Brooke Scott

Failed Betrothal

Meeting the Sister

As Lindsay closed the door behind Brooke she grabbed her hand again but this time much more harshly and pulled her farther into the house, before going outside and into another small house outside the main house. Once inside this house Lindsay let go of her hand before slapping Brooke across the face and pushing her to the ground. Brooke was much younger then Lindsay and this was the first moment in her life where someone had ever reacted truly angry towards her so she didn't know what to do, and she just lay there as Lindsay screamed at her. Through all the screaming she heard the door open and hoped that someone was coming to save her, but when the verbal and sometimes physical attacks continued she realized she must have been hearing things. Lindsay screamed at her that Julian was hers and that she would not allow Brooke to interfere with her love for Julian.

Getting the element of surprise wasn't the last move that Bill Lovie would do in order to make sure his plan of destroying Tree Hill would succeed though as on top of destroying the Eyes, and luring the Orcs he also lured away most of the Tree Hill army in the moment they were most necessary. In order to do this Bill created a Kings letter in which he ordered Earl Scott to accompany the Tree Hill trade mission to Forks with as many troops as he could possibly spare as Bill believed that an insidious force was preparing to destroy Forks from within. While Earl Scott didn't believe or even understand where this came from he was honor bound to follow the words of his king so he took nearly fifty percent of the Tree Hill army and accompanied the Tree Hill trade mission on its mission to Forks.

With the command of the city falling out of the hands of Earl Scott the vacuum of power fell to the hands of Sayden Nighting of whom was told by Bill Lovie that the Orcs were incoming and was promised the Lordship of Tree Hill for his assistance in destroying Tree Hill. As fate would have it, not only was most of the Tree Hill army not at their post because of the trade meeting in Forks. But the leader of the Army, and Lord of Tree Hill Earl Scott was also not in Tree Hill when the attack was underway. This meant that the city which would have already been in serious trouble due to the surprise attack which was incoming were nearly completely at the mercy of the orcs without the majority of their army in the actual city. While significant number of nobles were in the town as Bill had not made the trip something anyone outside of Earl Scott was even allowed to go the devastation was surely planned to be incredible in the early moments.

The Orcs moved across the plains in as perfect a following of the directions they had been given by the Circle of Magi as the Orcs were probably capable of. Destroying two villages as they moved they overran the out keep that guarded the initial approach to the city. While the out keeps were meant to have been occupied by nearly fifty men each the deployment schedules had been purposely screwed up by Sayden Nighting. With the out keeps not alerting to an attack the Orcs were on the doorstep before anyone knew what had happened, and it was in that moment that the fate of the city was sealed. The Orc army was within 100 feet of the gates when the first guard saw there arrival, and scanning across the field it was a blanket of green as the Orcs were seemingly endless in number. The guard ran the alarm bell, and then the men manning the gate attempted to close it. All the Tree Hill guards that were present in the area swarmed the gate in the hopes they could hold the gate until it could be closed. Traven Goodsbrow, and the Oakheart twins Frasier, and Thomas Oakheart were in the vicinity and would also move in the direction of the fighting at the gate. Traven and the Oakheart twins would be overwhelmed alongside the rest of the guards at the gatehouse and the Orcs swelled into the city from the main gate shattering the cork that held the Orcs at bay. Once they had control of the gate the Orcs quickly destroyed any resistance that managed to form in the outer city, while they began destroying and setting buildings ablaze. The rampaging force of Orcs massacred there way through the packed market which was located near the main gatehouse, and since Tree Hill was so far inside the borders of Lucerne no one was really threatened and thus hadn't fled as the bells had tolled. The massacre continued unabated until southward of the main gatehouse the Orcs would come to the castle of the Typhon's in the form of Typhon's Keep.

Located in the northern section of Tree Hill the estate of House Typhon was a small but secure keep that had long controlled the northern section of the city. A vassal of House Scott they would be within their estate as the city burned and the northern half was completely wiped out. House Typhon would hold off till the very last minute trying to allow more people to flee inside the keep including Lord Robett Highport and three of his men at arms, and it was only when the Orcs begin to reach the gatehouse that Lord Typhon finally commanded it shut. Blocking their gates the Orcs arrived on the scene the males took to the walls and fired upon the Orcs drawing major attention to themselves and slowing the advance as the Orcs attempted to take the Keep. As the Orcs poured all along the walls Lord Typhon would attempt to get people out through the rear of the keep but they discovered that the gatehouse has been sabotaged and couldn't be opened. The front gate was finally bashed down as the defenders on the wall begin to run out of arrows, but the defenders had created enough time that they had been able to place a barricade behind this forcing most of the Orcs to use makeshift ladders, and ropes to climb onto the walls. Getting onto the walls the Orcs would take horrible casualties but there number were unending and they were able to wipe out the defenders including Lord Typhon and two of his sons, and would thus gain entrance into the courtyard within. Lord Robett Highport led a brief counter assault at the main gatehouse attempting to bar the entrance but was killed alongside his men after the walls had been completely overrun. The final son of House Typhon would defend the inner hold nearly alone trying to protect his mother, cousins, and sisters but watched as the Orcs killed the remaining gaurds and the rest of House Typhon were massacred in the inner hallway. With the massacre the Orcs would move forward towards the Scott Keep of which was only real place that any sort of defence could be mounted.

Last stand at the Gryphon Gate

Lucas Scott was in the House Scott Keep when the first Orcs begin piling into the city itself, and when he learned of this he became overcome with fear that Haley, Brooke, or Peyton were stuck out there so he ran throughout the inner keep in an attempt to find them. As he ran out of his room he saw his father sitting at his desk not looking like he was very stressed, and he was surrounded by several men including two from House Nighting. Dan Scott was by this point making sure that all their preperations to abandon the city were in place, but had discovered that the tunnel exits that they had put in place had been sabotaged and thus there was no escape for them. Not realizing who was the cause of this they immediately assumed the cause was Bill Lovie, but in fact the tunnels had been sabatoged by Morrigan of whom hadn't be capable of allowing the tratiors to get away with what they had done. Leaving the inner keep he found Haley and Brooke early on but couldn't manage to find Peyton Sawyer inside the inner courtyard. He went to the personal Scott armory and donned his armor alongside his brother Nathan and prepared to enter the city in search of her, but as he reached the inner gatehouse he saw Peyton screaming his name. Peyton had been able to return to the keep before the massacre and now she was crying so much that Lucas had to hold her up, and he would hand her over sadly to Brooke and Haley of whom he forced to return inside the inner Hold.

With his plan in place he scanned around for Peyton of whom he knew deserved a goodbye with the plan he had in mind. It didn't take long for him to find her in the crowd and when he did he ran to her side leaving time for the other men of his party to also say brief goodbyes if they had ones. By this point the defenses of the eastern bridge were becoming increasingly dire until the distraught Franklin Lee II. arrived from the destroyed part of town with nearly fifty men from House Lee and managed to reinforce the bridge house long enough for them to close the bridge. As they crossed the bridge Frank Lee is said to have in his despair over the death of his wife that he had sat down and allowed himself to be killed by the Orcs.

And with that Lucas kissed her, and the kiss was so intense for her that she couldn't manage the strength to hold onto him as he pulled away and then ran to the bridge. As she attempted to chase after him, she was grabbed by Karen Scott of whom knew that her son was going to do exactly what he was going to do, and she didn't want to lose Peyton as well. Peyton tried desperately to pull away, but Karen held a death grip on her, and it took a minute before she was able to get away and when she did Lucas was already on the bridge, and the guards wouldn't allow her through. Peyton attempted to get onto the wall to see him but the guards forced her back farther into the keep where she eventually met up with Brooke, and Haley who watched with her from the Dragon Tower what they believed was going to be the death of Lucas Scott on the bridge. By this point the other houses of the south west Keep were finding themselves becoming under attack as the Orcs were spreading throughout the city, and the defenses of the southwestern keep were in disrepair and Jimmy James planned to attempt to defend them anyway but the arrival of Hank James changed the plans of Jimmy James and Anakin Oakheart. Hank James would explain to the two lords that the defenses had completely collapsed and that only the defenses of the water could save them alongside telling Anakin about the death of his twin sons and his grandson while telling Jimmy about his wife and child's death. Hank James decided to stay in the James Keep and die defending it while the remainder of the Oakheart, and James households would pull all of their men and women and forces and pull them to the western gate.

As Lucas continued to fight on the bridge, Peyton went to find Nathan and found him ordering around men, and making seemingly no effort to save his brother from the situation he was in. She grabbed Nathan by the collar and punched him in the face for the person he had become, and she kept hitting him until he pushed her off him, and ordered one of his men to escort her back to the tower, and to lock her, Haley, Brooke and his mother on the balcony. By this point Leah, and Lauren Oakheart arrived and told them that they had arrive with their family and people alongside House James and all of their people and they had just barely managed to get through the western gatehouse before the Orcs had overrun the entire route. Han, and Lucas Oakheart they would say were leading the defense of the western gatehouse alongside Jake James.

The Defence of the Bridge

Lucas and his party alongside five men at arms of various houses proceeded to hold the bridge for almost an hour under extremely difficult circumstances. At first he moved far past the bridge as he shouted for people to hurry up and get inside, but after fifteen minutes he started to see the first trickle of Orcs moving forward and it was in this moment that he held the road for a time stopping Orcs with carefully aimed bow shots. Perwyn Guntbold, and Hansal Oakheart were also firing arrows near him, while Deert, and Hank were directing people towards the bridge and making them hurry. He and the rest of the party were slowly pushed back by their numbers as he didn't want to be cornered in the street, so he pushed himself to the first tier of the bridge and thus allowed the people to continue getting inside the Keep. While they were pulling back two of the other men at arms fell to Orcs, and Deert took a horrifying blow to his arm of which when Lucas moved to him they were both very aware that the wound might be fatal, but he refused to retreat and they covered it as best they could. His desperate fight continued as the Orcs begin swarming at him in increasing numbers, and during this time he held the front of the bridge standing side by side with Perwyn Guntbold while the other men at arms, and the party joined the archer fire from the walls as they devastated the incoming Orcs. At times they would be assisted by some of the fleeing soldiers, but they basically held it alone against hundreds of marauding Orcs for nearly a half an hour. Wave after wave failed to get by him and Perwyn Guntbold, and as his success seemed more and more likely guards from the wall joined his defense of the bridge. They continued to hold until finally they were confronted by the largest Orc any of them had ever seen, alongside nearly half a dozen other massive Orcs and hundreds of others that also tried to get by.

