sellswords, whose contracts had been signed by Butterwell. Soon the sellsword companies began to covertly join the Blackfyre cause.

Nearly two weeks after the siege of King’s Landing began, the Blackfyre supporters within the city rose up. The Gold Cloaks, who were already spread thin, were overwhelmed by the mob, whilst the sellswords captured key points across the city. From Tommard Ridgley we hear the capture of the Lion Gate “by the late morning the Gold Cloaks were already stretched across the city, trying to stop the rising that had spread through the city. When we arrived at the Lion Gate only thirty men were guarding it, most of whom were little more than boys who suspected nothing. We quickly dispatched them and opened the gate. Minutes later Blackfyre soldiers poured into the city.”



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By nightfall, the city was in the hands of Daemon Blackfyre, with the exception of the Great Sept and the Red Keep. The Great Sept held out for two more days until a novice exited the septry and explained that the High Septon had suddenly died. As expected, a replacement High Septon that was sympathetic to Daemon was quickly instated, though his legitimacy barely extended outside of King’s Landing. The Red Keep would not be so easily taken, however. Lord Hayford had closed off the Keep as soon as the riots had begun in the morning, a choice that most likely saved his life. Many in the city and the Blackfyre host were baying for his blood, with Bittersteel demanding that “the snake Hayford should be cast down on the spikes of Maegor!” As always Daemon was rather more pragmatic. Under the guise of mercy and justice, Daemon offered Hayford and any Targaryen loyalists’ safe passage out of the city if they surrendered the Red Keep to him. A Targaryen loyalist to the end, Lord Hayford rejected the offer, and declared that “if the bastard wants his father’s keep, he can take it with fire and blood.”

It would not take fire and blood, just a little bit of treachery. While most of the Gold Cloaks had been either killed or captured, around three hundred of them had managed to gain refuge inside the Red Keep along with their leader, Commander Larys Follard. Follard had been in the position of Commander of the City Watch for around four years, an experience which had done little to improve his leadership skills. A famed drunkard, he was often at the heart of many corruption scandals that emanated from the bowels of King’s Landing and was the subject of mockery on street art across the city. As expected, he had fled to the Red Keep as soon as word reached him of the pro-Blackfyre riots, and now he commanded what was left of the city’s garrison. It didn’t take long for Follard to begin plotting against Lord Hayford, who he often quarrelled with. Three days after the fall of King’s Landing, Follard and his men within the Keep staged yet another coup, though this time it was rather bloodier. Soldiers seen as loyal to the Targaryens were slaughtered whilst any remaining lords were quickly arrested. Lord Hayford was dragged out of his bed, beaten severely, and then thrown into the Black Cells. When the keep was secure, Follard ordered the gates to be opened, allowing Daemon entry to the castle.



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Almost immediately after hearing what had happened, Daemon ordered the arrest of Follard and his men, primarily due to their rampage through the Red Keep. He also had Lords Hayford and Butterwell released from the Black Cells, though both would remain in the keep as his “guests”. In less than a month, Daemon had seized the capital and had smashed two sizeable armies. To his men, he was quickly becoming a legend, and lords across the Crownlands were beginning to pay homage to the Black Dragon. It looked like fate had landed on Daemon’s side, however, the war was far from over.
 
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The Blackfyres are doing well...

If the Starks do deal with that rebellion, though, they're a wild card. That could bite either side in the butt.

I'm awaiting the Hour of the Wolf Part II, with even more honourable executions!
 
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Seizing the capital and a string of victory I can't help but think the Blackfyres are set to begin their dynasty upon the Throne. Excellent work! Looking forward to the next update
 
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Seizing the capital and a string of victory I can't help but think the Blackfyres are set to begin their dynasty upon the Throne. Excellent work! Looking forward to the next update
Thanks!
 
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Chapter 3
Chapter III: The Blackfyre Rebellion Part III

For a day and a night, Daemon and his army feasted in celebration of their capture of King’s Landing, with the Red Keep crammed to the rafters with knights and lordlings, all of whom were drunk on wine and victory. Daemon himself had chosen to forgo the wine for the night, telling his Maester, Franklyn, that “I will not celebrate until all the realm hails me king.” To many on that night it seemed like the war was won already, a string of decisive victories had practically opened the gates for Daemon and his men, and it seemed that the Targaryen forces were scattered to the wind. None were more confident of Blackfyre victory than Lord Butterwell, who had promptly bent the knee when he was released from the Black Cells. “Your Grace,” said the plump lord as he bowed before Daemon “King’s Landing welcomes its rightful king, as do I.” The cantankerous Lord Hayford had not been as won over as Butterwell but did admit that “King Daeron lost this war when he abandoned his seat.” The two lords were also present at the feast in the Red Keep, though under guard by Bittersteel’s men.


