Mathias Clegane

Mathias Clegane
Story Role
POV Role	{{{POV Role}}}
Appears In	{{{Appears In}}}
Naming Conventions
Title	Waffen Major
Nickname	{{{Nickname}}}
Vital statistics
Born	{{{Birth Year}}}
Religion	Dragonoph
Status	Alive
Allegiance	Family House Clegane Sworn Waffen Red Dragon Army
Racial Statistics
Maternal	{{{Maternal race}}}
Paternal	{{{Paternal race}}}
Family
Parents
Father	Rupert Clegane
Mother	Marnia Clegane
Siblings
Siblings	True Born Hedrik Clegane III. Jenny Clegane
Internal Family
Spouse	Joanna Clegane
Children	True Born Mathew Clegane II. Sarha Clegane Toden Clegane

Mathew Clegane is the son of Rupert, and Marnia Clegane and this makes him a member of House Clegane, and second in line to heir of the powerful House. Mathew has two siblings in the form of Hedrik, and Jenny Clegane of which Hedrik is the heir to House Clegane and his best friend while at the same time being a truly inspirational figure in House Clegane, while his sister has been quite reclusive due to her strange and quiet personality. Matthew Clegane is also married to Joanna Clegane who he loves very deeply and leans on throughout the decisions he must make in his life. With Joana Clegane he has three children in the form of Mathew, Sarha, and Toden Clegane of which Sarha and Toden are still young by the time of Westros, but Mathew Clegane II. is a young squire of whom is squired to Lucas Scott.

An important member of House Clegane, he is very well known for his fighting ability, but on rop of this he is also well known for his quite public mutual hatred of Edward Cullen. This hatred begin when during his time at the Lucernian Academy (of which he was the only Clegane sent after Hedrik refused to leave Rachel) he flirted openly with Blake Cullen to a point that Edward eventually told him to step back from her, and when he didn't the two challenged eachother to a duel and they proceeded to fight. The outcome of the fight would forever change both men as they both believed that without intervention they would have been victorious, and this remains a point of open contention between the two. Mathew Clegane would take part in the Nortburg Tournament of 5120 where he defeated the very skilled Tytos Lannister before being defeated by Garlan Tyrell in Round Two. With his brother Hedrik joining the Order of the Red Dragon Mathew has been placed in charge of the House Clegane forces, and through this he control the nearly 1500 men at arms that House Clegane can call upon. Under this control he led House Clegane alongside his father during Invasion of Westbridge and their victory in the Battle of Jastings means that they have dramatically increased their clout amongst the leadership of the Kingdom of Lucerne. At the end of the Rise of Lucerne Matthew Clegane is moving his forces east to meet up with House Scarlet where he will command the defence of the only real crossing into Lorderon from Bolten. In this position he leads the overall defences of the northern bridge in Lorderon where at the end of the book he looks out over the river and sees the massed troops of Bolten beginning to march towards his position. Mathew Clegane would through his diplomatic skill alongside his Scarlet companions be able to stop the Boltens from attacking north as they had been ordered to as a part of the overal invasion by the Boltens, and following this he watched as Saiden Scarlet's arrangement with House Cole led to the basic abandonment of the aggression towards his forces. Understanding that he would have to move quickly once House Cole switched sides he spent the time preparing the supplies and troops neccessary for a mass transport to the Dreadfort Platuea as that was where he and House Scarlet were ordered to advance on while House Menathil and House Cole advanced on the northern Bolten lands and cut them off even further.

History

Early History

During his youth in Lole he found that everything came to easy to him because of his last name, and his looks, and this created a young man that felt intitled to many things cheif of which was women. During his brief time in Lole while he was waiting to go to the Lucernian Academy he would become infamous amongst his age group for his prevalance amongst the noble girls of Lole to the point that his somewhat older brother Hedrik tried to turn him away from this life style but this had little to no effect. When he came of age for schooling he was sent to Lucerne as most of the wealthier families do. While at school in Lucerne he became very well known as a guy who liked the company of women, as he continued down his path that he had set out in Lole. This lifestyle would be unaproachable as the other boys his age in Lole were unable to intervene as he was the noble son of the town and because of this they wouldn't dare oppose him. But in Lucerne he was a small fish, and it would take his involvement with Edward Cullen to make him understand how small he really was.

Edward Cullen

Edward and Mathew's hatred is now legendary but at the time they didn't know eachtoher and it would be their interaction that would create the hatred. This hatred begin when during his time at the Lucernian Academy he flirted openly with Blake Cullen to a point that Edward eventually told him to step back from her and his arrogance made him at first believe that this person was nothing compared to him and thus he chose to ignore Edwards threat. As he reangaged in a relationship with Blake Cullen Mathew's friends there told him that he shouldn't get invovled with Edward as his best friend was Andrew Lovie and that would be a fight you could not or would not win. Despite these warnings he refused to heed their words and thus he was discovered by Edward after he flaunted his romance with Blake in front of Edward's face while he was in the courtyard training with Jasper Hale. Edward at the time had a sword and it took a silent movement by Jasper to take the sword so that Edward didn't use it to kill Mathew, but the removal of the sword only made the two fight with fists, and before long they were full out fighting in the courtyard. As teachers were unable to intervene it took the silent arrival of one person to silence the entire crowd when Andrew Lovie entered the courtyard. After a moment of silence Andrew who at the time was still argueing with Edward about what he had returned for, and said to him but this changed nothing about harming Edward. After Andrew, Jasper, and Emmett picked up Edward they were unable to stop him from challenging Mathew to a duel which he was honor bound to accept, and with that the duel was a forgone conclusion. The outcome of the fight would forever change both men as they both believed that without intervention they would have been victorious, and this remains a point of open contention between the two.

The Journey

Main Article : The Journey

The Rosten Crisis I did what the king commanded me to do. I die now a loyal soldier for the king.

Rosten Bandit War Main Article : Bandit War of Rosten “The Italians were the problem you know. I killed them though. Don't worry, there gone now.” — Mikael Therkildsen The Rosten Bandit War would first begin with the events of the Rosten Crisis when the Circle of Magi intervened in the Grand Province to turn it into the kind of maelstrom of violence and chaos that they believed would allow them to gain more influence over the area. Hanzal Herbus would be sent to Rosten during the events of the Banditry Wars of Lucerne as James Lovie wanted Rosten to go up in flames as to make it more difficult for aid to be sent to any future attempt to relieve Tree Hill, and Hanzal Herbus would be accompanied by a troop of fifty men from the Circle of Magi and bags of coins for what he would come to spark in the form of the Bandit War of Rosten. Hanzal Herbus would enter the court of his brother Dominic Herbus who was a Landsgrave of Rosten and entering his brothers court accompanied by Circle of Magi men he was able to gain immediate recognition despite never having spent any time with his brother, and delivering letters from the king it was Dominic that was forced to obey the commands of Hanzal and his soldiers. Fall of Jogelinn Aphasial Venom would lead the forces of House Venom during the events of the Rosten Crisis when she moved against the town of Jogelinn alongside her husband and the forces of House Therkildsen and after they took control of the town from House Cresces the two houses took two very different paths with the forces of House Therkildsen under the direction of Mikael commiting atrocities on the Italian/Christian population of the town and this only stopped when Aphasiel ordered her forces to resist this causing street battles throughout the town which House Therkildsen retreated from due to Mikael's love for Aphasiel. The Journey See Also : The Journey “We have lost this province Hedrik. They control more ground then we do. This is not the easy task the rumors have told you it is.” — Kavan Elric As the army of Lucerne mobilizes for the Journey it is William that commands them to break up and do many things of which are of great importance, and of these tasks he wants completed he sends Hedrik Clegane III. southward to deal with the devolving situation in the Grand Province of Rosten. Hedrik Clegane moves his forces alongside the forces of House Swift led by Timone Swift, and his son William Swift, and leading a force of several hundred Swift men they are joined by the Dragonoph Priestess Taylor Swift as they make their way southward towards the town of Castle James where the forces of House Elric have been fighting a running battle against a bandit force which has grown out of control in the grand province. Arriving at Castle James they meet with the leadership of House James in the form of Ulrich, and Taylor James of whom has gathered several hundred troops to join with their army as they prepare to retake control of Kautila. Discussing the situation with Ulrich James they learn that the situation is far larger then originally known as this is not one force they are fighting but instead they are fighting against two rebellious houses in the form of House Verilim, and House Herbus who have taken control of large swathes of the Grand Province while alongside this there has also been the rise of three large bandit forces who have also taken control of large swathes of the grand province and to the shock of Hedrik he learns that these forces are all working together in coordinated moves against House Elric's control of the grand province. The Sisterhood “I'm here to protect these people. Say what you will Grand Lord but the truth is that we had major problems happening here. I do not reject that you wanted to help, but the simple truth is you failed in that attempt.” — Aphasiel Venom Gathering together his forces Hedrik leads them against the Sisterhood of Venom first of whom have captured the town of Jogelinn and are using it as the center of their small little fiefdom. While travelling from Kautila towards the lands of the Sisterhood they are met on the road by several hundred House Elric men led by Kaven Elric, and his son Alke Elric of whom are to join Hedrik in the movement to retake the grand province. Entering the lands of the Sisterhood of Venom they meet no resistance as their army marches up the road but travelling through the village of Ojelurun they find a christian church burned to the ground and meet the first member of the Sisterhood of Venom when they find a heavily armored female priest standing in the center of the village. Meeting with the girl they discover she is Oriphiel Venom the sister of Aphasiel Venom the leader of the Sisterhood of Venom and she had come to the village to meet the army of Hedrik and bring them to Jogelinn where Aphasiel wants to meet with them in peace. Following Oriphiel its Hedrik that discusses the situation with her learning that the Sisterhood of Venom had originally been known as the Army of Aerene but had broken apart after a disagreement between the two leaders of the army in the form of Aphasiel and Mikael Therkildsen over the direction of the army. Arriving at Jogelinn their forces are met at the edge of the town by the army of Venom who is nearly two thousand strong and to avoid a fight Hedrik meets under a white flag with Aphasiel alongside Kaven Elric, and Ulrich James. Meeting with Aphasiel it becomes clear that she simply wants to protect the people of the area of Jogelinn against the increasingly lawless nature of the Grand Province of Rosten and Kaven Elric agrees that if she would swear herself and her forces to his service then he would name her the Landsgard of Jogelinn, and while she accepts she heavily implies that she will be acting as little more then a figurehead as she sees the land as a theocracy. The Pure of Aerene See Also : Skirmish at Castle Marimus “I did what the king commanded me to do. I die now a loyal soldier for the king.” — Mikael Therkildsen With the forces of the Sisterhood of Venom added to their ranks they make there way towards the Pure of Aerene of whom are the group that broke away from the original Army of Aerene and have now been responsible for committing religious genocide against eastern Rosten. Arriving at the edge of the Pure of Aerene controlled lands they find the roads edge lined with crucified bodies and then marching along the road through these bodies they are met by the sight of a naked man with his eyes cut out and speaking with the man they learn he is Allectius Marinus the Landsgard of the area and he was left there to tell them to turn around and leave the forces of Mikael Therkildsen to their work. The army is forced to stop its march towards Castle Marinus after they discover that the bridge allowing them crossing to the city has been destroyed leaving the large army no real ability to cross in heavy numbers. Hedrik decides to split the army taking the Sisterhood of Venom forces and several hundred of his own men while the majority of the army is taken command by Kaven Elric and will make there way towards the Black Moon Brotherhood's lands. Swimming across the river Hedrik reaches the other side and taking command of the force they make there way towards Castle Marinus but passing through the country side they find burned out farms and dead bodies litter the land as the forces of the Pure of Aerene have devolved. Arriving at Castle Marinus they find the forces of the Pure of Aerene have marshaled outside the castle and despite attempts by Hedrik to meet under a white Flag the forces of the Pure of Aerene fire on the soldier Hedrik sends with the White Flag and this forces Hedrik to move into battle formations. The battle erupts into chaos, and as the lines charge at each other Hedrik is struck by an arrow to the chest, and then as he gets up is struck again in the arm, and in shock he passes out. Waking up the battle is still raging, and he sees Aphasiel and Mikael fighting and seeing Mikael is winning the fight Hedrik pushes through the pain and joins their fight where despite his injuries he is able to defeat Mikael and before passing out again he executes an unapologetic Mikael. The death of Mikael breaks the Pure of Aerene who begin surrendering on mass and the surrender is accepted by Aphasiel who wants the bloodshed to end, and with Hedrik out of commission she is able to control the loyalist forces. Meinolf Ostriger would take command of the Lole forces following Hedrik being horribly injured at the Skirmish at Castle Marinus, but despite being far above Aphosiel in terms of title it was Aphosiel who dominated the meetings following Hedrik's injury. Arrival of Edward Cullen Moving westward they learn that the situation in Rosten remains tenuous despite the fact that Hedrik Clegane III. was able to supress much of the rebels, but one remaining force led by a powerful magi has blocked their entrance into southern Rosten. With this in mind Edward departs the main group and gathers to him his people including Hilary Swift, and Gemma Cullen and then the three travel by portal to Rosten where they will assist in dealing with the magi alongside a gathering number of magi who are being sent there to assist with taking down the magi there. Arriving at Castle Elric he meets with a fellow Magi in the form of Josephine Aberbach of whom leads several Magi herself and together they join with Konstantin Gaimen who led a force of some eight hundred as they made there way towards Herbus where the last sighting of the Dark Magi was. In order to get to Herbus they are forced to cross the River Schwegler at Castle Schwegler where a large bridge is the only real means of crossing without taking a large detour eastward. Arriving at Castle Schwegler they are met on the bridge by Lord Fredrik Schwegler and his son Wilhelm Schwegler and with both sides aware of what entering the castle means they make arrangements with Fredrik requesting the marriage of his son Wilhelm to Ottilia Hofbauer one of the Magi with Josephine. Gaining the crossing as well as being joined by three hundred Schwegler troops led by Wilhelm they move southward towards Herbus, and the mood is good as there is no more blocking them from reaching Herbus. Battle of Herbus

Third Battle of Minus Tirith Tomorrow is the moment we stand as free men of Europe and say in one loud voice the truth that we have always known. We will scream out our truth, and when were done the Dark Lord himself will know that the men of Europe will not stand for evil anymore. Tomorrow we strike. Tomorrow he will know pain.