Defeating Lugdush

The Orc was Lugdush and was the second highest commander behind Jurden Hardaxe himself, and was perhaps the strongest of the lot and for this reason Jurden had sent him at the vanguard and when watching Lucas murder Orc after Orc he saw his chance to rid himself of Lugdush. The Orc moved up to the lines surviving archer fire from the walls without any pause, and raised his sword before killing the man next to Lucas and sending Lucas, and Perwyn flying to the ground and knocking Perwyn unconscious against the ground. Lucas called out for the other men to retreat, but they refused to leave him and his party stood side by side with him as Lugdush attacked again. Deert would be the first to fall as Lugdush ignored a slash across his chest from Lucas and cleaved Deert Davion nearly in two, and followed by this Lucas ducked underneath another slash from Lugdush and slid behind him engaging two of the other massive Orcs. While Lucas fought them Hansal was slashed across the face by Lugdush and killed, while the three men at arms were killed by the other Orcs with Lugdush with the last Orc dying as it killed the last man at arms leaving Lucas killing the remaining Orcs while Lugdush and Hank James II. battled.

Dodging blow after blow Hank was joined by Oliver Slinde of whom would slash Lugdush badly on the leg knocking him to the ground, but when Hank went for the killing blow Lugdush would grab him and break his neck before throwing him into the moat. Lucas by this point had killed three of the large Orcs, and one of the final was able to overwhelm him and push him to the side, and as it raised its axe to kill him an arrow struck it in the head. Looking to the source of the arrow he saw his brother Nathan on the wall, and the two shared a quick look before Nathan aimed his bow and fired once again into the mass crowd behind them. As Lugdush cornered Oliver against the side of the bridge and prepared to kill him Lucas jumped on his back and was able to stab him through the less armored back part of his neck killing the massive Orc. Now exhausted from that fight and standing alone on the bridge he was finally forced to pull back when nearly 50 Orcs almost surrounded him, causing him to jump into the moat. Oliver was able to get inside the gate but those on the wall believed he had been struck down and killed. The Gryphon gate was then shut but Lucas was stuck on the outside of the wall.

Closing the front door

But Lucas was not dead. He managed to sneak his way around the city, and it was during this time that he would further his fame. He managed to sneak back to the outer city gate, by moving silently through the sewers that ran from the Scott Keep all the way to the front entrance of the market which was just a short run to the gatehouse. Finding none of the Orcs had worked on clearing the sewers he was shocked to find dozens of people hiding themselves in the sewers, and warning them they needed to quickly make their way to the keep he kept moving arriving at the market entrance, and leaving the sewer he looked out and saw the gatehouse. Flowing through the gatehouse were the Orcs, and he knew that unless he stemmed the tide the Gryphon gate would be overwhelmed with little difficulty, and thus he snuck his way along the side of the road and made his way into the tower where he killed the three Orcs guarding the main floor of the gatehouse before making his way upwards into the actual door mechanism room. Once there he wiped out the Orcs who were now holding the gate house. There were dozens of Orcs spread throughout the gatehouse tower but they were in a rampaging mood and thus he was able to ambush them room after room until he had cleared his way to the actual mechanism that would control the portcullis. Once he had control of the gate house he closed the outer gate. By shutting this gate he had managed to stem the flow of Orcs entering the city, and through this act most likely saved the inner city who was having great difficulties holding. Quickly making his way onto the ramparts he was forced to briefly fight his way along the wall before he jumped off the wall onto the roof of a house below. As he jumped off the roof he took an arrow to the shoulder, and then as he was continuing to run away he took a shot to the back which took the air out of him as it struck his lung. Making his way from roof to roof he would get himself all the way back to the keep and seeing the keep wall, he was able to fashion a rope that he used to climb back over the inner wall, where he was found by his brother Nathan passed out on the wall.

Morrigan Enters the City

As the Orcish army swarmed into Tree Hill Morrigan would make her way to a local farm where she had ordered her men for months to burrow a tunnel beneath Tree Hill that would connect directly beneath Gryphon's Gate. Moving her way through the tunnels she would eventually arrive at the entrance which was inside her home in the keep where she was living under the guise of Lady Morrigan Sylne of House Slyne. Leaving her house she heard the screams and could smell all the death around her but her soul brought her to the wall where she found a mortally wounded Lucas Scott. Lucas had two arrows in him of which one had pierced his lung and was too much for him to handle and survive. Holding his head up she would use her Magi to heal him, and as he was healed and she removed the arrows she rested him along the wall and used her Magi to enchant Nathan into sensing where his brother was and coming to find him.

Back in the City

The moment Lucas was pulled back into the keep was the moment that most point to as the moment that the Battle ended for the city itself, and following this the situation was one of a siege except for the incoming relief force. Nathan called out for men to come help him carry Lucas inside, and they carried him into the locked tower overlooking the city, and then called for a doctor. Miraculously Lucas was unhurt, and only had cuts, and bruises to show for the act that saved the city from immediate death. It was in this moment that the first stems of jealously begin from Lucas's brother Nathan. While Nathan had led the defenders in their retreat back to the keep and had maintained order during the battle, all of this was forgotten as the people lot their minds over the return of a living god to them in Lucas Scott.

Nathan Scott would storm out of the room as in his eyes everyone was ignoring him, and as he did he silently walked over to the wall and watched the people stem from the keep, and make their way to see Lucas Scott. As he watched this he saw for the first time that day Haley, and she was running around with a desperate look in her eyes. When he saw this he thought for a moment that she was coming for him and he felt hope, but as he walked towards her, she saw him and for the briefest moment she looked as if she would go to him, but instead she kept moving and pushed her way through the crowds and into the tower where Lucas was.

Massacre at Hyphon's farm

With the city on the verge of utter destruction, and the Orcs massacring the few survivors within the walls and outside the Keep the forces of Lucerne were preparing to gather in Forks for what they assumed would be a massive reinforcement effort. At this time Bill Lovie, and House Lovie's forces would be only a day away from Forks, and he was trying to find a way to make the forces of Lucerne stand down and not assist the city he had planned to destroy. His oppurtunity would come when the main army of Tree Hill which had been ordered by him to Forks on the day of the attack massed alongside hundreds of volunteers and prepared to move inside the city from the eastern gate so to give the defenders more time for the relieving force to arrive. At this point Earl Scott asked for permission for the forces of House Swan, and House Arryn to join with them, and when the raven arrived with Bill Lovie he knew he had his chance.

He sent four ravens in responce to Earl's letter. The first was to Earl Scott himself of whom he told he was going to send the full wieght of House Arryn, and House Swan to the western side of Tree Hill so that the route into Tree Hill would be opened to them. He sent two more ravens to House Swan, and House Arryn which told them that they were to move to the northern end of Tree Hill, and they they were to wait in the forests there for the full force of Lucerne to arrive. With this in mind Earl Scott would assemble his forces, and without checking in with Charlie Swan who was the only one who knew nearbye that he was walking into a trap he moved his forces towards Tree Hill. As his forces were leaving out the gate, it would be Jacob Swan who would follow with Earl Scott alongside several of his bodygaurd, and they would join what would be a doomed effort. The final raven would be the most deadly and had been sent to Alex Kirsh who was located in a small mountain cave north of Tree Hill more then a day ahead of Earl Scott. He would order Alex Kirsh to infiltrate the northern gatehouse and wait there until the arrival of Earl Scott, where upon his arrival he would trap his forces by closing the gate.

Earl's forces would arrive at Tree Hill nearly a day and a half later and were exhausted due to the speed at which they had been marching to Tree Hill. Upon their arrival they saw that the gate was open, and few Orcs were defending the area so they moved quickly into the area believing that the forces of House Swan, and House Arryn had blocked the main army from being able to ambush them. At the same time as they were moving it was the movement of Alex Kirsh in the northern gatehouse that would seal the fate of the army of Earl Scott. Alex Kirsh had waited for Earl's forces to arrive, and once they neared the gatehouse he begin to lower the gate so that they couldn't get inside. Earl's forces now stuck on the outside saw a large force of Worg riders moving towards them from the east, and thus they moved northward, and when the Worgs hit them they were trapped in Hyphon's farm. The Worgs overran their positions all across their lines, and despite attempts by Earl to get the troops under control they were cut down in their hundreds by the rampaging forces of the Orc Worg Riders. As they attempted to shift westward they saw the main Orc force moving towards them and realized they were trapped and doomed. The Worg Riders and the main Orc force would together over the course of several hours massacre the entire force and capture several of the soldiers for slavery.

Following the destruction of the army of Earl Scott the main army of Lucerne that was within eye sight of those nobles looking from the top tower of the Scott Keep would retreat out of the area. This retreat was due to the fact that Bill had ordered them to pull back and return to their homes, but the people of Tree Hill saw it as a sign that they were doomed. Far beyond this as well was the fact that the Titan Odin had come to Morrigan the "Daughter of Flemeth" and removed a significant piece of her corruption and making her believe that Flemeth wished for her to delay the destruction of the city she would begin to take orders from what she believed was Flemeth but was in fact Roswita a member of the Valkyrie of the Thunderlands of Valhalla. Pretending to be a member of Mordor she would bribe him into holding off, and this played to his larger plan of weakening his rivals whenever they rose, and thus the siege would be something that was going to technically go on forever. While Morrigan infiltrated the Orcish leadership it was the death of Caryl Todrinnel of whom had been killed during her escape with Quinn James, but her body was discovered by Morrigan, and Roswita and they would remove her body with Roswita using Magi to take on the appearance of Caryl and infiltrating the ranks of the Tree Hill leadership. The Orcs would under the manipulation of Morrigan settle down for a siege, and stopped their attack against the walls of the city despite the fact that the defenders were beyond exhausted, and wouldn't be able to hold if an attack came. Jurden decided early on after this manipulation that he was going to make this psychological in that he wanted to weaken his opponents in his own army so that when they moved on to Forks he would be completely dominant, and at the same time he truly enjoyed the pain he was going to cause on the humans of Tree Hill. Food was sparse, the Orcs basically sat outside their walls, and the population of the keep was in a near breakdown point. As panic began to set in for the town, Lucas stood up and gave a speech that many point to as the moment the siege truly began.

Duels

With the food situation fixed due to what the people believed was miracles brought on by Glaurung himself the people believed the Orcs realized the starvation wasn't working and begin to probe the walls with attacks which were easily repulsed due to the small amount of troops that were sent. With the next stage of the siege about to begin it was Morrigan that went to Jurden Hardaxe and was able to convinse the paranoid Orc that two of his generals were planning a massive coup and the paranoia caused Jurden to command that these two generals who were in fact not planning anything to instigate a duel with swordsmen in the city. Realizing that it would be Lucas that would take on the fight Morrigan would enchant his sword and armor and the day following this the two very large Orcs would approach the walls carrying the bodies of unnamed murdered soldiers of Tree Hill, and stood at the gates screaming in a rough basic that they wished to duel the most powerful among the defenders. With the entire leadership caste watching these events it would be Lucas that became enraged that they paraded the dead bodies in such a way and opened the gatehouse and walked across the bridge. Meeting the Orcs he would fight them both at the same time, and despite being outnumbered and the Orcs massive size he was supported by Morrigan who silently watched from the walls giving him speed and strength and this alongside his natural skills he was able to kill them both. Nathan, and Loras Tyrell brought men outside the walls and collected the dead bodies they could as the Orcish horde looked on shocked that Lucas had killed was amounted to the top commanders of the Orcish Horde.

