The Book of the Brothers, AGOT AAR

[WeeLittleSpoon]

This is a really nice idea. Know that other people are reading! Poor Arthor Ball, though. Was his age a factor to his untimely end?

 

[EtzelHoveri]

Not at all. He was 35ish. The problem was he was just a trained knight going up against a genius master duelist with Red Rain. Combat scores were something like 45 vs 195

 

[EtzelHoveri]

Quentin Dunn
Lord Commander of the Kingsguard
​

Quentin was named as the Lord Commander by the Lady Baratheon a few days after Lord Drumm set sail back to his home. His first action would be to name the younger brother of House Oakheart, Triston as the newest member of the Kingsguard. If Arthor's death showed them anything, the guard needed better warriors and Triston was considered not only the greatest in the Reach currently, but maybe even in all of Westeros. There was also great animosity between the Lady Baratheon and the Lady Alla Gardener. This was an attempt to patch up their disagreements.

Unsurprisingly, naming a member of the Reach to the Kingsguard and another as the Lord Commander was not enough for Lady Alla to forget that the Lady Baratheon had slept with her husband during a Feast at the Capitol. Towards the end of the year 68AC, Lord Gerold Arryn had once more rose up in rebellion naming himself King but this time he was supported by Lady Alla who claimed her own throne. Lord Drumm would issue out his own decree of sovereignty as well.

Once more war ravaged the lands, but this time it was without a strong or even an adult King. Thus the Lady Baratheon had the Lord Commander guiding the crown's army and the Riverlands focus on containing Lord Drumm who she saw as the greater threat. Lord Dondarrion was sent into the Reach in an attempt to quell these lands. These two sides could not have any opposite results though. In the first month of the campaign into the Reach not only was Lord Dondarrion killed, but so were the next three commanders who was placed in charge of this war.

On the other hand, Lord Commander Dunn not only led a brilliant campaign across the Iron Islands, but even was able to corner and capture the false King. This still took him three years, but the war for the Islands was over. For the second time, Lord Drumm requested a Trial by Combat. He would not prove as successful this time when the Kingsguard Joffery Royce cut him down after a short duel. Joffery was seriously wounded in the fight, but he was allowed to keep his place in the guard, though his hopes of replacing the Lord Commander was dashed that day.

Moving their focus from the Islands east, Lord Commander Dunn's much weaker army was not as successful in their attempt to bring the Vale back in line. He would even lose Pate Scales in battle when the Lady Baratheon had sent him north to help bolster the campaign. This in turn had the opposite affect. For four years the two forces attempted and failed to bring these lands into the fold. Eventually, peace was accepted and the Seven Kingdoms of the Iron Throne was sundered. There were now three monarchs who ruled the lands of Westeros.

Spoiler: Lord Gerold Arryn

Gerold Arryn passed away three days after declaring war.

Returning to Kings Landing, Lord Commander Dunn assisted in raising the young King after replacing the deceased Kingsguard with Myles Bar Emmon who was only seventeen but rivaled Triston with the sword and was 'friends' with the Lady Baratheon. It would be the King's fourteenth birthday when the High Septon approached him while he and the Lord Commander were practicing the blade. Word had started a few days previously to spread throughout the Capitol of some of the things the Lord Commander had attempted to do to bring the Vale back into the fold during the war. Murdering of children, feeding them to dogs, mass castrations, and so many other heinous actions which in the end proved fruitless. Now it seemed to be biting him in the butt when the High Septon ordered him to come with him to pay for his sins.

Believing he had no sins to pay for, he refused. Dunn did not wake the following morning.

Rulers he Served
Duncan I Targaryen, Maelor II Targaryen

Warriors who died in the white under his command
Pate Scales​

 

[EtzelHoveri]

Myles Bar Emmon
Lord Commander of the Kingsguard,
Master at Arms of the Iron Throne​

With the King still a child, he turned to his Hand, the Lady Baratheon, for guidance on who to name his next Lord Commander. She instantly named the young Myles Bar Emmon as the most logical of choices. Though young, he was a skilled warrior, well respected across the lands, and not so old that when the regency ended, he would not look down upon him as still being a child in their eyes. Thus the young man took up the mantle of the Lord Commander. He would replace both his predecessor and the deceased Joffery Royce who had passed away from his injuries with Aegon Darry and very surprisingly, Hugh Arryn. At first, Hugh had come to Kings Landing hoping to replace his Great Uncle as leader of the Vale when he had declared his independence, but as time went on, and the war had been lost, this plan was quickly becoming unlikely to occur. Especially, after a young peasant woman from the island of Dragonstone married the new King of Mountain and Vale, her dowry was the two dragon eggs in which Balerion had had since she had succeed in taming the mighty beast.