The Third Battle of Minus Ithil Main Article : The Third Battle of Minus Ithil “My father had relented despite his strong vocal anger towards what I wanted to do, and with his resistance no longer present the few forces of Lucerne that were not involved in some way begin to come out of the word works. I don`t forget loyalty though, and those houses that only came after the choice was gone are not the ones who I trust in the same way as those who joined me when it was still in doubt.” — William Lovie III. With Aragorn`s success in gathering the forces of the Sindar Elves of High Forest he would send word to William Lovie III. of whom had succeed in gaining his father`s permission to lead the forces of Lucerne into Gondor and drive away the Mordor Orcs so that they could then relieve Tree Hill. In terms of the Sindar Elves of High Forest they would travel by boat from High Forest to Osgiliath where they would land north of the port city and meet with the overall forces in the area just north of the Battle site itself. The Orcs for there part had recently sent a smaller force through through the Morgul Pass of which had been moving southward towards the fortress of Narvine of which they would as usual most likely raid the already barren farmland north of Narvine and then retreat when they were opposed. William Lovie III. would lead the Lucernian army alongside his main commanders in Lucerne in the form of Charlie Swan, Renault Scarlet, Jack Shepard alongside many others of whom the main ones they would be meeting east of Stormwind in the Rhunian province. Army Leadership Other Noteables Strength House Shephard Jack Shephard Maron Scorpian Evin Scorpian House Swan Charlie Swan Brody Swan Thomas Vindale Bernd Von Yernese Billy Black House Mountain Vaelor Mountain Derek Mountain Baelor Mountain House Tyrell Garlan Tyrell Dustin Bardwyn Thomas Roses Sasha Roses House Lannister Jamie Lannister Daven Lannister Tyrek Lannister Tygett Lannister Lancel Lannister House Starke Eddard Starke Robb Starke Jon Snow Brandon Starke House Greymane Liam Greymane Liam Greymane II. Clarke Greymane Gregor Voner House Scarlet Alexandros Scarlet II. Darion Scarlet Saiden Scarlet House Highmore Draco Highmore Johan Highmore Freddie Highmore House Highport Natalie Highport Robin Highport House Ordos Dennis Ordos Franklin Brent Coyle Ordos Kieth Darkwood Kyle Darkwood Andrew Garfield House Hale Orton Merryjones Linda Merryjones Rickar Kortend House Clegane Hedrik Clegane III. Rupert Clegane Brandan Clegane Gregory Stillwood Mikael Stillwood Appius Dalmatia Lords of Tree Hill Orival Crane Kaven Elric Egbert Elric Walrod Gaimen Jost Gaimen Eddard Starke led the eastern forces alongside the Lannisters of whom were behind the attack surprisingly even before the acceptance of Bill Lovie and these two massive forces would send most of their forces to Lamedon but the leadership remained at Stormwind where it would meet the main army as it came through. The western forces of Lucerne led by the Greymane would lead their forces as well eastward with their army being the furthest behind but using ships from Highgarden, and Fogtown the armies were moved eastward towards Lamedon. The Gondor forces would begin to marshal under the command of Aragorn Elessar III. and while the vast majority traveled to Osgiliath to prepare a smaller force traveled to Lamedon where they would meet William Lovie III. once his army had gathered and was preparing to cross into Gondor. “This is all about faith young prince. On one hand I see the future of my Kingdom ending unless something is done about the monsters at my door. On the other hand despite everything you`ve done I have heard that your father was once honorable and just. You decide the fate of Kingdoms and Men with the decisions you will make in the coming days so make sure you are better then your father has been.” — Aragorn Elessar II. Aragorn Elessar II. would watch with silent fright as the nearly sixty thousand Lucernian troops would mass themselves on the west side of Lamdeon, and it was only upon the arrival of the flags of House Lovie signalling the arrival of William Lovie III. that Aragorn crossed the bridges of Lamedon and met with the Lucernian leadership. William Lovie III. would be awaiting him alongside nearly his entire leadership of whom had arrayed themselves as much as possible inside a massive tent that had been brought for this very occasion, but knowing the importance of this conversation noone outside of William was to speak and it was in this way that Aragorn entered the tent of the Lucernian King and the two would speak one last time before going to war. Look at the world father. You were born into this land. You grew up here. These people swore their lives to you. How could you have done all of this? Look at everything you have done. You destroyed a city. 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. Don't end it all here. Don't do this. For me father. For everything I supposedly mean to you. Don't do this. ``My prince the King has entered the camp and will be here momentarily.`` ``That is good. Thank you Ser Percy.``Despite my fears Hayden Percy was one of, if not the most loyal man I knew and he deserved to be treated with respect. I could hear them through the tent, and it made me sick. I could remember the days when it was me that made him feel that way, and I hated her for it. Sometimes I thought to myself in moments like this how different my life would be if I had gotten pregnant during one of the hundreds of times we were together, but for whatever reason the gods didn't want that for me. I would be in that tent right now holding him close, and knowing with every fiber of my being that I was loved. I was noble born, and on the same level as Bella, and yet she had so easily eclipsed me in so little time that it just didn't seem fair. I felt a hand touch my shoulder, and immediately grabbed for my sword before laughter slowed me and Emmett's head appeared from beneath the helmet as he pulled up the helmet. "I didn't mean to startle you Levia." A fool wouldn't have believed him as he continued to laugh and I struck him in the chest right beneath his breast plate, causing him to stop laughing. As he stopped laughing the sounds of Bella from within the tent grew momentarily louder, and I couldn't stop myself from looking at the tent for a second before answering. "You didn't startle me." I felt his hand go back to my shoulder as I stared at the tent, and as I looked back to him I saw the understanding in his eyes, but also I could feel pity and that was something I didn't want. "It's fine Emmett." His eyes didn't believe me for a second, but I didn't have time to deal with this right now. "I'm going to catch some sleep make sure he doesn't stay up too late we have to be ready for the morning." I said it more harshly then Emmett deserved, and as I walked away from him leaving him with nothing more then a nod of my head I felt terrible. Emmett just wasn't a person you should ever be rude too. Born of commoner blood it was his kindness that had pulled him into our group, and it was that same kindness that had led him to becoming the gentlemen he was now. I would have to make a point to bring him something as an apology after the battle, but I couldn't think on that now I just needed to get away from that tent that I wanted to be in more then anything. I found myself searching hopelessly for Obella when I overhear a Starke man talking about how Robb Starke is with her. Going to the Starke part of the camp I see her sitting with him outside their tent rubbing the hair of that giant wolf of his, and as I watch them I feel happy for my sister. She deserves that kind of happiness, and I know that Robb Starke will treat her well. I turn around and walk to my own tent, and as I move through the seemingly endless ranks of tents, and men that we have gathered I feel a sense of dread wash over me. I have never been in a battle and yet here I am walking through camp thinking on Will, and hoping for a good life for my sister, and yet I ignore the fact that tomorrow we wade into the unknown with nothing more then a hope. I'm glad that me and Jasper will be by Will's side tomorrow, as I don't know how I could handle the fear of not knowing what was happening with him throughout the entirety of the battle. I reach my tent and open the flap revealing my sleeping sister Dorea within, and I smile as she jumps up holding a small dagger. "There is no threat from this direction dear sister." She put her dagger away with a smile before sitting up in the bed. "You can never be too safe. Uncle told me once that when your surrounded by enough men you need always keep a dagger near you lest you find yourself pierced by things other then steel." She laughed as she said it, but I saw how hard she had clenched that dagger, and I knew her well enough to know that she was afraid. I didn't blame her for fear, for I was afraid too. "Oh my god Dorea when did Oberyn tell you that?" I didn't need to even think on which uncle would tell her such a disgusting thing. "It matters not for Oberyn always speaks the truth of such things." She smiled at me once more before laying back down, and pulled the blankets up to her shoulders. I moved to take off my armor and piece by piece put it on the stand. Each piece of armor had been intricately crafted, and designed for the every whim I had when I was thinking of my armor, and yet looking at the armor now I wondered whether I had ever really thought I would be in a situation where I would need it. "Levia?" Looking to the sound of Dorea she looked so small under the blanket, and I went to her now clothed for sleep and sat at the edge of her bed. "Whats wrong Dorea?" She shrugged at me, and the way she did it reminded me of how truly young she was. Less then sixteen name days and here she was standing on the edge of the world sleeping one more time before we entered a battle with strange monsters. "There is nothing wrong with being afraid. I would be scared for your mental health if you weren't afraid." "I'm not scared to fight tomorrow." I tilted my head at her, and she pushed me playfully. "I'm not I swear...its just." "Just what sister?" "I just wonder about something Melessa Vaith said when I was leaving." "What did she say to you?" "She didn't say it too me, but I know it was actually about me." I nodded at her to continue. "She was talking about Elize Scorpian. She was saying how no man would ever want to marry Elize because she was constantly armored, and that men hated that." The moment she said it I felt terrible for her. Here she was on the eve of battle not afraid of dying, of which I'm sure she was, but she was more worried about her marriage possibilities if she did fight. "Let me tell you a story Dorea." She grabbed my hand and I rubbed her hand with my thumb as I begin. I knew the story wouldn't hold up to close examination, but as I watched her eyes close and open I knew her sleepy mind wouldn't put it together. "Once there was a prince of a great kingdom, and this prince was beloved by all that he met. He had ladies fawning over him at every turn, and yet one day the tough lady of another land came to court, and he looked at her with a smile that melted her heart. This lady thought as Melessa did. She believed that her love for swords, armor, and horses would turn him away. But the prince smiled at her, and each day he saw her he smiled again. One day the lady would be walking with her horse by the stables when the prince appeared in all his beauty and splender, and once again he smiled at her. The lady was lost in his eyes, and the smile he gave her melted her heart away. The prince told her she was a beautiful girl, and took her hand walking alongside her and the horse." I looked down as I felt her move her head onto my lap, and I watched her fall chest move up and down, and felt such peace watching my sister sleep. I don't know why but I felt the need to keep telling my side of the story. I didn't want to wake her so I begin whispering it to her, and perhaps it was selfish but I wanted to hear it for myself. "From that day forward the two shared a secret smile between them, and whenever he smiled at her she knew in her heart that he loved her. It didn't matter that they didn't marry, and it didn't matter that he was promised to others because she knew she was loved." After speaking together it was Aragorn that would lead the Lucernian army across the bridges of Lamedon and the Lucernian marched eastward towards Osgiliath and the eventual battle that everyone had been waiting for. The now combining forces of Gondor, and Lucerne would meet at Osgiliath with their two forces gaining immense numbers after aligning together, and this led to a serious escalation in belief on specifically the side of the Gondorians of whom had been spending years watching the Orcs overwhelm them. With both forces combining plus the eventual assistance of the Sindar Elves they had almost ninety thousand human troops and nearly ten thousand Elven troops of which would be opposed on the other side by the main orcish army of more then one hundred thousand. The Attack “I was shocked that they didn't even check their flanks. I was shocked because all I knew of Orcs was that they wiped us out at Leon, and at Tree Hill. Were those Orcs somehow more intelligent then the idiots we met on those fields?” — William Lovie III. The two armies crossed the river and made their way to the hills west of the location of the Orcish Army, and from there pieces of the army begin to separate and move to their positions with heavy cavalry moving into the south, and north while the forces of Cair Andros, and Dal Imnil met them south east of Pelagir in the forests that the Sindar Elves had hidden themselves in adding another five thousand troops to the alliance. With one night before the assault the Shadow Council would meet and spent time together, and throughout the night they were joined by other young nobles that William had befriended, and this was the way they spent the day before the assault. During the night the armies would move into a closer position to the Orcs with the Gondor Army arraying itself directly before the Mordor Orcs in an attempt to get their full attention while the Lucernians and Sindar Elves would hide themselves as close as possible and once battle was met they would charge. At this point the besieged forces of Gondor inside Minas Ithil still had no idea that relief was coming and it had been decided that they would not make any attempts to alert the defenders as it was possible the Orcs might intercept the attempt and then everything would change dramatically for the plans of the attack. By this point the Magi Commander of the Lucernian forces in the form of Edward Cullen would group together with the Gondorian Istari and would discover to their great happiness that Ren the Unclean the Nazgul commander of the Orcish armies was not present on the battlefield. Despite the the fact that Ren the Unclean was not present the Kingdom of Orthanac was present with a force some five thousand troops and led by the Magi Sa-Uluos Thelvhian of whom also had some five other Magi with him and thus realizing they would be facing a significant Magi threat Edward Cullen would gather the Magi in the Lucernian army and alongside the Gondorian Istari would prepare a plan to attack the Orthanac forces and crush the Orthanac Magi swiftly. “I was shocked that they didn't even check their flanks. I was shocked because all I knew of Orcs was that they wiped us out at Leon, and at Tree Hill. Were those Orcs somehow more intelligent then the idiots we met on those fields?” — William Lovie III. With the forces in place the armies of Gondor, Lucerne, and High Forest moved into their positions in their corresponding areas, and prepared for light to signal what they hoped was a blind charge by the forces of Mordor into the Gondor army. The day would break and at this point as the Gondorians had moved into the open of the field west of the Orcs they were noticed quickly, and it didn`t take more then a few minutes before the Orcs did exactly what was believed they would do. The Orc commander Urgreek Madd ordered his forces to charge the Gondor soldiers and in this way the entire Mordor army except the few thousand archers that moved in behind the charging Orcs. The Orcs that were sieging the city itself would remain mostly still there but there was a sizable amount that broke from the siege upon seeing the larger army fighting and were now moving away from their position outside Minus Ithil, and towards the Gondorians, which meant the plan was going perfectly. The Gondor archers opened up on the orcs but the numbers were immense, and the Orcs kept coming and coming. When the orcs finally reached the lines, the Gondor soldiers used delaying tactics and simply held the Orcs in place. Aragorn and his leadership would fight like men possessed in the center and Aragorn himself during the early moments of the Battle would kill two of Urgreek`s sons of whom had both wanted to sway their father by killing the King of Gondor but found him out of their league. Also during the initial assault Ildarion would be struck by an arrow, and despite this fact he would remain in the battle and for the rest of the battle had an arrow sticking out of his right shoulder. While the moment the Orcs had moved against Gondor the Lucernians, and Sindar armies had begun slowly moving it was the moment the orcs engaged with the army of Gondor the Lucernians and Sindar launched their full out attacks. The Ambush The Lucernian Cavalry preparing to ambush the Orcish forces. The Lucernian forces were decided into two main parts attacking from both the north, and south and hitting all over the rear, and flanks of the completely exposed Orcish army. “After they charged it was a simple ticking of the clock before we massacred them. Though they didn't know it yet the Orcs were dead the moment they entered that field without looking. It was almost disappointing to see these creatures of tales, and nightmares be so foolish.” — Jamie Lannister With the Orcs embroiled in combat with the Gondorians they were completely focused in front of them and missed the Lucerne army, and they definitely missed the High Forest trees as they charged out as well. The first signs the Orcs had that things were changing was when the cries of battle appeared behind their lines, and the Lucernian cavalry along with the Ents of High Forest slammed into their rear, while accurate archery fell into the core of the Orcs. During this initial assault Jamie Lannister and the Lannister cavalry would overrun the center of the Pitghost Tribe and during this overrunning of the Pitghost Tribe their overlord Ghorgauth, and all his warchiefs would be killed leading to a complete route of the Pitghost tribe who fled eastward. Moving past the Pitghost tribe the camped army was cut down in their hundreds during the initial assault the forces of Gondor as well would switch themselves and become more aggressive as they realized the trap was on thus the Orcs felt pressure from all sides which only increased the desperation of the Battle. William Lovie III. alongside his Shadow Council and many other noble young men were in the thick of the main cavalry charge and William himself got into a fight with a large Troll of whom had killed several others around him including Lord Osgood Elbertson, and Davin Percy II. and fighting against the Troll he was pushed back and nearly killed by the Troll before his personal guards would mass around him and murder the giant Troll. Ugreek did not have a lot of strategy to himself but he did clearly understand that the battle was turning into a massacre and would make a straight line for the command flag of the Gondorians trying to end the battle in one fight. “I was pulling my sword out of the last Orc to fall to my blade when I felt the air around me calm, and then the subsequent slash towards my head had me flying backwards to avoid it. When I turned around I saw what could have been an Orc, or could have been a giant staring at me. In the end it mattered not what it was, because it had to die.” — Aragorn Elessar II. As the Orcs realized they had become caught in a trap Ugreek Madd would meet with overlord Ugled of whom with his warchief Ghaddish rallied their elite troops and followed Ugreek Madd as he looked along the battle line for the commander of the opposing force hoping to end his enemy and route the army in one fell swoop. Ugreek would become distacted by the arrival of several Sindari Elven wareagles and thus Ugled led his Nightshred elite guard alone towards the Sindari lines abandoning Ugreek. Fighting his way through the Sindari lines Ugled would come to face to face with Taflarion Stormrage of whom accompanied by the Treekin Ashthorn would resist this charge and after a brief duel between the group Ashthorn would crush Ugled and with Ugled dead Ghaddish would retreat from the field of battle alongside the remainder of his forces. Located near the front lines Ugreek would see Aragorn Elessar the king of Gondor slashing and killing all along the line, and would smile before making his way towards the King. Ugreek had been alive for many many years and as an Orc this meant that he had grown to impressive size and his power was something beyond which most had ever faced. The two would come face to face, and despite Aragorn's superior skill he was pushed back and fell to the ground seemingly defeated. As the men around him watched their King seemingly defeated the entire battle line just stopped, as the men and Orcs watched the titanic fight between Aragorn would be nearly killed by Ugreek but the battle would end with Aragorn Elessar II. Killing Ugreek and cutting the head off the Orcish army these two amazing fighters. “Like every Orc in history his downfall was his arrogance, and stupidity. Had he of kept the advantage up instead of laughing and hollaring he would have killed the King of Gondor and most likely routed the entire force in one fell swoop.” — Aragorn Elessar II. But as Ugreek reached him and raised his mace, Aragorn suddenly lunged up and stabbed the Orc through the chest before swiping across and nearly cleaving him in two. Ugreek coughed out blood before falling backwards dead. Aragorn looked around at his men who seemed to be still shaken, and without another second thought he screamed out a battle cry and flew back into the Orc lines followed by the rest of his force behind him. The Orcs for their part were now broken as a force, and all along the line begin to realize they were defeated. A renewed cavalry charge led by Jamie Lannister alongside the Reynes would finally smash the only surviving leader in the fourth and only surviving child of Ugreek leaving the army completely leaderless. Massacre “I had told Arwyn I would come home. I had promiced her in all truth. The real truth was that in my heart I thought it would go wrong. I thought perhaps the Lucernians would betray us, or perhaps the Orcs were tipped off like at Lyons. It didn`t matter what actually caused our defeat I just truly believed we would lose, and yet here I stood on the field of battle and all the eye could see was the corpses of dead Orcs.” — Aragorn Elessar II. With the Orcs realizing they were surrounded and Aragorn having killed the Orcs leader the nature of Orcs led them to a full scale retreat. The defeat was hopeless as they were utterly surrounded, and as they ran they were cut down in their thousands by the vengeful attackers, and those that managed to break the line were taken down by the accurate fire of the Sindar Elven archers. The few hundreds of Orcs that managed to escape the main battle found themselves cut down by the Lucernian and Gondorian cavalry of whom had attacked the besieging Orcish army and had been preparing to assault the remaining Orcs. “This was the moment where my great gambit would either be revealed as genius, or madness. Would Gondor now honor there part of the arrangement and join with High Forest and our own forces to destroy the Orcs that had overrun Tree Hill. If they made an excsue ” — William Lovie III. Nearly fifty thousand Orcs were destroyed in the battle with the loss of just under fifteen hundred in the Gondor Army, and less then five hundred in the Lucernian Army meaning the battle was far more then just a victory. The Battle cemented the alliance between the three nations and in this way led to the continuation of the Journey which would not lead the alliance towards the Lucernian city of Tree Hill where they would lead their army in the liberating battle of the Second Battle of Tree Hill. Commemorating the Losses “I did not know your father as well as I should have Varian. The Orcs have taken so much from us, but it is the loss of these great people that darkens our hearts the most. We shall have our vengeance against these monsters. We shall have our vengeance for every conversation that goes unspoken because of these beasts. Our vengeance will brighten the sky. Our vengeance is coming.” — William Lovie III.

Second Battle of Tree Hill Today my brothers we right a terrible wrong in the history of this kingdom. We all know what happened here, and there isn't a thing that we could do to take it back. We may not be able to change what happened, but right here and right now united together we can make sure the people of Tree Hill are finally given the rescue they have long deserved. Today don't fight for vengeance. Don't fight for revenge. Fight to save the lives of the innocent. Fight so that a betrayed city may finally awaken.

Second Battle of Tree Hill Main Article : Second Battle of Tree Hill The armies of the alliance would land around all sides of Tree Hill intent on retaking the lost city. “For a warrior waiting years for something to happen, he didn't seem to care much that the army he was waiting to arrive got destroyed.” — Saiden Scarlet As the Lucernian/Gondorian/High Forest alliance destroyed the Orcs that had held the Gondor siege of Minas Ithil for many years immediate plan became the movement of portions of this army towards the besieged city of Tree Hill. 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 the crisis was the other Orcs in the area. Following the gathering of the forces of the alliance in the area they would organize themselves into seven main armies. The 1st, 3rd, 4th, and 7th armies would travel towards the port of Klausburg. Landing at Klausburg they would meet with the local leadership there and made their decisions on the direction of there forces. The 1st, 3rd and Fourth would move up the Oakheart River and land near Castle Prennig where they would move from there towards Tree Hill. The 7th army would be sent up the Bresklo River where it would land at the ruins of Glendt Hold. The seventh army would be joined in this campaign by forces mobilized from House Brentfurd as well as House Winklebock. The 2nd army would land at Vinterbold Hold north of Tree Hill and joined by forces from the area they would prepare to move to Castle Interbold and then to the north side of Tree Hill. The 5th army led by the Westerlands Arch Lord would land at Castle Hackenholt where they would move against Tree Hill from the west. The final army in the 6th army would be formed from the southern vassals of the Stormlands and led by House Crane they would move themselves to the city of Leiblinshire where they would attack towards Tree Hill form the south. Army Name Leaders of Army Prominent Noble Families Size of Forces First Army William Lovie III. Marcel Lovie II. Christopher Bell House Lovie House Shephard House Faraday 49,000 Light Infantry 15,000 Heavy Infantry 4,000 Light Infantry 1,000 Heavy Cavalry Second Army Charles Swan Hedrik Clegane III. Mildred Gleckourd House Swan House Clegane House Kohne 49,000 Light Infantry 15,000 Heavy Infantry 4,000 Light Infantry 1,000 Heavy Cavalry Third Army Eddard Starke Dickon Tarly Robert Baratheon Jamie Lannister Tyrek Lannister Hanzal Reyne House Starke House Baratheon House Tarly House Lannister House Reyne 28,600 Light Infantry 7,000 Heavy Infantry 6,000 Light Cavalry 4,000 Heavy Cavalry Fourth Army Tari-Aragorn Elessar II. House Elessar 8,600 Men at arms 1200 Knights Fifth Army Liam Greymane II. Andrew Garfield Dennis Ordos Franklin Brent IV. House Greymane House Brent House Crowley House Darkmore 43,000 Light Infantry 8,000 Heavy Infantry 12,000 Light Cavalry 4,000 Heavy Cavalry Sixth Army Natalie Highport Robin Highport Atharid Grondahl Orival Crane House Highport House Crane 17,000 Light Infantry 500 Knights Seventh Army Timone Swift House Swift 27,000 Light Infantry 3,000 Heavy Cavalry The arrival of the vast armies of William Lovie III. would have major effects on those forces already around the Stormlands. The first major effect was following the news of victory at Minus Ithil. House Guntbold who had been named the Arch Lord of the Stormlands following the collapse of Tree Hill realized that with the goals of William becoming clear they were going to have to pick a side in the coming conflict. It was Lothar Guntbold that would push his nephew Edric Guntbold who was at the time the Arch Lord of the Stormlands to see the error of the side they had picked and to call a council of House Guntbold. Following this call it was Lothar that left Guntbold Hold to return to Lucerne and be at the side of his friend James Lovie II. The council would be attended by all members of House Guntbold except for Winfred Guntbold, and his wife Ophellia who remained at Klausburg but sent their son Winfred Guntbold II. to act in his stead. At this meeting it was decided that House Guntbold would change sides to William Lovie III. and would send both Winfred Guntbold II. and Athilda Guntbold to William Lovie III. to open this dialogue. The pair would take a ship from Guntbold Hold and travel along the rivers of the Valley of Lucerne where they would eventually stop at Vindale Hold which they knew would be the eventual crossing point of the armies of William in their move back west. When the fleet of William arrived Vindale Hold it was Athilda and Winfred that would meet with the leadership of the army revealing details of the area. “For a warrior waiting years for something to happen, he didn't seem to care much that the army he was waiting to arrive got destroyed.” — Saiden Scarlet The night was spent with Athilda meeting with William, and members of the Shadow Council and it was during this meeting that Edward Cullen discovered her Magi abilities and confronted her on why she did not reveal this before meeting with the prince. Telling them her fear of reprisals she was forgiven by the group and continued to tell them about the situation in the Stormlands. Athilda would let the group know that the Guntbolds were willing to assist William despite what was a top-down command from King James Lovie II. to not assist his army in the movement against Tree Hill, but she wanted assurances that the Guntbolds would not be punished following the campaign. Needing more forces, and not wanting resistance from human forces as they moved against Tree Hill it was William that made the decision to agree to this arrangement. With this agreement in place, it was Winfred Guntbold II. that would travel back to Guntbold Hold with the Guntbold ship to tell the Guntbold leadership about the agreement. Athilda would remain behind in part as a hostage of sorts but her good impression on the Shadow Council had led to her joining them as an advisor of sorts. Clearing the South “Three kingdoms working together for the common good. It was inspiring to finally have a king I could believe in. For my entire life I have followed a king who while he may have been good once, I don't think I even remember that. From this moment forward son I will die to protect William Lovie III.” — Eddard Starke Clearing the West Clearing the North Clearing the East Retaking the Capital Leven Martell arrived on the field only a day before the battle would happen with a large force of House Martell and her father's writing of support. “The closer we got to night the more I came to understand that the world would be much different after I liberated Tree Hill. Without a single doubt in my mind I now understood that my father had done this. My father was responsible for all of the wrongs in Lucerne, and once this happened there would be no more quests to keep me from the simple fact that he had to die. My father had to die for what had happened here.” — William Lovie III. 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. During one of these meetings he would talk with Charles Swan who by this point he was beginning to view as a father of sorts, and discussing with him his relationship with Isabella he would bring up the idea of a betrothal. Charles was happy about this and agreed on the spot, and following this agreement it was Charles and William that would meet together with many of the remaining nobles and this betrothal was brought up during many of these meetings thus spreading word of its agreement. 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 “I hope they felt in their final moments all the pain of those who they had so cowardly killed years before, and tormented for years since. I hope they face an eternity of pain an anguish for what they have done.” — Charlie Swan 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. “Sometimes Brooke you play the long game. You see if you lie to someone for so long he eventually believes that it is truth. For how could anyone keep up a lie for as long as you do. Once they no longer believe you lie, they believe everything that you say. You can whisper the most dangerous of things to them, and they will drink everything you give. Then finally when the moment is complete you may spring. Spring the final trap on the fool who allowed himself to die.” — Morrigan Aftermath “Its one thing Leven to win this battle. Once we win this battle, because I believe we will. Once that happens the time to return home is upon us. You know what we will find in Lucerne. You know what victory here means. It means the death of my father.” — William Lovie III. 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.