Giving in to the Pain

As the duels increased in ferocity, and difficulty Lucas found himself growing more and more depressed, and he couldn't find a way out of this depression. As it got worse he and Haley grew even closer as Haley and Nathan had never really recovered from their pregnancy problems. On top of his declining mental health was the fact that his brother Nathan was becoming jelous and openly resentful of his brother's increased fame and the fact that no matter what he seemed to do it just couldn't give him the kind of respect that Lucas just got easily. The problems with Haley and Nathan meant that Haley begin to look at Lucas in a different light then the simple platonic way they had existed for years before. While Lucas had feelings for Haley for years before this Haley now accepted that what had drawn her to Lucas wasn't something platonic or a search for companionship but instead was a deep and resounding love. Even as they grew closer she watched as her love in Lucas was not quite enough to make him ignore the terrible things going on in his life, and this broke her heart. She and Brooke continued to try and help him but every time he got close to moving forward he was forced to engage in another duel. At the same time as Haley was getting closer to him Peyton was falling farther apart, as Peyton found herself on the outside watching all the other women in his life picking him up, and him being to disapointed in what he had become to even go near Peyton.

Nearing Death

Lucas after his third duel with the Orcs went to the top of the keep of Tree Hill, and as he stood there he contimplated ending his life. He thought about everything he'd be giving up, and everyone that he would miss but the pain in his soul was just so loud that he didn't see a posibility of getting out of it. In this moment Haley who had been following Lucas as she was the only one who knew how truly emotionally damaged Lucas was becoming made her way on to the balcony with Lucas and simply stood beside Lucas. While this moment was happening Morrigan was standing beside them as she had made herself invisible and was watching the changing mood between the two with utter pain, as she too had fallen in love with the troubled prince of House Scott. The two stood in complete silence for many minutes until finnally Haley reached her arm out and touched Lucas's arm, and as she moved her hand on his arm they both knew this wasn't a friendship style of comfort. In that moment he looked over at her, and the two seemed to finally accept what had changed between them, and they proceeded to have sex on the balcony of the keep tower.

Following this moment of acceptance on the balcony the two attempted to stay simply friends for the sake of Nathan but after only a few days of attempting this they found themselves giving into lust again and again until it happened more then once a day every day. This obsessive lust didn't abate and in fact continued to define the two throughout the middle of the siege, and only changed when Haley discovered she was pregnant. The pregnancy of Haley Scott was a moment of great pain for Margaery Tyrell of whom had been secretly giving potions to Haley which she had been told would leave Haley unable to conceive, and since she run out with the city of Tree Hill besieged she would believe that the pregnancy was with Nathan of whom she loved with everything in her.

With this strategy in mind Brooke and the rest of the survivors were treated to entire days of the Orcs simply standing throughout the city in painful arrogance of their numbers. They would do this and then scream throughout the entire night so that noone inside could sleep (as if they could anyway with the massive army just sitting inside the city. As the siege wore on it became a series of minor conflicts where Jurden would send his commanders that he wanted dead on near suicide missions against the keep, but even these suicide missions cost the defenders dearly as they ran out of basically all things they needed. During this time Brooke became knowledgable in healing as many of the women were forced to take on male roles in order for the city to survive while the men fought. She discovered during this healing time that she had quite the skill for the act of healing, and with very little prompting she is now capable of many things that regular nurses cannot even do. Even healing could not make up for the emotional damage that was done, as the Orcs paraded broken bodies around the walls, and due to the increasingly desperate situation they couldn't fire many arrows as there was increasing worry they would run out.

Stagnation

Second Battle of Tree Hill

Main Article : Second Battle of Tree Hill

As the human/elven alliance destroyed the Orcs that had held the Gondor siege of Minus Ithil for many years, Jurden Hardaxe paid this little heed despite the fact that he was sent word of it from some of his scouts who had been watching that siege for any signs of Mordor weakness. Jurden over the decade of the siege had become obsessed with maintaining his own power, and had basically become uninterested in actually ending the siege through conventional means. Alongside this he also had a growing belief that the humans were completely useless and for all of these reasons Jurden Hardaxe made no effort to double his scouts or anything that might have assisted him in stopping the coming ambush. And if all of this added up wasn't enough he was also still being whispered to by Morrigan who was telling him that it was all a trick and Sauron was only days away. As the Sindar Elven/Human forces moved to the high ground of the area near the bridge of Weidenhouse and from this position they begin planning the method they would use to end the conflict. As the planning begin it became clear that the fight would be started during the night as town they were in described the fact that they noticed very little activity in the Orc camp during the night most likely due to the fact that they had become completely confident in their lack of any kind of threat.

The Night Comes

Waiting for the night to come William would be able to watch for the first and last time the Orcs setting off their massive drums and horns in order to force the defenders to be unable to sleep during the night and thus exhausted during the day. Hearing this many among the attacking army grew even more angry at the fact that the defenders had been forced to endure this for all this time without anyone helping them. William would spend the night with Leven, Jasper, Emmett, and Edward as the Shadow Council as they were not openly to each other calling themselves spent a few last hours with each other before they all knew everything was going to change. Finding themselves greeted throughout the night by every lord who not wanted to speak to William they couldn't help but see how different things had become for the naive group. The Orcs by this point had no contact with their scouts, and yet they still remained completely unaware. Morrigan would at this point make her final step towards sealing the fate of Jurden Hardaxe when she would convince Jurden to host a large party for his Orcs which made them all drunk and even less prepared.

The Massacre

As the night neared the Orcs would begin their party and the loud noise would alert the alliance that this was underway, and also awake most of the defenders of Tree Hill of whom were prepared for what many believed was the final attack. The party continued, and the alliance moved itself completely into position against the now scout less Orcish force, and pushed in many places all the way against the wall with the entire Orcish force within the city itself or dead outside. The night came and the army would move on their predetermined signal of which moved everything forward. The infiltration of House Scarlet into the under tunnels of the city begin as Saiden Scarlet led a large force of hundreds into the tunnels in the goal of reaching the estate of House James and once the attack was underway they would spring upon the already ambushed Orcs. From the west the forces of House Greymane, and House Ordos would move themselves through the broken shattered western gate and encountered hundreds of Orcs in differing stages of drunkenness and the fighting wouldn't spark any concerns from the Orcs as it was all believed still to be a part of the party. Seeing the ambush was underway it was at this moment that Morrigan finally ended the charade and came upon Jurden while he was standing in his residence.

Aftermath

The battle would end with the complete destruction of the Orc army and the liberation of Tree Hill. When the armies of Lucerne and Gondor entered the remains of Tree Hill, they found the sad remnants of a once truly mighty city. Food, aid and supplies were rushed to the city, but before the true rebuild could begin Andrew Lovie would take the reigns of the King of Lucerne following a duel with his father.

Funeral of Earl Scott

Look at the world father. You were born into this land, and you have told me hundreds upon hundreds of times how much you used to love it. Look at everything you have done to it. You destroyed a city for no reason, killed hundreds of good men out of fear. Is this how you want to be remembered father. Is this the world you want to leave behind? I know you were a good person once. I have all the evidence laid out in front of me as to why you are the villain of this world, but I don't fully believe it. Don't end it all here, and be remembered as a monster..

Brooke Scott: Please father I never ask you for a thing...why can't you just do this one thing for me...please father. Dan Scott : Just sit on the ground and remember your place in all this little girl. Brooke Scott : And what is my place father? Dan Scott : The bottom of the food chain.

After saying that he would walk out of the room leaving a broken Brooke lying on the ground for sometime before her brother Nathan returned into the room looking severely disappointed in himself, and perhaps worried about Brooke more then she thought he ever would. Brooke didn't know what to say to her brother so she ran out of their and ran away past the cries of Haley who noticed her running away, and finally made her way to the glades west of Tree Hill where she and her grandfather had spent a lot of time. While she spent the time alone she knew that her grandfather needed to be remembered and if her father wouldn't help her then the only person left to go to was her mother.

When Brooke left the glade she went to the home of Margeary Tonsvale of whome was the matriarch of House Tonsvale, and the women that her mother spent most of her days with filling out the boredom. She barged into the estate being alowed past the gaurds because they knew who she was, and when she reached her mother she grabbed her by the arm and pulled her outside. Outside she tried to make her mother help her, but she quickly discovered that her mother was exactly as far gone as she appeared when her mother not only refused to do this, but also moved to side with her husband against her daughter. This was too much for Brooke and knowing the debate between House Scott was over she knew the only person that could help her was William Lovie III.

Begging a King

With her attempts to get her family to do what she wanted she risked a lot by deciding that she needed to see William. She was able to talk Haley into pretending that Brooke was staying with friends for a while and the sad fact was that no one in her family except for Lucas even noticed her absence. She made her way by carriage to Lucerne and arrived there to the sight of a parade. The carriage driver explained that William Lovie had taken control of the Kingdom and was now the King after he had thrown Bill, and Sean Lovie out of Lucerne. She covered herself in garbs as if she was an Ostrogoth, and made her way to the Keep where she hoped to find Jasper, Edward or Emmett because William had told her that of anyone alive those were the people he trusted next to his sister. She would have gone to Alice but she worried that Alice would be on Bella's side and wouldn't help her. If she had thought that she was given ample proof of that when she arrived at the Keep and wasn't greeted by one of his best friends but instead by Alice Lovie of whom stood in the Gateway staring at her through the garb as if she had somehow known all along that she was coming.

Look at the world father. You were born into this land, and you have told me hundreds upon hundreds of times how much you used to love it. Look at everything you have done to it. You destroyed a city for no reason, killed hundreds of good men out of fear. Is this how you want to be remembered father. Is this the world you want to leave behind? I know you were a good person once. I have all the evidence laid out in front of me as to why you are the villain of this world, but I don't fully believe it. Don't end it all here, and be remembered as a monster..