His time as a Kingsguard would be short as he would be among the first to die during King Maelor II's campaign began on his seventeenth birthday to reclaim the Reach. Unlike previous wars where the King and his Lord Commander led the battle, neither left the Capitol. As time went on the war dragged on for quite some time. Hugh Arryn would eventually be replaced by Sumner Serrett of the Westlands. Even Aegon Darry would fall in this campaign but to Jorgen Gardener, heir-apparent of the Reach. He would be replaced by a spindly of a man named Culian Ladybright. Much similar to the Daynes or the Velaryons of Driftmark, Culian had the look of Valyrian heritage which slightly angered the King. Though he was of Valyrian descent, the Stark blood which ran strongly in his veins gave him more of a Northman appearance. Since the days of his grandfather, Maelor I, the Targaryens were dark of hair. Even his two children, Sefton and Symion, were dark of hair much like himself. Marrying one of the dragonseeds of Dragonstone did not have the affect he had hoped for.

The war continued to rage on in the south, but his attention would be split north when Lord Alyn Lannister also named himself King. Many discussions were held between the King and his advisors. One day when both the Lord Commander and the Lady Baratheon failed to appear for a Small Council meeting they were discovered in bed with one another. Enraged by this betrayal of oaths, the King removed the Lady Baratheon from her place as Hand of the King, but Myles was far more punished for his actions and breaking of oaths. Thus he was castrated, beaten, burned, removed of his position as both Master at Arms and Lord Commander before shipped off to the Wall where he would end his days. Over time he would become the only Lord Commander to hold this title twice, once as Kingsguard and again as the leader of the Night's Watch.

Rulers he Served
Maelor II Targaryen

Warriors who died in the white under his command
Joffery Royce, Hugh Arryn, Aegon Darry


​

(With the removal of Myles Bar Emmon leaves only three more chapters to this story. Most likely the story should be finished by the first of the month. These previous couple of chapters were much easier to write since the Lord Commanders were either very short lived, did very little during his time, or simply nothing happened while they were in charge. Sadly the next two chapter are not much longer. However, the final chapter should be closer to the original two in length.)

 

[EtzelHoveri]

Sumner Serrett
Lord Commander of the Kingsguard,
Hand of the King​

Upon the removal the previous Lord Commander, King Maelor II chose Sumner Serrett as the newest leader of the Kingsguard. This was in part because of the man's knowledge of the Westlands for he would be placed in command of the army to attempt to keep the Lannister's of Casterly Rock in-check. Already this family had spread its influence quite far as they not only controlled and were attempting to name themselves Kings and Queens of the Westlands, but Dorne as well as scattering keeps in the Riverlands, Vale, and across their border in the Reach all had Lannisters ruling these lands. Though the minor Lords and Ladies still paid homage to their de facto rulers, any moment this could shift.

Prior to setting out for his campaign in the West, the Lord Commander and the King found themselves discussing a possible project which would stretch across the entirety of Westeros. One of the issues that Sumner believed was the cause of these rebellions was the fact that the lands were so vast. Now without any dragons residing within the King's power, they needed a way to reach across the lands with the army. Therefore, Sumner had proposed a, likely decade long, if not longer, project to build a vast Highway spreading to each of the major keeps in the land.

King Maelor II saw the logic in this plan of his and so began funding this project, even naming Sumner Serrett as the Hand of the King in charge of such an undertaking. First, he suggested building from Kings Landing to Harrenhal. This would give them an opportunity to then spread either west, north, or east. On top of that, Harrenhal was one of the few regions which had held loyalty to the King since the beginning. Even when the Tullys rebelled back in 58 AC, the Qoherys of Harrenhal did not send troops to aid in this war. There was also the fact that Addam Qoherys, second son of the Lord of Harrenhal, was one of the few dragon riders of Westeros. Before the highway was even partially built, Addam had left Westeros to find adventure and conquest in Essos amongst the Second Sons.

After but a single year of conflict in the Westlands and the campaign to retake regions of the Reach continued on, almost all conflict suddenly ceased. A 'Great Sickness' suddenly and violently struck Westeros killing thousands upon thousands. Among those who would die were Narbert Tarth, Waltyr Waynwood, and Darnold Haigh who had replaced Tarth in the Kingsguard. Lord Commander Serrett would join the dead as well, which was not overly surprising since the Lord Commander had a reputation which for some reason the King ignored. Myles had been punished for sleeping with the Lady Baratheon, but for some reason Sumner who had taken Culian Ladybright, Waltyr Waynwood, and Manfred Oakheart, younger cousin of the current Kingsguard Triston Oakheart who had replaced Myles, all as lovers was simply ignored.