Battle of Berne

Main Article : Battle of Berne

The Battle of Berne This is where this divide ends. After we take this city there is nothing stopping the Kingdom of Lucerne from becoming exactly what we always dreamed it would be.

“The fact that Sean was able to escape was a black eye on the Kingdom of Lucerne, and no matter what anyone said as long as he lived there would be no improvement for us. He had to die or else we would be nothing more then a joke to the rest of Europe.” — William Lovie III. With the valley clear of Bill, and Sean Lovie, William went about attempting to gain control by eliminating those that were loyal to his father, but most of all he declared war on his father's supporters and very soon after doing this he came to understand that Sean Lovie had taken control of the city of Berne which he didn't even know existed. Under Alistair Bedregen the loyalists loyal to William were sending word to William outside Berne for the first bit of the control by Sean and thus for this early time they knew many of those loyal to Sean or at least to afraid to resist Sean. With this knowledge William rallied the Order of the Red Dragon, alongside a large force of House Lovie and sent this large force to besiege Berne. When his forces arrived there he they saw that Berne was a death trap, and that while they could feasibly attack the city the casualties would be horrendous and on top of that they might not even succeed. Knowing this William ordered them to dig in, and make sure no assistance came from land, and they were forced to live off the small parcel of land within Berne, and to burn through their internal supplies. With the front door shut for the moment William went about his plan to take control of Berne which would revolve around building a tunnel from Lucerne into the rear of Berne and fighting inside from that direction, while also hoping to starve out the defenders so that they would surrender. As William devised his plan where they would complete the underway in its route to Berne and thus they would break in behind the defenses and take the city from within, the Order of the Red Dragon begin having difficulties holding the main entrance as the Orcs in the region were a constant problem. Knowing they needed to be somewhat quick with their siege they were in trouble as unfortunately the tunneling behind Berne would take some time, and so he needed to block the front of Berne without having his army sitting there for the four years the underway would take to complete. “The Kingdom of Quel'Thalas could either close the gap that existed, or leave it open. It all depended on the whims of Elves, and they had never showed themselves to be willing to take chances in order to help others so I wasn't exactly betting on their assistance.” — William Lovie III. In order to do this William sent emissaries from the Order of the Green Dragon to meet with the Kingdom of Quel'Thalas whose forest extended close to the boundaries of Berne and thus would be able to assist in blocking them in if they so chose to do. The Order of the Green Dragon was sent and led by Demi Hill of whom was accompanied by Franklin Brent and his wife Karyl Reyne who led a force of some six hundred House Brent forces alongside three hundred men led by Dexter Hill to act as guards for the mission. When his emissaries arrived they were greeted by Legolas, and Alleria Windrunner of whom were accompanied by nearly three hundred Sindar Elves, and they would greet them with friendship and take them to Darnassus. Traveling through the woods of Quel'Thalas its Franklin, Karyl, and Demi that discuss the current situation in the area and discover that the Quel'Thalasian Elves are not the only major Elven power in the area as Alleria tells them about Lothlorian. While being there to make an alliance with Quel'Thalas its Demi Hill and Franklin that both make mental notes to discuss also furthering the Lucernian presence in the area by also forming a relationship with the Kingdom of Lothlorian. In Darnassus they would be treated to a beautiful feast and Alleria took Franklin and his wife around the capital before they would have the meeting later that night. Seeing the size and beauty of Darnassus, and the kindness of the Windrunner siblings Franklin would have a very high opinion of the Sindar Elves, and he took this opinion into the meeting that night. At the meeting they found that Quel'Thalas was willing to do this in return for an alliance with them which Demi Hill was quick to give them, as William was more then willing to make an alliance with the Elves. Not just happy with an alliance the it was Alleria Windrunner that would offer Franklin and the members of the Lucernian entourage a chance to visit the Dor'Danil Barrow Den where they would be able to enter the Emarald Dream if they so choose. “Enter the Emerald Dream, and discover who you really are.” — Tular Windswift After discussing what would happen there its the groups decision that they will all accept this gift except for Demi Hill, and outside of Demi they are then taken by Clintar Dreamwalker of whom is the Arch Druid of Quel'Thalas, and Saelar Dewwalker of whom is the Guardian of the Claw and leader of the Dor'danil Barrow, to the Dor'Danil Barrow Dens which are located on the edge of Darnassus. While the group spends several days in the Barrow Dens a letter arrives from William stating that a revolt has broken out in Hillsbrad and since they are closer Franklin is tasked to travel there with all speed and end the revolt. The Quel'Thallasians reveal that they can portal Franklin and a small group to near Hillsbrad as there is a forest there with a way stone and Demi Hill agrees that once he wakes from the Emerald Dream he will go there through the portal and gives the letter to Alleria who will give it to Franklin. Following the agreement its Legalos that would lead a force of some two thousand fighters to a forward forest that they would fortify and from there they would be able to adequately block the Orcs from being able to interfere in any real way. So with the front door closed his forces returned to Lucerne while a small contingent remained along with a larger force of the Elves of Quel'Thalas. Franklin Brent and his group wake from the Emerald Dream and with Alavanna holding a visablly shaken Franklin of whom is in tears as he wakes from the Emerald Dream, and taking him by the arm she leads him to a meeting room where Clintar, and Nylindia wait inside. The group sits together and as Franklin slowly recovers from waking from the Emerald Dream they discuss that Tular, and Alavanna will be joining him as he travels not back to Berne, but instead travels through a portal formed for them in Darnassus taking them to a small forest east of Hillsbrad where Franklin is told William Lovie III. has sent him a letter which after reading Franklin nods and asks for them to take him to the portal. As Demi Hill was leaving to return to Berne it's Alleria Windrunner that said that she would be joining them with some two hundred heavily trained and equipped Sentinels at the main Lucerne camp, and this was once again quickly accepted by Demi Hill. Meeting Ezio Ederiz See Also : Ezio Ederiz “There were two option when it came to Ezio Ederiz. Option one was that he was a trap. Sean had sent him to make us believe him and we would be caught in a trap of his making. Option two was that he was telling the truth. If this was correct then we couldn't just ignore him, but the real question was how would we ever know until it was too late to turn back.” — William Lovie III. As things were happening outside the city and making the siege move positively inside the city there was chaos as Sean Lovie lost his mind and was the source of madness and chaos for the citizens. Ezio after saving the life of Thomas Lovie and watching Allison Arryn die would decide to move aggressively to allow William into the city, and thus would make his way to the western tower and prepare to send a message to the Lucernians sieging the city. Ezio enclosed in the message the entirety that he knew about the defenses of Berne, and a message that the city was ready to be joined with William's forces. He had hoped that if he gave as much information that William would still attack even if he didn't believe Ezio, but he also understood the distinct possiblity that William wouldn't believe him and would just continue to siege the city. Ezio waited at the tower for some time alongside the rebels that he had gained control of, and waited patiently for a response. He got his anwser when a Lucernian messenger approached the tower, and sent a letter up to Ezio. In the letter William told Ezio that he needed to come down from the tower so that they could discuss this, and that no harm would come to him if he did this. For all Ezio knew William had become his fathers son since the last time he had seen him, and thus suffering from the same madness as his brother, but he knew he had to do something so he trusted the devil he didn't know over the mad man that he did. Ezio gave command of the tower over to his top man in the form of Martin Arryn of whom had snuck his way into the tower and convinsed the men to join the rebellion. “I felt fear being pulled alongside those golden armored men. This whole thing just reminded me why I didn't get personally involved in these political matters. As I regretted my decision to put myself in this kind of danger I remembered the brave look in Amber's eyes as she surrendered herself to save her child. If she could have that kind of strength then I could, and would do everything in my power to save her.” — Ezio Ederiz When Ezio got to the bottom of the tower he was grabbed by some five men all clad in golden armor, and these men escorted him to the Lucernians camp. One of the men identified himself as James Junnsworth and told Ezio that if he planned to harm the king he would be doing it over all of their bodies. When he arrived at the camp he immediatly knew which one William was when he saw the golden haired boy walking up to him in his magnificant armor. Restrained by the men around him he saw how little he was trusted by the arranged forces, but he wasn't bitter as he could understand their fear. He spoke as best he could and told William of what was happening inside the fortress, and that every day they delayed the citizens inside were being killed in ever increasing numbers. As the conversation continued Ezio accompanied William inside his tent with Jasper, Leven, Marcel Lovie II., and Draco Highmore and then spoke openly of the murder of Allison, the rapes, and for Andrew the most horrifying news that Amber Heard was captured and now held in a cage beside Sean's throne. Ezio would at this point tell William about much of the things he had done for his father, and would make William understand that he had done all he could to help him after he had learned how brilliant and how much potential William had. Leven would suggest that during their initial attempts to clear the gatehouse that much of what Ezio suggested he did made sense as to why they found it so easy in certain places to get what they wanted. Infiltrating the Tower First Tower of Berne Peak “For whatever it was worth I believed him. I looked in his eyes and it told me that he was being truthful. In this world you really have to trust your gut, and my gut was telling me to go all in on this.” — William Lovie III. With Ezio done telling him what was happening William told him he needed some time to think and that while he trusted him, he needed to plan on the best way forward. Ezio told him that he had control of the first tower, and thus he could get some of William's men inside that tower if that would make him feel better about the whole thing. William liked this plan, and it was then that he asked whether or not Hanna Arryn, and her sister Aria were safe inside the city, and Ezio told him that House Arryn was now in hiding in the city outside of Byron Arryn who was being forced to sit and watch Allison's body be violated by Sean Lovie. Andrew was thankful that Hanna was fine, and because of this he told Ezio that he would have his anwser in an hour. With that William called in his commanders and they discussed their options about how to move forward. After talking for some time it became clear that they needed to gather more troops, and especially Andrew wanted to have some of his up and coming leadership involved so that they would feel important to him. He planned to travel to Forks where he would meet with these leaders and make them aware of their involvement and then they would launch the attack. He got Ezio back in the tent, and he told him that he needed to allow his men to take control of the first tower, and that this would amount to his test of loyalty. Ezio agreed without hesitation and left with Jasper, and Leven to make the arrangements of which Franklin Brent would volunteer to command the first forces into the tower. Emmett was left in command of the siege while William was gone alongside the commanders, and this would be the situation that was left as William left for Forks. Franklin Brent would lead a force of men alongside his friend Dexter Hill, and several others of whom they would enter the first tower using massive ropes hung down by the loyalist Arryn rebels within the tower. Meeting in Forks “It took days to travel to Forks, and days to travel back to Berne, and thus it's hard for me not to wonder what might have been had we of just moved against the fortress with just House Lovie's forces. Atleast I got to see Bella, and it was in the comfort that she offered me that I knew exactly why she was the one for me.” — William Lovie III. After talking to Ezio and having silently infiltrated the first tower with his help William accepted that this was the only plan that had any quick hope of success, and he now felt incredibly rushed due to the threat to the people inside the city of which there were many that he cared for on a deep level. In order to do this he needed the most elite force he could get, so he begin calling his banner houses in, as well as commanding several houses travel to Forks to meet him. All the houses that had been called clearly had to send representatives but when they arrived this mission clearly could be seen as a silent attack that didn't require huge numbers. House Crane, House Swan, House Scarlet, and House Lovie were the houses that would be leading the attack along with leadership from many other houses in Lucerne. Alongside this House Skane, and House Starke were sending numbers led by Robb Starke, and Torgon Skane of whom would join the other forces in entering through the main courtyard once the towers had fallen, or in the worst case even if they didn't fall. As William waited for Bella to arrive so that he could see her, he spent many hours talking with the leadership of the houses that were going to be involved of which included Orival Crane of whom he wanted to one day be a very important figure in the Kingdom of Lucerne, and he made this very clear to Orival as they talked. The Arrival of the reinforcements also brought news that House Jestife had started a revolt taking control of Brill, alongside a spreading rebellion elsewhere which were being handled by loyalists in House Clegane, and House Tyrell. In his talk with Orival Crane he and Hedrik discussed how William was trusting heavily in this traitor of the True Sons of Lucerne, and also discussed how his older lover Amber Heard had been captured likely as a last minute threat to William in order to make him turn back. It was late when Bella arrived in Forks, accompanied by Freddie Highmore, and Wilhem Martell - alongside a large force of House Martell, and House Shephard of whom were also sending forces to join the attack - and when they did he said his quick hellos to Freddie and Wilhem before he and Bella made their way to stay in room in the House Swan estate of which he was technically a member of House Swan. After being together romantically he talked openly about how scared he was of seeing Sean there, and also he feared that he was going to be made to make a choice in that final room between killing Sean and keeping his old friend Amber alive. Bella already knew of the old relationship between the two, as Alice had told her of this long ago, and because of this she understood that he didn't simply care for this girl, but he in fact loved her. Bella tried to make him feel better about it, but there really wasn't much you could say to that horrible of a situation so she just held him while he went through it all with her. That night he left Bella who was sleeping and went outside to speak with Leven of whom brought him a response letter from Brooke of whom had quickly sent a letter after William's had reached her. William would read the letter with Leven and Brooke sent her emotional support and told him how much she loved him, of which Leven at that moment didn't believe but didn't want to upset William. Discovery of Betrayal “I saw you once Your Grace. It was at the Battle of Minus Ithil. You were slashing and stabbing at the monsters and for a moment I stopped. Just stopped and watched you. All the fighting surrounding me and there I was watching you move like a god. I knew then that you were my king.” — Edric Nighting 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 Scott. 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. “Tell me Jasper how it is fair that your love for him is more valuable then my own. He doesn't love you any more then he loves me. So tell me the truth why you must always stand by his side?” — Leven Martell Following the breaking up of the meeting Jasper, Leven, and Bella would follow William back to his tent where Jasper would convince 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. Sneaking Inside “This was the moment thousands had been waiting for. The moment my brother's madness would finally come to an end.” — William Lovie III. When William Lovie arrived back at Berne flanked by the forces of House Swan, Scarlet, Crane, Starke, Martell, Skane, and many of their vassals he entered the command tent and prepared alongside his commanders the method by which they would do this. Ezio told them that the only real way into the valley of Berne was to take control of the towers defending the passes, and this was possible since they controlled the first tower. From the first tower they would attack the second tower, and then the third, and fourth control towers which would allow them to bring the entire army into the Valley where the defenders would be unprepared for their entry. Once this was achieved they must take control of the fifth tower which was inside the City of Berne itself and was connected through a long tunnel which could be locked from the inside meaning if they failed to take it before they were noticed it would be shut and they would have to attack the main walls. “I felt fear being pulled alongside those golden armored men. This whole thing just reminded me why I didn't get personally involved in these political matters. As I regretted my decision to put myself in this kind of danger I remembered the brave look in Amber's eyes as she surrendered herself to save her child. If she could have that kind of strength then I could, and would do everything in my power to save her.” — Ezio Ederiz With this plan in place William Lovie would send the forces of House Scarlet led by Darion, and Saiden Scarlet to enter the First Tower where they would push their full forces and they alone would be responsible for working alongside the rebels in order to take control of the towers. They would be assisted by the Order of the Golden Dragon of whom was forced to follow William Lovie of whom was going to assist here alongside Edward Cullen and several members of the Order of the Blue Dragon, as well Orival Crane would convince William to let him join the forces attacking the towers. Entering the tower and joining the Arryn loyalists, and Franklin Brent and his forces that had initially taken control of the tower from the rebels and had held it while the main forces gathered. At that final moment Robb, and Jon Starke joined the assault group and this would force William to also take Wilheim alongside with him as Wilheim now wouldn't take no for an answer. The Battle “The Towers all held so many moments where everything could have gone terribly wrong. It was by the shere luck of the dragon that we were able to sucede as easily as we did.” — Saiden Scarlet With the main force now preparing to enter the first pass into Berne they only needed to see the response from the second tower to know when to move in, and they would get that call the first night as they would be signaled by a flag hanging from the wall set out by the tower forces. The Tower forces would wait until night, and that night as they moved forward the few guards meant to make sure such infiltration of the towers were not possible were rebels and thus they allowed the tower forces to infiltrate the towers, and within they found the mercenary forces of Sean Lovie in the form of the Stormblown. The fight for the tower was swift as with most of their forces asleep the few on sentry duty found themselves being attacked by a huge number of troops flooding into the tower. As the Stormblown moved to raise the alarm they found the alarm room locked, and when they finally broke inside they found inside several rebels of whom killed the Stormblown that tried to enter the room. With the tower taken Orival Crane would raise the flag thus giving the main force the safe call to enter the first pass. Torgon Skane alongside the other commanders would move their forces alongside the Elves and reached the very edge of the first pass as the attack move forward, and during this they also moved forward with the siege machines that everyone hoped they would have no need of using. At the third tower they would basically be allowed in as the rebels had taken complete control over this tower, and the few members of the Stormblown that were present inside the tower were barely able to get out of their beds before they were killed by the vengeful rebels and the incoming Lucernians. “I watched each flag go up and each time a piece of me felt better as I knew my king was safe for yet another moment. It was his bravery that made people love him, but in these moments his braveary was horrifying for those of us who were forced to watch from afar.” — Joshua Jackson The fourth tower was the true test of the attack as while it was held by the forces of House Krinner who was a member of the rebellion the tower held the largest contingent of the Stormblown outside of the city itself. Robb Starke, and Wilheim Martell alongside Robb Starke would lead a contingent of forces east of the tower to cut off any kind of relief once the main attack went forward, and with that the main assault could begin on the fourth tower. As the Lucernians made their way into the tunnels approaching the fourth tower they were spotted by a Stormblown soldier of whom alerted the rest of the force to a betrayal, and with this becoming clear the forces of House Krinner would assemble under the command of Danzal, and Benjamin Krinner of whom defended the tunnel route heading towards the fifth tower so that none of the Stormblown could warn their comrades, and inside the tower House Krinner under the command of Oskar Kinner the defenders would block the gate into the alarm room thus preventing for a time the forces of the Stormblown from gaining entry to the alarm. A fierce battle would commense between the defenders in House Krinner and the Stormblown. As the forces of Lucerne attempted to enter the fight they were forced to attack through defended barriers quickly set up by the forces of the Stormblown in order to resist the attackers. During the fighting here Darion Scarlet would become famous for defeating the Stormblown second in command in single combat after they entered the last room of the tower and it was held by the Stormblown second in command. With his death the rest of the Stormblown slowly surrendered, and with that the flag was raised and the main army understood that the way into the valley was clear. The Final Tower “The Sound of that horn going off could have meant the massacre of our entire force. It could have meant the deaths of thousands but the bravery of the three Arryn brothers. They could have stayed hidden and not risked death but instead they did what was right and resisted a tyrant and they saved thousands. History may say that I won that day but I know the truth of who was responsible for our victory.” — William Lovie III. As the main army moved into the valley silently in the darkness of the night the tower forces moved into the tunnels approaching the fifth and final tower. Ezio had told them that they had to get to the other end without being stopped or else the way would be blocked and there would be no way in except a truly viscous fight for the valley. As they entered the tunnel and were only two minutes away everyone including the main force heard a massive horn go off, and the rebels told William that someone had set off one of the alarms of the towers. With this all sense of stealth went out the window and the tower force charged into the tunnel in the hopes of reaching the gate controls before it was shut. As they ran down the tunnel they watched as the massive portcullis gate was slowly shutting, and then suddenly as they were getting closer it slowed and then stopped and they could hear the cries of battle at the other side, and as they reached it they entered a brutal battle between members of House Arryn and the Stormblown who were trying to shut the gate. With the entry of the Lucernians the battle went away from them, but the Stormblown survivors were able to retreat in good form and make their way towards the Berne Keep where they would blow the alarm horn again and the Stormblown throughout Berne would retreat to the keep alongside those still loyal to Sean Lovie although that number was very slight now that House Arryn was in full rebellion. With the stormblown in full retreat the defenders that were on the wall moved completely into the rebellion allowing the main force to enter through the front gate, as the rebels opened the gate letting them inside. The rebels, and the tower forces would move throughout the city, and kill or capture anyone still flying the colors of the Stormblown and as well as this making sure that everyone knew that the city was Lucernian again and they had nothing to fear. Battle of Krinner Main Article : Battle of Krinner “As the Stormblown mercenaries, and the other True Sons were pushed back more and more the call from Sean was not for them to pull completely back, but instead it was for them to attack the estate of House Krinner where much of the women and children alongside nearly all of the nobility of the city had fled too. Thousands fleeing into the estate were never under the belief that they would be under threat, but that was proven wrong the moment the forces appeared near the walls.” — Paul Arryn As the Lucerne forces took the final tower before the wall there were some who suspected something was wrong, but all orders were that everyone stayed inside so no one was allowed to leave the inner fortress to investigate, and in order to occupy the forces he had at alert (and in order to further make sure the defenses failed as was hinted at by Sean Lovie during the final duel with William) Sean would command that they attack the House Krinner estate of which was the site of the retreating nobles of Berne. While the commoners and the vast majority of the population had fled into the deeper sections of the city, and to the walls where the more Lucernian houses guarded it was the nobles that fled into the estate of House Krinner. Other then the nobles and politically far more important then that was the fact that Alistair Bedregen had retreated into the Keep alongside Thomas Lovie of whom was the true target of Sean Lovie this late in the fight. News reached them late that Alistair had gone there following the attempt on his life and Thomas and when it became clear this was where he was Sean would send basically everyone available including most of the defenses of the tunnel in order to try and kill Thomas. The estate itself was a sort of mini castle that was built into a large cave deep in the northern section of the city and was defensible from one large tower that covered the entire entrance, and from the ramparts built into the gatehouse. “Massing on the walls I could make out the hundreds of attackers that swarmed all around the courtyard. I knew what they would have to do to take us, and I just prayed we were strong enough to resist.” — Paul Arryn It was this spot that the forces of the Stormblown, and the other True Sons loyalist houses would move towards in heavy numbers in order to try and complete the commands of Sean Lovie. Some three hundred Stormblown (including many of their most elite members, and two of their top three commander) alongside some four hundred more True Sons loyalist (of which only the fifty from House Ignirt would actually take part in the battle while the rest simply miled about faking interest in the siege. House Ingirt would be this only truly loyalist element due to the fact that Lord Beren Ingirt's daughter Lia Ingirt, and heir Harren Ingirt were captives of the prince and he was basically blackmailed into supporting Sean Lovie's forces out of fear for his two children. The forces of the True Sons would charge out from the shadows and attack without even a call for surrender, as they were commanded to destroy them and thus no surrender was neccessary or warrented. Charging the walls they suffered accurate and deadly archer fire from the large tower that surveyed the courtyard, and the archers on the ramparts. During this charge Lord Beren Ingirt would fall with an arrow to the neck and with his death the forces of House Ingirt fell under the command of Beren's brother Brandon Ingirt of whom would silently slip away with most of the relief forces moving them towards the prison where they would take part in the taking of the prison. With no cover the Stormblown and others got to the walls much diminished but still with high strength, and once at the gate they bashed at it with quickly made battering rams and climbed the sides of the wall to get to the ramparts, while hoisting a large ladder against the tower. “I could see Trailen Dorin`s heir, and Danzal Krinner standing on the ramparts, and from their position they were able to shoot anyone that came up the ladder to the tower without any cause for fear from the ground. On the tower they were just massacring those on the ground with a nearly endless stream of arrows into their ranks. At the gate I stood with my shoulder against it alongside my men as we tried to buy more time for the archers to thin their numbers even more.” — Paul Arryn   The men attempting to get up the ladders and climbing the walls suffered terribly as the tower was able to hit the men climbing with ease while the ramparts were hitting the men climbing for the tower, and thus it all came down to the gate. During this initial fighting the defenders on the walls were joined by Alistair of whom desperate to make sure that Thomas survived would take a bow and fight on the walls where despite his age he would fight bravely before being hit by an arrow from the ground, and fell dead at the age of nearly seventy three. It was near this point that Vaedin Stormblown`s next brother Sordin Stormblown was also shot through the chest by Danzal Danzal Krinner would make a further name for himself during the battle as he led the tower in its attacks and coordinated the fire very well. Krinner of which led to the final Stormblown son in Tolin Stormblown fleeing the field, and taking several other high level commanders with him as well. By this point the other houses of which had been milling about watching the siege, would retreat and pull back to their respective estates of which they decided was the only logical thing they could do as they would be most likely targeted by the Krinner estate for their believed betrayal. The battering at the gates was shattering it, and it was only a few more minutes before it finally came crashing down. Moments before it went down, Paul Arryn would gather with his most elite men, and forces of the loyalist houses, and prepare for a charge out of the gate. Warning the wall and tower that they were charging out, they opened the gate and smashed into the unsuspecting attackers outside the wall. Pushing them back the force fell back and was cut down from behind, killing nearly the entire force attacking but the loyalist forces returned into the keep to repair the gate and didn`t persue believing the larger force was incoming. At this point as the line melded together Hanna, Aria, and other noble ladies would move into the front and do their best to relieve the men by bringing water, and other supplies while helping to repair the gate. Taking of the Prison Hunting a Beast Morrigan would serve for the final time Bill Lovie in his command of her to go to Berne and murder Forder Braxton and stop him from killing several of the prisoners. By this point she was till under the directive of Flemeth to assist Bill Lovie and using this directive she would be more then happy to serve Bill Lovie who was beginning to attempt to silently assist his son one last time before he lost himself to madness completely. “I don't have much time before my mind is taken over again by the monster. Go to Berne and stop Forder Braxton. The monster in my mind has ordered him to kill as many people as he can in Berne, and I need you to stop this from happening.” — James Lovie II.   