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.
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 Lucerne Civil War It was the second time Lucerne had bled from its own, and it had to be the last.
“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 Bedroogen 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 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 defences 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 seige 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 assistence.”
— 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 who led a force of some six hundred House Brent forces 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. 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. Legalos would lead a force of some eight hundred men 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. As they were leaving Alleria Windrunner also 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.
“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 positevely 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 agressively 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 defences 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 idetified 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 sence 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 representitives but when they arrived this mission clearly could be seen as a silent attack that didn't require huge numbers. House Clegane, 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 Hedrik Clegane of whom he wanted to one day be a very important figure in the Kingdom of Lucerne, and he made this very clear to Hedrik as they talked. In his talk with Hedrik Clegane 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 responce 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. The next day he had to leave, and he said his goodbye to Bella before travelling with the main force back to Berne where upon his arrival the Lucerne Civil War would end one way or another.
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, Clegane, 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 Hedrik Clegane would convinse Andrew 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 anwser.
“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 responce 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 gaurds 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 Hedrik Clegane III. 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 Jon Snow 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 Davion 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.
“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, 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, or a women. It doesn`t matter what they want it just matters that they want something, and for these villians 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.
``I don`t mean to interupt your longing towards the Arryn whore, but 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.``
``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...``
``I dare because 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 couldn`t 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 porticulls, and the gate they had entered from also was barred with porticuls. 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 nearbye.
“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 resistence, 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 proceede 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 turnic 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.
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 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 noone 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.``
``Why would you Amber. I would have been there for you...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. You must promise me that you will protect Thomas from everything. Protect him the way I never could.``
``He lives Amber. My brother would have killed everything to have killed any son of mine.``
``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.``
For the Invasion of Westbridge to be a success the Lucernian army had to do something about the threat of the large 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 rienforcements in the cast 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.
Option 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 gaurded from this angle, and if they were spotted they would have no means of laying siege as they would simply be wiped out.
Option 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.
In the end Option B was chosen by House Swan, and they along with the rest of the army travelled 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
The broken Castle Menmont was of vital importance to the defence 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 schedual. 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 whome 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
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 defences 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 gaurds 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 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.
Downden
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.
Movement
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.
Siege of Castle Yernede
Siege of Castle Irinsi
Taking of the Port of Yerness
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.
Lucernians in Harrenhall
“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. Calling on the Order of the Violet Dragon, and the Order of the Red Dragon he would send some three hundred troops mainly of the Red, but he sent both Harlequin, and Helaquin (accompanied by their Whelplings) as well to the contested city of Harrenhall. Mathew Clegane was placed in charge of the forces while Harlequin, and Helaquin 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 Iron 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 four hundred 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.
Cult in Lorderon
“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 assistence 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 commendeer boats in their eventuall 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
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
“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 impossiblity of this task and then getting north. During the inital 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 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 defence of the Kirin Tor and was able to use the superior defences of Kirin Tor to massacre the inital 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
“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 acurasy 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
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.
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 .
"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."
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.
"Whatever I felt before her was childish. With her I was a man in love. With her I found my heart's desires."