The following morning Daemon ordered that preparations be made for the army to head out yet again, for he knew that the Targaryen’s were far from defeated. Scouts had reported that two large armies bearing the banner of the red dragon were marching into the Crownlands, with the obvious intent to link up and besiege King’s Landing. Though they could not relay accurate figures, the scouts estimated that altogether they numbered forty-five thousand men, an almost three to one advantage over Daemon’s force. With Commander Follard under arrest, Daemon named Ser Jammos Chambers as the new Commander of the Gold Cloaks, whilst naming Lord Harys Bracken as overall Commander of the City. The next day Daemon marched out of the city with thirteen thousand men, leaving two thousand of his own in the city, along with four thousand Gold Cloaks. It would be just a few hours after they had marched out that a messenger from Lord Bracken arrived telling him that a raven had arrived with some incredible news. Arion Baratheon, Lord of Storms End and Lord Paramount of the Stormlands, had been sitting out of the war and had declared for either Black or Red dragons. Well, now it seemed like his time waiting was over, for he now declared that “From this day to my last day, I will fight for the rightful king, the king who was given the sword of Aegon the Conqueror, the king who was best made for the throne.”



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The Blackfyre cause had not been going as well across the rest of Westeros. House Yronwood had been decisively defeated at the Battle of the Boneway by the Martells, and the remnants of their army fled north into the Stormlands. The Blackfyre loyalists in the Westerlands had been crushed at the twin battles of Oxcross and Sarsfield, and their forces had been scattered to the winds, whilst in the Riverlands Lord Medgar Tully had managed to halt Lord Frey’s advances in the Riverlands. The only theatre in which the Blackfyres were winning was the Reach, where Lord Jon Hightower’s army was continuing to push the Tyrells up the Mander. To save his army from destruction, Lord Leo Tyrell fled north and met up with Prince Baelor’s army at Dalston’s Keep in the hopes that their pooled army could stop Lord Hightower’s indomitable advance. To Lord Leo’s consternation, Prince Baelor had a different plan in mind. Knowing that it was likely that Lords Hightower and Baratheon would likely link their forces before he had time to strike, Prince Baelor instead decided to march his force of twenty thousand men west to link up with the Lannisters. It was hoped that a combined force of over thirty thousand men could quickly overcome Daemon’s smaller force.

Daemon, unaware of such a plan, marched his men east towards Rosby, outside of which was mustering a new Targaryen force, led by Lord Arryn, whose forces he had rallied after their defeat at Meadmere. Bolstered by two thousand men from the newly loyal House Hayford, Daemon descended onto them during the early hours of the morning. It took only three hours for the now battle-hardened Blackfyre army to break the enemy force, which was mainly made up of peasants recently pressed into service. This didn’t stop Bittersteel from leading the cavalry in a blood bath in which they killed nearly three thousand fleeing troops. Lord Rosby surrendered the town without a fight the following day. Wounded and demoralised, Lord Arryn led the remains of his army in a retreat northwards, a retreat that Daemon decided to let happen. “Lord Arryn fought bravely” said Daemon when his order was questioned by his sons “his army is broken, as is their will. There is no need to beat a wounded falcon.”




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The news of Lord Arryn’s defeat was met with surprising relief by Prince Baelor, for now, he knew that Daemon’s army was not going to able to intercept him on the way to meeting up with the Lannister army, that was now approaching the Blackwater Rush. “My Uncle is a great warrior and a good tactician” admitted Prince Baelor during a meeting with his commanders “but he has overplayed his hand this time. We have forty thousand men at our disposal, what does he have? Tired and battle-weary soldiers who are outnumbered severely. This war will soon be over my lords, I swear it.” Many in his camp agreed with him, all except Lord Bloodraven, who argued that the new Targaryen-Lannister force should retreat into the Riverlands and meet up with Lord Tully’s army. “Nonsense” declared Prince Maekar in his characteristically gruff manner “we need to stop this rebellion before it has a chance to spread even further, I say we attack and crush the traitors into the mud.” Prince Baelor decided to ere on the side of caution and hold his ground just a mile from the castle of Belgrave on the Great Fork.

If the Targaryens wished that their new force would intimidate Daemon, they would be gravely mistaken. “They are standing their ground like an iron shield across the Blackwater Rush” reported a scout when he returned with the sighting of the Targaryen army “they guard the only bridge across the river.” Daemon smiled “the river shall not impede us, and neither will this ‘iron shield’. It may be strong but iron breaks when faced with steel.” With all the confidence as he had always possessed, Daemon commanded his army to march west, straight for the Great Fork. It would be just a day later when, on a misty morning, Prince Baelor’s outriders returned with news that Daemon’s army was just hours away. “The bastard is brave, I’ll give him that” admitted Prince Maekar when he was told the news “I’ll see how long he lasts on the battlefield.”