It would be Forder Braxton, and his son Markus Braxton that would be sent to Berne by James Lovie II. to represent the dealings of the Circle of Magi and a believed loyalist faction, although Bill Lovie had no intention of ever assisting Sean as he wanted William to gain victory, but this was not known by Fordor of whom arrived in Berne to find the city in Chaos and surrounded by the Lucernians. Traveling into the city through Magi he would meet with Sean Lovie and at this point he would join the upper tier of the leadership of the True Sons of Lucerne executing several loyalists alongside his son, but it would be only a few weeks before the city came under assault by the Lucernians. During the battle Fordor and Markus would wander the city of Berne killing at random as was their command by James Lovie if/and when the city fell, and reaching the prisons hoping to kill as many valuable hostages as he could before leaving Forder would be shocked to find Morrigan his old Circle of Magi partner waiting in the gallows before the prison entrance surrounded by the dead bodies of the Stormblown mercenaries guarding the prison. “You think you understand what Bill Lovie truly wants of you? Do you think you even have the slightest idea what that madman wants of you. This great king of yours killed hundreds for doing nothing more then asking why they should serve a madman. You stood by...I stood by as he murdered these men, women and children, and then we did it again...You come here because of reasons you could not even hope to understand. He commanded you to come here and murder innocent men, and women, and children, and at the same time he ordered me to come here and stop you. What kind of king do you follow? What kind of man do you worship at the feet of? What kind...I'll tell you now that you shouldn't follow a man who gets your son killed...” — Morrigan Confused why Morrigan was resisting him he told her he was only doing the work of James Lovie, and at this she would retort saying that so was she and then launched a killing spell at Markus, but it was deflected killing the two guards accompanying them, and then fighting Forder, and Markus who barely managed to resist her strength. As the three fought Forder, and Markus were no match for the more powerful Morrigan and Forder dropped his wand surrendering, but after surrendering he expected to be allowed to leave but Morrigan instead slew young Markus and then prepared to kill Forder but he unleashed a Magi blast at her and was able to escape through hidden tunnels. Duel with Sean Lovie William carrying Amber “Forgiveness is never easy. Bitterness is easy. Hatred is easy. But forgiveness, that's a tough one. Sometimes, people say things they don't mean or do things they can't take back. Sometimes we do things we can't take back. So we feed ourselves to starve the pain. I have to believe that's what happened to Sean.” — William Lovie III. With the civil war all but over the moment had come for the final confrontation with his brother. There wasn't really a doubt in anyone's mind who would win in a fight the difficult part of the coming fight was the fact that Sean had the emotional advantage through his capture and hostage taking of Amber Heard the first love of Andrew.  The room before the throne room was gaurded by James Nighting II. of whom laughed at them for not realizing that House Nighting was truly on the side of the True Sons of Lucerne. James and the three House Nighting men that were with him charged William and his group, and after a brief fight the four were killed by the far superior forces of William. Jasper held James down, and with a wave William commanded his death and Jasper ended his life. Surveying the rest of the room there were bodies stacked in the corner, of which not all were adults, and the the scope of the atrocities in this city were becoming clear. William before entering the throne room ordered Wilheim Martell to return to the camp at all speed and send word that House Nighting had betrayed them. They all knew that if House Nighting turned then who knew what sort of alliance might be present outside of Berne and with a large quantity of the loyalist forces besieging Lucerne they could be open for a betrayal. Amber Heard never thought she was going to survive to see William again, and the sight of him caused her to leap up and great pain as the chain around her neck kept her stationary. Before entering the final room William would also command Robb, and Jon Starke to lead forces to make sure that no holdouts would cause them any problems, while he briefly met with Alleria Windrunner of whom would wish him the best in the next room as she knew something about fighting siblings. She attempted to one last time make sure he understood that his brother had made his choice and that no amount of sympathy from his side would change what Sean had become. When Andrew entered the throne room of Berne flanked by Jasper, Edward, Emmett, Faye, and his elite guard they found Sean standing alone with nothing but the bound and strapped form of Amber Heard keeping him company. Looking around the room briefly he could see the ruined corpse of what he assumed from the words of Ezio was the poor Allison Arryn, and all along the wall he could see broken corpses of men and women that had obviously fallen victim to Sean's madness. “He sat the way you would expect any psychopath to be sitting when they were idle. He just had nothing in his eyes, and I had to try to force my mind to even remember a moment that he didn't look that way. My brother was gone. He was lost into madness, and no matter what he said he couldn't leave this room alive. After all the years and the pain he was going to pay for everything he had ever done.” — William Lovie III. As he entered the room Sean remained silent but the look on his face told Andrew that Sean had a plan and whatever happened this plan was something he believed could work. Amber Heard never thought she was going to survive to see William again, and the sight of him caused her to leap up and this led to great pain as the chain around her neck kept her stationary. Laughing at what had happened to Amber through the fact that she was crying and holding her neck the situation turned as William charged forward only stopped by Sean holding his sword to Amber`s neck. Look at the world father. You were born into this land. You grew up here. These people swore their lives to you. How could you have done all of this? Look at everything you have done. You destroyed a city. 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. Don't end it all here. Don't do this. For me father. For everything I supposedly mean to you. Don't do this. ``Really brother. If I were you I would take a couple of steps backwards.`` Everyone stopped as he held the sword to Amber`s neck. I held my hands out to make sure he knew I was willing to atleast talk this out. As I did I noticed the windows in the corner of my eye which I noticed had archers in them. ``Thats right you listen to me now.`` Everyone just stood in place and I hated having him control even an ounce of anything in this world. ``Now that I have your attention tell everyone to leave. This is between me, you, and the bird.`` I looked behind me at Jasper and his eyes told me there was no way he was going to leave, but I knew he had to if I wanted to try and find a way into his mind and to somehow save Amber. Knowing about the windows I had to hope that there was some kind of back entrance into the throne room, and from there perhaps they could infiltrate the windows and gain the upper hand. Moving closer to the men I whispered to the group so lowly that poor Emmett with his poor hearing was forced to come nearly to kissing level. "We need to do what he says.``Seeing the rejection in their eyes I stopped it immediatly. ``There are windows all along this room, and I need you to get in them so that we can get a handle on this. Emmett, and Edward I can`t tell you what to do. If you want to go with Jasper and the windows then so be it. I would prefer if you saved as many innocents as you could. The rest of you wait in the last room and give those poor souls a cleaner end....they deserve better then to be piled in the corner like garbage. If I should fall.``Edward stepped forward``If I should fall you all must make sure under no circumstances does he leave this room. He cannot be allowed to survive this no matter what happens. Now go. We have little time.``Relunctantly they begin filtering out of the room to the sound of laughter from Sean behind me. ``Yes Sean you have us exactly where you want us, now tell me what you want.`` His laughter was the first thing that happened before he grabbed a key from behind his back and undid the chain around Amber`s neck. Pulling her farther away it took everything in me to not move forward and attack him on the spot. ``I don`t want anything brother. You see that`s the trick. You had the same repository of books that I did, and let me tell you something about the villians in a story. Sometimes the villians want something. They want gold to build a mighty castle. Or maybe they want a women." He swayed as he spoke flayling his arms about like a mad man. " In the end brother It doesn`t matter what they want, it just matters that they want something. You see its important that they want something because for this reason these villians you see, they can be bargained with. They can lose.`` Knowing where he was going I interupted him. ``And let me guess. Your the kind that wants nothing.`` Standing up taller before he spoke he pulled Amber closer to him, and I could see the tears flowing from her eyes. I tried my best to comfort her with my eyes, and her eyes followed suit with mine, and I could tell I had calmed her down. He pushed her to the ground holding the sword so close to her neck I could see a bit of blood fall before raising his face to me again with a twisted look to his face. ``I don`t mean to interupt your longing towards the Arryn whore. " He stared at me clearly trying to make sure that I got the message. "Good. Now that I have your attention again I'll tell you the secret." He looked so excited to say it, as if its was some secret. "I'm not the villian brother. That honor is for you.`` ``In what twisted world do you live where your not the villian. You are the same man who sits on a throne covered in the innocents that hes killed. Your the same evil that tried to molest his own sister, and now dares to threaten such a innocent as Amber Heard.`` "Its all a matter of perception." He pulled Amber back up to stand in front of him, and he begin to pet her hair causing a whelp from her. It took every piece of my control not to burst forward and kill him where he stood for touching a hair on her head. Controlling my increasing rage I spoke to the monster standing before me. "And what perception is that?" ``The perseption that comes from knowing the anwser to this question." He stopped and stared at Amber before looking back at me. "What makes her innocent my brother. Is her innocene borne from the fact that she opened her legs for you whenever you pleased...`` ``How dare you...`` "It is an honest question. I want you to tell me how this girl. This piece of meat. I want you to tell me right here, and right now what makes her innocent. " "She hasn't harmed anyone. She hasn't done a thing in this world other then be a good person." "And that makes her innocent, does it?" "Yes it does." "Your a fool." "You wish to brandish words around like a bunch of fish wives then do it your way. Or do you want to finally become a man and face what you've done." ``I get this moment brother. You forgot through your youth, that unlike you the rest of us out here in the world have things happen to them. Your the villian along with this whore because of what you have allowed to happen. One does not blame the virus for infecting its victom. You blame the monster who created the virus, and you my brother are the reason I am the way that I am.`` ``You want to find a way to escape the person that you are you need to find someone who cares for even a moment for whether or not you live or die.`` ``There it is right there. Don`t you see. It was that uncaring neglect. Outright hatred at times that left me utterly alone.`` ``You don`t get to blame becoming a monster on the fact that you and I weren`t best friends.`` ``I have the sword. I have the damsel. Those mean I get to say, and do whatever the fuck I want to do. Do you understand what I`ve done. Do you have any idea the scope of the things I`ve caused.` ...Continued Death is the End “As the minutes went by my brother fell into a darker and darker place, and despite knowing I should be pulling him back, I hated him so much in that moment that I basically pushed him off.” — William Lovie III. Watching his brother implode in front of him, and basically throw him in front of the bus for everything that had ever gone wrong for him in his life, wasn`t something that William was able to accept. William would begin badgering Sean and insulting him to the point that his brother begin to reveal to him certain darker acts then anything anyone had ever thought he was possibly involved in. Sean told him how he had become obsessed with seeing the death of this particulary noble girl of whom he refused to name but said she unimportant in the grand scheme of things, and that this obsession had followed him for years. Finally one night he had been invited to dinner for the first time in months and was told by Bill to not criticize anything throughout the meal or else he was never eating with them again. Tasting something horrible in the meal he ignored it and kept eating, and following this he said that a dark entity would offer him assistance and when he accepted he begin hearing terrifying voices in his mind. After going through all the terrible things he had done throughout this time he finally got to Berne where he told William that he just wanted to die. He just wanted to Amber watched as Sean appeared to fall apart in front of her, and all she could think was that she just wanted to live. She just wanted another chance with William. It didn`t matter that he had remarried. She just wanted to be with him again. escape all the pain that he was constantly bombarded with, but that as time went by nothing he seemed to do incited anyone to kill him, and this annoyed him even more. Sean would tell him that he had broken and abused Hedrik Clegane's now wife in Rachel Wood, and that he was responsible for the rape of countless other noble girls, and that he was specifically attempting to escalate it so that he could die, but no matter what he did he continued to escape justice. Sean would reveal to him how that night he had attempted to kill Alice it was as if this voice in his head was literally screaming, and it was screaming to ravish Alice. He had honestly been incapable of stopping himself, and despite trying he found himself constantly moving towards her room, and he had been glad that William had assaulted him. He told William that he had been forgotten by their father when he made the spell removing Alice and that he had followed her to Forks where he had watched her for months but was stopped by men of Bills from revealing anything to her. “I watched the first archer fall and in that moment I saw Jasper nod at me from the window followed by Emmett standing in the window with his own bow prepared to launch an arrow at Sean, but foolishly I believed I could talk him down. I also knew that any attempt to fire at Sean would most surely end with Amber`s death as Sean was too much of a coward to go down like that. I did know one thing though, with the one window down, it was only a matter of moments until the other three went down as well, and when that happened their would be an opening.” — William Lovie III. William watched as Sean devolved and saw Jasper kill one of the archers in the window thus revealing to him that they had found a way into the windows. Seeing there were only three other windows he waved away Emmett`s offer to kill Sean from the window as he knew it would end with Amber`s death. Sean seeing the look on William`s face would demand to know what was so interesting that his brother was ignoring him, and when William could not appease him enough Sean slashed Amber across the shoulder with a blade narrowly missing her head, but still causing serious damage. Seeing this Sean would pull a lever behind him which the moment after he did all the windows slammed shut with Stone portcullis, and the gate they had entered from also was barred with portcullis. Rushing to Amber he knocked Sean to the ground, and picked up Amber. Picking her up he realized instantly how bad the wound to her shoulder was as it had cut far too deep for anyone there to heal her, and he panicked knowing she was going to die. She held him tight, but he could feel her grasp on him loosening as her life left her. Closing her eyes he let out a cry as he believed she had died, and he held her tight crying into her shoulder before kissing her hard on the lips and then gently laying her down before moving towards Sean who was slumped against a post nearby. “As I walked to him, I knew this was the end. He would die in this moment. I didn`t expect him to be crying.” — William Lovie III. Grabbing Sean by the shoulders he found his brother crying, and Sean grasped onto Williams arms as if to try and hold onto him. There was no resistance, and as William held the sword to his chest he held a moment and looked into Sean`s eyes waiting for his last words. Sean in that moment would tell William that Bill still lived and had gone west to France, and would begin to start an apology when William stabbed him through the chest and covered his mouth with his hand. Looking behind him at the lifeless body of Amber he would proceed to be overcome with rage and strangle Sean as the last of his life left him. Getting up he walked back over to Amber, and ignored the sounds of crashing as his men attempted to break there way through the gate, and the windows. Kneeling beside Amber he ripped some cloth from his tunic and covered her wound not wanting her to be seen like this. As he wiped her wound her arm would move up and grasp onto his, and her final grasp for life would continue and it gave the two former lovers one last chance to talk to each other. 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. I could almost feel her leave me as there was a lifelessness to her eyes, and when I did I gently let her down to the ground. I left a kiss on her lips before closing her eyes and taking a moment to stare at the girl I had loved first in my life. She was the innocence of youth. The kind of person who is always the victim of monsters like my brother and that sad fact just left me more angry then any other death I had seen in my life. I had seen good men die in battle, but to look down at Amber and realize that she was just innocent, and had still died hurt me deeply. Hearing a sound come from Sean I gave one last kiss to her lips before letting her go, and turning around to find my brother. He had moved himself into the corner and was shaking while holding onto a large flag. As I went towards him I couldn't make out what he was saying, but to be frank it was not going to matter what he said. Sometimes men are just guilty and words cannot escape that fact. Reaching Sean I grabbed him by the shoulders and turned him to face me, while I took out a knife and held it to his throat. Turning him had revealed what the noise was as his face was covered in tears, and the sight of the sword made him pull himself towards it. ``Please William. Kill me now. I cannot live the things in my mind anymore.`` ``You murder someone as innocent as Amber and you dare to look for pity now.`` ``No pity brother. I want mercy.`` ``You do not deserve mercy. The things you have done are beyond imagining.`` ``Then punish me William.`` At these words I threw the dagger away and a look of sadness went to his face, before being quickly replaced by understanding when I pulled out my sword and aimed it towards his chest. ``No punishment in the world would ever be far enough to be justice. You deserve so much worse then I could ever give you.`` ``You are right brother.`` Sean begin to shake, and I swear I saw somesort of cloud come from his body towards the roof above us, and as it did he looked up at the roof of the room and a look of peace went over his face that just horrified me. I didnt want him to feel peace while she lay dead. He didnt deserve to feel anything even close to that. The things he had done were too much. ``I think its gone.`` ``No more talk.`` ``Perhaps just one more thing brother.`` ``Say your last words and be done with it.`` ``Our father went west. He went into the ruins of France.`` ``I will find him and give him the true death I will soon give you.`` ``I hope that you do William. I hope that you avenge everyone who has been hurt by him.`` I felt such overpowering rage as I looked at him that my eyes must have been showing it as he looked at me with a realization that it was over and he closed his eyes. ``Goodbye Will...`` Before he got the words out I stabbed him through the chest piercing his armor between the plates and he let out a sigh before going limp in my arms. I let him down with a loud bang as his body hit the floor, and leaving behind his body I went towards Amber wanting to just hold her one last time. Kneeling at her body I pulled her closer and held her tight to me. As I held her in my arms crying into her hair I felt her arms clasp themselves around mine and I looked into her face hoping beyond hope that she would live. I held her face with my hand and begged her to wake. My other hand held her wound with everything I could trying to somehow stop it. I pleaded with her, and I watched as her eyes flickered open. I hugged her tight knowing in my heart that I would want to always remember the feel of her life, as she was perfection, and it was a tradgedy that it had taken all of this for me to realize that. ``William... ``It`s alright my love. Just rest my sweet, Edward will come and...he will...he`ll find a way...``I hadn`t realized that I was crying until I couldn`t see from my eyes anymore, and I felt her hand wipe across my cheek clearing me of the physical signs of my sadness. ``William I love you...Thomas is your son.`` I didn`t understand. She had left, and no one had ever said a word. How many lies had been told to keep this from me. ``It was my doing. Don`t blame anyone but me for keeping it from you.`` "They all lied about where you had went...I loved you with everything in myself. I would have protected you from everything.`` Her eyes closed as the pain must have overwhelmed her. Looking at her shoulder the blood was smeared all across my hand as it was too large a wound for me to keep from gushing. ``I thought I could protect you. He told me he would kill you...he held a knife to your throat and bid me to leave. I`m so sorry William. I`m so sorry you never got to see him grow.``She stopped and coughed out blood, and I knew she was going quickly. The shoulder just kept bleeding through and I couldn't even bear to look at it knowing there was just nothing to fix this. ``You must promise me that you will protect Thomas from everything. Protect him the way I never could.`` ``He lives Amber. You saved him. My brother would have killed everything to have killed any son of mine.`` I kissed her on the lips gently carressing her hair before looking into her eyes again. ``I tried my...`` Her eyes closed and her arm went slack for a moment before I shook her gently and she opened her eyes again. ``It doesn`t hurt anymore. You have to promise me William. Promise me.`` ``I promise you Amber I shall protect him. I shall love him, and cherish him as the son that he is. He shall never know pain, or anguish, or sadness. I shall love him as I love you.`` Her eyes begin to once more close, and I selfishly shook her again. ``Stay with me Amber...just hold on please...``I shook her again, but this time her eyes didn't reopen and just staring at her I could see that I had failed to save her. She coughed one more time and her eyes opened somewhat and she looked at me again. ``I`m so sorry Will...I`m so sor...``Her eyes remained open, but she just never blinked. Holding her I couldn't feel anything as I knew she had died. I would never hear her voice again. I would never know her touch again, and I let out a scream which I could barely control. Following her grasping of his arm the two would talk briefly as she bled out but she held on for long enough to make sure William knew that Thomas was his child, and the two would heart sadly say goodbye to each other before finally she bled out from the horrible wound on her shoulder. It was several minutes of banging on the door with William crying into the hair of Amber before the rest of his men were able to get into the throne room, and by this point the Battle of Berne was over with the remaining forces of the True Sons of Lucerne either dead or having surrendered, but for William it felt increasingly like a hollow victory. As Faye, Jasper and Emmett tried to console him and help him with Amber he would refuse without words picking her body up and carrying her out of the throne room before collapsing outside of the inner keep where he would be helped up by Faye. He whispers to Faye that he needs to take her out of the fortress so he can bury her, and Faye goes ahead clearing the gatehouse, and letting the front gate open where William carries her all the way out of Berne and reaches the Valley of Berne where the large Lucernian army awaits and it is at this point that Alice meet him and he finally surrenders Ambers body to Jasper and breaks down in Alice's arms. Meeting a Son “You are too young to understand my son, but know that I have loved you, and I will always love. The world will be tough on you because of how you were born, but understand this. You shall always have a place at my side. You will always be a member of my house. You are my son. You are our son.” — William Lovie III. With Thomas sleeping William gathers with the Lucernian army leadership and following a long discussion on their next steps he commands his friend Hanna Arryn be brought to him, and then the meeting breaks up and joined by Jasper, and Edward he returns to his tent where saying goodbye to them he goes into the tent and finds Alice sleeping on his bed holding a sleeping Thomas. Looking at the scene in front of him he starts crying as he thinks about the loss of Amber, and at the sound of his crying Alice wakes up and gets out of bed gently leaving Thomas in bed and the two siblings hug. Thomas eventually wakes up to the talking of Alice and William and Thomas at first only wants Alice, but William goes to him and talks to him about his love for Amber and when Thomas reveals that Amber had talked about William to him almost every night William tells him the story of how he met Amber of which was a story that Amber had told him a thousand times before. Control of Berne “I would name you the Arch Duchess of this place if you would let me.” — William Lovie III. Meeting with Hanna Arryn the two old friends discuss a more personal view of what happened in Berne, and Hanna reveals to him the depths of some of the things that happened, but also refuses during their conversation to come with him back to Lucerne telling him that Aria needs her more. Discussing Aria, and her father Byron it becomes clear that he needs to speak with Aria and asks Hanna to bring her to him something she agrees to if William agrees to be lenient on her father of which William agrees to out of love for Hanna. The conversation ends with Aria and William agreeing that in one month it will be the leadership of Berne that will travel to Lucerne to meet with William and the Kings Council who will decide the future of Berne. William Lovie III. leaves Berne with the majority of the army but leaves behind several thousand as a garrison of the city under the command of Dylan Steinmare, and this garrison is under orders to further the control of the crown over Berne who at this point there is still fear may be mixed in its loyalties.