Rulers he Served
Maelor II Targaryen

Warriors who died under his command
Narbert Tarth, Waltyr Waynwood, Donald Haigh​

 

[EtzelHoveri]

Triston Oakheart
Lord Commander of the Kingsguard​

Triston became Lord Commander during a truly turbulent time in Westerosi history. At this time the Great Sickness still spread across the continent, two wars were being fought between the crown and its major Lords, and another campaign being led by the Baratheons who used the Reaches depleted manpower and independence to spread its influence across the northern border of the Red Mountains in what is known as the Dornish Marches.

The next two men to fall to the Sickness which had even taken the previous Lord Commander were his lover Culian Ladybright and Omar Ambrose. These three men would be replaced by the warriors Malentine Scales, Benjicot Blackwood, and Mandon Gladmore, all of whom were in their later years but among the greatest soldiers of the age. Mandon specifically was not a great tourney knight, but he had been fighting amongst the Warrior's Sons since his father had disowned him for the past twenty years.

It would be Gladmore's influence and that of the new High Septon which would return Oldtown to allegiance of the Targaryen family and within another two years the lands remaining to the King of the Reach would once more swear fealty to King Maelor II. Maelor had been fighting wars since his youth and quickly became known as the 'Young Dragon', but now far older men began calling him the 'True Dragon' for his efforts in reclaiming his families past lands. Things were at last looking like the Seven Kingdoms might once more be whole again.

King Maelor would focus his attention to the Lannisters of Casterly Rock next, after a five year reprieve from conflict. The first among these to fall would be Mandon Gladmore, but to ensure peaceful relations between the throne and Oldtown, they named Nyles Hightower as the newest man of the Kingsguard. Little did they know that Nyles would one day be the last of the Lord Commanders of the Seven Kingdoms.

In less than a month of conflict between the West and Crown, King Maelor II would join the fallen as well. Slain by a common soldier who in turn was struck down by Malentine Scales at the Battle of Golden Tooth. He would be followed on the throne by his seven year old son, Sefton Targaryen. Not only did Sefton inherit the throne and his father's war for the West, but a whole new slew of issues for the Seven Kingdoms had been held together as well as it had been thanks to the wisdom and guidance of their King. Now with a child on the throne again, war once more would ravage the lands. Yet this would be the problem for Nyles Hightower. Triston would fall in the following battle to a stray arrow.

Spoiler: Sefton Targaryen

Sefton was mentioned in a previous chapter, but he was not born yet. This story is supposed to be written following the fact, not updated like my previous story and how it was done in that universe.

Rulers he Served
Maelor II Targaryen, Sefton I Targaryen

Warriors who died under his command
Culian Ladybright, Omar Ambrose, Mandon Gladmore​

 

[EtzelHoveri]

Well that just leaves Nyles Hightower chapter remaining. Hopefully, I will have it written up some time in the next couple of days. Have a couple of ideas planned for my next AAR. On the 1st of September, when this AAR should be finished, is also the release date of the reopened Hogwarts mod. I may end up doing an AAR following that mod instead of AGOT. Which in itself is crazy seeing as how about...95% of my AARs I have written are AGOT based. However, if the mod isn't quite up to snuff and too many bugs for a proper AAR, I will look at one of my AAR plans which have been put on the backburner.

 

[EtzelHoveri]

Nyles Hightower
Lord Commander of the Kingsguard,
Hand of the Iron Throne​

Nyles Hightower would find himself replacing Tristan Oakheart, who some considered the key to a hopeful unification of the Seven Kingdoms. The previous Lord Commander would be replaced by William Bourney. Thus the final Kingsguard in history was Bourney, Benjicot Blackwood, Malentine Scales, Kenneth Bigglestone, Manfred Oakheart, and the elderly Harys Warrick. Of these seven men, only Ser Warrick had served under Sefton's grandfather Duncan I Targaryen.

With the war failing in the West, the new Lord Protector of the Realm, Lord Aegon Velaryon, issued a call back to Kings Landing and an offer of peace. Lord Aegon's second act, which surprised many people, was to agree to the independence of the Iron Islands, the North, and once more the lands of the Reach. This left only the Tully controlled Riverlands, Baratheon's Stormlands, and Dorne to pay homage to the Iron Throne. It would later be said that Lord Aegon had done this in an attempt to prevent the Starks from gaining power in Kings Landing. Since the days of Maelor I, the Starks have wed two Kings and even Sefton had been promised to a Stark. However, with the recent independence, the betrothal was also broken in order to marry him to his youngest daughter.