I could hear her voice from within the tent. I had spent only a few days with Brooke and her voice was like a siren to me and with the siren now within range I left my conversation with Alice without a word and left the tent going towards her. I saw her immeidatly as I left the tent, and she looked to be in an argument with Leven, and Jasper of which Jasper was holding her by the arm in what looked to me as an attempt to stop her from falling over. "Lady Scott." I had reached her and she saw me letting out a smile when our eyes met. She curtsied and I took her by the hand. "My King if it is possible I need a word." There was a desperation in her voice and despite the looks from everyone around me I ignored them. "Of course milady." I turned towards the tent to see an enraged Alice who was glaring at me. "Sister we shall finish our conversation later." "As you say." Alice walked right by me hitting me in the shoulder as she left, and while usually Emmett would have laughed at such a childish display there was no laughter to be found. Without another thought of the stupidity of being so brazen in my behavior I led Brooke into the tent closing the flap behind us. "You couldn't stay away." Turning around from closing the tent I regretted the words as Brooke had tears flowing down her face and rushed into my arms. "Tell me whats happened?" "What is it Will?" "I was talking with Hanna Arryn." "I fear I have been out of the loop for too long. I don't know the name." "She was a friend of mine during school. She came here as a sort of measure of what I would lose if I don't stop moving against Berne. She was a threat of sorts." "Your brother has not realized the end is at hand?" "He still clings to the idea that he can somehow win this." "This threat doesn't change what you have to do." "Its more then just Hanna. She came and told me of Amber Heard." I didn't wait for any recegnition from Brooke as how could she possibky know of Amber. "Your former betrothed?" "How did you?" "I've been doing my research on you my king." "She is in Berne too." "Do you still care for her." "We were children when we were betrothed. We played the married couple, but we were children." "You fear for her?" "Hanna told me that our childish playing has resulted in a child. Amber Heard is locked within the walls of Berne with my firstborne." "She had your child?" "Apparently. And now this poor child lives under constant threat of being discovered. It is not enough that my childish behavior with his mother has led to him now living a life as a base born child. No now I have put his life in danger by not stopping my brother a long time ago."

The Funeral

Meeting Brooke Scott

It wasn't more then two months after William had left the city, and the beggining of their affair that Brooke begin having trouble keeping food down early in the day, and soon after she realized that she hadn't had her bleedings during that time either. Thinking she knew what it was but wanting to be sure before she sprung this potentially horrible news on William she went to see Haley, and when the two met she created the first lie between the two when she told Haley she had become involved romantically with a Gondorian soilder. After going through the list of things that had happened to her and seeing that the situations were the same Haley indeed validated her pregnancy, and with the knowledge that William was coming to Tree Hill in less then a month she became increasingly worried about what his reaction would be. William and her were still writing eachother nearly every other week and althought these letters were heavily vague in their wording the two seemed to understand eachother already and there growing love for eachother only grew stronger through this communication. During this time waiting for Maergary Tyrell to return from Highgarden she spent her days and nights with Haley of whom by this point no longer had any real relationship with her brother Nathan and was increasingly obvious about her affections to Lucas Scott. With her best friend Margeary Tyrell the only person who truly knew about William she became hysterical when she saw Margeary a week later upon her return from Highgarden.

Brooke told Margeary of her pregnancy, and her friend attempted to talk her down as in her heart she knew that William could very likely simply end the relationship and turn Brooke into a single mother with very little prospects for the rest of her life. Despite these constant and powerful pleading by Margeary it was Brooke that was completely unwilling to accept a world where she didn't have his baby and thus she begged Margeary to assist her in finding a proper excuse as to how she could be pregnant. Despite the extreme misgivings that Margeary had about the decision she was still her best friend so together they came up with reinforcing the earlier lie about a Gondorian soilder and her had become romantically involved following the liberation and she had become pregnant during these intimate moments. She and Margaery decided she needed to tell her family and she did this a few days later when she asked them all to meet for a dinner. When she told her family she was accompanied by Maergary Tyrell of whom held her hand the entire time and while Dan Scott was furious and Nathan disgusted they all appeared to believe her except for Lucas who had come to understand what had happened between Brooke and William, and in that moment when he figured it out he went to his sister.

Lucas Discovers the Truth

As Brooke finished telling her parents she retreated to her room as she was basically pulled along by Margeary. When they arrived back in her room she was shocked when noone followed her, but she could hear yelling from the living room so she knew that they were still argueing over what was happening. It would be hours before the yelling finally stopped and she heard the shouts of her father before watching Dan, and Nathan storm out of the Keep and into the city proper. When after everything had seemingly calmed down Margeary left and when she did she was followed behind by her brother Lucas who had known about the tryst that she had with William Lovie after he had admitted it to him because of their bond. He didn`t say anything but she had always suspected that he knew, and the look he gave her just made it all the more real for her. After she cried for what felt like hours she and Lucas discussed what she was going to do, and she made it very clear that she was not going to give up the baby under any circumstances. Niether of them knew but there entire conversation would be overheard by Dan Scott of whome had come back inside the Keep after getting into a fight with Nathan and planned on getting his anger out by coming in and making sure that Brooke knew how much of a disapointment she was. This all changed when he heard her whispering to Lucas in the room about the true father of the child growing inside her. Knowing the importance of this later on, and realizing neither of his two children would ever tell him the truth or help him willingly he hid himself in an adjacent room and listened to everything they said about the situation. As Dan realized that Brooke was involved with not just a secret man but actually the King of Lucerne he became unstoppable in his desire to make this union the most important moment in House Scott since the fall of House Targaryan.

Plotting Against the King

"When I realized that most forgotten child was secretly carrying around such a secret I was beyond shocked. She had always been the runt of the family but I guess this would be her shot at proving herself."

-Dan Scott

The moment that Dan heard that Brooke and William Lovie were together he had finally come to terms with her usefullness. In Dan's mind he would be able to use Brooke to gain the power base that he required. He stayed silent with his knowledge for a time as he continued to built up the plans he knew he would need in order to blackmail the king of Lucerne. When finally he had gained the foothold into the whole thing he came to believe that he could force Brooke into making William leave Bella Swan and thus make Brooke the new Queen of Lucerne. If this failed then Dan would unleash the fact that Riley Scott was actually the first born son of William Lovie thus creating a serious competitor to the throne of House Lovie. All of this would come to a head when William arrived in Tree Hill for what was described as a mission to oversee the recronstruction that was underway in Tree Hill, but was actually William just needing to see Brooke. As William arrived in the city he was silently watched by Dan Scott's men who Dan wanted to find proof that William and Brooke were actually together. As William entered the city he found himself unable to even contimplate being official and instead of first visiting Dan Scott he made his way to the carefully prepared Order of the Red Dragon compound within northern Tree Hill where Brooke was awaiting him. The two would basically lock themselves in the compound for many hours as he could barley imagine his life without her in that moment.

"For a time despite the fact that I knew my place was tenious I felt fine. I was okay because I had him to myself in my heart. I didn't matter to me that she got to be the one who claimed him in the eyes of the people, because I knew in my heart that she could never have him the way that I

 did. He loved me in a way that she just couldn't compete with."

-Brooke Scott

As William hid himself within the Order of the Red Dragon members of Dan Scott's forces attempted to infiltrate the compound but were captured by Ezio Ederiz of whom had travelled alongside his king. With the men captured Dan realized that he might be found out before he had even had a chance to tell Brooke about what he was doing, and thus he moed to assasinate the men he had sent to the compound. As the prisoners were taken north their convoy was ambushed by forces of House Scott of whom targeted the prisoners and then fled the scene. Back at Tree Hill it was William that finally moved on from Brooke for a moment and went to visit with the Order of the Grey Dragon that were constructing the cities most important elements, and while he did this Brooke returned to the House Scott estate so that she could get Riley Scott so that William could see his son.

Look at the world father. You were born into this land, and you have told me hundreds upon hundreds of times how much you used to love it. Look at everything you have done to it. You destroyed a city for no reason, killed hundreds of good men out of fear. Is this how you want to be remembered father. Is this the world you want to leave behind? I know you were a good person once. I have all the evidence laid out in front of me as to why you are the villain of this world, but I don't fully believe it. Don't end it all here, and be remembered as a monster..