Invasion of Yerness

Main Article : Invasion of Westbridge

Invasion of Yerness Charlie I need you to take your forces and take the island. If we do not hold the island all manner of things could come to pass. Maybe the Empire decides to send a fleet. Maybe its the Valerians, or Tevinter, but the thing to remember is that if we hold that island no one is sending any fleets at us.

Options for Attack Details A They could use the Lucernian Fleet and land on top of the actual Fortress of Yerness from the south. This was a very risky option as the fortress was heavily guarded from this angle, and if they were spotted they would have no means of laying siege as they would simply be wiped out. B They could go up the eastern side of the Rhine River and then use hundreds of small boats to ferry their troops to the island itself. This option would allow for them to put the fortress under siege, as the only means of stopping an attacker from landing on the eastern side was the small Castle Menmont controlled by House Menmonet. This castle was under construction after a brief civil war in the house had heavily damaged it. “Northeast of Westbridge lay the port of Yerness which guarded the northern approach down the Rhine, and if held by Malfoy loyalists would make it far more difficult to appraoch the city.” — Hedrik Clegane III. For the Invasion of Westbridge to be a success the Lucernian army had to do something about the threat of the large island northeast of Westbridge which was anchored in the massive fortress of Yerness. Yerness Island was basically a massive port on the south of the island which contained the vast majority of the Westbridge fleet, and then four large castles at the north, west, east, and center of the island with the most powerful being the center fortress called Castle Yernede. Controlling Yerness would also mean the difference between an easy boat ride for reinforcements in the case that the battle drug on for days or longer, so it became clear that Yerness could not be ignored and needed to be taken. The difficult task of taking Yerness fell upon House Swan, alongside its vassals in House Clegane, House Yerness, and House Black along with many of their sworn houses. In order to actually take the fortresses their were several options of which are shown in the table. In the end Option B was chosen by House Swan, and they along with the rest of the army traveled north to Lorderon where they took boats as far north as possible before travelling on foot to the eastern bank of the Rhine. Castle Menmont “Infighting had destroyed the castle over the years, and yet when we attacked them they resisted more bitterly then should have been seen by a defeated foe fighting for nothing but ruins.” — Hedrik Clegane III. The broken Castle Menmont was of vital importance to the defense of Yerness as a whole but the calls for resources to rebuild the castle from Westrbridge had met with nothing and thus they had to do it all themselves and for this reason the rebuilding, and repairs were drastically behind schedule. House Clegane led by Mathew, and his brother Hedrik led the initial boats across the waters and they quickly eliminated the sentries that watched the water for anyone coming across. With the sentries eliminated the other houses landed on the banks of the castle except for House Black of whom landed farther north and would be taking control of the small village of Downden as the base of operations for their siege of Yerness. Taking the Castle “Charging inside that castle was a horrifying moment because I knew better then most the consequences of what happened if we didn't take this castle, and by extension the island in time for the main attack.” — Hedrik Clegane III. Matthew, and Hedrik Clegane led their forces into the depths of the castle, as they planned to move from within while the forces led by Charlie, and his nephew Brody Swan would lead House Swan, alongside House Yernese in a breakthrough of the castle itself. With the sentries down the castle had minimal defenses that late at night, and thus the forces broke through all over the place with minimal casualties, but House Swan ran into a problem when Jordin Menmont barred the front gate of the keep and thus blocked them into the courtyard which they now had near complete control over. Without siege weapons they attempted to find other ways in but basically waited for House Clegane to complete their side of things. Matthew and Hedrik moved with their small force inside the castle completed unaware to House Menmont who as Hedrik moved into the throne room was preparing to send Ravens away to warn the rest of the island. A struggle broke out between the remaining guards and the overwhelming forces of House Clegane who was now inside their walls. Hedrik Clegane watched as Vormin Menmont slew two men by himself and made his way over to the old fighter. Vormin Menmont was a well known fighter, and looking at him was looking at a large man covered completely in armor leaving little weaknesses open to an enemy. As the two fought Vormin found himself a true match but as they continued to fight the rest of House Menmont surrendered around them after members of House Clegane unbarred the gate and allowed in the rest of House Clegane, and House Swan. Even with his house surrendering around him Vormin continued to fight and despite Hedrik`s offer to stand down Vormin refused, and thus after a few more minutes of fighting Hedrik slew Vormin through a slash across the neck which was the only place not covered by armor.With this House Menmont surrendered and Castle Menmont along with House Menmont were not under Lucernian authority. “He was a bear of a man, and his fighting skill would have proven invaluable in the fighting that Lucerne was going to be dealing with. Instead he chose the honor of death resisting. What a fool.” — Hedrik Clegane III. Hedrik Clegane watched as Vormin Menmont slew two men by himself and made his way over to the old fighter. Vormin Menmont was a well known fighter, and looking at him was looking at a large man covered completely in armor leaving little weakenesses open to an enemy. As the two fought Vormin found himself a true match but as they continued to fight the rest of House Menmont surrendered around them after members of House Clegane unbarred the gate and allowed in the rest of House Clegane, and House Swan. Even with his house surrending around him Vormin continued to fight and despite Hedrik`s offer to stand down Vormin refused, and thus after a few more minutes of fighting Hedrik slew Vormin through a slash across the neck which was the only place not covered by armor.With this House Menmont surrendered and Castle Menmont along with House Menmont were not under Lucernian authority. Taking Dowden When House Black arrived with their near five hundred men on the outskirts of Downden they moved quickly into the village and took the entire village under their control. With the village under their control they sent word to Castle Menmont that the next stage was ready to begin. Everything went according to plan in Downden up until the point where Aldo Yernese the Patriarch of the House who was an old man fell down a hill and died upon hitting the bottom. For House Yernese this could have thrown the entire operation into disaster but instead Volker Yernese quickly gathered the troops together along with their sworn houses and made sure they all knew everything was fine, and that he would lead the house effectively. With Volker Yernese now in command of the house he quickly set about burrying his father on the hill he had died on, and then he begin preparing his force to move south and meet with House Clegane for the attack on Castle Yernede. Movement “I was half worried after it proved so difficult taking the ruined castle at Menmont. If that was the ruins of this island, what would happen when we reached the bristling defenses of the south, and center.” — Hedrik Clegane III. With Castle Menmont taken the forces of House Swan moved completely unhindered towards their next goals. House Black moved with its sworn houses towards Castle Irinsi where they waited for a small fleet to arrive before they would hit the castle during the next night. House Mangles broke off from House Black and moved between Castle Yerness, and Castle Yernede and from here they would attempt to stop anyone from making it towards Castle Yerness. House Clegane moved towards Castle Yernede and through the day they spent the day surrounding the Castle from all sides, and constructing siege machines, and defences for their archers. Archers were placed throughout to stop any Ravens that attempted to get away. While this was going on House Swan made a coast line boat ride towards the port of Yerness where they prepared to take the Port from the front where it had no business being suprised in. While House Swan moved in this direction ten ships from the Lucernian Navy moved towards the port and prepared to make sure no boats were able to sail away. Taking the Port “The Port of Yerness was the resistence on the island of Yerness. The moment that port went down every single defender on the island understood their island had fallen.” — Charlie Swan With basically every settlement in the entire island of Yerness under the control of the forces of House Swan they would prepare for one of the final attacks when House Swan ambushed the port of Yerness from the front, and a major seaborne attack as well. The entire attack waited until night had come, and by this point the defenders still had no idea that anyone was taking the island from them and because of this they were unaware for such large numbers to attack them. The Lucernian Navy would make their way into the port using no lights on the boats to conceal their movements and once they were inside the port they dislodged the forces of House Crakehall, House Hawick and House Dogget of whom quickly took control of the port area, and House Crakehall led by Jonas Crakehall would take control of the keep from which a great massacre of the defenders in the keep would awaken the town to the attackers. Capturing the Gate House Crakehall was forced to fight a desperate fight over control of the gates into the port “House Dogget's supreme failure to silently take control of the keep led to my forces being bogged down in a fight we didn't want to be involved into.” — Jonas Crakehall After the massacre at the keep and the raising of the alarm House Dogget was forced to deal with a growing number of defenders of whom were making a stubborn defence of the central and southern gate to such an extent that the attack on the central gate was so fierce that they were forced to pull back. Once they had pulled back a small force led by Garon Dandrill would hold the central gate defenders in place while the remainder of House Dogget moved against the southern gate. The southern gate was already hard pressed to defend themselves, and with this influx of attackers they were pushed out of the gatehouse or killed. House Dogget was able to gain control of the southern gate, and from here the forces of House Swan would swarm into the town, and with the control of the keep the entrance, and the waters the defenders surrendered all across the port.

Heading to Koenisburg

At the end of the Rise of Lucerne Matthew Clegane is moving his forces east to meet up with House Starke inside the city of Koenisburg.

Demons on the Loose

Main Article : Lorderon Civil War

Demons on the Loose Arthas was the source of so much evil, and we had just allowed him to walk around in front of us.