It is important to note that the young Lady Baela Velaryon was twenty years his senior and if Sefton had reached adulthood, would not have likely have had any children for the young King. Quickly the power structure of the Iron Throne shifted to that of allies and friends to the newest Hand of the King. The Lord Commander being from the Reach and greatly disliked by Lord Aegon, found himself removed from all Small Council meetings and informed that he was not permitted to guard the very King he had sworn an oath to protect.

By the end of the year, Lord Aegon had amassed enough power and support that he felt comfortable in arresting Lord Commander Nyles shortly after the King's eighth birthday. Though the Hand had much power and influence in the Capitol, so did the Lord Commander. Thus he was able to have a Trial by Combat issued before the court during a feast held by the Hand. This was nearly five years after his initial arrest and so when Nyles was brought out of his small hole he was greatly weakened and malnourished. A shell of his former self. He looked so poorly that the Hand himself offered to face the skeletal man. This would be a grave mistake for Lord Aegon who was cut down almost immediately. Ending his reign of terror and allowing Lord Rosby the former Master of Coin to step up and take over guidance of the Kingdom.

Upon returning to his home in the White Sword Tower, Nyles learned that during his time imprisoned that Lord Baratheon had conquered all of the Reach and even broken away from his allegiance to the Iron Throne. Currently, he was winning a war to the south to bring Dorne into his realm as well. Even the Riverlands had fallen and was once more under the control of the Iron Islands which was ruled by the Harlaw family.

Lord Aegon had allowed the kingdom to crumble to dust in his search for minor power. King Sefton was only a few years from adulthood when word had reached them that a small army had landed just to the south of Kings Landing under the banner of Lys. They were coming to bring the Targaryen family to an end and destroy the Iron Throne. Lord Commander Nyles would join the forces which would join the attack on this army. He left behind the remaining six members of the Kingsguard to protect King Sefton.

Upon their arrival to the south, these few men found no soldiers just remnants of campfires and so returned to their home. Long before arriving though, they saw the black billowing smoke. Kings Landing had been burned to the ground by the dragons of Lys. Among the dead were all of the Kingsguard and King Sefton Targaryen. As well as Lord Rosby and many other Lords and Ladies of the court. With no real leadership remaining in the city, the soldiers and minor nobles of his small army all named him Hand to the Iron Throne. Which ironically no longer existed.

When a messenger arrived offering peace to this small group the next day, Nyles Hightower agreed to it. The Seven Kingdoms were no more. The Iron Throne was no more. The Kingsguard were no more. Few know what happened to Nyles Hightower. Some say that he had returned to Oldtown while others believed he was actually the elder Lord Commander of the Night's Watch who only ruled for a few days fifty years later. Nobody really knows.

Westeros on the other hand would return to a time of war and conflict as different Lords and Ladies vied for power. For a time it looked as if Lord Baratheon would succeed in reunifying the Seven Kingdoms but after his death his lands would be split up between his three sons who in turn fell to other Lords. Eventually, it would become what it is today, a rotting land of pirates and 'great' Lords who claim heritage to men and women who no longer matter. It is a land which nobody cares about anymore. Maybe one day, the Dragon Lords of Essos will unite or turn their attention to this lands, but for now we look to ourselves and more importantly the sky.


(This brings us to an end of The Book of the Brothers. I hope you enjoyed the story. The game actually had Lord Aegon Baratheon becoming King when Sefton died as he was the closest relative to him that was still alive. However, I thought this would be a more interesting ending. When King's Landing was burned down by the dragons a total of 84 people were killed. The entire Kingsguard, King Stefon, Stefon's great Uncle(who was never mentioned in the story and also named Stefon), and the Small Council except the Master of Coins, Lord ... Darklyn(can't remember his first name).

With the ending of this AAR, we shall see what the new Hogwarts mod looks like tomorrow and see if I might be doing an AAR based on that universe. I will hopefully have a new AAR up by the end of the month in Hogwarts, AGOT, or possibly Avatar.)

 

[Alizon]

Tahts some hard work here. Keep it going and thank you!

 

[EtzelHoveri]

Thanks. I should start doing AARs more frequently again. Took a few years off.

Was really hoping to do the next AAR for CK3 but I can’t justify spending money right now. Too much real life stuff going on sadly.

Nevertheless, I will have another AAR up by the end of the month. This one will be more character and story driven and not just list of events like this AAR.

 

[EtzelHoveri]

The Wizarding World mod has now released and it is fun and has quite a few things going for it. However, a number of things were taken out to polish so I will be holding off on doing my Badics AAR from that mod until a few more things are added into the game. Therefore, I will be doing another AAR in the AGOT world for the time being. Hopefully, have the first chapter up in the next two to three weeks.

 

[The Number 9]

I really enjoyed your story (I just read the last chapter as I was on holidays). The realm was never really stabilized after the Conquest and it gives you an interesting tale to write.