The world always had seem so simple when I was young. I would grow up and marry, and that perfect knight that I found would gather me up in his arms and protect me from the world. It was a childish dream to believe that life would be as simple as all that, but thats the fun of being a child. When your young you get the chance to believe in things, and hope for dreams that when your older you can't even contimplate. I walked into the estate and old lady Helga gave me a strange look that I wanted to find out more about, but I didn't dare take a second longer then neccesary before I saw my prince again. As I entered Riley's room I found Dan sitting in the chair beside the crib holding Riley in his arms. He was holding him close to himself singing some song I had never heard and rocking him back and forth. This was the first time that I had seen Dan even go near Riley, and for a reason that wouldn't have been normal for a daughter to feel about her father holding their baby I felt deep within myself that I needed to protect Riley from whatever cruetly my father had in mind for him. As I approached him he begin to laugh before standing up still holding onto Riley. "Father what are you doing here?" I tried to move closer to him, but he held out a hand to keep me at a distance. It was as I moved closer and he put out his hand that I noticed the two men standing in the corner of the room. One one was hooded and what little I could see past the tatoo of a scorpian on his arm I didn't know, but the other man was very clearly Dustin Crain the lord of his family. "Dear daughter do you not trust me to hold onto your child?" Dan gave me a mocking look before continueing. "For what reason could I have to want to harm this child? Hmmm...is there something that you want to tell me Brooke?" He moved closer to me still holding onto Riley and then shut the door behind me. I stood motionless infront of him, and as if sencing my fear he moved forward and slapped me in the face knocking me to the ground. The pain was all over my face, and I raised my hand to try and offer some comfort to the wound, but found he grabbed my hand and ripped me from the ground to make me lean against the wall. "I asked you a simple thing you moron. Is your brain so small that not even the tiniest of things can slip out." Walking into the corner I could hear rustling in the corner of the room and looked up to see Dan putting Riley into his baby bed before sitting back on the chair he had been sitting in. I let go of the wall and as I went to move closer to him, I felt hands push me from behind and saw Lord Dustin laughing down at me. "I don't know what you want me to tell you Dan." I crawled a bit towards him before using a table to get back to my feet." Just tell me what you want to know and I'll tell you...this doesn't have to escalate any further Dan." "You think I'm worried about this escalating? What could you possibly do to hurt me you slut. You have been an embaressment to this family since the first day I saw you parading around in your dresses. Tell me you pathetic girl what could you possibly do to hurt me." There was an almost unhuman look in his eyes, and whatever piece of him he lost during the siege was clearly the part of him that knew right from wrong. "I'll tell Lucas about this. I'll tell him..."He moved with more speed towards me then I expected and it scared me to the point I jumped backwards slamming into Dustin who pushed me to the ground again. Trying to get up Dan grabbed me and pulled me towards him. "You really are quite pathetic you know that. I know everything Brooke, I overheard you talking to your brother about your little affair with the king. The child is of House Lovie." I went to respond but before I could he threw me to the ground which crumpled me once again. I shielded myself from the incoming blows I thought were coming but instead he just kept talking. "You will not lie to me here...not in this place you will not dare to lie to me." The other man came behind me and grabbed me pulling me upwards to look at Dan. "The question of whos the father of that child has already been anwsered, but the question I need you to anwser is how far are you willing to go to protect him." That was the kind of question only a man who didn't know what love was could ask. A parent would do anything to protect their child. I would do anything for Riley, and here I stood in front of my own father who was clearly losing his mind. "I would do anything." I reached my hand to my face and felt the cascading tear drops dotting my face, and looked around for someone to help me. The hooded man held me tight to him making sure I couldn't move, and looking at Lord Dustin told me that he had thrown his lot in with Dan and couldn't back down. When I looked at Dan if he noticed he didn't seem to care or show any response. Walking in circles I did see the happiness in his eyes as clearly he had recieved the anwser he wanted from me "Good. Then if your are being truthful your going to do exactly what I say. Because if you don't your lover boy is going to be hurt in ways even he can't repair." That was the moment I knew. I still meant nothing. This had nothing to do with what he wanted me to do, and had everything to do with what he clearly wanted me to make William do. So there I was stuck being held by one man, while my father blackmailed me into betraying one thing in this world that I could not betray. "What would you have me do." Whatever he said didn't matter. I wouldn't hurt William. I couldn't hurt William. Whatever he said I would find a way to tell Lucas and he would protect me from Dan's wrath. Maybe I would simply flee eastward to Patria and stay with my uncle there. He always loved us. It didn't matter to Keith that we weren't his. It didn't matter that we must have been constant reminders of the brother he loathed so much. None of that matter to him as much as loving us. It was times like this that I missed him more then ever. "I don't want you to betray your beloved. I don't want you to blackmail him. I just want you to make sure that when the day comes that Bella Swan is no longer alive you will be ready." To say that I hadn't thought of what life would be like without Bella alive would be a complete lie. Everytime he returned to the city he shared with her, the bed that she warmed for him. I grew sick. What right did she have to what was mine. We both had sons for him. I'm sure that Bella loved him as any servent loves their master I mean how could she not, but she was nothing. An insect scrambling around the world trying to destroy my relationship with William. "Ready for what?" Dan gave a wave to the man behind me and he released me. Turning back to him I looked in his face and saw more of a monster then a man. He had a crooked nose that made the rest of his face look even uglier then it would have otherwise. A massive burn covered the left side of his face and puss oozed from it as if it was an open wound still. As if it had happened yesterday. His left eye under the burns was gone, but his right eye had a peircing glare to them that made clearly understand how bad a man this was. Who was this man.  My staring at the ugly man was interupted by Dan's voice behind me anwsering my question."For you to be Queen of Lucerne you moron." -Exerpt from the End of Darkness

House Nighting Rebellion

With William Lovie III. now the king of Lucerne the leadership of House Nighting begin to fear for the fate of their businesses which relied heavily on the use of workers in near slave like conditions, but even more dangerous for them was the fact that they sold Lucernians at the slave markets of Paris. House Nighting watched as the regime took control of businesses all around Lucerne and turned them into Kingdom businesses, and when William came to Tree Hill no one in House Nighting had any doubts what was going to happen, and they were not proven wrong. When William arrived one of the first businesses that was told to him was the racket that was run by House Nighting, and thus he met with the leaders of House Nighting and asked them to explain themselves, but House Nighting didn't believe they did anything wrong and as such William became very aggravated with them, and was harsher on their business then most he had dealt with. The members of House Nighting were beyond shocked at what had happened to them, and in this moment they attempted to meet with all the members of their customer base, but they discovered that House Scott had been working behind the scenes and had infiltrated this network, and was now dismantling the criminal enterprise from within. House Nighting would offer William Lovie III. huge segments of their profit base, and they hoped this would assuage him, but instead he sent in the Order of the Red Dragon led by Sawyer Shephard, of whom started a large investigation that finished basically the entire criminal organization.

With their businesses in shambles and the slave trade over, House Nighting became poor very quickly, and all the friends that they once had disappeared overnight it seemed. This caused a lot of resentment and as such there resentment became public knowledge and as such they were met by members of House Jestife who were members of the True Sons of Lucerne. After this communication House Nighting turned to service in the True Sons in order to hopefully regain their authority over the slave trade. During this time of shifting alliegences it would be Rachel Nighting that begin to stray from her family somewhat as she begin to have an emotional affair with Raginald Frightling of whom was the young heir to House Frightling and while married he showed her something that she had never found with Cooper. At first they were silent in their support of the True Sons of Lucerne, as they didn't want further attention, but it would be a single piece of mail sent by a raven that would send the members of House Nighting into a fierce debate of which would decide the future of House NIghting.

Discovery of Betrayal

It was at this point that Edric Nighting would arrive in Forks where he had made the decision to turn against his family and reveal the plans of his family. Edric Nighting had several weeks before this begin hearing talk from his father and older brother that they planned to rise against House Scott and murder the Scotts in the city before taking control of Tree Hill itself. He would watch his brother in secret as his brother James Nighting II. followed Brooke Scott watching her movements, and watching her himself he discovered that she was the mistress of William Lovie III. through listening in on a conversation between Brooke and Haley James. Learning of this relationship between William and Brooke the loyal Edric Nighting would depart Tree Hill by horse with his friend Hanzal Grightling heading towards Forks where they had heard William Lovie III. was meeting with his wife and the leadership of Forks. Arriving at Forks the two would quickly gain an audience with the king of whom was surrounded at the time by Charlie Swan, Leven Martell, and Bella Swan, and seeing how influential the group was Edric would immediately tell the king what he knew which horrified the group of whom had already rallied their forces and was planning to move out the next day to Berne. Realizing the main forces still needed to go to Berne he would command Jasper Hale to lead a secondary force to Tree Hill in order to defend the Scott's once the Nighting's moved against them, and after discussing it was decided that Jasper would move south through the province of Rosten where he would summon a force from that province's lord in House Elric alongside Northern Tree Hill's lordn in House Guntbold and then lead them southward to Tree Hill.

Following the breaking up of the meeting Jasper, Leven, and Bella would follow William back to his tent where Jasper would convinse William to take him with him to Berne and instead send Leven to Tree Hill. Making up excuses about why she needed to go instead of him Leven was left shocked by what Jasper did and thus limply accepted this change of plans, and with a kiss to her forward she and William would say goodnight and following this Jasper and Leven left the tent. Leaving the tent Leven would follow Jasper trying to get him to explain himself, but he refused until she became quite agitated leading to an argument between the long time friends. Fighting loudly forced Jasper to take the argument into his tent where he would reveal that he did not trust her abilities to protect William considering how in love with him she was, and following this she would punch him in the face before returning to her own tent. The next day William, Jasper and the larger force from Forks would leave the city leaving Leven and a few hundred men at arms and knights to move south towards Castle Elric where she would go to defend the mistress of her beloved.

The Battle

Executions

Civil War in Mander

Main Article : Civil War in Mander

• River Defences of Mander
• Lands Promiced to House Banefort in return for their involvment.

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Forcing a Rebel Move

• Lands Taken during the Loyalist Counter Attack
• Lands that suffered Loyalist Violence

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Siege of Mander

Even after the discover of the previous banditry mission by Jevard and subsequent demand from the leadership of Terentia for restitution's these attempts at diplomacy would be ignored and two knights sent by House Terentia delivering their request were executed leading to House Terentia declaring war on House Mander. As the armies of Terentia entered Mander it would be the command of Jevard that would lead to Hildur Mander leaving the capital with some two hundred men going southward in order to become bandits and convince the people of the province about the brutality of House Terentia. As the forces of House Terentia moved against Mander the call for assistance would go out into the region with House Mander at this point trying to get assistance as the Liege Lord of Mander. Answering this early call for assistance would be the forces of House Scott of whom due to the involvement of Leven Martell at Tree Hill would be basically forced to send forces due to the fact that everyone knew if they rejected her then she would tell William about their refusal.

As Lucas was away at the time Nathan Scott was appointed the commander of the Scott forces going to Mander, but would be accompanied by Leven Martell and Brooke Scott of whom were the real power behind the Scott movement. When word reached Tree Hill it was ignored by Dan Scott, but Leven would realize that with the fighting in the south taking the Tyrells out of being able to reinforce Mander she believes very strongly that the Scotts need to send forces and she makes Brooke take her to the Keep of Tree Hill to meet with the lords of Tree Hill. Dan Scott would call the assembly of the Tree Hill Lords but during the initial meeting he would delay things, and basically waste time of which greatly angered Leven causing an argument between Dan Scott and Leven Martell. Brooke Scott, and Level Martell would leave ahead of the main force of House Scott with only a force of some fifty men believing that the flag of House Lovie that Leven flies will allow them to move without difficulty on the way to Mander.

Capture of Mander

Following the capture of most of the town of Mander by the forces of House Terentia the majority of the military forces of House Mander either continued to fight in the town or retreated to Castle Mander north of the city which was commanded by Andras Mander and at Castle Mander would remain the main holdout of the Mander forces due to its strong fortifications, and the strategic skill of Andras Mander.

Retaking of Mander

Following the Capture of Mander by the forces of Terentia, and Svaeder the diplomatic efforts of Dylan Tyrell on the behalf of House Tyrell to end the fighting would end and Dylan begin marshaling forces to move into Mander and end the fighting. With the majority of the Tyrell personal forces away assisting in the rebellion of southern Bronheim they were forced to send a token force from Highgarden mainly relying on House Bulwer of Trensdale from their forces while they sent out word to the Starke's to send assistance.

As the fighting devolved around the capital of Mander it would be the decision of Jevard Mander that he would send the children, and women out of Mander in order to protect them as by this point victory for House Mander was becoming less likely. While most were able to escape it would be Asgerda Mander, and Verona Mander that would be fleeing by carriage when their guard was killed and resisting the bandits attacking the carriage they would kill Verona Mander before raping and murdering Asgerda as well before throwing her body into the river near the road and fleeing the scene.

Treaty of Mander

Alice's agents had discovered increasing talk about William's affair with Brooke Scott, and this had her greatly worried as she had held onto the belief that it was nothing more then a fling, but having invited her to Westbridge she knew this was something beyond a fling. Alice told him that she had evidence that Brooke was once again contacting people looking for poison and although she had been unsuccesful so far it was just a matter of time until she found the supplies she was looking for. Hearing all this he promiced his sister who was crying and beggining him to do this for her, he promiced her that he would end things with Brooke, and told her he would leave within a few weeks to Tree Hill with Leven.