“It was beyond anything I could have imagined. This man was the Arch Lord of a grand state within the Kingdom of Lucerne. There was only one man in the kingdom who held more power then an Arch Lord, and that was the one man I knew would believe me when I told him about this letter.” — Edward Cullen Gemma Cullen would be in a meeting for Order of the Blue Dragon alongside her cousin Edward Cullen when she was told that a letter had arrived at the Tower labeled for her. She would remain for the meeting and not immediately get the letter but following the meeting with the Order of the Blue Dragon she had received a letter from a Magi from the Kirin Tor that she had met long before named Medivh and had wished to known if she had an audience with the King. He asked her that if she did have an audience with the king that she needed to use that right away to give him word of something terrible happening in Lorderon. When Gemma responded questioning why Medivh wanted to speak with the King, and what terrible thing this was that was happening in Lorderon he would respond with the truth. He told Gemma in the letter that Arthas had lost his mind, and was forming a chaos cult of which was growing more powerful each day within the walls of Lorderon, and that unless he was stopped he was going to destroy the entire state. 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. Lady Gemma Cullen, I am sorry about the rushed nature of my last letter, but the news was not good, and you and your cousin were the only people I knew well enough in Lucerne that were close enough to the king to effect any kind of real change. I am sorry for the history lesson, but you must understood all of this if you are to believe me. Arthas Menathil was born, and from that moment forward he was destined to be the king of Lorderon. The people cheered his every move for he was noble, and just in all things that he did. Then like the wind flowing through everything disapeared in him. Where once there was nobility there was now only darkness. His parents would send for a paladin in the north to train him, and we all thought the paladin had been succesful. He wasn`t the same true knight as he was before, but he wasn`t the same violent monster he was before either. I returned to my studies believing all was well, but I have learned it was all a lie.  You must understand that men have lost their lives to bring me this information, and now he is chasing me as well. I am not some traitor to the cause of the Menathil`s. I do not wish for gold, or power. I have learned that since he handed over Lorderon to Lucerne he has formed a chaos cult, and is planning to destroy the state in a bloodbath. I do not yet know his end game, but whatever it may be you need to understand only one main thing. It will not be positive. My former prince wants the world to burn in the same manner as he burns. He hates all things now and he wants it all to disapear. I cannot stop him alone, and as I said you and your cousin are the only ones I know close to the king. Use what influence you have and speak to the king. If failing this go to your cousin. I warned him years ago of this, and I only hope he is the same person he was when we last spoke. Take a leap with me Gemma Cullen and we can save the world together. Medivh, Counciller of the Six for the honorable Kirin Tor Gemma was moved by the letter but she knew that she had no business speaking to the King of Lucerne even if she had been rather friendly with him during their youth. She knew that this couldn't be left unsaid so she responded to Medivh that she couldn't help him but if he talked to Edward Cullen her cousin then he would be able to tell the King himself. She would go to find Edward, and when she did she showed him the letters, and when he saw who they were from he too believed their content. Knowing they were in a very tricky situation Edward would leave immediately with Gemma for the capital where he would attempt with all that remained of his clout with William to do something about this situation. “Taylor Swift was the perfect cover for me and what I had to do. Noone believed that she would be someone that would become central in the discovery of what Arthas was. Had I been quicker. Had I listed the first time I was told and not worried about the consequences, it is impossible to imagine how many that are dead might live.” — Edward Cullen Edward Cullen following the meeting with Medivh would go to Lucerne to meet with William but when he arrived he discovered that William had traveled up the mountain to meet with the dragons. Most believed they had seen him for the last time based on the tears flowing from both Alice and Emma, and so he made the decision that he couldn't sit idle while his friend risked everything to save the people of Lucerne. He would travel alongside his wife Tanya to Hilary's home and while there they came up with the plan of going to Lorderon under the pretend mission of growth of Dragonoph while in fact investigate the supposed chaos worship of Arthas Menathil. During this time his relationship with Tanya is collapsing, and she shows him little to no affection of which he responds to Gemma he isn't surprised about. Meeting as well with Alice Lovie, and Emma Bell they would make the suggestion that Taylor Swift be the one they use as the center of plan, as she was known far and wide for her Dragonoph beliefs and would be more accepted then the very influential Edward Cullen. Alice would later in a discussion with William admit that she was trying to distance Taylor from the romantic drama she was beginning to have with Emile Hirsh in Brill, but she didn't want them to know that was a major reason for her being sent. Also realizing they needed more Dragonoph involvement they went to Erica Steinmare of whom Edward knew of from school, and they got her to lead a contingent from House Steinmare to Brill where they would then move to the Port of Stormwind on their final stop before they went to Lorderon. Erica Steinmare agreed to go, but her brother forced himself into going as her brother hated Edward as he was a close friend of Jaspers and he also took his wife with him of whom had always wanted to see Lorderon and the massive Rhine. Alongside this would also be Emma Bell who would travel with Edward to give their Dragonoph mission further credence as she was a member of the royal family as the cousin of William Lovie III. and joining Emma would be a force of some thirty House Bell guards, and her husband Fredrik Highmore. “We had to make it look convinsing. If we went there and it looked like we were there for the real reason we were there then who knew what these cultists would do. I wanted to save lives, I didn't want to be the direct cause of the deaths of thousands.” — Edward Cullen Taylor Swift would make her first appearance in Westros when Edward Cullen, and the group would arrive in Brill and when they did they would immediately travel to the Brill Keep where they met with Timone Swift, and John Swift and they would explain to the two that they needed Taylor for an important mission and this would be agreed to and then they were told that Taylor was at the Temple of Brill praying. It would be while praying in the High Temple of Brill when she would be approached from behind and was shocked to find those who had joined her in prayer were none other then Emma Bell a member of the royal family, as well as Dylan Steinmare and Edward Cullen two man who she had never met before but she knew to be extremely promient members of the kingdom. Continuing to pray now joined by this group her mind would be overcome by questions of what could have brought such a group to her temple, and after fifteen minutes of prayer she finishes and at her ending she and the group finally speak. Emma tells Taylor that she is being tasked with leading a Dragonoph contingent to Lorderon where they will be attempting to make further inroads into converting the new state to the Dragonoph, and when she questions why her they are reluctant to give her a straight answer instead Emma hands her a letter directed to her signed by Alice Lovie who is the acting regent of the Kingdom of Lucerne while William is away. It would be as this was happening that Anna Kendrick would be watching through the window of the temple as Taylor speaks to the group, and she is disgusted that Taylor is being given such an opportunity while she is once again passed over for Taylor. As she continues to watch she is discovered by Freddie Highmore of whom she talks with for some time, and eventually is able to convince Freddie to put in a word for her to travel with them to Lordeorn. Following this discussion Anna would return to the Freddie Highmore does put in a word for Anna but this overruled by Emma who was aware of the situation between Taylor and Anna and did not want the trouble of those two being together. Following this conversation with Freddie she returns to the Kendrick estates where she convinces her brother Tyson Kendrick to travel with her to Lorderon where she uses his desire to regain his honor following his failure at the Nortburg tournament during the events of the Journey, and with this hope he jumps at the opportunity. Following this she returns to the keep and finds Freddie Highmore of whom apologizes to her telling her that she cannot come as Emma had indicated the group was full but clearly there was more to it and Anna takes this as Taylor interfering and thus decides to go around Emma Bell to Dylan Steinmare of whom she had known during her time at the academy. Finding Dylan spending time with his wife she feels sadness at how happy they look and longs to see Orival again which shocks her that she doesn't think of Josh Hirsh for even a second when she sees there happiness. Speaking to Dylan she is able to trick him into taking her with them offering her families forces in assistance against Edward if the chance arises, and he agrees to not tell Emma about this as the two conspire that they will keep it a secret until it is too late for her to go back, and Anna promises to Dylan that she will support Dylan if the opportunity to kill Edward Cullen arises. Having manipulated her way into going she goes back to her families estate with no plans to tell Josh Hirsh of her departure but when she returns home she is told by her sister Melinda Kendrick that Emile Hirsh has been banned from going due to what everyone knows to be the affair happening between him and Emile, and thus attempting to get back at Taylor and cause problems she travels to the Hirsh estates. Arriving at her home she meets with her husband who she realizes she hasn't seen in almost three months and tells him that he will need to accompany her and lies to him that this was a command from Emma Bell, and wanting to be loyal he adheres to what he thinks is a royal command. Wanting to sow further chaos she also tricks them into believing that Josh is also to come despite him also not being one of those who was too come. Thus having created what she believes is a great embarrassment for Taylor she returns to the House Kendrick estates and prepares her things for the journey to come. Following this they would travel to Lole where they would take a boat all the way east to the Port of Stormwind in order to make the final part of their trip to Lordeorn. When they did arrive in Lole they discovered Tanya Cullen awaiting them in the city, and she refused to be left behind, and while this should have been a happy moment for the married couple instead they just argued along the way from Lole to the Port of Stormwind as there marriage had clearly fallen apart. While in the Port of Stormwind Edward would be joined by Candice Anthor of whom would say that she had been planning a trip to Lorderon in order to arrange a series of trade deals, and this would be the perfect opportunity. Convinced by Hilary, and Gemma that the more people they brought with them with civilian purposes the more real this whole thing looked he would agree to have her come, and Candice brought with her a large contingent of troops on six ships from the Port of Stormwind. On the Path of a Demon “Reaching the top of the tower wasn't was I expected. I thought I would meet some chaos worshipper and we would find the truth I wanted about Arthas. Instead I only found my own weakeness. Instead I was forced to deal with the failings in my self.” — Edward Cullen Edward, Taylor, Hilary, Tanya and a small entourage of troops from House Swift, House Steinmare, House Kendrick, House Hirshe, and House Cullen would join the six strong fleet of Candice Anthor and her large force as they traveled to Lorderon and after making the trip from the Port of Stormwind, and Edward would set Tanya to the task of making Taylor believe that she was actually there for the purpose they told her she was. Tanya was by this point nearly constantly fighting with Edward, and Edward knew that barking orders at her was only going to make it worse, but a part of him knew the marriage was over and really just wanted to save lives. While Taylor and Tanya visited several Dragon Temples that were under construction in Lorderon, it was Edward and Hilary that visited the Kirin Tor. When they arrived they were met by Medivh and several of his loyalists and they went about the conversation of how to prove Arthas's madness. Medivh told Edward that in his investigation he had discovered the existence of a group calling themselves the Sons of Lorderon of whom were being portrayed to the public as a revolutionary group wanting independence for Lorderon, but under the surface he discovered that in fact they were a chaos cult founded by Arthas. Edward needed more proof and so Medivh took him and Hilary to a small Kirin Tor Magi tower south of Lorderon where he kept one of the cultists captive. “It wasn't until I saw the devotion that the Steinmare's had for the Dragon that I knew I had to tell them the truth. Dylan was irate. Erica was just as angry. Laera though was confused as to why they been lied too. I didn't blame them for any of those feelings though.” — Taylor Swift Taylor, Tanya, Anna, Josh, Emile and the Steinmare's would travel throughout the capital visiting the different Dragon Temples on their first day, and during this time Taylor and Emile would sleep together nearly the first moment they had alone, and Anna was nearby and she confronted them on it, and neither would even apologize and she would leave shortly after with Josh in tow. With those two gone they were met by the Steinmare's of whom Taylor watched look with amazement at the newly constructed Temple, and in that moment being held by Emile she knew she had to tell them the truth, and she would reveal to them the true purpose of the trip to Lorderon. Dylan would leave to go find Candice Anthor in order to warn her, and the rest of them would decide they would make the best of it, and expand the Dragonoph as much as possible. Taylor Swift would reveal to Erica Steinmare that she wasn't going to continue with the marriage to Josh Hirsh and planned to marry Emile while the two were here in Lorderon, and Erica gave the two space and left to go and find her brother in the port. Anna would get into an argument with Josh and went off her own finding herself in the Lorderon market where followed by Emma Bell she and Emma who had for so long fought to keep Anna out of this whole trip found Anna crying and finally saw the real person beneath the rumors. The two would discuss openly the situation and for the first time Emma heard about the lies that Anna believed in regards to Taylor and revealed the truth to Anna of whom would be horrified to know what the truth was and how horrible she had been to Taylor over what now amounted to nothing more then her mothers manipulations. Emma would tell Anna that she was heading north to Westbridge and knew that Orival Crane was there if Anna wanted to go with her, but Anna would politely refuse saying now that she knew the truth she had to make things right with Taylor and once she had done that she would end things with Josh and go north to find Orival. “If you had told me the truth back then, I would have done so many things differently once I was here. I felt like I was being watched this entire time, but I ignored that because you told me everything was on the up. You lied to me Edward Cullen, and I won't forget that. Don't count on my support again.” — Candice Anthor to Edward Cullen While the main group was looking into the cultists or working to expand the Dragonoph influence in the Lorderon capital Candice Anthor was working at her trade agreement in the port itself. When she begin making her deals and talks with the leading houses in the port she begin to feel that she was being followed, and watched wherever she went, and this led to her going to find Edward of whom she found while he was on the way to the Kirin Tor tower south of the Magi fortress, and he was dismissive wanting to go quickly, and thus he lied to Candice and told her nothing was going on. This made her feel like she was being ridiculous in thinking she was being watched, and thus she let her guard down as the cultists - who were actually watching her heavily as she had brought a large military force into the port - spied on her, and prepared for an assassination attempt on her. During this time though her cousin Hedrin Tolhmave II. would become concerned after he saw several men watching Candice and he followed them, and watched them enter a tavern of which he followed them into, and when he did they entered a back room which after following them led him into a large tunnel system where he would have to kill both of the men after they discovered him following them. Leaving the tavern as quickly as possible he met Dylan Steinmare on the street and together they raced to find Candice Anthor and arrived just as cultists attempted to assassinate her. “There has been an attack in the port milady We have heard word that cultists have attacked Lady Anthor,a nd even now fighting is still going on. What is your command Milady?” — Main Hunder to Calia Menathil The cultists had surrounded the port with nearly thirty men, and once Candice arrived they killed several sentries watching for violence, and then with the way clear they would move forward. As the cultists went to attack Dylan Steinmare, and Hedrin Tolhmave would arrive and scream to the guards that cultists were about and an attack was going to happen, and realizing they had been discovered the cultists would let off a horn and charge forward into the maelstrom. The fighting was intense but the guards now aware were able to repulse the horribly outnumbered cultists of whom had been relying on the shock of their arrival to succeed and Dylan captured one of the cultists but as they were taking him away the man was shot with an arrow from another cultist on a rooftop of whom then was able to escape. Finding Information Gemma, and Edward Cullen alongside Hilary Swift would have no idea what kindof nightmare they were walking into when they entered the tower of the Magi Medivh. “That was the first time I saw evil in its purest form. Medivh was right. It was only after speaking to that one that I understood how limited I had been.” — Edward Cullen Arriving at the tower it was Medivh, Edward, Hilary, Gemma, Markus Flowers, and several of Medivh's men and Medivh would lead them as they moved to the top and discovered a single man chained to the floor and roof. Medivh explained to him that this man was evil, and that no matter what he believed after talking to the man he needed to understand that fact alone. He told Edward that everything in life was a choice though and he had the decision to make if he was going to be the man that was tricked by evil, or if he would be able to see evil in all of its forms and be able to defeat it. 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. I walked into the room and was shocked to find a man clearly brutalized chained to what was seemingly every piece of the room. "Why has he been chained so many times?" "Do not be taken in by what you see on the surface. This man is beyond contempt. He has done things, and planned things that no rational human would ever do." Medivh walked to the man and raised his head so that we could see his face. His eyes remained closed but I saw nothing in his face that screamed that he was a monster. "His mind is completely the domain of a demon now. Nothing remains of what was once someone's child." I moved closer to the man and as I did he must have realized my presence and opened his eyes. His eyes were sad, and despite the reservations I had due to what Medivh had said I found myself wanting to help this man. "How could you know that?" Medivh walked away from the man and stood against the wall for a moment before speaking again. "Edward this is the moment you are going to learn about the demon within all of us. Your demon is slight but still there. You don't know the demon yet and that is something that you need to understand if your going to help your people through this. Talk to the man. Prove me wrong if you can." ``How are you so sure that you are right. Surely this could all be some kind of misunderstanding.`` I looked to Gemma and Hilary and when I did they had the same look of shock and confusion on their faces that I did.  ``Edward there is going to come a moment when you are going to have to truly understand evil. You believe you have seen evil because you knew your friends brother. Sean Lovie was just one form of evil. Evil takes many shapes, and forms and it is very important that you understand that not everything evil will appear it at first.`` He didn`t say another word just walked away and left me to stand there with this injured man who didn`t look like he could harm a fly. I stopped for a moment unsure of how to move forward, but when I looked around for Hilary I saw her waiting. Her eyes showed that she believed in me, and I knew I couldn't fail that kind of trust. Moving closer to the man I kneeled on the floor and spoke. "What is your name?" He coughed a bit before speaking "Tilder Meanist of House Meanist." He spoke with an aura of nobility despite the surroundings he was in or the condition, and that made me know very quickly that he was either a well of noble or one used to pretending he was. "What have you done to make my friend believe you a demon?" He coughed again this time for a longer period of time before being able to speak. "I woke up and found myself in this tower with that monster doing...doing unimaginable things to my friends. He won't let me explain but I know you'll hear me...you'll believe me won't you?" The man sounded utterly frantic, and the way he spoke of his friends made me wonder how much of all of this that Medivh had left out. "You need to tell me before I can say anything." "This man believes me some sort of demon, but I just want the freedom of my people. Your a Lucernian I can tell. Your people were not meant to come here. This land..."He stopped and coughed again before speaking. "This land isn't yours. Listen to me none of that is important right now. That monster has killed all of my men, and left me alone while my family waits for me at home." I looked at Medivh for a moment wanting to understand what was happening here. "What proof do you have Tilder that you are not a cultist?"  He looked hopefully at me, and I felt a slight tinge of arrogance come from him "The same proof I told the monster about. Talk to my wife. She will show you that I am who I say that I am." "And if I speak to her and find a different outcome?" I could see Medivh in the corner shaking his head, and for a moment I looked at this young man before me and wondered if he truly was a demon. If he wasn't a demon then Medivh was a liar and that meant all of this could be some sort of trap. "Then I am lost and you should kill me." From the look on Medivh's face he told me silently that he knew where his wife was, and would take me to her. "Your putting a lot of faith in how one conversation will go arnt you." "I have faith in what I see your eyes. You are a good soul, and I know you will try and do what is right." "I will speak to your wife, and when that is done we will all know the truth." "The truth will be known by all." Edward would be told by Medivh where Tilder's wife lived and the group would leave the tower and go to find the women that Edward silently had no idea what would happen with. On one hand if she was truthful then he would know Medivh a liar. If she was a liar then he was a fool who had been tricked by a demon. On the way to the wife he spoke with Hilary who told him that she felt a horrible taint coming from Tilder Meanist. She wondered how he did not feel it, and he wondered why he was unable to sense what clearly so many around him were feeling. Medivh told him that his demon wasn't revealed yet, and when Edward finally understood he would know exactly why he couldn't see what was just beneath the surface. “His wife was nothing more then a ruse meant to kill me. He knew his life was over and yet he wanted me to see death, and I suppose somewhere in his chaos mind he wanted me to see the death that filled that home.” — Edward Cullen Arriving at the house Medivh forced Edward to wait until thirty men from the Menathil's arirved, and then he allowed Edward to enter the home. Entering the home he found the skinned bodies of untold number of people all over the walls, and the decaying bodies of a young women, and two children sitting a table in the middle of the home with a giant hole in the ground. Medivh said he would explain everything after the ambush, and moments after this happened cultists came through the roof and a fight broke out which ended with the death of the cultists as the reinforcements were too much for the weakly armed, and trained cultists. Medivh would then explain as they carried away the bodies to be buried that Tilder was once a Magi of the Kirin Tor but had been removed due to the reading of banned Magi's and this had eventually led him to becoming possessed by a demon which had then proceeded to murder his wife and children and become a dangerous serial killer of whom killed dozens in Lorderon before the Kirin Tor finally caught up with him and took him under their custody. Arthas Leaves See Also : Capture of Jaina Menathil “I had hoped that you would want to come willingly my love.” — Hur-Arthas Menathil IV. Arthas by this point was being told by his leadership core that the Kirin Tor had captured Tilder Meanist and with his capture any hope of keeping the Lucernian contingent from discovering the truth about The Scourge gone he begin plans to leave Lorderon for the north, and his true goal of getting Frostmourne. Gathering his commanders to him he would decide on leaving behind Elu-Kael Thuzad and it would be the objective of Kael to delay the forces of Lorderon and cause as much chaos as he possibly could, but then to make his way north to link up with Arthas who would wait for Kael at Fornost. Over the days that followed this decision they gathered to him his entire command structure outside of those who were staying and travelled north out of the city during the night keeping it as secret as possible, but unfortunatly despite this attempt there departure was discovered by the Dragonoph loyalist Per-Ruenya Menathil who would without delay bring this information to Sur-Talia Menathil. Arthas had left being information that he had travelled north in order to assist Marcel Lovie and thus when