When the Blackfyre army arrived, Daemon immediately ordered his army to halt just before the only bridge across the Blackwater Rush, and instead sent his archers to pepper the Targaryen forces. This did little to whittle away the giant Targaryen army, which in turn loosed arrows back across the river at their Blackfyre foes. For hours this back and forth skirmishing took place, with neither side gaining an advantage, and neither side willing to cross the bridge. Lord Lannister suggested that they build rafts to cross the river upstream, thus allowing them to rap around Daemon’s army, but this was rejected by Prince Baelor, who did not wish to divide his forces. And so the slow inconclusive grind of skirmishing went on until the red sunset bloomed across the fields and men’s armour glistened with deep orange sparks. It was then that a sound slowly filled the air, at first it was quiet but within minutes it became all too apparent what it was. Marching from the south. Appearing from a small copse to the south was an army that bore the flags of House Hightower, Tarly, Peake, and Blackfyre. In all, it was comprised of nearly fifteen-thousand Reachmen and sellswords that had defected in King’s Landing. “What a sight it was” wrote Tommard Ridgley in his diary a few days later “thirty thousand men caught with their breeches down and their arse bare for all to see. Even from where I was standing I could see the panic on their faces. It was that day that I became a Blackfyre.”

The Hightower force quickly descended on the Targaryen army, sending them into disarray. If it wasn’t for the impressive rearguard action by Lord Bloodraven, the army could have been sent into a complete rout. For his part, Prince Baelor quickly rallied the men and soon began to push back the flanking force, though at great cost. In the melee, Prince Maekar personally slew Lord Hightower’s cousin, whilst severely injuring Lord Tarly himself. It was at this time that Daemon struck, as he quickly launched hastily constructed pontoons filled with men whilst his most armoured knights, led by Bittersteel and Quentyn Ball, stormed across the bridge. Lord Tyrell, who had been charged to defend the bridge, panicked as he saw his now outnumbered men be overwhelmed at all sides. It quickly became clear that the bridge was lost and he retreated. Upon seeing this, Princes Baelor and Maekar wheeled around and attempted to stop the Blackfyre advance. What transpired was a brutal melee that went on into the night as men and horse bled in the dark. It would be now that the most astounding event of the battle would take place.



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Tommard Ridgley, the young sellsword who has provided us with one of the few first-hand accounts of the war, was in the thick of the fighting and his own words were “both filled with so much bloodlust that I could scarcely stop cleaving, and filled with such terror that I could scarcely stop shitting.” His account continues “I had just struck down yet another farmers son or tanners boy when I saw that several of the enemy’s soldiers had begun to gather around someone. When I managed to cut through some of the more oblivious onlookers I saw something I would have never believed. Daemon Blackfyre, his grand silver and red armour stained with mud and blood, cornered by half a dozen spearmen, each of whom was too scared to make the first move. Unsurprising, seeing as around Daemon lay four corpses, one of which was a knight. All of a sudden a rush filled within me and a charged with my shield up and my sword poised for the thrust. The first man did not stand a chance, while the second slipped on mud, allowing me to stamp on his windpipe. Daemon did not hang around, for he soon joined the melee, and within a minute the six men had been whittled down to just one, a boy, who was begging for his life. Luckily for the boy, Daemon was a warrior, not a killer, and he bestowed mercy upon the child. If it was me, the boy would be laying in the seven hells.”




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The battle lasted into the following morning, by which point the Targaryen force had begun to disintegrate. Lord Bloodraven and Prince Maekar managed to break out and led a force of four thousand men out of the battle. Prince Baelor fought on but was eventually pushed to the banks of the Blackwater Rush. It was heard that Daemon’s commanders urged him to slaughter the enemy force to the last man, but as always he erred on the side of mercy. Ordering his men to back away and form a cordon, Daemon offered terms to Prince Baelor. In them, he stated that if he and his forces surrender, not only would their lives be spared, but they would be fed and watered as well. Knowing that he had no other choice, Prince Baelor and his three thousand surviving men surrendered to the Blackfyres. It was not just Prince Baelor that Daemon had captured, but also Lords Lannister, Tyrell, Brax, Marbrand, Massey, and Merryweather. The battle had been bloody, the Blackfyres had lost seven thousand men altogether, whilst the Targaryens had lost nearly twenty thousand. Though the war was not yet won, to many on that day it seemed as though it had already been decided.


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