The Rise of Lucerne I saw the destruction of the world, and knew I had to stop it. There was nothing left to do but become bigger then everyone else. The Empire was never going to be the beacon the world needed it to be. Westros was on fire. The Bretonians had reached for the stars and been burned. And the old shadow of Numeron was fading far too quickly. It was left to us in Lucerne to change the fate of all those who wished to reject darkness. We were the last hope for a world who had long since given up on believing.

"What do you want from me Alice?" "I want you to finally tell me if your going to do what is right." "If you mean stop seeing Brooke I'm sorry sister but I cannot do that. She has ahold of something within me, and no matter how hard I try I cannot accept my life without her in it." "It is far past the time of continueing this affair. I gave you time sweet brother, but it must end. The people scream of your greatness, but soon the whispers of your affair will become louder, until the day comes that all the victories in the world wont shelter us from the noise." "How could people know about my relationship with Brooke." "They know the same way that we know. You don't hide well. You called her to come to Westbridge? Did you honestly thing noone would notice the noble lady of House Scott coming to Westbridge and spending all of her time with the King." "Maybe what people think isn't the end all for me Alice." "It should be Will, but if your saying you need more I have more." "What more could you have?" "Morrigan reported to an agent of ours in the Green Dragon's that Brooke has entered into a number of poison shops. I can show you the letters, but the action speaks for itself." "God Dammit!" "William I'm sorry." "Your not sorry. Don't you see that this breaks me? Dont you understand that without her I feel hollow." "Think about Bella." "If I didn't love Bella I would have divorsed her years ago and been with Brooke. Thats the problem. I do love Bella. I love her for everything she is, and I couldn't think of a more perfect wife." "Then you need to forget about seeing Brooke."

William following this confrontation with Alice would go to the only person who he believed he could tell in the form of Leven Martell of whom would tell him how she sorry was about things, but as the conversation continued the weakness of William's emotional state came forward and he almost kissed Leven causing him to flee her room into the streets of the House Lovie estate. Finding himself out front of the home of Morrigan of whom he continued to have staying on the grounds he would knock on her door looking for her advise on things as for some reason he was drawn to her door (the reason being the Magi she was using on him driving him to seek her out.

Brooke had departed from the main army alongside her brother Lucas at Stormwind, and travelled back to Tree Hill where she was rejuvinated. Her time over the past weeks with William were the best she had in years, and she finally remembered happiness. Lucas was happy for her despite knowing the consequences of what she was continuesly moving farther and farther into, but she wouldn't hear it and just couldn't stop smiling. When Brooke arrived back in Tree Hill she was barely able to stop herself from paying the driver more coin to get to see her children quicker, but when she did arrive she and her brother were met in the keep by the other members of their family, but most importantly to Brooke was the moment Riley ran to her, and Peyton carried Sigmund to her side. Settling back into life in Tree Hill she would meet with Morrigan of whom had become once again very close to her, and despite seeing a change in Morrigan she brushed it aside, and got closer to Morrigan. She would be tricked by Morrigan into visiting a shop that she didn't know what was, but it was done so that agents of the Order of the Green Dragon would see her enter, and thus report back to William that she was in fact entering a shop that specialized in poisons. Having framed Brooke of the attempted murder of Bella Swan Morrigan disapeared for a time, where in she was visited by Flemeth of whom gave her a new task which was to manipulate the situation that was coming from the arrival of the Man of Fear.

During this conversation between Morrigan and Flemeth some things changed that Flemeth in her arrogance did not see in that as Odin was continuing to release Morrigan from her corruption she nearly had gained the ability to stab Flemeth during the rage she had felt towards her "Mother". The second major change was the fact that she had in her own mind gained the ability to alter the commands of Flemeth which was something completely unimaginable before, and while she didn't fully realize it at the time it would be a dramatic change also. The final thing that changed was that Morrigan silently wanted to help her daughter Morrigan of whom she was coming to believe was her favorite behind only Halenia and in this regard she would return to the Korcani Wilds and have her devoted daughter Morhlese go back to Lucerne to watch Morrigan without saying anything and just help her where she could. Realizing that if Morhlese returned and secretly watched Morrigan she would discover that Morrigan was betraying the Korcani Wilds it would be Katarina that would request to go with Morhlese and wanting to send as much help for Morrigan as possible she would allow Katarina to go as well.

Saying Goodbye

Goodbye Son

Leaving behind a broken Brooke Scott William used all his remaining strength to enter the inner palace and find his two sons. Followed closely by Leven she stopped him in a hallway and as he tried to get away she just hugged him, and he broke for a moment hugging into her and not wanting to move. He didn't move it was Leven that released him and smiled kissing him on the lips before pulling him down the hallway towards the sounds of laughter. Finding Sigmund playing with Lucas and Haley Leven left to get Sigmund, and William bid all the servents leave. Haley, and Lucas left leaving father and son alone together one last time. Riley wanted to know what they would be doing together while he was in Tree Hill as whenever he visited he would spend time with Riley, but William was forced to tell him that this time he wasn't going to be able to, and really had just wanted to say goodbye to his son. Riley begin to cry realizing that this goodbye was more permenet as he saw Leven bring Sigmund into the room and William cradle Sigmund while staring into his eyes.

Riley and William would hug for many minutes, but finally he pulled himself away from another person he loved dearly kissing his two sons on the forehead before leaving the room, and Tree Hill for the last time. Riley would get his brother and find his mother of whom he knew would be in the garden as that was where she always went when she was broken by things like this. Finding her still crying in the garden he felt anger towards his father for not being stronger, but at the same time he blamed Bella Swan of whom by this point Dan Scott had been whispering about for many months. Anger towards Bella and Alice for forcing his father to do this, and for the first time he openly stated his desire to see Bella dead. And in the end anger towards everyone for not loving him as much as others who were no more deserving then he was of love.

Death of Brooke

When Brooke returned to the alchemist three days later she found the potion ready for her, but as she walked out of the house she ran into a man clothed completely in black robes, and wearing a mask that showed nothing but the outline of his pure red eyes. This scared her, and she screamed to the crowd for them stop the man, and the crowd couldn't see him so they attacked a man that was just standing by her, and nearly killed him to protect Brooke. As she watched the Dark Man just stood there and watched. He followed her home, and she attempted to get him away but as she did this she realized that she was the only that could see him. She knew that if this was Magi related the only person who might be able to help her was Morrigan so she ran to find her all the while being followed by the Dark Man. When she arrived at the home of Morrigan she could clearly see him, but Morrigan played it off as if she couldn't and this sealed the fate of Brooke's sanity. Staying with Morrigan for a time she was held close by Morrigan of whom was trying to tell her it was just stress and not to worry about it, but on the inside she was dying as she knew the fate of Brooke was all but sealed with the arrival of the Dark Man, and noone capable of seeing him.

She from that point on refused to accept he was there and went about her next days attempting to ignore him, but he begin to threaten those close to her, and she became scared once again to the point that she fled from him as fast as she could before she would take a carriage northward. She at first thought she had gotten away from him, but when she arrived in Lucerne she saw him waiting in the center of the gate, and knew that her time was almost gone. She entered Lucerne and when she reached the Cloud Tower she was met at the entrance by Alice Lovie of whom had had heard of her arrival in the town, and had moved to keep it a secret. Alice would take Brooke into the Sky Towers, and the two would finally get another chance at attacking eachother. The two would at first trade jabs at eachother verbally but as the fight continued and Bella arrived the fight became physical as Brooke physically attacked Brook of whom was the point of all of her rage, and the main reason that she was in the position that she was in. As this happened Emmett McCarty barged in and was able to get Brooke under control, and got her out of the Skytowers, and towards the Kings Keep where William was. Emmett knew how much Brooke meant to William and he did his best to keep her under control and safe as they moved towards the Kings Keep, and along the way he attempted to send for Leven but she wasn't in the city as she had travelled home briefly to Sunspear Hold.

As she arrived at the Kings Keep she found William standing at a table surrounded by both Jasper Hale, and Robb Starke. As she approached completely in tears he took her into his arms and took her into a side room. In the room she continued to cry, and he couldn't get her to explain what was wrong, and it was as this was happening that she opened her eyes and saw that the Dark Man was in the room with them. This time when she saw him she didn't cry out or try and get away from him, she just accepted that she was gone. In that moment she looked away from the Dark Man and back to the William, and she would smile at him before kissing him on the lips. The two would be intimate one more time, before she said her goodbyes to him, and when he tried to follow her, he was stopped by Alice Lovie of whom didn't want him to get in trouble with the people if they saw what was happening. Watching her walk away was one of the toughest things he had ever done, but what happened next would be far more painful to not just William but to many people throughout the valley.

Brooke would leave the Kings Keep and walk for nearly an entire day before finally the Dark Man brought her towards a waterfall where he waited beside her for her to kill herself. Brooke in that moment took off the necklase that William had given her all those years before, and held it close to herself for a time before she finally set it down on the ground beside what she assumed would be the site that they would believe she jumped from. When she finally did jump off the side she carried with her the curse he had done to her, and in this moment she became a "Daughter of Flemeth".

Waking up in a Nightmare

Main Article : Nightmares

The next thing Brooke Scott felt was the dark feeling of waking up laying naked in the middle of a giant cave. As she opened her eyes she saw a skinned body strapped to the roof of the cave, and this caused her to scream which then brought growling to fill the cave. As she looked for the source of the growling all she could see in the pitch black walls of the cave was cage doors, and peering back from the doors were horrifying red eyes. As she screamed and moved away from the eyes she ran backwards into a small body that she should have knocked over with the force she jumped back with, but the body didn't even move. As she turned around she saw it was Morrigan of whom had a sad look on her face, but for Brooke she ignored this and held onto the one person she recognized. Morrigan allowed her to hold her close as in basically in every way it was Morrigan that had caused Brooke's death and becoming a member of the "Daughter's of Flemeth", and then as Brooke's crying begins to slow to a certain extent she begins to explain to Brooke what had happened to her. 

The Rise of Lucerne I saw the destruction of the world, and knew I had to stop it. There was nothing left to do but become bigger then everyone else. The Empire was never going to be the beacon the world needed it to be. Westros was on fire. The Bretonians had reached for the stars and been burned. And the old shadow of Numeron was fading far too quickly. It was left to us in Lucerne to change the fate of all those who wished to reject darkness. We were the last hope for a world who had long since given up on believing.