Talia went to the throne room she found this note detailing where he was saying he was going, but Talia had seen the change in her brother and didn't believe it instead sending Karl Donovan to bring information to the Lucernian contingent of what had happened. Karl Donovan would travel to their ships where he found the Hirshe brothers there and told them that Arthas had left the city and they both realized what this meant and thus they moved without haste to tell Edward about this. As this was happening Arthas as he moved out of Lorderon had a large fleet of dozens of ships transporting his men and in this movement they would travel to Kul Tiras where Arthas had unfinished business with his wife Jaina. Arriving with his fleet just south of Boralus they had slipped by the naval defenses as they were inside what was seen as safe waters when they left Lorderon and thus landed on the coast south of Boralus without alerting anyone to their presence. Landing his troops there he channeled a spell with his Magi leadership which gave him the location of Jaina who he discovered was located at the Tower of Toralus located west of Boralus, and with this knowledge he would march on the Tower of Toralus. The Tower of Toralus was lightly defended as it was a sort of estate for House Proudmoore and thus when Arthas's several thousand strong army arrived it was Jaina who sensed that it was Arthas and ordered her men to flee the tower before they were killed, and then she waited for Arthas to come to her. Arthas came to her alone inside the tower and seeing him clad in the evil armor he had been crafting for some time she prepared herself to die and refused to speak to the man in front of her as she knew in her heart that this was not her Arthas, but he did not strike her down instead he took her staff from her and placed Magi restraints on her restricting her magi abilities and then summoned troops who took her hostage. With Jaina in his hands he would return to the ships where by this point the troops of Jaina had not yet warned the main Boralus forces of what had happened and thus when Arthas's fleet passed Boralus they were not resisted by the large Kul Tiras navy thus allowing Arthas to escape with Jaina. Taylor's Discovery “Your grace my time there was filled with so many things, and I want you to know that the Dragon shall be heard throughout all the land soon. The cultists though were dangerous beyond anything I had ever heard of. They had infested the largest Temple in the entire capital and turned it into a den of demons and evil men.” — Taylor Swift Following the discovery by Edward that the cultists controlled the massive Great Temple of Lorderon he and his group would travel with Medivh back to the capital where they planned to attack the temple. As this was happening Taylor Swift and the Steinmare's would be told by a Dragon Priest that several Dragonoph worshipers had come to him to admit that they had been members of a cult in Lorderon and that the Great Temple of Lorderon was their headquarters of sorts. Disgusted that a Temple would be used for this purpose and despite the attempts by Dylan and Erica to stop her she would travel to the Great Temple and alongside Laera Steinmare would enter the Temple and using key words learned from the traitor cultists were able to enter the Temple. Entering the Temple they went through a recruitment process of sorts, but things begin to go bad after the cultist leading them around attempted to rape Laera and she stabbed him through the eye killing him and forcing them to hide his body while they escaped the Temple. Finding there way out wasn't easy though, and outside Dylan would meet with Edward telling him what had happened, and learning from Edward how serious the situation was they believed they had the proof they needed but Emile, and Josh Hirshe arrived to tell them that Arthas had left the city with a force in order to supposedly help Arnor, and Marcel Lovie. Edward told Emile, and Josh to go to the keep and force them to recall Arthas, and at the same time attempted to send word to Marcel Lovie of what was happening, but unknown to him the cultists were watching them, and the letters, and ravens were all intercepted meaning Marcel was not warned. “We were but moments from showing him as the monster he was, and yet he slipped between our fingers. I would have killed him myself if I had thought it was possible to get through that kind of layer of guards.” — Dylan Steinmare Taylor Swift, and Laera Steinmare at this point would finally make their way out of the temple, but as Laera exited the door Taylor would be knocked on the head and the gate shut causing a siege of sorts as they attempted to break there way into the Temple. Forcing their way into the temple using the troops they had brought, they would fight against dozens of cultists of which forced the involvement of more troops and a battle broke out, but despite victory after the dust had settled they also found that there was no sign of Taylor, because she had been taken to the real home of the cultists of which was a large tunnel system beneath the temple itself. By this point the cultists were aware they had been discovered, and they would begin plans to launch the overall assault on Lorderon, and those traitor cultists would in these last moments release this information to the Menathil loyalists, or the Lucernians, or also in many cases the Magi of Kirin Tor. Captured “Edward I am being told that you kept all of this a secret from the people you brought with you, and I guess I wonder now in the privacy of this group...why did you not warn them of the dangers? Do you honestly think Taylor would have gone into that Temple had she of known what awaited her.” — William Lovie III. Captured by the cultists Taylor is forced to endure captivity for hours, as the cultists by this point are simply stalling within the tunnel system, and Taylor witnesses the leadership of the cultists flee the grounds to safety, while the few that remain behind in order to show resistance are weak old men, and ones they question the devotion of. During this torture she is somewhat protected by a young cultist of whom stops an older man from raping her, and she is saddened as he tells her of his life, but despite her attempts to get him to surrender he sees no life past this, and leaves her as Edward's force finally breaks into the tunnels. The cultists that are left are weak and are easily defeated leaving Edward in control of the temple, but as soon as he releases Taylor's mouth coverings she reveals to him that nearly all the cultists already fled, and those left were expendable to them. With the cultists destroyed Taylor reveals that the cultists are a part of a chaos cult led by Arthas Menathil of whom has not taken any true forces north to assist Marcel but is in fact taking monsters and demons of whom are planning great destruction. As they attempt to make their way out of the temple they find the route blocked by design, and they are unable to escape by means of the entrance, and instead must make their way through ancient tunnels out of the city. After days of travelling through the tunnels they find themselves in the fields far to the south of Lorderon and a note is left on the edge of the entrance on the body of a soldier with the sigil of House Scarlet on him. “Congratulations on discovering the great secret of Lorderon. You are to be commended for seeing what many before you failed to see, but I must be the one to tell you that is the only thing you did right. You have failed to stop me, and now that failure shall play out in the destruction of Arnor. Perhaps if you had moved quicker. Perhaps if you had been smarter your people in Arnor wouldn't be dead.” — King Arthas Menathil Edward became infuriated by this and the realization that it was already well to late to save Marcel, or to do any of the good things that he knew in his mind he had to do in order to regain what he had lost. The army of Arthas had left nearly a week ago, and he knows that a raven will never reach Arnor in time to do any good, and he breaks down crying for his continued failure. Eventually calming down the group gathers themselves and make their way to a nearby village where they receive horses and make their way back to Lorderon to warn Arnor of the coming chaotic army. Back in the city Laera, Erica, and Dylan Steinmare retreat to the Menathil Palace, and rally the Lucernians to their cause as well as sending out word of the what everyone now knows will be a very large attack on Lorderon by a unknown amount of cultists. Josh Hirshe, and Anna Kendrick had become stranded at the port and were forced to hide themselves with the garrison there. Taylor Swift and Emile Hirshe would retreat with the main force and retreated into the Menathil Palace, and it was here where they would remain as the palace came under siege by the forces of the cultists now bent on destroying the city. Candice Anthor in the port itself sends word to Kul Tiras in order to have them send aid, and it is this quick thinking that would eventually save the city, as noone in Lorderon had been willing to ask Kul Tiras for help due to the bad blood between Lorderon, and Kul Tiras as of late. It was at this point of the city coming under siege and the port preparing for the arrival of reinforcements that Anna Kendrick and Josh Hirshe of whom had come to hide within the keep in the docks would come to have an honest conversation with Anna admitting that she loved Orival Crane and Josh was just a distraction, and Josh admitted that he actually hated Anna and only was with her to cause embaressment to his brother. Josh would as their conversationd devolved into an argument demand that she sleep with him but she resisted not wanting this but despite her resistence he forced himself on her but just as he is about to rpae her she grabs his knife and slashes his face before also stabbing him in the shoulder and fleeing from the keep to the docks themselves. New Leadership “The Cult was something that had started to enter the frame of reality some time before we learned of Arthas's true face. The cult had abducted people, and burned buildings but for all intensive purposes it was little worse then a roaving band of criminals, and thus we didn't say much.” — Imlad Menathil Following the return of Edward Cullen to the city after his destruction of one cell of the cult that Arthas had formed it became clear to the leadership that Arthas had formed it in order to destroy Lorderon, and thus they went about dealing with the cult for the first time. After the conversation between William and Edward the decision is made to make Talia Menathil the new Lord of Lorderon, and she is given this immediatly after thus removing the taint of Arthas somewhat from Lorderon. This transfer of power doesn't go completely according to plan as during the ceremony for her gaining the title of Matriarch of the family, and the Arch Lord of Lucerne position the site is attacked by a force of cultists and many demons that a Magi with the cultists summons into the area. Edward, Gemma, and Hilary lead Talia out of the building and fight there way through waves of cultists, and are nearly trapped until a counter assault by Imlad Menathil breaks the attacking cultists and allows them to return her to the keep of Lorderon with her new power. 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. "William there can be no doubt that Arthas has turned against us." He looked down, and I felt terrible, as both of us knew what this meant for Marcel. What little chance he had of defending Arnor was based on the army that Arthas said he was capable of bringing north, and if that army wasn't going to arrive then it all might be for nothing. "This is terrifying news Edward as we know he has already disapeared from out eyes, and for all we know could already be inside Arnor. If he is there we know that Marcel is there, and I fear for what will happen." It was always unerving to hear William speak with anything other then confidence. His face moved from the vision and I knew he must be speaking to someone else. It was unfortunate that the only Magi stone that I was able to find was a one on one stone. This sort of conversation would have been much easier with a room stone. "William we need to immediatly send word to your cousin that Arthas is under no cercumstances to be trusted." "I will send word right now Edward." William left the vision, and I looked to my right to see that Imlad had entered the room, and he looked with wide eyes as he saw the means by which we were communicating. "Its good to see you prince Imlad." He was wearing his eagle armor, and he looked everything that he should of, but his eyes told me a story about the fear he was feeling. "You still have the presence of mind for titles in a time like this Edward?" "When I was young my father told me that manners were important. I can't forget that lesson even while we are potentially surrounded by enemies and have a looming disaster in the north." "The things our father's tell us when we are young." I would have laughed normally but the silence that followed made me shiver. It was minute after minute of this as we awaited the return of William, and I wanted him to come back to give me repreieve from the fear that filled the room. "Do you recall anything about this cult before we learned of Arthas?" I had only learned of them a few months ago, and from the way Medivh spoke of them they must have been something that was talked of. "The Cult was something that had started to enter the frame of reality some time before we learned of Arthas's true face. The cult had abducted people, and burned buildings but for all intensive purposes it was little worse then a roaving band of criminals, and thus we didn't say much." As he finished William reentered the vision. "I have made the neccesary message sent, but I fear that the Order of the Blue Dragon representative that was with Marcel has apparently been killed, and we don't know what is happening at this time." "We don't know anything bad has happened yet. We just need to keep our ears out Will." “Alone Talia was still too young and naive to be the Lady of a land that large, but lucky for us she wasn't alone. Lucky for us Calia, and Imlad were loyal advisors and didn't have their own agendas other then helping their family.” — Edward Cullen Talia would recall her sister Talia to her side, and alongside Imlad Menathil they formed a sort of Menathil council for the leadership of the land alongside Edward of whom advised them as best he could. Realizing the situation they were in they knew they needed more forces loyal to them in the city, and thus they decided to call the vassals, and ask for assistence from the nearbye Lucerne forces. As they begin to recall Menathil forces from the smaller villages, and towns they begin see that the cult had become aware of the situation and the cult summoned nearly its entire force into the capital and begin besieging sections of the city and ambushing and murdering loyalists to the Menathils. Sending word to the Riverlands, and Kul Tiras, and then the main Lucerne army south of Lorderon in the Scarlets, and the Cleganes they would beg for assistance saying that the streets were becoming a battleground. “The arrival of Kael'Thuzad was a terrifying experience as he raised thousands of dead into his ranks turning a controllable situation suddenly into something far worse.” — Edward Cullen As fighting broke out in the streets Kael'Thuzad would abandon secrecy and led his command structure into the city where he and his other Magi would summon the dead to their side adding thousands into his ranks and causing great destruction. As this happened the citizens of Lorderon begin fleeing by boats in the dock out of the city, and those men that couldn't and the old would retreat into the Menathil Keep in the center of the city. Arming these citizens the defence of the keep would be expanded knowing they were defending to the last man. Edward Cullen, and Imlad Menathil led the defences with Edward using his Magi stone to alert the forces south of the wall of what was happening and making sure they knew they had to do something soon. Kael'Thuzad would raise buildings, and go about damaging the city, while he sent his commander Lord Gnarls eastward towards Kirin Tor where he was to capture the fortress and bring its knowledge back to him so that they could then leave for Arthas northward. Fighting would break out heavily in the port as the Cult would attempt to commandeer boats in their eventual search to escape, and they would be resisted by the navy of Kul Tiras of whom had sent many ships to blockade the city, and provide support. “The Liche Ras Frostwhisper would come to the docks and I remember his look as he raised his hand and summoned creatures of darkness to him. He controlled them from the docks and I knew he alone had to be stopped lest he destroyed our entire fleet.” — Derek Proudmoore Battle at the Docks Ras Frostwhisper would come to the dock and summoning hundreds of giant sea creatures that had long laid dead at the bottom of the sea outside Lorderon, and used these creatures to assault the fleet of Kul Tiras and push them back. The fleet was forced to pull back or risk destruction as these ancient creatures pulled entire ships under the water when they got close enough, and they were only able to destroy a dozen and lost nearly twice that number of ships in return. Battle of Kirin Tor Main Article : Battle of Dalaran “This place is a place of learning and peace, and you desecrate it with your very presence. Your beliefs are failed, and today you shall learn how much failure your moral decadence has caused for you and all those that stand behind you Lord Gnarl.” — Medivh Led by a mysterious Magi named Lord Gnarls the cultists would send a force to Kirin Tor as well in order to sack the Magi castle, and attempt to steal its stored knowledge for Arthas, despite the near impossibility of this task and then getting north. During the initial movement towards Kirin Tor turncoats within the fortress of Kirin Tor would murder several high ranking members of the Magi organization including the high leader in Antonidas leaving the council shattered and left with three of its members with Jaina also believed to be in the capital and not inside Kirin Tor. With their leader dead, and the council reduced Medivh would stage a sort of coup using his own forces and took control of the Council of Kirin Tor and would imprison the remaining members of Kael'Thuzad's family including his son who attempted to murder him when he took him prisoner. Medivh would lead the forces loyal to Lucerne in defense of the Kirin Tor and was able to use the superior defenses of Kirin Tor to massacre the initial wave of Cultists supported by demons that assaulted the fortress. As the battle reached the second wave though numerous Magi would turn to the side of Chaos, and the fighting got dire as the chaos cultists used these turncoats to enter Kirin Tor and were able to sack parts of the library. “The Kirin Tor could not fall or else all of Lorderon could be destroyed through the knowledge they gained in that vault. I had to move quickly and take the situation into our control again or I watched as Lorderon fell.” — Saiden Scarlet As Kirin Tor became a battleground Saiden Scarlet would send Illen Purne one of his vassals alongside Kren Scarlet to relieve the Kirin Tor with a force of Kul Tiras, and native Lorderon troops. Arriving at the scene they found the cultist army flowing into Kirin Tor, and they would attack them from behind where the cultists were killed in huge numbers but managed to keep the Lucernians away for a time. Inside Lord Gnarls made his way through Vault after Vault inside Kirin Tor attempting to make his way to the deepest and most powerful infortmation, and as he did this Medivh would lead a skilled force of Magi and elementals behind him defeating Lord Gnarls luitenents one after another until both were nearing eachother. By this point Trimier would complete the summoning spell, and this allowed several dozen Blue Dragon Magi and their support troops to enter Kirin Tor, and they asisted in stemming the flow of cultists while the main army was defeated outside by Kren Scarlet, and Illen Purne. Battle of Lorderon Main Article : Battle of Lorderon “Reinforcements had come in their tens of thousands to the area, and the cultists were horribly outnumbered in terms of military power. Their defeat at Kirin Tor had left their leadership scrambling to find a new weapon now that Kirin Tor was held against them, and before they could me and Emmett would tilt the scales.” — Leven Martell Following the defeat of the Cultists at Kirin Tor two shadow council members would arrive in the form of Emmett McCarty, and Leven Martell of whom brought with them thirty men each from their houses and the most elite men they both had. The cultists had barred the main gates into the city and were defending them with great strength, but many smaller gates were less defended and it was through these gates that Leven, and Emmett would infiltrate through avoiding the gaurds through the assistence of several Violet Dragons that were still in the area. Now inside the city Leven, Emmett and their sixty men would fight their way to the keep where they found the Lucernian loyalists holding out within, and thousands of citizens hiding inside the walls for protection. Kael'Thuzad would marshal nearly his entire remaining force and pulled many if not all forces from the walls and brought them to the keep where he launched an all out assault. Thousands of demons and cultists charged the high walls of the keep, and the defenders led by Emmett, Leven, and Imlad would hold out against the inital assaults and cause horrendous casualties to the unprepared cultists attacking the walls. “They broke through the eastern gatehouse, and I charged into the breach with all the reserve I had at my disposal. They were too many in number, and if we let them loose within the castle they would quickly massacre the people of Lorderon and the defenders in short order.” — Leven Martell As the attack of the Cultists failed all over it was Kael'Thuzad that went to the eastern gatehouse himself and using Magi alongside his commanders would shattter the entire gatehouse destroying it and leaving a massive gaping hole in the defences. Losing a significant amount of defenders Leven pulled all the reserves from the keep, and alongside her men and Emmett's men she and Emmett would charge into the breach and attempt to hold off the attacking cultists. The defenders were hardpressed to hold the massive numbers off but the untrained barely equipped cultists were cut down in droves, and this led to Kael'Thuzad ordering in several of his commanders including his second in command in Lord Voren of whom would kill many in front of him but was confronted by Leven Martell. Leven and Voren would fight one on one as the defenders slaughtered the cultists forcing many to attempt to retreat but these retreaters were killed by Kael'Thuzad of whom sent in Lord Savryn to deal with the situation. On the western gatehouse Imlad would murder the commander of the attacks there and charged his forces through the gatehouse and massacred hundreds of cultists forcing them to retreat southward, and allowing him to send several scouts to make the Lucernians come quicker. Leven Martell would further her reputation during the battle of Lordeorn “When Kael'Thuzad moved into the fray I could feel it. It was like this massive ball of electricty was moving towards us, and I couldn't let Leven, and Emmett fight that monster alone.” — Edward Cullen The scouts reached the Lucernian forces of whom were assaulting through the weakely defended outer walls, and moving slowly fearing it was a trap. Meeting the scouts Saiden Scarlet would understand it wasn't a trap and commanded all forces towards the keep with all haste, while he sent Mathew Clegane and his forces against the dock to deal with Ras Frostwhisper. Kael'Thuzad getting word that the army was only minutes away knew he had to move quickly to take the keep and then murder the population, so he waded into the battle himself. Fighting his way through his own forces he reached the front just as Leven, and Emmett killed Lord Savryn and pushed back Lord Voren. Smashing Emmett McCarty with a blast of Magi he flew back uncontious leaving Leven to fight against Lord Voren while Kael'Thuzad sent Magi blasts into the defenders of the breach killing dozens. Sencing Kael'Thuzad enter the breach Edward had left the southern gate and mvoed to the east where he reached the fighting and was able to block a spell that would have badly injured Leven. Fighting against Kael'Thuzad he and the Liche would battle for minutes until Lord Voren fell destroyed and Leven charged him as well turning the tide of the fight. Kael'Thuzad attempted to flee but was struck through the back by Leven's sword and destroyed. At the port Mathew Clegane would overwhelm Ras Frostwhisper with the support of Gemma Cullen of whom overpowered the tired Ras Frostwhisper but he retreated using a stone and disapeared alongside several of his commanders. “Arthas's remnents had been crushed, but he was still loose, and where he was now was anyone's guess.” — Leven Martell With the death of Kael'Thuzad and the defeat of Ras Frostwhisper the skeletal elements and demons fizzled out of excistence, while the human elements of the cult were swiftly either killed or surrendered and made to live out the rest of their short lives in prison before they were executed. With Talia Menathil now Lady of Lorderon the population shifted back to the capital but was diminished from the numbers before as some one quarter of the city had turned to the cultists and were basically all dead while another quarter had died during the fighting leaving half the city dead. It was following the clean up that a letter came into the keep adressed to Edward Cullen, but it would be read by Leven Martell and the rest of the commanders inside the keep. 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 opened the letter and was still haunted by the name Arthas that adorned the front of it. I looked around and saw the looks of fear on everyone else over what could possibly be in the letter, and how he had known with such accuracy when we had cleared the city. Lord Edward Cullen, I am both shocked and excited by the prospects of your defeat of my cult. Created with hate, and violence it makes me proud that they have destroyed so much of Lorderon, and left you weakened. My commander Ras Frostwhisper tells me you managed to defeat Kael, and while I say that is a disapointment know that the dragon I have killed yesterday will make your kingdom quickly forget this victory you have achieved. Know that you will find his body in Fornost, and know that I made him hurt before he died. Tell your king that he sent him to die, and this is exactly what I did for him. One last gift for the King of the Valley. In closing I wish for you the best. I hope you die swift, and quick deaths for you have defeated an oponent that should have lived forever. Know this though Lord Cullen, your time will come sooner then you could ever imagine. I have seen the future and you and your darkness council shall know death in your ranks very soon. You have longed to be a part of them, and you shall never be further away then you are right now. Arthas Menathil King of the Dead

The Fall of Seagard

Main Article : Fall of Seagard

The Fall of Seagard I didn't want to do this Queen Seagard. I wanted to live my life to the fullest. I know how this battle ends and one way or another you will do what I need you to do or else I will burn this entire city to the ground.

Kingdoms Side taken Divine Lands Lucerne Iron Islands Kingdom of Bolten Seagard Neutral House Frey Neutral Kingdom of Dustin Neutral White Knife Lucerne Dole Neutral Kingdom of Stor Lucerne Harrenhall Lucerne “We sailed up the bay, and attacked the unsuspecting fools in the middle of the night. The taking of Seagard and their queen in one fell swoop was a huge gamble but it paid off.” — Harras Harlaw With the Ironborn now in line with the forces of Bolten under the new Reaver of Euron Greyjoy they would launch themselves in seemingly all direction but mainly in the direction of Lucerne and their allies. There were few neutral parties and outside of House Frey of whom most believed was waiting to see who was going to win before they chose a side in the war, so that simply left the Kingdom of Seagard of which was a vast kingdom located just east of Westbridge on the eastern side of the Rhine and had been moving towards Lucerne but had remained relatively neutral. The Boltens would move first against Seagard diplomatically and it was Varish Bolten following the fall of the Dreadfort to the forces of Ramsey Bolten that would be sent to the city of Seagard in order to turn Seagard to the side of Bolten. As he was preparing to leave he would be convinced by his wife to sabotage the diplomatic efforts in an attempt to further weaken the Bolten cause, and in order to make this less noticeable he would ask for several high ranking Ramsey supporters to accompany him on the journey, but as he was leaving it was agreed that this was their final moments in Bolten and he and Avina made plans for them to flee the Dreadfort and make their way to his sister in Wilborne. The first talks between the Bolten's and the Seagard royalty when extremely poorly after Varish Bolten played the role of a Ramsey Bolten loyalist and was antaganistic towards the Seagard royalty. Sent with little actual negotiation power and sabotaged by Jordin Bolten further when he sent several hardliners with Varish, the young Bolten would try his best but was a less then intelligent young man and even past that was so young that he didn't understand the intricacies of the situation and  through all of this he had little effect and was sent away. “It was suprising how little we had to do to actually convinse them of the importance of a relationship with us. They simply knew our capabilities, and never questioned our resolve.” — Jack Shephard Following the failed negotiation of the Boltens with the Seagard goverment William Lovie III. would send Mathew Clegane, Oberyn Martell, and Jack Shephard to Seagard in order to expand their relations. Unlike Varish Bolten who had no ability to offer anything true the negotiators and in particular Jack Shephard would offer relative auntonamy and simply wanted Seagard to protect their sealanes, and didn't want any kind of offensive ground force unless the situation with Mordor came to fruition. Florance Seagard herself would tell Oberyn Martell that despite truly wishing for an alliance the time was just not right with the proximity of the Iron Fleet so close to them, and that once the war in Bolten was over she would then agree to this alliance. In the final bit before they left Florance Seagard was secretly given a Magi Stone of Lucerne by Oberyn Martell of whom told her that if she ever was in need of assistence, and the world was quiet to her then she could speak to Lucerne through this and they would do their best to help. “Euron may have been a madman, but he had an intelligence that was beyond ninety nine percent of everyone else, and that makes him doubly dangerous to everyone.” — William Lovie III. Euron Greyjoy knew that the Fleet of Seagard had been historically well positioned to defend against Ironborn raids, and because of this it would take a daring sort of attack to be able to succeed. Knowing he needed something else he would send word to Asha Greyjoy his neice of whom had been constantly demanding the release of Maron Greyjoy, and knowing her skill at Reaving he would blackmail her into leading the attack in order to free Maron. In line with this Euron Greyjoy would make the naval force of the Iron Islands that would launch the attack a very large force of some one hundred long ships against the Kingdom of Seagard without any warning, and led by Asha Greyjoy (of whom was trying to save the life of Maron Greyjoy who had been taken prisoner) and Harras Harlaw alongside many other vassals of House Harlaw they would launch up the Yellowsprite river during the night and landed to the north of Seagard with most of their ships. “Walking off the ships you could see the damn tower from nearly two miles away. It was bigger then anything I had ever seen, and I wanted to burn it down so badly.” — Harras Harlaw Of these ships Harras Harlaw would lead some twenty ships and about a thousand men further north where they would land and move inland towards the Seatower which was a gigantic Tower that gaurded the northern approach into the area of Seagard. If they took Seatower they would block the escape of the queen from Seagard and on top of that could force many of the cities defenders away from the Seatower itself.  Harras would attack during the night and unprepared for the asssault the tower was taken relatively simply with the top level closing a gatehouse which Harras forced them to open by executing a defender of the Seatower every two minutes until the door was opened. “It seemed to simple that they would raid the Seatower for no reason. I should have trusted my instinct and scoured the seas for more of them before I sent men there. Too late now...” — Queen Florance Seagard With the capture of Seatower Queen Florance Seagard would order nearly half the defenders of Seagard to move towards Seatower to defend the tower, and for ships from Seagard to scower the Yellowsprite river for the Ironborn. The Ironborn fleet had by this point hidden itself in the inlets, and the few Seagard ships that located them were swiftly taken down by Ironborn hidden in small boats that overpowered the Seagard ships. When night came no word had returned of either force, and thus the captain of the City Watch would lower the alarm, and they awaited the return of the few ships that hadn't returned, and they would expand the search the next day. Thus as Seagard went to sleep the Ironborn fleet would move into position, and nearly a thousand ground forces also moved towards the city itself from their hiding positions outside the city. “These were a soft people. Years of their fleet protecting their people had made them unaware of what awaited them from a true Ironborn Reaving.” — Asha Greyjoy It was the sounds of fighting filled the streets as the Ironborn fleet landed inside the port, and quickly spread out throughout the city, as well as rope climbing troops of nearly a thousand swarmed over the walls themselves and blocked the exits of the city. As the city fell beneath the assault Captain Hyde Hunt would gather many troops to him, and make his way to the Queen where he and his men gathered the Queen and rushed her through the palace to try and get her out of the city. Hyde Hunt would be captured along with many of the force as they fought their way out of the main gatehouse, but the Queen managed to get through accompanied by her Palace Gaurd Captain Hadrian Sea and the few remaining men. Believing they had their Queen safe they were shocked as they made there way out of the western gate they ran into the destroyed elements of the relief army they had sent out who said that the Ironborn that had taken Seatower had ambushed them and destroyed most of the force. Realizing that escape was now futile with the loss of the Seatower she sent the relief army into the hills where she commanded them to make by ship northward, but as this happened Harras Harlaw and a small force of Ironborn that had been following the retreating army would crash into them. It had been many years since the Ironborn had threatened Seagard and because of this they were completely unprepared for the Ironborn savagery. “No enemy has ever desecrated the Halls of Glaurung in this manner, and I will forever lament my failure in not being able to stop your Seatrash from coming in here” — Florance Seagard Hadrian Sea would carry Florance back into the city and away from the massacre, and returning into Seagard she would be hidden in the Keep of Seagard as Hadrian Sea attempted to hold the Keep of Seagard in the hopes of relief coming, or better terms in the worse case. Asha Greyjoy had at the moment of her landing immediatly made her way to the Palace of Seagard in an attempt to capture the Queen and gain victory very quickly, but arriving there had found her missing, and after following her trail found its end when she arrived at the Keep of Seagard. Asha would siege the Keep, and with a horrifying numerical superiority Florance surrendered not wanting her men to die needlessly, and Asha spared the men as a sign of good faith to the Queen. Asha would enter the Halls of Glaurung within the Keep, and this travesty of a non-believer being in the Sacred Halls would cause several Priests of Dragonoph to commit suicide and Florance to beg forgiveness from the gods. Kidnapping of the Nobles Asha Greyjoy attacked Seagard not out of desire for power, but to save Maron Greyjoy of whom Euron was holding prisoner to secure her loyalty. “We had to work quickly before the fall of Seagard was common knowledge.” — Asha Greyjoy With Seagard fallen, and the queen under their control alongside many of the nobles Asha Greyjoy would take control of the city, and her first command was that Florance Seagard sent letters to all of her vassals asking for them to send a son to Seagard for a royal tournament where all those participating would be provided with knighthood or if this was unsatisfactory then a royal purse. As Queen Florance Seagard was beloved by the people of Seagard most of the nobles would think nothing of this, and those that did would be vastly outweighed by those that didn't. Ravens returned to Seagard stating acceptance from nearly half the houses while as the days trickled on they got acceptance from some seventy percent of the noble families in Seagard. As these nobles sent their sons, and many times their heirs to Seagard the Seatower was rebuilt of damage by Harras Harlaw and as the nobles passed it on the road to Seagard the Seatower alerted hidden Ironborn troops who would then capture the nobles. Over many weeks nearly dozens of heirs and sons were taken prisoner, but Harlan Wynch would defeat the assembled Ironborn and escape going north up the road where he warned the remaining nobles of the trap and thus halted the attempt.  Asha had Harras Harlaw controlling the entrance to Seagard while she forced to Florance Seagard to make deals over the control of Seagard. “Immediatly after hearing of this betrayal the vassals of Seagard arrived at the Seatower, but were blackmailed by the holding of so many of their children into not using their overwhelming forces against the Ironborn.” — Harlan Wynch With the capture of their sons now known due to Harlan Wynch the vast forces of Seagard moved against the capital with all speed meeting together on the outskirts of Seatower. As they prepared to march forward they were approached by a party of Ironborn of whom warned them that the Queen alongside fifty seven sons of the nobles were now prisoners of theirs in Seagard. Blackmailed into relenting the army of Seagard would be commanded by Florance to stand down and return to their lands while this was settled, and while most did fearing the death of their son or the queen there were many who had no sons, or who were too angry of whom didn't and for these forces they remained camped at the opening of the Seatower cliffs despite commands to stand down.

Lucernian Intervention in Harrenhall

Lucernian Counter-Attack You came to our lands and reaved. These are the consequences of you entering the lands of the Dragon.

“The capture and death of our people on the Rhine was a moment of immense pain, but through that change came our revenge. We would strike at their great Harrenhall conquest and show them what death looked like.” — Mathew Clegane Following the capture of Catelyn Starke and the deaths of many during the ambushes that followed the rise of Euron Greyjoy it was the decision of William Lovie III. that revenge needed to be struck. The Ironborn were at this point becoming stretched quite thin as they were still embroiled in a siege at Harrenhall, but alongside that they had assaulted the Sunset Islands where they maintained a large garrison now, as well as launching a major assault of Seagard which left their forces severely diminished, and it was in this position that William would make his move against the Iron Islands. Calling on the Order of the Violet Dragon, and the Order of the Red Dragon he would send two brigades of the Waffen Red Dragon Army to Harrenhall, but he also sent both Harlequin, and Helaquin (accompanied by their Whelplings) as well to the contested city of Harrenhall. Mathew Clegane was the Major in command of the 11th Lole Brigade, while he was joined by Alester Floren in command of the 3rd Brightwater Brigade and together the Majors in the Waffen Army would share joint command and join the forces of Harlequin, and Helaquin who were in charge of the Violet's that were sent to the city. While Mathew Clegane had been given orders to assist House Strong in capturing the city and evicting the Ironborn from the city, silently revenge was also in play as the assassins were commanded to kill as many of the Greyjoy's that were present in Harrenhall as they possibly could. “We arrived at Harrenhall and were greeted by the Strong's of whom were beyond happy to see us.” — Mathew Clegane The Lucernian force would travel by heavy combat boat from Fairmarket thus avoiding once again the Trident of which was not blocking ships but might reveal their departure. Landing in Boralus breifly they would pick up some sixty troops from House Proudmoore of whom were to join on the campaign, and some one hundred troops of several other Kul Tiras Houses. Travelling northward up the Rhine they went passed the Lorderon pass and took the northern river through to the Strom River where they then went south and skirted near the Stone Islands before landing west of Harrenhall. Unoticed by any of the Ironborn forces they would enter the city from the western gate of which was controlled by the forces of House Strong and there arrival was met by great applause and happiness. Since the turning of House Tarth to the forces of House Strong things had been going very well for the Strong forces, but the leadership of Euron Greyjoy had flooded Harrenhall with Ironborn. Also accompanying these Ironborn were the recently captured forces of the Sunset Islands of whom had sent some two thousand troops to Harrenhall under the command of the honorable Ser Gunthor of the Sunset Islands. Due to the increase in Ironborn forces the Strong forces had lost control of increasing amounts of land, and the fortress market had been ground down by siege machines brought in by Ser Gunthor. Arriving in the city the Violet's would move away from the main force and meet with Renly Strong of whom had been placed in command of the assasins missions in Harrenhall “We moved into the area east of Fogburn Keep and planned to defeat their forces and link up with the Tarly forces. It was a simple plan, and if we were victorious it would be immense for the future of Harrenhall.” — Mathew Clegane With Ser Gunthor and the main force of the Sunset Islands attacking the marketplace, it was Robert Strong, and the Lucernians that turned and moved towards the are east of Fogburn Keep and south of the Tarly lands. Attacking with nearly two thousand troops of House Strong and the one thousand troops of the two brigades of Lucernians they were able to overwhelm the defenders that were in the area, and take control of the Hanged Man. The Hanged Man was built onto a peak located there, and was a heavily defendable area, and with enough men garrisoning it would be nigh untakeable. The White Emproium fell that same day despite reinforcements coming in from the main holdings, and retreating forces bolstering the defenders. With the capture of the White Emporium some six hundred of the Seaworth forces were captured alongside almost four hundred Ironborn of whom died heavily as they were not often to surrender. Campaign of Death “We all have vengeance in our hearts. It is without a doubt the most human of our emotions. To hate. To want people to pay for crimes we have judged worthy of pain. I am hurt, and therefor you must hurt as well.” — Renly Strong With the capture of the eastern block of Harrenhall the Ironborn were flooded into the area to try and retake the east from the outnumbered Strong forces. While this was happening Harlequin, and Helaquin moved into the northern section of Harrenhall near Grightwood Keep, where Aeron Greyjoy II. and his family were staying as he commanded the attack on Helldor Castle. Harlaquin and Helaquin would infiltrate the keep alongside all thirty of their whelpings and killed their way through the gaurds and servents in order to reach the sleeping quarters of Aeron Greyjoy II. Aeron would wake to the sound of fighting outside of his door, and the moment he opened the door sword in hand a dagger went into his head killing him. His wife and young son hid in a closet, but were quickly discovered and brought out and killed beside Aeron. With the murders completed Harlaquin, Helaquin and the whelpings would attach wolf pelts to the three bodies then hung them off the highest tower of Grightwood keep as a warning to the other Greyjoy's about what they had done to the Starke's. “They left a trail of destruction behind them, and knowing the Lucernian assassins and their reputation it was clear this was not an accident. They could have killed the three without alerting anyone, and yet they wanted us to know that gaurds didn't mean a thing to them. They were coming for us...” — Dagon Greyjoy II. The deaths of Aeron and his family would greatly shock the leadership of the Greyjoy's in the city, and despite Dagon assuring them that gaurds wouldn't matter the number of gaurds on each Greyjoy were greatly increased. With this in mind Dagon attempted to send away Aeron's sister before she too met a grisly fate, but the boat she was to leave on was sunk, and the captain that was meant to take the ship out was found decapitated with a wolf's pelt nailed to his chest. Dagon who had been planning to send away his own wife and child was now forced to accept they would have to deal with the assassins another way, and begin to plan for this. While this was happening Ser Gunthor continued to attack the Market and was able to push into the Opera House and after hours of brutal melee the Opera House finally fell to the forces of Ser Gunthor of which forced the abandoning of the defences around the Opera House as they were now able to be targeted by the attackers from the Opera House Windows. With victory growing at the marketplace Dagon made the next move when he begin marshalling as many forces as possible and with this Dagon would lead some three thousand troops against Helldor Castle in a battle that would become known as the Second Battle of Helldor Castle. Second Battle of Helldor Castle “Helldor decides the whole damn battle. They take it and there into our homes tomorrow.” — Renly Strong

Family Members

Hedrik Clegane III. - Brother

Relationships

Main Article : Relationships of Mathew Clegane

Michelle Trachtenburg - Lover

Hedrik Clegane III. - Family/Friend

Michelle Trachtenberg

See Also : Michelle Trachtenberg

"It was lust, not love. It's really akward now that I'm around all the time and so is she. From time to time it's hard not to picture her naked."

-Mathew Clegane

Mathew and Michelle engaged in a brief relationship following their getting to know eachother while riding horses. This relationship or what could have been a relationship ended when Mathew began dating his current wife in Joanna Clegane .

Joanna Clegane

See Also : Joanna Clegane

"Whatever I felt before her was childish. With her I was a man in love. With her I found my heart's desires."

-Mathew Clegane

Joanna met Mathew while she was on a trading mission in Forks from her home in Dresdan . She eventually abandoned her home city when she fell in love with Mathew, and the two came to be married only three years after. Their first child Mathew Clegane II. was born 2 years after they got married.