"Brooke we need to talk." As I heard her speak I couldn't make my head move off her shoulder. It all just felt so heavy, and there was a dull ache that sprang throughout my entire body. I know that my mind drifted into sleep, but was pulled up by Morrigan who held my head to stare at her eyes. "Brooke there are things going on here, that you need to understand." "Morrigan...what's happened..." I tried to speak but the words just wouldn't flow out. "It's alright Brooke. Your mind is coming to terms with what's happened to you. You need to remain calm or else the pain will get worse." She held her hand against my temple, and for a moment as she did this I felt relief from the pain. "What's happened..." I wanted to finish but as I spoke she withdrew her hand and the pain became momentarily unbearable. "The truth isn't easy to hear Brooke. I wish I had a story that ended with you returning home, and being with everything that you love. I wish I could tell you something positive." As she spoke she led me to the wall and rested me closer to wall where I slumped against it. "I just wish that I could Brooke. And trust me on the fact that this doesn't come easy for me." "Just tell...just tell me." tears were flowing down my cheek as it was clear that she was going to let me know something terrible. "Brooke your dead." I waited for her to finish but instead she slumped to her knees before lifting her head and staring back at me. "Its not as simple as just death though Brooke. Your now what she calls her daughters." "Who calls?" "She calls herself Flemeth, and she is a dark Magi of unimaginable powers. She has taken to capturing young women like you and I, and then she uses us to gain a foothold into places, and people that she needs. You will understand more soon, but what I need you to focus on now is the fact that you can't try and escape. If you do you may get miles, you may travel years on the road, and during this time you will think you have escaped. But what I want you to know is that your now connected to her in a way that allows her to know where you are no matter where you go. There is no escape from this place, and you need to understand that." I was too shocked to answer, but she moved with a swiftness that was near instant and she held my face in her hands with a pleading look on her face. "Tell me you understand Brooke. Because if you try you will waste away years of what are going to be a very important time for us. Tell me you understand." I didn't understand. I couldn't believe what she was saying, I mean she's telling me I'm some kind of hellish demon and I was supposed to just listen. But it was the conviction that she said she would help us escape that made me listen. "I understand."

Morrigan explains to Brooke that Flemeth is an ancient Magi of whom has conspired with Sauron in order to destabilize the regions of men and make Sauron's conquering of these lands an easier equation. As Morrigan is nearly finished she senses that Flemeth is returning and is forced to leave Brooke on her bed of sorts and flee from the room lest Flemeth begin to sense what is going on. Flemeth enters minutes later with The Dark Man, Morhlese, and Katarina in tow of whom didn't say a word but Brooke begin to scream as she saw the Dark Man, and he let out a small little chuckle before Flemeth silenced him and went to Brooke.

Seeing Truth

Flemeth takes Brooke Scott to the local town of Sundermount where she watches the people fall in fear before Flemeth, and it is only when another girl of whom due to appearance she guesses must be another of the so called daughters in the form of Halenia comes out that she sees any real life in the people around her. Halenia greets Brooke warmly, and is extremely cold to Flemeth to the point that Flemeth attacks her with her Magi torturing her in front of the assembled people of whom are clearly horrified. Flemeth leaves Halenia broken on the ground where the people carry her away and Brooke follows them into the tower that Halenia uses as her home. The chapter ends with Halenia telling her that she must listen to Morrigan without question as she is the only one who can save them all now.

Following the continueing growth in conflict with the Kingdom of Bolten William Lovie begin to come to the conclusion that he had to do something drastic or he risked watching all the good he'd done come crashing down around him. He had been constantly reading the diaries of his ancestors and from the writings of his great grandfater William Lovie I. he learned that the Dragon had changed everything. He came to believe that the success of House Lovie in the beggining was based on more then just the skill of William and that he needed the same trump card. William Lovie would summon from the Order of the Dragon Taylor Swift of whom he knew through Edward Cullen, and he grilled her for the truth on what the Dragons were really doing in the mountains. Taylor Swift would reveal to him that only the most senior of the Order had ever actually seen a dragon, and that she would summon a man of whom could tell him the truth of what they were. When he went to the shadow Council and told them that he planned on going to the Lucernian Mountains and attempting to meet with the Dragons, and from this he would bring them back into the fold. At first the others were so shocked by what he had said that they didn't take it seriously but when he didn't laugh along with them they begin to understand the truth that he in fact wasn't joking. At first noone spoke or even moved but after minutes of silence Jasper got up from the table and begin to become very angry that Andrew would even contimplate something so stupid.

After the argument of the Shadow Council Jasper went back to his room with Alice where he begin throwing things around the room which obviously brought about the attention of his fiance Alice Lovie. When Jasper told Alice about what was happening she immediatly knew that she was partly to blame for this as she had told him during the trip back that he was as great as William Lovie, and that anything he had done would pale in comparison to what he would eventually be remembered for. Realizing this she immediatly left the room with Jasper - who was shocked that Alice had just up and left - and went upstairs to Andrew's room where she walked in on Andrew and Bella in the middle of having sex. Seeing this was the first of what would become a growing problem for Alice as she begin to accept some simple truths in her life that she had never allowed herself to accept before.

Telling Alice the Truth

When Bella had removed herself from William and they were properly clothed she sat down on the edge of the bed and apoligized to William for telling him what she had, and she begged him not to go through with the Dragon plan. Bella stood beside him, but she to wanted to know why William would be so absolutely reckless. Bella went through the lists of things that gave them an advantage in any upcoming conflict, and by this point Alice was tearing up but still attempting to help Bella by also saying all the positives of a future conflict with the Empire. William explained to the two of them that the situation was hopeless in the long run unless they did something drastic and he could only think of doing this. He had taken out cities, and annexxed half of western Westros but he still was nothing more then a peanut in comparison to the power of the larger Empires in Europe. The three of them argued back and forth for some time and finally Ashley would appear at the door and she had a bad dream, and wanted them to get her a drink. Bella would leave to help Ashley with that, and when she did William reached for Alice and pulled her into a hug and whispered to her the words that force her to take his side of the coming debate.

With the words said by William there was a sence of understanding between the siblings and she would help him to convinse Bella of the reasonings behind the decision, and despite wanting to believe that her husband could sucede where it seemed noone could Bella was not willing to accept his death and refused to agree but would support him. Bella would return carrying a sleeping Ashley of whom they laid in their bed, and then went out to the balcony. The three of them would talk, and this time Alice now supported him, and after basically being double teamed for many minutes William went inside to check on Ashley and Bella and Alice spoke, and Bella wondered what he could have said to her to make her agree to this. Alice refused to tell the truth, and instead simply made excuses for William and Bella left frustrated.

The Mountain

The Rise of Lucerne I saw the destruction of the world, and knew I had to stop it. There was nothing left to do but become bigger then everyone else. The Empire was never going to be the beacon the world needed it to be. Westros was on fire. The Bretonians had reached for the stars and been burned. And the old shadow of Numeron was fading far too quickly. It was left to us in Lucerne to change the fate of all those who wished to reject darkness. We were the last hope for a world who had long since given up on believing.

She looked just like herself but different in a way. Her spoke to me in a way that said that she was changed in some unspeakable way. "Brooke...how...could this...are you really here?" I didn't know what else to say in that moment. She continued to fly beside me and she looked at me with what seemed like the weight of the world on her shoulders. "I'm here William. I've never left you, and I never will." She said it but even in her eyes we both knew it wasn't the way it was. This was a dream my mind created in what I must have felt were my final moments. How could this be true. She was dead. "Its all so impossible without you Brooke...I don't want to fight anymore without you." The world was fighting against me at all sides. It was one thing taking the Riverlands, and dealing with the constant rebellions of that land, but when I took Westbridge it just opened us up to so many enemies. Now at war with the Boltens I just wanted to hold her and feel better. "You have to William. You don't have a choice you need to fight. You need to fight for what we were." The past tense of it all just burned me. I wanted to change everything and was quickly realizing that the hopes of a child. "I'm not just fighting one thing anymore. Its everyone now. All around me are my enemies and without you I just don't see...I just can't see anything of hope anymore." "You are fighting for me Will. You are fighting for my memory every single moment you resist. Our children live only while you fight." "They are so beautiful Brooke. Every time I look at Riley I see only you. He is a constant reminder of what I threw away, and sometimes....sometimes it takes everything in me not to send him away to remove the pain of seeing you in him." "I'm still here William." "Then stay with me. Prove you are here by staying with me now." "It won't work that way Will. I will be here for you, but not that way." "But its all so hollow without you here." I saw a tear fall down her cheek, and the moment it did I noticed its red tinge as if it was blood, and the moment it fell her hand recoiled to her cheek and the Pegasus begin thrashing about causing her eyes to panic. As he calmed herself the residue of the tear remained on her cheek as she spoke again. "I'm sorry I had to leave you and I'm sorry I can't stay longer but know that this is what you need to do, and know that I'll be here for you." Her Pegasus started to pull away before I could ask her why her tears were blood or why she looked so scared, and my hands seemed unable to move to find the reigns so I yelled to her. "How will I find you again?" In that moment there were so many things I wanted to yell but that seemed the most prudent. "Search your mind William and you'll know the place to find me." It seemed after she responded my eyes closed with little control from me, and when I was able to open them she was gone as if she was never there.

As Brooke flew away the world seemed to snap back into focus as instead of feeling sad that she was gone, he felt the hope from the fact that she had said that he would see her again, and even if he believed her an illusion of his mind he somehow was okay with that. What man or women wouldn't want to see their loved ones again even if they were gone he thought. By this point Jasper realized that the things Leven had sent him to do were completely trickery and William wasn't where she said he would be, and the two would come together and get on their Griffins and attempt to find William before he was too far out.

The Monolith

So caught into his own thinking was he that he only barely noticed the large black monolith the writings had spoken of. The Monolith was knocked down as if spit in half, and as he landed he sat for a moment on the ground before getting up. As he walked followed by Keenclaw he was alerted by Keenclaw to the arrival of Jasper and Levan who flew in behind him on their griffins. Wondering immediatly about whether his meeting with Brooke had been noticed this fear went away when Jasper responded that they had flew with all speed and only saw him finally when he was sitting on the ground. Realizing that he wasn't going to be able to convinse them to leave and silently happy to have his friends with him they walked forward towards very likely death. Jasper scouted ahead accompanied by Brightclaw the littermate of Keenclaw. While he scouted ahead Leven would try to get William to tell him what had happened, and despite his reservations about being thought to be insane he told Leven about seeing Brooke and despite the fact that she didn't think Brooke was actually there she held his hand as they walked to make him understand that she was there for him. He would give her a tender kiss as they walked and despite knowing why he had done it she couldn't help but wish it was for the romantic reasons that she wanted to kiss him

The Mad God

Main Article : Conversations

As they walked forward holding hands they walked over the hill and saw Jasper flying towards them chased by an absolutely massive Dragon. Falling back over the hill they ran the other way only to find another dragon fly behind them and cut them off. The sides were then closed by more human sized creatures that were weaponized and didn't have wings but looked distinctly dragonoid. Falling back into a small circle they were joined by Jasper, and they watched the dragons approach them, and waited when the largest amongst them steps towards them and demands to know why they are here before they are killed. As Stragnarax nears them he visably recoils as he relizes that William Lovie's ancestor is amongst them and demands to know what kind of horrible taint William has since he is a decendent of the one that killed the honorable William Lovie I. William attempts to convinse him of his honor but Stragnarax throughout the conversation shows signs of madness and is unable to be convinsed and is unable to be persuaded to let them live and prepares to kill the group when Lornax arrives and stands between his father and the group. Not willing to kill his son he roars to the sky before flying away leaving Lornax, Flarnax and many Draknoids. 

Conversation Incoming Fairmarket. The Riverlands. Lorderon, and Kul Tiras. Westbridge. All had fallen to our might. All had sworn the sword to the Valley of Lucerne. All that power, and yet I looked north and saw a great demon the likes of which I could not hope to resist. The Empire was the reason for growth. The Empire was the reason for everything we did. The Empire was the land that should have done great things for the world, but instead of this they did nothing. They allowed chaos to breed amongst them, and in that weakeness and failing they threatened to ruin the entire continent.

We stood in a triangle trying to make sure we covered all sections, but looking in front of me a this massive creature I couldn't contimplate survival. Its wings flapped and they had to go almost for ever, and the cruel look in its eyes made me question everything we had ever been told about the Dragons. As I stood staring at it I held my hands in the air to try and show it I meant no harm. Seemed prudent to tell the monstracity in front of me that I wasn't capable of hurting it but this was all I knew I could do. As I did this the Dragon's head which was twice the size of me fell back and a booming sort of laughter came out. Looking around the more human appearing dragons did not move or make any sign that they were going to so I spoke outloud. "We mean you no harm. We are friends of the Dragon." The Dragon stopped its laughter and moved closer to me staring almost as if it knew me. Leven nudged at my cloak, and I knew what she was suggesting so I grabbed onto my back and pulled off my cloak which held the sigil of House Lovie in the form of our dragon. "You see my family honors you with your image on our sigil."  Seeing the sigil the dragon made a step backwards before speaking. Its voice was frightening in its scale but at the same time if you closed your eyes you would have barely known it wasn't human. "I know your family well human. I suppose the man one destroyed the images of me while he destroyed everything else that was good of your people." Moving closer I felt a gnawing at my mind before I heard his voice in my head. "I know who you are William Lovie third of his name, son of Bill Lovie. You are the great-grandson of the man that murdered my child." Saying those words I knew immediatly that despite the imposibility of what he was telling me this was Stragnarax the ancient mount of William Lovie my original namesake. "My great-grand father was a mad man...and I cannot believe that you would think we are all like he was. You Will..." "You shall not speak his name. He was beyond anything you could ever understand. Perfection in everything he did, that man simply wanted his family and friends, and the people he protected to have the best of everything he could offer them. And what did that get him and his son. Death. Their honor got them death from your blood. You stand here and it is as if I stare at the ghost of William himself. It is a travesty that someone as tainted as you should have his looks." "All I can say is that the mistakes of my great-grandfather are beyond apology, but I would like to have the chance to prove what I am capable of...what together we could be capable of." He gave another throat-ed cough, but this time he looked behind him and though I saw nothing he clearly did as he shook his head. "I swore the day your blood killed mine that I would never enter that tainted city again unless I was going to burn the entire city to the ground." It was a common question among the scholars of my people. Why had the great Stragnarax not intervened and stopped John? Why had he not taken revenge? Why had he not done so many things. "Why didn't you?" "Every ounce of my being wishes to destroy everything in that blighted city but...but a man I trusted and loved made me promise once that I would never harm it. He made me promice to protect Lucerne, and to never cause it harm. He never made me promice to protect you though. " A mighty chill went down my spine as I was threatened by a creature that William had wrote had been alive for the creation of our world itself. Old beyond counting was this creature and I was in its sights. "I am a part of Lucerne." "A destructive and cruel part." Leven had ahold of my shoulder and I knew she could feel that Stragnarax was not going to see reason. I knew she wanted me to look back at her, but a part of me couldn't believe it would end this way. "You cannot know that." I wanted to believe that I wasn't destructive but in my short time as King of Lucerne I had done my share of destruction. It had a purpose, but it was destructive none the less. "I have seen gods. I have watched demons blot out the sky. I have seen extinction of races, and the near destruction of my own. I can see your mind human, and I see death." "I'm sorry for everything that..." I felt the gnawing at my mind and he returned to speaking to me mentally. "Its over human. Its time to meet your Glaurung and see what your capable of in the afterlife." I wanted to say something. Say anything really. Try and make him stop, but looking into his eyes you could just see how lost he was. Completely lost in bad memories, and regret and there was nothing I could do to repair what had been done to him in the past. He opened his mouth and I watched as the fire billowed out of its mouth and came towards me, and looking back at Leven, and Jasper I smiled knowing I was surrounded at the end by loved ones. As I waited for the end a massive crash came in front of me knocking me onto Leven and flinging us into the snow. Getting myself up I checked to make sure Leven, and Jasper were alright before turning around and seeing another dragon between us and Stragnarax. You could still see Stragnarax behind him so large was he, but this new white dragon was still massive in its own right. Stragnarax moved forward attempting to get by the smaller dragon, but the smaller one pushed his wings out pushing back Stragnarax who let out a hiss of a noise which forced us to cover our ears it was so loud. For minutes they circled each other. No noises but the occasional hiss from Straganarax, but from the way he had talked before I believe they could somehow choose who they were speaking to in some incredible way. And then suddenly from behind us another Dragon dropped from the sky and without a sound moved to stand beside the other Dragon that was seemingly standing between us and certain death. With the arrival of the second dragon I felt clawing in my mind again and saw Leven fall to my right as she held her head. "Leven!" I grabbed her by the shoulders holding her up. "I feel something in my mind William." Jasper came and held her up as well, but he showed no signs of feeling anything, although knowing him he could be in any kind of pain and we would never know the difference. "It's alright Leven. It's the Dragon." I'm not sure that was comforting but at least she knew now why the feeling was happening. I was shook by the feeling of flapping as Stragnarax smashed his wings on the ground before pushing the two smaller dragons out of the way and standing right in front of me. "Your here for death human." His face moved so close to mine that I could see the scales all of his face, and the way crystals somehow dotted pieces of the scales making him look like some expensive merchants garb. "I am here for this valley. I am here to keep us all safe from anything that would harm us." He hissed again at me. "Your murderous great grandfather once thought the same way. I thought he was a good person as well. I thought he wanted to keep everything in the valley safe. I was wrong with him, but I will not watch as trusting another of your kind gets my people murdered." "We need each other. Surely you see in this new world we can work amazing things if only we work together for the common good." "I will give you this warning because my children have so foolishly deemed you worthy of protection." Looking around him at the two smaller dragons at least I knew who they were now, and which side they were on. "If you return here I will kill you. If you return here I will burn your body and drop you over the city I watched your ancestor build." I wanted to say something. Once again I found no time though as the moment I had opened my mouth his massive wings pushed out and he flew into the sky moving deeper into the mountains.

Lornax and Flarnax would attempt to better understand the reasoning behind why William had risked everything to come here, and why they should listen. William was able to come to a sort of understanding with the curious Lornax of whom he convinced he was no harm too and he simply wanted to regain what had been lost between the Dragons and the humans of Lucerne. Flarnax would make the argument that the days of the dragon were sliding away and if nothing changed they would be wiped out. Lornax would agree and they both said that if the time came for trouble or they needed help then they would be able to count on the White Dovah by their side. William as they were leaving made Lornax and Flarnax aware that the Dragons were rising in the east under the Empire of Dragonstone, and that these dragons appeared to be of the Red Dovah but were not led by a very large dragon as the White were. Lornax was shocked that the Red Dovah were reintegrating with the humans and this would lead to even more discussion of the need for the White Dovah to join with Lucerne, but both Dragons made it sadly clear that it would take time for the relationship to return to what it was, but the two of them were with Lucerne.

Conversation Incoming Fairmarket. The Riverlands. Lorderon, and Kul Tiras. Westbridge. All had fallen to our might. All had sworn the sword to the Valley of Lucerne. All that power, and yet I looked north and saw a great demon the likes of which I could not hope to resist. The Empire was the reason for growth. The Empire was the reason for everything we did. The Empire was the land that should have done great things for the world, but instead of this they did nothing. They allowed chaos to breed amongst them, and in that weakeness and failing they threatened to ruin the entire continent.

I had known him for basically my entire life, and the ghost I had seen since she died was something different. Since Brooke Scott had died he had smiled just as much, but the smiles were not the true smiles of the love of my life. He smiled out of memory. He smiled because that's what he knew he was supposed to do, and not because he wanted to. But standing here holding his hand as he looked at me smiling I saw him again.

Touched by Lightning

As she watched William getting closer through the window of the house she would feel a presence come behind her and turning around she would see a man surrounded by four women. Horrifed by their presence she prepared to fight with her new found Magi but found her powers resisted as if she was a child by the man, and then knocking her to the ground he came to her side and whispered words she couldn't understand into her ear. The words caused a great relief to wash over her, and when the feeling went away and she was able to open her eyes the man and women with him were gone. Moments later William would come smashing through the door and find her leaning against the wall with blood coming from her ears, and horrified that she was dying on him before he could see her again he would scream out of which woke her from the trance she was in. Released once again Brooke and William would be intimate and then spoke for some time about everything before Brooke was forced to have him leave as she knew that he needed to go back to Lucerne and deal with the death of Marcel Lovie II. and the fall of Arnor. Brooke though all of this was helpless in her ability to tell him the truth of what she was, and despite the fact that she wanted to tell him every time she she him, she was physically incapable of resisting the will of Flemeth. What she did not understand during this was that Odin's whispering had released much of her corruption and during her entire time with William at the cottage Flemeth had been whispering commands to her to kill William, but she had been able to ignore them due to the opening of her mind from Odin.

Following sending away William to deal with all the political issues at hand for him she would remain in the cottage day after day waiting for someone to come for her to tell her what to do next, but instead Flemeth didn't come. Flemeth didn't come but Odin and his Valkryie did come and their arrival would once more frighten Brooke but this time Odin revealed who he was and his relationship to some of the other daughters was revealed when Morrigan showed herself and told Brooke the truth of what Odin was doing. Odin would reveal to her that his plan was for Brooke to show herself her own strength in resisting Flemeth by not harming her beloved in William upon his return, and then following having some time with him to calm his soul she would let him move on from her before she would return to Croatia